Beautiful Star - Or Why Studying is like Ramen


Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Nothing belongs to me.


(Still unbetaed!)


Full Summary: After an unfortunate incident with a compromised Portkey and some revenge-obsessed Death Munchers, a barely eighteen years old GWL must learn quickly to navigate the Elemental Countries, as well as to raise her baby godson, the only one who tagged along on her next great adventure. Heavily injured, starving herself to feed the little six-month-old and deathly afraid of the very real threat of death, Harry is ready to give up when an unexpected hand helped her out. Jiraiya - who only a few years prior suffered the loss of his most prized student - can't help himself when he finds the tiny girl trying to survive without a real understanding of the world around her. For her child. Somehow the Hokage thinks she's a perfect care-taker for her new neighbor, a five-year-old boy hated by nearly the whole village. Now what the hell did she get herself into this time?


Thank you guys for your lovely reviews! I loved to read each one of them! In answer to some:
- Naruto is around five years old. Hoshimi/Harry is 18. There will never be a romantic relationship between them. Ever. Promise.
- Dog-san? Kakashi? Well... *wink*
- Will there be a pairing for Hoshimi? Yes. Eventually. It's very 'slow burn', chronologically speaking, though, so stay tuned.
- Will she be paired with Kakashi? Not sure yet. Find out later on! (:
- Will Hoshimi fight? NO. She won't be drafted into the Shinobi Corps, much less volunteer. She's fed up with fighting and quite happy being a simple civilian at this point. So, no, there won't be any rankings of her power. Hoshimi can take care of herself against a civilian or a few bandits, if she really has to, but unless she manages to surprise the enemy shinobi, she won't be able to hold a candle against them. Besides, she tries to keep a lid on their magic.
- "self-imposed starvation" = Hoshimi either giving Teddy the majority share of what little food they had available or spending their small amount of money on baby food for him.

There were some complaints/remarks about the first chapter being confusing. That was actually done on purpose. The whole world is tilting on its axis for Hoshimi and she desperately attempts to keep herself together, her godson alive and healthy, and their magic secret. She won't be able to really process everything for a while yet. Explanations are coming later on though, especially how and why they ended up in the Elemental Countries in the first place.

Now, on with the new chapter!


~3~


After dinner, Naruto went back to his apartment, ready to explore Hoshimi's work, no doubt. Maybe even determine if she had accidentally thrown out his few prized possessions, judging by the still persisting mistrust with which he regarded her out of the corners of his eyes when the blonde thought she would not notice. However, this sentiment seemed to have lessened over the course of the late morning and early afternoon.

It was around seven, Tadao's bedtime, when a polite knock sounded at her door. With a small sigh, Hoshimi kissed her nephew's brow before greeting her guest. Undoubtedly it would be her Hokage-assigned tutor. (Not that she complained. Reading used to be her one outlet in elementary school, before Quidditch and Hogwarts, so that she sorely felt the absence of this particular ability now. Especially in business deals, like at the market, or yesterday at the various shops.)

Nevertheless, the young woman opened the door, having a polite smile fixed on her face, because these people did not deserve to be the target of her ire. They were not at fault for the situation at hand, so she would keep her temper to herself.

"Aota-san?" A surprisingly old lady wanted to confirm. The woman wore a blue yukata, a matching headband (in bandana form), tied around her neck like a scarf, and open-toed blue sandals. Her hair was already beginning to lose its vibrancy, graying progressively. Originally, it was a rather fascinating shade of midnight-blue. Wrinkles decorated her face, mainly worry and laugh lines. The woman's light-brown eyes shone calculatingly from behind a pair of round, wire glasses. Her mouth, though, was pursed slightly.

Hoshimi invited her inside her home with a bow, silently offering tea and some fruit for refreshments. The old kunoichi accepted the offer for tea, but waved off the fruit, so the temporarily mute witch grabbed a second cup from her rickety cupboard.

"I am Tsubasa Suzume, a retired Chūnin of Konohagakure no Sato. The Hokage informed me that due to traumatic events you are currently unable to speak and require tutoring in reading and writing our beautiful language. My lessons will be paid by the Hokage as compensation for the troubles you endured to aid us in these trying times," the old lady informed her new pupil pompously.

Hoshimi disliked the self-important tone, but overall, she could probably learn to live with the snobbish woman. So she nodded, ready to get started. The retired Chūnin began to explain that there were three different alphabets in the written language, Hiragana, Katakana, and then Kanji. They would begin with Hiragana, as that was generally deemed the easiest to learn first. Tsubasa-sensei forced Hoshimi to memorize each sound before painstakingly copying it to the best of her abilities (with a pencil, thankfully) into her notebook. They learned for an hour, going through all 46 characters. As homework, the young witch was supposed to memorize the first twelve symbols for the next lesson. Although her sensei expected her to continue practicing the rest of the alphabet as well, to progress more quickly.

