Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Warning: This story will contain spoilers from Naruto and Harry Potter so if you don't like spoilers don't read this story. Also, some facts may be different from the original plot and characters might behave differently from their original natures but that is how I need them in order to write my fanfic so again if you don't like it refrain from reading it. The genre is Drama/Hurt/Comfort, Harry is emotionally hurt. In this fic, Harry may behave emotional and depressed (but not throughout entire storyline) so think carefully before you write something to you don't like my fic please read something else but if you have constructive criticism for me do go ahead and enlighten me. Lastly, there might be some future violence or coarse language. You have been warned!

Chapter 10: Unwelcome Invitation…

"All it took was one letter delivered by an owl to change two boys' lives forever… Was it for the better or for the worse?"

"So, Sarutobi sensei, this is your new son?" A blond woman who had made the query was the first person Harry noticed when he entered the room. Sitting comfortably with both of her arms spread over the top of a leather couch, she eyed him from the center of the room. By now, everyone had turned their attention to him and he awkwardly walked towards the gathering, not particularly enjoying their attention.

"Yes, this is him." Sarutobi said while smiling fondly to the youth, scooting over from his prior position to provide some room for Harry to sit.

"Well, he'll have to learn how to keep track of time, that's for sure." Though the woman's comment was directed at her mentor, Harry felt the blood rushing to his face in shame. He had lost track of time with Lee, and now it was way past the promised time.

"I'm very sorry for being late." Not only was he not on time, but Harry also felt like he had tarnished Sarutobi's reputation with his tardiness, and shame was visible on his otherwise pale face.

"Did something happen? It's quite unusual of you to be late; you're always early. I was starting to get worried." Harry felt even worse now for making his guardian worried over him, and he couldn't stop himself from looking at the ground to avoid the man's stare. Bringing up what had happened with Lee to explain why he was late seemed like he was blaming an innocent person for his own delay. Therefore, Harry resorted to what he often did, although he knew it was pathetic.

"… I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted so stop studying your shoes." Tsunade snapped, getting a bit annoyed at the boy's attitude. She was never too fond of such behavior as she already had a lot to deal with on her own plate.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya scolded, shaking his head at the bad temper of his old teammate. Unfortunately, Tsunade caught Jiraiya's exasperated motion and began to glare a death hole through her perverted comrade's head.

While his past students exchanged looks, Sarutobi urged the teen to take a seat next to him which Harry complied hesitantly. When seated, the aged Hokage moved to introduce the gathered people to his young charge, commanding the unwavering attention of everyone in the room.

"Hari, I want you to meet Tsunade, my former student, who's going to become the fifth Hokage. This is her assistant Shizune and my other former student Jiraiya." The indicated individuals each shared a brief greeting with the youth.

In turn, Harry introduced himself, slightly bowing his head like he was taught. The etiquette was still a bit awkward for him; nevertheless, Harry had learned that being polite was one of the best lines of defense in one's social life.

"Tsunade is someone I trust, and given that she'll become the fifth Hokage, I told her about how I really met you." Sarutobi waited for his charge to absorb the words before continuing in a calm manner.

"I learned from our recent experience that anything could happen to me, more now than before, as I'm getting old."

Stopping briefly, Sarutobi tried to soothe away the distress that was slowly etching onto the teen's face by placing his withered hand atop Harry's. He sighed inwardly, as it did little to alleviate the anxiety that radiated from the boy; the older Hokage did not miss the boy nibbling at the inside of his cheek.

"In case I die, I need someone to look after you and protect you from unwanted attentions."

Harry looked around with apprehension and noted the new additions of Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune into his 'trust' circle. He barely trusted anyone in his life now; however, he was also well aware that he could not live alone forever. He would reluctantly be able to live with these people, and maybe depend on them, if need be, but that was all he was willing to allow.

"As the newly appointed Hokage, Tsunade wanted to clear some matters with you. She may have a rough mouth, but she's actually a kind woman." Jiraiya refrained from adding his personal comment on how her language wasn't the only thing Tsunade was rough about.

Then again, he didn't want to taste Tsunade's punch once more anytime soon, and her monstrous power display might scare the teenager. While Jiraiya shuddered at the memories, Tsunade received a nod of approval from her old teacher to ask what she wanted to of Harry.

"Although I was informed about you, I still have some questions. Let's begin with a simple one. Where are you from?"

It didn't sound too simple for Harry as he stared at his fidgeting hands in his lap; already he was feeling uncomfortable. The way the new Hokage spoke to him was unyielding like a predator growling at its prey; it made the young wizard tense.

"Will you please look at me while we're talking?" When Harry raised his gaze, he was met with a pair of penetrating eyes. Harry wondered what he had done in the short amount of time given to earn such a stern look from her.

"Where are you from?" Tsunade repeated, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Somewhere far away." Harry wished he could sink deeper into his seat until he disappeared, if only to escape from the irritated frown, which quickly marred the blonde woman's face.

