Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I gain anything (but writing and editing experience) by using the plot and characters from these works. Naruto and the Harry Potter series belong to their respective creators, editors, publishers, and companies.
Summary: They were all trying to escape, whether it was from fate, war, grief, abuse, hate. They were all trying to escape. There are many Harry Potter spoilers for those who have not read the books, and just as many spoilers for the Naruto series.
A/N: Please enjoy ~ dperessedchildren -edited 2/9/2013
Key:
text is text
spell you can tell when it's a spell, usually as perversion of a Latin phrase
"dialogue" a foreign language, the opposite language of the world they are in
Chapitre trois
"Cousin Minato!" Harry mentally chided himself for expressing his happiness, but at the moment he could not care. Minato always gave the best hugs and he helped Harry forget about how much of letdown he was to his father.
Harry hadn't gotten to see his cousin for a while now since the Third Ninja War broke out. Minato had been on missions almost constantly, and with Kakashi preparing for the jōnin exams, Harry hadn't gotten to see his friend either. He was so worried they wouldn't come back from one of their missions.
His father had also been on more and more missions outside of Konoha, but Kushina often stopped by because she wasn't really allowed outside of Konoha after the Kuma incident. Of course, she had her genin team to train so there were hours where Harry wasn't supervised but that didn't bother him so much, there was a war going on, it was expected.
This morning Harry's father had left to spy on some Iwa forces to the north of Konoha. For some reason, his father could complete those missions in a day, maybe it was because of his teleporting technique. Harry's father primarily obtained information from the ninja on their motives and abilities, afterwards he would report back to the Hokage with his findings and a team would be sent out to dispose of the enemy.
His father had also gained an awful lot of information about the supply lines from the Iwa-nin he spied on, and Konoha was quickly cutting off Iwa's resources. Hopefully this war would end soon, but Harry wasn't sure.
Minato engulfed the five-year-old in a tight embrace, while Kushina smiled from behind him. She mused he would be a good father, and begrudgingly her tenant agreed. The red haired woman wondered how many kids they would have, but quickly shook her head to get rid of those thoughts.
"Is Shika-san back yet?" Kushina asked as it became her turn to greet the boy. She had been watching him earlier in the day until she had to meet up with her team. Her team was primarily in charge of defense for the village and so she had much more time to train her team than Minato did these days.
"No," Harry shook his head slowly before elaborating, "Daddy's still out on his mission," he explained, after hugging the red-haired woman.
"He should have been back by now" Minato's forehead creased, had he been compromised? At least Harry would then have a chance at a normal child – what was he thinking!? Minato was horrified by his own thoughts, yet that little voice in the back of his mind insisted that it would be good.
"Y-You don't think something happened?" Harry's green eyes were wider than usual, and shimmered with fear, worry, sadness, and (unfortunately) hope. Hope that his father was gone, that he wouldn't have to train anymore. Hope that his mind would not be pried into, hope that he wouldn't be hurt anymore, hope that he would never disappoint his father again.
"I'm sure he's just taking his time, perhaps he's lost or late," Minato reassured, sitting down on the couch and pulling his cousin onto his lap. So much for a nice engagement dinner, he thought to himself.
Minato had asked Kushina to marry him shortly after the war started. He would at least like to know he had her heart before he died, and she agreed. She seemed to understand why he asked when he did; they were both afraid they would not survive the war, especially with Minato on the front lines because of his hiraishin technique.
"You and Uzumaki-san are getting married?" Harry asked with a shaky voice, happiness was shining through the sadness.
Kushina looked down at her hands, she had left her engagement band in her pocket. She was prepared to whip it out after Minato explained the good news, and then shout her catch phrase while showing the band off. Pouting, it seemed those plans were ruined. The boy knew somehow.
"Sorry!" the boy blurted out, his face flushing in shame, "I can't stop it anymore," he explained with a trembling lip.
"What can't the brat stop?" Kushina asked in her usual unrefined manner. She referred to any child as brat, even Kakashi she called a brat.
Minato smiled at his cousin, patting him on the back cheerfully while on the inside he was paling. Not good. Harry had inherited the Potter family bloodline, "That's great! The bloodline continues," Minato cheered with a large wolfish smile stretching across his face.
