Uchiha Potter

by Chosha Kurenai

After Voldemort's fall, Harry was raised as an Uchiha with his cousins Sasuke and Itachi, unaware of his other heritage. How will Hogwarts deal with this kunai-weilding, Ass-kicking Uchiha Harry Potter?

10. Chapter 9: Meet Your Sensei

Uchiha Potter

By

Chosha Kurenai

Beta'd by Paradox Of Life

Chosha's Notes

Um (rubs back of head) Hey there everyone. I'm sorry for the longer than usual wait, but I had a few kinks to get out of this chapter and also had a few essays to give in as well as a holiday in which I had no access to a computer at all. I did bits when I could though, which was odd since I did the start, the end, the middle and then all the fiddly bits in between. Ugh!

But fear not, the second part of Uchiha Potter series is here! Thank you to everyone who reviewed last time. I did have someone mention that the last chapter did sort of follow canon too much. If anyone else thought that, I just thought I would tell you that I needed the first year to be the foundations for the rest of the story. From now on, things will only be loosely tied to the original HP story line. After all, Uchiha Harry is not your average Harry Potter, ne?

Oh yeah, and to everyone who took part in the vote thing, thank you very much. If anyone wants to know the reasoning behind my choice of sensei etc, just read my note at the end. But I do suggest reading the chapter first, as it might ruin the surprise!

Now we're back in the ninja world, any Italics in the speech will mean that someone is speaking in another language or saying a word from another tongue - Just a reminder. However, that's not what you're here for, so lets cut to the chase and get on with it!

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Nor is Harry Potter. Got it? Good.

Last time on Uchiha Potter: Harry had his first show down with Voldemort, during which he manages to awaken the Sharingan! Now Harry has returned to Konohagakure one more…

Chapter Nine:

Meet your Sensei – Trial of a Genin's Fate

"Sometimes, Iruka-sensei, I really, really hate you."

Iruka gave Harry a rather apologetic look as they sat at the bar of Ichiraku, rubbing his scarred nose in embarrassment. Close by, Naruto was grinning like a loon, while Sasuke was covering his mouth with a hand to stop himself from bursting into a rather unseemly gauff at the expression on his older brother's face. Indeed, Harry looked as though he had been almost run into the ground, through a couple of bushes - all of which backwards - and was now slumped over on the bar of the ramen stand glaring pitifully up at the chunin-sensei from where his chin was resting on the wood.

"I said I was sorry, Harry-kun, but if you must make me worry. I mean an S-class mission? What were you thinking? You're just a genin," Iruka told the Uchiha in his best teacher's voice, although the slightly embarrassed blush on his face didn't do much for the image. Harry just glared. It was just his luck that he would be landed with an ex-teacher-slash-escort that would worry about him so much that he almost killed the poor shinobi-slash-wizard.

"So that means you had to chase me, not just all over the train-station, but all around Konoha seven times as well!" Harry snarled from his position at the bar. Naruto was fighting back the odd giggle, his fox-grin almost too big for his face, while Sasuke had to resort to stuffing a fist in his mouth to prevent them bubbling from his own mouth. Harry resolutely ignored his younger brothers as he jabbed a finger at the chunin. "You know, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to use on of those escape patterns and land myself in a room full of Oinin, who thought it was funny to use me for target practice!" Harry cried. He rubbed his poor backside. "And then you jump me and I got a senbon in my arse! A Senbon! I'm not going to feel my butt for weeks!"

By this point, it looked like Sasuke had lost all presence of dignity (or perhaps because he almost choked himself from ramming his fist so far into his mouth) as he broke down into a fit of uncontrolled laughter right along side Naruto.

"It's not funny!" wailed Harry.

Of course, this only made them laugh even harder until Sasuke had tears streaming from his eyes from alternating between laughing and choking because he was trying to regain his usual calm, dignified persona. Naruto had fallen off his seat, not caring for dignity in the slightest (not that he had much to begin with – at least in Uchiha standards) and was howling, kicking his legs around as he held onto his stomach. Harry pouted, but rolled his eyes instead.

Turning back to the teacher, he mock glared and said, "You're picking up the tab, you know."

Iruka grimaced, knowing full well that the three of them (mostly Naruto though) would make a hole in his wallet faster than you could say 'Henge'.

It wasn't long before Ayame set the ramen bowls in front of them ("My goodness, Harry-kun! I didn't think you would be coming back! Where were you?") and everyone had managed to control themselves enough to eat - although there was the occasional snicker here and there. Harry ate a little bit, but seeing Iruka's worried eyes on him, Harry sighed and twirled his chopsticks in his hands idly. "Look, Iruka-sensei, its not like I had a choice – it just happened," Harry explained with a shrug. "I couldn't just stand there and let the guy who tried to kill me once – even if I was only a baby at the time – get the power to attempt to have me offed again. Anyway, I'm still alive and I wasn't hurt much – don't even start!" Harry interrupted when Iruka frowned and eyed him sharply at the word 'much'. "I'm still in one piece, aren't I? Not that that will last long if you go and kill me with your worrying again. I don't think even the Hokage could win your 'Worry Attack'."

Iruka looked crossed between laughing, blushing, and scolding Harry. In the end, he just sighed. "And to think I survived you this long, Harry-kun. Oh yes, thinking of Sandaime-sama, the Hokage asked me to tell you to go speak with him once you got back to Konoha."

Harry looked up at Iruka, eyebrows disappearing under his hitae-ate. "Ara? The Hokage? What's Ojiisan want?"

Iruka frowned at the disrespectful referral to the greatest shinobi in Konoha, but obviously decided not to comment – Harry guessed he had already given it up as a bad job. Besides, Harry wasn't his student any more, even if Iruka did still worry about him as if he was. "I suspect he wants to hear what you have to say about the mission – it was written up as one, after all."

"Oh – guess that makes sense," Harry replied, nodding, then shot Iruka a grin. "But you still owe me at least five sticks of dango and another bowl of ramen, you know!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, quite used to his Aniki's actions, while Naruto began to laugh again.

"You think I like Ramen, you wait till you see Niisan and Dango!" Naruto gauffed.

Iruka just groaned - Loudly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hey, Hokage-ojii, I'm back!"

Sarutobi looked up from his pile of paperwork to see Uchiha Harry standing in front of his desk, beaming and he sighed in relief that he finally had a reason to have a break from the writing. The boy looked well, Sarutobi thought, given that he had just had a showdown with the wizarding world's most dangerous S-class villain only a week or so before.

"Welcome back, Harry-kun," the Hokage smiled warmly at the young genin. "How was school?"

"Fine, fine," he said lazily, before rising his eyebrow at Sandaime and snorting when the Hokage simply waited for Harry to say more, his hands in his pockets. "As if you don't know, old man – Dumbledore-sensei told me that he'd been keeping in touch with you." He shot the old Hokage a scathing look. "And why'd you tell Iruka-sensei anyway? Do you know how long it took to calm him down enough to explain what happened?"

"He was just concerned about you," Sarutobi said placidly.

"He chased me all over the train station, seven times round Konoha and into a room of Oinin with way too much time on their hands!" Harry growled. "Just cause your still sore over my finding out about Kyu-ball and rearranging your stuff-"

The Hokage choked. "Kyu-ball?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

Sarutobi shook his head. Only Uchiha Harry would have the nerve to come up with such a nickname for the most powerful of the nine Biyu, even if it was sealed into his blonde younger brother.

"Anyway, so what did you want me to see you about?" Harry said curiously. "After Iruka calmed down long enough to stand still and not try to kill me with worry, he told me you wanted to see me."

"Well, as this was marked as your first mission, I need you to make a report as if it were like one," Sarutobi said seriously.

Seeing Iruka's guess was on the mark, Harry snapped to attention. "Hai!" Sarutobi had to admit the boy was adaptable, even if he did have a mischievous sparkle glinting in his eyes. Quickly, Harry explained the major points of what occurred, finishing with the final showdown in the mirror's chamber.

"So, you managed to destroy the stone, so that the dark lord wouldn't be able to create a body of his own, correct?"

Harry nodded and a slight blush darkened his pale cheeks. He coughed, embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. I thought I might get in trouble about that – I mean, it was a precious artifact and all – but Dumbledore-sensei said that all things considering, it was for the best."

Sarutobi nodded. Having such a powerful thing around had its advantages, but when dealing with someone like Voldemort, as he remembered from the war, it was better destroyed. However, before Sarutobi could ask him anything else, Harry suddenly beamed, leaning over the desk and practically bouncing. "But that's not the best bit, Hokage-ojii, I got something really important to tell you! I did it! I finally did it!"

"Did what?" Sarutobi asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering if he wasn't a little young to be doing 'that'.

Harry blinked at that expression the Sandaime was shooting him, then realisation dawned on his face and frowned, his eyebrow twitching, as he swatted the cone hat off the Hokage's head. "Not 'that' you big pervert! I mean that the thing that Fugaku-ojisama said I'd never get even if I tried really-really hard! I activated it! I activated the Sharingan!"

Sarutobi, still chuckling at Harry's reaction to what he thought he was meaning, who was at just that moment taking a sip of his coffee, suddenly spat it out, almost soaking his paperwork and the boy in front of him in the process. Coughing loudly, Sarutobi stared at Harry, who was now beaming even wider than the Hokage had ever seen him, as if he had grown an extra head.

"You what?" he choked out.

"I activated the Sharingan!" Harry said happily, almost bouncing with pride. "It happened in the fight against Voldemort. Everything went really slow and I felt like I could see even the tiniest of movements and then wham! Quirrell was the one being bounced all over the place like a ball! Now I know why Fugaku-ojisama was always so pent up about it all the time! It took me a while afterwards to work out how to turn it back on again, though – I mean if the Uchiha's had scrolls on it, it might have helped, but noooo, we have to be complicated. But I worked it out and now I can activate it anytime!"

"Show me your Sharingan, Harry-kun," Sarutobi requested.

Harry beamed and made a simple ram seal for focus and closed his eyes. "Sharingan!" Harry's eyes snapped open, revealing not emerald, but crimson red irises, two tomoe in one eye and a single tomoe in the other. He studied Sarutobi's face for a moment – the Hokage looked as though he was about to keel over - and cocked his head curiously. "Ne, are you alright, Ojii? You look like your gonna have a heart-attack or something."

"No, no, I'm fine, Harry-kun," the Hokage wheezed, rubbing his chest. Inside though, Sarutobi could barely believe what the young Uchiha had just revealed. Harry had done what his father had never managed, what Fugaku had finally given up on trying to cultivate in his nephew – he had activated the Uchiha bloodline limit. James-kun, I think you'd be very proud of your son right now. "Congratulations, Harry-kun." Sarutobi said with a warm smile. Harry grinned back and deactivated the bloodline, his eyes fading back to green once more. "Now you should train your eyes so that you can activate them with no seals."

"Sure. I know some of the others used to be able to do it," Harry added, thoughtfully.

"I would also suggest using it with caution, Harry-kun," Sarutobi continued seriously. "The Sharingan is a powerful tool, but it would attract a lot of attention to say the least. I would advise using it only when you must."

Harry waved a hand flippantly, but his green eyes were, surprisingly, serious. "I know that. Besides, it everyone knew about it, they'd expect all sort of stuff from me. Call me lazy – I know very well I am - but I really can't be bothered with that."

Sarutobi chuckled, smiling in a grandfatherly manner at the young genin. "Still the same as ever, I see. Now, other than that, have you been studying the scrolls I gave to you?"

