Disclaimer - I don't really like the legal disclaimers most Fanfictions tack on the beginning of chapters, but I am more than willing to observe tradition.
Uzumaki Hari and the Squib of HogwartsGood Intentions
"Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them" -Aldous Huxley
Intent, as any worthwhile wizard will tell you, is the most important factor when shaping a spell. I want this feather to float. I want these rocks turned to iron. I want this man dead, if you dabble in the dark. What often goes unsaid is that intent needs to be controlled, otherwise a spell may go awry. You should never cast a spell whose end you cannot see. For one, they tend to consume their caster, requiring far too much magic for any normal witch or wizard. For another, they often have unintended consequences.
That's why when Lily Evans was preparing for the end of her life, hoping to sacrifice herself for her son, she knew that she needed a spell to protect young Harry. Protection from the Dark Lord was a sure thing. Her death for him would make that protection extraordinarily potent. With luck, Voldemort would not be able to even touch her son.
Unfortunately, no mother wants her son to simply survive, which led to complications. As she incanted that most ancient of magic, she felt her love for him bursting from her heart. She wished more than anything that her son would be happy and live a wonderful life. She finished the incantation, unsure of herself as the twisted man burst into her house. She begged him to spare her son and he foolishly fell into her trap as a burst of green light struck her in the chest, completing the spell.
The serpentine man sauntered forward arrogantly as he taunted the infant at his feet. He lowered his wand toward the child and spoke the most vile of curses. The green light glowed throughout the room, and a thunderous noise echoed throughout Godric's Hollow as the spell flew back into the villain's chest, striking him dead. His bound, abused soul fled from it's mortal shell.
The magic surrounding the boy rippled from the assault and began bleeding energy as the spell quickly tried to contain itself. Like a living creature, the spell healed its wound and began to work the rest of its magic.
Lily's magic expended a portion of its power into raw divination magic, forcing open the eyes of fate, allowing it to see the endless paths set out before the boy. Sadness, loneliness, despair, pain, suffering, and death were the paths laid out for the child marked by such cruel fate.
As the magic bled its power, seeking desperately the path of happiness for the boy, something changed. The magic that was so much of Lily's love became aware of what it was doing. It soon realized that no path on this world would lead to her son's happiness. Already the magic she had cast was weak, exhausted from controlling the eyes of fate. The spell expended the greater portion of it's remaining magic, took the child, and left the world of wizards completely, hoping to find happiness in the world adjacent.
The spell was on its last legs as it hovered in the night sky above a mountainous landscape. It could no longer control the fates but it could still beg help from them. Sadly no fates seemed to govern this world, only spirits of destiny which answered the call.
They were sympathetic to the boy, and guided the magic to a village hidden in a forest. The leader of the village was a man whose capacity for love was legendary, and whose wife was equally so, who had been cursed to never bear child.
Lily's fleeting conscious felt the draw to this couple, and with the last of her magic transfigured a small bassinet and blankets, placing her son Harry Potter inside. Upon the blanket she left a note. "I am Lily Potter, and this is my son Harry. As you are reading this, both his father and I are now dead, and I beg that you would find it in your heart to take him into your home, and raise him as your son." And with that his mother's magic departed to the next great adventure.
The spirit of destiny frowned as it watched the man she had tasked so much with quietly work in his study, a downtrodden look on his face that should never have graced such an exuberant spirit. It also saw his wife, pale eyes reddened from tears that would no longer come. The news that her injuries prevented her from ever having a family had ripped through this couple who had already endured so much together. The spirit caused a knock to sound through the house, and vanished.
A minute later the woman opened the door and looked down at the child with a curious look. She quickly read the note as her eyes widened. She gracefully bent down and picked up the child, and brought both him and the note inside. She showed the child to her husband, as new tears of joy formed in her eyes.
"UZUMAKI HARI!" The shrill yell of Umino Iruka fought its way against the wind to reach the ears of Uzumaki Hari. The boy in question was currently lying down atop a fast moving freight container being towed by a truck en route to Wave Country, watching overhead as the clouds rushed by. Hari paid no mind to the cries of his sensei as he reinforced the chakra bonds he was using to avoid being blown off the fast moving train. He was beginning to regret his decision to wear his combat uniform on this mission, consisting of a set of brown thick leather pants and jacket worn over top a layer of mesh wire for protection. Coupled with his standard issue hitai-ite and leather goggles used to correct his poor vision, Hari was becoming quite uncomfortable in the warm Wave country weather. Even the considerable breeze he was experiencing did little to offset his warm outfit. He plucked at the neck of his jacket, hoping a little more air flow would cool him off.
In the sky he spotted a small cloud that reminded him of a turtle with it's head withdrawn in it's shell, which caused him to spare a glance over at his partner and best friend Rock Hanako. The girl was performing the same repetitive one armed push ups she had been working on when he last checked on her over ten minutes ago. Her dark brown hair mixed with the stunning green eyes she'd inherited from her intimidating mother meant the two of them were often confused as brother and sister on missions that took them far enough afield from Konoha. Not that Hari particularly minded as it opened up any number of opportunities for mischief.
His musings were interrupted as the metal container he was laying on shook from the force of his aging teacher landing only a foot away from him. Cast in Iruka's shadow, he simply looked up at his teacher and smiled. Iruka-sensei set in on him with a lecture almost immediately. "Uzumaki Hari, this is not the time to be screwing around. We are on a very serious mission! This is not like the other C-ranks we have attempted. There are credible rumors of enemy shinobi around, and if we aren't always watching, we could be ambushed and killed. Do I make myself clear?"
