Summary: Harry meets some snakes in Konoha. And then he meets their summoner. (An old and short prompt fill for mer)

"She's at it again, that crazy woman," a voice hissed.

"I wish I'd had more time to sleep after our hunt, but no, that hag had to call us out here for her usual stupid reasons," Another voice hissed from the same direction, a deeper hiss that was filled with annoyance.

Around Harry, the heavy foliage of Konoha's trees muffled sounds and carried them in different directions, making it hard to pinpoint the source of the hisses.

"And that alcohol on her breath," The first voice hissed, getting louder as though the speaker was coming closer. "She must have found something really strong this time."

"Last time she summoned us like this, I got cut open... and she never even bothered to check if I healed properly."

There was a consoling hiss that didn't translate into understandable words as leaves rustled. Two large olive green snakes slithered out from a bush only to pause as the sight of Harry.

One of the snakes, with a distinctive circle of black on it's head, lowered it's head to the ground and hissed, "Since when was there a human here?"

"We must have been too distracted getting away from her." The other snake hissed back, the one with the deeper hiss replied. Even in the shade of the trees, the long jagged scar across it's scales wasn't hard to miss.

"We should leave. It doesn't look like he likes snakes," the first snake decided.

"Who does around here?" the scarred snake hissed back, not sounding surprised or angry about that. It just sounded tired and resigned.

It wasn't a tone that Harry had ever thought to hear from an animal.

Let alone a snake.

Before they could leave his sight Harry hissed, "Is your wound really all right?"

The snakes turned back to him in tandem.

"Did you hear him?" The first snake hissed softly to the other.

The scarred snake hissed back equally softly. "Maybe we're caught in a genjutsu trap. I wouldn't put it past her to learn a new trick to torture us..."

Harry knelt down near the snakes, concern overriding any sense of caution at the term 'torture'. "Do you need help?"

The scarred snake came closer and raised it's head as it's tongue flicked out. "You're real! And you want to help? Aren't we still in Konoha?"

Harry frowned in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Little boy, you shouldn't be playing around with those snakes!" A woman's voice called out. On a tree branch high up above him, a purple haired woman clad in a distractingly tight tan and mesh outfit stared down with narrowed eyes and an unpleasant smirk. "They'll kill you."

Having heard the snakes' earlier conversation, Harry said, "They won't. They're obviously familiar with humans, and smart enough to know when they're not being threatened. They have no reason to attack me."

One of the snakes hissed, "Why is he standing up to her for us?"

"How would I know?" The other hissed back.

The woman laughed, her disdain hard to miss. "If they don't attack you now, then they will attack you later. Never trust a snake, they're always waiting for a chance to strike."

A snake hissed softly, too softly for Harry to really hear what it was saying. But the wounded tone was easy to hear.

"I'm sure the person works with these snakes won't appreciate the way you're talking about them," Harry said, knowing that the woman was the snakes' summoner.

"You sure about that, boy?"

Harry looked straight into her mocking eyes and said, "It's the sign of being a decent person to care for something, no matter what kind of creature is it."

"Stop talking to her like that boy," one of the snakes behind him hissed, the words barely reaching Harry's ears. "Not if you want all your limbs intact."

The tree branch creaked as the woman leaned forward with a mocking smile on her face. "And you would care for the snakes if you worked for them?"

"Yes," Harry said without hesitation. "They deserve to be cared for. They're not disposable pawns to be used and thrown away."

The woman's smile vanished. A heavy pressure pressed down on Harry shoulders as she glared down at him. "You two, go back," she said after a long stretch of silence.

"Thank you," one snake hissed at Harry just before thick smoke obscured them from sight.

The sharp edge of something prodded the side of Harry's throat. "And you," the woman said, the bitter scent of alcohol strong on her breath. "Stay away from my snakes."

With a rush of air and a flutter of leaves, Harry stood alone.