"Yes, so I heard and read." Tsunade drawled but failed to elicit a further response from her target.

"Tsunade, you're hopeless." The kunoichi sharply turned her head to face her old teammate, obviously not happy at all.

"Shut up." The threat didn't deter Jiraiya from smiling brightly as he ignored Tsunade and caught Harry's attention.

"How about we modify the question? Is there anything you can add about yourself other than what you've already told us?"

Upon the sheepish shake of his head, Harry winced as the snort came from Tsunade. Although it was evident that the woman's action was to mock Jiraiya's efforts, Harry couldn't help himself but feel bad about it. Fortunately, it didn't seem to dim the grin that graced the man's face as he continued.

"We'll skip this subject for now and move on to another topic." Tsunade had to try hard not to groan in frustration from the man's optimistic attitude. Reminding herself that they were just starting this conversation, and that she shouldn't lose her temper at this point, she decided to go along with Jiraiya's plan.

"Why did you come to this village?" It was a bit hard to come up with an answer. Harry wrinkled his nose. For one, the young savior was sure that Fawkes wasn't intending to bring him to this village, and it definitely wasn't his idea either. Many possible answers clamored within Harry's head as they debated their way towards an explanation not leading to unwanted probing.

"I wasn't intending to come to this village."

"Then why are you still here?" Dumbstruck, Harry slowly looked into the burning orbs of the newly appointed Hokage.

"I…" However, he couldn't form any more words, and he didn't dare to look into the others' eyes to find what he feared most reflecting from their souls. The question had really driven home, reminding him of the forgotten fact that he didn't belong here.

Why was he here? Well, the Third Hokage had offered him a place to live. And yet, why was it that this answer felt like it was lacking something important? He tried to recall the events that had so far happened to him.

"When I was in the hospital, Sarutobi-san offered-" But Harry never finished his sentence as Tsunade cut him off.

"I know what he said. I'm asking you what made you accept his offer to stay."

For a second, Harry remained frozen as realization dawned on him. He had never decided to settle down in this village. There was no will or reason when he'd accepted Sarutobi's proposal. What about now? But then again, where would he go? Harry broke from the endless trail of tormenting thoughts when the throbbing in his head became unbearable for him.

"I'm not sure." Harry sounded defeated. "At the time, I was tired and didn't care. I'd lost my last remaining friend, and I wanted nothing more than to get away from the pain. I couldn't really think properly, and I'm not sure why I'm still here." The last part was almost inaudible.

"Where were you two headed?"

Recalling the last moments of his fiery companion from Tsunade's question, Harry was almost certain that he felt the strong but gentle embrace of Fawkes' fire as he closed his eyes. A soft tap on his knee by his current guardian pulled Harry away from the moment of warmth, which was most likely just a hallucination.

"He wanted to take me to his relatives, but during that trip, I somehow ended up in this village."

"We only found you. What happened to your friend? Did you get attacked?" Sarutobi remembered the time when he had discovered the seriously injured youth under the burnt down temple's remains.

"We were attacked." Unknown to the others, the word 'we' meant many more than two individuals for Harry as he recalled the final battle. "We won, but I was badly hurt. Before I lost consciousness…" The wizard could almost hear the piercing cry that the phoenix had made with his last dying breath. "I saw him get engulfed by flames. I don't know how or why it happened, but I know that he died trying to save me."

Sarutobi recalled the vibrant fire that had died down right before the mysterious screech. Perhaps Harry's friend had cast that jutsu at the cost of his own life. If that was true, the theory that the shrine fire was chakra-induced made sense, and that screech they'd heard could very well have been somebody's dying scream. However, what reason would Harry's friend have to set the shrine on fire? Did something go wrong? Or did the jutsu contain a property unknown to them that was necessary to save Harry?

While the Third was contemplating the idea, Tsunade decided that she wasn't going to gain much more information than they had already gathered seeing the boy's solemn mood so she signaled Jiraiya to take over.

He looked thoughtful, before looking up and asking sternly. "On the day of the invasion, how did you get into the barrier on the roof?"

Harry stared at Jiraiya, not understanding the reason for such a question. After all, shinobi could do the same action with a puff of smoke, couldn't they? But come to think of it, if they could then why hadn't anyone been with Sarutobi when Harry had found him?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Jiraiya's face got serious, wondering if the boy's confused face was an attempt to avoid the question. Even if it wasn't, the boy wasn't getting around this matter.

"You guys could do the same thing with a puff of smoke to move to a different location."

"No, we can't do the same thing. The body flicker jutsu uses the puff of smoke as a disguise while we quickly move to relocate, but we don't teleport." Even the Fourth Hokage had needed a special seal to mark the spots to which he could teleport to using his famous jutsu. Jiraiya wondered how Harry, who was many years younger than Minato, managed such a feat but only noted the surprised expression emerging on the teen's face.

