A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
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-This story has gotten 609 reviews, 1,519 favorites, 1,869 followers. It has been added to 51 Communities! Thank you!
-So I have joined the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition and my updates may be a little sporadic. I am a Seeker for the Ballycastle Bats.
-This chapter pissed me off because I had an overall idea of what I needed to happen in here, but my fucking hands would not do as my brain commanded them to do! And then suddenly a particular sentence came to mind a few days ago and it helped me finally get this chapter done! Woot woot!
-So because I have to have 10,000 words a chapter, I'm setting a high goal for myself for the length of this fic. I wonder if I can do it.
-There is some Hari/Kakashi fluff in here! I'm so happy for it!
Uzumaki Naruto shifted uncomfortably on the seat outside the emergency room. He wasn't allowed to be in there with his teammates because he was only a Genin with no medical experience and he'd most likely get in the way of what the others were trying to accomplish.
Hari-nee-chan sat to his left, her arm around his shoulders as her hand carded through his spikes soothingly. She was warm, which was something he hadn't gotten since the beginning of their training trip. He turned his head, burying his face in her dark hair, seeking the comfort only she seemed capable of providing.
"I lost control, nee-chan," he mumbled. "I-I did bad things to them."
"They were doing bad things to you. I'd have killed them as well."
He shivered, having never heard his nee-chan sound so angry or bloodthirsty before. "It's how I… killed them, that bothers me, nee-chan. It talked to me. It- it told me what to do and cheered me on."
She huffed, "So you used the Biju. That's what you're supposed to do you know. Your seal was created to let you use it's chakra, or so Sandaime-sama told me. While it may not seem good to you, you didn't anything wrong. You saved the lives of your teammates. Whatever your enemy had done, warranted their deaths."
Naruto was not allowed to give details about the training trip because nee-chan was only a civilian. He could only gloss over everything. He didn't even want to remember any of it.
But just because the men wanted to slaughter him just because he looked like the Yondaime - and Kakashi-sensei had never answered his question about him being related to the Yondaime - didn't mean that he had to kill them.
And it wasn't just a kill. He'd hunted those men down and tore them apart with his fangs and claws.
For the first time in his life… he felt like a monster.
The ceiling above her was white. The whitest she'd ever seen even. She blinked a few times, because the light coming in from the window to her right was blinding and she didn't seem to have control of her arms yet to block it out.
The air smelled strongly of disinfectant and lavender. There were several IVs hooked up to her arms and wrists, and she realized that she wasn't in Kusagakure. Kusa was extremely behind the times in technological advancement because they were so poor.
The last thing she remembered was an enormous bear and then… nothing.
They must have scraped her off the ground of the forest or something.
She'd eventually have to go back to Kusa and she didn't even know what had happened to her teammates.
"You're awake!" a chipper voice said, shocking her. She should have been able to sense someone, but for some reason, she hadn't. Maybe she was ill.
It was a nurse. She was wearing a really bright, white uniform and was holding a brown clipboard in her one hand. "You've been unconscious for nearly six days."
Karin watched her carefully, from the pen in her hand, to the shifting of her arms when she moved. Karin wasn't used to dealing with people she didn't know and she was slightly uncomfortable to have the unknown person's attention focused on her so much.
"You will make a clean recovery and will be up and about within the next few days! Can you remember what happened before you passed out?"
She put the pen to the clipboard and looked up expectantly.
Karin frowned. "Bear. Really big bear attacked," she said in a hoarse voice.
The nurse poured a cup of water and held it to her lips, only getting a blank stare in return. Karin didn't know if it had anything in it or not. She couldn't scent anything, but Konoha was far more along than her country and could probably have scentless drugs for all she knew.
"I can drink a cup first if you want," said the woman as if Karin's hesitance wasn't anything she wasn't used to. In fact, Karin was the premier medic in her land, so she knew about fussy patients. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for help but she was also very reluctant to let her guard down, especially after just waking up from a very long sleep and finding out that she'd been hospitalized and quite possibly experimented on for all she knew.
With an annoyed disposition, Karin allowed herself to drink the water, hoping that it wasn't laced with anything. Her throat did feel better though, so that had to be good.
Clearing her throat, she continued on. "I was separated from my team before we'd even gotten a mile into the forest. The team that attacked us was trying to section me off. The usual strategy is to take down a squad's medic first of course. I managed to lure my opponent away. I killed him with a well placed Chakura no Mesu to the throat. He died quickly. On my way back to my team, I encountered three large bears. They ran very fast and were really strong, able to knock over one of those enormous trees with a single headbutt.
I killed the first two, but I had to use all my weapons. The last was smarter. It waited for me to tire and then attacked. I- I think my abdomen was slashed open. I passed out after that."
The woman nodded as she wrote down Karin's account. "You say you're an iryo-nin?"
"Yes."
"All of our iryo-nin are called in the surgery at the moment for an extreme case and will not be present possibly for the next several hours. Do you think you can help run a scan of your body to check if you've healed correctly?"
She was a no nonsense sort of person. Very efficient. Karin liked that.
With a nod, the redhead began pulling herself up, intent on getting this check up over with as quickly as she could.
"Alright, focus your chakra into your right arm for me and tell what you find."
And the next half hour was spent with Karin being poked and prodded by the nurse who marked down everything she could.
Apparently, her injuries had included a fractured arm, three broken ribs, a broken femur, and a concussion, along with minor contusions and lacerations. The bones in her arm were still slightly tender, which set her hospital time back several more days. Her femur had been completely healed however and was doing better.
Her occupational therapy was going to begin on the morrow and she'd be on a swift recovery very soon.
Karin was left alone with a plate full of terrible food and a pitcher of warm water.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Her attention snagged to the open doorway, where a boy stood. He was dressed in a horrible orange suit and had the brightest blond hair she had ever seen! Also… his chakra was enormous and seemed very warm.
"I could be doing better," she murmured because it was the truth. She did not want to be in a hospital and she didn't want to go back to Kusagakure when it was all over. So basically, no matter what happened, her life sucked.
He walked in - uninvited if that wasn't clear - and plopped down on the lone chair beside her bed. His chakra flickered nonstop. His emotions were all over the place.