Hari leaned his head forward to turn his gaze back up to the clouds. Hari had spent enough time with Iruka as his Jounin-sensei to be able to read his moods, and Iruka seemed more annoyed than angry. It didn't help that his father had confided in him just how to get his sensei wound up. "Oh hey Iruka-sensei, it's just such a lovely day I figured I would relax and just watch clouds. Shika-oji-san says it's a good way to keep my mind sharp, so I'll be prepared for the fight ahead. I'm gonna be a genius ninja just like him."
"More like a lazy ninja." Rock Hanako said sarcastically. She pushed herself up from the container and moved towards Hari, giving the young boy a good view of the simply hideous green spandex jumpsuit outfit she was always seen in. Hari knew the outfit had special symbolism to her, and that functionally it was well suited to her style of combat. The outfit was still an eyesore matched only by his own father's embarrassingly orange Hokage robes. "Hari-kun, if you keep slacking off like this you'll never reach your full potential. We're young, so we need to work hard now or else we'll suffer for the rest of our life!"
Iruka-sensei let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. "Hari, we're in dangerous territory. We know there have been attacks against these types of convoys in the past, and it's our duty to prevent any further attacks. If we aren't constantly aware of our surroundings, we could be in serious trouble."
"Relax sensei. I'm not an idiot. I know the danger, and I also know if something does happen I'll know before…" He perked up. A grin spread across his face as new memories entered his mind. "They're coming from the…" He paused again, as his eyes widened, as even more memories began filtering in. "They're surrounding us! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU". He slammed his fingers together and eight new clones popped into existence.
Hanako pushed herself up from the container and rushed toward the front of the train, with three of Hari's clones following her. Iruka was flanked by two of them as he moved towards the center of the train where two groups of bandits were already climbing up the sides of the freight crates, trying to get inside with some breaching charges. Hari moved with the three remaining clones towards the back of the train, where his sentries had spotted a small group of bandits board the gap between two shipping crates.
Sure enough Hari spotted a group of three bandits standing on the connector that held the back cargo container to the rest of the train. His two clones moved toward the gap to dispatch the bandits, but exploded in a puff of smoke as kunai struck both in the chest. Hari looked up in time to deflect the third Kunai that was aimed at him. At the end of the train was a man dressed in green with a green mask covering his face. Hari didn't recognize the man from any bingo book entries, but given his outfit Hari assumed he was a missing-nin that didn't want to advertise his identity, which meant he needed to be cautious. Either the guy was a narcissist or he had a legitimate reason to keep his identity secret, and most narcissists didn't have the good sense to hide their faces.
Hari moved forward, tossing a kunai back at the man, which was easily dodged. The ninja returned with a volley of shuriken Hari rolled under. As he was standing from the roll the train shook and Hari fumbled to the ground. The enemy ninja lost his balance for a moment but remained standing. Hari ran through a quick series of seals before doing a rolling into a handstand to avoid another kunai. He pushed up and twisted in the air to land on his feet, to find himself close to his opponent who swung his fist towards his chest. Hari managed to grab him at the forearm, and three small snakes launched out of his loosened sleeves, sinking their fangs into the enemies forearm. The man grunted in pain and managed to push Hari away from him. The serpents disappeared before he could bring any harm to them, and he tested his now stiff arm. Hari was drawing a pair of Kunai to fight with, when the missing-nin pushed his fingers into a seal and disappeared, to be replaced with a large porous rock. He scanned the area for a feint, recalling the substitution jutsu he used as one taught in Wind and Stone villages. Given his proximity to both Wind and Fire, he was most likely a hidden rock missing-nin.
His musing was cut short when he felt the boxcar he was on shake. He turned back and saw the bandits holding on to the sides of the train as the rear half separated from the front half. Hari cursed that his delay with the missing-nin allowed the bandits to achieve their goal. He needed to get back to Iruka-sensei and let him know what happened. Instinctively he straightened his forehead protector and pressed his fingers together again.
Hanako met up with Iruka-sensei in the middle of the train as they watched the back back half of the train racing away from them. The few bandits that had attacked the large truck were no match for her and Inari-san, who turned out to be an impressive fighter for a civilian. She had just finished tossing them to the side of the road when she felt the train jerk. She used her chakra to stabilize herself while the train started to break. She watched as Hari-kun landed a few steps away them with a frown on his face. "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei. There was an enemy shinobi I had to contend with, and he was able to distract me while the bandits disengaged the lock to those containers. That's why they focused their attacks around the train."
Hanako felt a measure of pride in her teammate. They knew there was a risk of a missing-nin on this mission, but Hari had managed to deal with him without getting hurt. Iruka nodded. "Don't sweat it Hari. We should be able to track the shipment back to their base easily enough. I'm glad you're not hurt. Facing an unknown shinobi in the field is one of the many risks we take every day."
Hari nodded with a lopsided grin on his face, which set off warning bells in Hanako's mind. Her mother had warned her that grin was something he inherited from his father, and always meant he'd done something completely irresponsible. She let out an aggravated growl before screaming at the boy. "Hari-kun, what have you done this time!"
The boy wilted under her glare with a weak smile, but before he could say anything Iruka-sensei stepped forward. "You're a clone of Hari aren't you." He pinched at his now wrinkled scar and closed his eyes. "Okay, what idiotic stunt is Hari going to pull this time? I swear, you and your father…"
Hari grinned, "I needed the bandits to see me jump away. That way I could sneak below board and have a surprise ready for them when they open those doors."
