Chapter EIGHT

The first of the Horcruxes they managed to track down was in the possession of a woman named Dolores Umbridge. After a while of scouting around, they found out that she had been a professor in Hogwarts for a while, and even the Headmaster for a short period of time.

They decided on a couple of possible courses of action, but was yet to find the possible time to do anything.

Another major meeting was going to be held soon, and this time, every single Death Eater who was a part of the Inner circle was summoned to Malfoy manor. Itachi noted the security measures and the forced atmosphere as he and Neji positioned themselves at the gates of the manor. They ran the faces of the guests through the images of the Death Eaters they had gone through the previous day and let them in one by one.

The recently escaped Death Eaters looked curiously at them, for they seen the Shinobi but had never actually met them, while others, who were now used to their presence simply walked past them.

Sakura and Shikamaru were stationed within the house, and the two of them planted themselves on either side of the Dark lord. Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle arrive alongside their fathers. They stared wide eyed at Itachi and Neji while they barely gave them a second glance. However, they didn't stop to say anything either, and let their father's lead them into the house.

Once the last of the Death Eaters had arrived, Itachi sealed the gates off and the two of them joined Sakura and Shikamaru by Voldemort's side.

Voldemort glanced over the Death Eaters gathered before gesturing with his hand towards Itachi. The Uchiha leaned forward. "Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle are missing." He reported.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "Go find them." He ordered.

Itachi bowed swiftly and made a gesture towards his teammates.

"Not within the manor." Neji said, Byakugan eyes gleaming in the dim light.

"Out, then." Itachi nodded. "Come." He body flickered out of the room and his teammates quickly followed. They found the two a while later, knocked out in a cafe. Itachi checked their pulses and Sakura confirmed that they were alive.

They wasted no time in dragging the two back to the manor.

The Shinobi's first experience with the Cruciatus Curse was when they had returned with the unconscious Death Eaters and had the misfortune of reporting to Voldemort what they thought had happened.

Until then, all they had known came from books and stories. They had also known it seemed to be Voldemort's favorite spell to perform on prisoners and Death Eaters alike.

The Dark Lord must have received more bad news earlier during the meeting they had missed or something, and he was in a particularly bad mood.

Voldemort's hand vanished for a second before he drew a wand.

Itachi's hand was at his pouch before Voldemort had even pulled his hand out of his robe, but he stopped himself last second. He shot his teammates a warning look just before the curse hit him.

An intense, excruciating pain shot through him and for a second, his knees threatened to give way.

Out of instinct, his Sharingan came to life and he struggled to deactivate it.

"Itachi!"

Sakura had dropped the weapon she had summoned at Itachi's warning, but she quickly moved towards him. She directed her glare at Voldemort, green eyes full of concealed anger. "Stop!"

Neji grabbed at Sakura's arm to stop her but she shook him off. Shikamaru moved forward at the same time.

Itachi felt the pain come to an abrupt halt just as a soft gasp reached his ears. He struggled to stay on his feet and saw a flash of pink, indicating that Sakura had stepped in front of him.

'Inner!'

'On it.'

Immediately, Sakura felt something dark and deep reach out towards her. As it swallowed her up, the pain ebbed away, though it felt more like forgetting rather than vanished. She felt limp within her own body, and though she could move her limbs, she felt empty and detached.

Soon, she couldn't feel any pain as her Inner temporarily killed her pain receptors.

From the corner of her eye, she could see the red light of the Cruciatus Curse, but she didn't feel the pain.

Slowly, she got used to the empty feeling and she straightened. She turned and met Voldemort's surprised and pleased gaze challengingly, though her own emerald eyes was void of any emotion.

The Dark Lord stopped the curse and Sakura immediately felt the pressure of the spell vanish.

The Voldemort let out a laugh as he eyed Itachi and Sakura, then Neji and Shikamaru, who had positioned themselves over their teammates. "Perhaps you are more than impressive spells." He said. He turns away, and the dismissal was obvious.

