Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Warning: This story will contain spoilers from Naruto and Harry Potter so if you don't like spoilers don't read this story. Also, some facts may be different from the original plot and characters might behave differently from their original natures but that is how I need them in order to write my fanfic so again if you don't like it refrain from reading it. The genre is Drama/Hurt/Comfort, Harry is emotionally hurt. In this fic, Harry may behave emotional and depressed (but not throughout entire storyline) so think carefully before you write something to you don't like my fic please read something else but if you have constructive criticism for me do go ahead and enlighten me. Lastly, there might be some future violence or coarse language. You have been warned!

Chapter 4: Redemption…

"Someone once told me home is where your heart is. Then where would my home be when the only heart I have is shattered? Will I ever find peace and rest without my heart?"

"Good, everything is settled then." Sarutobi was extremely happy that heated discussion regarding the teen's stay had ended in his favor. Everyone had expressed their concerns about the boy and some were even worried that the teen had come to harm or steal Naruto because of the nine-tails. They came to few agreements to lessen their worries. Harry would be monitored by ANBU and Kakashi would be notified of the boy's true profile plus they would try to minimize any contact between Harry and Naruto. In the end, the third Hokage had managed to persuade the others to give the teen a chance. When hours of debate were over at last, Kazuki finally sighed in exasperation and spoke to Sarutobi.

"I hope you are aware that, due to your stupidity, I have lost some of the respect I held for you as the Hokage. If you like taking big risks so much, you should have joined the circus."

Sarutobi grinned playfully at the remark and replied to his cranky friend. "I already have a circus; I got ANBU, in which every kind of animal dwells, and a cranky jester that doesn't know how to seal his lips while he resides in the hospital. "

"Shut up monkey." Kazuki glared at his friend.

"Let's start preparing rooms and supplies for him before we fetch that young man." And the third Hokage stood from his chair and stretched his body; he had a lot to do to organize for Harry's stay.

Everyone paid their respects to the Hokage preparing to leave the room, but before anyone could leave the room, Sarutobi called out to Kazuki.

"Oh – and one more thing Kazuki."

Kazuki turned around with a face that clearly said 'make it quick because I'm very tired.'

"You will be his doctor, from now on, so he is your responsibility in medical issues." Sarutobi informed Kazuki, a smile still plastered to his features.

"What? Why?" And before anyone could answer Kazuki's question, he turned around and screamed at no one in particular when he realized that he already had the answer.

"Never mind! Forget I asked!" Kazuki stomped out the Hokage Residence. Everyone followed his trail except Kaede who chose to linger a little longer.

"Is this your way of redemption? To make up to the people you believe you've failed?" Sarutobi quietly reached for his pipe at Kaede's question. Kaede watched as his friend lighted the pipe. Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke before finally replying.

"Maybe."

"You do know that, in a way you're being cruel to the boy?" Kaede commented with a frown marring his face.

"I guess answer to that question should be yes." Sarutobi took another mouthful of smoke out.

"We cannot go back in time nor can we replace a person with someone else. No one can. Remember that." Kaede was heading out the door. When he left Sarutobi sighed feeling ashamed and finally answered.

"I will."

For Harry, the days spent in the hospital passed quite peacefully though not without the silent company of masked men and nightmares. Harry also had one more visit from Sarutobi in which he was questioned about his strange abilities. Harry just responded 'I'm not sure what you're talking about.' and feigned not remembering any 'episodes'. Well he did remember using the Imperio but as to why monitors and windows crashed and exploded, was something Harry was unable to explain, even to himself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember trashing the room with his magical power. In the end, the elderly man had given up and left.

