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edenfallingThis is part 18 of An Ounce of Prevention, a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover that I started as a giftfic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
askerian.
Technically, it's an insertion of one HP character/plot device into the Naruto world, but that does count as a crossover of sorts. "An Ounce of Prevention" will not affect canon in either series; that is, it takes place during the Naruto timeskip, and significantly before CoS in HP. (Which gives away at least part of the ending, but whatever. *grin*)
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Chapter 18: He Who Laughs Last
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"Hana, Hana, Hana. What am I going to do with you?"
Tomu's voice was light and mocking, but Sakura knew better than to assume he was anything other than deadly serious and dangerous. She tried again to move her arms and legs, and failed. Interesting. Was this spell similar to the Hyuuga clan's incapacitation jutsu? Did it have anything in common with the sleep and anesthetic jutsu Tsunade said she'd start learning next year? Could she undo it? She'd managed to undo Tsunade's training misalignments... once, anyway. Was Tomu's spell anything like that?
Sakura sent her mind inward, trying to feel the constrictions on her inner coils. There was no sense trying to answer Tomu anyway; he was just gloating, like every other self-important megalomaniac she'd met. He didn't need a response.
"You're not paying attention to me," Tomu said, crouching down beside her and passing his hand in front of her eyes. "Why is that? Do you think you can break my spell? Tell me, Hana, what are you trying to do?"
Foreign energy washed over her like a warm bath. Relax, it whispered. Let go. You're tired, so tired. Stop worrying, let go, and it will be all right. Just let go and obey.
"That's it, good girl," Tomu said as Sakura's eyes began to close against her will and a fatuous smile tried to curve her lips. "I've released your face, just enough to talk. Tell me everything, Hana. You'll feel much better once you're not keeping any secrets from me. Everything will be fine, I promise."
Obey, the spell whispered. Believe.
Like hell. The only person who might have talked her into betraying Konoha was long gone, and she already had someone to believe in. There were no cracks in her heart for Tomu to worm his way in -- not anymore, not now that she'd seen his true self.
Sakura wrenched her eyes open and put teeth into her smile. "Liar. I will die before I tell you one damned thing."
Tomu hissed through his teeth in frustration. "So you can resist Imperius. That's interesting, but it won't help you in the end. I have other ways of getting information out of people, and they're much less comfortable for you."
He rolled Sakura onto her back and stared into her eyes.
The world swam, as if the air had thickened and changed to rippling water. Tomu's eyes, cold and blue and somehow burning, grew and grew until all she saw was blue and black, and something pressed against her head, aching at the back of her eyes and the base of her skull, and cold, ragged, rotting fingers skimmed through her thoughts, and this was wrong, and where was Kakashi and what did he think he was waiting for, and why was she waiting for him anyway? Why the hell was she just lying here and taking this like a pathetic little girl playing at princess and fucking samurai?
"Get the fuck out of my head!"
Something hit the wall with a meaty thump and a choked-off yell.
Dazed, Sakura sat up, one hand pressed to the back of her neck and the other braced on the floor for balance. She felt like her head might fall off if she moved too fast, like someone had ripped open the top of her skull and stirred her brain around with a whisk, leaving all the neural connections misaligned.
Tomu lay in a crumpled heap a good ten meters down the corridor. Sakura blinked. Had she done that? She must have done it -- her knuckles were skinned and her wrist ached the way it always did after she focused chakra for a punch, and anyway, nobody else was here.
Speaking of which... where was Kakashi? The door to her mind was open. Why hadn't he come through to back her up?
Slowly, carefully, Sakura stood up, leaning against the wall for support. Equally carefully, she turned around.
Kakashi stood just beyond the doorway, framed against utter blackness, the crackling glove of Chidori fading from around his hand.
'Report,' she signed, taking a shaky step toward the relative safety of her own mind.
Kakashi leaned forward and shoved one hand toward the doorway. Instead of crossing through, his palm slammed against an invisible barrier. He repeated the gesture, then rocked back on his heels and shrugged. 'Trap,' he signed. 'Hurry.'
Sakura scowled. If she hurried, her head might fall off, or she might throw up. On the other hand, if she didn't hurry, Tomu might wake up.
Five interminable seconds later, she stepped back into her own mind.
She slammed the door behind her.
---------------------------------------------
End of Chapter
Back to A Miss Is as Good
Continue to Once Burned
Read the final version on ff.net
---------------------------------------------
The outline expanded again -- I now have 22 chapters (counting the epilogue) rather than 21. This is partly because I needed some page space for a transition, but partly because a plot point changed on me while I was working on part 19. It doesn't make much difference to the outcome, just to the process by which that outcome is reached. I think half the change comes from my subconscious constructing a more plausible device to solve one plot problem, and half from a semi-conscious effort not to give Sakura too much information.
See, one of the things I like about this particular crossover is that the ninjas never do learn all that much about the HP world, and Tom never learns all that much about Konoha, either. They're in a situation where they could trade all sorts of information, but for character and plot reasons, they don't. They pass each other by rather than becoming friends.
As I may or may not have somebody explicitly say, it's a shame that such a momentous occasion -- first contact with a person from another world! -- is a complete bust. But you can't expect success on every mission, and at least they keep Konoha safe.