Iruka-sensei sighed, "Hari, you need to be cautious! Stay put and when you hear our signal, then you can join us in stopping the bandits." He punched the clone in the head which disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Hanako sighed and stretched for the strenuous run before her. She loved Hari but he was the most troublesome ninja she knew. "Let's go sensei. Someone needs to be there to pull his fat from the fryer."
Iruka just shook his head and formed a wood clone to stay with Inari. "I swear, I'm getting too old to deal with Uzumaki's anymore. Let's go Hanako."
Olbo was exceptionally tired when he arrived back at Hogwarts. He'd just finished a long day's work delivering dozens of letters to prospective students, and his wings were sore. Such was the life of a Hogwarts post owl. It wasn't the worst job to have. There wasn't any fear of being bonded to a dark wizard or a transfigurer who liked to use you as the target of his many twisted spells, and you got to see all sorts of interesting places in magical and muggle Britain.
The real downside was delivering the acceptance letters. When he was a younger owl he could complete the first year deliveries and still have enough strength to handle the Headmaster's weekly order of muggle sweets. Now he struggled to get through. He landed on his perch in the owlery and looked wearily over to the quill responsible for writing the letters. It hung frozen in the air over an envelope, like it was trying to decide where to send it to. Olbo let his eyes close as his weariness overcame him.
He then woke with a start to the sound of a quill writing. He felt tired but refreshed and as he looked out the window, he realized he must have fallen into a deep sleep. The envelope was sealed and the quill had moved back to its resting position in the inkwell. Olbo flapped his wings as a way to stretch. He then glided over to the letter to carry it to its destination. He flapped his wings in surprise as the destination of the letter became known to him. The owl let go of the letter to ensure that the magic was not tricking him, but the envelope confirmed the destination. The poor owl glared at the quill now resting in it's inkwell signifying it's job for the year was complete.
Olbo, the old tired post owl resigned himself to his fate as he slowly flew away out of the owlery of Hogwart's castle, and then out of the dimension entirely.
With a loud crack Olbo appeared in the afternoon sky, far above the trees that surround the Village of Konoha. He glided slowly down towards the Village below, his destination a large building toward the center of the town. The thoughts of a nice days sleep clouded his mind as his sore wings cut through the air.
He was nearly to the Hokage's house when a steel net smashed against his body, weights attached to the end causing him to plummet to the ground.
Olbo let out a pathetic hoot as three humans in masks came forward and carried him off. This was not turning out Olbo's lucky day.
The original Naruto, or Naruto-prime as he liked to think of himself, was currently working through all of the potential mission requests that had passed the initial filters. He was seated at a desk in the corner of a busy room full of Narutos, all wearing a long orange robe with the Uzumaki crest on the back and black flame trim. Behind large double doors was a clone of himself going over the revenue statistics with senior Konoha officials, while three other clones were taking care of mission debriefings in secluded side offices of the building. The trick Naruto had found to maintaining an army of clone bureaucrats was to make sure that you were always doing something different. Never have a clone do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself.
Memories of a perished clone entered their way into Naruto's consciousness. ANBU were investigating a potential attack on his household. He quickly formed three more clones, and took off running followed by two copies. He leapt across the roof tops of Konoha toward his house, surrounded by a three man team of ANBU. Standing nearby was his wife Hinata, the veins around her eyes raised from the use of Byakugan, with her genin team standing dutifully behind her. Her head turned as he entered the range of her vision. Her normally gentle face was set in a hard scowl that sent shivers up Naruto's spine. That look typically meant he was in trouble. He and his entourage set down beside Hinata with a questioning look on his face. "What's going on?"
Hinata's scowl deepened. "Someone sent a messenger owl to our home, addressed for our son." Sending a message directly to the Hokage's personal residence was highly unusual, as most mail was vetted for traps through a central post office before the Hokage could receive it.
Naruto looked over to the owl that was now chained by it's feet, with an envelope sitting next to it. "This... may be the weirdest thing I've seen in awhile. Who would seriously try to send a letter direct?" He turned to Hinata. "Any chakra in the letter?"
Hinata's veins pulsed as she stared at the note. "No... there's no chakra but there's definitely something strange about the letter." She pressed the tips of her fingers together. She'd worked so hard to keep that reaction under control, so something was certainly wrong. "It reminds me of what I see when I look at Hari-kun."
It was Naruto's turn to scowl. He knew there were many things unexplained about his son, from the day of his mysterious arrival to his unnaturally large chakra capacity, and his wife's ever perceptive eyes could tell early on that there was something different about Hari's physiology. Naruto took a few steps closer. "Evacuate the area. Take the bird to Ino. I know she's gone into Akamaru's head before. Maybe she can get something out of this Owl. One of my clones will handle the letter."
Hinata turned to her genin. "You three head to training area 12 and begin team exercises without me. I'll be by when I'm finished with this." The three genin nodded together and as a unit took off towards the forest.
The Anbu were carrying off the owl as Naruto and Hinata started moving away from the clones standing by the letter. Naruto turned to his wife with a smile. "Every day is something, eh sweetie?"
Hinata's frown softened as her eyes returned to normal. "Naruto, this isn't normal. The fact that someone is trying to get ahold of our Hari means he's starting to make a name for himself."
Naruto sighed as they reached a safe distance from their house. "I know, I know. I've made sure that Hari is only operating within Fire country and our allies. He's as safe as he can be and still be an operating shinobi." Naruto turned and gave a sheepish smile. "Besides, we both know our boy has enough tricks up his sleeve to get into and out of almost any situation."