Harry's mind was drawing blanks. He really couldn't come up with a cover story as he wasn't quite prepared. He had simply believed that ninja could apparate like wizards and thus it wasn't something out of the ordinary. Instead, it had just been revealed to him that it wasn't remotely close to teleportation.

"It's something I learned…" Tsunade rolled her eyes at the youth's pathetic attempt to give them a satisfying response and chose to give a little push on the subject.

"So you can teleport anywhere you want?" As the new Hokage, she had to worry about possible security breeches. A lot of vital information pertaining to the village as well as many restricted jutsu could be at risk with this newly revealed skill.

"No, it doesn't work that way."

"How does it work then?" When Harry remained silent, staring anywhere but at the others, Jiraiya decided to skip to the next question.

"Can you teach us?"

"I can but I don't have enough skill to mend you in case of an accident." Harry also wasn't sure if they could actually perform it if he taught it to them. He didn't think they could apparate using same method with chakra.

"Accident?" Jiraiya raised one of his eyebrows. "Such as?"

"Leaving certain parts of your body behind…" Harry muttered as he reminisced of the time Ron had splinched himself.

"Can you give us an example?" Tsunade wasn't sure if what she imagined was what the teen meant. It couldn't possibly mean what he implied, right? She had never heard of such a thing before. Everyone seemed a little lost, unable to get a clear picture of how this strange method of teleportation worked.

"Well… this one time… my friend badly injured himself by leaving a part of his upper arm behind…"

Everyone's eyes would have popped out of their sockets, if that were possible, as they tried to grasp the idea. Tsunade's mind had the horrifying mental image of a boy clutching his bloody arm in pain. Reattaching a limb required precision and a lot of pain-staking time and effort by medics. Some had the ability to reattach limbs without much trouble, but those were only a handful of people.

"So he lost his arm?" Though she had seen plenty of amputation during her own share of war, it was still horrifying for Tsunade to even think of someone that young losing one of their limbs.

"No. My other friend managed to give him proper treatment. But I can't provide the same emergency care."

"So using this ability carries certain risks. Every time you use it you risk losing one of your limbs." Jiraiya was just a bit grateful that the teen had risked that kind of danger to save his mentor, if what he said was true.

"You could say that." Harry hoped that the danger factor would discourage them from pursuing apparation. Then again, when did things ever go as he wanted them to?

"Who taught you?" Harry knew the reason behind Jiraiya's inquiry and decided to evade the subject.

"If you are planning to seek out the person who taught me, then don't bother. All the people I knew before I came to this village… they are as good as dead to this world."

Jiraiya wanted to ask more, but he recognized his cue to stop when the boy's voice got more and more defensive. They still had a lot more to ask so they shouldn't push any subjects too far – it would make the teen upset.

"Where did you learn to speak to snakes?" Jiraiya inquired, changing to a less depressing topic, or so he hoped.

Harry snapped his head up and stared at the older man. "I didn't learn it."

Harry had forgotten about the matter, but now it sent the blood pumping through his veins in worry. Right after the invasion, he had been preoccupied with Sarutobi's recovery and then, not long after that, there had been the incident involving the two black-robed attackers. With no one ever bringing up that subject during all those happenings, Harry had come to assume that maybe it wasn't that odd an ability in this world, seeing as there were animals capable of speaking the human language and some humans who could understand certain animals, especially among shinobi. But now he started to fear if that was an ability that would make people prejudiced against him. From his observation, snakes didn't seem to represent anything good as opposed to other animals in Konoha's culture. Being invaded by gigantic snakes didn't help the matter either.

"I've always been like this." Harry carefully eyed everyone without blinking, not wanting to miss a single reaction that they might display.

"Anyone else with that ability?" In Tsunade's opinion, it was highly likely that the ability was inherited if the boy had always possessed such an ability.

Voldemort came to Harry's mind. When she had asked, did she mean someone who was currently alive? Harry sighed. It wouldn't have been hard to answer if he weren't trying to conceal information about himself.

"I should be the only one now." Jiraiya slowly considered Harry's answering words carefully. Did that mean the boy knew other similar people before? Well, only one way to confirm his guess.

"So it's an ability limited to the bloodline." It seemed like more of a statement than a question. Harry nodded. "So this other person you knew was related to you."

"I guess you can say that."

"You don't seem so convinced yourself." Tsunade pointed out.

"Well, we were very distantly related. My family hadn't inherited the ability for such a long time that no one had made any connection between my family and his."

Could it be that the boy came from a prestigious old family line? The teen seemed to be well aware of his family history. They would have to get back to that topic some time. There were too many unanswered questions when it came to this boy.

"Do you have a summoning contract with snakes or any other animals?"

"No, I have none." How could he? He didn't even know where to obtain a contract scroll, not to mention the fact that he wouldn't be able to summon anything anyway. From what Kazuki's medical tests revealed, he didn't even have a chakra circulatory system.