"Oh…" Kushina's cerulean eyes shone with understanding, she forced a smile on her face while she ruffled the boy's bird's nest like hair. "That is great," like her fiancé she was beginning to think of the possible repercussions of a child so young coming into their bloodline limit. It wasn't always for the best when children accessed their bloodline technique early, but perhaps since this wasn't a doujutsu it would have fewer repercussions?
However, that did not change the fact that it was often too much of a strain for young children to be gaining their bloodline techniques, most prodigies did not gain their limits until six or seven at the earliest! The couple shared a glance, stormy clouds meeting clear blue skies. They would have to hope for the best.
"I guess your father also started you on mental resistance training?" Harry's body tensed in his cousin's arms, the color drained from his face, and his brilliant green eyes dulled.
"Yes," he whispered softly, his body starting to tremble.
"What exactly did Shika-san do, Nami-kun?" Kushina asked as gently as she could, omitting her usual 'brat' from the end of her question and opting to abbreviate Namikaze-kun as its replacement. She was kneeling before the child as she took his little calloused hands in hers. Callouses…she kept her repulsion from showing, but she was shaking inwardly. A five-year-old with callouses that could rival a Jōnin. She kept her temper in check, which was accomplished by Minato's calming presence and gentle hand resting on her shoulder.
"I see Daddy in my mind," Harry murmured in his inarticulate way, "He makes me bleed," the boy cried, diving into Kushina's now open arms. The boy was shaking as tears escaped his fearful green eyes. "It hurts so much!" the child exclaimed, sobbing more and more into the soft embrace. It was so comforting and such a stark contrast to the hard muscles of his father.
"What does he mean?" Kushina's usually childishly wide eyes were narrowed as she hissed at her fiancé.
"I merely pricked his finger so he would get used to mental pain, thus transferring those feelings into his mental shields," James was hanging from the ceiling, his arms folded over his chest. The couple jumped in surprise, despite being well trained ninja that had not felt his presence. James must have snuck in through one of the windows while they were talking with the distraught boy.
Harry stiffened in Kushina's arms before he pushed away from her and wiped at his tears while forcing himself to calm down. When it was proven the boy could not, he ran outside and continued his crying.
"He's five, his brain is still developing," Minato was up, his hands were clenched to his sides.
"But after a week of training his mind he was able to divert me to his mindscape. It was only in the last few years that I became able to do that. He traps me in there and leaves me face to face with his mental image. If I push I can extract memories from him. Don't you see," James had removed his mask midway through his speech, his eyes were glittering with pride, "He is twelve times the occlumense I ever was - he can handle it,"
"What is" Minato silenced Kushina with a look before he turned his stormy eyes back to his uncle.
"So you torture his mind?" Minato asked in a deadly calm voice, consequently sounding just like the man before him.
"It's training, and I've done it a grand total of two times," James fixed his nephew with a hard glare.
"I see," Minato began walking toward the door, Kushina followed behind him numbly, "I stopped by to tell you," he began as they neared the door, not once turning around. "Kushina and I are engaged," Minato let Kushina leave first before he closed the door behind him, but not before throwing one last look at his uncle and shaking his head.
"He's my son, I have a right to train him the way I see best," James stated to the empty room, his gloved hands were clenched tightly at his sides.
"Good," the corner of Harry's mouth twitched upwards, unknowingly mimicking his father's expression. The five-year-old made a diving roll to the side before throwing twelve more needles at his father's clones. He knew his father was taking it easy on him, and that he would be dead in a heartbeat if the man decided to be serious, but he was proud of himself. Three of the clones dispersed in droplets of blood as they were hit in the neck, an instant kill.
When sparring, his father preferred to use blood clones, as disturbing and unwelcome as they were. They were more durable, and only a killing blow could disperse them, unlike Minato's shadow clones. Speaking of shadow clones, one of Harry's took out another clone before one of James's clones made it disperse in a puff of smoke.
After mastering the normal clone technique, James convinced Minato into letting Harry learn the shadow clone technique. It was logical, given the boy's massive chakra reserves, which was expected when looking at his father and cousin. The boy had enough chakra and enough control to make one and still have more than enough energy to spare.
"Good," Harry gave his faint smile at the praise before moving into the shadows of the woods, using normal clones to distract his father's clones. He watched in the darkness as he climbed onto a low branch of a nearby tree before making his way silently into the foliage above him. James's last two clones took care of the normal clones, and began their way into the wooded area Harry had slunk away to.