Then early in one morning, Harry was escorted from the hospital. Streets were mostly empty due to the earliness of hour. The village was serene, and Harry relished the quietness that was still full of life. Harry followed Kaede and two masked figures through the village and as they traveled Harry took in the sight of the village as best as he could without the aid of his glasses. Harry's first impression was that it was unlike anything he'd ever seen and expected a village to be. The buildings seemed quite disorganized as one looked like another building had been built on top of it, at a later date, in a completely different style. What appeared to be electrical cables and pipelines ran from building to building in what seemed to be a completely random way. It was almost as if he was in an industrial area but as to contrast that idea, there were many trees around him. Some trees seemed to be sprouting in between buildings and some trees even seemed to grow out of houses to stand taller than the buildings next to them.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Harry was greeted by Sarutobi and few more people waiting in wide, spacious room. Harry sat on a couch while he listened to Sarutobi. Harry was informed that he was going to be Sarutobi's charge and under that condition he had permission to live in the Leaf Village. Along with his new room he got a new identity. Harry was under the obligation to follow the same law that any other citizens have to follow. Harry would be living in Sarutobi's house, which was also occupied by Sarutobi's son and grandson.

"So if I sign these papers, then I can live in this village peacefully as long as I follow the conditions you just told me?" Harry asked for confirmation.

"Yes." Sarutobi answered him with a slight nod.

"Where do I sign again?" Harry inquired with a sigh.

Harry looked at the paper for the one last time - hoping that by some miracle that he could suddenly read the writings but unfortunately that didn't happen - then reluctantly signed the space indicated by Sarutobi. Harry didn't like the idea of becoming the old man's charge and living with him and his family, but Harry lacked money or anything of value as well as any basic knowledge of how to survive in this world. Also, as Harry recently discovered when he was asked to fill out the medical information form, he wasn't able to read anything in this world, therefore, living alone would cause a lot of problems for him. How Harry was able to communicate with these people was an even greater mystery.

Kazuki and others were quite surprised to learn that not only Harry couldn't read kanji, but even the most basic hiragana and katakana were outside his grasp as well. When Harry was asked for explanation of his illiteracy, the simple answer of 'I haven't learned how to read and write them' did not suffice anyone to satisfy their curiosity, especially since Harry had said that he'd gone to school. What kind of strange school wouldn't teach its students how to read and write? After Harry signed his name, people around him gathered to stare at his signature for a while. Harry inwardly groaned wondering what he have done wrong this time.

"These are Roman letters aren't they?" Surprise was evident in Sarutobi's voice. Harry didn't understand the intent behind the question was so he simply answered the elderly man.

"Yes."

Harry was little bit relieved to know that there were letters he understood in this world. Harry thought he could come up with some excuse as to why he wasn't able to read their language. However, fate did not give Harry anymore time to dwell on that thought for Kaede inquired Harry in a perplexed manner.

"Where did you learn it? People don't learn English before they learn hiragana and katakana. And English isn't mandatory to learn."

"Harry Potter, you signed. I guess that is your real name." Although Ibiki spoke to himself, rather than to anyone else Harry, for some reason, got irritated at the comment and retorted in a sarcastic manner.

"What did you think it was? Poochie the dog?"

Ibiki smirked at the teen's boldness, not many people dared making sarcastic remarks to him. Ibiki wondered if Harry's audacity was due to the lack of glasses preventing him from seeing Ibiki's facial features in detail.

"So where did you learn it?" Kazuki pressed on.

"At school." Said Harry, his mind working furiously to make up answers to possible questions.

"The school that's gone?" Sarutobi asked in a kind tone that kept reminding Harry of Dumbledore and to everyone's surprise Harry suddenly flinched as though he had been startled.

Harry's heart rate increased and he could have sworn that he was with Dumbledore in his office with the headmaster smiling at him for a brief seconds before he was teleported back to the spacious room. Harry blinked few times, confused about what just has happened. Had he somehow apparated back to Dumbledore's office then back? No, Dumbledore was dead and Hogwarts was destroyed. But Harry was sure he had somehow traveled to the office and seen the headmaster.

"Harry?" Sarutobi's worried voice came.

Harry shook his head telling himself that his tired eyes were playing tricks on him. Unfortunately, Harry was rattled by his glimpse into the past so he forgot to lie to Sarutobi.

"No, another school."

Harry realised that he really should have just said yes and made them believe that it was the same school, it wouldn't have made any difference. Why couldn't the life be easier for him?

