Summary: Harry Potter's luck can't give the wizard a break. In Voldemort's desperate and last attempt to kill Harry in the Final Battle, Harry is whisked away to a new world. Determined not to let himself be brought down, he thrives to become stronger and to find a new place to call home. However, how long it will take for his strange abilities to be noticed? Follow Harry as he deals with the difficulties that are thrown his way in this new life as he creates a new identity for himself.
Beta: Beloved Daughter, Thank you!
Hello dear readers! I wish you all the best wishes for these great and hopefully joyful days. I had some time left the last three days and decided to finish this chapter, because I wanted to give you all something to enjoy. (Plus I finally have some free time). Unfortunately, I failed my last exam, but I'm determined to enjoy these days anyway. So whether you had a wonderful Christmas so far, and especially if you for some reason didn't have some great time, I hope that this will cheer most of you up and distract you if it comes to the latter as well. So I will keep my announcements short and move onto the action!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 7: Making Rumors Spread
'No way…'
The figure lying on the ground coughed loudly to get some air in his lungs. It had most likely taken a beating to get him along, judging from the bruises and rough appearance of the battered young man's body. Struggling slightly, the teenager heaved himself up on all fours and slowly righted himself. His head stayed down for a moment before he raised it in order to glare at the two people that had manhandled him.
"Is that the Seirei? No way!" A grimy man snorted.
"That can't be. I mean, look at the brat." Another man agreed, sneering at the teen's appearance.
"I thought he was supposed to hide his face." Another whispered.
"That kid is a joke." Someone exclaimed for all to hear, which made said kid twitch. His colleagues within hearing range started laughing and nodding in agreement.
"I agree." The thug right next to the teenager smirked and gave the teenager a rough push to the side, which was nearly enough to make him topple over.
"What is your name?" Came a deep voice from out of nowhere and everyone suddenly quieted down.
The young man glared at the direction from which the question – more like a demand – came from and scoffed. If they thought that he would be taken down so easily they were dead wrong. He might have gotten dragged in here, but it was a matter of finding a good opportunity to get away.
'I'm not that easy to get rid of.' He reminded himself, as he pursed his lips. He was not going to tell them anythi-
"Argh!" He growled out in pain as one of the henchmen standing right next to him roughly pulled on the hair on the back of his head. Going along with the movement, he came eye to eye with the henchman Ugly, who scowled down at him.
"Ueda-sama asked you a question, brat." Ugly growled, as if refusing to answer a question from the boss made the beaten-up teenager their number one enemy.
Yeah right. As if they were going to get to him that easily.
"I don't feel like fucking telling you who I am." He spat out at the so-called Ueda-sama, making sure to let some spit fly along with it. The expression that appeared on the henchman's face as he realized that he had just been spit on would have been absolutely hilarious, had it not been for the tense situation that he was currently in.
Henchman Ugly wasn't happy of course and rewarded him with a punch to the cheek. It hurt and he already felt his cheek heat up from the blow, but that didn't deter the teenager from grinning.
'That was worth it. He can't even hit properly. If it weren't for his friend, I would have gotten him easily.' The teen thought, glaring at the other henchman who was standing calmly next to him with his arms crossed.
The whispers of the men echoed around the clearing as they watched the small spectacle from a distance. They were all waiting for their leader to stand up.
After a while, in the circle around the middle campfire, a figure slowly heaved himself on his feet. Once he had reached his full height, it was easy to describe him as very tall and muscled. He also had broad shoulders, which his proud posture seemed to emphasize even more. His presence matched the voice from before quite well: demanding and confident.
The people around him quieted at the slightest movement, showing just how well respected – or feared – he was by the men. Slowly, the leader turned around to face the ruckus and started walking towards the glaring teenager.
Ueda calmly strolled over to the teenager, his walk slow but strong, giving a very confident vibe that made him only more intimidating.
"I asked you a question." The cold and slightly arrogant voice simply stated. It was that arrogance that caused a shiver to run down the teen's spine.
"…"The teenager swallowed nervously, refusing to let go of his stubbornness.
A flash of steel was all that the captured teenager saw and a second later he felt a familiar coldness pushed against his neck. The man surely knew how to convince someone to speak up. Well, he thought, he could always lie, but if this was one of those ninja who was very good at spotting lies – and he was horrible at lying and bluffing – he would be screwed.
"Taiki." Taiki slowly stated, making sure to glare at the dark figure hovering over him. He could spot the smirk that the man wore as the man took a step away and waved his little dog away from Taiki.
Taiki made a move to stand up, but he was roughly pushed down again by one of the lackeys behind him, which earned a laugh from the gang. This also allowed the leader to effectively and literally tower over the teenager and Taiki couldn't help but swallow as he pushed himself back to his knees again.