None of the shinobi addressed the shocked silence within the room. Neji and shikamaru both stood a respectful distance away and simply watched as Itachi straightened himself with a graceful air around him. Sakura did the same, and it was easy to recognize the superiority they held and the way they carried themselves as something children from respected clans were taught the moment they could walk.

Albeit missing the usual sharpness, the shinobi respectfully swept their robes to the side and body flickered out of the room.

Draco, like the rest of the people present, watched the Shinobi vanish into mid air, speechless with shock.

"Did they just withstand Crucio without screaming?" Theodore asked him quietly. "On their feet?"

Draco nodded. He saw flashes of all the things he had seen the Shinobi do. They could split the earth, control their own shadow and breath fire. However, he knew both from experience as well as sources that the Cruciatus curse was not just any pain bringing curse.

He knew the four knew of it, and yet, Sakura had stepped in front of Itachi to take the curse.

He found himself not listening as Voldemort continued talking as though nothing had happened and he noticed this with a sudden bout of fear, but luckily, Voldemort didn't ask him any questions.

Finally, Voldemort leaned back, apparently finished talking. Draco caught his father sending him a nod and noted the dismissal. He glanced over at Theo, Greg and Vincent and realized that they had also gotten the same signal.

He got to his feet and bowed low to the Dark Lord before he lead his friends out of the room. The moment the doors had closed behind Theo, who had been at the back, Draco slumped, taking a bunch of deep breaths.

"You...okay?" Theo asked, not really sure of what to say.

"Yeah." Draco forced himself to swallow. "I'm fine." He straightened and out of habit, looked around.

"Now what?" Vincent asked.

"We wait until we're called to serve." Draco said, quoting the words he often heard people say. "Until then..."

"Can we eat?" Greg asked quietly.

Draco glanced over at Theo and when the Nott shrugged, Draco nodded. "Why not?"

He led his schoolmates through the house when a certain turn one caught his eye. He paused and looked down the corridor, noting that it was empty. He couldn't hear anything either.

"Draco?" Theo called.

"Nothing." Draco said, the word automatic. "Come on. This way."

At the kitchen, Draco hesitated, then asked for two cups of water. He watched Greg and Vincent forget themselves for a while and begin asking for food. He waited until he was feeling relatively annoyed before snapping. "We're going." He said curtly. He glanced over at Theo who had just stood there the whole time. The Nott raised his hands in mock defeat. He sighed and turned back to the two boys. "Fine. Stay if you want."

He gripped the two cups and turned, swiftly leaving the kitchen with Theo at his heels.

"Where are we going now?" Theo asked. "I want to visit the library-"

"I don't think you would." Draco said. "It's the Dark Lord's office." He thought of the mercenaries and the time they spent in the library, but didn't bring it up.

"Then where are we going?" Theo pressed.

"We're visiting my..." He trailed off. "My friends."

"Friends?" Theo once again raised his hands. "Okay, okay. Friends, got it."

Draco nodded curtly and sped up. He turned to the corridor he had stopped at earlier and stopped in front of one of the biggest guestrooms in the manor.

Draco glanced at the cups in his hand and wordlessly passed one to Theo. The boy frowned but took it.

Draco took a deep breath and knocked.

The pain came the moment her Inner slowly drew away her control. Sakura stumbled mid step and Shikamaru was there in an instant. "You okay?" He asked.

Sakura let out small whimper and felt her knees buckle. Shikamaru managed to catch her around the waist and she spent few seconds hanging like a limp doll.

"Feel sick." She said. "The pain was so great that there are lingering aftereffects."

Beside her, Itachi was leaning heavily of Neji. His eyes were half closed and he was breathing heavily, but Sakura could see the tenseness in his shoulders. She had managed to remain unaffected to most of the pain while Itachi had taken it head on. He must be feeling worse.

"That hurt." Sakura whined softly.

"Why did you stop us, Uchiha?" Neji asked.