"Me too. My team got attacked by Iwa ninja and my sensei is in 'intensive care' and my teammates are in some super important surgery that needs like every iryo-nin in the hospital. They won't tell me anything but they've been in there for like six hours already and no one has come out yet."
So that was why there weren't any iryo-nin available for her checkup. Ninja had stronger bones and muscles than civilians, due to actively using their chakra all the time, so if their injuries were so bad that they needed such important work done, then the Iwa shinobi held nothing back.
She'd heard about the strained relationship between the two nations but she didn't think it was that bad.
"They just attacked because you're Konoha shinobi?"
"Yeah," sighed the boy. He looked perfectly healthy for just having a run in with such dangerous foes, but he seemed mentally drained. "A lot of stuff happened and I… I had to-."
He clammed up immediately and looked away, the window suddenly becoming more interesting to him. She wasn't daft, she could extrapolate from what he'd said so far. He most likely had to kill for the first time and wasn't taking it too well. After all, he was around her size so they might be about the same age.
Speaking of age.
"What's the date?" she asked.
"Uuum, June twenty-third."
"Oh, I turned thirteen three days ago and I wasn't even awake for it. Great."
His eyes bugged. "You're older than me? And you didn't celebrate your birthday?!" he exclaimed, nearly blowing her eardrums while doing so.
"Uh, yeah?"
The blond shot to his feet, "Well if I can't help my team I can at least help you! Hospital food sucks so I'm going to get you some ramen, -ttebayo!"
He was running for the door in the next second, "I'll be back!"
Karin was left dumbstruck, because her mom had always said something similar when she was excited.
'-ttebane'.
And overall, she never even got his name!
Naruto always tried to be a positive person and since his team wasn't going to be around for Kami only knew how long, he had to make due with what he had. That didn't mean that he couldn't try other things in order to keep his mind off his constant worry, though.
Now the red haired girl looked miserable and since he couldn't help his team, he would do his best to help her.
So ramen it was.
And really, ramen would help him feel a lot better too.
"Ayame-nee-chan, I need five large serving of Miso ramen to go!"
"You're back from your training trip!" the brunette smiled, eyes twinkling. "How'd it go?"
His mood plummeted immediately. "Well, stuff happened and everyone else is in the hospital and I'm not allowed to give much detail," he mumbled, hoping she'd drop it quickly.
Ayame was always one of the best when it came to making him feel better and thankfully she didn't ask any further, but she did pat his head and tell him things would get better and that the first serving of ramen was free.
"I found a girl who got hurt in the Chunin Exam and she's stuck in the hospital for a while so I want to cheer her up a bit. Hari-nee-chan was going to stay with me to wait but I told her she needed to help the kids more. They need her because they're all little and stuff. I can see her when I go home."
The young woman sighed, "Why can't I find someone so understanding?"
Naruto's nose wrinkled, "If no one can see how awesome you are, then maybe your future isn't in Konoha. We have established that Konoha civilians aren't the smartest already, just look at my life for an example. Maybe you'll find someone who's a foreigner."
She beamed, "Thanks, Naruto."
The blond flushed and accepted the large bag containing the food. He placed the appropriate payment on the bar and waved goodbye, jumping onto the roof in order to take a shortcut to the hospital.
"I come back bearing a lot of ramen! -ttebayo!"
Karin jumped at the sudden intrusion, dropping her cup of water in the process.
"Sorry! Good thing it's only water!"
He was really loud.
Still, the blond was carrying a large bag that he proceeded to empty out onto the small table on the other side of the room, with bowls and chopsticks and a large container of whatever 'ramen' was.
"There's five servings in here so you should eat first, 'cause I eat a lot and it would be better that you get enough before I have a crack at it."
He placed the large bowl on her lap and plopped himself down on the chair. "The food of the Kami right here, -ttebayo!"
"Where'd you learn that little verbal tic?" she asked, splitting apart her chopsticks in the process. The 'ramen' smelled good at least and he didn't seem the kind to poison it.
His face went slack for a moment. "I don't know. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, really."
"Do one of your parents do it?"
He winced, "I'm an orphan. Since the day I was born actually. I don't know know who my parents are… though I might have an idea who my father is. I have to wait to give my mission account thingy before I think about that though. Ino was usually the one who was in charge of that - she's the team leader when sensei isn't around - and with her in the surgery I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing. She's the smart one."
The kid was like a lost lamb.
"I'm Karin."
"Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the Hokage! -ttebayo!"
Well damn.
"Death, exactly how bad is this going to be?"
"The medics here aren't skilled enough to completely fix all the damage. Sasuke's jaw is completely shattered after all and that kind injury would need exemplary healing ability."
"Can we vanish the bones and then regrow them?"
"I would not suggest that. It would vanish his entire cranium as well and his brain absolutely needs that protective space. The slightest bump could kill him that way."
"Fuck! What else? Who's got the skills to fix this?"
"She is no longer a part of the village. Senju Tsunade is the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage but her life has been filled with much heartache and she resigned from the active roster over a decade ago. She is hailed as the greatest medic in this world. She has the ability, but convincing her to return to a village she hates would be nearly impossible."
"I will Imperius her if need be."
"That would cause a lot of questions and should she awaken and not understand why she's in the village, she may even submit to a mind walk and they could find traces of your voice in her memories. There are some very skilled clans in the world, you need to be careful when you suggest things."
"Well it's not like I know everything about this world! Besides, I have you to help me when necessary."
Death did not answer and Hari continue to scrub the floor as she contemplated her future actions.
"Will they be disfigured or could this hinder their careers as shinobi?"
"Ino and Sasuke most definitely both."
"I don't know any healing magic besides how to clear the airways and how to help broken toes or noses, thanks to Luna."
Hari had to stop and consider her own stupidity. Sixty years old and she still didn't know a damn thing about healing. Tell her to destroy something and she'll have it obliterated, but heal a broken mandible and nope. She's useless.
"Tsunade would also be extremely difficult to get near a body because she now has severe hemaphobia."
The vase on the table shattered when Hari's magic reacted too strongly. The fluctuation caused the air to ripple suddenly. Nothing was going right!
"Is there nothing that can be done? Naruto will be heartbroken and I don't want these kids to lose their dreams."