"But you sent them back, didn't you? How did you do it?" The toad sennin recalled the event, certain that the snakes didn't return of their own volition.

While Harry thought of a possible explanation, Kazuki caught his eyes, reminding the young wizard that the old doctor had not been far from him when it had happened. It was very likely that Kazuki had shared all the details with the others before this meeting; Harry was aware of that much.

"It's a little trick I learned when I was young." Harry made a small wand gesture, subconsciously using his fingers for that spell. The audience in the room looked perplexed at the action but Harry remained oblivious.

"So if you teach me this trick, I could make any snakes vanish?" Jiraiya asked hopefully. The skill would come in handy when he confronted Orochimaru again.

"I think it's something only I can do. It's probably different from using chakra to use a jutsu…" Harry trailed away as he wasn't too confident about the issue.

"So you don't use chakra?" It didn't surprise Jiraiya, or anyone in the room for that matter, when Harry answered negative. But that still left the question as to how the boy drew on the mysterious power necessary to perform what he called his little 'tricks'?

"How does this trick work then?"

"I don't have a good enough knowledge in that area to explain the basics." Harry scratched the back of his head in embarrassment; it was more of Hermione's forte, but that didn't stop Tsunade's encouragement.

"Try it."

Unfortunately, Harry was stumped. His earlier statement was merely a guess and he barely had any idea as to how chakra worked in the forming of jutsu so how was he supposed to explain it? Saying that it was magic would only complicate the situation and the last thing he wanted was to stand out from others and become an outcast in this village.

Wait. What did he just think? He didn't want to become an outcast – what did that mean? Did it mean that he wanted to stay and live in this village? Settle down here? Accepted by the villagers? Why?

A sudden cough from Tsunade pulled Harry back to the original problem at hand and all he could do was reward them with the universally understood shoulder shrug – in other words, he didn't have any clue.

"You didn't happen to summon those snakes, did you?" Jiraiya's question was something that everyone had thought of at least once. The snakes had become docile after their encounter with the youth and everyone was sure that wasn't part of Orochimaru's destructive plan.

"No!" It was one of the fiercest protests they had heard yet. "Just because I can speak with snakes doesn't mean I would hurt others!" Harry was flustered. He felt a pit in his stomach as he anticipated the similar discrimination he had faced back in the Wizarding World as he was accused of summoning the snakes that had attacked the village.

Jiraiya blinked, and from the corner of his eyes he noted that Tsunade was in a similar state. Where did that come from? He had mentioned his suspicion of the boy summoning the snakes because of his ability to vanish them, not because he could speak their language – but it appeared as though their thoughts were on different pages. Was there something the child was hiding and didn't mention? After all, a guilty conscience needs no accuser.

"You make it sound as if we're saying this with no basis." Jiraiya treaded carefully, trying to probe into the mystery without letting the teen know about it.

"Do you think stereotyping people with the ability to talk to snakes as evil just because some idiots with the same ability did bad things makes for a proper basis?"

Sarutobi watched his charge half with fascination and half with worry. The elderly Hokage hadn't seen his adoptive son sound so offended until now. From what Harry had just said, could the child have been discriminated by people because of his ability? It was a plausible scenario. If the boy had been persecuted by others, then it could be the reason the teen didn't want to reveal much about himself. Was he afraid that the same mistreatment would befall him again?

"What do you know about summoning?" Tsunade asked after some thought.

Harry's answer the this question would set one thing clear to her; the boy seemed to be caught off guard at the sudden change in subject, but began to process the question quickly.

"Ninja can make contracts with certain animals, which can then be summoned when they need" He looked around, as though wanting confirmation from someone; however, his small audience just stared at him, unmoving.

"And?" Tsunade prompted, making Harry gulp.

"There are many types of animals that can be summoned such as dogs, snakes, weasels…" Fidgeting with his hands, Harry tried hard to recall what he had learned before Sarutobi caught his attention.

"Monkeys." Harry's gaze continued to travel around the people in the room until Kazuki came into his field of vision. "Slugs."

"Anything else other than listing types of animals?" Tsunade intervened, not wanting to hear the rest of the list.

Harry looked sheepish at her irritation. He had really tried to recollect the information, but he was positive he didn't learn much about it to begin with, given that he wasn't planning to become a shinobi. So what was the purpose of this question? Harry moaned inwardly, knowing that wondering would get him nowhere.

"Sorry, that's all I can remember from my studies."

"Are you serious?" Tsunade just about leapt from her seat, only to find Harry tense before her with both of his arms raised over his head as though to protect himself. Her professional mind quickly took in the scene to confirm, again, the possibility the boy had been physically abused since a young age.

"I'm sorry! I'll study harder!" Harry pleaded.