His eyes immediately caught the movement of the knife that 'Ueda-sama' had started playing with, throwing it up and down in his hand as 'Ueda-sama' stared down at brown-haired teen and took his time studying the young man carefully. He didn't even take the effort to lower his head towards him, but instead shifted his eyes down to look Taiki in the eye. Whatever it was that he saw in Taiki's glare, it seemed to amuse the man greatly.
"Are you Seirei?" The man asked.
What kind of question was that?
'Shit, was this a trap? Had they actually been waiting for them? It was suspicious that they were camping so close to the village they raided but I never thought tha…'
He growled as the black-haired man in front of him kicked him in the stomach.
"Answer me brat. It is a very easy question, or are you stupid? Are you Seirei?"
'Damn, should I try lying? Does he want to kill the Seirei? Or would he kill me if I weren't? It surely didn't sound like he liked him.' The teen contemplated.
Better safe than sorry.
"No." Taiki easily drawled out, knowing very well that he wasn't.
"Oh really?" The leaders inquired, sounding even more amused and stopped playing with his knife.
"Then what where you doing here?"
"I was just wandering around." Taiki tried to sound casual.
"You have been cycling this clearing at least three times."
"…"
"You think I wouldn't notice?"
"No." Came the plain reply.
The man chuckled coldly at that and made a move to turn his back to the teen before he suddenly turned and punched him right in the face. A loud crack filled the clearing and some of the thugs couldn't help but wince in sympathy. The teenager's body was flung back from the force and a pained cry escaped his mouth.
"Stupid brat." The man spat at him.
"Useless. You may be quite skilled with that sword of yours…" He stated, taking in the battered forms of the lackeys that had gotten him here. Even the largest and most level-head one had difficulty walking with the painful-looking slash on his leg. Taiki was proud to say that he had not been easy to take down, even if they had taken him by surprise. "…but your stealth is absolutely horrible." He pushed the boy down just as he somewhat regained his senses again.
The swordsman toppled over once more and tensed when he was roughly pulled back on his knees again.
"You don't cover your tracks." The leader punched the teenager again, and Taiki started to see black dots hover in front of his eyes from the pain. "You over-estimate your own skills." The leader stated as he grabbed the collar of Taiki's white shirt to keep him in place for another punch.
He grinned down on the teenager as he hefted his hand again for another punch. "You make too much noise and…"
"…and you talk too much." Came a rough whisper right behind him.
Ueda's body tensed in surprise and Taiki's eyes widened as he took in the figure behind the man with surprise and hope in his eyes.
'Seirei.'
~Ueda~
Everyone startled as – seemingly out of nowhere - a figure appeared from the shadows right behind their leader and put a hand on the man's shoulder, immediately causing the leader's arm to freeze right where it was.
"Who the heck are you?" One dumb man cried from the crowd as everyone made a move to stand up.
It was then when half of the men noticed that the other half was actually out cold or even frozen in place. "What the hell!"
"Seirei!" One exclaimed and everyone froze.
The leader looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes when he saw a kunai pointed at his neck. "You are the one they call Seirei?" He inquired, glancing over the newcomer's attire, which in his opinion, suited the mysterious figure better than the pathetic green ninja-like headband that the other brat was wearing. He was clad in some kind of odd-looking long dark robe, with the large hood drawn up, which was effectively hiding his face in the shadows as his head was bowed forwards. Even the visible part of his lower face was hidden by a cloth.
It seemed that the figure knew how to remain unrecognizable at least.
"I have been waiting for you." The leader said, grinning as his eyes started to glint in excitement.
The man kept his head bowed, barely acknowledging Ueda's sentence with a bare tilt of the head.
"You have been causing trouble." Ueda continued, his voice far too casual for a simple conversation.
Still no reply.
"And I'm going to make sure to clean up the mess that you have been causing. So you should stop wandering these lands, stranger." In the last part of the sentence the tone of the leader changed. It became ice cold that would make nearly everyone shiver in fear. It promised pain and death.
Finally the Seirei spoke up, but to the surprise of some of Ueda's men, he didn't sound bothered by the threat at all.
"Let the boy go and we will talk." Seirei stated casually, his voice deformed in a low hoarse whisper, though there was a clear warning in his voice. 'Hurt him and I will make you regret it.'
"I didn't know that the Seirei was so protective of strangers." The tone didn't sound deterred by the warning at all, but more excited. He had an advantage here.
The man behind the leader remained silent before he suddenly swirled around and punched one of the thugs right in the face, a lackey who had been about to make a move to incapacitate the Seirei. Before Ueda could even move, the man had returned to his previous place.
'Fast!' The leader couldn't help but think. 'It is one thing to hear about it, but I didn't think he was this fast.' He would have to be careful.