Death's dark form drew nearer, away from their favorite corner. "You might be able to convince Tsunade's apprentice. She would be more willing, though not as skilled. Also, there is a young girl in the hospital at this moment, who is a distant relative of Naruto's. Their clan is known to have vast longevity and massive chakra reserves. Her chakra is special and could help heal most of the damage, but she's already considering helping. Naruto seems to be affecting her and now that she knows he too is an Uzumaki, she has been mulling over revealing her identity in order to help his friends."
So their only hope at present was in a little girl that was reluctant to expose herself? Harry's infinite amount of luck - either good or bad - seemed to have followed her all the way to this new world. She hated it.
"There is some all-powerful being in existence that just enjoys messing with me, I can tell."
Death didn't not comment and she huffed, going back to scrubbing. Maybe she'd keep her mind off things for a while.
Like baking some biscuits for her blond charge who was valiantly holding himself together. He liked chocolate.
"Hey Karin, I was thinking of placing itching powder in the men's clothing at the onsen, do you think I should use this brand or this brand?"
Karin blinked furiously at the two bottles shoved in her face so early in the morning. She hadn't even gotten a chance to put her glasses on and the blond was up in her space already.
She reached out for the frames and slipped them on, looking both bottles over. "Why not both?" she finally asked.
His look of wonder grew into a wide smile. He began to laugh. "Okay! This will be the best prank I have ever pulled! -ttebayo!"
"Shhhhh!" She cautioned, looking toward the door in case a nurse came along.
"Oh, everyone is still pretty wrapped up with my friends. They've been taken soldier pills and no one has slept yet," Naruto said, his shoulders slumping. His cheer dissipated instantly at the reminder that his friends were hurt.
Karin winced in sympathy. "Have you heard anything?"
Naruto fidgeted and looked away. "They might not continue as shinobi because there's not enough people with the skills or amount of chakra to do the work properly and the old hag that can, no longer lives in Konoha."
Tsunade of the Sannin he must mean.
Uzumaki Naruto was trying his best to remain positive but she knew that the situation had no positives. Unless…
She couldn't! Kusa would kill her! Or lock her up and refuse her to leave ever again! They'd bring her back if she managed to escape and then they'd chain her up and bring her out only when she was needed.
Karin wasn't keen on becoming a slave.
"I don't want a new team," Naruto mumbled. "Ino has helped me so much and besides my nee-chan, she was my first friend. She helped me even though she thought I was an annoying slacker. And teme, well, he's a teme but he was always nicer to me than everyone else was. And they both have their own dreams and stuff and I don't want them to end all because Iwa can't differentiate me from the Yondaime!
It's my fault that they're hurt. The Iwa shinobi attacked us because of me."
Karin's will crumbled at how heartbroken the blond sounded.
If Kusa didn't like it, she didn't care. They had no business to keep her locked away like a slave anyhow.
Karin struggled to sit up. "Can you channel your chakra?"
"Ummmm?"
"If I ask you to channel your chakra through me, can you do it?"
"Yeah."
"Help me walk, I still stumble a bit."
He reached out, grabbing into her arms as she began shuffling her feet toward the door. "Take me to the operating room your team is in."
"But-"
"Now! Everything will be explained when we get there."
Naruto led her down two floors and into the emergency part of the hospital. Luckily, no one was around to catch him escorting a patient away from her room.
They stopped in front of a large door that took up a good chunk of the wall.
"They've been in there for almost a full day."
"It's a good thing we have so much chakra," Karin commented. The Uzumaki heritage ran strong through both of them and she was going to try her best to make this person who seemed like he should always be happy, happy again. Besides, he was family.
She slammed her palm into the button on the wall that was meant for disabled people and the large door opened slowly. With a nod, Naruto walked her inside, much to the annoyance of the doctors and medics.
"You can't be in here!" some woman protested as she tried to get them to leave.
"Ignore her," Karin ordered, making Naruto bring her closer.
"Excuse me!"
No one but the nurse paid them any mind, their attention focused on the two people on the tables.
Naruto put his fingers together and suddenly there were a dozen of him standing in a large cluster.
"EXCUSE US!" they all yelled, shocking everyone else.
Karin raised a hand in greeting and said, "My name is Uzumaki Karin and I am the only equivalent of an Iryo-nin in Kusagakure. I can help."
Naruto's mouth dropped open and so did many others. But Karin was already covering her arms in the disinfectant provided for the doctors. If she was going to help, she wasn't getting anyone ill while doing so.
"My chakra is imbued with my very own life-force which allows me to heal people at an excelled rate. By ingesting my chakra, I can mend nearly impossible to heal wounds and even regenerate body parts if need be."
The Iryo-nin were obviously weighing their options. She was foreigner and wasn't known to them, but the Uzumaki were well known for being good with their chakra. If they wanted to save the two Genin, they couldn't turn her away.
"Fine, but we will watch everything you do," warned the one medic who seemed to be the Head.
"Karin, what's going on?" Naruto asked as she limped forward to place herself at the blonde girl's side.
"I'm going to heal your friends." Karin sent her new friend a look. "When my chakra begins to run low, I will need you to filter your chakra into my body. As an Uzumaki, you have an incredible amount of chakra at your disposal but you were never taught how to manipulate it like our clan is known for. Therefore I must take your chakra into my body, purify it, and then convert it so that I may use it to continue to heal them."
Karin rolled her sleeves up completely, revealing her arms, both riddled with numerous bite marks.
The blonde girl was looking better physically than the boy was. She could barely tell anything about his face because it was bashed up pretty badly.
Placing her arm to the girl's mouth, Karin began the long and arduous healing process, holding the girl's jaw in place so that he was actually biting down. One of the Iryo-nin massaged her throat to help her swallow and together, they worked to fix the damage done.
"Her vitals are looking much better," one of the medics commented after several minutes. "Heart steady, respiratory looking good. I think she's safe now. We managed to fix her organs and bones mostly, she was the easier patient."
Slowly, Karin retracted her chakra and pulled her arm away. The bite was deep, leaving red indentations in the shape of the girl's teeth behind.
"Woah!" came Naruto's amazement.