Hinata sighed. "And that, is what worries me. I think he may be even more of a trouble maker than you were at his age."
Naruto gave a mock gasp. "Slander and lies. I was the greatest prankster this village has ever seen, and while our son may be good, he's still got a ways to go to top his old man!"
Hinata rolled her eyes as she silently activated her Byakugan, focusing on the clone by their house. "Oh Look, he's about to open it. I do hope our house doesn't explode. Again."
"One time! I set off a small explosion while working on fuuinjutsu one time and the house just happens to explode a little and I never hear the end-" Naruto cut off his rant as new memories entered his head. "...Wow. That's...odd" Someone had sent his son an invitation letter to a school. "C'mon Nata, I need to see this with my own eyes." Naruto raced ahead to his house, followed closely by his wife. He arrived in a few seconds and quickly snatch the letter to read. He frowned as he spoke. "Hari's been accepted to some school of ... witchcraft and wizardry? And here's a list of supplies he'll be needing? Why on earth are students forbidden from bringing brooms? Why would it even say that?" He looked over to Hinata. "Hinata, is this a prank? Do you know if Kiba is trying to get me back for the last time I tricked him and Chouji? Is that why you're playing along?" He smirked. His wife was straight as an arrow most of the time but she'd surprised him a couple times with pranks of her own on him.
His smile faltered as he caught her staring intently at the envelope discarded on the ground. Her voice was very quiet when she spoke. "It's addressed to Harry Potter, not Uzumaki Hari. That's... the name in the letter..."
Naruto glanced down at the discarded envelope to confirm. Somehow these people knew Hari from before they'd found him on their doorstep. His eyes swept across the header of the first letter. His voice hardened as he spoke. "They're expecting a response by owl. How fortunate that we seem to have just acquired such a creature. This Albus man seems to be their leader. I think I'll have a chat with him." He looked to see Hinata nodding at him. He knew Shikamaru would not approve of him leaving the village based on so little information, but any information on his son's mysterious past was worth the risk. He withdrew a piece of paper and a pen which he wrote a short message on before withdrawing two seals and a small brush of paste he had on his person. He quickly pasted the seals to the back of the letter and turned to leave.
Hinata's voice interrupted him. "When you go, you are taking me."
Naruto faltered in his step before nodding. He turned to face his wife. "When he receives the message, I'll come get you." He smiled. "Now get back to your genin. And don't let this distract you too much." He watched as Hinata smiled at him and leapt away to rejoin her team. The Rokudaime looked back down at the letter and smiled. He was looking forward to finally having some answers about his son.
Albus Percivel Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was enjoying a lemon drop in his office during a brief break from the myriad of paperwork that always accompanied a new year of schooling at Hogwarts, when a thump at his window caused him to jump. He turned to see a school owl trying to right itself as it fell away from his window. With a lazy wave of his wand he opened the window and wordlessly summoned the pitiful bird. He held the exhausted owl in his arms as he untied the letter attached to its leg. "Well well well, what do we have hear? You look like you have had quite an adventure my feathered friend. Let's see what is so important that it must be delivered to my office."
Albus let the bird rest on his desk, the majestic creature laying quite haphazardly a top his paperwork. He scanned the odd envelope to find that it had been addressed to Albus-san and to be sent to The Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts, which indicated some understanding of the magical world. The envelope itself appeared to be made of muggle paper, which indicated a muggleborn student. He opened the envelope and withdrew the paper letter. The message inside was short and puzzling.
Albus-san,
I look forward to meeting you. We have much to discuss.
Uzumaki Naruto
Albus contemplated the letter's contents trying to comprehend what the it could mean. The method of address reminded him of some oriental cultures he'd experienced in his youth. He stroked at his beard for a few minutes trying to piece together the puzzle when he noticed something on the back of the letter. He turned it over to see unfamiliar markings. They appeared to be a sort of runes, but none that he had ever encountered. He was preparing to contact some old acquaintances to get some answers when his world took on an unusual shade of orange. When his vision returned he was greeted by the site of a tall blonde man in long orange robes standing in front of what appeared to be a slightly shorter, blue-haired, blind women.
The apparition within the boundaries of Hogwarts only gave him a slight pause before he drew his wand from his belt. When he tried to bring the wand to bear he felt someone wrench his arm and take the wand from his hand. He turned to see the same blonde haired man standing at his side holding his arm against the table with one hand and his wand with the other. He looked back to see that his eyes were not deceiving him: the exact same blonde haired man stood several feet in front of him with a smirk on his face. "Now now Albus-san, it wouldn't be polite of you to-" the man cut off his statement mid-sentence as he stared dumbly at the Elder Wand. "Is that a stick of wood? What on earth were you planning on doing to us with this little stick of wood?" The man holding his arm tossed the wand to his doppelganger, who began to fiddle with it.
It was at this moment that the blind women stepped forward. "Ano, Hokage-sama, I believe that must be the wand mentioned in the letter." Albus flashed his eyes toward the woman. She must be referring to an acceptance letter, but for wizards of clear power to show such ignorance of magic bothered him. There was still much that he did not understand. Albus locked his gaze with the some and set his face into a soft genial smile, his eyes twinkling as he reached out into her mind to find out just who she was.