"Try that again and I will hurt your leader." The man whispered roughly for all ears to hear and the leader couldn't doubt him. Not that it would likely be fatal. That would be improbable, seeing as he had never heard of someone having been killed by this man. Still, he didn't want to be the first, so he waved his men off.
"Fine, we will play nicely." Ueda drawled, sounding bored.
"Leave the boy and the items from the villagers and you may go."
He was rewarded with a couple of snorts and laughs.
"Oh but we didn't really come here for that." The leader smirked as he suddenly swirled around and caught the hand with the kunai in it and took out one of his own, which was caught by the stranger as well. The ninja struggled for a moment to get out of the man's grip, but it was too strong.
They were at a stalemate.
'This will be interesting.' Both men thought at the same time.
"We came for you, Seirei." Ueda whispered to the figure. For a moment, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by the icy light blue eyes that seemed to see right through him. They were reading his mind. They knew everything abo- He shook the thought off and smirked.
"I'm not afraid of ghosts." He whispered to the man, his eyes shimmering in excitement.
His opponent said nothing. The look in the stranger's eyes didn't even waver as it took in his smirk. The man couldn't be sure, because Seirei's lower face was covered, but he couldn't help but think that his entire face had remained blank. He was as cold as the color of his eyes made him out to be.
Ueda's eyes narrowed in anger. He felt like he was being underestimated, which made him determined to prove him wrong.
"I'm not afraid of ninja." Came the cool reply.
'So he did notice.' The ninja thought, as his smirk widened ever so slightly. 'As I had expected.'
The ninja's eyes flashed with an eagerness that the man caught easily.
"Well, we will just have to change that, won't we?" Ueda stated with a smirk.
Ueda abruptly tried to wrench his hand away, but failed. The grip was still as strong as it had been before. He started twisting himself out of the hold, but the man started copying him, forcing him to stop. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he made eye contact with the man in front of him. Now that he could look in the stranger's eye, he couldn't help but think that the man was constantly planning something.
The blue eyes suddenly flickered over to the brat that was being held on the ground. A cry and a thud followed soon after, which alerted the ninja that something was wrong. More cries followed from his lackeys, confirmed this fact.
"Fuck! Shit-face you let the brat escape!"
"Get him!"
A ruckus followed as nearly all of the thugs that followed him made to chase the teenager escaping. They knew that he didn't want any interference. He had made it very clear during their planning and they didn't even dare to move after having been waved away. An escaping teenager was the perfect distraction for them.
He wanted to turn around but he knew that it wasn't possible. He was confident that he could beat this troublemaker in front of him.
"You really shouldn't underestimate people." A hoarse whispered turned the leader's attention right back to the source of his problems. He didn't care about the boy. His lackeys would take care of him.
Seirei was more important.
"I will show you how much of a hypocrite you are, Seirei." The drawled out the last part, mocking him.
The blue-eyed figure didn't answer him, but instead stared at him blankly like before. Suddenly there was a slight tingling in the ninja's arm that put him on guard almost immediately.
He had been warned to make as little contact with the man as possible.
At this silent signal, the ninja pulled himself out of the man's grip, this time with the aid of some chakra and they jumped away from each other. Either fighter was immediately ready to move at any moment's notice. The ninja didn't waste any time and threw the kunai at the man, who deflected it with a clumsy-looking yet effective movement. It spoke of some experience, but it was unpredictable, which was the aspect that put the ninja on guard.
Seirei clearly wasn't a ninja. That movement lacked the basic training that it should have.
The ninja couldn't help but narrow his eyes. 'So he isn't trained as a ninja…then what is he?'
They darted around each other for a moment as they analyzed each other. The ninja threw himself forward and made a movement to punch the man in the face, which evoked a reflex of blocking the punch. Using this against Seirei, the ninja suddenly twisted around the block and kicked out.
'Got you.' He thought just a moment before he was sure that it would hit, but was caught off guard as the figure took a step out of his reach faster than he had thought was possible. Then his opponent made to grab his leg, which forced him to retreat. He had no clue what he would be able to do if he were to let him touch him.
Narrowing his eyes, he darted back, determined to create more distance between them so he could fight him on a long range. However, the stranger wasn't letting him go that easily. Instead he kept close, constantly making a movement to grab him. It was as if he was being shadowed. Haunted…
Maybe that name fit him after all.
It eventually took quick fireball jutsu to get the man to back off. He had managed to hit the man's sleeve, but the man had been quick on his feet and threw a kunai at him. It was poorly thrown, but the flames had blocked it from sight and it managed to hit his shoulder.
His whole arm tingled and blood tickled down his wound as he saw the man in front of him cradle the burn momentarily.