"He is our client." Itachi replied. Neji opened his mouth, eyes burning with subtle anger, but Itachi spoke over him. "We cannot have him suspecting us."

At this, Neji closed his mouth. They arrive at their room a while later. The moment Sakura landed on her bed, she curled into the covers and buried her nose in the pillow. Perhaps this was why the mattresses and pillows in the wizarding world were so soft. It was to prepare for the aftereffects of some painful curse or another.

Neji placed Itachi on the empty space beside her. The Uchiha placed a shaking hand over his eyes and took a deep breath. Sakura saw him visibly relax and she followed.

Neji and Shikamaru sat down on the chairs nearby.

"That was the Cruciatus Curse." Shikamaru said after a while.

Itachi nodded and Sakura opened her mouth. "It lives up to its name, I guess." She smiled a little. "Inner got rid of most of the pain, but when she left, there are still lingering traces of pain." She winced a little. "Okay, maybe more than traces, but yeah."

Just then, there was a knock on their door.

"If it is another mission summon from Voldemort, I'll kill him." Neji muttered, then moved to open the door. He blinked and eyed their surprising visitors. "Hello, Draco." He nodded at Theo, who stood behind him with another cup in hand, the first in Draco's tight grip.

Draco looked around nervously before turning back to the Hyuuga. "Can we...come in?"

Neji glanced over his shoulder at Shikamaru, who shrugged. "Of course." Neji stepped back, Hyuuga upbringing of inviting guests into one's house coming back. "Please, do come in."

Draco took Theodore's cup and did so. He held up the cup of water he was holding. "I was wondering it they were thirsty..." He didn't meet Neji's eyes.

Neji's gaze softened a little. He took the offered cups. "Thank you."

Theodore slowly followed Draco into the room.
Draco had looked hesitant but he could tell that the Malfoy was very comfortable with the hired mercenaries. He slowly returned the nod of greeting Shikamaru sent his way and sat down on an unoccupied bed, next to Draco.

Sakura and Itachi were both lying on the bed opposite theirs but they slowly sat up and gratefully took the cups of water. Sakura quickly gulped down half of it while Itachi took small sips.

After a while, Sakura drew the cup away from her lips and turned towards them, a smile on her face. "Thanks, Dragon." She said. She turned her smile to Theodore. "You too, Theodore."

Draco nodded. "No problem." He snapped his fingers a few times, before looking away. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Of course." Sakura smiled brightly. "Well, not fully, but we'll be fully recovered in a bit."

Theodore gathered his courage to ask the question that had been bugging him for a while. "So you guys were working for the Dark Lord this whole time?" He asked.

Itachi nodded. "Yes."

"Oh." Theodore trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"What now?" Neji asked.

"Nothing." Itachi said. "We just wait until we get another calling."

Neji frowned a little at this and sat back down on the chair he had previously been occupying.

"What about you guys?" Sakura asked, once again turning to the two purebloods. "Is the meeting over?"

Draco shook his head. "I guess they're going to discuss 'adult stuff'."

Sakura grinned.

Shikamaru lazily rolled his neck, cracking it. "Shogi?" He asked no one in particular.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't like pink frogs anyways."

Shikamaru scoffed and bought out a scroll. He summoned the Shogi set and proceeded to set it up.

Maybe they could squeeze in a game before Voldemort called them back.

"Would you like anything?" Neji asked.

Draco shook his head. "Not really. Can we just...stay here for a while?"

Theodore noted that he was included in the 'we', but he didn't really protest. He sort of understood why hanging around these four seemed to help the boy relaxed.

Not only that, but he felt safe. He saw Itachi pull out a scroll from nowhere. Deciding not to question where it had come from, for he now knew just how deeply their secrets were buried, he decided to question him about its content instead.

Itachi looked up. He blinked, then gestured for the Nott to come closer.

The Uchiha showed him the scroll he was currently reading. "Theories." He said. He saw the boy's eyes light up at the word and he moved a little. "I could...translate a little."