Harry gave him a smirk as if to say 'Pa-lease' and jumped, back flipping, immediately sticking to the wall by the balls of his feet. "Sure I have. I'd show you the water walking thing, but I doubt you want your office turning into a lake or something." He jumped back down, landing with the grace of a cat.

"And how about your magic skills?"

Harry frowned. "I thought Dumbledore-sensei told you about that."

"He only told me out what happened when it came to the incident with defending the school from a troll and defeating Voldemort, of all people, again. And there is nothing like a practical demonstration."

Harry pulled out his wand from his back pouch and looked at if for a moment, before a grin suddenly spread across his face and he shot the Hokage a calculating look. Sarutobi immediately regretted his last sentence, recognising that look in the Uchiha's eyes.

"On second thoughts, don't you even think about it, Uchiha."

"About what?" Harry asked innocently.

"You know what."

Harry pouted, putting the wand away again. "You really are a spoil sport, you know that Hokage-ojii."

Inwardly, Sarutobi let out a sigh of a breath. Yes, telling someone like Harry to show off his magic was a bad idea. Especially when he remembered the pranking reputation he had here and - if the report from Dumbledore was right - at Hogwarts as well. He coughed and said, "Well, now that you're back in Konoha, Harry-kun, now we can work around your shinobi career. As you know, you were supposed to be assigned to a genin team to study under a jounin, but since that wasn't possible I'm making some special arrangements for you so that you can still continue down the shinobi path, so to speak."

Harry blinked slightly at the sphinxish-ness of that statement, then frowned, eyeing Sarutobi with suspicion. "'Special arrangements'? What do you mean, 'special arrangements'?"

The Hokage steepled his fingers and looked at Harry with a slight smile. "It would have been difficult to place you on a genin team, considering that you will only be spending a few months each year in Konoha until you have completed your training at Hogwarts. If you were placed on a team, that team would be at a disadvantage for the better part of the year because it would be missing a member while you were back on the Outside."

Harry blushed, realising that it had been something of a stupid question. "Uh…so what's going to be happening with me then?"

"I was thinking of assigning you to a tutor – an apprenticeship, if you will – to complete your Shinobi training and so you will also be able to complete missions – we wouldn't want to label you a missing nin after all this," Sarutobi chuckled. The genin just grimaced; knowing fully well what kind of panic that may set off in Konoha. The village had been devastated when the clan had been wiped out – who knew what they would be like if Harry or Sasuke also abandoned the village. However, he was broken out of his thoughts as the Hokage began speaking again. "I still have to get a few things finalised however, but that shouldn't take too long. If you stop by tomorrow morning, I should have everything ready, but for now, its starting to get late, so go home and rest and report to me tomorrow – you have a lot of missions to catch up on."

Harry grimaced slightly at the thought of all the missions he would need to catch up on to reach the levels of those he had graduated with. However, he was a little tired from travelling so far by train, being chased all over the place and escaping mischievous Oinin, so he decided it would be best not to argue and bid the old man good day as he headed back to the Uchiha complex and hopefully get to spend some time with his small family.

"So, is that the brat you were telling me about, Hokage-sama? The one you wanted to assign me to become a sensei for?"

The Hokage closed his eyes and sighed, looking up from where he had been watching the older Uchiha leave to the person standing with their arms crossed now in the corner of the room. A window was open, signifying having just slipped in through it, brown eyes frowning in the direction that Harry had taken. The Hokage nodded to the figure.

"Yes. Uchiha Harry. What do you make of him?" He chuckled slightly. "He reminds me a lot of you when you were younger."

"You think so?" the figure asked. Even in the shadows, you could tell the person's eyebrows were raised. There was a loud disbelieving snort. "Yeah right Hokage-sama. Anyway, why did you pick me? I ain't got time for some little brat genin you know – I got other more important things to do."

Sarutobi sighed, knowing he'd have to argue with the Jonin again. "Harry-kun is special. The fact that he's a ninja that can use magic is a miracle in and of itself, which already makes his techniques Hijutsu and him at least an A, if not S-classed village secret. And that's not even mentioning the fact that he managed to defeat the man whom killed his parents again, even if 'Voldemort' was in a weakened state at the time. We can only suspect that he will come after Harry again at some unforeseen point in the future. Apart from the fact that, out of the Jonin, you are one of the stronger ones, you also know how these types of people think. You could help train him to be able to overcome that, not to mention Harry-kun may well become a ninja to rival Kakashi-kun when he is older."

The Jonin heaved a sigh. "Fine, fine have it your way – but only if I get to test him first. If he passes, then I'll teach the brat. But," even in the shadows, the rather sadistic grin that spread over the Jonin's half-shadowed face glinted like a Cheshire cat. "But, if he doesn't past, then I get to throw him right back into the academy. Do we have a deal, Hokage-sama?"

"I understand and accept the condition, Anko-san," Sarutobi nodded grimly, suddenly having the feeling he may have just signed the elder Uchiha's death sentence.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Ah, ohayo, Harry-kun, good to see you're so prompt." The Hokage smiled and waved for Harry to take a seat as he looked up from his work when Harry knocked and entered his office the next day after their conversation, just as asked. The older Uchiha eyed the seats for a moment, judging which one would be the most comfy and threw himself in it, raising a hand in a lazy greeting.

"Yo. So, did you manage to sort out the 'special arrangements' for the Jonin thing?" Harry asked, interested. He had never head of a genin being taken as an apprentice by a Jonin - except maybe for the chunin examination where they needed training. And Fugaku had hired the instructors he had previously, so that wasn't the same thing.

"Indeed I have," Sarutobi nodded, puffing on his pipe. "She should be here soon."

"She…?" Harry blinked, surprised, before almost hitting himself at the stupidity of the question. Kunoichi were just as powerful as Shinobi, so he didn't know why it was such a surprise to find out that his instructor would be female. "So, who is she? And where is this sensei of mine, anyway?"

As if on cue, the shoji slammed open and Harry spun round in his seat to stare at the person who had just stepped through the door.

There in the doorway stood a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties with dark, almost purple hair tied up into a clip of some kind at the back of her head in a practical style for a kunoichi, with her hitae-ate placed on her forehead. She wore ninja sandals like most shinobi in the village and metal guards covered her shins. However, this wasn't why Harry had to stare. The reason was that this kunoichi was showing a sight to the world that most males hadn't seen since they were babies and still breast-feeding. Under a large tanned coat that brushed the backs of her knees she wore nothing more than a fish-netted body suit of some kind that stopped a little under a khaki skirt and left nothing to the imagination. If Harry were anyone other than an Uchiha who was used to stalking fan-girls, he would have been on the floor twitching with a nosebleed right then and there. As it was, Harry blinked, then blinked again, then blinked a third time just to make sure he wasn't seeing things, then raised his eyebrows.

What…the…heck?

Spotting Harry, the brown eyes narrowed slightly before she grinned. "Heads up, brat! This is no time to be relaxing. Are you ready for your test to become a real Genin? Good!" She pumped her hand in the air. "Let's go! Follow me!"

Silence. Crickets chirruped.

Harry palmed his face. "It's a Naruto," he muttered under his breath, sweat-dropping. "A Female Naruto…"

Sarutobi sighed. "Anko-san, I haven't finished explaining what is to happen to Harry-kun. Could you just wait for a moment while I finish – unless, of course, you want to tell him?"

The woman, Anko, who looked as though the wind had been blown from her sails, sweat-dropped, a very slight tinge of pink blossoming on her cheeks. "Sorry about that Hokage-sama." She looked over at Harry and eyed him up and down, as if trying to dissect him with her eyes. "Heh, so this is Uchiha Harry. Hokage-sama has told me all about you kid. All right then Uchiha-bozo, listen up. I'm Mitarashi Anko, and I'll be your Jonin sensei – but that's only if you are able to pass my little test."

Harry blinked at that. "Test…what test?"

A rather sadistic smile spread over the Jonin's face that almost made Harry shiver. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you not know? How silly of me. And to think that I almost forgot to tell you that if you don't pass this test, I get to throw your ass right back into the academy."

"WHAAAAAAAT!" Harry yelled, standing up so fast that he knocked the chair backwards. "What the hell do you mean; 'if I don't pass I'll get sent back to the academy'? What were those exams at the academy meant to be for then?"

A test? Harry thought, shocked to the core. He almost hissed under his breath, sending an accusing look towards the old man. Dammit, Hokage-ojii, you never said anything about a test! But I've already been a genin for a year already - I can't get thrown back into the academy now!

Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm himself. That wouldn't get him anywhere if he yelled at the woman. "What kind of test is it?"

"A simple survival training test that will involve both of us," Anko explained calmly, although her eyes were glinting. "You see, Bozo, those exams you had before at the academy were to see if you had the ability to become Genin. This test'll see if you're capable, which I doubt."

Harry eyes narrowed at those words. And what's this chick's problem, anyway? 'See if you're capable, which I doubt' – I'll show you I'm more than capable to be Shinobi!

"Heh…" Anko smirked, seeing the expression on Harry's face. "This is going to be fun! Well, brat, if you want to stay a genin, then you'd better be at the training grounds by the Cenotaph at dawn tomorrow morning for your test, won't you?" the Jonin chuckled darkly. "Unless you too chicken to handle it…" Harry grit his teeth and held back a snarl at that, his eyes narrowing. Like hell he was going to back down! A wide grin spread over Anko's face at Harry's reaction, the kind that made you think of a demonic she-tiger just before she was about to eat you alive. "Oh yeah, and don't eat breakfast – you'll just puke it up anyway. Dismissed."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Harry-sempai! You're back!"

Harry blinked at the voice and paused on his way back to the Uchiha complex, to see who was calling him. Turning, he saw Tenten running towards him, a smile on her face as she waved, dragged a rather putout Neji behind her. Harry had to bite his lip to prevent himself from bursting out laughing at the horrified expression on the other boy's face. It definitely wasn't the expression you would normally see on any Hyuga's face, never mind Hyuga-genius Neji.

"Neji-kun mentioned that you were on a long-term solo mission, sempai," Tenten said breathlessly as she came to a halt a little in front of him. "Its nice to see you again!"

Harry gave her a small grin. "Nice to be back." He glared daggers at Neji, who was straightening his clothes and shooting the girl a dark look, and crossed his arms with a snort. "You know, I have no privacy anymore – who else did you tell?"

"Just Tenten, Uchiha," Neji said calmly. "If I didn't, she would not have left me alone at all for the whole nine months you were gone."

"Hey!" Tenten pouted, looking rather put out that Neji had blamed it on her. Harry chuckled at the two of them.

Ignoring Tenten's pout completely, Neji fixed his attention on Harry. "So, you've completed that mission – and in one peace. Fate must favour you, unless of course this mission has determined the fate of the place you were assigned to. Is it now ashes?"

Harry rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Oh come on, not that fate crap again. I know you seem to think fate is inevitable, blah-de-blah-de-blah, but I've already told you I don't believe in that stuff. So before we get into that argument yet again, I'll have you know that the place is still standing! What is it with you and thinking I burn down everything? I told you that, while Sasuke-ototo and I may have pyromanic tendencies, I don't randomly burn things down, Blank-eyes!"

Neji raised an eyebrow in a way that did both the Uchiha's best eyebrow raising proud. "So I suppose I imagined when you almost burned down the tool shed during our fight at the academy three years ago?"

Harry sweat dropped at that, suddenly remembering their first disastrous meeting where it had taken Iruka at least ten minutes to stop them from fighting. Trying desperately not to blush, Harry crossed his arms and tossed his head to one side. "That was an accident and I blame you entirely for messing up my chakra system with that Jyuuken of yours."