Smirking slightly, the ninja quickly moved through another pair of hand signals and threw the man off guard with a wind jutsu. Seirei groaned as he hit one of the trees and was too late to move away as Ueda kicked him right in the stomach, making the man cough up. The ninja slashed out with a kunai, but Seirei had managed to duck and roll away around the tree, taking cover behind it as he regained his composure.
Ueda narrowed his eyes as he circled around the tree. 'Where is he?'
He saw a flash of black robe disappear and the ninja quickly moved into the opposite direction, only to find… nothing. His quick instincts made the ninja look up and he jumped back as the man dropped down in an attempt to tackle him. He quickly rushed forward and tackled the man instead. They rolled on the ground as they tried to over-power each other.
They pushed and pulled at each other until Ueda finally managed to get the upper-hand, having more experience. He punched the spirit square in the face, earning a hiss in the process.
"Got you." He hissed at the ninja as he held a kunai to the man's neck.
The icy blue eyes regarded him with a certain tenseness, before his eyes gleamed, which made the man reconsider their current position. Ueda swore that Seirei was grinning and the alarm bells in his head were going crazy, but he was too late.
"No, I got you." The man underneath argued in a soft whisper.
Out of nowhere, something wrapped around the ninja's leg. With a forceful pull, he was hanging upside down and moved away from the man underneath him. He waved his arms in order to regain his orientation. The action might have been unexpected, but the man wasn't a ninja for nothing. Once he regained his orientation, Ueda threw the kunai that he had in his hand and managed to nick the other man's leg just as Seirei got back to his feet.
He quickly drew out more shuriken to throw, but Seirei darted away behind a tree where he allowed himself to sink down onto the ground. The shuriken followed his path and barely missed his feet each time until Seirei reached safety.
The blue-eyed man hissed in pain as he regarded the cut that the kunai made, before he pushed the pain aside and started another plan. Meanwhile, Ueda was hoping to have enough time to get himself out of his current predicament, all the while cursing himself for forgetting his number one rule when fighting this man.
'How the hell had I forgotten? I reminded myself constantly.'
It had only been after looking meeting those icy blue eyes… A shiver went down the ninja's spine as he tried to cut off whatever it was that was holding him upside down. He bent to reach his feet, but even though there was a pressure around his limb, he couldn't see or feel anything.
'This is unreal.' He growled as he put his hands together and started to channel his chakra through his entire body. It would be very chakra consuming, but he had to get out of there. He felt himself become dizzy when the grip on his left foot suddenly disappeared and he quickly twisted his body so that he could land safely on the ground.
Seirei was ready for him but so was the ninja for his attempt to surprise him. They continued to dance around each other, easily moving through the forest that spoke of experience from both parties. There was no advantage to gain from the surroundings. Neither party remained without injuries.
The ghostly figure in front of him had been burned, cut at the leg and shoulder with a kunai and had probably a couple of broken ribs from a quick punch that he had managed to give him. The latter had not come without a price though, as his feet felt slightly numb as if he couldn't put any power in it anymore. His elbow too, had been paralyzed and his eyes still itched from the strange jutsu he had put on him.
He ran towards the tree that Seirei was hiding behind and was just in time to see that the form of the ghost started to shimmer and-
'He disappeared. A camouflage jutsu?' The man tensed, trying to find the chakra source, only to find nothing.
'Absolutely nothing? That was nearly impossible!'
He was a ghost after all.
This was crazy.
Slowly but surely, the ninja started to realize that it wasn't enough to test the stranger by throwing a couple of kunai or testing his reflexes, speed and technique. Maybe it was for ninja, but this man… the things he could do seemed so unpredictable that he wasn't sure what to expect.
A shiver ran down his spine.
This man was something else. He was light on his feet and very fast. Just when he thought he would have him, his reflexes snapped out and stopped him. These defenses were something that he had never encountered before. The man was constantly reacting to his actions. For an offensive fighter like him, this unknown technique was a big disadvantage.
He had absolutely no clue what to do.
A drop of sweat rolled down his temple and he narrowed his eyes in concentration. He needed to do something, anything that would give him the advantage that he needed. He knew that that brat was still out there. They wouldn't dare kill him without his approval.
'I have to retreat silently.' A plan started to form in his head and the corner of his lip twitched in approval. 'Use any weaknesses.' He reminded himself.
'That should work.' He thought as he turned around and rushed away as fast as he could. He might not be able to sense Seirei, but he could pinpoint the location of his thugs easily. What would lead him to his opponents weak point.
Concentrating for a moment, he changed his direction towards his new target.
~Harry~
'Where is he going?' The wizard couldn't help but wonder as he rushed after the ninja.
It had been a relief to see Taiki escape, but Harry was well-aware of the danger that they were still both in. He was tiring quickly and he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up. The techniques that the ninja used were strong and it was only because of his reflexes and unpredictable methods – read magic - that he had held him off until now. Still, his magic didn't seem to hold up for long as the ninja channeled his chakra and he couldn't even get into the man's mind as easily as he could with the villagers.
