Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. Pity, I could use the money.
A/N: It's been awhile, ne? Sorry but I'm going to be silent for a while longer. While I haven't lost my drive to write, it seems I have lost the will to interact with others. My friends complain I've become a hermit. So if I don't reply, please don't take it the wrong way. I will eventually find the energy to get back to you all. This isn't exactly what I promised, but it's a flashback I couldn't resist.
It was an oddly cloudy day for Konoha. Overcast and chilly, it seemed perfect for crawling into bed and sleeping the day away. Unfortunately the young wizard turned shinobi didn't have that luxury.
Although magic and chakra were world's apart, they did have some similarities. If things had gone differently back in England he may have continued to waste his time and skill, but here in this strange new land, he had nothing else to do but explore his potential to the fullest. In a way he had no choice. It was do or die. Or become a shopkeeper but really, what child would subject themselves to such a boring future? It had only been seven months since he had first met the odd blonde foreigner, who was not so foreign now they had gone to his homeland. Seven months since the man had picked him up off the street and saved him from a certain death. In that short time he had already exceeded even his new Sensei's expectations by becoming a Genin with less than five months of training. (1)
In some ways, he still felt he was cheating. Not that he had many advantages compared to some of the other Genin. Granted he was in better shape than most children his age because of his relatives, and growing up his hand eye coordination was second to none. Not to mention his Sharingan, now that it no longer wracked his body with pain when used. However there had been several large obstacles to overcome. The obvious signs of malnourishment for example, were only now being toned down due to several months of good food, first from Hogwarts and then courtesy of Minato-sensei, as well as several visits to a medic-nin. Even so he would never be a large man. Medic-nins could only do so much. The fact that even now he had only a mediocre grasp of the language was making it difficult to improve himself. (2) Harry, or as he was now called, Arashi was extremely thankful to his mentor for willing to work with him for such long hours despite his already heavy workload. That added to the long days and nights of travel with Minato-sensei while he finished his mission had done much to bring him up to the rigours requirements needed to pass his exams.
Of course the way he had fast tracked his way to Genin with only a month of formal Academy training had done little to endear him to many of his peers but it had gained him the grudging notice of several higher ups.(3) This of course seemed to make his peers even angrier. Not that he cared. He and many others thought they should save their breath. After all the village was at war, better to take out their vexation on enemy nins than their allies.
It was almost scary how easily he had accepted that fact. He had done as his Sensei wished and had pledged his life, loyalty, and love to a village he knew nothing about, knowing that once he stood a chance of surviving on his own that he would be thrown out onto the front lines to fight for these strange people.
Harry sighed as he shifted against the cold wall he was leaning against as he waited for his shishou's team to return before chuckling self-depreciatingly. If he had any doubts about how well and quickly he had taken to his new lessons, the very way he was standing and where he was standing was enough to dissuade him. He had chosen the side of a building to the north-east of the main gate, on the second level with an overhang that was shadowed enough that most eyes would slip right past him, but anyone attempting to attack him from above or to the sides would give themselves away by casting a shadow. Even the guards at the gate were sharing appreciative looks and he wished they would stop already. He hoped that it was the way he had situated himself that drew their attention though, and not something else. It seemed that just because the Uchiha's disliked him, much of the ninja population were willing to give him a chance. Combined with his status as a prodigy, the fact that he refused to use his Sharingan on his fellow Konoha shinobi and that his teacher was the Namikaze Minato, and he had become the hottest thing since sliced bread.
He groaned inwardly as the younger guard turned to stare straight at him again. It seemed he had another admirer. Why though he couldn't fathom. When he had asked Minato-sensei the blond had simply laughed and asked if he had looked in the mirror lately. So, like the dutiful student he was, he had trotted off to the washroom to try to find out why the masses seemed intent on following him around as they did. It wasn't as though he had changed that much. Sure he had put on some height, and his training had developed some visible muscles but he still looked too scrawny and short to be able to do half the damage he was capable of. To him the only real visible change was his lack of glasses due to his Sharingan and the fact that his hair had started to grow out and become a bit more tamed now that there was no Aunt Petunia to threaten it. And of course his clothes fit better, and suited him, but that was a requirement for any ninja. One couldn't go around fighting in oversized or ugly clothing. It could get you killed.
Get you killed. It seemed like his life was now revolving around those words, and the rules he needed to follow in order to survive.