Theo slowly sat down and Itachi turned back to his scroll.

Halfway through the game, a sudden thought hit Sakura. "Dragon?"

The blond looked up from where he had been messing around with his wand. "Yeah?"

"Do you happen to know a Dolores Umbridge?" She asked.

Draco winced at the name and glanced over at Theo. "Yes."

"Who is she? What was she like?"

"She's a member of the ministry." He said. "She also taught DADA and was Headmaster when Dumbledore..." He trialed off again. "When Dumbledore was fired."

"This was a year before our arrival." Sakura stated.

Draco nodded in confirmation.

Shikamaru was deep in thought, and no one could tell if he was thinking about the game of shogi or the information he had just learned.

However, they were soon interrupted by the arrival of an house elf. "The Lord would like your presence."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and glanced over at Itachi.

"Already? That's pretty quick." Theodore said.

"I'll go." Neji offered. He raised his hand when Itachi opened his mouth. "You need to recover." He added, then quickly vanished in the direction of the meeting room. He reappeared a few minute later, eyes narrowed. "We have a job. One of the Death Eaters brought some news and he wants us to check it out."

"News?" Shikamaru asked. "Did he say how urgent it was or how dangerous it would be?"

"Just the usual scouting." Neji said. "I believe Shikamaru and I can handle it."

Itachi nodded after a short moment. "We'll leave it to you."

He received three nods.

"By the way," Shikamaru casually leaned over the shogi board and moved a piece. "Check." He sent Sakura a lazy smirk.

Sakura scowled at the bard as though it had done her some personal offence and clicked her tongue. "Dang."

"Come on, Nara." Neji called.

Shikamaru nodded. Without another word, the two of them vanished in a puff of smoke.

"So it really is into thin air." Theo murmured. "No trick?"

"It's just super fast travel." Sakura said. "So fast that you can't see it."

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Will they be okay?" He asked.

"Course." Sakura said confidently. "It's Shika and Neji." However, the smile was gone from her face. Itachi nudged her with his shoulder when the pinkette lifted her hand and inspected it. She clenched her fist. "Even my chakra feels numb." She muttered. "I'll heal us when it stops."

Itachi hummed softly.

"So who are you really?" Theodore asked. "And you look way too young to actually be sixteen or seventeen."

"Tachi's nineteen." Sakura said. "Neji's fifteen...Shika's and I are thirteen...Yeah."

"That's a pretty big range." Theodore said, not knowing what else to say. Age didn't seem to be affecting their job, or mission, or whatever they were doing under Voldemort.

"Shika and I were in the same class during Academy." Sakura said. "I've lived with Tachi since I was six? And I'm good friends with his brother, who's our age. Neji and I are...you could say similar?" She shrugged. "Besides, we're all good at what we do. It's natural to put the best together." She grinned, then shot Itachi a look. "Well, Team Seven's still better, but we're pretty awesome too."

Itachi nodded, simply going along with it.

Sakura stretched. "So, Dragon, Theodore, are you guys ready for school?" She asked.

"Call me Theo." Theodore found himself saying. "Saying 'Theodore' all the time must be a mouthful."

"Mkay, Theo." Sakura grinned. "So, are you guys ready for school?" She repeated, successfully managing to change the topic of their conversation.

Once Sakura was sure her chakra had stopped going haywire, she healed herself of any lingering pain, then did the same with Itachi.

Just in time too, for a House Elf soon came to get them.

Sakura slowly pulled herself off the bed and placed both feet firmly on the ground. She shuffled around a little then smiled when pain didn't shoot up her limbs.

Draco was watching her, as though she would collapse any second. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Sakura nodded and waited for Itachi to get to his feet. "Perfectly fine." She smiled reassuringly at the boy.