"That's not what I meant." Tsunade calmed herself, not wanting to frighten the teen further, and sat down again while rubbing her temples tiredly. "And I am not mad at you, just surprised."

When the boy looked utterly lost, Tsunade didn't know what to think. The likelihood of the boy being associated with Orochimaru or anything behind the invasion was getting lower. On the other hand, the mystery surrounding the teen was getting even deeper.

Tsunade wondered if she could push the matter further when the boy's only reason for being cooperative was out of respect for the Third Hokage. Whatever the case was, she decided to set the record straight with the youth.

"We thought you summoned the snakes because you were able to send them back, not because you can speak in their tongue."

They weren't accusing him because he was a parselmouth? Harry was taken aback by the revelation. Then was he just tricked? Harry felt a pang of betrayal from the man's action and the hurt in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Jiraiya making him feel a bit rueful.

"What gave you that idea? Have people labeled you just because you could speak to snakes?"

Harry was silent for a moment at Jiraiya's question, then, with a visible sigh, he dipped his head.

"Why?" Tsunade remembered what the boy said earlier, but wanted verification.

Harry wondered how he should go about answering her. Would they start to judge him if he told them? Still, he had already told them part of the reason not long ago. He was sure that more than one person in the room could recollect his words.

"Where I came from, many notorious people possessed the same ability." The voice was timid, just loud enough for everyone to hear if they strained their ears.

'Ridiculous,' was the first thing many in the room thought. Those people were ridiculous, though the story itself wasn't. However, they weren't ones to talk, as the scene wasn't far from home; the Leaf villagers hadn't treated Naruto with any hospitality when the blond had been younger.

"But you're not, are you?" It was funny. Like his mentor had mentioned, for some reason Jiraiya couldn't think of the boy as a sinister villain.

"No, I would never hurt others." After having said this, faces of the Death Eaters Harry had attacked and even killed flashed through his mind, so he quickly added. "Not for amusement, but only to protect those I love."

It was a reasonable response. Striking to protect someone they love couldn't be labeled as a bad action, no matter how twisted the person being protected was. Thus far, the boy seemed to be attached to Konohamaru and the Third Hokage, and the only person the teen had meant to hurt was Orochimaru. Satisfied with Harry's answer, Tsunade beckoned to Sarutobi to save Harry from an uncomfortable silence.

"Hari, I also have a question. Can you bear with me?" When Harry approved of his request, Sarutobi continued. "That day on the roof, what did you offer to the Death God?"

"It's nothing." Sarutobi knew the boy wasn't being truthful since the youth was visibly stiffening while averting his gaze.

"It must have been something." With a sinking feeling, Sarutobi asked the question that had been tormenting him. "You didn't offer him your soul did you?"

"No."

"Then what did you sacrifice in my place? I've been feeling guilty." Sarutobi couldn't take it anymore. Every time he saw his charge, the guilt would start grinding away at his sanity - the possibility that Harry had given up something irreplaceable was an unbearable thought.

"Don't be; I didn't sacrifice anything. The Death God had a debt he owed me, that's all."

"Debt? How would a being like the Death God come to owe a debt to a mortal?" Jiraiya wondered out loud.

A cheerless smile adorned Harry's features as he satisfied the man's harmless curiosity.

"When an innocent life is lost due to their mistakes."

"That person must have been important to you. If you don't mind telling us, who was it?" Sarutobi was sure that the life lost must have been someone significant in the boy's life from his charge's yearning expression.

"He was like a surrogate father to me." Sirius would always hold a special place in Harry's heart that no one could ever replace; he wondered if time would really heal his pain. As much as the young wizard had loved the mischievous man, that love had come back to stab Harry in the back like a searing knife.

"You should have kept that favor for the day you needed it. I'm old and don't have long to live."

"Human lives are all valuable, no matter how old they are." Like an adult reprimanding a child, Harry's voice was determined to prove his belief. He continued after chuckling lightly, "Besides they have nothing I want."

"Can't you wish your family and friends back to life?"

"The dead can't come back to life." Eerie silence followed Harry's deadpan response to Tsunade. "No matter how unfair and unjust, even death gods can't revive the dead. And no one should try to change that."

"Why?" Orochimaru had offered to her that Dan and Nawaki would be revived if she agreed to fix his arms. After contemplating if for days, with little sleep for the agony of indecision, Tsunade was barely able to resist the temptation. However, she couldn't stop herself from constantly wishing that her loved ones could somehow come back form time to time. Yet a mere boy had more wisdom than her.

"They'll never be the same as before." Harry remembered how Voldemort had gradually changed; his sanity disappearing into an abyss of madness. "Their souls become damaged and eventually insanity will consume them."

"You seem to know a lot about the subject." Jiraiya commented as he absorbed Harry's words. Could this mean that the boy had a proficient knowledge in the field of immortality and souls? He had heard about Anko and Sasuke. What the teen had said during those incidents also backed up his theory. "Do you know how to transfer souls?"

