[Fic] "An Ounce of Prevention" chapter 19 -- Naruto/Harry Potter

[edenfalling]

This is part 19 of An Ounce of Prevention, a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover that I started as a giftfic for 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 19: Once Burned
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"Do you need a minute?" Kakashi asked as Sakura collapsed to the floor of her mind, hung her head down between her knees, and tried not to vomit.

Sakura glared at her feet. "No. I'm going to feel awful in here or out there. I might as well try to do something useful. Just... how do I make sure the door stays locked? I can't keep Tomu out by wishing."

"Yes you can. How else would you lock a door made of thoughts?" Kakashi crouched down and offered her a hand. "Imagine a lock -- imagine a hundred locks, if you want -- and don't let your concentration slip for a second."

Sakura let him help her up and stared at the door. Two rings and a padlock seemed to grow out of the wood. Then iron brackets and a steel bar. Then two deadbolts, one high and one low; they turned with audible clicks.

"That's all I can remember at once," she said. "How do we wake up?"

Kakashi's eyes crinkled up into a smile. "Like this." He snapped his fingers.

Black and red winds whirled her in a maddening spiral until Sakura closed her eyes against the force of the air. Instantly, the spinning stopped.

After a moment, she opened her eyes.

Kakashi finished slipping his forehead protector back down over his face and stepped back, tilting his head. "And here we are, awake from the dream. Unless, of course, we're all really butterflies--"

"--dreaming that we're human, right," said Anko, somewhere off to the right. "Enough of that shit. What's your status, and what did you learn about our resident mystery man?"

Sakura realized she was still clutching the diary, and dropped it onto the table. She wanted as little contact with Tomu as possible, in case he had the mental equivalent of a lock-pick.

She raised her head and turned to face Anko and Tsunade across the table -- Tsunade sitting stern and upright with her hands curved around a lumpy gray teacup, and Anko lounging bonelessly in her chair with far too much cleavage on display and a ring of glittering steel flashing through the air in front of her.

"You're juggling kunai," she said, her equilibrium still not quite recovered.

Anko rolled her eyes and made a rude noise. "Congratulations, you can see the obvious. Snap out of it and tell us all of Hanjimono's dirty secrets. And Kakashi, put the book down. You can fink out of your responsibilities later."

Pages rustled behind Sakura. She resolutely refused to look.

"Hanjimono Tomu is the replica of a person who killed an innocent civilian girl as part of an immortality spell," she said, meeting Tsunade's assessing gaze. "This Tomu wants to drain someone's life in order to create a new body for himself. I'm not sure how that would work, but he admitted his plan to me when he thought I was helpless. He's a threat." Gingerly, she nudged the diary into the center of the table.

Tsunade took a long drink from her cup and glared at the book. "I hate scum like that. But, to cover all the options, is there any way we could turn the diary into a weapon? Would it be possible to learn and adapt any of Hanjimono's techniques to work with chakra instead of his magic? And if so, would the risk be worth the gain?"

"There are some people I'd kill to see wither away," Anko mused, catching her knives in one hand and tapping them thoughtfully against her other palm. "But then we'd have to deal with Hanjimono in person -- it'd be trading a rattlesnake for a cobra."

"Any study is potentially life-threatening," Kakashi added, walking around the table to lean against the window frame. "What if the imprint's genjutsu is more successful on the next researcher? What if it's stolen? Can you imagine what might happen if Akatsuki acquired dozens of unknown techniques, or if Orochimaru found a more reliable path to immortality?"

Sakura shuddered. If Akatsuki found more ways to kill Naruto, or if Orochimaru decided Sasuke was useless...

"Yeah, let's not go there," Anko said. "I vote we kill the bastard. Sakura? What's your choice? You know him best."

Sakura looked down at her hands, thinking about friends and consequences and the pale, staring face of a foreign girl who'd died for no reason, just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. She thought about the dead, echoing emptiness in Tomu's eyes, the complete disregard for anyone but himself. She thought about ways to channel chakra from a group of people, enough to power massive jutsu without any need for death, and how Tomu had never even thought to ask for help. He just took, and never counted the cost.

"Execution," she said, after a long moment.

She'd never killed anyone before. She wished she'd tried snapping Tomu's neck, back inside the diary -- maybe it wouldn't have worked, but at least that would have been self-defense, in the heat of battle. This choice, this rational weighing of risks and consequences, was somehow worse. Colder. Less human.

More like him.

"I assume you still want to destroy the diary, Kakashi?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes," he said.

Tsunade grimaced. "That makes us unanimous. A pity -- contact with another world could have been fascinating, and so much more useful. But there's no point holding off on the cure. Kakashi? You're best with fire."

"Sure. Toss it in the air so I won't hit the table as well."

Tsunade leaned forward, grabbed the diary, and lobbed it in an easy, underhand arc toward the window. Kakashi slashed his hand through the air, trailing a shimmer of heat that intercepted the book two feet from the floor.

Blue-white flames engulfed the diary.

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End of Chapter

Back to He Who Laughs Last

Continue to Three Can Keep a Secret

Read the final version on ff.net

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And we're up to a 23-chapter outline. *headdesk*

I despise plot mechanics. I know exactly where I'm trying to go, but the trouble with attempting to keep the fundamentally loopy premise as logical as possible -- and keep the Leaf-nin acting both IC and, you know, like ninjas -- is that it's taking twice as long to reach the ending as I thought it would.