As he stepped softly into her mind he began to draw on her surface thoughts, but felt an odd resistance to his intrusions. He placed a little more magical effort into his tasks when he started to feel his magic weakening. She was clearly not an Occlumens, but had some means of preventing access to her thoughts, and the more he struggled the weaker he felt. His head swam and his stomach churned as a wave of nausea overtook him. He stole a glance at the woman and noticed the protruding veins around her eyes, which contrasted against her soft features. He saw her conversing with the blonde man but could not hear what they said, the sound of his own blood rushing to his head muffling them. In desperation he tried to withdraw his magic from her mind, but found himself unable to escape. He applied additional force to his escape, and was happy to feel himself pop free of the oppressive situation as he collapsed backwards into his chair. He allowed himself a few moments to breathe deeply in an attempt to calm his raging stomach.
The women's eyes were still changed, and made her a great deal more intimidating than his previous estimations. He had no doubt of her sight now, and the way she was looking at him made him assume she could see far more than the average person could hope to. She spoke in a soft, quiet voice that understated her power. "I apologise Dumbledore-sama, I am privy to an array of sensitive secrets, which necessitates my defenses against mental intrusion. You clearly have a great deal of mental fortitude to have weathered the defenses so admirably. I would ask you to refrain you from making any further attempts to do so. Where we come from, such attempts on the Hokage are a capital offense." Her voice was quiet but firm.
The woman took a deep breath, and Albus noticed the air in the room lightened. The great wizard inclined his head slightly in a bow. He was so unused to dealing with threats he'd nearly forgotten how. He smiled softly. "I must apologize for my behavior. We clearly come from cultures vastly different from each other. My infraction would be an embarrassment here, but nothing so serious as that which you described. You clearly come from a culture of secrecy and deception to care so much for concealing knowledge." He reached out and withdrew a candy from the glass bowl on his desk. "Can I interest either of you in a lemon drop?"
To his surprise the blonde haired man stepped forward with a smile on his face. He reached into the bowl and grabbed one of the candies. "I'd love one." He popped it into his mouth and began to suck on it in a comical fashion. "Mmmm mmm, you sure know your candy Albus-san." He grinned and pulled up a chair and sat down. "As you probably have guessed, we're here to talk about this letter you sent us." The man pulled out the two pieces of parchment that accompanied all Hogwarts acceptance letters. "You may not realize it, but you caused quite a scare when you sent a message directly to our house. Carrier birds have to go through a standard mail office in order to validate the message being passed on isn't an attempt to send a trap through the mail system. Your attempt to send a message directly to the Hokage's manor, directly to my son, constituted a violation that could start a war." He shrugged. "As you said, different cultures. Once we figured out what was going on, I realized I had to meet you, because you clearly have information about my son, and that is information I value highly. So what do you know about Harry Potter?"
Dumbledore instinctively sat up straighter at the mention of the name. The missing child from the night Voldemort died was the matter of great speculation for the old wizard. No signs of his body, no signs of his death, he always assumed someone had captured him or killed him. These strangers asking questions about him lent a good deal of credence to those theories. "I know a James and Lily Potter, who had a son named Harry. He has been missing for some time. Do you know about his whereabouts?" If these people captured Harry, he would need to get him back as soon as possible. His current predicament set his mind into overdrive.
The woman frowned. "Hari-kun is our adopted son. We have raised him since the death of his parents." She paused for a moment considering her words. "We want to know what caused their deaths, and why you have now reached out to him." The way she pronounced Harry's name felt odd and the story seemed suspicious. It wasn't until the blonde man produced a letter that appeared to be from Lily Potter that their story began to make sense.
Albus looked over to the blonde man. "Erm, Mr. Naruto, would you be so kind as to return my wand? I need it to verify some things I'm beginning to suspect, and then we can all have the answers we seek."
Naruto grinned as he rolled the wand across the desk back to Albus. The wizard was a bit shocked at the ease which he regained his wand, and wondered if it would be best to turn it on these two interlopers. The look on the blonde man's face reminded him of the many tricksters he'd dealt with in his long years as headmaster. He felt doubt in his mind that even with his wand he would be able to restrain this man. He waved his wand and muttered some words of power, and the letter illuminated the entire room. A few seconds later and the light faded. "As I suspected, this entire letter is the product of magic. Old, powerful, raw magic." He turned to the two others in his office. "It would seem, that somehow Lily's magic chose you to raise her son. You must understand, I have long thought Harry to be lost to this world. The letter you received was another piece of magic, and it was sent without my knowledge." He looked at the letter, and then back to the two. "If you don't mind my asking, where are you two from?"
Naruto leaned back casually in the chair. "We're from Fire Country. Konohagakure to be specific." Albus frowned as he wracked his mind for a country in the east that might be called Fire Country by locals. Seeing his confusion Naruto continued. "Ya know, big forest region, near Wave and Sand?"
Albus frowned, becoming more concerned. He summoned a globe over to his desk. "Could you show me on this map where you come from?"
Naruto looked over to the pale eyed women with some hint of trepidation. She moved forward and spun the globe slowly. "I'm afraid this map does not contain anything that would resemble the geography we live in. It would appear that we live on very different worlds." The woman spoke as if this concept were perfectly natural. The man shrugged as if it didn't matter.
Albus for his part was dumbstruck. The idea of other worlds had been pure conjecture, but these two seemed unfazed by the thought. "That is most unusual." He leaned back in his chair and brought his hand up to his chin. He knew Lily had been researching very old potent magicks, that modern spellcasters could not use for an unknown reason. She claimed to have a way of defending against the Killing Curse, and mentioned spells of love and self-sacrifice that could grant heightened protection to someone. Perhaps a spell that potent could backfire and send a child off to another world. Given that he was at a loss to explain the phenomenon, he resolved to take a trip to Godric's Hollow. "Most unusual indeed. I myself will have to make some investigations into what happened."