"Where's that school, then?" Sarutobi asked in hopes of finally uncovering where the teen was from, or at least getting a hint to it. Sadly, it was another failure for Sarutobi because Harry only answered "The land far away," but it was interrupted by Sarutobi as he finished the sentence in exasperated manner "And unreachable. Got it."

"Why did you leave?" Kazuki questioned Harry. Kazuki still did not agree with the teen living in the Leaf Village, however, since the third Hokage had somehow managed to persuade him to approve of Harry's stay in the village, Kazuki wanted to know the reason the boy had to leave his previous village. Kazuki wanted to keep his beloved village from danger so when Harry remained quiet, scowl made its way onto Kazuki's face. Sensing his friend's increasing frustration, Sarutobi intervened and repeated the same question to subdue Kazuki's irritation which ended in vain. Kaede signed and turned to Harry.

"You might as well tell Hokage-sama what he wants to know. That's the least you can do since he went through all the trouble to adopt you." Kaede told the teen.

"What?" Harry barely choked out the word trying to register the information before he burst into a louder outcry. "He did what? Adopt!" Harry turned his head to Sarutobi and pondered the likelihood that he'd misheard the older man.

"He's adopted you, officially, as a lot of documents were involved." Ibiki pointed at the documents in question, much to Harry's dismay. Harry slowed his breathing while trying to process the outcome of this event. Harry looked back to the source of this chaos and with Sarutobi's confirmating nod Harry exploded and people in the room tensed, worrying about what would happen this time.

"You never mentioned an adoption when you explained the contract to me! You only told me I needed to sign those papers so I could live in this village safely, and that I'm to be your charge, not your son!" Harry felt like he had, much to his distaste, been tricked again when it came to matters concerning his life.

"No. I didn't lie to you Harry. I just forgot to mention few things." Sarutobi's said in caring, grandfather like manner that did noting to hide a mischievous glint.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Forgot to mention few things? He mean forgot to mention a major thing! Harry was tempted to perhaps obliviating everyone in this room and rip the accursed documents, but just as he thought this Sarutobi called his name in a gentle but firm voice to catch Harry's attention again.

"Harry, from what you told me, you look like you came from a place that doesn't hold much of shinobi village's information. I will tell you this. Our village looks peaceful right now, but need to be on guard for shinobi of other villages and nations." Harry did not need Sarutobi's explanation. Harry was already too familiar to the concept.

"To put it simply, you don't know when the next war will start and everyone in this village is on a constant lookout for possible enemies or spies from other places." Harry's brief summary was met with a positive verification and for a moment, Harry couldn't thank Fawkes enough for sending him to such as safe place.

"I am Hokage, which means I am the leader of this village. But even as a leader there are some things I cannot do without approval from the Council. For example, they won't allow you to stay here if someone reliable doesn't vouch for you." Sarutobi explained.

"So without protection from you, I guess they will likely to kill me or chuck me into a dungeon since I'm rather conspicuous."

So the boy is aware that he's acting very suspiciously. Ibiki's brief musings were broken when the third replied to Harry's remark.

"Yes, they could, and that's why I'm adopting you. You don't have to call me father or anything, it's solely for your protection."

Why would the old man want to do that for him? Harry couldn't understand Sarutobi. This elderly man was the leader of the village yet he was putting faith in Harry, who was a total stranger and a possible threat.

"It's a big risk Hokage-sama took for you, since..." However, Kazuki's sentence was cut off by the Hokage, who was silently trying to tell his friend that he shouldn't explain that now. But Kazuki did not comply. No, he wouldn't back down. Sarutobi was risking everything he had for this mysterious intruder. No, the teen had to know what Sarutobi was jeopardizing.

"Well, he needs to know what you risked for him at the least! You not only did put the lives of villagers at risk, but everything you have worked for your entire life!" Kazuki retorted, not so silently.

Why was the man risking things for him? He was a complete stranger. Harry wanted to ask the question but was afraid to know what the answer might entail.

"I…" Now everyone's eyes were on Harry from two old man's argument. Harry gulped down the lump in his throat as people stared at him and continued.