"The other one will need a lot more work. Naruto, I'm going to need you soon."
He popped up behind her while she moved her other arm to the boy's mangled mouth. His chest rose and fell at an alarming rate and his body was nearly ruined. They hadn't succeeded in fixing much of the damage.
Carefully, she had him bite down and could actually feel how quickly her chakra was being pulled into his body. He needed so much work done, she wondered if he'd actually make it out alive. She didn't say anything about it though, because Naruto seemed to care for his 'teme' a lot and Karin refused to be the bearer of bad news.
"Naruto, I need you now! Place your hands on my back and carefully focus your chakra."
He followed orders well, doing as she commanded with ease.
"Now slowly push it in. You will feel a sort of vacuum sensation which will be me pulling it from you, just continue to to filter it through me and we won't have any problems."
"Okay!"
Together, the two Genin worked on their individual jobs to come to one common goal.
Karin looked up, "I need someone to begin setting his bones back to the correct positions while we do this. I believe the organs are safe now, so the bones are going to need a lot of work as they are the most stubborn body parts to heal."
The Iryo-nin gathered around the body and began to set the different areas. Both legs and arms, the torso had suffered major damage as well. His face would probably have to come last because of all the work needed to fix him up.
Naruto's near endless supply of chakra saw them through the work and she had to marvel at how he didn't seem to tire, even three hours later when they could finally stop.
The boy's face was not finished and would probably need reconstructive surgery later on, but the rest of his body was fine now. He would live. His journey as a shinobi was still underway. Naruto's team would be fine.
His jaw had been shattered and the fractures had splintered off a bit. They'd have to cut his face open and find all the pieces that weren't attached and then put them back in the right places to realign the bone structure. That, or remove them and have Karin regrow the missing parts with her chakra. Which would take time.
When Naruto pulled away at last, Karin did not have enough chakra or energy to keep herself upright. The moment his chakra cut away from hers, she was slipping down, whether she fell to the floor while the darkness crept up on her, she didn't know. All she knew was that Naruto's warm chakra surrounded her again and she fell asleep in comfort.
All I ask is if this is my last night with you,
Hold me like I'm more than just your friend.
Give me a memory I can use,
Take me by the hand while we do, what lovers do.
It matters how this ends,
'Cause what if I never love again?
Hatake Kakashi was roused to the sound of singing. The voice wasn't trained in the least, he could tell. It was also a bit pitchy in the parts that were supposed to be projected, but overall, the slight rasp to the sound was nice. And there was enough emotion in the words to get the point across.
The woman singing was walking around, fiddling with something most likely made of plastic.
He cracked open his eyes, blinking furiously at the suddenness of the light that hit him.
"Awake then, Koinu-kun?" came a teasing voice.
Koneko-chan. She was the one who had been singing. She was in his hospital room.
Oh dear.
"Don't sit up," she ordered sharply when he tried to move. "I presume you'd like to keep your face hidden and you are very much starkers under that sheet."
He laid back then, waiting for some kind of sign. She was pouring a cup of water for him and set it down on the stand beside the bed. She then turned around, showing her back to him.
"Drink all of that."
While Kakashi moved to do so - mentally impressed at how she was respecting his personal space and physically identity - she began to rattle off information that he needed.
"You've been unconscious for almost a week. Naruto has not gotten over his problem with what happened and I don't really know how to help him. When I first killed somebody, I wasn't given any kind of therapy or even asked how I felt afterward. He's been going to T&I every day since two days ago, for some psyche evaluations and they say he's fine, but you never know.
The hospital staff is all over the place currently because all Iryo-nin and several doctors and nurses had to work on Ino and Sasuke and exhausted themselves for twenty-nine hours in a row to help them. Eventually, Naruto managed to make friends with a young girl who is apparently an Uzumaki as well and she used her chakra and when she ran through all of it, used Naruto's chakra and they somehow healed Ino and Sasuke fully by having them bite her arms. I'm still confused over it, ninja are odd and chakra doesn't make sense."
She turned back around a moment after he situated himself again, and sat beside the bed. She was wearing a very baggy pair of black hakama and a black haori with long, belled sleeves. It was the most dressed down he'd ever seen her.
"Sasuke and Ino have not awoken yet, but I think that's good. Sasuke needed the most work and they had to do surgery on his jaw to fix everything fully. Karin and Naruto helped a lot, but his jaw wasn't just fractured, there were pieces sticking out of his face apparently. Reconstructive surgery was only done yesterday. They had to give the medics time to gain their chakra back because they'd been working with only those pill things for hours non-stop."
Kakashi nodded to show that he understood what she was saying. He really wished he had his mask.
"Naruto has yet to speak with Hokage-sama about what happened. I think he's finally realizing that he needs to learn how to do things like this on his own and that he won't always have his team with him. Ino takes control when you aren't around and he became used to taking orders from her and without someone giving him orders, he doesn't know what to do. He's been listless as of late and only has Karin to hang out with."
"Who is Karin?"
Hari-hime sat up straighter, a frown on her face.
"I baked some sweets to thank her for her help and never let it be said that I'm not crafty. I got some interesting information out of her, by using food only.
Her name is Uzumaki Karin and she was born in Kusagakure. Her mother was a refugee of Uzu no Kuni and gave birth to Karin later in her life. Karin was taught by her mother, how to manipulate her chakra the way Uzumaki Clan members were taught how to.
Karin's chakra is vast like Naruto's and she can use it to heal or regenerate wounds or limbs or body parts in general. Karin and her mother were only allowed to remain in Kusa if they used their abilities to help the village. When her mum died, Karin was left alone at a young age and forced to be the sole medical ninja-type person for the village. They forbade her from sharing her clan name with people, but Naruto's conviction and feelings affected her. When she learned that he too was an Uzumaki, she decided to help his team."
That could pose many complications.
"Naruto has been thinking really hard about something and I've learned some interesting facts about the Uzumaki Clan because of Karin."
Many, many problems.
Kakashi cleared his throat a few times, trying to make certain that he wasn't going to sound squeaky when he finally spoke.
"Did Naruto mention... anything about the training trip?"
Hari's face became grim. "Other than the losing control, no. Hokage-sama called Inoichi-san and I into his office to deliver the bad news and I paced outside one of the Gates every day in hopes of catching you guys."