The man looked back at the women before turning with an inquisitive look on his face. "Mah mah, Albus-san, certainly you know when he disappeared? What happened to his parents?"
Albus cut away from his musings to the man sitting in front of him. He hesitated before answering. These people were clearly dangerous, and their knowledge of Harry Potter lended itself to the story that they had raised him, but it was also possible they were trying to deceive him. If the quill had sent a letter to Harry, it was possible that these people were holding Harry against his will, and had intercepted his post. He couldn't detect deception, but he reminded himself that these people were clearly more than they let on. "I wonder, why did you not bring Harry with you? I would very much like to see him again."
Naruto frowned slightly. "He's ah, wasn't available. 'Sides, I'm more interested in finding out what you know about my son on this trip." He wore a disarming expression on his face.
Albus stroked his beard, trying to decide how to proceed. He spoke slowly and softly, picking his words with great care. "Ah, you see I was good friends with Lily and James, and I would be much more willing to help if I knew that their child was well."
The women's eyes hardened, as she inhaled sharply. Naruto leaned over and placed a few fingers on her forearm, as she quickly collected herself. "I understand your concerns. Unfortunately we do not currently have sufficient proof that we are taking care of him." Her eyes seemed to retract as the veins around her eyes fell back against her face.
A pause hung over the room as the parties attempted to find a path past the impasse. Naruto brightened. "Hey, I at least have something." He bent down and started fiddling with his sock. When he stood back up, he produced a small wrinkled picture which he handed to the ancient wizard. On it was the woman, in considerably better spirits standing behind what appeared to be a exact likeness of James Potter, albeit with a most peculiar outfit. The boy exuded a calm confidence in the image. Albus looked up to see the woman glaring at Naruto. "What? I like to keep you two close." The glare continued. "It's not like I'm some undercover agent Hinata. And it's sealed to self destruct." Hinata let out an exasperated sigh.
Albus considered the situation, and admitted that the couple appeared to be who they claimed. However, that did not diminish the need for him to better understand what was going on. An idea took root and he ran with it, hoping to appease these intruders. "I will gladly give you all I know, about both Harry and his parents. First though, I would like to meet with Harry." The woman made a motion towards him but he held up his palms. "I do not doubt you have taken good care of the child, but there is merely much information I require that I can only obtain after I have met with Hari."
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, before Hinata spoke in a more relaxed tone. "That is acceptable, however as we said before, Hari is currently unavailable."
Albus frowned again. How could the parents of Harry not produce the boy? "I beg your pardon, but may I ask why he is unavailable?"
Naruto spoke up this time. "He's currently outside of Fire Country on a mission for our allies in Wave." He seemed to wax nostalgic. "He should be back in a few days. We can come then. I'd prefer it actually, to bring you to Konoha rather than bring Harry here."
Albus struggled to contain his shock. The parents had sent their child out of the country, to do work? He was grateful at Naruto's final request, as it suddenly seemed imperative that he find out everything he could about Harry's upbringing. "That would be acceptable. Ahem, if I may be so bold, what sort of mission is he on?"
Hinata spoke up quickly. "I'm sorry Albus-san, but that's classified information."
Naruto however rolled his eyes as he drawled, "Mah mah, Hinata, I doubt Albus-san here is going to cross worlds just to spoil Hari-kun's mission. Hari has been given a C-rank mission to protect a train of supplies from bandits that have shutdown supply lines in Wave Country. Supposedly, there may be a missing-nin in the area, which should be a good experience for him. I have every confidence in that team though. Iruka-sensei is a helluva squad leader, and both Hari-kun and Hanako-chan are powerhouse fighters. Either of them could fight at a Chuunin-level if called to."
Albus now failed to hide his shock. Hinata had buried her head into the palm of her hand. Albus spoke in a soft voice. "You mean to tell me that you have sent your son out on a mission in which he is expected to fight off armed bandits?" Albus wondered what on earth had they done to James and Lily's child.
Hinata spoke up in a longsuffering tone. "Hari-kun is a shinobi of the leaf, just like Naruto and I are. We were both doing such missions at his age. He is admittedly more skilled than either I or Naruto were at that point, and that warrants more dangerous missions, but his father has ensured that he only operates in allied territory."
Albus wanted to keep getting information, but was notified that Minerva was entering through the gargoyle. He waved his wand to close and lock the door to his office. "Alas, I appear to have forgotten about another meeting I must attend to. However, it would seem we both have much to learn from each other. I will await your return when Harry is ready to meet with me."
Naruto stood from his chair and moved to wrap his arms around his wife. "I'll come the same way I did today. Please don't throw that letter away." He heard a knock coming from the other side of the door. "And don't try to trap the letter either. I wouldn't like that very much." As the two disappeared in a flash of orange, Albus stood to unlock the door, still contemplating just what had possessed Lily to leave her son in the care of such dangerous people.
Uzumaki Hari sat nervously in the cargo crate he had stowed away in. He guessed this was when the creeping doom of the situation was supposed to set in. His sentry had informed him that the leader of the bandits was a man who fit the description of Red Hands Okano, a vicious B-ranked missing-nin from Rock Village who took sadistic pleasure in dismembering victims. Hari pieced together that the missing-nin he fought was Saszo Itori, a genin that fled Rock with Okano, which explained the disguise.