"I left the place where I used to live because… there was a battle. Many people died, including the people I cared about. I didn't want to live, but still, my friend took me here. He wanted to take me to his relatives but he was injured and he died before we reached... wherever his relatives live. I lost consciousness and when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. The battle is over so you needn't concern yourself with possible effects on your village's safety. I promise that I will try my best not to cause any trouble." Harry thought that the least he could do for the man who had just adopted him, with all the risks that entailed, was give the man a promise to behave as best as he was able. And tell him that there was no reason for him to worry about Harry endangering the village in any way, shape or form. Or that something nasty from Harry's past would come back and bite him when it's the least expected.

Everyone fell silent for a few minutes. In a way, Harry's revelation was not totally unexpected. From what little information they had gotten from Harry, they had pieced together a rough estimation of what Harry's history looked like. It was close to what Harry had confessed to.

"Thank you for telling us that Harry." Sarutobi broke the silence with a smile and spoke in a satisfied voice.

Harry nodded at Sarutobi and listened as the old man continued.

"Well Harry, as you know by now, I adopted you. From now on you will be called Sarutobi Hari, because your real name sounds too suspicious. Your last name is Sarutobi, which is my family name and your first name is Hari, which is easier, and less foreign, to pronounce than Harry."

Sarutobi's began instructing Harry about how to maintain his new identity. Harry was to tell villagers that about 12 years ago the third Hokage had met Harry at a small secluded village at the northern boarders of Fire country and that the third adopted him unofficially thinking Harry was an orphan with nowhere to go. The third Hokage had promised to take Harry to the Leaf Village but soon discovered that Harry had relatives to take him in, and so Sarutobi had left Harry with the relatives thinking it was for better.

Recently Harry's village had been attacked by bandits and the village had been completely destroyed. Harry was the lone survivor of the attack and had no other places to go. Harry had never traveled or learned about anything outside of his village and because of this, Harry hadn't known where to go. But after all these years Harry still remembered Sarutobi and managed to contact the old man via the bird Sarutobi had given him. Sarutobi agreed to take Harry in and Harry had come in hopes of living with Sarutobi and starting a new life, of course Harry did not know Sarutobi was Hokage until the day he arrived, nor did Harry have much knowledge about the Shinobi world due to the closed environment Harry had been brought up in.

After briefly explaining what shinobi was, things started to make little sense to Harry but it didn't improve his understanding very much. The only thing Harry could comprehend about shinobi at this point was that shinobi and ninja were roughly the same thing.

"If you accidentally use your power and anyone becomes suspicious and want to dig into your background, tell them that your parents used to be shinobi, so it could be an ability you've inherited from them, but they were killed when you were young and you have no knowledge of them or what kind of power they had. Tell them that the relatives who raised you loathed shinobi so much that they refused to mention anything about your parents and expose you to anything of the shinobi world. So until today you only knew that your parents were shinobi. You also don't know which village your parents were from because no one has ever told you. If any difficult questions come up try to use the I don't know excuse. Simple isn't it?"

Harry reviewed the story. This overall cover-up story sounded disturbingly familiar. Harry couldn't help but ask, "Is this a story something you made up from a scratch or did you put together pieces from the information about myself I gave you?" to the third Hokage.

"You like it?" Sarutobi asked with a playful sparkle.

"No." Harry responded flatly.

"Well unless you've got a better story we will go with this version from now on so speak up now if you have a better version." Sarutobi announced to Harry amusedly.

"Whatever." Harry said resignedly.

Sarutobi smiled at the boy's response and told Harry that only few people would know about Harry's true identity and that Harry wasn't allowed tell anyone the truth unless permission was given. Kazuki, Kaede and a few trusted med-nins will know of Harry and Harry was required to visit either Kazuki or Kaede every Friday for a weekly check up, and other than the case of emergency where Harry had no control over the situation, Harry was not to let any other hospital staff to look after him. The Hokage himself, as well as few ANBU and jounins Sarutobi trusted, would be aware of Harry's true profile. Amongst those trusted shinobi were Ibiki and Sarutobi's son Asuma. Harry learned that the place he was currently in was called the Hokage Residence and only the village leader was allowed to live here.