Neither woman wasted words on things not related to the topic at hand, although Hoshimi painstakingly continued her charade by saying nothing at all. She didn't want to cause problems for the Hokage on her first full day here.

As it so happened, Tsubasa-sensei was quite strict, but a patient teacher. She repeated the motions as many times as necessary for the younger woman to understand and copy correctly. They left on polite, yet neutral terms.

Hoshimi did not expect there to ever develop a tentative friendship between the other woman and herself. And, perhaps surprisingly, she was quite alright with that.


Over the following weeks, this process repeated itself daily, except for the weekends. Monday through Saturday, Hoshimi prepared meals for her blonde neighbor, cleaned his apartment of any messes and allowed him to play with Tadao or help around the kitchen, while she explained how to cook in her broken Japanese.

Naruto was eager to learn how to make his own ramen, but she had cautioned him, telling the small boy to learn the basics first. Otherwise he might ruin his precious ramen, what unimaginable horror! Besides, she would rather not have to explain to the Hokage why he was in the hospital for cutting a finger off or something.

Hoshimi had said it all with a teasing, uncaring air, as if she was completely unaffected by such a thing, but Naruto had learned by then to differentiate between those two things and laughed with her for trying to jovially poke fun at his hyper-enthusiasm.

Tadao had figured out how to crawl by this point, challenging his self-proclaimed big brother and aunt with continuous escape attempts from his crib or playing area. However, because Hoshimi still fretted about not knowing the language well enough to communicate in the written form and had basically no clue what was generally considered alright and what not, she kept him inside for the most part. Except when they walked to the market place for groceries.

By then, the majority of the village knew this particular civilian was an outsider, had some unknown ties to Jiraiya-sama, and could not (or would not) speak to anyone. Her perceived handicap kept most of the admirers in check that had followed her around the first few times Hoshimi had gone shopping, for which she was profoundly grateful.

The young woman was in no position, emotional or otherwise, to open her heart for romance. Especially to the civilian men around her age who seemed awfully immature to and condescending towards the witch. The rest of Hoshimi's admirers left her alone after witnessing her carrying around Tadao in a blue sling.

Following that event, whispers regarding her person and integrity grew in volume and viciousness. Many jealous girls exchanged hurtful rumors of her supposed 'relations', why Jiraiya-sama had taken her under his wing, and where exactly she was working. These malicious rumors not only tarnished her previously stellar reputation, but also isolated Hoshimi even further in the community than before.

At least in regards to the civilian population. The shinobi side could care less about one civilian girl who may or may not have helped out Konoha's spymaster once or twice.

Regardless of this, Hoshimi continued to hold her head high, letting the insults and jeers following her person pearl off of her clothing, and just smiled at her baby nephew, describing a bird flying overhead or a pretty flower they encountered on the way. Sometimes, in the privacy of her mind, she thought her experiences with getting shunned at Hogwarts and Privet Drive were designed to prepare her for the increasingly malicious words of jealous village-girls.

But the young woman refused to be broken by these rumors. Especially ones started by inconsiderate people she had no connection with or concern for.


Her studies with Tsubasa-sensei progressed nicely. Hiragana was memorized quickly, followed by Katakana which Hoshimi learned within a week. The young witch had glued both of the scrolls containing the two alphabets in her own ("passable") handwriting on the cupboards above her sink, where she was sure to see them each time she washed the dishes. (A tactic which proved beneficial to Naruto as well, helping him learn to read much better by providing a visual aid.)

Tsubasa-sensei forced her student to practice writing (and speaking) both alphabets endlessly in her free time, while teaching her the first Kanji. Hoshimi drew an awkward little picture depicting the meaning of the sign next to the written word, hoping to memorize them better that way, of which Hermione no doubt would have been proud.

Their grammar lessons, however, were awfully dull and boring. Also complicated. Nevertheless, the teen persevered, already noticing how much her understanding of the language had improved by chatting with Naruto more and more easily and fluently.

Tadao was beginning to pick up the language too, as displayed in occasional babbles that came quite close to resembling the correctly-enunciated words. Hoshimi always read her two boys a bedtime story, to train herself and provide a nice finishing touch to the evening.
Despite not going to bed directly afterward, unlike Tadao, Naruto loved to listen to her slow, stumbling voice when his loving care-taker read those childish stories. He could sense that they were not just for Tadao's or Hoshimi's benefit, but for his own too. Somehow, the young civilian woman raising her orphaned nephew had wormed her way into his heart, genuinely affectionate, and never afraid to touch him. A humbling experience for the six-year-old who had been treated very differently by the workers in the orphanage where he had stayed all his short life, before moving out.