"Are my clothes still here?"
"Those were pretty torn up and I think your nurse tossed them in with the rubbish. I did bring you this though!" she said, pulling a large piece of cloth from her pocket. It was navy blue, like the shinobi uniform was.
"So where I'm from, people hide their faces with these." She proceeded to fold it in half and pull up to her face, tying it around her head tightly and spreading it out until he could only see her eyes and forehead. She untied the fabric and tossed it his way, closing her eyes so that he could put it on.
Not once did she try to peek either. Everyone tried to peek. Why didn't she?
"Thank you," he mumbled, pulling himself into a seated position and trying to ignore the fact that he was naked with only a sheet for protection while a beautiful woman was sitting not three feet from him.
"Are you hungry?"
She pulled a large container out of a black bag on the floor and removed the lid. The scent of eggplant and miso assaulted him instantly, making his mouth water. "I remember what your favorite food was, from when Naruto told me. I figured it'd be more appreciated. I've brought food every day just in case you wake up while I'm here. Hospital food is rank."
She handed the container over, along with a pair of sealed chopsticks. "I finally learned how to make ramen! Naruto still swears Ichiraku's has better food, but as long as he ate it, then I can't be bad."
It wasn't. It was incredible. He had never actually eaten any of the snacks she'd packed for the team and felt a little foolish because he was missing out obviously. Ino and Naruto were not joking and he distinctly remembered Sasuke sneaking a few more when he thought no one was paying him any attention.
Best of all, he could eat and know that his face was covered and she couldn't see him.
He paused for a second to ask, "Why aren't you trying to see what my face looks like?"
She shrugged. "It seems like something private and important to you and while I am curious, I'd like for you to trust me enough to show me on your own. It'd be like you asking to see my scars. Terribly uncomfortable for me and rude to try to figure out when it's obvious I don't want to talk about it. As the saying goes, 'do unto others as you would have them do to you' and I don't want to be pestered."
She couldn't be a real person. She was just a civilian. One who had to do some hard things in life, but no civilian should be this understanding of a shinobi and their personal space.
She leveled him with a grin. "For someone of my… status, people tend to stick their nose into business that isn't theirs. Sometimes they like to talk too and I have experience with unwanted fame and people who can't mind themselves." Her grin was brittle by the time she finished, eyes practically screaming her brutal understanding.
"How are the children doing?" he asked, diverting their discussion to more simple points. His mind was filled with so much and he wanted to have more time to consider it all.
Besides, she was so expressive when she talked. Her eyes sparkled enchantingly.
"Well…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. He was really getting too old for this.
Looking at his once student, he could console himself that he at the very least did something right in his many years as a leader of a military village. Jiraiya had grown to be someone of worthy note and Hiruzen was proud of all that he had accomplished.
Orochimaru may have been the most naturally talented and Tsunade may have come to him with already amazing chakra control, but the raw power and determination in Jiraiya had made him the one to show the most potential. Room for growth and maturity.
"I heard that my godson was on a training trip and was attacked by Iwa shinobi."
Damn.
Hiruzen linked his fingers together, trying to find some way of explaining what he'd learned from Kakashi and from those who had questioned the blond during his evaluations.
"They were testing our borders and Kakashi came across them while he was scouring the perimeter of his team's campsite. They needed help so he sent word to me and decided to remain with them. He'd tasked his team with find their way back to Konoha as training and he had been perfectly confident until news of a team of Jonin level shinobi got past the line a few miles down the divide.
He gave chase and came upon Naruto, partially transformed and killing his last opponent. Naruto's teammates had suffered terribly in the process and the stress overcame him. Kakashi described it like a cloak of some sort, covering his body in a thick layer of reddish-orange chakra. Naruto's nails grew into claws and his canines grew into fangs. The markings on his cheeks became more defined and whisker-like. His sclera were red with only a black slit as the pupil. The chakra took the form of a mini fox with two strips sticking out of his head and two much longer strips jutting out from behind him."
The information itself was disturbing. Hiruzen knew he had to get the information from Naruto but the boy was precious to him and he didn't want to cause him any more discomfort but that information was needed.
"I will have to question Naruto soon."
"Why not now? I can hide while you talk."
Of course Jiraiya would want to listen in.
"Fine. Buta, get Naruto."
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto barged his way into his sensei's hospital room because he could and no one was going to stop him. He'd been worrying for so long and he was not going to miss this.
Besides, he'd just had a long talk with Jiji over what happened on the trip and he just wanted some good news for once. He also learned some very shocking news and wasn't too sure how he should handle it.
Kakashi was looking better. Awake and alive. His skin wasn't pale and he seemed to have gone back to normal, with his bad porn book in hand.
"Naruto. Hari-chan talked about you when she visited yesterday."
The boy gave an uncomfortable nod. "Sensei, I had to talk with Hokage-Jiji about what happened and… he told me."
They stared at one another for several seconds, neither moving as the weight of the words settled.
"Close the door."
The blond did so, waiting for his sensei to take the lead.
"How much were you told?"
"All of it."
Kakashi closed the book and placed it on the bedside table. "Then we have a lot to discuss, don't we?"
"Sensei, you didn't pass us simply because of who my old man was, right?"
It had been bugging him since he'd left Jiji's office. Did Kakashi only accept Team Seven because Naruto was his sensei's son?
"No," answered the Jonin. "Though there was much pressure from the councils and advisers to make sure that Sasuke passed as he is the last Uchiha and we need to keep his loyalty fixed on the village. I was fully prepared to fail you all like I always did. I have failed so many Genin and I hadn't expected you to be any different, but you were. That was why I passed you all, because teamwork is most important in a team.
I lost my first friend because I couldn't bother to learn that. I shamed my sensei often because of my attitude. I dedicated myself to a new outlook and for the first time in nearly eight years, a team finally made the cut."
Naruto heave a sigh, feeling relieved. Naruto didn't want favoritism all because his father… was the Yondaime.
His father was the Yondaime.
How does someone get used to that?
"What was he like?"
Kakashi settled himself on the bed. "The greatest and kindest man I ever knew."