Watching the clones move silently below him as they tried to sense Harry's masked chakra, the boy began to think of how to best take care of the clones. His green eyes scanned the area looking for…he smiled slightly when he found what he was looking for. He had a plan that would hopefully not fail.
One of the clones was just below him, and the other was right where Harry wanted him. Soundlessly removing a kunai from the pouch attached to his thigh, the five-year-old dropped down from his hiding place and slit the clone's throat. Out of the corner of his eye, the boy saw a kunai heading for him, just as he had anticipated.
With a puff of smoke, the approaching kunai embedded into a fallen log, said log had been behind the second clone. With one jab to the heart via a kunai, the second clone dispersed into a puddle of blood.
Clapping was heard behind the boy, which caused him to crouch into a defensive position, kunai held threateningly in front of him.
"You're lucky you pulled off that substitution jutsu," James stated, "Usually you can't complete it or do so too late," Harry nodded curtly, that technique always gave him a bit of trouble. If he could just teleport out of the way, that would be much easier.
"Son," Harry felt a familiar pressure against his mind, meaning they were moving onto a different training exercise. Harry was soon transported to a grassy clearing littered with wild flowers and lined with towering trees. There, before the small child and standing in the center of the clearing, was James. "What color are Minato's eyes?"
Harry did not respond at first. He knew what his father was doing, and it was a simple enough trick. By asking a question Harry would have to think over the answer, thus bringing up a memory, which would be projected onto the mid-day sky above them. From there, James would exploit the opening into Harry's mind and see all memories following that thread. This made it difficult to respond to his father's questions when he was inside of Harry's mind.
Focusing, the sky above them grew dark, Harry subconsciously brought up a memory of Minato, despite knowing the answer to his father's questions. The darkened sky made it impossible for James to see the memory, but did not hinder Harry in the least.
"Blue-gray, like a storm," the boy replied before the world became fuzzy and he fell over from exhaustion. It took so much energy to keep his father out, even more to hide the memories like that. The energy he used was different too, it wasn't like his chakra, it was… rawer, it was wild, hard to tame.
James retracted his mind from his son's and smiled his slight smile, proud of the boy's progress. With more training it would become second nature, at first it took much energy, but as his shields built up on top of each other it would become easier. It was like training one's muscles to perform a specific task, at first it is difficult but soon it requires little thought or effort.
He was so tired, he didn't want to train anymore! He was sick of it, his arms and legs ached all the time, and it was so boring. He did the same thing every day! It was some obstacle course, followed by a lecture, after which he had to work on his speed, and then he was left practicing the four jutsus he knew. He was tired, he was annoyed, he didn't want to do this! And then, when he was supposed to be done for the day, his father would work on his mental resistance, and once a month he'd cause Harry some sort of mental pain. Harry was through with this. He was tired and he didn't like training!
So what if his father was going to be disappointed, he couldn't keep doing this, it was…it was boring and exhausting. Besides, what was he going to do? If he hurt Harry too much then there went training for a few days, and Minato would probably make Hokage-sama take away his parental rights as well. Though, Minato and his team were away on a mission to stop a supply run in Iwa. Minato seemed confident it would end the war, but Harry wasn't sure. It would be Kakashi's first mission as a jōnin and though his friend was good outside of missions, while on them he was pretty one-track minded. That could cause problems if something happened.
"Son," green eyes glared up at brown, dead eyes in defiance. "Dinner's almost ready and you haven't completed your training,"
"I don't want to," if the boy wasn't mistaken, James's right eye twitched slightly.
"Really," Harry noted the stiffness in his father's jaw, implying he was clenching his teeth.
In return to his father's question, Harry nodded his head with a determined look in his eyes. James's arm tensed at his side, causing Harry to back up a bit. "Go to bed," James's voice was strained, and Harry had a feeling he was very lucky at the moment. "Now," James added, monotone voice a touch louder than usual.
Harry hurried off, but he made sure to make a large arc to avoid his father. He entered the house and went straight to his room and closed the door behind him. His heart was pounding at the act of rebellion and how he got away with it so easily. Being sent to bed, that was just what the five-year-old wanted, bed.
However, pleasant smells began to waft into his room, causing Harry's mouth to water. Silently creeping toward his bedroom door, Harry looked through the crack between the wall and the side of the door. His father was eating fish but it had black and green stuff on it. It looked like herbs, but his father…
"Bed, Son" James stated while grabbing the beer bottle beside his food. He was reading a scroll as he brought the bottle to his lips, not once did he look toward his son's room. Harry moved away from the door, his face flushed at the fact that he had been caught.