"Since my wife is deceased and my son is an adult, he can't live here with me. Even my grandson, who lost his parents, cannot live with me but has to live with his uncle. So like my grandson, you'll also be living with my son Asuma at my old house. I hope you don't have anything against that." Explained Sarutobi, disappointment evident in his voice.

"It is alright." In a way, Harry liked the setting. At this point in time, Harry knew the old man meant him no harm but staying in the man's presence brought too many painful memories and Harry wanted to avoid that. However, deep down, Harry held a very small flicker of hope that perhaps he could start over again. Maybe he could start a new life here? This place where the wizarding world did not exist, as a normal person and being loved by this old man who seemed to care about him. Harry suddenly felt terrible because he felt like he was trying to substitute Dumbledore with Sarutobi; maybe living away from this old man was for better, after all.

"Because of my many duties as the Hokage, I am rarely at my old home so if you need to see me talk to Asuma, or come to the Hokage tower or this residence. Any questions?" When Harry answered no to Sarutobi's question, the third Hokage turned around and motioned someone to come closer. When the figure stood next to the third, Sarutobi spoke softly with a hint of pride to Harry.

"I'll introduce you to my grandson later but for now I'd like you to meet my son, Asuma."

"Hey, kid. Nice to meet you." Came Asuma's cheerful voice as he extended his hand to Harry.

"Pleasure to meet you too, sir." As Harry shook the older man's hand, Asuma studied the mystery teen he had finally gotten the chance to meet.

"Well, he's polite, unlike many other family members." It was meant as a compliment to Harry but for some reason it hurt Harry to hear the comment. He felt alienated when Asuma had used the word 'family' and he didn't want to be 'unlike' that family, did he? Noting Harry's discomfort, but uncertain as to why, Sarutobi replied to Asuma's comment.

"Yes, thank goodness, now Konohamaru will have a proper role model at home."

"Hey!" Asuma protested in a mock hurt voice.

"Oh, by the way, here's your stick." Sarutobi took out a nice wooden box and opened the lid to reveal a burnt piece of wood. "I thought you might want to keep your memento somewhere safe."

Harry was at a loss for words from the man's consideration and soon smiled bitterly at the sudden thought that box was like a coffin for his feathery friend.

"Thank you." Harry said quietly. Sarutobi beamed at Harry's response and put his wrinkled hand on Harry's shoulder and finally announced his greeting.

"Welcome to the Hidden Village of Leaf, Sarutobi Hari-kun."

A/N: For Harry's new name, I know Heri is more closer in pronunciation to his original name than Hari but I don't know of name Heri as in Japanese language. Harry's name is supposed to be pronounced Ha-ri rather than He-ri. Hari is an existing Japanese name. Hari is a girl's name (or at least it sounds feminine).

It's not common nowadays but in Asia -including Japan- it wasn't uncommon to see a boy having a girl's name. A boy was given a girl's name when he was frequently sick or not expected to live a long life due to a poor health in hopes to make him healthy. A boy was also given a girl's name when the fortune reading predicted that he was going to have a short life span. It was common that this boy received a new name (boy's name to be more exact) when he reached his adulthood. Some regions have a funeral for the boy when he reached his adulthood in hopes to trick the reaper into thinking that the boy indeed lived a short life as he was destined to live. Then the boy receives new identity by getting a new name (boy's name). Some boys just lived with the name for the rest of their life. That's all I can remember about that for now

Harry's eyesight is based on my eyesight (it makes easier to write and yes, I wear glasses.) so if you think what Harry can and can't see doesn't make sense, tell that to my eyesight.

For people who is confused about Asuma and Konohamaru's parents. In comic, Asuma is Sarutobi's son, and Konohamaru calls Asuma uncle. From there, I assumed Sarutobi had another son or daughter who got married and had Konohamaru. Neither Konohamaru's mother or father were present to comfort Konohamaru during Sarutobi and Asuma's funeral so again I am assuming they both died.

For people who still haven't realized it. Right now in Ch.1-4 Kakashi and his Team is still in the Wave Country having good(?) time with Zabuza and Haku