Hari slipped between the people at the market. Vendors loudly exclaiming the worth of their merchandise and people being easily fooled into buying things for far more than they were worth.
Out of the busy side of town, Hari was about to simply breathe easier. She needed to get some new toys to keep the kids entertained and since she couldn't shop in peace in the village center, she'd go elsewhere.
Saturday was not the best day to go shopping.
"You might want to get to the hospital."
She nearly stopped in the middle of the walkway, but managed to keep herself going. Death just really liked to mess with her.
"I'm not joking. Two Genin are currently in danger. Sasuke and Gai's student Lee."
What's happening? she thought while turning around abruptly and heading for the hospital while trying to make it look normal. She didn't know if she still had watchers and it was best to be safe.
"One of the village's own nuke-nin has infiltrated the Chunin Exams in hopes of finding Sasuke. The man is on a quest to learn every jutsu ever created and he also has a fascination with immortality. He needs Sasuke's Sharingan eyes. When Sasuke wasn't in the Exams, he nearly gave up, but one of his men informed him of Sasuke's residence in the hospital at present and he's seen fit to mark the boy with a mind warping seal that will convince him to depend on the power it'll give him. It's like a piece of Orochimaru himself and it influences all who fall under it. The man will then take over the boy's body by using a special Kinjutsu."
These ninja were bloody insane!
Hari ducked behind a building and cast a disillusionment charm on herself, she then Apparated.
What about Lee?
"The boy he fought in the Preliminary wants to kill him. The boy is a Jinchuriki like Naruto. His father is the Kazekage of Sunagakure. His father had the Ichibi sealed into his unborn son which caused his wife to go in premature labor and she birthed Gaara. He was extremely small and only the Biju inside of him allowed him to live. She died soon after.
Gaara was raised to be a weapon and when they realized that the Ichibi isn't a Biju that can be controlled, they were going to kill him and re-seal the Biju until they could think of another plan. All assassination attempts failed. The village hates him. He hates them back. His mother's brother was enlisted to make a connection with Gaara and then break it. He was the last to attempt assassination on the boy.
Shukaku drives his containers insane. They cannot sleep, for the moment they rest, he takes over their bodies and wreaks havoc. His voice is shrill and he enjoys chaos and pain. The most bloodthirsty of the Biju and causes suffering to Gaara if the boy doesn't fall in line.
Shukaku took advantage of Gaara's loneliness and convinced him that he doesn't need anyone but himself. That he only needs to love himself. That the only way to prove his worth is by killing all those he deems as strong. Gaara thinks of him as his mother.
Gaara is worse than Tom Riddle could have ever been. There is hope, but it would take a lot of work to undo what has been done. And he'd have to want it and make an effort."
The more she learned about this world, the more she had to question the capabilities of the parents. Did no one ever care for their children anymore or was it all about power and wealth? Was family a foreign concept to these people?!
Hari looked around, Which one is in danger now?
"Sasuke. Gaara moves slowly, he hasn't even made it to the hospital yet."
With a nod, she turned for the lift, getting off at the fourth floor and rushing to Sasuke's room. It was dark and all of the machines were on as they should be.
"Place several wards around the bed. Against, animals, people with nefarious plans, people over the age of fifty, make him untouchable for the next few hours if you have to."
This better work.
Death raised a hand and seemingly slipped the Elder Wand out of thin air. They handed it over.
Hari proceeded to cast the appropriate amount of charms on the bed and the boy himself. She even carved a few runes on the wall beneath the window and some in the doorway. There was a Muggle repelling charm added for good measure, which would confuse those who got too close.
Now where is Lee?
"Despite the fact that he's supposed to be resting, he's out in the courtyard exercising. Take a left and then go down the stairs. The entrance is on the first door to your right."
Hari did indeed find the boy trying to do some pushups despite the fact that his arm and leg were plastered. The fact that he was doing one handed pushups was impressive, but he really needed to just calm down and rest.
"Lee, you should be taking it easy right now, not overworking yourself."
The boy faltered on the push and ended up falling on his front. She rushed over to help him to his feet, taking in his injuries and calculating how long he'd be out of service.
"The rest of his life," said Death. "Those wounds are out of the league of even Uzumaki Karin. Tsunade would be the only one who could save him."
Just when she thought she'd dodged a hit with that woman, she comes back with a vengeance!
"Let's get you back to your room so you can rest."
Though he protested, she managed to drag him back to the door and convince him to tell her his room number. Once they were safely inside, she tucked him into his bed and murmured the stunning charm, knocking him unconscious.
She sat on the bed and stared at the door, wand slipped up her sleeve as she waited.
She didn't need Death to tell her when the boy had was near. She could feel his soul and the soul of the Biju with him. Both were so dark and twisted and it was nearly impossible to differentiate one from the other. But the Biju was simply wrapped around him, influencing his actions and trying to control him completely.
This darkness was cold and made her uncomfortable. It was worse than Tom's locket Horcrux.
Potent. That was what it was. Very potent.
The door slid open nearly soundlessly and Hari was struck by the appearance of the boy. His hair was like blood, the reddest red she'd ever seen before. His eyes were like a bright teal which were very beautiful. He also had black circles around his eyes, much like a tanuki Naruto had showed her a few months back.
"The Ichibi no Shukaku is a tanuki. Biju who are sealed into unborn Jinchuuriki influence their physical appearance a bit. That is why Naruto has whiskers."
If it weren't for the manic look in his eyes and the aura of doom surrounding him, Hari would say he was adorable. And she'd also question why anyone would want to kill such a cute child. Like how anyone could hate Naruto despite seeing how happy he normally was.
Gaara's eyes met her own immediately. "Do not get in my way."
No twelve year old should have a voice that deep and raspy. If only he was older.
Back to the reason he was there, however.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you to harm him. Despite loudness and dress sense, he's a pretty swell kid."
"I'll kill you if you get in my way."
The large peanut like object on his back began to shake and sand slowly poured out and onto the floor, surrounding his feet.
"Shukaku controls sand and the sand moves with the will of Gaara's deceased mother. It is his ultimate defense as well as his only offense. He has never been injured before and the sand is faster than you think. Be on your guard."
Hari gripped the wand in her sleeve and silently cast a barrier between she and Gaara. Nothing should be able to move past it. Hopefully.