Also, it's hard to write when it's too hot to think... which is why I'm posting this past midnight. I have to stay up this late in order to have any chance of stringing words together in a vaguely coherent fashion.

*prays for a cold front*

Comments

[silverblade219.livejournal.com]

I really like Sakura's thoughts on Tom in this chapter. how Tomu had never even thought to ask for help. He just took, and never counted the cost. could be seen as a subconscious comparison to Sasuke, who betrayed the village to get what he wanted (or I could be over reading it...). Her thoughts on how she never killed anyone before and how she wished she could have had a 'heat of the moment' justification is interesting too.

(and prays for a cold front as well. Too hot, unless you sit right in front of the air conditioner...)

[edenfalling]

I didn't intend that line as a comparison to Sasuke, but you're right, it does work that way... though I don't think it's a comparison Sakura is making consciously.

I think Sasuke did count the cost, to some degree. He just has weird priorities that make him weight things wrong, and therefore comes to screwy decisions. And I'm sure that if Sakura realized her subconscious mind was comparing Sasuke to Tom, she'd jump to Sasuke's defense. She'd probably say that he knew he was doing something stupid and hurtful, which was why he wouldn't let her come with him, and why he left his forehead protector with Naruto, as a sort of apology.

Personally, I'm not completely convinced by either pro-Sasuke or anti-Sasuke arguments -- I think he was broken and had reasons for his actions, but I also think he was utterly, utterly wrong and executed his decision badly even if you assume it was a justifiable choice -- so I think I like the ambiguity of that line. I like that it may apply to him, or may not; it all depends on the reader's point of view.

Which is a far longer response than I meant to write. Sorry for rambling at you! :-)

[nights-fang.livejournal.com]

Bravo! (Has nothing else to say)

[edenfalling]

Thank you! (Trust me, appreciation is always... um... appreciated. I swear that worked better in my head.)

[issen4.livejournal.com]

I really like how they opt for destruction instead of foolishly trying to make use of it, running the risk of being manipulated by Tom. It might be less human, as Sakura puts it, but what about all the other humans around, right?

[edenfalling]

It's a very utilitarian choice, and cold, but it's one I find hard to argue with -- unless you can be dead sure you can hide the diary where no one can ever find it, it's a time bomb waiting to go off, and if you know that and don't take any steps to prevent future deaths... Yeah. Ethics is fun, because often there are no right choices, just varying degrees of fraught and awkward ones.

[carthae.livejournal.com]

Me thinks that the diary as the equivalent of an impervious against fire and won't be destroyed that easily...

[edenfalling]

Curses! I am discovered!

*removes tongue from cheek*

[askerian]

Oh Sakura. ;______; I really like that "friends and consequences" paragraph. The locks thing was cool too. ^^

You know, out of the three team Seven kids, she's probably the one who can make that kind of decision most coldly. Naruto would NEVAR and Sasuke made the decision that he wouldn't kill anyone who doesn't stand in his way (and even then he seems to have a bad track record, see Naruto and Oro >_>), but I think she's able to make the decision to be judge and executioner if it's necessary. She mentioned torturing Hidan and/or Kakuzu for information so logically. XD

[edenfalling]

I actually need to go through the next chapter and insert a mention or two of Sakura still feeling wobbly, and remembering to keep locks on the door. It's too fun a thread to drop. :-)

Sakura is a kind and understanding person, but she does think more clearly than either Naruto or Sasuke... when she's not distracted by a crush. I think it's related to her skill at logic problems -- she can sort of step back from the immediate situation and see it as a problem on a page, to be solved rather than to be experienced.

Naruto can often see to the heart of a tangle in one flash of emotion, but he's not so good at issues where the only acceptable answer is still a bad choice. And Sasuke can often think logically, but his entire worldview is wildly skewed, which often means he runs through a rational thought process and still comes to utterly stupid conclusions. (And then he gets ambushed by the emotions he's pretending not to have. *grin*)

[bewize.livejournal.com]

Great chapter! I'm so excited to see the progress you're making on this fic and I can't wait to see the ending of it. :D Wheeee!

[edenfalling]

Four more chapters to go! (Well, I hope it's only four. *crosses fingers and glares at outline*)

[terrible-t.livejournal.com]

I just want to say I loved the reference to butterflies. Knocking on Heaven's Door indeed. XD

This was a very weird idea that has turned into a monstrous bunny. It's obvious that no matter what you do, it's going to chew on your head until you write it. Which is good for us (your readers) but I dunno about your poor sanity. ;n;

Anyways, thanks for all the quick updates.

[edenfalling]

Thank you! I've always liked that butterfly story -- I don't know its original setting, but it's a lovely anecdote and stands well on its own.

The sad thing is that "An Ounce of Prevention" is still, in absolute word count, much shorter than some of my other ideas. Assuming an average chapter length of 875 words, and subtracting a bit for chapter 1 and the epilogue presumably being shorter, it should come to 19,500 words total, give or take.

It's just... a lot more complicated than I expected when I wrote what I thought was a very short one-shot!