Harry had no clue, what rank this ninja was, but he was certainly the strongest that he had encountered until now. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the painful leg, he continued to follow the retreating ninja.
He was suddenly aware of Taiki's presence and everything fell into place. He pushed himself forward, knowing that he was faster than his opponent. He would have to arrive there first.
"Get one step closer and I will hurt your friend!" He heard a familiar voice shout out in warning between the soft rustling sounds that mixed with it.
It didn't take long for the wizard to identify the voice as his friend's. His tone was tired, but it sounded clear which lifted up Harry's heart. Taiki was alright.
'Wait, if we are nearing Taiki… shit.' Harry gritted his teeth as he pushed himself forwards a little faster than before. He gave up the chase of his opponent and immediately headed for his friend.
"One step closer!" Came the warning again, less confident this time.
Someone laughed at him. "As if I care about him. We know the rules kid. Get caught and you might get killed." Someone yelled right back and a pained cry followed.
Harry bounded into the clearing that they were in and immediately took in the situation. Taiki was safe, though he looked with horrified eyes at the limp heavy man that laid now in his arms, a kunai poking right out of his chest where his heart was located.
The medic didn't have much time to process the current situation though, as he saw a shadow flicker over his best friend. The ninja was going to kill his friend. He was going to use him as hostage or even worse.
'Don't trust a ninja.' Harry reminded himself. They are the sneakiest bunch for a reason.
It was only because of the extra boost of energy and speed that Harry arrived just in time as he clamped his hand painfully around the outstretched hand of the leader. Taiki's eyes widened even further as Taiki crossed his eyes automatically to look at the kunai right under his nose. The wizard's frame shuddered at the thought of him having been even a second too late. He wasn't sure if he could have saved his friend…
'He is going down.' Harry's current icy blue eyes narrowed dangerously as he tightened the grasp around the ninja's arm, earning a loud crack in the process and a grunt of pain from the ninja attached to the arm.
He was done playing games.
With swipe of the other arm, the ninja tried to let him to get go, but Harry didn't allow it. With a quick movement he managed to get swing the leader over his shoulder, before grasping his throat with his other hand and slam him down on the ground. The leader choked out, not having expected him to arrive that soon to save his friend.
'If I hadn't seen this coming…' Harry still couldn't accept the possibility.
Even the medic in him for once didn't pity the man underneath him and instead encouraged himself to squeeze the man's neck a little more than necessary. A familiar feeling reared his head and his eyes raged with icy fury as he stared down at the man. His magic started reacting and made its way to the ninja, who suddenly started gasping out in pain.
It was so easy to kill him right now. He had been willing to kill his friend. A friend that he wanted to protect. Harry's knowledge about the healing that he possessed would make it so easy to return the favour...
Yet, it was only that part of him - the morals that he believed in as a healer - that stopped him from outright killing the ninja beneath him.
Though those pathetic panicky eyes might have helped as well.
Still, he had been so close.
"That's not nice." He hissed at the man, his hoarse whisper in place. "You will regret doing that."
With another hiss under his breath, the wizard channeled the magic in him and placed a few well-deserved curses on the man, which – thanks to the fact that the man wasn't a wizard himself – would be very difficult to take away.
The ninja gritted his teeth as pain accompanied some of them and started shaking.
Harry was careful with selecting the curses, since some could possibly quickly erode away because of the chakra, but the healer was sure there were a couple which the ninja couldn't get rid of so easily without some help. Harry wouldn't be able to paralyze the man, or kill him, but Harry would make sure that he would regret this day for a long time.
'As long as I can keep a hold on him, he will be paralyzed.' Harry realised, his eyes blazing as he glared at his opponent.
It was a down-side of fighting ninja. Some of them were very difficult to paralyze and unfortunately this ninja was one of them. Luckily the man had burned enough chakra for him to hold him like this, but he would be back on his feet if he were to let go.
Not that said ninja knew that, Harry thought with satisfaction. Nor was he planning to give the man the chance.
The man beneath him finally gasped as suddenly all feeling in his limbs left him, which caused fear to take a hold of the ninja. Pain was something that ninja could take. Even death was an aspect of a ninja's life that was accepted more than was currently happening to the man. There was often nothing more important to a ninja than their senses and their bodies. It was one of the tools for their existence. Without them, they were nothing.
"Stop." The man suddenly pleaded, eyes wide and fearful.
"I never want to see or hear from you in these woods again." Harry hissed at him. "You will leave everyone here in peace understood?"
"..."
"Understood?"
"…Hai." The man growled as his access to his air supply was suddenly restricted. Harry glared at four followers that were left conscious. They were all ready to run away at any moment.