Would Legilimency work on him or should I not try? I'm not that good at it if you recall.
"His seal was poorly constructed and it gives the Biju much control over his mindscape. You'd be entering its domain by doing that."
But I have you to help me, right?
"Indeed."
Faster than he could tell, Hari met his gaze and slid into his conscious thought easily. She immediately wished that she hadn't.
It was a mess. Like a large desert that was poorly disguising a very large beast seated in the middle. A bright sun shone down on their heads. The beast was indeed a tanuki and was very enormous in size. It was trapped in place however, by a large pyramid of what looked to be ofuda.
No, it was more like chains that were wrapped in ofuda. The creature was still capable of seeing through the bars of its prison and it's beady, gold eyes landed on her the moment she appeared.
"How did you get in here?!"
She winced, concurring with Death that Shukaku's voice was horrible. It made Bellatrix's high voice seem normal. Put her to shame. In fact, it's insanity might also put hers to shame as well.
"I have ways," she answered simply, looking around for anything. There were rocks and cacti, but nothing of substance in his mindscape.
The great sands began to twist and turn and she understood what Death meant by Shukaku having a lot of control of the mindscape. It was a creature mostly made up on sand and chakra so of course it would be able to control the sand around it.
"I'll enjoy crushing you!"
Waving her wand, Hari cast a silencing charm. Surprisingly it worked!
How did it work? she asked Death. How can I cast magic while in someone's mind?
"The Biju is it's own being. Own consciousness, simply sharing a space for the time being."
The creature continued to try speaking but nothing was coming out and the eyes took on a more crazed look as the time went by. The sand shifting restlessly around her, beginning to rise higher and higher.
Hari retreated before she could be mentally drowned in sand. She didn't really know what would happen if she was but she most certainly wasn't going to find out. She had a book on Legilimency and it did caution against entering another's mind unless you were confident in your abilities because if someone was particularly skilled in Occlumency and they had somehow set up traps in their mental space, you could get injured.
Injury received while in another's mind could affect mental health. It could also disturb the connections the brain has to the body.
So she didn't want to know what drowning in sand would do to her.
"What did you do?" demanded the redhead, eyes looking around frantically. "I cannot hear?"
As in he couldn't hear her or the Biju?
"I silenced it," she said, gauging his reaction. "That voice was incredibly annoying and I don't know how you deal with it."
Teal eyes widened and sand shifted around him in response to his emotions. "What are you?"
"Magic," came the anticlimactic reply.
He couldn't be that bad. He had insomnia from not sleeping because if he slept, then the Biju would take over and slaughter people. He had to have some kind of moral compass within him if he wasn't willing to give over the control.
Death insisted that there was hope for him.
"Why… are you protecting him?"
"I don't want him to die. And I don't like hurting children so I would ask that you don't make me hurt you."
A twitch developed over his left eye. The red kanji that rested on his brow creased ever so slightly in his confusion.
"I have to kill him… to prove my existence."
"I can see that you exist just fine," she soothed, voice calm. "You need to realize that there are beings out there who are much more powerful than you. You don't need to continuously kill people in order to prove your worth as a human being. Worth is measured in something much more than death."
She cast a glance toward Death, who was standing beside the bed, body half turned in her direction.
"Everyone will meet Death when they die. That makes us equal. That is the end we all share. How we get there is different for each and every one of us. Please don't make this the day you meet Death."
Allow only a little bit of yourself to show. Just some of the darkness in order to scare him into behaving.
"As you wish."
And she could see the very moment that he noticed Death's presence. The entire room got colder, cold enough to see their breath. And Gaara's eyes were riveted to the black figure standing beside her seated form.
"I am… feeling fear. I am not used to this feeling."
Hari stood, "Well, all you need to do is leave Lee alone and the feeling will go away."
He backed out of the room, gaze still on Death's form. "You will not end my existence!"
Gaara fled then, disappearing in a swirl of sand.
Hari felt the worry that had begun to grow in her stomach, lighten considerably. "That wasn't as much work as I thought it would be."
She awoke Lee up after a few minutes, telling him that he fell asleep and pointing out that she was right and that he needed to rest.
Can't I just regrow his bones for him?
"You could, but how would you explain it to him and the doctors?"
Dammit!
"You can't get to the bed. What do you mean you cannot get to the bed?!"
"I apologize, but it's almost as if there is a barrier surrounding him. I felt something strange when I entered the room and then when I got within a foot of the bed, I found myself walking away n confusion. I went back to try again and it kept happening. The snake disintegrated when it tried to go forward."
Kabuto flinched as his master snapped a tree in half with a simple punch.
"Find a way into that room, Kabuto."
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
Karin fidgeted in her chair. Never did she believe that she would be face to face with the Hokage of all people, but there she was, sitting in his office that was filled with Anbu members and two of the village's best interrogators.
"You are saying that you do not want to return to Kusagakure. Why?" demanded the man named Ibiki. She had to admit that his scare tactics were pretty good but she had seen worse in her young life.
"Those people are terrible. When they find out that I failed to keep my team safe, they'll most likely lock me up. When I tried to quit being a ninja so I could leave, they refused my request and told me that I'd be marked as a nuke-nin and that they'd force me back there and lock me away."
The Hokage - a very old man who didn't look to be much of a threat - regarded her silently.
"We have had a peace treaty with Kusagakure for years. We cannot just take you from them. You will have to leave this village and make your way back."
Her stomach and heart sank at the same moment.
"But… once you leave this village you are no longer under our jurisdiction and should you happen to get into a fight on your lonesome travel back to Kusa and end up going missing, then we cannot take any of the blame for it. You'd be declared MIA and soon KIA eventually and with a new pair of spectacles and some hair dye, you'll be right as rain."
He bestowed a grandfatherly smile upon her and Karin had never felt so happy in her life.
Konoha was so much better.
"Welcome to Konohagakure, Uzumaki Karin."
"Who is this Hari-nee-chan that Naruto and Karin talked about?"
Jiraiya leveled his sensei with a demanding stare because he had to learn of some woman living with his godson, right from the kid's mouth. Why didn't sensei tell him first?