Deep inside it was extremely unsettling to the twelve year old boy that he was willingly involving himself in a profession that was based around assassination, stealing, and seduction. And for what? A clan that wanted nothing do with him? A father that refused to acknowledge him? But what choice did he have anymore?
He bit back a sigh as he looked up at the dreary sky that was threatening to release the much needed downpour. It would be nice to feel the rain again.
"Arashi-san! Arashi-san!" Harry turned to the street lazily as a young boy called his name, looking through the crowds for him.
Harry's eye twitched imperceptibly Umino Iruka, the young Academy student that had taken a liking to following him around like a stray puppy, ran up the street asking the guards if they had seen him.
"Hmm? Arashi-san? Who's that?" The Chunin that had been watching him asked around the senbon he had been sucking on.
His partner turned to him with a look of disbelief. "You've been checking him out for the past hour and you don't even know his name?"
"Wha? Raidou I thought you said he was the bastard Uchiha!"
Harry held back a snarl as he jumped down from his spot and called out for Iruka. "Oi! Iruka-kun!"
The two guards turned to watch as the young boy scampered over to the eleven year old and pulled out a scroll. "Arashi-san, Hokage-sama asked me if I could give this to you! He said that you should give that to Namikaze-sama when he returns with his team and that he wants the two of you to come see him immediately, the others can go home and rest for the day."
Harry nodded as he slipped the thin scroll into his modified shuriken holster. "Thanks Iruka-kun," he said gratefully to the nine year old before he cocked his head to the side and frowned. "But aren't you supposed to be in the Academy?"
Iruka blushed and rocked back on his heels nervously. "Well yeah but it's so boring! And you didn't need the Academy to become a great ninja!"
Harry groaned inwardly as the guards watched on in interest. "There's a lot to learn from the Academy, it's just that shishou taught me what I needed first. There's nothing to be ashamed of for attending the Academy. Besides I'm not a great shinobi yet, I've only been a genin for the past two months, I haven't had that many exciting missions yet or anything. Mainly deliveries and such," Harry reasoned to the boy.
Iruka nodded slowly as Harry turned him around to face the direction of the Academy and gave him a small shove. "Now get going, you'll never become a great shinobi if you keep skipping your lessons Iruka-kun."
"Hai Arashi-san!" Iruka chirped as he threw a grin over his shoulder while he dodged and weaved through the crowded street.
"Now that was absolutely adorable," the unnamed guard said as he draped an arm over Harry's tensed shoulders.
Harry narrowed his eyes before slipping out of the older teens grasp and turning to move back to his waiting spot.
"Hey now, don't be so shy," the Chunin continued as he followed him.
"Don't you have a job to be doing, Chunin-san?" Harry sighed as the guard accosted him once more.
"Ah, don't worry bout it, Raidou's got it covered," the senbon sucking teen waved his concerns off. "And besides from what I've heard you can hold your own in a fight too."
Harry narrowed his eyes at the teen for his lazy response. "Ah, silly me. And here I thought we were at war."
The Chunin draped himself across his back and rested his head on the short boy's shoulder, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the Konoha hitae-ate attached to the back of his bandanna. "Well kid, anyone sneaking in wouldn't be so foolish as to use the gate," he whispered into his ear. "Now how's about you and me get to know each other a little better, huh?"
Harry turned his head until he was just brushing his lips against the older teens cheek. "Do I at least get to know your name first?" He breathed lightly.
The Chunin smiled slightly around his senbon. "The name's Shiranui Genma."
"Well Genma-san," Harry breathed seductively before narrowing his eyes and lifting his leg straight backwards to kick him in the crotch. "I'm not sorry to say that I'm not that kind of boy," he said coldly as the teen slumped forward onto his back for real, his eyes wide with pain. His Sharingan eyes spinning wildly, Harry spun and planted a fist in the disabled teens gut, sending him flying towards the open gate that his shishou and his team had just walked through.
Minato looked down in surprise at the guard who was clutching his crotch in agony before raising his eyes to take in the sight of his student's red and black eyes. His team on the other hand seemed quite amused or in Obito's case angry.
"What are you doing here?" The Uchiha spat.
"Obito!" Minato snapped from where he was nudging the fallen guard that had spit out a senbon with his sandal. "Mind your manners, I asked Arashi-kun to meet me here."
"Shishou, Hokage-sama has given your team the rest of the day off," Harry said as he pulled out the scroll and walked towards the blonde man. "He also sent this for you and requested that we come see him ASAP."