I want to contrast that sense of futility and missed opportunities with Sakura's growing confidence in her own ability, and maybe give her proof that even when things don't work out the way you'd like, you can still know that you did your best, and move on. I may not manage to get all that into the story -- actually, judging by past experience, I almost certainly won't manage to -- but it's definitely one of the themes in the back of my head.
askerian.Technically, it's an insertion of one HP character/plot device into the Naruto world, but that does count as a crossover of sorts. "An Ounce of Prevention" will not affect canon in either series; that is, it takes place during the Naruto timeskip, and significantly before CoS in HP. (Which gives away at least part of the ending, but whatever. *grin*)
---------------------------------------------
Chapter 18: He Who Laughs Last
---------------------------------------------
"Hana, Hana, Hana. What am I going to do with you?"
Tomu's voice was light and mocking, but Sakura knew better than to assume he was anything other than deadly serious and dangerous. She tried again to move her arms and legs, and failed. Interesting. Was this spell similar to the Hyuuga clan's incapacitation jutsu? Did it have anything in common with the sleep and anesthetic jutsu Tsunade said she'd start learning next year? Could she undo it? She'd managed to undo Tsunade's training misalignments... once, anyway. Was Tomu's spell anything like that?
Sakura sent her mind inward, trying to feel the constrictions on her inner coils. There was no sense trying to answer Tomu anyway; he was just gloating, like every other self-important megalomaniac she'd met. He didn't need a response.
"You're not paying attention to me," Tomu said, crouching down beside her and passing his hand in front of her eyes. "Why is that? Do you think you can break my spell? Tell me, Hana, what are you trying to do?"
Foreign energy washed over her like a warm bath. Relax, it whispered. Let go. You're tired, so tired. Stop worrying, let go, and it will be all right. Just let go and obey.
"That's it, good girl," Tomu said as Sakura's eyes began to close against her will and a fatuous smile tried to curve her lips. "I've released your face, just enough to talk. Tell me everything, Hana. You'll feel much better once you're not keeping any secrets from me. Everything will be fine, I promise."
Obey, the spell whispered. Believe.
Like hell. The only person who might have talked her into betraying Konoha was long gone, and she already had someone to believe in. There were no cracks in her heart for Tomu to worm his way in -- not anymore, not now that she'd seen his true self.
Sakura wrenched her eyes open and put teeth into her smile. "Liar. I will die before I tell you one damned thing."
Tomu hissed through his teeth in frustration. "So you can resist Imperius. That's interesting, but it won't help you in the end. I have other ways of getting information out of people, and they're much less comfortable for you."
He rolled Sakura onto her back and stared into her eyes.
The world swam, as if the air had thickened and changed to rippling water. Tomu's eyes, cold and blue and somehow burning, grew and grew until all she saw was blue and black, and something pressed against her head, aching at the back of her eyes and the base of her skull, and cold, ragged, rotting fingers skimmed through her thoughts, and this was wrong, and where was Kakashi and what did he think he was waiting for, and why was she waiting for him anyway? Why the hell was she just lying here and taking this like a pathetic little girl playing at princess and fucking samurai?
"Get the fuck out of my head!"
Something hit the wall with a meaty thump and a choked-off yell.
Dazed, Sakura sat up, one hand pressed to the back of her neck and the other braced on the floor for balance. She felt like her head might fall off if she moved too fast, like someone had ripped open the top of her skull and stirred her brain around with a whisk, leaving all the neural connections misaligned.
Tomu lay in a crumpled heap a good ten meters down the corridor. Sakura blinked. Had she done that? She must have done it -- her knuckles were skinned and her wrist ached the way it always did after she focused chakra for a punch, and anyway, nobody else was here.
Speaking of which... where was Kakashi? The door to her mind was open. Why hadn't he come through to back her up?
Slowly, carefully, Sakura stood up, leaning against the wall for support. Equally carefully, she turned around.
Kakashi stood just beyond the doorway, framed against utter blackness, the crackling glove of Chidori fading from around his hand.
'Report,' she signed, taking a shaky step toward the relative safety of her own mind.
Kakashi leaned forward and shoved one hand toward the doorway. Instead of crossing through, his palm slammed against an invisible barrier. He repeated the gesture, then rocked back on his heels and shrugged. 'Trap,' he signed. 'Hurry.'
Sakura scowled. If she hurried, her head might fall off, or she might throw up. On the other hand, if she didn't hurry, Tomu might wake up.
Five interminable seconds later, she stepped back into her own mind.
She slammed the door behind her.
---------------------------------------------
End of Chapter
Back to A Miss Is as Good
Continue to Once Burned
Read the final version on ff.net
---------------------------------------------
The outline expanded again -- I now have 22 chapters (counting the epilogue) rather than 21. This is partly because I needed some page space for a transition, but partly because a plot point changed on me while I was working on part 19. It doesn't make much difference to the outcome, just to the process by which that outcome is reached. I think half the change comes from my subconscious constructing a more plausible device to solve one plot problem, and half from a semi-conscious effort not to give Sakura too much information.
See, one of the things I like about this particular crossover is that the ninjas never do learn all that much about the HP world, and Tom never learns all that much about Konoha, either. They're in a situation where they could trade all sorts of information, but for character and plot reasons, they don't. They pass each other by rather than becoming friends.
As I may or may not have somebody explicitly say, it's a shame that such a momentous occasion -- first contact with a person from another world! -- is a complete bust. But you can't expect success on every mission, and at least they keep Konoha safe.
I want to contrast that sense of futility and missed opportunities with Sakura's growing confidence in her own ability, and maybe give her proof that even when things don't work out the way you'd like, you can still know that you did your best, and move on. I may not manage to get all that into the story -- actually, judging by past experience, I almost certainly won't manage to -- but it's definitely one of the themes in the back of my head.
