I'd like to thank those who have bothered to read this, so far, and the few that put this on Story Alert. I'd also like to thank the reader who added this to their Favorites. Here's the last chapter before we get into her Seventh Year! I tried to keep facts as close to canon as I could . . . *grumbles at stupid document editor that won't let her underline the chapter heading*


-Chapter Three-

She watched the ramen shop silently, marveling in the very fact that she was here. Rousoku settled onto her shoulder, and she spared the loyal bird a glance. "Well, friend," she murmured, "we made it."

Rousoku nipped gently at her ear, causing her to smile. In the silent language between pet and owner, he seemed to be telling her, "quit stalling."

Obeying the sometimes ornery bird, Hikari approached the open-air shop and settled herself on one of the stools as her owl flew to the roof. "One pork ramen, please, oji-san."

Ichiraku nodded absently, calling, "Coming right up." A moment later, he seemed to have realized just what this familiar female voice had called him. He had no niece that old, although Ayame was the mother of a beautiful baby girl, and had a little boy on the way. He couldn't think of anyone who would possibly call him that except . . .

He turned, and his eyes opened wide at the sight before him. "Hikari!"

Hikari laughed. "Good to see you, too, oji-san. Ne, how's business?"

"Booming, or at least it is whenever Naruto comes around." Rounding the counter, Ichiraku gathered her up in a hug. She stiffened, not expecting the action, but then relaxed, trusting the old man. "It's good to see you again," he murmured.

Hikari nodded into his shoulder. "I didn't think I would be coming back. I almost didn't. Heck, I shouldn't be alive, oji-san! After that incident, it feels like a part of me has anyway."

Ichiraku frowned. "What incident? What have you been doing, Hikari-mei-chan?"

That simple name, that acceptance, meant worlds to the girl, and she managed a smile. "Surviving, apparently. There was a big fight where I was. Lots of people died. And- and I killed some of them. But what bothers me is, I don't feel bad about it. Why don't I feel bad, oji-san?"

Ichiraku pondered that. "Well, was it in defense of friends?"

"Yes."

"Well, then." He pulled away and tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, no reason to regret. You're not a monster, Hikari. You don't slaughter people for no reason."

She hid her face in his shoulder again, feeling childish and not caring. "Sometimes I feel like I am."

Her only answer was his arms returning to hold her.

........

She was back again, at the gates of Suna. And lo and behold, there was the same guard as last time.

When he saw who it was who had come, he actually offered her a smile. "Back again, I see."

She nodded. "Yup."

"Well, then." The guard smiled. "Welcome back."

........

"Taiki-kun, I don't understand why you want to go through the marketplace. I thought your place was five blocks that way."

Taiki shrugged, scratching at his head. In the past two years, its color had changed from a sandy blonde to a medium brown, closer to Kankuro-sama's hair. He had also had it cut, tired of the scraggly locks getting tangled so much. He looked more mature with the shorter hair, or as much as he could be. He was wise beyond his years, however, and always had been. "I told you, you don't have to follow me."

"Maa, I'm bored. So, fess up. Why are you going this way?"

Again, the eleven-year-old shrugged. "I just want to," he lied. In truth, he was watching for Hikari. He didn't want Kohaku to know that, though. He had never told anyone about his surrogate sister. They would ask questions, and he wasn't sure Hikari wanted them to know.

Kohaku rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm going to go home, see if I can bug my aniki to train with me. See you tomorrow, Taiki!"

Taiki waved, grateful for his departure. He was his friend, yes, but for now Hikari was to be kept secret, and in the odd chance she actually was there, he didn't want to have to explain things.

He continued on, waving every now and then to shopkeepers and shoppers that he knew. Finally, the bench was coming up.

Disappointment hit him hard and fast when he saw it empty, as much as he tried not to hope. It was around the time she came the last two years, and he wanted to see her again. The last letter had been in May, a simple, "I'm safe." Due to the fact that most other letters had consisted of, "I'm hanging in there," this seemed to signal that the worst was over for his onee-chan. He could only pray that was so.

A familiar head of brown hair passed into his vision, and he perked up, unable to keep himself from hoping. And sure enough, the young woman with the full sack stopped at the bench and began to sit down.

By then, he was already running to meet her.

........

"Hikari-nee-chan!"

The familiar cry had her on her feet again, not long after sitting down. "Taiki!"

The form that nearly tackled her was taller this time around, and looking down, she could see his hair had darkened with age, too, and had been chopped short. It looked good on him, she decided.

He hugged her tightly, as if afraid to let go. "I knew you'd come back. I knew it."

Hikari laughed, returning the embrace. He hadn't changed much at all. "Thanks for your faith in me, ototo. It's so good to see you again."