"Hari-hime has been with us for a few months," sighed the Hokage. "She and Naruto live in the apartment building together. She is also the new matron of the orphanage and is the reason that Danzo is on trial, because he pestered her and she came to me."
And that was how Jiraiya learned that a grown woman had been living with his godson for the past half a year, teaching him anything she could and generally being the parental figure he always needed in his life.
"I'm going to stop by!"
He Shunshined from the office before sensei could stop him. Sometimes it was the only way to get things done. Pretend to be hearing impaired.
The building was looking better. There was a new layer of paint over the outside, turning it from the shabby orange and yellow to a bright green and cream coloring. It was much more inviting and the sign on the front explained that it was the orphanage.
He was greeted by an older woman who was holding a little girl who was crying.
"Can I help you?"
"Is Hari-hime in?"
"Hari-chan went out to the hospital with young Naruto. They're visiting the poor dear's teammates today. She baked some snacks just in case."
Jiraiya bowed and thanked her, waiting until he was outside before Shunshining. Some civilians weren't used to the ninja stuff and he wasn't about to give the poor woman a heart attack.
The woman at the desk was able to direct him in the direction of the young woman and his godson.
Jiraiya was perhaps three feet from the doorway, when the young woman and Naruto began speaking.
"Nee-chan, I'm sorry I haven't been around lately."
He sounded so much like Kushina that it physically hurt Jiraiya for a moment.
"Squirt," came a very feminine voice, "-we all deal with stress differently. Koinu-kun handles it by reading porn almost all day every day. I'm sure he does more, but noticeably it's his niche. You have your own way of dealing with things. You like to cuddle. I like to bake. There's nothing wrong with taking time to yourself."
There was silence for the space of three breaths, before Naruto spoke again. "In the book, Naruto climbs to the highest point he could find in order to calm himself down. So I decided to go and sit on the Yondaime's head. It's the closest I'll ever get to him after all."
Hari-hime sighed, "Do you at least understand why you couldn't be told? I mean it's sort of obvious if you look at his photo in Hokage-sama's office, but your health is most important at present. It was for your own good."
"I know, but sometimes 'for my own good' doesn't cut it, nee-chan. People making decision for you sucks! My team and I nearly died because of me!" The boy's voice cracked pitifully at the end, making both Jiraiya and the young woman sigh with sadness. "Had I known anything like that, I would have disguised myself and probably saved us the trouble! Sasuke's face had to be cut open and remade and Ino's liver had been sliced nearly in half!"
There was a sniffle. "Do you know what it's like to suffer because someone withheld important information from you, 'for your own good'?"
She did not answer right away but when she did, her voice was as choked as the boy's was. "I do. It's how I lost my godfather."
Her voice was filled with so much brutal honesty Jiraiya had to shake his head. Life was never easy. It seemed she was the perfect guardian figure for him. She could understand him.
"Nee-chan, why couldn't I have been told? No one had to tell the villagers or even anyone else. I would have been fine with being the only person to know. If they didn't want others attacking because of who my parents are, they didn't have to announce it to the world. How do we know that no one else knows? That Danzo guy was super important and look at all the stuff he did! Who's to say he didn't tell anyone about me?"
Jiraiya's blood ran cold at the very suggestion, but there was so much wrong with that question. So much of it could be possible. He would need to double check any leaks and go around to all of his plants later on when the Invasion was taken care of.
"You do make a good point, squirt. You're also taking this better than I did. I trashed an entire office with my temper and loss of control of my Kekkei Genkai. And all throughout it, the man who kept such important information from me, was calm. It was bloody annoying!
His silence hurt a lot of people. He played it so close to the chest that a lot of people either died or were hurt or forever changed. And he recognized his mistakes easily. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to discuss my feelings but he just wouldn't let it go! He kept on talking, kept making me listen to him. I was hurt. I was annoyed, I wanted to go home and forget it all. I wanted out. I didn't want to continue on. But I had to.
I had to suck it up. I have never and will never forgive him for that. He was a human being, he made mistakes. He made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime. He tried for something and it was his faith in the better that keeps me from hating him. From repudiating him. He was not a one dimensional person, there many facets to his personality. I understand that now.
So I'm saying is that it's okay for you to resent Hokage-sama, you have ever right. But take into account his position as a leader and how many people are under his jurisdiction. It is hard to be a leader. There is constant pain and sorrow and the ever present worry over whether you've made the right decision or not. He tried for something better for you.
This is a lesson for when you become Hokage. Maybe one day you'll have to do the very same thing, knowing the possible consequences that lie before you should you make the wrong choice."
Another sniffle.
"Nee-chan, can we have ramen tonight?"
"Sure."
Jiraiya eventually nodded to himself and turned away from the door.
She was a perfectly fine guardian.
On another note, he had to do some serious spying.
"Perhaps if we corner them here, then we can overthrow them."
"But what about the cove? It's supposed to be filled with sharks coming in from the ocean."
"We'll just have to have better reflexes than our enemies."
"And how do we accomplish that?"
"We're going to begin training our soldiers out on the water."
"Half of your fucking troops wouldn't survive that and you know it. Those damn things are fucking fast."
"The blood will rile them up and hopefully they'll help take out the enemy for us."
"Just so we're clear, I am against this all the way."
"Good for you, but I'm the leader of this rebellion and what I say goes. We have three months to get in shape for this. Don't. Fuck. Up."
A/N: Another is done!
-Can y'all guess what that ending was about?
-The lyrics are from Adele's song, All I Ask.
-To the butthurt Guest, do not condem me for responding to rudeness with equal rudeness. No one can demand that I change my vocabulary simply for their sake. They can't bother to pick up the dictionary it is not my fault. I'm not here to cater to the whims of people who think that they are better than me. And if you don't like how I respond to people who try to rub my mistakes in my face but don't actually try to help me fix them, then don't bother reading the story. It is one thing to tell me that I have made a mistake in a certain place, it is another to claim I made a mistake but not be able to give me any proof that I did. If you have no proof then you're a liar. I don't like liars.
Also(as of May 4th 2016): While your support of this fic is wonderful and I adore everyone who reads it, I would much appreciate it if everyone could NOT dis other stories when reviewing mine. Thank you.
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