Itachi and Sakura led the Juniors back into the office when another House elf came to tell them of their summoning. They once again ignored the ever growing looks of shock boring into the backs of their heads and took their places on either side of Voldemort's throne and listened as he named Severus Snape the new Headmaster, then Amycus and Alecto Carrow the position of Deputy Headmaster, then spoke to them regarding the new curriculum he wanted them implement.

All in all, none of the really understood why they were supposed to be there.

Neji and Shikamaru returned a little before dinner was served and reported their findings to Voldemort in the library.

Itachi and Sakura were waiting for them in their assigned guest room.

Upon entry, Neji handed them a newspaper article. Itachi read over the page Neji had offered him and narrowed his eyes.

"She's serving as the under secretary to the minister." Neji said. "She's in charge of muggle registration and prosecution."

"So the only way to get to her is to infiltrate the Ministry." Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Do you have a map or something?"

Sakura skipped up to them, grinning. She shoved a parchment in Shikamaru's direction.

"When's our next free?" Shikamaru asked.

"School's coming up." Itachi said, a small frown visible on his face. "We'll be busier than ever."

Sakura rolled her neck. "Why don't we see what we need do first?" She suggested. "Then we can split accordingly."

Shikamaru sighed but nodded. He opened the map and and grabbed a scroll. "How troublesome."

On the first day of the new term, Team Riki took the train to Hogwarts. Draco seemed pretty nervous, and Team Riki decided that he had the right to be.

Fearful glances were being sent towards Slytherin as a whole, and Team Riki also understood this. No one knew who to trust. The absence of the 'Golden Trio' seemed to add to everyone's nervousness and fear.

This seemed to escalate when a group of Death Eaters stopped the train and stormed in, looked for traces of Harry Potter. None of them were wearing masks and they ignored the stares they received as they looked through the cabins.

The Shinobi pointedly ignored them. It wasn't long before they left as quickly as they had come.

"After everything, of course Harry Potter wouldn't be here." Neji murmured.

Itachi shrugged.

Once they had gotten off the train, Sakura noticed something she hadn't paid much attention to the first time round.

When they had first come to Hogwarts, her mind had been full of 'mission', 'client' and 'target'. However, this time, she was more relaxed on the inside and the skeletal reptile like horses fondly reminded her of her summons.

Truth be told, it was Drco that had first stopped, eyes widening in shock.

Sakura had simply stopped to ask what was wrong, only to realize what exactly he was looking at.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Never seen them before." Draco said, looking as though he wasn't really there. "But after everything..."

Neji, who had been standing beside her and had stopped when she did, glanced over and raised an eyebrow. "Whoa." He said, in a 'how-the-hell-did-we-miss-that?' kind of way.

Itachi watched the people around them ignoring them, as though no one could see them. "Skeleton horses." He summed up.

"I think they're cute." Sakura said. "Like Kurogarasu."

"Yes, because skeleton birds that wear masks and shed their feathers randomly and can grow into the size of a small house is cute." Neji said without missing a beat.

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome. What are they anyways?"

"Those are Thestrals." Someone said.

Sakura turned around and saw Theodore casually making his way towards her. "Hello, Theo." Sakura waved.

"Hi." He replied, then nodded in Draco's direction.

The Malfoy nodded back. "Hey."

"So, Thestrals?" Sakura pressed.

Theodore nodded. "Long story short, only people who've seen death can see them."

Draco blinked. "We leant that in Care of Magical Creatures." He said.

Theo nodded. He glanced at the Shinobi from the corner of his eye, then turned his gaze out to the other students, who were eying them warily. "Most people can't see them, and it makes them nervous when you can."

Sakura ran a hand over the Thestrals nose, reminded of the deer in the Nara forest. "Oh." She hummed. "You can see them too?"

Theodore nodded but didn't elaborate and Sakura didn't press for any more information.

Shikamaru drew back at a Shinobi worthy speed when one snapped at his hand. "I agree with Hyuuga." He said. "They are not cute."

"Cute?" Theodore asked curiously.