Neji decided to perfect the art of eye rolling. "Sure it was."

Tenten giggled at the two of them.

Harry sighed dramatically, Pseudo tears running down his face. "Everyone is turning on me…" he moaned, causing Tenten to giggle even more and Neji's lips to quirk at his friend's silly behaviour.

"So, now you're back in Konoha, will they be putting you on a genin team now?" asked Neji finally, once Harry had got over his tears with surprising quickness, as if they were never there at all.

Harry sighed. Now here was what seemed to be the dawn of his problems. "That's the thing. I'll be out of Konoha a lot for the next six years, so any team that I'd be put on would be missing a member for most of the year. The Hokage said he made special arrangements for me to have a tutor."

"Like an apprenticeship?" Tenten asked brightly. "I heard that Yondaime became the apprentice of Jiraiya-sama before he became Hokage. That would be so cool! Whoever it is must be strong! Do you know who you'll be apprenticed to, Harry-sempai?" her eyes shone excitedly. "Oooo, imagine if you were trained by Tsunade-sama! I'd be so jealous!" It had always been Tenten's dream to become a kunoichi to rival the great Slug-Sanin.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Tenten, but it's definitely not Tsunade-sama. It was some kunoichi though – what was her name again?" Harry scratched the back of his head. "Some weird Female-Naruto-alike Jonin… Mitarashi someone-or-other… Anko! That's it - Mitarashi Anko! I'm meant to meet her tomorrow for some test or other by the Memorial Stone." Harry's expression darkened and he growled slightly. "Hokage-ojii conveniently left out that if I don't pass this test or something she's gonna give me, then she wont teach me at all – hey, what's wrong with you guys?"

At the kunoichi's name, both of them straightened up in shock, then blanched, shooting each other a look, before looking back at Harry pityingly.

Harry growled again. They knew damned well that he hated pity – even more so when he had no idea just why they were looking at him like that. "Deck being such idiots, she can't be that bad, right? Anyway, I need to get back to the Uchiha complex; otherwise I won't be ready for this test thing of hers. See you guys later."

As Harry leapt off, Tenten and Neji stared after the genin, both of them still pale at the revelation. After hearing rumours about her (Neji especially, since some of the Hyuga that he could actually stand – i.e. other branch house members - had worked with her before and came back scarred for life), they couldn't help but feel dread for their uninformed, newly returned friend.

"He's doomed. Oh poor sempai…" Tenten murmured to herself, shaking her head sorrowfully, already thinking up what speech to give at the genin's funeral. Somehow, even Neji was considering mourning for the unfortunate Uchiha. Such a horrible way to be fated to go…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Harry reached the memorial stone the morning of his test with Mitarashi Anko, it was still quite dark outside, the pink of the rising sun barely peeping over the horizon and casting long shadows from the Cenotaph and three stumps standing in line close by. Harry sighed, turning away as he grumped slightly at the ungodly time. It was too early to do that and it was better that he was here on time for his test anyway. For one thing he would be awake and ready for whatever the test would be. For another, he didn't think it was a good idea to test this kunoichi's patience too much, especially at this moment in time. He had the feeling she was slightly unhinged.

"So you finally got here. Good, I was beginning to think you'd chickened out on me."

Harry almost jumped a mile and spun around to see Mitarashi Anko sitting cross-legged on one of the previously unoccupied wooden poles, her lips cocked into a sort of half-smile.

How the hell did she sneak up on me! Harry thought worriedly as he backed away from her slightly. I didn't even sense her until now! She's definitely a Jonin.

Anko jumped off from her perch and motioned Harry to follow her. "Well, come on, Uchiha-bozo, follow me. I've got a different training location in mind for you."

Harry eyed Anko slightly, wondering what she was up to, but followed her obediently. Despite how out of character other people may have thought this to be for Konoha's Uchiha-prankster, Harry hadn't got a clue what this test of Anko's entailed. This test could mark out Harry's future as a shinobi, so until Harry had passed it, he wasn't about to drop his guard. He was lazy, but he wasn't stupid.

The kunoichi led him towards a large training ground, filled with trees that rivalled the size of some of those buildings he had seen in the brief time he had spent in London, their trunks thicker than any tree he had seen before – even those surrounding Konohagakure. A high, chain link fence surrounded it; the gate before them sealed by a combination of warding ofuda, padlocks and chains. A large board hung from the gate, proclaiming 'Keep Out' in large, blood red Kanji and another board hung close by, simply proclaiming 'Gate 17'.

"Whoa…What is this place?" Harry breathed, eyeing it with awe and suspicion. This place was giving him a similar vibe as the Forbidden forest had done back at Hogwarts, but taller.

Anko moved forwards and began opening padlock after padlock, unwinding the chains that fixed the gates together. "This is the location of your test – the 44th battle training zone." She cocked her head towards Harry and her mouth curved into a smirk. "But we call it…the Forest of Death!"

Harry felt a slight shiver go down his spine. He'd heard of the Forest of Death before. The horror stories the chunin in the Uchiha clan had used to tell made the Forbidden forest at Hogwarts seem tame in comparison. Pulling himself together, Harry frowned at Anko. "Isn't this a training field for Chunin?" he asked.

"Yeah? And what's your point, brat?"

Harry sweat-dropped. "Nothing, nothing…whacked-out psycho…" he added, under his breath. However, it seemed that the Jonin heard it anyway.

Anko grinned dangerously at him and pulled out one of her kunai, running it teasingly over his cheek. "That's nothing, whacked-out psycho-sensei to you."

"Heh," Harry, pushed the kunai away and crossed his arms with a bravo he didn't quite feel. "Hey, you were the one who told me that you wouldn't teach me unless I passed this test, so until I pass, I'm not gonna call you sensei."

Anko smirked. "You got guts, I'll give you that, bozo." Harry forced himself not to flinch as she nicked his cheek, a drop of blood oozing from the cut. "Kids like you are quickly killed... hehehe..." She giggled in a seductive, predatory voice. "Spraying that red blood I love everywhere..." She moved her face closer, licking up the line of crimson slowly running down Harry's skin. Harry shivered slightly, staying still as stone to avoid risking an even larger injury to his person, shooting the bloodthirsty woman an unnerved glance.

Dammit, she really is a Psycho-chick!

Harry felt a slight trail of sweat run down his forehead as Anko grinned at him once more. She spun the kunai around her finger for a moment, then slipped it back into her pouch. The almost sadistic-slash-playful expression hardened into one of seriousness. "There is a reason that I chose this place to test you, kid," she said finally. "I need to see what you're capable of as a genin – your full capabilities. So, here's what your little test is – survival! You'll enter through here. I'll be entering through one of the other 43 gates. You have two days to find me –"

"Two days?" Harry blurted out, ogling at the kunoichi as if she'd grown an extra head. "Then why on earth did you tell me not to have any breakfast, or pack supplies?" Harry growled, pointing an accusing finger at the woman. "How the hell am I supposed to face off against a damned Jonin when I haven't even eaten?"

"Well, it is a wilderness Survival test, brat, how exactly would it be called a survival test if you had all the stuff you need? If you pass – and that's a big IF – then there will be times that a mission might go on longer than you thought. So you're going to have to learn to hunt, now aren't you?" Anko put her hands on her hips. "Now, as I was saying, if you want to pass this test, bozo, you have to find me by tracking me close to the forest's centre. The second part of your test will show me your combat skills. Within that time limit of two days, you must, not only have found me, but you must land a blow on me – by any means necessary.

"Unlike the chunin exam's second test, you won't have to face other rival ninja – only the animals native to the forest – if you're unlucky, that is. All you have to focus on is finding me and landing a blow." A grin spread across her face again. "Of course, you'll have to come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise you wouldn't land a blow on me in a million years." She slipped her hand into her coat and pulled out a scroll of some kind and flipped it open, dangling it in front of Harry's face. "Here's a map of the layout of the Forest of Death. Memorize it, kid, cause this is the only time your going to see it."

Harry took the map from the woman and eyed it for a moment. It wasn't a particularly complicated map. There were three main parts to the forest; the largest area of forest seemed to be where the gate they stood at was located. A long river flowed from the Northwest and split into three smaller rivers somewhere in the middle of the training ground, quite close to a tower-like structure, a radius of ten kilometres away from each of the 44 entrance gates. A simple map in Harry's opinion, but, as simple as it was, it wouldn't stick in his mind very easily at just a glance, especially when he was stuck in the middle of the forest itself.

Harry frowned for a moment, before inspiration struck and he made sure to lower his gaze slightly so that his eyes were covered by hair and forming a ram seal, masked by his body and the scroll itself, Harry activated his sharingan.

Now, Harry didn't know how much Sarutobi had told the Jonin about him, but he didn't want to go flashing his sharingan off to everyone if he could hide it and use it when people least expected it. The more people knew of it, the more people would expect of him. However, it was the copy aspect of the sharingan that would help him memorise the map. After all, if he could recall it to the last detail, then he could always bring it up in his mind whenever he thought he was lost. Seconds later, Anko snatched the scroll from him, but Harry hid a smirk by glaring at her with emerald-green eyes – the deed was done.

"Aw, I'm sorry, wasn't that long enough? Too bad, brat, but that's all the help I'm going to give you." Anko cocked a grin at Harry. "Oh yes, before I forget-" Anko pulled out something else from her coat. "If you're going to take my little test, then you'll need to sign these forms first."

Harry gave her an incredulous look. "Forms?"

"Well, these forms are just in case you die," Anko said as-matter-of-factly. Harry looked up at her, his jaw hitting the ground before he could control it. He stared at the woman with a look akin to one someone would wear if Snape had come skipping into the room, spouting poetry left and right and hugging people as he gave out sweets in a pink tutu. Quickly, he controlled himself, his jaw clicking back to place almost audibly. Anko continued as if she hadn't spotted it. "Therefore I need your consent; otherwise Hokage-sama will hold me responsible." She finished with as sheepish grin and a chortle that was somehow more frightening than if she had him pinned on the floor with a kunai to his throat.

Swearing softly under his breath in both English and Japanese, Harry read through the sheets. Just as Anko had explained to him, it stated the conditions of the test – a survival-based test involving two days to find and land a hit on Anko by any means necessary, use of Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu allowed – blocked attacks not included. It even mentioned that he would have to survive on his own skill for the two days as well. From what he could gather, the gist of the test, therefore, was to put him in a situation a genin may find themselves in during a C or B-classed mission, testing him on his tracking, survival and combat skills. Thankfully for Harry, this test wouldn't be against other rival genin as well out to hurt him like some of the chunin used to tell of their exams, otherwise Harry would have thought it completely insanely hard for a team-less genin.

Not that that mattered, because if he got out of this thing alive, he was seriously going to have words with that closet-pervert old Hokage!

"Of course, you'll also need to know what classes as disqualification," Anko said, leaning against the steel gates so that the metal clinked. Pausing in his grumbling, Harry stilled to listen. Anko raised her hand and held up a finger. "Firstly, if you managed to get yourself killed, either by fighting me, or from some natural disaster." She held up a second. "Secondly, if you do not find me and/or have not land a blow on me by the second day at midnight. Last way is if you give up and drop out of the test altogether. Seeing as you are genin level, you at least get that. If you were entering the chunin exams, you don't get that little option, because in a battle, you cant just say, 'I quit', unless you want to die, of course. That is it for the explanations. I'll give you ten minutes to think it over. After all, if you don't want to risk your life, you'll never get very far as a genin."