"It's a forbidden knowledge." The boy didn't said no to the question. Tsunade had picked up early on in their meeting that the teen didn't like to lie, and preferred, instead, to tell a misleading truth in a situation where he needed to hide something.

"So you do know." No answer came, confirming her suspicion. "How does it work?"

"Have you done it yourself before?" Jiraiya tried this time when his teammate was greeted by silence. Here was a boy who had missed the people he loved to the point of wanting to kill himself, and yet did nothing with his knowledge of how to revive them. He couldn't help but speculate if the boy had ever tried it.

"No!" The outburst surprised the people around him, though they tried not to show it. "And no one in thier right mind should have thought of creating such a heinous act to start with, not to mention trying that… that thing!" Everyone could feel the disgust and horror leaking from each word while Harry tried to calm himself.

Sarutobi remembered what Orochimaru had revealed about his secret to immortality. The elderly man wasn't sure if the method Harry knew was the same as Orochimaru's jutsu. Could Harry and his friends have been victims of Orochimaru's experiments?

"You knew someone who attempted immortality?" Sarutobi asked carefully. He was getting the feeling that he wasn't the only one thinking of his once prized student.

"Is he the reason your loved ones died?" When Harry nodded slowly, Sarutobi closed his eyes as the sacrificed corpses he had found at Orochimaru's lab came back to life. He had always regretted the day he let his student go. Guilt whispered to him that his one mistake had taken many innocent lives. Could Harry be paying the price for his error as well?

"It's not all his fault. I couldn't protect them." Harry felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest.

"But he killed them." It wasn't the first time Tsunade or the others had seen someone blaming themselves for the deaths of people they couldn't protect. However, that didn't mean it was okay to behave in such a manner.

"I want to stop this conversation." Harry's request sounded reasonable to Tsunade since, in her opinion, he didn't seem nearly ready enough to explore that problem with them. She was also aware that the only reason he was being so cooperative was out of respect for his guardian; she knew better than to overstep her boundaries when the boy clearly didn't trust her enough.

"Okay, then enough of this conversation." Marking the end of their investigation, Tsunade signaled to her longtime assistant. "I want you to meet Shizune." At Tsunade's introduction, Shizune came forward and gave Harry a gentle smile.

"She's a very talented medical ninja and is knowledgeable in the fields of counseling and therapy so she'll take over most of your care from Kazuki sensei."

"Nice to meet you Hari-kun." Shizune beamed and extended her hands to Harry; her little friend Tonton also made a friendly noise of greeting.

"Nice to meet you as well." Harry accepted the hand and contemplated the young woman in front of him. He understood the reason for this change as well. Kazuki had once told him that neither he nor Kaede specialized in the fields of psychiatry. Harry also knew that Kazuki needed to go back to managing the hospital as a hospital director; taking care of him took away a lot of time from the main duties.

"Although I'm taking over your files, I want you to know that I'm still going to share any relevant information pertaining to you with Kazuki-san and Tsunade-sama." Harry nodded, allowing Shizune to continue. "Are you comfortable with this change? If you want, we can try to make it more gradual."

"No. I don't have any problems with that." If this change had to be done, then Harry preferred to get it done early and as fast as possible.

"From now on you can consult with me, Shizune, Kaede-sensei or Kazuki-sensei about your medical needs; whoever is available will help you. Now, I heard that you recently developed an anomaly in your eyes, quite a unique one at that. May I have a look?"

Harry complied with Tsunade's request and leaned forward as the new Hokage came over to examine his eyes.

"Apart from your improved eyesight, have you noted any other changes in your eyes or body, or felt any pain?"

"No." As Shizune bent closer to inspect his eyes as well, Tsunade performed some tests. After a while, the two women backed off, giving back Harry's personal space.

"It seems that your irises have scarred. I can only guess that the reason for your improved eyesight is possible due to the changes made to your cornea during the incident. But we can't eliminate the slim chance that you might have a dojutsu, however unlikely." Tsunade's announcement didn't uncover anything new for Harry; her findings didn't vary too much from the conclusions made from examining his original test results.

"Do you think I can examine that scar on your forehead as well?"

"Go ahead." Harry cleared the hairs covering his forehead to give better excess to the older kunoichi. He found no harm in it; besides, if she was a doctor, she was going to get an opportunity to do it sooner or later. Tsunade scooted over again to look at the mark.

"It's a quite unique scar." Tsunade knew about the scar but was told by her old teacher that they couldn't get much information out of Harry as to how he had obtained it. Hopefully, the teen had more to tell this time around since he had stayed longer in the village and had endured regular check-ups by Kazuki, allowing the youth to become more comfortable and trusting of them.

"How did you get this scar?" It appeared as if someone had wounded him on purpose with something sharp like a knife or kunai. His file stated that the mark was old, but only disclosed an estimate that the incident causing the scar had happened when he was young.