"Do you understand?" He hissed at them as well. They nodded feverishly, most likely nearly shitting themselves from seeing their powerful leader being rendered useless by the 'mysterious stranger' that they had mocked for so long.
"H-hai!"
With a last narrowing of the eye, Harry glared down at the figure beneath him –which started to turn a slightly red and blue color.
"Don't threaten ghosts, they have the tendency to find and haunt you." He hissed as a last warning, feeling very much satisfied with the fearful shudder that he felt under his hand, before he easily knocked him out.
Stupid Ninja.
Taiki had knocked out two of the leader's men with a sword that he had managed to obtain in the meantime. With a quick sprint, Harry was able to get behind the other fleeing two and knock them out with a bit of magic.
Only then, he slowly started to relax and he drew back his hood over his head, even though his hair was covered by the dark cloth that hid both his hair and the lower part of his face.
He loosely clenched and unclenched his hand. 'I nearly hurt him so much that I lost control...' He sighed heavily. 'I have to be careful next time.'
At least he got out pretty safely.
'They underestimated me. If there had been one more ninja, everything would have ended differently.' An icy shiver ran down Harry's spine as the thought went through his head.
Slowly, the wizard turned towards the only other conscious man left and locked his eyes with him. Rising his eyebrows ever so slightly, he looked at Taiki questioningly. Meanwhile, Taiki was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face and his eyes unfocused every once in a while.
The brown-haired teen was most likely overwhelmed with what had just happened. Harry glanced at the dead body that lied a few feet away from him. The comradeship - more like the lack thereof- in these parts of the world was horrible sometimes. No matter how much Harry had seen it happen before, certainly when it concerned Death Eaters in his previous world, he couldn't get used to it.
Death was nothing new to him – ironically, it might even be literally part of him- but it was still sad to see.
He hoped that Taiki would be able to deal with it. He would make sure to keep a careful eye on him when they got back.
"Hnnn…"
That simple sound seemed to shake Taiki out of his thoughts and he almost immediately bowed.
"Ah… I apologize, Seirei-san. Thank you. Had you not come…" He straightened and nervously rubbed his neck. "I would have been dead."
Harry made it a point to stare at his friend for a long time, which made Taiki very nervous. In an effort to have a distraction, Taiki started to inspect his dual swords, which seemed to be fine. There was no way that Harry was going to tell him that he was surprised that his friend was that good with his swords. The healer had known he was good, but he never thought that Taiki could fight so many people at the same time. There had been at least ten men, all armed and bloodthirsty.
Taiki would have been dead had he not been good enough to keep those lackeys off him.
Though Harry would have known if Taiki had been in real life threatening danger and would have acted accordingly during his own fight. This was thanks to the fact that all his headbandsall contained a crudely copied rune from Hermione's design. It had been her last incomplete creation during their travels together and Harry had only managed to make it work with blood.
Yet, he had not once felt his own seal burn except for the last moment that the leader had charged at him.
It was certainly not the time to compliment his friend though.
His friend didn't seem to think so either. Instead, he looked slightly ashamed at his foolishness and finally spoke up after having been stared at for a while by those icy blue eyes.
"Seirei…thank you once more. I will learn from this. A friend warned me before and I should have listened more carefully. He has always been wiser than me, having gone through a lot more and having much more life experience. He never tells me, but I can see it in his eyes which…" Taiki trailed off when he realized that he had started rambling and coughed sheepishly.
"I err- He might be willing to take care of your wounds. I mean, he most certainly will be." The teenager continued, becoming even more nervous the longer that Harry stared at him. It was only at the mention of his wounds that Harry realized that his left arm was throbbing quite painfully as well.
Glancing down, he noticed that the ninja had managed to pierce his arm with another kunai. The blood was running down his robe, but the blood was already clotting. It wouldn't be too difficult to take care of his wounds. Just tiring and a pain in the ass.
"Hnn…"He hummed again and turned around to walk away, trying and failing to hide his limb.
He stopped when Taiki suddenly stood in front of him, blocking his path as politely as possible.
"Seirei-sama" Harry's eyes widened mentally. 'Sama? Oh please don't let him address me like that!'
Harry nearly face-palmed as Taiki continued talking to him. "I insist that you should take care of those wounds… He is living in…" He seemed unsure whether he should tell the man where Hari lived.
"No." Harry made sure to cut him off.
"His name is Hari; he is a really good healer. He has cured cases that everyone has given up hope on!" Taiki started to defend his friend.
"I heard about him. I will find him if I need to." He calmly stated. Taiki blinked in surprise but nodded ever so slowly. Hari's fame had been spreading ever so slightly after all the last couple of months.