Harry's eyebrow twitched. This woman, Jonin-kunoichi or not, had not only insulted his capabilities but also his own courage. Even if he was different from most of his now-deceased clan, he still had his Uchiha-Pride, dammit!

"No need," Harry snapped. "You just want me to give up. I may be lazy, but I'm no quitter. I'll take your test, Anko, and I'll show you my potential. I won't back down – not until I have the strength to protect my brothers and nothing you do or say'll make me chose otherwise!" Harry signed his name with an angry flourish and, glaring into Anko's pupil-less brown eyes slapped the paper into her hands.

"Well, well, it seems we do have a bloodthirsty one this year," Anko chuckled, although there was nothing kind or gentle about it. "You're going to need to be, Bozo. Now, your test will start as soon as I give the signal. One last word of advice, however…don't die." Her expression was deadly serious. "Get ready, brat…" Harry crouched, ready to take off into the forest to at least give himself some sort of advantage over her. "And… Start!"

Harry leaped through the gates faster than the eye could follow.

Anko grinned, rubbing her hands together. "Heh, he's fast. Good. This might be fun after all!"

And with a poof of smoke she was gone.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The forest of death was dark, dingy and had a wild feel about it. Overhead, trees stretched up, clawing at the heavens, the thick leaves blocking off all sunlight, plunging Harry into twilight, his ears almost ringing with the sudden silence that descended upon him, barely even the twittering of birds could be heard. It was rather unnerving to hear nothing but the soft Pat-pat-patter of his footsteps as he half ran, half jumped through the trees into the forest and his own soft, controlled breathing. He wasn't sure how long he had been running northwards for – he could not judge the sun for the time, hidden as it was through the thick canopy. However, it had to have at least been a few hours at most and he must have travelled at least four miles in that time.

Just how big is this forest anyway? Harry thought incredulously, as he landed on the thick branch of a tree, leaning against it as he panted, trying to get his breathing under control, his eyes sweeping the thick trees for any sign of his would-be sensei. I've only got the rest of today and tomorrow to find that crazy-Anko in this damned forest and land a hit on her. If I'm going to do that, I need to hurry up and find her.

Jumping from his perch on the tree, he landed almost noiselessly on the soft ground. Taking up a kunai from his pouch, Harry crouched, drawing out a crude version of the map he had copied to memory. It was much easier to visualise, however, once it was drawn out and there before his eyes. He studded it for a moment, arms leaning on his thighs as he frowned at the dirt map.

I started here, Harry though to himself, pointing to the gate he had entered with kunai point. He glanced down to a rough, slightly wonky scale next to his map, translating map distance to distance in real life. And continued roughly due north for about three hours. If I worked it out right, I probably covered at least four miles, so I'm just over the halfway point to the tower.

(CK: there are 6 miles to 10km)

He followed the route on his dirt map with his kunai, tapping a part of the forestry with its point. Anko said to find her in the middle of the forest – most likely she meant near that tower that they use for the chunin exams. The easiest way to get there without getting lost would most likely be by following the river, seeing as it leads to the tower. It would also help to get supplies, like food and water. Harry sweat-dropped. Unfortunately, with the way that Psycho-chick was acting, she'd probably expect that and put a load of traps there just to be sadistic. His stomach grumbled loudly, causing Harry to groan and rub it, slumping slightly. But I still need to get some sort of supplies. Even I'm not stupid enough to try and take on a Jonin on an empty stomach. It's a bad match up as it is, but I ain't suicidal!

I'll have to tread cautiously. Yare, yare…

Harry sighed and started to dust away his map into nothingness, but froze as a rustling sound came from behind him. At the sound of a growl, Harry's back went ramrod straight, a shiver passing over his spine. Wide-eyed, Harry looked around as the bushes shuddered violently and a tiger emerged, amber eyes fixed on Harry hungrily. What was worse was that it wasn't just any tiger - it was a Fire Country Tiger, a beast that was as large as the trees in it's habitat, that being the Forest of Death, and could rival the size of that Cerberus of Hagrid's – Fluffy - without the extra heads. An animal weighing over 7000lbs, as big as a house and could swallow a ninja in one bite.

Now, if he were a Jonin, this wouldn't have been much of a problem. A high levelled Chunin could probably take it down – if they were fast and lucky. However, Harry was neither. And right now it was looking at Harry as if he was today's main course.

Harry stood up slowly and began to back away, his hands raised submissively. "Eh heh…nice kitty…good kitty…" He almost felt like gulping. "Nice BIG kitty…"

The tiger started to growl and lowered itself into crouching potion, waiting to pounce.

"Oh shi-!" He bolted, the tiger running after him with a roar as Harry scrambled through the bushes in an effort to get away. He jumped up into the trees, hoping that it would be out of the tiger's reach, only to find the tiger jump up the tree behind him. Harry almost fell off through a face-fault. "You have got to be kidding me!" Harry jumped away, soon followed by a very hungry and extremely persistent tiger that seemed to be getting annoyed that it's would-be meal was stubbornly clinging to the idea that he had brother's waiting for him, was too young to die and preferred living, thank you very much.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Harry growled out as he looked over his shoulder yet again to find the tiger still bounding after him. "Okay…you asked for it! Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu"

Several fireballs burst from his mouth, shooting at the tiger. It dodged the first two, before Harry jumped, twisting in the air as he shot several more. It moved out of the way of the first one, but jumped headfirst into a second, another joining it seconds later.

Harry paused, looking over at the place where his fireballs had struck, sniffing the air at the smell of burnt fur. "Did I get it…?" he muttered, squinting slightly through the smoke to see if he could see the remains of the creature. However, his eyes widened when the smoke cleared to show one very annoyed tiger, which was looking very much like the fur on it's face had been burnt to black ashes. Harry sweat dropped. "You're…joking…"

The tiger snarled.

With a yelp as it's claws almost ripped into the emblem and, more importantly, his back, as it pounced at the hastily retreating Uchiha, Harry lost his footing and fell from the branch, landing feet first into a bush.

He landed with a hard thud on the floor, trying not to hiss in pain as he rolled into the bushes and crouched there, staring up at the tiger that was standing on the branch he had fallen from through the bushes' thick leaves. The beast was growling hungrily as it's blood-shot golden eyes tried to find him through the leaves with a look on its burned face that, if on a human, would have promised death, torture and castration, and not necessarily in that order. Harry grimaced.

Dammit, at this rate, that thing's going to find me! Harry thought, almost panicked as he attempted to hide his presence from the beast. What the hell would Naruto and Sasuke think if they heard that? 'I'm sorry to say that your brother was eaten by a tiger during his genin test'. Yes, now that sounded like a good way to go - I think not!

It sounded ridiculously stupid for an Uchiha, even to his own ears.

All the more reason to avoid that fate, he reasoned as he formed a cross-shaped hand seal.

The bush rustled and Harry emerged and bolted off into the forest once more. Obviously, the creature soon spotted it and one very pissed of Fire Country Tiger jumped high over the bush, clearing it completely as it pursued the now wailing Uchiha through the forest until they had disappeared.

Silence.

A moment later, the bush rustled again and the real Harry, looking very sorry for himself with twigs and leaves sticking out of his hair and dirt covering his clothes, popped up from his hiding place and looked over the place where the tiger and his look-alike had just gone. Seeing they were nowhere in sight, Harry let out a sigh of relief and slid down the tree.

It fell for it; Harry grinned giddily in relief. I'm so glad that I learned the Kage Bunshin now! If I didn't think it was stupid, I feel really sorry for that clone right now… he imagined it running around the forest screaming its head off while pursued by the tiger – if it hadn't eaten it yet.

Now that was a disturbing thought.

Who's stupid idea was it to send a team-less genin into a training ground that some stupid moron built in a place with something like that trying to eat you! Harry thought with a growl as he stood up, brushing himself off and looking over his shoulder nervously, as if expecting another Fire Country Tiger to jump him. He sweat dropped at the obvious answer – Mitarashi Anko.

That…bloody…sadist…

He decided that it would be beneficial to his health if he started moving. The river seemed like a good place to be just now. At least he'd have a little more warning of a tiger attack next time.

It was another stretch of unknown time later that Harry heard it – the chuckling sound of running water close by. His mouth suddenly felt sandpaper dry at the sound, making him all the more eager to find the river to quench his thrust. Following it with ears strained to hear its direction; Harry leapt from tree to tree, as the forest became less dense. Light began to shine through the trees as they parted, revealing a deep river running over a rocky bank.

Harry dropped from the trees and crept forward, hiding in the brush as he eyed the clearing for any traps Anko might have set up as part of his 'survival test'. However, even when Harry activated his Kekkei Genkai with a seal to focus and made a quick scan with the sharingan to look out for any chakra-activated traps (or hidden bestial animals that wanted to use him as their lunch), he couldn't see anything that marked out the river as an ambush.

He paused for a second longer, then, deciding to listen to his paranoia a little, he moulded some chakra and made a cross seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

A shadow clone appeared crouched down next to him in a poof of smoke. It looked at him with deep green eyes, frowned in concentration as Harry nodded out towards the river. Bunshin-Harry nodded back with a grin and V-sign before he stood and walked out into the area, looking around for any signs of danger as he picked his way towards the river. Harry observed for a moment as Bunshin-Harry stood at the water's edge, prodding area with a sandled foot. Obviously finding no traps, the Kage Bunshin turned back to Harry and motioned for him to come out with an 'Okay' sign and a wink. Harry sighed with relief and let the Bunshin vanish.

Must be because we entered from opposite gates, Harry mused as he emerged from the bushes. She probably didn't even pass this way. After all, its too far south of the tower area for Anko to have come here – unless she just wanted to play Crazy-Psycho, he added to himself with a grimace, rubbing his still marked cheek from Anko's kunai.

Carefully, Harry knelt at the waters edge, scooping up some of the crystal clear water in his palms and drank deeply, feeling much better for it. Carefully, he scooped up a bit more and rubbed it over his face and neck, cooling his heating body from the run from the tiger. As he rolled his neck carefully to reach more skin with the water, Harry looked up into the sky, screwing up his eyes slightly as the sun shone done at him. He winced as it hit his sensitive eyes and he raised a hand to shield them.

It had to be around eleven in the morning, give or take a few minutes, by Harry's estimation. He guessed that most of the time that had elapsed was during his escape of the tiger and thus finding his way to the river after the detour, otherwise by his memory of the map he would have found this place at least an hour ago. Still, all that running through the forest and the fact that he hadn't eaten since last night made his stomach grumble louder than it had done in a while. Harry blushed, glancing over his shoulder, although in his mind he knew it was silly to be looking out for spectators to his stomach's loud protests.

Turning back, he sat on the pebbled bank, wondering what to do about food. So far in the forest he had spotted bugs, a snake or two as he hopped from the trees and that big tiger, all of which he suspected wouldn't taste all that brilliant, if not dangerous to his health. Particularly that tiger - he wouldn't go anywhere near that thing again, even if you paid him. He opened an eye to spot a silvery fish swimming lazily downstream and the proverbial light bulb turned on. He grinned, eyeing the fish with not-so-nice intent. It looked like fish would be on the menu today.

Now, if only he had a way to catch them…

He fingered his kunai consideringly.

It wasn't long before Harry, armed with long, thin wires tired to several kunai and was crouched quietly over an overhanging rock over a deep part of the river, his eyes scanning the water for any sign of fish to catch. It wasn't long before it happened - a thick, silver fish swam lazily downstream, it's scales glinting in the sunlight. Harry grinned.