"Sakura thinks they're cute." Draco supplied, and the two Slytherin boys turned to look at Sakura skeptically.

"What?" She asked defensively. "They are cute."

Itachi placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder, then shot his two male teammates amused looks. "We can question Sakura's definition of 'cute' later." He casually dodged the elbow Sakura sent his way. "Come on, we'll be late."

Snape's appointment as Headmaster was met with a lot of disapproval from both the professors and the students, but no one had any real power to oppose the change.

However, the first years were still placed dutifully into the new houses and everyone was silent as Snape named Horace Slughorn as the new Slytherin head of house, then reminded the students of the places they shouldn't go and the Quidditch tryouts.

He then brought up the changes to the Muggle Studies course and introduced Alecto Carrow as the new teacher. He then named Amycus Carrow as the new DADA teacher and named the new spells that were now open for the students to learn.

Ginevra Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood restarted 'Dumbledore's army' and spent their time trying to protect the student's from Amycus Carrow, who had quickly begun pushing his limits with what he could do to the students.

She had heard rumors about the twins, but Sakura had been walking with Itachi, Draco and Theodore from a Slytherin-Ravenclaw shared classes when she heard a commotion, which led to her actually witnessing the two in action. She glanced at Itachi, who nodded swiftly. She then at the other two from the corner of her eye and noted that they didn't seem to notice anything. She used her chakra to check out the distance and noted that it was a little too far for non-shinobi to hear it.

"Dragon."

Draco stopped mid complaint about some homework or another and turned to her, recognizing the tone Sakura's voice had taken on. "Yeah?" He asked cautiously.

"Would you and Theodore return to the Common room first?" Itachi said. "There seems to be something we need to take care of."

Draco nodded. He sent Theodore a look that silenced any questions the Nott may have had and the two kept going without pressing.

Sakura used her Byakugan to checked the location of the two Slytherins a few seconds later and confirmed that the two really were heading to the common room and not trying to find out what they were trying to do or anything. Itachi's hand casually lowered to the hidden weapon concealed in his robe.

They came across the Carrow twins hovering over a young boy, who looked like he was in his first or second year. She eyed the boy, whose eyes were barely open and his limbs were lying limply at his sides, and blinked curiously at the Carrows, who had looked up upon her entry and had yet to say anything. "What're you doing?" She asked.

"Ah, Miss Haruno." Alecto cackled. "Why don't you run along now?"

It had been Voldemort's orders that none of them were to expose the Shinobi under any circumstances.

However, Sakura stayed planted in her spot. "But what are you doing?" She repeated, knowing that if it came down to it, the Carrows would have to retreat.

"What a teacher does to their student none of your business, is it?" Amycus sneered.

"But he's hurt." Sakura narrowed her eyes a little. "Why don't you run along?"

Amycus opened his mouth, probably to say more, but Itachi's voice cut in. "Students have to stick together, then, don't they?" He drew his left sleeve back, an action he did before he drew his wand. His eyes narrowed a little and is onyx eyes appeared even darker than usual.

Amycus and Alecto shared a short glance before they quickly darted off. "They run like ducks." SHe commented offhandedly once they were out of hearing range.

She looked down at the boy and gently shook him. "Hello?"

The boy's eyes opened just a little and he blinked a few times. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when Itachi grabbed her shoulder. "Incoming." He said.

Sakura stretched out her own senses and felt Ginevra and some other student making their way rapidly towards them.

"That's our que to leave." Sakura placed a hand on the boy's forehead and ran some healing chakra through him. She sensed him begin to relax and got to her feet. The two Shinobi departed before anyone could see them.

The next day, they were approached by Neville on their way to breakfast. "I heard you warned off the 'Ducks'." He said quietly.

Sakura blinked, and a small smile bloomed on her face. "We did." She said.

Neville scratch the neck of his neck in a way that reminded Sakura of Naruto. "I...see..." He trailed off. "Tristan says thanks." At Sakura's confused look, Neville elaborated. "The boy you saved."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "Tell him no problem." She said.