"Yeah." Taiki beamed, then looked as if he'd had a lightbulb moment. "Ooh! Wanna see my apartment?"

"Your apartment?" Hikari blinked. "Sure. I can tell you about my year when we get there. It'll be more private than a playground."

"Must have been some year."

Hikari let out a puff of air. "Yeah. It was. We like to call it the Year of Hell. Come on, let's go so I can spill."

Taiki laughed. "Sure. Follow me."

"Nice apartment," Hikari complimented as she looked around. "You got a real bargain when you rented this place."

"Yeah," agreed Taiki. "And it's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, I'd still be stealing food, or I would be back in that place they call an orphanage."

Hikari made a face. "That bad, huh?"

"Almost four years is all I could stand, and I wasn't even nine. My parents died when I was five, and I got put in that slum. They're not too bad, I suppose, but I hated it."

"I see," Hikari said, nodding. "Well, when you graduate, they can't drag you back. As a shinobi, you're practically an adult."

Taiki nodded. "I'm just glad the landlord is sympathetic. Here, have a seat."

Hikari accepted the offer, sitting down on an old couch. The upholstery was patched and faded, but the cushions were soft and comfortable, the best kind in Hikari's opinion. New couches weren't broken in. "It's nice," she told him.

Taiki gave a pleased smile. "Arigato. I bought it cheap from one of my classmates' families."

"Sounds like people have been good to you."

"Nn," Taiki agreed. "I've made good friends."

"That's good to hear. Would you like to hear my story, now?"

"Yes, please!" The boy settled himself on the couch next to her, crossing his legs and leaning against the armrest to face her. Hikari's eyes twinkled in amusement, then saddened, remembering. "The year was just as bad as I figured it would be. Muggle-borns had to hide from Snatchers, groups of wizards loyal to Voldemort-baka who hunted them down to take to the Ministry for trial. In their prejudice and contempt, they made the ludicrous excuse that they had stolen the magic, for how else would they have gotten it anyway? I might have stayed in the Hidden Countries were it not for the fact that I had falsified documents lying about my parentage, and I felt that I needed to be there. I had been involved for five years already; I was sucked in deep by then.

"Two Death Eaters taught at the school, teaching the Dark Arts, instead of the defense against them, and Muggle Studies, attempting to indoctrinate the students that Muggles and Muggle-borns were worthless, a lower form of life. Many of those who openly resisted had to hide out in the Room of Requirement when not in class so as to avoid the Carrows and the students that would harm them. Eventually, some had to hide permanently. I didn't, because I usually stay mostly to myself, but I payed secretive visits to them. I avoided the Carrows as much as I could, and Snape, who was the Headmaster."

"Seriously?" Taiki blurted out, disgusted.

Hikari nodded. "It was very tempting to kill him. However, a conversation with Dumbledore-sama's portrait convinced me not to."

........

"Armadillo Bile," the girl whispered, senses trained on her surroundings. Snape was elsewhere in the castle, and she was taking the rare opportunity to sneak into his office. She had questions, and she needed answers.

The gargoyle jumped out of the way, giving her a knowing grin. She ignored it, and stepped swiftly onto the rising spiral stairs. Once inside the office, Hikari cast a muffliato, not wanting to be heard by anyone outside. Then, turning to Dumbledore's portrait, she sighed sadly.

"Hello, Dumbledore-sama."

The portrait smiled down at her. "Hello, Hikari. I was wondering when you would get around to coming."

Hikari snorted. "This world is messed up, ossan."

One of the other headmasters scowled at her. "Watch your tongue, child!"

"But he is an old man! And believe me, I respect him very much, but I'm also mad at him."

"Oh?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

"Whatever for?" she sputtered, fighting against the urge to rail at him in Japanese. "I'll tell you whatever for! That stay in the hospital wing last year was deliberate! You made sure I couldn't do anything!"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I arranged for you to be stunned. I did not mean for your arm to be broken, however, or for you to actually be knocked unconscious."

Hikari scowled. "One other question. Why?"

His eyes closed, and he let out a long breath of air. "Because you could have – would have – stopped it."

"And wouldn't that have been a good thing? Dumbledore-sama, you were murdered! Don't you know how much that hurts?"

"Of course I do," he answered. "My own sister was killed because a former friend of mine and I got in an argument. It haunts me to this very day. Hikari, please trust me. There are things that I cannot yet confide in you. I asked Severus to kill me."

"You what?"

"He refused at first, Hikari. I made him promise me, however, that he would. There is a wand that, if Tom got his hands on it, would give him a very big advantage. It claims an owner, and passes that claim onto the one who defeats the possessor. The only way to end the line would be to die without being defeated. By asking Severus to kill me, and by him doing so, I hoped to accomplish just that."