Trying not to move too fast and thus scare off his pray, Harry pulled his kunai back and, pausing for a moment as the fish changed direction to swim upriver and threw. The blade shot into the water with a tiny 'splosh', impaling the fish immediately. The fish jerked spasmodically at the impact. However, Harry yanked back on the wire and the kunai was pulled out of the river, yanking up a large fish into the air, dropping it onto the stone sore beside him. If flopped weakly for a moment, then lay still.

Harry grinned at his accomplishment, before tugging the kunai out of the fish. Holding it by its tail, Harry threw it into a roughly made stone circle next to him that he had made as a makeshift bucket, until he could get around to gutting and cooking them. He turned back to the river, wondering for a moment if he should catch more or not. The one he got was quite big as it was and would be enough to feed him. On the flip side, however, there was still another day and a half to go, so he needed supplies. He would rather not have to risk going foraging when it was getting dark, especially where that tiger was concerned. Not to mention as he was travelling through the forest he had seen snakes at a distance that made Hagrid look small.

He shuddered. Yes, definitely catch more. He was sure that dried fish would taste better than he would to one of those wild animals.

Thankfully, it seemed his luck was with him for a change because Harry managed two catch two more decent sized fish that he would be able to ration over the next day or so. Idly he thought it was a shame he didn't have any rice – they would have made excellent sushi.

It didn't take Harry long to find some dry firewood – after all, Fire Country was famous for its warm weather. Even if they got a monsoon the wood would be dry an hour later – and carefully he began to set up a campfire, exactly how they taught them at the academy.

Wiping the sweat from his eyes, Harry looked down at his handiwork before thinking over another problem. Because Anko had not told him enough to prepare for some sort of two-day survival trip, Harry didn't have any tinderbox or matches to start the fire off. Sure he could use a fire jutsu, but if he did that, he would probably incinerate the wood, as well as the ground at least ten foot around it, as well as the fish, which would defeat the entire point of catching them in the first place. They were never designed to do something so fine as to light a stack of wood, after all. Harry sat down, crossing his arms over his chest and glared at the wood, willing it to burn with his eyes as he tried to think of how to get around this little obstacle. Suddenly, his face went slack as he remembered a tiny bit of information and he smacked his forehead with a hand.

What are you, some kind of idiot for something? He growled to himself, not sure whether to laugh his head off or smack his head on something solid for a few minutes. You just spent almost a year at a magic school and you now forgot that you could easily start a fire with a little magic? I swear its staying around morons like that Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle for so long – I must have caught stupid. Harry no Baka.

Pulling out his wand from his thigh pouch, Harry directed it at the firewood with an easy flick of the wrist.

"Incendio!"

Tongues of fire shot from the end of his wand at the wood. It blackened, crackling for a moment, before it caught, the flames slowly licking up as they spread along the stack. Harry looked over his fire for a moment, prodding it with a twig and stroked it to help it grow, before leaning back on his hunches to observe.

It was still a little warm to cook on just yet, at least until it had settled down, so Harry turned his attention to the next part of his cooking chores – preparing the fish.

Oh, joy, he thought, sarcastically. Of all the chores in his life, gutting fish had to be one of those that Harry hated. While he was perfectly willing to believe in it being a necessary task to learn how to do correctly, he still found it rather distasteful. After all, even a ninja finds ripping the guts from a dead creature somewhat unpleasant.

Oh well. At least it should be worth it in the long run, he reminded himself as he dipped his kunai into the water, washing away the blood and entrails, turning the river water clear pink as it washed the steel clean.

Skewering the fish onto sticks to cook them and propping them up on rocks beside the fire, Harry wrapped his arms around his knees, prodding at the fire and frowning slightly.

Finding Anko's going to be difficult, he thought to himself as he stroked the fire with a stick. I only have a general idea of where she'll be – at the centre of the forest – but there's still a mile radius that that could cover. And that's not even mentioning how well Anko can cover her tracks, and that definitely it won't be easy to track – she is a Jonin. A wacky one, but still a Jonin. After all, you need to be not only strong, but also subtle to even manage to do some of those high ranking missions like assassination or spying. There's a chance that she might make it a little easier, seeing as I'm only genin level myself and this is just to test my abilities, but I can't just rely that that's what she'll do. He narrowed his eyes. I'm going to need a plan of some kind.

Harry checked the fish carefully, turning them slightly to make sure that they were cooking properly with one hand. Quickly, he drew out his map sketch once again with the other, this time using a stone to scratch it onto the surface of a larger rock and leaned back to study his work, frowning slightly. Pulling a fully cooked fish from the flames and blowing on it to cool it slightly, Harry ran a finger over the map, carefully tearing off a little of the fish with his teeth and chewed thoughtfully.

Okay, so I'm about here. The best hope I have for this is following the river to the tower. I'll also need to look closely for any kind of footprints, breaks in the twigs or any movements from the other animals that might have been scared out of the underbrush. Finding Anko's all well and good, but it's no use if I get too distracted and end up eaten by one of those snakes or tigers or something. And it's a good warning system as well.

"This would be so much easier if I'd been placed on a team," Harry sighed. "What a bother. Baka Hokage-ojii…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was long past noon by the time Harry had got anywhere with his search for his illusive would-be sensei, the sun already sinking towards the west if what he could gather of the little light sprinkling through the leaves could tell him anything. As he had predicted by following along the riverside, he had come across a few traps the closer he came to the tower (which he managed to avoid, although he did get caught in an extremely well hidden net. He managed to get out of that one by blasting it with a few Reducto curses and a Gokakyu for good measure), but had also caught sight of footprints in the soft ground at the waters edge. After running his fingers along the shape, he easily picked out not the print of an animal, but the outline of a sandal.

It was the first time Harry had come this way; there were no other humans in the area that he was aware of. The only logical explanation Harry could find was that it was from Anko – probably when she left the traps. Scanning the area with his sharingan – which had activated at some point as he stared around (He realised that it may become almost automatic when he was older and decided that he was going to have to be careful to hold it back when it wasn't necessary to have it active, otherwise he'd either be wasting charka, or reveal it to someone accidentally) – Harry easily spotted the tell-tail signs of a person passing through.

With the stealth a cat could have envied, Harry bound through the forest, pausing every now and again to look and find the trail, to see where it's directions had changed before leaping off once more. He kept moving, ducking branches and using his arms to catch them to help propel himself forwards, like a monkey. He forced his breathing to become calm, controlled as red eyes scanned ahead, picking out every slight change, every unnaturally bent branch, or disturbed moss and soil, every trace of human existence, however tiny the signs.

Idly he realised that he must have been getting close to the tower-structure, dead centre of the forest. He could see its red tiles of the roof rising just above the trees ahead and it seemed that the forest's density was lessening a little. The orange of the dying son was already shining through, casting the forest in a deep, almost coppery hue, giving the forest a feel of wild, untamed beauty, not just dark intimidation. Still, Harry pulled his mind back to the here and now and narrowed his eyes as he sprinted forwards, jumping and landing from tree to tree. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he skidded to a halt, leaping backwards and spun so that his pack was pressed against the trunk as he balanced on a high branch with his chakra, his body hidden by leaves as his eyes peered down through the branches at the figure below. A smirk almost formed on his face and his heart was pumping with excitement.

Found her!

There she was, obviously waiting for her would-be student to pick up her trail. Almost from the look on her face, Harry grumpily realised that she probably left the tracks on purpose to test his tracking abilities. Well, it was a test, after all. Despite her sadist nature, he was sure that even she remembered that he was only genin.

Still, despite that, she wasn't so easy to spot, despite her doing nothing more than sitting on the top of a thick tree-root, her eyes scanning the area. Although if she was looking for him, or for any warning that some insanely large hungry beast was about to try to eat her for dinner, he didn't know. It was her coat, he realised, that had almost made him miss her altogether. Strangely enough, her tanned coat seemed to make her blend almost into the background of the tree-bark that was not quite so moss infested. In fact, if it weren't for the sharingan, Harry probably wouldn't have seen her at all and would have darted out and accidentally announced his presence.

Carefully controlling his breathing and suppressing his charka as much as he could to avoid detection, Harry looked through the tree branches one more at the jonin, who was now yawning loudly from her perch on the root and slowly slipped a hand down to his kunai holster, hesitating slightly, wondering how exactly he was to go about 'landing a blow' on the woman. He had several choices, but so far he wasn't sure about any of them.

As far as I can see, I don't have many ways of going about it without loosing my edge. So far, it doesn't look like she knows where I am – I must have stopped myself from entering the clearing in time to keep my position. Harry thought, eyes fixed on the kunoichi below. His finger traced the opening of the thigh pouch. My first choice is to throw kunai at her – unfortunately, where I am now, she'd probably see it coming and catch it before it got anywhere near her. If I'm careful, though, I should be able to move so that I'm around the back, but even if I do that, I can't go much closer, otherwise she'll sense me for sure. The downside is that if I go around flinging kunai at her I might end up accidentally putting her out of commission, or, even worse, killing her.

He paused, then sweat-dropped and slumped

Yeah, right, who was he fooling – a genin kill a jonin? Hah, that would be the day. Harry knew he was good for his age, but not that good. Its not like he was a great ninja-prodigy or something like the red-eyed weasel was.

Trying to get back his dignity, Harry continued with his planning. There's also the choice of using my magic. After all, it's not like you can catch it like you could a kunai. He fought a sigh. The only downside is that Sandaime may have already told her all about that. After all, if I pass, she's going to need to know about that. Add to that that I don't have a lot of offensive spells in my arsenal just yet, or at least useful ones. After all, I had to find those ones on my own. As I recall, they are higher levelled spells that what my year was meant to know. There's also the fact that you have to say the name of the spell – not that that's any different from performing a ninjutsu – which could give away my position. Still, if I could just land her with a Body-bind, it will be all over.

A plan began to form in his mind and he felt a smirk settle onto his face. Carefully, he retreated away from his position slightly to keep out of hearing range. If he was going to pull this off, then he mustn't let Anko get any advantage over him by finding out where he was. Retreating to an acceptable distance outside of average hearing range – he prayed she didn't have some sort of Kekkei Genkai that gave her superior hearing or something – Harry formed a hand-seal that he had been using quite often of late. However, he wasn't going to think too much on that if it would help him with his plan.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Harry whispered quietly.

A poof of smoke later and a double stood in front of him, hands formed in the same seal. Already knowing hat Harry had in mind, the Bunshin nodded seriously and began to make his way to form some kind of distraction to get her attention away from the real Harry.

It was quite simple, in Harry's opinion, but that was what made it easier to pull off – less complications. The plan was thus: Bunshin-Harry would circle his way around the clearing at a safe distance and then draw Anko's attention away from him and onto the Bunshin instead, thus making her turn away from the real Harry. The real Harry would then be able to use the body bind. With Anko distracted by the Bunshin, she may not have time to turn around before the spell hit. The full-body bind would prevent her from moving at all, and thus Harry would be able to pin her, strike her, or just simply hold a kunai to her throat. Either way, Harry would win.

Okay, so he had to admit, it wasn't very honourable to strike while someone back is turned. He could only imagine what his Gryffindor friends would think, him acting so, in their words, 'Slytherinish', but hey, he was a shinobi for crying out loud! There was a reason they were called Konoha-ninja and not Konoha-samurai after all.

With that in mind, Harry slipped his hand into his hip pouch and felt his fingers close around polished wood. He drew it out slowly, adjusting his grip on it as he positioned it through the branches, getting ready for the moment when his clone would reach the other side of the clearing and create a distraction. He didn't have long to wait.