Pretending not to notice Neville's calculating look boring into her back, Sakura turned back to her team and walked off to their next class.

It was Itachi's summon's report that forced Team Riki to make their next move.

With no time to risk wasting on planning or preparations, Itachi and Sakura quickly departed for the Ministry building at the first signs of dawn, leaving behind shadow clones in their place in order to not arouse suspicion with Neji and Shikamaru covering for them. Sakura summoned Kurogarasu and concealed by a strong genjutsu, they flew towards their location. They could not risk Harry Potter and his friends leaving their safe house to infiltrate the Ministry building.

Being kept updated by Itachi's crow on the wereabout of of the Golden Trio, Itachi and Sakura snuck into the Ministry office. They had kept an eye on a certain woman and they knew what the Golden Trio In reply, itachi held up his wand. ge was planning the trials of a handful of people accused of doing something or another and they found the woman sitting in her office going through some papers.

Hidden by another genjutsu, the two of them snuck into the office when some man brought another stack of reports without a problem.

"How are we going to make sure the Golden trio don't attempt a break in after we take the locket?" Sakura asked. "They won't know that the Umbridge woman doesn't have it anymore."

Itachi glanced around the room, eyes landing on the newspapers being printed. "We'll cause a commotion." He said. "If they're smart, it should warn them off from trying anything."

"And if they're not?" Sakura asked.

"They should be." Itachi said. "But if it comes down to is, a genjutsu should do."

Sakura grinned at this. "I never knew genjutsu could be so useful." She said.

Itachi smiled softly at this.

Dolores Umbridge didn't know what hit her.

Sakura flicked a coin and it hit the door, falling to the floor with a loud clatter. The woman looked up from whatever she had been reading and stood up, moving towards the door. Itachi appeared behind the woman in a blink of an eye and had knocked her out with a harsh blow to the back of the neck.

The woman was out without a sound.

The two of them moved the woman back to her desk and positioned her so that it looked like she had fallen asleep. Itachi then unclipped the locket and sealed it.

had brought along. "So, henge or do you want to try that replication spell thing?" She asked.

In reply, Itachi held up his wand, said "Gemino." then gave it a small wave. He nodded when the sparks of the spell settled, then placed the fake around the woman's neck.

"As perfect as always." Sakura smoothly got to her feet. "Let's go?"

Iatchi followed. "One more thing." He summoned the can of spray paint Sakura had brought along. He eyed the name 'NARUTO' written on the side and glanced at the pinkette.

"Before he left with the Toad Sannin, Ruto said I have free to access to his...supplies." Sakura shrugged. "It was useful, right?"

Itachi shook the can, then activated his Sharingan. "Any ideas?"

"Henohenomoheji." Sakura replied instantly. Itachi eyed her for a while before he sighed.

And then, he proceeded to draw the world's most balanced, perfect henohenomoheji.

Sakura let out a small cheer as Itachi drew in the last line.

The next day, the article that occupied the front page of the newspaper was about the possibility of a new gang of sorts. The 'gang mark' was also there as well, and as Shikamaru inspected it, Itachi preened under Sakura's pleased look.

Team Riki made sure a copy was delivered to Harry Potter and his friends.

Sakura secretly stored away a copy as well. This was Naruto worthy.

So, here's chapter eight...

Meh...

Yeah...

Darque: Hey, guess what?

Raven: What?

Darque: I just read something very interesting.

Raven: Oh, what's that?

Darque: So basically, each person has 2 parents, then 4 grandparents then 8 great grandparents and the numbers keep doubling with each generation, right?

Raven: Yeah.

Darque: If you keep tracing back, by the time you hit 35 generations back, we'd have more ancestors than the whole populations of the planet. You're the smart one. Get it?

Raven: That means I'm related to you.

Darque: Is that all you can say?

Raven: Oh the horrors.

Read and Review~