"Be careful next time." Harry slowly whispered after a while of having let Taiki sweat for a while and turned around to walk away.
"Wait. Your wounds…"
"Goodbye."
With that Taiki was left behind, feeling very stupid and somewhat criticized. Harry hid in a tree to wait for his friend to move away, so that he could clean up behind him and make sure that the stuff got back to their rightful place, like the bait of the raid.
"Well, that didn't go so well." Taiki mumbled out loud as he strolled away, a clear limp visible in his stroll. "Shit, Hari is going to kill me."
Harry rolled his eyes in frustration and amusement. 'Indeed. Now I wonder how long it will take him to show up at my door. Or will he hide it from me?'
Knowing Taiki, he would bet on the latter.
When he was sure that Taiki had retreated, Harry got back down, right as the leader started to regain consciousness once again. He couldn't help but feel slightly sadistic as he put him out with a quick blow to the head before getting out some rope.
He had a delivery to make.
~Next morning~
The few early risers of villagers in the previously-raided village startled in surprise as they spotted all of their stolen possessions carefully spread out over their small square. Their surprise became even greater as they spotted the small group of men tied up against the old water well in the middle of the square.
"D-d-amn Seirei." Were the only words that they managed to get out of the thugs. The what-seemed-to-be-their leader tried to shut them up, but for some reason his voice had become mute. The villagers grinned at each other, having heard rumors about a ghost – rough shinobi, demon, or whatever other people came up with – that haunted the woods before.
The one man that didn't believe in the stories – the chief – couldn't help but feel slightly overwhelmed by it all. He had been the one that had alerted Konoha to the problem and asked for some aid, though it seemed that it wasn't really necessary anymore. Shaking his head, he looked over at his people and couldn't help but chuckle at the smug looks they were shooting him, especially the children.
"Alright, alright!" He called out. "He might exist."
Nearing the small group of mostly unconscious man, he couldn't help but wonder how anyone could have done this. This Seirei had to be a ninja right? His eyes roamed over the condition of the men. Some didn't seem hurt at all. Others seemed battered in some way, but fine otherwise. It was only the leader that seemed like he really got into a rough fight. His throat was bruised and he seemed to have been hurt on different places, but the worst injuries had been bandaged. They seemed to be taken care of pretty well, even though some of those bindings did look a little tighter than necessary.
The chief shivered slightly as the ninja suddenly looked up and glared furiously at him. The man seemed to take a deep breath to shout at him. The chief couldn't help but blink when no sound came out of his mouth. He really couldn't make any sound anymore. It was odd, creepy and a relief at the same time.
Something on the ground caught his attention, and he took a look at the kanji written on the ground.
'Please lock safely away.' Was written in the sand before the tied-up group and an arrow specifically pointed to the angry leader.
"Was this the work of Seirei?" The major couldn't help but ask, just to confirm the grumbling of the men before. He was rewarded with a venomous glare and hisses from the leader and several growls from the humiliated thugs.
It seemed it had been the spirit then. He had done some good deeds before in other villages and now he had helped them get their precious objects back. A girl cried out happily as she retrieved her precious and valuable comb, an object that was her last reminder of her mother. A shopkeeper sighed in relief as he saw his precious items right in front of him. He would be able to continue on his business again soon.
The villagers couldn't help but celebrate and would share their story with anyone that came by. Thus the stories and rumors continued to spread ever so slowly. That same day, a pair of ninja came by who had been called to regain their precious objects.
"What do you mean it has already been taken care of?" The tallest spoke up. The chief had a feeling that the man was disappointed, which the ninja actually was. He had kind of been yearning for some action. His usual position in the village made him unable to get out a lot. Teaching might be his passion, but going fully out once in a while might was a welcome change in his usual routine.
The major of the large village shrugged rather helplessly.
"I'm sorry nin-"
"Umino Iruka." The man corrected him, gently.
"I'm sorry, Umino-san, but your help is no longer needed. Seirei has taken care of it already."
"Seirei?" The ninja inquired, his interest peaking.
"You haven't heard about him yet?" The major's wife inquired, surprised.
"No." The ninja admitted. "Though I would be very interested in hearing about this… spirit."
The woman smiled, an excited glint entering her eye at the thought of sharing the stories that had been going around for the last couple of weeks. "Of course, over a cup of tea perhaps?"
"That would be lovely." Iruka smiled politely and his female companion sighed in a fashion as if she was suddenly suffering from boredom.
"First, the old man puts you in charge… and now we don't even get to kick some ass?" The purple-haired woman complained.
Iruka sweat-dropped as his disappointed companion walked- more like stomped- over to the group of thugs to inspect them, her trench coat billowing as she did. The intimidating woman had already made it known that she didn't like the fact that he was appointed as the team-leader.