There was a slight movement from the bushes and suddenly several kunai shot in Anko's direction. Anko stiffened immediately and turned, dodging two and flipping away in a flurry of tanned coat to avoid the third. She smirked in the direction of the bush that they had immerged from and Bunshin-Harry jumped out, launching several more Kunai at her.

"That won't work, brat," the jonin taunted and dashed in to engage in taijutsu. Bunshin-Harry leapt back, trying to adjust his hold on the kunai – there was no way he would be able to hit her at such a close range and tried to duck out of the way. He avoided her fist – just barely, but didn't manage to see the knee come crashing into his stomach. The Bunshin choked, wide-eyed, before vanishing in a poof of smoke. "Kage Bunshin?" Anko said. She sounded almost impressed.

The real Harry stiffened. Her back was to him – it was now or never.

"Petrificus Totalus!" His hand flicked in a familiar motion. A red beam of light erupted from his wand.

Anko stiffened and spun around to see the red beam coming towards her. She almost seemed to grin at the challenge and leapt away, causing the spell to crash into the floor, sending up a cloud of dust and moss-like grass. At the same time she grinned, sending several kunai in Harry's direction. Trying not to curse, Harry jumped away, the kunai landing with a dull 'thunk' as they hit the branch mere millimetres away from where Harry was just standing.

Harry leaped away from his hiding place as fast as he could. This was bad – if he didn't move fast, she'd find him in no time. However, as he touched down on the next branch, a kunai came flying towards him. Sucking in a breath to avoid crying out in surprise, Harry skidded to a halt and ducked. Something whipped past him, causing his hair to ruffle from its passing. It was close – too close. The kunai must have just grazed him - he could see strands of his hair float down in front of his face. A few centimetres less, and it probably would have been buried in his head!

Almost frozen, Harry turned to look at where the kunai had come from and winced. Anko was facing him, her brown eyes fixed on his own and was grinning as she bounced a kunai in her hand. Harry couldn't help but swear under his breath. His edge that might have helped him finish this test quickly was gone.

"So you were able to track me. I've got to say that's fairly impressive, kid, that you know the Kage Bunshin at your level. You found me faster than I though as well. I was expecting you to take till at least early tomorrow to find me, but I guess I underestimated you a bit, hm?" She turned to look at him fully, the smile dropping off her face. "Test isn't over yet, brat. So far you've passed the first half, so after this, you won't have to track me very far again, now that I know your tracking abilities, even in a place such as this. As much as it would be fun to see how you'd manage, I don't think the Hokage would be pleased with me if one of the last Uchiha-brats got eaten because he was trying to look for me again!"

Harry sweat-dropped as Anko laughed, wondering if she knew just how close he had actually been to that fate. However, Anko continued. "Now, on this part of the test is just a battle to test your skills, as you already know. Too bad your tactics didn't work." She patted her torso with a hand. "Of course, that means you've got to land a hit on me. So, you up for the next part of your test?"

Harry immediately bent his knees, balancing on the balls of his feet to either attack or dodge at a moment's notice. He'd seen how fast she could move when she engaged his clone in taijustu – he couldn't leave anything to chance against this woman, it seemed. "Ready."

Anko gave him a feral grin. Heh, he really looks ready for it. I think I might like this brat! "Now that's what I like to hear! And…begin!" And she lurched forwards.

So fast! Harry thought, ducking out of the way of a fist and knee combination that she had used on his clone, flipping away from her as he pulled out a set of kunai and flung them at her. Anko dodged the first two, sending them flying passed her and burying into the floor and brought up her hand, snatching another out of the air as it got close to her face.

"Is this all?" She taunted. "I was expecting more from you, Uchiha."

There was a hissing sound from behind her and one of the kunai, a tag tied securely around the metal hoop, burst into flames. Her eyes widened.

"A Paper Bomb! Che!"

She dodged out of the way as it exploded, scattering debris and catching the tail of her coat, which singed and blackened, a burned smell reaching her nose. She whipped around to face Harry, but by this point, Harry had already formed the seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A ball of fire shot towards Anko and everything was blocked from sight as flames almost as big as himself engulfed the area. He quickly tapered off, almost panicking that he may have burned the kunoichi to death or something. However, when the smoke cleared, all he could see was the charred remains – his heart almost stopped – wait, of a log!

Harry's eyes widened and he stumbled back. "Crap! Kawarimi!" His eyes wildly scanned the area. "Where is she?"

"Sen'eijashu!"

What the-?

Harry spun around, eyes wide at the voice that had come from directly behind him, his eyes widening even father when at least a dozen shadowy things shot towards him out of Anko's sleeves with the speed of bullets. Suddenly, he realised this was no genjutsu, but at least four solid snakes made of pure chakra were aimed right towards him. They were far too close for him to dodge.

Kuso!

He brought up his arms, crossing them in front of him to protect his throat from vicious fangs. Snakes struck, some clamping down, restraining him from pulling away, others wrapping around his arm and sank their teeth into the limb. Harry grunted in pain, trying not to cry out as dozens of pairs of fangs bit into soft flesh, tearing his sleeve as they drew blood.

Harry gritted his teeth against a cry threatening to escape from his throat, staggering back from the force of the strike. However, he managed to keep his footing on the branch. Harry choked back a hiss of pain, looking up at Anko, eyes narrowed against the pain as she landed in a crouch on the closest branch, her arms held forwards, the snakes leading back to her sleeves like emerald ropes.

"Clever, kid," Anko said softly. "You managed to stop the snakes from my Sen'eijashu from striking your throat or strangling you to death." Her face twisted into a smile. "I think I'm starting to like you, kid. But what are you going to do now? After all, with my snakes fastened onto you like that, you can't defend yourself from my next attack!"

She's right! Harry's eyes widened, half in shock, half in realisation. This is bad! I may have stopped myself from being strangled to death, but with the snakes clamped onto my arm like this, I only have one hand to defend myself with! He gritted his teeth and turned back to look at Anko, trying to pull his other arm away in order to grasp his kunai, but his hand froze when Anko suddenly yanked the arm where the snakes had emerged from back with great strength. He could already see where this was going, but was in no position to be able to stop it.

Crap!

The snakes yanked back so hard that they completely pulled Harry off his feet, sending him flying up into the air with a cry as fangs sunk deeper into his arm, gripping him tightly, refusing to let go. Suddenly, the fangs slackened off, tossing him further into the air. Harry tensed, snatching out at one of the branches, channelling charka to his hands in order to stop his grip from slipping and flipped around, pulling himself onto the branch. However, he tensed as something shot up behind him.

Harry spun around, his eyes wide as he saw Anko leaping up towards him with her kunai bared and Harry barely had time to defend before she was upon him, fists, feet, elbows, knees and kunai pummelled towards him and Harry desperately defended, trying to back away from her, yet he couldn't avoid her completely – a fist straight in his stomach bodily lifted him off his feet, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for breath, barely able to breath and Anko grabbed him in some kind of lock. Vaulting off of the branch, she grabbed Harry and twisted her hold in mid-air, launching him like a rocket towards the ground. Harry gasped in horror and did the only thing he could think of – pulled out some of the wires in his pouch, throwing one into the air that had a shuriken attached. It wound its way around one of the branches and the blades pierced the wood, the wires tightening and burning off the moss as it rubbed, yanking Harry out of his free-fall.

Harry almost bounced, as if he were attached to a bungee and the wires bit into his palms. Hissing in pain, Harry jumped down, landing firmly on his feet, before wavering and falling into a crouch, gripping his abdomen and gasping for air.

However, he once more felt a build-up of charka and turned once more. However, this time he was too late and the snakes crashed into him like tiny fists, slamming him into the ground. Harry cried out in pain as he skidded with the snake's force, his hitae-ate loosened by the impact clinked as if fell to the floor and skidded away.

Harry groaned as the snakes retreated and could do nothing but lie there for a moment, when instinct kicked in again. Arms trembling, he managed to flip himself on his stomach and push himself to his knees, gripping his wounded arm to his aching stomach. His eyes fell onto his fallen hitae-ate, glinting in the dying light and reached out to get it. However, he stilled when another hand reached there first and lifted it up, the navy tails of cloth draping limply over the fingers.

Blinking, Harry looked up to see Anko standing over him, holding the hitae-ate in her hands and looking from it to him and back again. Finally, her brown eyes fixed on Harry, who was now trying to force himself to get up, despite his aching bruises.

Even as she watched, the jonin couldn't help but feel her respect for the kid go up.

He's the first brat in a long while who could even get this close, and still he's trying to get up and fight? He'll kill himself.

She held up the hitae-ate so that it caused the young genin to pause. "You know, if you can't even hit me, you're not going to keep your title of genin for much longer." She told him. Harry's eyes narrowed and he almost audibly growled. "And here I'd heard that you Uchihas were meant to be genius'. Guess I was wrong."

Yes, she was purposely taunting Harry. It wasn't as though an enemy ninja would not. If Harry overcame it to come back stronger, then she would have to admit that the boy really had potential and she would train him to be a ninja of Konoha. She didn't want to just toss aside any student she took on like a certain bastard of a sensei, but that was just the kind of missions he might get if he joined with her – she had no patience for dumb D-classed missions after all.

She saw the boys head dip down, his face pale and his fingers scrape into the soil, his lips pursed tightly.

But if he lets it bother him so much that he quit, then I guess he wouldn't make a ninja after all and he definitely would be crushed by being my student. Anko thought, surveying the boy in front of her. She was sure as hell that the Hokage wouldn't be happy about that.

It was a test, her personal test, to assess his true character.

Perhaps she had been spending too much time around Ibiki…

"That's enough for today," Anko said abruptly in a surprisingly serious voice. Harry hesitated and blinked up at her. "It'll be getting dark soon and I'll be much harder to find shelter then. I suggest you find some place to heal up and rest until tomorrow. After all, if you're going to hit me, then you need all the advantages you can get. Come back here tomorrow - if you pass this test, I'll give you your hitae-ate back and I'll teach you everything I know" She turned away from him, then paused, glancing over her shoulder at Harry's kneeling, panting and blooded form, a smirk forming on her face. "You should consider yourself lucky, brat. In the real world, you wouldn't be given second chances."

And she turned and left, leaving a pale-faced Harry to struggle to his feet, arm held to his chest and his face covered by his bangs, his teeth gritted against a burning of shamed tears which he refused to allow to fall. His fingers clenched around blooded cloth, knuckles slowly turning white.

And here I'd heard that you Uchihas were meant to be genius'. Guess I was wrong…

Somewhere above, a low grumble of thunder could be heard. A storm was coming…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The rain came down heavily, even through the thick, leafy canopy. It almost thundered down, soaking everything. The forest itself was plunged into inky blackness as night fell somewhere outside of the wild, twisting trees, nothing could be seen but the vague outlines and shapes of gnarled wildlife. Within the roots of one tree that was raised at an odd angle that created a natural cave of wood, the glimmer of flames could be seen, casting twisted and blurred shadows to the surrounding trees like some sort of demons as flames flickered and the thick rain blurred everything in its path.

Harry stared dejectedly into the flames, the sleeves of his right arm torn and bloody, his other hand covering it tightly to help stop the blood-flow, although it seemed to be doing more to cover his fingers with sticky redness. However, Harry didn't care as he leaned his uncovered forehead against his knee. That parting scene kept replaying over and over in his mind, taunting him with his failure.

…Flashback…

She held up the hitae-ate so that it caused the young genin to pause. "You know, if you can't even hit me, you're not going to keep your title of genin for much longer." She told him. Harry's eyes narrowed and he almost audibly growled. "And here I'd heard that you Uchihas were meant to be genius'. Guess I was wrong."