So, Naruto secretly taught Tadao to call Hoshimi 'kaa-chan' (mom) instead of 'obasan' (aunt), convinced that she would love it.

In the meantime, Hoshimi herself adopted the small (sometimes astonishingly oblivious) blonde into her makeshift family. He was a little exasperating, loud and purposely played dumb at times, but she usually just told him to calm down for a little bit. Then the witch gave him a hug, a piece of sugar-coated fruit (her replacement for lemon drops), and told him to play with Tadao, 'because he had missed his big brother today'.


Of course the warm tone to her interaction with Naruto had been discovered soon after Hoshimi bundled all three of them up one Sunday, to go to the park and play for a little while. On the way there, the villagers glared heatedly at her young blonde charge or purposefully ignored his very presence, sending her questioning, disgusted, or pitying looks. The raven-haired civilian just ignored their malicious remarks, holding onto Naruto's hand to led him lead her better, as well as provide morale support to the young boy. At the time, Tadao was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the goings-on around his small family.

They arrived at a small playground only ten minutes after leaving their apartment complex, to a massive exodus, once the trio had been identified by the other mothers. Only a few of the previously gossiping women stayed, either to scrutinize the deceptively headstrong young girl who was taking care of a small toddler and the Container, or because they ignored their very presence and refused to leave on principle alone. Most of them warned their children to stay away from Naruto as soon as they could, though.

Hoshimi just rolled her eyes at their ignorant behavior, ruffling the small blonde's hair gently in an effort to reassure him. Then she placed a small checkered blanket on the ground which she had painstakingly knitted herself for this occasion, placing a curious little toddler on it. Unbidden, Naruto began to play with the tiny chubby baby boy, tickling him, followed by a self-invented "ninja-version" of 'peak-a-boo'.

Trusting Naruto to keep an eye on her nephew, at least for a moment or two, the young woman allowed herself to close her eyes, enjoying the rays of sunshine warming her face. Due to somewhat regular, more nutritious meals, her body had slowly began to fill out again, regaining a hint of the curves she had lost to weeks if not months of self-starvation. (Hoshimi had lost track of the time she spent in this world until Jiraiya had reached out to her on a whim.) Her muscles had slowly returned as well, mainly due to lifting an increasingly heavier Tadao or chasing Naruto around her living room area. Besides, she was working rather hard on making a home out of the nearly empty, dilapidated apartment complex they lived in.

Her thoughts turned to the Academy next, which was scheduled to begin the following day. This was their last time together as a makeshift family before that event, and Hoshimi wanted to enjoy it to the fullest, despite the obstacles placed in the way of that resolution. Besides, the sun was shining brightly and the seemingly ever-present humidity was, for once, tolerable. Why shouldn't they enjoy this day just like everyone else in the village?

When someone seated themselves next to her on the otherwise abandoned bench, Hoshimi reluctantly opened her eyes. It was a young woman, around her age if not a little older, sporting purple hair and a tan trench-coat and not much else, clothing-wise. "Mitarashi Anko, at your service," the kunoichi introduced herself roughly.

Meanwhile the witch was almost certain the other woman had already studied her thoroughly long before sitting down. Hoshimi smiled genuinely, yet still only politely, at the other female, offering a bow in response.

"You are doing a good thing for the blonde gaki, you know," the purple-haired kunoichi mused aloud, sounding oddly respectful for a kunoichi speaking to a civilian. "Don't let them get you down, Aota-san. Words from those jealous bitches aren't worth the air they breathe."

Amused, the witch nodded seriously, warming up a little to the blunt woman. Then she winked at Mitarashi-san, offering her a sugar-coated fruit from a conveniently small container hidden in a paper-bag stowed in her pocket. (Where little fingers wouldn't manage to sneak them unsupervised.) Curious, the purple-haired kunoichi tried one of the berries presented to her.

Naruto seemed to have smelled the the treat from his spot on the blanket, carrying Tadao on his back piggyback-style to the bench. "Oh, Hoshi-ba-chan, can I have one too?" He begged, ridiculous puppy-eyes and all. Now doubly amused, Hoshimi allowed him to pick one of the sweet pieces. Then the blonde turned to the nonplussed kunoichi sitting right next to the surprisingly comfortable civilian. "This is Aota Hoshimi-ba-chan and her nephew Tadao-kun, but she always calls him Tedi for short, and I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage," he declared confidently.

Mitarashi-san snorted in bemused amusement, but she gave him a slightly painful-looking noogie nevertheless. "You sure are ambitious, gaki."

And with that, their makeshift family grudgingly gained a new member. Only, Anko didn't know that quite yet.