Even though she was teasing him about… 'certain opportunities he would have with her as her leader'- he pushed down the flush on his cheeks that he felt coming – he suspected that she was a little bit annoyed with it still. Most jounin would be.
Then again it was not often that he got to be in charge while working with the jounin, but the Hokage had said that it would be good practice for him. If that wasn't a sign of the Hokage being up to something, then he didn't know what was. Shaking his head, Iruka turned back to the mayor.
"We will 'escort' the ninja back to Konoha today if that is alright with you. We have been looking for the leader Ueda Nori for a long time, but he was always a bit slippery when it came to hiding. I'm sure the Hokage will be very pleased." Iruka stated with a pleasant smile that seemed to make the civilians less tense of being around a 'killer-machine'.
"Arigato Umino-san. Now, please come in. I will make tea."
~Harry~
Struggling to get the fabric away from his face, he tugged away the cloth that hid the lower part of his face.
It allowed Harry to gasp for breath a little easier as he finally reached the outer skirmishes of his village. It had taken a lot of energy for him to fight that damn ninja. Adding to the fact that he had to deliver the trash and then run such a long distance in order to arrive earlier than Taiki, Harry was simply and utterly exhausted. Still, the wizard made sure to scan his surroundings. He didn't have the power to make himself invisible anymore, so he would have to stick to the old fashioned away.
He even had released the glamour charm on his face in order to save up energy. He had to be careful not to be seen.
So he planned to change clothes somewhere out of sight. He looked around him, before his gaze moved up. The trees would be the best option, he decided. With some effort he ran up a tree and tried to grab the lower branch. He missed.
'Damn it.'
Waving his arms comically in front of him, he landed on the ground and managed to roll his body along with the fall just in time.
Harry ended up on his back on the ground with his limps outstretched around him and a grumpy look on his face. Exhaustion hit him and he didn't feel like taking some effort to push himself up at all. A movement in the corner of his eyes alerted him of a presence near him.
He tensed, before he sighed in relief. It was simply a little furry chestnut-colored squirrel.
"Hi little guy, I didn't notice you at all." He mumbled under his breath.
The squirrel froze as he looked at him, as if he hadn't noticed his presence before. Then it perked up its head and bounced a few feet closer to him, as if it was curious but unsure how the wizard would react.
"Aren't you afraid of me, little guy?" Harry smiled in amusement at the odd situation.
The squirrel moved close enough that Harry could nearly touch him if Harry wished to, but he didn't make any move because he knew how skittish those animals were. Instead he remained silent and watched in curiosity what the squirrel would do. The head of the squirrel twitched from side to side, its tail up and stretched before the animal seemed to relax and close in on the human in front of him.
Harry watched in surprise as the animal touched his bare cheek, before it peered curiously into the hood that had fallen back on the ground. The wizard repressed a twitch as the tiny paws on the animal tickled his cheek and started moving through his hair. Then the animal suddenly slipped into the hood of his robe and started moving around, earning a laugh from the mysterious Seirei. The mysterious air surrounding the wizard seemed to break apart as he chuckled out loud and tried to twist away from the tickling without crushing the small animal.
Laughing, Harry moved to sit up and cried out when he felt the squirrel move down the back of his shirt.
"Get out, sneaky guy!"
After a while, Harry managed to maneuver the animal to a place where he could carefully grab him and held him up in front of his face.
"Well I have to get going, little guy. Take care alright?" He told the animal as he put him down carefully.
He then stood up and scanned his surroundings one more time, though he was less tense than before. Deeming the situation safe, he quickly changed out of his robe and put on his usual clothes that he kept hidden in a pocket. Harry couldn't be happier with the fact that he had finally managed to pull off the shrinking charm.
'Well, it only works for less dense objects, but whatever.' Harry reminded himself as he pulled out the large pocket of his robe after having enlarged them out of sight from any passerby. 'I will just have to keep practicing.'
Eventually putting the robes and disguise in a small bag that he had taken with him, he casually moved towards the direction of the village, pulling out a couple of branches of different plants that he encountered and would probably be useful at a later date on the way. For any villager that would spot him, Hari had just come back from a very early morning walk.
Humming on the way, Harry tiredly moved towards his shed and unlocked it. Moving over to his bed, he promptly lay down, determined to get at least a few moments rest before Taiki would come surely charging in.
'Enjoy the peace while it lasts.' Harry reminded himself, suddenly feeling a familiar foreboding entering his body just before he fell asleep.
His mind might not fully realize it yet, but there were going to be some changes in the future. Whether he liked it or not.
~End Chapter ~
Merry Christmas everyone! Here is my gift for you guys, and extra long chappie as an update!
Next chapter, the plot will move along and the first meeting with- [ place here unrevealed secret ninja's name] – will occur.
Have wonderful holiday!
~Dreamyin