…Present…

"…Dammit…" Harry whispered, barely audible through the hiss of rain pattering just outside of the makeshift shelter. He shivered a little more; pulling his wounded arm against his body. "…Dammit…"

Harry stared dejectedly into the flames though the space between his arms and knees. He hadn't felt so useless since that day over two years ago. He was no pushover amongst his age group, he knew that, but he had never been in such a fight with a Jonin before. In the face of her strength, he was nothing. And that wasn't a very encouraging thought - especially since if he didn't land a proper hit on her by sunrise, he wouldn't even be classed as a genin any more. He didn't think he could face his brothers if that happened.

Harry tore his eyes away from the flames, shaking of his melancholy as he carefully pulled back his torn sleeve. His sleeve had been torn to sheds and was fairly useless by this point except to catch on everything. Pulling out a kunai, he cut the cloth and carefully used it to wipe the blood away from the wound, looking it over for any dirt that might have rubbed into it from his up and close meeting with the underbrush. It looked like dozens of puncture marks from the serpent's fangs from Anko's attack – Sen'eijashu, he remembered. Apart from the blood that still oozed from it, it didn't look as if it was dirty. He could only hope that the chakra snakes weren't poisonous.

Seeing it was as clean as he was going to get it in this forest, Harry pulled out a roll of bandages from his hip pouch and began to awkwardly bandage his arm with his left hand and teeth. It took a while, but since Harry was used to tying arm-wraps when he decided to incorporate them into his wardrobe, he was able to tie it off at the end with the minimum of difficulty, cutting of the tails with a quick stroke of his kunai.

It wasn't brilliant, but it would do, at least until the test was over, then he would go have it checked out at the hospital to make sure it hadn't got infected or something. It was out of the question to quit the 'exam' now, especially now that Anko had also taken his hitae-ate. His pride as a ninja and an Uchiha was on the line.

"How the hell am I meant to face up to someone like Anko?" Harry muttered to himself as he stroked the fire with a twig. "I've heard that a Jonin might be able to be taken down by a genin team if they work together, but I've never heard of one being taken down by a single rookie ninja before."

"Humans are so noisy. I hope it shuts up soon so I can sleep."

"Who asked you, you…" Harry turned round to snap, but froze, suddenly realising what had just happened. Someone had just spoken to him, or at least about him and in a way that had a strange accent to it that Harry had never heard before. And add to that fact that the only other person in this forest apart from himself that had the ability to hold a conversation with him (he was no Aburame after all) was Anko. So unless it was Anko playing some sort of joke just to torment him even more, or it was some sort of genjutsu, Harry had no idea what it could be.

Jumping to a crouch, Harry pulled out a kunai to face whomever or whatever it was that had just spoke, but paused when he didn't see anything immediately. "Who are you," Harry said darkly, eyeing the area to see any movements in the flickering shadows. "Show yourself!"

Once more, the same soft hissed voice reached his ears and there was a movement just at the edge of the glow from the fire.

"Stupid as well. Perhaps I should just eat it; I was beginning to get hungry."

Harry jumped at hearing those words and threw a kunai before he could stop himself, it landing point first in the dirt, vibrating from the impact in front of the moving shadows. "Like hell you will! I didn't let that damned tiger eat me, so I sure as hell aren't about to let you!"

"It heard me? It understood? A speaker?" the voice sounded startled. "To think that I would meet a speaker here, of all places…"

Harry's eyes widened as they landed on where the voice seemed to be coming from. What moved was not a ninja, nor was it any other type of human. No, what moved slightly, turning beady eyes upon him was a snake. And not just any snake, but one that had to be some form of python, but it was far bigger than any snake he had spotted in the forest, or even during his training. It had to be at least as big as that tiger had been, if not larger. Hell, it was certainly longer. Its skin a blend of greens, browns and blues, black diamond shapes running down its back and was currently staring at Harry in what looked almost like a surprise and awed expression. But…that was impossible! No normal animal, even an oversized one, except for summons, could talk!

"You can…talk!" Harry blurted out, too stunned to even think of how idiotically obvious that statement was.

The snake's head swivelled around towards him, raising to eye level. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that it was frowning at him. Its expression clearly said 'Of course, silly human speaker'.

Harry frowned. "I'm not silly, stupid. I've just never heard a snake talking before."

"Have you ever been near a snake before?"

Harry blushed. "Not really. I'm not that stupid. Most snakes around these parts are poisonous. You're not some sort of summon are you? Another one of those chakra snakes, are you? Cause if you are, you can get lost."

"Me? No. I just came here from the forest to share the fire. It's lovely and warm. But then your ranting interrupted me from sleeping. Still, I have never met a human who could speak before"

Harry just couldn't help but stare at the python as it slithered closer to the fire, almost gulping as he saw exactly how big it was. However, what the snake had just said caught his attention and he frowned up at it, giving the snake an odd look. "What do you mean I speak? Of course I speak."

The snake hissed – was it laughing at him? - and responded, "You misunderstand me, young speaker - I mean you speak the honourable and noble language of snakes. It is very rare. Some of the elder snakes had spoken of it, those who came from beyond, but never have I seen it with my own eyes – a human who speaks the tongue of serpents."

Harry blinked, reeling back in surprise, staring at the serpent mere metres away from him. I'm… speaking another language? But how? The only people I know of that can talk to other animals are the Inuzuka and the Aburame. I've never heard of anyone who can speak to snakes. Then again, I've never heard of anyone who had two Kekkei Genkai before…unless it's some sort of Magical Kekkei Genkai? It sort of made sense. Most Kekkei Genkai were activated through chakra. Magic was a different energy entirely, so it was possible, he guessed. He'd have to check it out once he was at Hogwarts again. He was sure Hermione at least would know if there was a book on the subject.

"That makes it the third language I know," Harry mused to the Python, absently noting this time that his own voce seemed to hiss, even as his mind translated it into everyday tongue. "But I never learnt it before this."

"There are many legends among us that tell of those who spoke the tongue. It is an honour to meet such a human, young speaker. Even if it is mere legend to most of us, it is an honour to serve one who speaks the tongue."

Harry was surprised that the snake, which had been threatening that it would eat him when he had first seen it, was now talking to him respectfully. (The fact that it was a non-summon talking at all was hard enough to grasp). It was as he was pondering these thoughts when a sudden idea came to his mind. If what he was getting from this snake was true, then perhaps…

"Sorry but…do you mean to say that, if I asked some of the other serpents in this area, they would be willing to help me?"

The python looked at him for a moment, its tongue flicking out into the air. Finally, it spoke. "It's possible. Very possible," it said slowly. "Some may be more willing than others, however. As I say, Speakers are rare. Some may not believe the hearsay. But if you speak with them in the Tongue, they will agree. It is sacred law among us."

Harry paused for a moment, thinking over what the snake had just told him. If what it was saying was true, Harry thought, I might actually have an idea that could get me to pass Anko's test. A smile brightened on his face and he turned back to the serpent warming itself by the fire. It was worth a try. After all, if the snakes were unwilling, there was no one else around here that could speak the tongue, at least, from the surprised way that the snake had been talking.

"Hey, Hebi-san," He said, addressing the python politely. He grinned as it turned to him. "If you're willing, I think I've got an idea to try out to pass this test my sensei gave to me, but I'll need your help and maybe the help of some of your friends as well."

The python looked him up and down as he explained his plan to the snake in front of him. If he didn't know any better, once he had finished, he'd say it was grinning. "Interesting…I think this may be quite enjoyable. Quite enjoyable indeed - I think I will aid you, young speaker."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry worked long into the night and part way into the next morning to get his plans into action, despite the heavy rain slowly soaking into his torn shirt and shorts. After all, making plans to enlist the snakes' help in setting a trap for Anko, using his newly discovered ability, was one thing, but actually putting them into action was another. Who knew that some snakes could be so argumentative? It had taken him at least an hour of arguing to one particular stubborn one until they were both reduced to: "Please." "No." "Please." "No." "Please." "No." "Please." "ALRIGHT ALREADY WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

However, despite the trouble and the fact that Harry was a little worried he might later develop pneumonia from staying out in the rain, he managed to gather enough snakes and position them around the edges of the clearing for when he was ready to fight Anko. It was almost close to midday by the time Harry had set everything up, pausing only to eat from his merge store of dried fish and had a quick nap, positioning himself so that when the sun reached about eleven – in an hours time – the light would wake him. Finally, he stepped into the clearing where Anko was waiting patiently…sort of.

Tapping her foot on the ground, she turned to face Harry as soon as he entered the clearing, a deep frown on her face. "Where the hell were you? I was expecting you hear much earlier, brat – you don't have that long until our test is over, you know."

Harry laughed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "Sorry, sorry." He flashed a cheeky half-grin half-smirk at her. "I just had a few things to take care of."

Anko surveyed the young Uchiha in front of her, taking note of his dishevelled appearance. There were faint traces of bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept at all last night. One sleeve ripped to his elbow and his arm bandaged underneath – a memento from their last meeting and his hair looking even more untidy than usual (which said something, since she had the hitae-ate that made his hair stick up at odd-er angles when he wore it). However, he had a smirk on his face that looked like it had been copied straight from her own, his eyes burned with determination.

Likewise, Harry noted that his would-be sensei will had some burn marks all over her coat ends – easily pointing out where his exploding tagged kunai had almost blown up on her. Too bad it had missed her though, otherwise this would have been over already. Still, if it had, he probably wouldn't have found out about his ability to talk to snakes for some time.

"Well then, Uchiha-Bozo, are you ready for another beating?" Anko asked, walking up to him with a grin on her face. Harry just looked at her, his face fading from a smirk to a blank mask. Even she couldn't tell what the boy was thinking. "You've only got until sunrise to hit me. At this rate, you'll never pass this test."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. No need to nag." Harry growled at her, slipping into the beginning stance of the Uchiha forms. "Like you said, I don't have time to play around with you. Bring it on, Whacked-out Psycho!"

"Good!" Anko grinned, licking her lips as though she was looking forward to seeing what Harry had in store for her today. "Ready? Now!"

Harry pulled out a kunai, flipping it in one hand, his wand pulled out of the other. His green eyes blazed red once, before turning back to green and he attacked. First he flung out kunai, both normal and tagged before shooting out a curse from his wand, the red beam shooting out towards her. Anko back-flipped away and had to dodge several times before the explosions caught her and was almost cut between a flying kunai and a hex. Anko somehow managed to avoid hitting either by shooting a Sen'eijashu at the ground, throwing herself up into the air. While she was up there, Harry fixed her with his eyes, his hands flashing through hand-seals.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

Five fireballs shot up towards her and Anko, looking slightly startled, twisted herself in the air to perform some jutsu that Harry couldn't see. He could only guess it was a suiton jutsu from the way the flames vanished into steam. However, the shuriken hidden in the flames were merely slowed.

"Kuso!" Anko yelled, somehow managing to send her charka snakes out and imbed their teeth into a branch, pulling herself away barely in time to avoid the shuriken that whipped passed her. She twisted and landed on the ground into a crouch, her eyes fixed on Harry, a smirk twisting its way onto her lips. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say she was enjoying it!

With a burst of charka in her feet, Anko shot forwards, a kunai in her mouth and her hands starting in some kind of hand seals.

No way Harry was going to let her finish! Harry gave a long low hiss

Somewhere behind her, something broke through the ground, leaping towards Anko with fangs bared, forked tongue lashing about in the pink mouth of something that could only be a 'Forest of Death' snake.