"Someone tried to kill me when I was about a year old." Harry stopped his hand midway to his famous trademark by making a fist. "That person failed, but I was left with this scar."

Collectively, the people in the room frowned at his answer. Who would want to harm a baby? Not even shinobi took any joy or pride in killing a baby or toddler - with the exception of some crazy maniacs - unless the child was a jinchuuriki or a clan heir. However, the youth wasn't one, so that left with the possibility that some fanatical murderer tried to kill him; if not, perhaps the boy was from some prestigious old family, as they had suspected. There could have been a conflict between the main and branch houses, such as the deciding of the heir, or some other wicked purpose regarding his heritage; the scenarios were there if he was from an important family with special abilities.

"Why did that person want to kill you when you were but a harmless child?" Harry snorted lightly, smiling a bitter smile which made Tsunade raise her eyebrows.

"I guess he was being superstitious," Harry gave a small laugh, "or just paranoid."

"Of what?" Tsunade was getting tired of his cryptic responses but unfortunately for her, she couldn't beat the answers out of him.

"Me." Deciding that she and the rest of the crew had had enough headaches for the day, she didn't delve any further, marking the end of their meeting. Harry gratefully headed back home with his guardian.

Unlike what he had originally anticipated, Harry wasn't called back for more questioning from the new Hokage and spent the next few days stress-free. With Asuma away piling on missions and Sarutobi spending his days with Tsunade at the office, Harry was left alone at home with Konohamaru. Although Tsunade had officially become the Fifth Hokage, Sarutobi stayed behind to help her with the mounting workload that had resulted from the current circumstances in the village.

Everyone in the community was busy trying to rebuild damaged buildings and other structures. The wizard spent most of his time trying to help out the villagers as much as possible. During the reconstruction efforts, Harry became better acquainted with the villagers and it made Harry happy to feel needed. He also felt that he had an obligation to mend the damage, as he still couldn't get rid of the guilt that arose with the belief that he had, at least in part, brought about the destruction of the village.

By nightfall, tired Harry would come home with Konohamaru before stumbling into bed to spend a dreamless night recovering from his exhaustion. So when Harry woke up suddenly in the middle of one night during these reconstruction efforts, it wasn't due to a nightmare. Confused at first, he took a few moments to realize that someone had tripped the intruder ward he had put up around the house. Harry got up and quietly moved towards the front porch.

Was it Asuma? But the man had left for another mission just after he had returned from his previous one this morning; he shouldn't be back for the next few days. Sarutobi? It was possible, but he too was quite busy and still spent most of his nights at the Hokage tower or mansion.

Harry inaudibly slid open the rice paper door just enough to gain a view of the main entrance and garden. He waited patiently for the intruder to make a move, but everything remained motionless, giving him the impression that time had frozen in place.

Harry's gut was telling him to retreat as he knew that this tactic wouldn't be very effective against more than one intruder. The wizard slowly backed away from the slightly ajar door to Konohamaru's room. Once he reached the child, Harry resolved that he would head to the Hokage manor. Unluckily, before he could reach his nephew's room everything went black for him.

"Is this measure really necessary?" Tayuya complained as she looked down at the unconscious figure at her feet. The hands had been bound and special chakra restriction seals had been applied. While the rest of the villagers were enjoying their slumber, the bound teen would be shipped off to the Sound village.

"I don't think he's just a civilian. How did he know we were there?" Kidomaru pointed out.

"Keep in mind that he's responsible for the current condition of Orochimaru-sama. Orochimaru-sama told us to take great precautions. This guy broke into our barrier; of course we have to tie him up and seal his chakra." Sakon called back.

Their debate was short-lived as another presence arrived before the group. Their attention now focused on the newcomer.

"We've been waiting for you, Sasuke-sama." Sakon greeted respectfully.

"What brought on this change in attitude?" Sasuke muttered before a lump on the ground caught his attention. "Who's that?"

"He's the adoptive son of the Third." Sakon answered.

"What's he doing here?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Jiroubou hoisted the older teen over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. From that rather telling action, Sasuke could deduce that the older teen was being kidnapped.

"He has also been invited." Sasuke stared the Hokage's son before he turned on his heels.

He couldn't turn back now. He needed Orochimaru for his goal and if Orochimaru wanted to invite Hari for whatever reason, he was not going to interfere. "Let's get out of here." And with that, the group of silhouettes dispersed into the night, with only the crescent moon watching their departure.

Bright, golden rays blinded Konohamaru when the child opened his sleepy eyes. It didn't take long for the groggy child to realize that something was different. The house was too quiet, like the time before his new uncle had come to join the family. It was also late in the morning - the older teen should have come to wake him up sometime ago.

"Uncle?" He called out.