Unfortunately for Hari, Okano had no intention of being caught by a Konoha team today, and decided that the situation called for rapid retreat. Hari listened as gasoline splashed against the walls of the freight train, preparing it to be burnt while the bandits fled. Time, it would seem, was the enemy again. He knew that Iruka and Hanako would need about ten more minutes to catch up to him. He also knew that the odds of him surviving a fight with Okano, Itori, and about thirty other bandits was unlikely.
There was always the easy out, call his father and have him level the place, but he knew he'd never grow as a ninja if he didn't learn to stand on his own. There was only one enemy he'd call his father in for, and he hoped to god he'd never have to face down that bastard again.
He leaned against the walls of the container and brought his hands together in a diamond shape, resting his forehead against the tips of his fingers, as he let the nervousness and fear drain out of his body. He needed to think of what he was going to do in order to still take a breath after ten minutes passed. Despite how much of a threat as Okano and Itori were, the thirty bandits en masse were the real tricky part of this equation. Attempting to take out either ninja with surprise was sure to be foiled with as many eyes watching as there were. Better to disorient the help and blitz Itori and Okano fast, withdraw quickly and leave them wary of a trap. Henging a number of clones into non-descript Konoha ninjas may give him the illusion of a superior force. He'd need there to be enough dust that a clone disrupting could be confused with a person substituting. If he created enough chaos, he could sneak out of the fray to safety.
With as little prep time it was the best he could come up with, and even then he could see Shikamaru-oji-san frowning at him in his mind. It would be safer to create a more destructive threatening initial blitz and take off immediately to intercept Hanako and Iruka, and then give chase, but the most likely result of that was the missing-nin escaping. He could spend the better part of his reserves and summon a greater snake, but Okano's skill set was well suited to fight large powerful enemies.
No, he had the best plan that didn't sacrifice the mission, and given that this confirmed there were missing-nin harassing their ally, it was worth the risk. He quietly formed fifteen clones, each taking a different form as the spread around the crate. Two clones placed explosives tags in the cracks of the door. The sound of gasoline trickled off, and Hari felt the heat of the fire as he triggered the seals. The door exploded outward into a group of confused bandits, followed by a half dozen kunai leading tags. A series of explosions shook the surrounding area as Hari and his clone army dashed into the fray incapacitating every bandit in reach. The bandits began to flee as soon as they realized they were under attack, and Hari began to scatter along with them.
Hari thought he was going to pull it off when new memories caused him to fall into a roll, narrowly avoiding a kunai aimed at his back. As he stood up he saw Okano a few feet in front him with his arms crossed over his chest. "Going some where little ninja?" He took a step forward as his eyes widened in delight. "Ho ho ho! I know you Uzumaki-kun. Your Hokage is going to make me a wealthy man when I extract your ransom." He sneered menacingly. "And if not, then I will get to watch you die as I crush your tiny little neck." Hari stood up and realized he was caught between the two missing-nin. He readied himself in a combat stance. "Oh you plan to fight us little genin? I thought they drilled the Bingo Books into you before sending you in the field." Hari steadied himself as he felt the killing intent rolling off of the psychopath. "You should know you have no hope of beating us."
Hari received a signal memory from one of his remaining clone and detonated two explosive tags that were placed by two of his stealthier summoned snakes. The explosion and fire caught Itori off guard who was blasted to the side. Hari turned and ran, the body of Itori lying still near the raging inferno of the freight car. Okano cursed and began to chase him. Hari had the advantage in speed, and was starting to pull away from the former chuunin when a large spiked wall of rocks rose up from the ground to impede his path. "No running for you, you rotten little bastard. I think I'll send you home to your daddy in a body bag." Hari turned and tossed a pair of kunai, only to watch them bounce off of Okano's hardened skin. The man didn't even slow from the attacks and managed to clip Hari with a punch.
Hari quickly retreated to consider his options, noting the pain that the glancing blow had caused him. It appeared Okano was using a technique to add some thickness to his skin and some weight to his punch. He continued to dodge around, hoping to buy a little time. He doubted his snakes would be able to puncture the man's armor, and his clones wouldn't be able to do much more than slow them down. His wind elemental Jutsu's weren't horribly matched against an earth user like Okano, but his skills weren't well refined in that area, and he doubted prevailing winds would do much against a man who was apparently made of stone.
The chase continued for another minute before a well timed tremor jutsu caused Hari to lose his footing. He attempted to scramble to his feet, but he was quickly pinned under the foot of the missing-nin. "End of the line brat. Any last words?" A familiar surge of chakra from behind the spiked wall distracted the missing-nin enough to allow Hari a short ranged substitution jutsu. He ran away from the wall, which exploded at the base, and began crumbling down.
As the dust and debris rolled away, Hari saw Hanako, standing atop the rubble, her skin red from utilizing the third gate and her right hand bloodied. Hari pulled two kunai from his weapons pouch and leapt forward to engage Okano. Okano managed to easily parry the attacks but was left open to Hanako's blinding speed. Her left hook knocked him back a few feet as Hanako stepped up next to Hari. Hanako turned to Hari and spoke, "Red Hands Okano? Hari-kun how do you always end up in these situations?"
Hari smiled as he shrugged. "What can I say? It's a gift." Hari smirked as he faced Okano. "What do you say Okano, ready to give up? You should know that you have no hope of beating us."