"What the-?" Anko exclaimed, twisting out of the attack on Harry, pushing herself away as the snake lurched at her, skidding away from it, only to find another snap at her heals, followed by a third that dropped out of one of the overhead trees. She dodged it, skidding away, only to be met by a roundhouse kick shooting right for her head. Her eyes widened and she barely managed to bring up her arm in time to block, her other hand bracing her arm against the impact. The force caused the both of them to scoot backwards, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Seconds later, he felt Anko's hand snap around, grabbing his ankle in a vice-grip.

Harry glared at her with emerald eyes, a smirk forming on his face as he stared into hazel, drawing his arm back to send it plunging into her stomach. However, spooked as she was about being attacked by snakes, she was still a jonin. Her eyes caught sight of it at the last second and immediately threw him away from her, his fist merely brushing against the tanned coat as he rolled away.

Just what is this kid!

"What the hell did you do, Uchiha?" Anko gasped, shocked by the varity of snakes that had jumped up at her from just a soft hiss from the young man. "Are they summons?" She eyed them, her eyes flickering back and forth between the huge hissing snakes slithering across the ground and staring at her hungrily and the boy in front of her, slowly picking himself up from the hit with a slight smile on his face. "No, they can't be – no genin can summon so many at one time. Not to mention that there's only two people who can summon snakes. What did you do?"

Harry raised himself up to full height, wiping away a small smudge of dirt away from his cheek. The slight smirk that said 'I know something you don't' still quirked the corners of his mouth, even as he was panting softly to get his breathing under control. "No. I wasn't taught any summons – the Uchihas never used any that I know of before that day. And despite what you might think, or what the old man might have told you, I can't say its cause I copied it off of anyone either. But I think you might have forgotten the reason why I needed special arrangements in my training to begin with – I'm not just of a ninja clan, but I'm also a wizard. I have two heritages to call upon, it seems."

"Two heritages…" Anko muttered to herself. She shot Harry an odd look. "So you mean you bewitched them?"

Harry shook his head. "No, but it looks like even wizards have some Maho Kekkei Genkai. Like the Aburame and Inuzuka, it looks like I can talk to animals as well – Perhaps the Potter clan, or my mother's clan had such abilities. All I did was ask the local snakes if they would mind helping me out - there was a reason I didn't come to find you as soon as the sun came up!"

Anko gaped at Harry. "No way…" He heard her whisper, in shock, almost in awe. "Not even that bastard could actually talk to snakes…" Suddenly, she seemed to pull herself out of whatever thought process she was in, her raptor's gaze resting back on the Uchiha. "Heh, Kid, it looks like you really are full of surprises – even without a team, you're working together with snakes – and non-summoned ones as well! Even if you don't pass this test, I think that you may have got my respect." She smirked as she pulled out her kunai, brown eyes fixed on Harry's green. "Still, I hope you don't take this…too personally." She burst forwards at such a speed that Harry had to gasp, barely getting his own kunai up in time, not enough time to hiss a word to the snakes. It was only at the last minute that Harry realised exactly what she was trying to do.

"The Jaran Geki!" Harry gasped in horror, remembering his other encounter. Unfortunately, he could do nothing to stop it as the hammering of fists and kunai stopped him from escaping melee range.

Harry bit back a cry as her kick got through his defence, throwing him up into the air. His eyes snapped open as he felt the woman jump up beside him, kunai in her hands, ready. Harry gasped, ignoring the pain shooting through his abused ribs and moved to defend, using his hand-kunai against the dozens of throwing ones, barely managed to avoid one that would have sliced into the skin of his arm, the steel snagging against his sleeve. She dropped upon him, pushing him back towards the earth with her feet, throwing him away from herself. A smirk formed on her face and he immediately knew what she was going to do.

Here it comes! Harry formed the ram seal and focused charka to his eyes, the irises turning from emerald green to blood red in seconds. This might be my only chance!

"You may have got those snakes to help you, brat, but you won't be conscious after this!" Anko yelled, her hands moving into seals. Sharingan locked onto them and he copied it perfectly. Even as they finished the seals as one, both pulled back their arms. Both punched them forwards, the technique's name renouncing with two voices.

"SEN'EIJASHU!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry blinked, then blinked again as he slowly swam back up to consciousness, his head feeling a little fuzzy as the newly broken morning light fell into his eyes, stinging them with its brightness.

Wait…newly morning?

Harry sat up immediately, wincing as his body and the back of his head protested at the sudden movement, burning in pain and he brought his hand to it to stop the spinning, feeling a lump already starting to rise under his hair. However, that was nothing compared to what he was seeing. He stared in horror at the sun rising over the thick trees, its position indicating that it was already morning. Immediately a deep sense of despair fell over him.

He'd…lost.

He didn't really know what to feel. On one side, he wanted to rant and rage about just how unfair it was. On another, he wanted to break down a weep, knowing that all that hard work had come to nothing. As it was, the only thing Harry could feel besides the stinging of his wounds and the protests of his muscles was numbness.

"You focused all your energy into using the Sen'eijashu and forgot about your landing and banged your head. Baka-geki," Harry jumped and turned to look at Anko who was sitting on the thick roots of a tree, looking down at him with a curious expression – an amused smile playing about her lips. "Still," she continued, tugging down her tan coat, revealing a slightly blooded and bruised shoulder, fang marks dug deep in the spaces between the metal fishnet, "if you didn't, you wouldn't have hit me in a million years. Although I wouldn't call it perfect, a strike's a strike." Anko beamed at him. Not in here sneering way, or in a way that made you think she was about to come and gut you, but an energetic grin that matched Naruto's fox-grin any day. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled something out, tossing it into Harry's lap. "Congrats, kid. You just passed my test."

"I…I passed?" Harry stuttered, trying to work out just what the kunoichi had said. But that couldn't be right. Anko must have given him concussion. Yes, that must be it – there was no way that what she said could be true. However, he blinked down at what she had thrown at him and his eyes almost fell out of his head. There in his lap, was his hitae-ate, folded neatly, its metal plate glinting up at him as the sun flickered behind the swaying leaves, its Leaf engraving winking up at him.

Anko grinned and clapped him on the back, causing him to lurch forward, strong enough to make his cuts and grazes sting. "Yes, brat, you pass. I'm impressed that you managed to do it. You're the only genin that I know who has ever managed to land a hit on me. The reason I gave you this test in the first place is because when I do missions, if I'm going to take a student, I want to know that they'll be able to watch their own backs and mine if we're ever put into that situation. Because of that, I pushed you to your limits, to see how you could handle the life of a shinobi and boy, Uchiha, did you impress me! You got guts, kid, I like that. So, from now on, I'll be your Jonin sensei."

Harry stared at her for a moment longer, before his foggy mind finally – finally - realised what she had just said. His hand hesitantly clasping around the metal plate, before a smile broke out on his face, excited, elated, despite the fact he was bruised all over. Suddenly, that didn't matter at all. He had done it. He had actually done it!

"I passed! I Passed! Wahoo!" Harry couldn't help it. Uchiha or not, he had just managed to pass the Jonin's test – he was officially a genin and he was going to start missions as a genin starting first thing. Dignity, pride, who cares, he just passed! "For a Psycho-sensei, you're actually pretty cool!"

The kunoichi stared at the sudden change in the genin, before she burst out laughing at Harry's sudden enthusiasm. "But don't think I'm gonna go easy on you, just because you managed to pass my test, brat," Anko said, hands on her hips and a toothy grin on her face. "At eight tomorrow, we're going to see what you're really made of, because you'll be getting your first mission, Uchiha."

Harry grinned, all weariness and pain forgotten as he pumped his fist into the air. "Hai, Sensei!" Suddenly he winced as all of his muscles protested and he collapsed back on the ground, twitching. "Itaiiiiiiiiiii…"

Anko rolled her eyes. "Baka-Geki…"

TBC

Japanese translations

Ohayo – Good morning

Baka – idiot, stupid

Itai – Ow, Ouch

Hai – yes

Sensei – teacher

Bozo – boy, brat, that type of thing

Geki – Kid, brat

Hebi – snake

Henge – transform

Kekkei Genkai – bloodline limit

Maho – magic

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu – Fire release: grand fireball jutsu

Hosenka no Jutsu – Fire release: Immortal Phoenix flame jutsu

Kage Bunshin no jutsu – Shadow clone jutsu

Sen'eijashu – Hidden Shadow Snake hands

Jaran Geki – literally Jaran attack. It was from a Naruto game actually, an attack used by Anko. The fight where she uses it is an adaptation from the game

Chosha's Notes

Oh…My…God! That was so long! And so hard for me! Was I a little OOC with Anko at all? I hope not… But who would have thought that the interactions between Anko and Harry would be so hard for their first meeting – not to mention the fights! Not to mention I wasn't happy with this chapter and kept going back to change stuff. Oh well…there you have it! What did you think? I know that using Anko was a bit of a cliché, but aren't HP-Naru xovers as well? My reasoning behind this? Your votes of course! Just have a look at the poll below:

Genma: 12

Yamato: 10

OC: 2

Other Jonin – (these being: Ibiki: 3, Ebisu: 1, Jiraiya: 2, Kakashi: 2, Gai: 2, Shibi: 1, Tsume: 1, Hyate: 3, Sarutobi: 2, Aoba: 1)

But Anko came out on top at a whopping 32!

For everyone who wanted someone else, I'm sorry. Hopefully the stories I come up with will still live up to how I've been writing so far in your opinions. Not to worry for those who wanted someone else, however – I do have a few ideas for at least three of the others to play a teaching roll. After all, there are still the chunin exams to think about. More on that closer to the time, however. And for the other part of the poll…

Apprenticeship: 25

Team: 6

Just a few comments to make about this chapter. I have to say, first and foremost, that I struggled with this chapter – the fight scenes in particular. So I'm sorry if they were a little pathetic. The tiger scene was just for the sake of it. I thought it was funny. The chapter got very serious at one point, so I thought I'd stick a little humour into it. Finally, the test itself. Most people write the bell test. Admit it, its been used thousends of times, even when the sensei isn't Kakashi. I have a feeling that the bell test was designed by Sarutobi and was changed to fit the needs of Jiraiya, Yondaime and Kakashi. Orochimaru, however, taught Anko. Can you see him using the bell test and preaching teamwork? I think not. Therefore, Anko had her own test to see if her student would be able to keep up with her lifestyle (most of her missions are long-distance, I've read, and I can't see her having much patients with D-ranked missions, can you?)

Anyway, all that out of the way, did you like it, or did you hate it? Either way, please review. If you don't like it, at least be constructive with criticisms, otherwise the review will be ignored, no offence.

Oh, and if anyone has any ideas for a few missions Harry and Anko-sensei can go on, then please tell me. So far, I've got an idea to send him off to swamp country, or snow country, but if you have any good ideas, then I might use that instead. If I do use an idea, then I'll even dedicate the chapter to you! My Idea isn't overly brilliant at the moment, so I'm open to suggestions!

Oh yes, one last thing to do…

Preview of the Next Uchiha Potter:

Harry: what the hell is this? You call washing dishes; cutting lawns and catching lost pets missions? Why do these missions suck so bad!

Anko: zip it brat – that's what genin like you get!

Harry: to hell with it – I want a real mission!

Sarutobi: alright, if you want a better mission so bad…

Harry: …Hang on Hokage-ojii, you want Anko-sensei and me to do what kind of mission? Next episode: C-class? Harry's Big Mission!

But, until next time, Ja ne for now!

Chosha Kurenai xXx