The journey to the kitchen felt eerie despite the gorgeous weather outside. Konohamaru quickened his pace as fear crept up on him. His uncle was a quiet person but while he was around, the house itself wasn't so quiet. He was always doing something in the kitchen, or in the living room, or making noises in the garden. Although it had only been a few months since they had started to live together, Konohamaru had grown accustomed to and was sometimes even comforted by the sounds as it made the house livelier.

Now, all that time he had spent with his uncle seemed like nothing but a dream as he searched the empty house. The memory of his uncle agreeing to make him pancakes for breakfast the night before was still fresh in his mind.

He sat on the porch to rest for a while as he watched the front gate, expecting his uncle to walk in at any minute. Could he have gone grocery shopping? No, the fridge was full. Maybe his uncle had to urgently leave to go to the hospital or to the village to help someone. But if that were true, why didn't he leave a note? Even when his grandpa was hospitalized after the invasion, Hari had left him a note to let him know where and how he was and when he would return.

"Uncle, where are you?" He wished that someone would answer his call.

Konohamaru waited as long as his child sized patience would allow before getting dressed to head out into the village. He started his investigation at the hospital before moving on to the grocery market.

"No, I haven't seen him pass by here today." Yet another shop owner replied when the child inquired about his missing uncle.

Hoping he would have better luck elsewhere, Konohamaru searched parts of the village where reconstruction was taking place. Every no and shake of the head he received made Konohamaru more nervous. When Naruto's house came into the view, the child's face brightened, hoping that the blond would help him with the search. However, no one answered the door. Konohamaru stood in front of the unanswered door, not knowing what to do next. Asuma was away on a mission; Udon and Moegi were both busy helping their families and relatives rebuild their houses and shops. Konohamaru felt almost as abandoned as the time when his parents had died.

It was lunchtime when he finally returned back home and he had found no trace of his uncle anywhere. He was hungry and tired and moreover, he felt like crying. He was scared and desperately needed someone to soothe his nerves. That was when he remembered his grandpa. Maybe he might know where Hari was! He knew he shouldn't be bothering his grandpa as he was busy dealing with the aftershocks of the invasion, but he couldn't stop himself from heading towards the tower.

Relief washed over his tiny body as he found his grandpa but it was short-lived as his uncle was nowhere in sight among the people busily moving around the room.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" Sarutobi was surprised to see his grandson. The boy hadn't come to his workplace to gain his attention since he had become attached to his new uncle. The child seemed quite distraught.

Suddenly Konohamaru's stomach grumbled. He hadn't eaten anything since he had woken up and he had been looking all over the village for his uncle.

"You better head home Konohamaru, it is almost lunchtime and you seem hungry. I am sure that Hari is waiting for you."

That was the last straw. With that sentence coming from his grandpa's mouth, Konohamaru started to cry. It was hard to make out the words at first.

"H- he's not there…" Konohamaru sobbed.

"What? Who's not there?" Sarutobi was surprised at the sudden burst of tears from his grandson. Usually, the child didn't like to show his tears. What had caused him to break down?

"Uncle Hari. I can't find him." Sarutobi came over and put his hands on the child's shoulders, crouching next to him to try to give him some comfort.

"Maybe he went out to buy something."

"No! I looked everywhere and asked everyone but no one saw him!"

"Konohamaru, calm down - maybe he's meditating in the woods."

"No! He always wakes me up in the morning but this morninghe didn't! He said he was going to make me pancakes but he was not at home! He always tells me if he is going out for something! He's gone!"

And the Hokage's office was filled with the anguished cries of a distraught child.

Sarutobi sighed at the memory of his tearful grandson. He had heard the news from Shizune and her team about a recent development regarding the Sound village. Apparently, Genma and Raidou had seen Harry with Sound ninja. Moreover, the sight of the teen in his night yutaka, tied up over somebody's shoulder, suggested that the boy had been kidnapped. He should have paid more attention to him. In any case, Orochimaru had seen what Harry could do that day on the roof; Orochimaru, the one who sought immortality, had seen Harry talking to the Death God and saving him from certain death. He should have put more effort into watching over him as well as Sasuke despite the fact that the village was short on shinobi but he was well aware that it was just wishful thinking. They really couldn't spare any people even now.

It wasn't as if he hadn't expected this to happen, but it had occurred much sooner than he'd anticipated. He'd thought he still had time. He really wished he could send reinforcements but at the moment he simply could not. He had to put the village's well-being first, eliminating any dangers that could head Konoha's way when it was weak and avoiding war with other villages instead of rescuing his adopted son. Even if it meant that both the sharingan and his son fell into Orochimaru's hands, the village couldn't afford a war.

What should he tell Konohamaru? The child had been searching and crying for his uncle all day. He had told the boy to stop searching but didn't have the heart to confess the truth when asked why. He had failed to protect once again. Would his grandson blame him for this failure? The best that Sarutobi could do at the moment was to hope that the Sand ninja would reach the kidnappers in time to retrieve both boys.