"Hmm, guess you guys can go catch some sleep," Minato said absently as he read through the scroll quickly. "Arashi-kun, you head on over to the Tower, I'll catch up in a few."
"Hai sensei!" The four teens said at once as they separated to go their own ways.
Minato waited until he had lost sight of his students before turning to the older guard. "Explain."
Raidou winced at the harsh tone the Jounin bestowed on him. "Genma decided to express his attraction towards Arashi-san," he said quickly in the hopes that the man would go easy on his friend.
"I see," Minato said lightly as he crouched down beside the incapacitated Chunin. "Now," he said as he pulled the teen up by the collar of his shirt. "I realize that this is war time, Genma-kun. However it is still against Konoha law to proposition minors. My student is clearly underage."
Genma groaned pathetically while Raidou winced.
Ignoring this the blond Jounin continued. "Not only is he underage, he's only eleven. That's quite an age difference you know."
Raidou stepped in, hoping to save his friend some of the man's ire. "Not really Minato-sama, he's only five years older than-"
Minato cut him off with a glare and a blast of killing intent. "Perhaps it's not that large of an age gap to someone like you, Raidou-kun. However it's my apprentice that's involved. My eleven year old. Genin. Apprentice. How does that look from my point of view, hmmm?" (4)
Raidou gulped. "Bad?"
"Extremely," he hissed before turning back to the Chunin he was strangling with his own shirt. "Now Genma-kun, I'd be much obliged if you'd stay away from my apprentice, understand?"
"H-hai!" Genma choked out, breathing deeply as the blonde Jounin released him suddenly.
"Good!" Minato said happily as he stood before he tossed them both a cocky grin. "Well I better be going. Mission reports to file, Hokages to see, students to train. Seems like there's never enough time to get everything done. Ja ne!" He said cheerily as he disappeared with a yellow flash.
Raidou let out a shuddering breath he didn't even know he was holding before turning shakily to his sprawled out partner. "You just had to be a pervert, didn't you?"
Genma popped another senbon in his mouth before laying back to look at the clouds. "Green."
Raidou blinked. "Nani?"
"His eyes," Genma said breathlessly. "They're the greenest eyes I've ever seen."
1. Harry's age is eleven almost twelve. I even confused myself thanks to my original chapter that hasn't been posted yet. The Quirrell incident occurred earlier in my timeline, not long after Christmas so Harry was still eleven. It's cutting it close but this scene takes place mid-July so he's almost twelve. When he says that he had five months training, it means that he's been a genin for two months now. Kakashi is a year and a few months older than him. Genma just turned sixteen. Iruka is almost ten. Of course this info only really helps with this specific flashback….oh well.
Yes he is on a genin team. No I don't plan for them to feature too often, maybe not at all. I was thinking of having Inoichi as his sensei though…poor Arashi, having to deal with all these blondes…
2. Just in case I never explain in a flashback, Minato taught Harry to speak Japanese by speaking first in Japanese and then translating it. Sometimes he wouldn't even bother explaining. The only one Harry had to talk to for the first couple of months was Minato, Sandaime, Ibiki(think about what his specialty is, in real life he would probably know at least a little English.) and a few others. He learned mostly by immersing himself in the language. And for those of you who will be doubting me saying that it's impossible for someone to learn enough Japanese to hold a conversation in seven months, think about this: He's only eleven. It's much easier to learn another language when you're younger. If Minato only spoke Japanese, Harry would have to pick it up quick. It is possible.
3. Minato taught him and had him training alone in his free time. It was also war time so they wouldn't have kept someone Arashi's age in the Academy if he already showed he was capable of all the necessary skills.
4. Genma's not some sicko. Horny and lacking morals yes. Kiddie lover no. With his hair longer, without the glasses, add better clothing, and the muscles he's been developing, and Harry looks like a small thirteen year old. Genma won't be pulling something so forward for a few more years. He'll flirt, show affection, basically do anything he can to remind Arashi he's more than willing once he's old enough for a lover. However once he is old enough and shows no inclination to be with Genma….well I said he was horny didn't I? And Raido and Minato was mistaken, Genma is only four years older than Arashi.
Review Reply: I did start replying. I swear I did. But they became somewhat depressing to answer, simple because of my frame of mind. I apologize for not replying individually but I do appreciate each and every review.