"But you don't know if it worked."

"No," he answered regretfully, "I don't. But I was already dying, anyway. Hikari, I must ask you, no matter how tempted you are, not to kill Severus. He is still loyal to me, even if he is the only one who knows it. Not even Minerva knows. Hikari, if word were to get back to Tom, then Severus's life would be in grave danger. He has long been a spy for the Order, and Tom does not take kindly to spies."

Hikari sighed, relenting. "All right. What should I do, then?"

"Wait," he instructed. "When the battle arrives, your skills will be indispensable. Let Severus handle things for now."

Reluctantly, Hikari nodded. "All right. Goodbye, Headmaster-sama."

Dumbledore smiled fondly. "No, Hikari. See you later."

........

"So . . . Snape was actually on your guys' side? Dumbledore asked him to kill him?"

Hikari nodded. "Hai. I found out after everything was over that his attempt had failed, but there is nothing that could be done about that. What Dumbledore-sama did was risky, and he knew it. It was the one last thing he could do to help Harry-san. Whatever else, Snape did for him. Secretively, of course. And as he said, he really was already dying.

"The months following the conversation were stressful. I stayed for the winter holidays, as I always do, and that in and of itself was a nightmare. Finally, May arrived, as did the battle."

She spaced out, then, remembering with a twisting stomach the bloody massacre brought about by her hands. Taiki looked at her in concern, frowning.

"Daijoubu?"

"Huh? Oh. Yes, I'm fine." And she was, for the moment. Ichiraku was right in that she shouldn't regret killing those dark wizards. After all, they were trying to kill her and those she had sworn to protect. It terrified her, though, that she was capable of such violence. She had seen a friend become like that once, and that single incident had destroyed that girl.

After a few seconds of hard, quick thinking, she settled on skimming over the battle, leaving out most of the things that related to her. "I killed a fair share of the attacking wizards. A group of them tried to sneak up from another direction, but I managed to stop them. There was a break, so I cleaned myself up a bit and helped with the injured, and then the battle began anew. I didn't do as much this time, and got to see Harry-san defeat Voldemort-baka. Turns out, when Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore-sama, the Elder Wand – the wand Dumbledore-sama spoke of – transferred ownership to him. At a later time, Harry-san unknowingly took ownership rights to the Elder Wand when he disarmed Malfoy, and Voldemort-baka killed Snape before the battle, thinking he possessed ownership. With Harry being the wand's true master, the Elder Wand refused to kill him, and Harry-san's disarming spell reflected the Killing Curse back on that twisted dark wizard."

Taiki's eyes were wide. "Wow. What did you do during the battle?"

Hikari grimaced. "Gomen, but I'd rather not think about that. Another time, perhaps."

"Hmm. Ne, there's a rumor going around in the Academy that Kazekage-sama is in contact with magic stick users – wizards. If it's true, and there's ever a chance to visit you at Hogwarts, I will."

"Really?" Hikari's eyes lit up at the prospect, though the thought of shinobi being at Hogwarts threw her for a loop. Did she want to keep her secret anymore? Before, it was because the shinobi and wizard worlds hardly ever mingled. What now, though, with diplomatic ties being made?

Taiki nodded. "It's a promise."

Hikari ruffled the boy's hair as she smiled, pleased. "I'd like that. You know, I was thinking . . . I'm graduating this year, and I'll be spending most of my time in the Hidden Countries, when not visiting friends in England."

"Eikoku?" Taiki questioned.

"Our word for 'England.'"

Taiki tested the word on his tongue. "In-glan-di?"

Hikari laughed. "Close enough. You know, if you do come visit, you'll need to use a translation jutsu or spell. But back to what I was saying. Ever since my sensei found me, I've been a nomad. At least until I was eleven and went to Hogwarts. We didn't ever stop moving for more than a month. After my sensei died after my first year of school, I continued travelling in the Summer. I've been looking for a home, a village to be loyal to. Both Konoha and Suna are my top choices, but I only have Ichiraku in Konoha. Here, I have you."

Taiki stared at her, beginning to get the gist of where she was going with this. Grinning, she concluded the thought.

"What do you think about me becoming a citizen of Sunagakure no Sato and us forming a clan together as adopted brother and sister?"

A moment was all she had to wait for Taiki's answer, and it came in the form of a flying body that really did tackle her in a hug this time. A few seconds later, Taiki pulled away, grinning broadly down at her. "I'd like that very much, onee-chan."


Japanese--English translations:

Oji--Uncle

Mei--Niece

Maa--Well

Daijoubu?--Are you all right?