On the other hand, the revelation that Aota-san actually liked taking care of the 'Demon Child' isolated her further from the rest of the village. By extension, this included Tadao too. Shops mysteriously closed early when she went shopping. Street vendors tried to raise their prices well beyond ridiculous and right into astronomically. Restaurants were suddenly completely reserved whenever Hoshimi wanted, to avoid cooking herself, to treat her adopted godson for accomplishing something like mastering reading appropriately for his age-level.

Were it not for the creative renovation of their roof garden, Hoshimi would probably have had to go back to starving herself to feed all three of them two good meals a day. She could not find another job to raise her income either, due to her less than stellar reputation. Unfortunately, this meant the witch was forced to learn how to sew yukata, mend clothes, grow vegetables, potty-train her godson early, and really break out her brain not to fall into debt anywhere.


Naruto noticed the increasingly bad treatment, of course. He even suggested, heavyhearted, to act like they despised each other in public, so the villagers would not treat her and Tadao as badly as him. Hoshimi just rolled her eyes at the kid, whacked his head affectionately with a paper scroll, and told him simply: "People are stupid. They are like sheep, stupid followers of the rest. Show them that you are the bigger person by proving their bad words wrong. Remember, you are Uzumaki Naruto, Tadao's big brother, Sandaime-sama's grandson, and my little, annoying nephew. We love you, okay?-"

Her heartfelt speech was interrupted when the blonde boy tackled her to the ground, giving her a bear hug. To no one's surprise, the emotional kid was crying happy tears at her declaration. "Okay," Naruto whispered hoarsely in her ear.

Hoshimi just held him as he cried in her yukata, stroking his back in a motherly fashion. She knew in that moment, the small blonde loved them back just as fiercely. Tadao crawled over to his 'aunt' and 'brother', snuggling in between the two elder family-members.

"Is that why you are always so strong, ba-chan?" The blonde-haired child asked after a long pause.

In response, Hoshimi chuckled warmly. "Yes and no. I was treated like that before. People always change their minds if you stay yourself and prove them wrong. I not need wrong praise or a hundred friends that follow the rest of the sheep. Just you and Tadao and a few good friends. I always protect those with everything in my heart."

"What is a good friend?" Naruto asked curiously, discovering another side to his adopted sister.

Humming under her breath, Hoshimi considered her words carefully before replying. She sat up, tugging both of her boys against her side. "A good friend steals gold from dragons for you. A good friend kicks your butt when you are silly and cheers you up when you are sad. A good friend tells you when you are an idiot, but always listens to your words closely. A good friend always protects your back, no matter what. A good friend never leaves you behind, even if you are being really mean to them or someone else. A good friend keeps his door open, so you can slip into his bed at night, after a bad dream. A good friend carries you home when you can't walk yourself. A good friend gives you room to think, but keeps you from over-thinking. A good friend would always give his life for you, no questions asked. A good friend is a very rare treasure that you should never let go."

Naruto clearly considered her words carefully, tucking them away in a part of his brain, and hopefully heart, to remember later. Then he squeezed her gently, thanking her for answering his questions.


Later that night, Hoshimi woke to find herself face-to-face with the ANBU wearing the dog-mask. He gave her a deep bow, much to the civilian's sleepy befuddlement, and vanished back to wherever he had been guarding them from before.

When Hoshimi got ready in the morning, she found a small set of copper hair-ornaments sitting on her night-table. It consisted of two chopsticks (which were decorated with a cascade of small bells at the slightly thicker end) as well as a beautiful comb matching the sticks. The latter was painstakingly made to depict a stylized dragon. The young witch carefully traced over the comb, astonished by the expert craftsmanship the smith had displayed while creating this piece. It was a very beautiful ornament that reminded her of a similar set her mother had worn in one of the pictures of a Halloween party, found in an old photo-album she had unearthed in their half-destroyed cottage, a month after the war.

To the teen's surprise, the chopsticks doubled as small knives, perfect to defend herself with should she ever need to. With tears in her eyes, Hoshimi decided to always wear these hair-ornaments from now on. The civilian briefly wondered where he had gotten those pieces from, but decided to just appreciate his gift. Everyone had their own secrets, after all.

"Thank you, Dog-San," she whispered out loud, hoping he would hear her heartfelt gratitude.

Apparently their little makeshift family should add another member to their slowly growing group of weirdos.


So, hope you guys liked the chapter! If you want to do me a favor, please read my latest One Shot 'Heads And Tails', it's the response to the prompt-fic of last week's ad. My Beta Bloodfox64 is looking over the chapters of Petal and Beautiful Star for me at the moment, so from here on out they will all be beta-ed.
Have a good day!
W