Kicking off his dirtied clothes and pulling on his pajamas, he lay down in the bed, and prepared himself for a long night. His prediction came true, for his stomach began to cramp in the middle of the night, and began rumbling slightly.
Slipping out of his bed, the five-year-old crept to his door.
"Don't think about it," the boy froze, hand prepared to slide the door open. Harry closed his eyes, his father's chakra was behind the door, but the boy could tell it was one of his blood clones. "Back to bed," perhaps he underestimated this sort of punishment.
The next morning Harry lay in his bed until he heard his father moving around in the kitchen. He came out slowly, his head bowed in shame.
"You can have breakfast if you promise to finish your training today," James stated, not even turning to look at his son.
Nodding numbly, Harry sat down at the table as he waited for his father to finish with his cooking. The man moved to the table shortly after Harry sat down. He was carrying vitamins and a glass of milk, along with the pot of rice and fish.
Harry obediently popped the chalky vitamins into his mouth before he began to eat the food slowly. "Lunch is in the refrigerator, you can have dinner if you complete your training from the day before and today's training," Harry inwardly paled, it would be nearly impossible to do so. But he would try, even if it meant skipping lunch to do it.
Harry managed to complete the training, having to stay out two hours past dinner time. James let him have some rice and more vitamins; he then decided to test his son's mental capacities. By the end of the night, Harry passed out during his attempts to keep his father away from his memories.
It became a routine. Either James would deny his son food or test his mental resistance, when he became disobedient. Thus, Harry tried not to be disobedient, even when he was tired of training. Harry just accepted this as his life and did his best to keep up with his father's expectations.
The only good thing was that the war was over now, Kakashi's mission succeeded but that success came at a steep price. Harry pleaded with his father to go visit Kakashi when he was in the hospital, but his father refused so Harry snuck out during the middle of the night. He knew Kakashi would need him; he had just lost Obito and now had a constant reminder of him in his left eye socket.
Harry's punishment for sneaking out had been a long lecture and a mental attack. His father had been so livid when he found him in the hospital visiting Kakashi, but for a moment Harry thought his father had been scared. It made him think of that fuzzy memory, that scary memory of when his father shook him when he was younger and yelled at him for hiding.
Harry tried not to disobey his father, but sometimes it was so hard.
Kushina and Minato had a lovely wedding, one which Harry watched from the back of pavilion in the shade of a large tree. His father had him sitting on his shoulders. He was holding onto Harry tight enough to bruise. Harry was sad he had to watch the ceremony from so far away, but he was stuck with his father and so could do little about it. Kushina looked really pretty in her ceremonial garb and Minato had such a big smile and his stormy eyes were shining with such happiness.
Closing his eyes, Harry decided to practice his sensing abilities. The small crowd glowed brightly for they were all high ranking ninja; however, Harry directed his focus toward the happy couple and frowned. He knew Kushina had more than one type of chakra flowing through her pathways but…an additional energy resided within her. It was nothing like the Kyūbi's energy and it was a far cry from Kushina's chakra.
What was most puzzling was the thrum of that wild energy mixed within the mysterious new chakra. In a way, it reminded Harry of Cousin Minato's mixed energies and his father too. What was that wild energy?
"Father?" Harry asked softly, he had begun to speak to his father in a more formal way after the incident in the hospital; it felt right to call him Father rather than Daddy. "Why's there another chakra in Uzumaki-san?" he asked in his rushed, inarticulate way.
"You sense energies too?" if one listened closely, they would hear the shock in James's voice. "Just like Minato," he mumbled, before shaking his head. "She must be pregnant," James answered shortly, shaking his head as his nephew gave his vows before the assembled ninja. After the wedding his nephew would be giving a different kind of vow before the whole village as he was sworn in as the Yondaime Hokage.
"Pregnant? What is pregnant about her" right, Harry's anatomy books did not cover reproduction or the acts involved, thus the boy only knew the non-reproduction definition of pregnant.
"She is pregnant, meaning a baby is growing inside of her," James could tell his son was confused, but at least he did not ask for more information. James was not very comfortable with or ready to give his five-year-old son that talk.
A Suivre