Okano reddened at the rebuke. "You snot nosed little punks think you can take me? I'm gonna grind your bones to dust!" Hari formed a group of four clones that intercepted Okano as he raced towards them. Okano had managed to disrupt two of the clones when Hari pulled of a substitution jutsu with a clone to get behind the missing-nin. Hari grabbed Okano's arm and managed to get it into a weak lock, which slowed him long enough to allow Hanako a solid hit to his shoulder.
The skin on Okano's shoulder and arm shattered revealing another layer beneath it. Hari quickly pricked his finger on a kunai and ran through the seals he'd grown very familiar with. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Okano was defending against Hanako's onslaught with his other arm when he noticed Hari dash forward. Snakes shot from his hand and buried their fangs into Okano's now exposed arm. The missing-nin leapt back from Hanako who seemed content to allow him the space. Hari dismissed the snakes before any harm could come to them. Okano's foot slipped as he took a few steps back. He looked down quizzically at it, rapidly blinking, before falling to one knee. Hari gave Hanako a bright smile as he saw his jounin-sensei come into view. "Ohayo, Iruka-sensei! You're late!"
Iruka's withering stare was sufficient to silence Hari. "We'll talk about this later Hari-kun." He turned to the barely conscious missing-nin now laying on his back. "Red Hands Okano, it looks like your crimes have finally caught up to you. You will be held by Konohagakure until we can arrange extradition to Tsuchigakure. We'll see how well the Tsuchikage appreciates the fact you murdered his grandson." The man on the ground let out a cough before finally succumbing to the poison and passing out. "Right, Hanako-chan, please bind the prisoner. I need to chew Hari-kun out." Hari turned to Hanako, noting that her skin had faded back to the tan hue it normally held, indicating she had managed to seal the heavenly gates once more. She gave him an apologetic look for slowly moving over to Okano. He felt a little bit of shame reminding himself that pushing her to those limits really did take a lot out of her.
Iruka grabbed Hari by the shoulder and led him away from the scene of carnage and started speaking in a soft tone. "Hanako-kun was worried about you Hari. She kept telling me not to worry, that you had everything under control. She trusted you, and she trusted your skills. And then we saw the fire, and the explosions." Hari looked down at his feet. Iruka-sensei had two kinds of chewing outs. There were the ones where involved a lot of loud yelling, and the ones where he quietly pointed out just how bad Hari had screwed up. He still didn't know how to deal with the latter. "She was in quite a state when she left me behind. She raced blindly toward the scene, and she moved faster than I could follow her. If there had been an ambush set up, she'd be dead right now, because she couldn't possible be aware of her surroundings at the speed she was moving. It was actually very stupid of her. Do you know why she did that?"
Hari knew the question wasn't rhetorical. He needed to understand his teammate. "Because she's terrified of losing me too. After losing Shidan and her father, the thought of losing me causes her to act without regard to her own well being. And I am a horrible person for exploiting that fact to get speedy backup." Hari stared hard down at his feet. It was true, and he felt miserable as the realization of what he'd done passed over him.
Iruka continued. "You are a very skilled ninja Hari, and you are every bit as cunning as your father. You hold a large amount of control over Hanako, and I need you to understand that. Soon we're going to be looking at you for Chuunin, and today you gave me some questions about your leadership. You're a helluva a shinobi Hari, but you really need to view people's emotions delicately before you begin to use them." Iruka placed his hand on Hari's head, who looked up to see a small smile on Iruka's face. "You're a good kid. I know you'll do better in the future. C'mon, let's go help Hanako and get on the road to Konoha."
Hari nodded his head quickly and waited for Iruka to turn his back on him before bringing his hand up to wipe the small amount on moisture gathering at the edges of his eyes. He hated screwing up, and he knew he'd need to make this one up to Hanako. He resolved to do something nice for her once they reached Konoha. He let out a slow breath and walked over to where she was finishing up her bonds for Okano. "Hey Hanako-chan. You finished trussing this guy up?"
She looked up from the knots she was testing. "Yeah just about. Sorry about that, hope Iruka-sensei wasn't too hard on you."
Hari smiled sadly, "Listen Hanako. I'm… I'm sorry about what happened today. Iruka-sensei says you were pretty upset about what happened, and I…I just want to apologize. I shouldn't have made you worry."
Hanako looked at him for a few seconds before wrapping her arms around his back in a bone bending hug. A moment later she loosened her grip and held his shoulders. "Idiot…I'm always going to worry about you." She wiped her arm across her eyes, and he could tell she'd been holding back tears that were now falling. She blinked a few times before sniffing. "Just…just try to be careful from now on."
Hari smiled and leaned in to give Hanako a hug. "I'll try to be safer in the future, Hanako." He slowly broke away from the embrace. "I don't want to make you feel like this." He smiled. "You're my best friend, and I hate to see you so miserable. I'll do my best to be smarter from now on."
She laughed as she dried her eyes again with her sleeve. "Hah, as if that'll happen, Hari. You're way too much like your father for me to have much hope for that." She picked up the body of the large man and placed him on Hari's shoulder. "For worrying me, you get to carry the bounty. C'mon, Hari-kun, let's go home." She turned and made her way back to Iruka who was waiting for them by the fallen earth wall. Hari grinned as he adjusted the weight of the bounty and began to slowly follow behind her. It was good to be going back home in one piece.
Yay, I'm totally back in the saddle with this one. As always, I love me some reviews. Good reviews, bad reviews, comments, suggestions. Heck given what a jerk commenter I used to be feel free to flame me if you really need to.
Thanks for getting this far, hopefully I'll be able to get further with this story than I have in the past.
Especially feel free to comment on the scene with Albus. That was the most difficult to write as well as the most contentious.