Author's Note: I'm not really pleased with this chapter, but there you go: Chapter Eleven! Edited version by KarinMS.
Chapter Eleven
Harry drank the tea Dobby had served him in satisfaction, as he read an encyclopedia of ninja's weapons intently. Unfortunately for the wizard, there were many kanji alphabets to learn; more than he'd like to. Although he lived with Naruto, the boy couldn't help him as he didn't know much about kanji either, though he was better at it than him seeing that he practically lived here all his life. He first thought was that it was common to have a boy like him not knowing much of kanji, but then he saw Sasuke and Sakura didn't have a problem like their blonde teammate.
Naruto's education was sadly lacking and Iruka had confirmed it. Even though he noted that Naruto's desire to be Hokage had diminished, it didn't mean he could just throw away formal education. If Naruto truly wanted everyone to acknowledge him, he had to be at least knowledgeable. Being ninja didn't just mean brute force.
Harry sighed and looked down at another book on his lap: Kanji for Dummies. Though he was a bit offended by the title he knew that there were some truths there. He was a beginner and thus was considered a dummy. Still, that didn't stop his urge to tear apart the book or other books with kanji alphabets in them.
He looked up at the practicing genin and grinned. At least he wouldn't be the only one to learn it. If he had to drag Naruto forcefully then so be it. Naruto shivered and turned around, but the only thing he saw was his host sipping his tea peacefully as he sat on the corridor's wooden floor. He frowned and then shrugged in confusion, before he turned back to his kata.
Later at night Naruto stared at the dinner on the table and poked one of the foods with his chopsticks. "What's this?"
"Vegetables."
"I know that, but why put vegetables here?"
"Eating ramen every time has stunted your growth, so I decided to remedy it. Vegetables are good for your body."
"But—"
"I'm not saying I forbid you to eat ramen, but just reduce the amount. It's not healthy for you," then again perhaps Kyuubi's presence has solved that problem. He then looked at Naruto's short body. Nah…
Naruto sulked inwardly. He didn't have a problem reducing the amount of ramen he ate, as Dobby's (and sometimes Harry's) cooking were delicious. But seriously… vegetables? That was so ugh. He wasn't a rabbit for God's sake.
Harry sighed when Naruto returned to his room. The boy picked very little of the vegetables, preferring to eat meat and the desserts. Well at least he ate some of it, better than nothing. For a boy who disliked vegetables it was a definite improvement. But improvement or not, it was still not enough. He decided to talk with Dobby about it later.
Meanwhile Kyuubi was grumbling inside his cage, as Naruto ranted that he hated vegetables and that vegetables were evil. Well, the demon fox could agree to that. Vegetables were a definite no-no. But why couldn't he muffle his voice? It was too loud. Beside if he hated vegetables then he shouldn't eat it! Case closed! A flash of the demon's face he had met before caused him to look up.
That demon was the reason his host ate vegetables? Ridiculous! No sane demon would eat something as atrocious as the vile vegetables. The demon wasn't a vegetarian, was he? Kyuubi frowned, starting to wonder if the man was really a demon. But there was no mistake that he was indeed a demon. The after image of a humanoid demon proved it.
While his tenant was musing, Naruto entered his room and lay on the bed with a sigh. He blinked and shot off of the bed, walking to the drawer and took some fresh clothes before he entered the bathroom. He took off his clothes and went to the shower, turning the water tap to 'hot'. The grimes he had managed to accumulate that day were scrubbed off. His muscles relaxed as warm water touched his skin. He remembered how he always had to bathe with cold water. The landlord had sabotaged his water tap and he couldn't get any hot water at all and when he asked the landlord about it the man got angry; he never spoke about it to him afterwards, knowing that it was a futile attempt.
He filled the bathtub with hot water, as he washed his hair thoroughly. He entered the bathtub afterwards, relaxing there. He could get used to this.
All of his tiredness started to go away and Naruto felt peace.
Inside his cage Kyuubi blinked, as he watched the floor. Yes, the floor was usually damp, but getting flooded? Heck, it had never happened! What the fuck!? His host didn't do something stupid like drowning in a bathtub, did he? Kyuubi peered outside with his chakra. It was difficult to do, as Naruto didn't project any images to him (albeit unconsciously). Wait… he did… The fox demon wanted to groan. Just as he thought that he was going to die because of his host; drowning of all things, someone took Naruto's body out of the tub roughly.
"Naruto!"Naruto coughed out water that he had inhaled. Harry was by his side, slapping his hand on his back. "Jeez, kid, just because you don't like it when I asked you to eat vegetables, there's no need to kill yourself!" Naruto didn't answer, both because he was too busy coughing his lungs out and he didn't hear his question. Harry wrapped a towel around his body and brought him to the bed.
"W-what happened?" Naruto blinked, his voice was hoarse and his throat was sore.
"You don't remember?" Harry rubbed his back, as Naruto shook his head. "You were drowning in the bathtub, Naruto."
Naruto stiffened and then turned toward him, his face was still pale. "I was what?"
"Drowning in the bathtub," the young wizard repeated. "Now, I know you hate vegetables, but there is no need to kill yourself over it," Harry said. There was an amused glint in his eyes, but Naruto couldn't see it.
"What? But I wasn't going to kill myself. It's just-well-uh-I guess that I was too tired and then I drifted off to sleep…" Naruto muttered; his cheeks were red.
Harry chuckled. "Well, you're lucky that I knew you were in trouble or you'd be dead right now. Next time; be careful."
"Sorry," the blonde boy murmured.
"It's alright," Harry pushed Naruto's wet bangs out of his face and muttered a quick drying charm.
Naruto blinked sleepily. "Huh? Then he touched his now dry hair. "Neat!" he commented, as he fought to open his eyes.
"Just sleep. I'll take care of you," Naruto's eyelids were starting to drop; his lips were moving saying something incomprehensive. Harry smiled, "You're welcome, Naruto, and no; you're not a nuisance at all." Harry decided to stay there watching the sleeping boy for another ten minutes, before he exited the room and switched off the lamp. There was a warm feeling in his chest when he watched the young boy sleep. Was this the feeling of having a family? It was… nice, he guessed. He definitely could get used to it.
Naruto woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed and recharged. A miso ramen greeted him on the table, although he found there was a small amount of vegetables inside the bowl too. Sighing, he gobbled down the noodles, wondering where Harry was. The small green creature who was in charge of the house brought him a plate of bacon and omelet, before he shuffled back to the kitchen. As he ate the bacon Harry entered the kitchen and plopped down on the chair. Dobby brought him a plate of fruit salad and hot coffee.
"Thanks, Dobby," he sipped the warm drink and picked his food.
"You looked like hell, nii-san," Naruto commented. His hair was messier than usual and he looked terribly sleepy.
"Wha? Oh, right. I don't get much sleep these days. There is a lot to do," he began to eat his food in a slow pace. Back in his world where he was hunted he didn't get much sleep too, but he guessed that it had something to do with the adrenaline rush he had gotten. "Don't worry, after everything is finished I'll take my sweet time to sleep and rest," and to train, must not forget about training. Both of them ate in comfortable silence.
When Harry was finished with his food (Naruto was savoring the ice cream Dobby had given him), he stood up and shoved a piece of paper in Naruto's hand.
"Eh, what's this?" the boy looked up from his ice cream and read it. "Practice your left hand; the strength, speed and accuracy are much worse than your right. You'll be in trouble if your right hand is incapacitated. You're a power house and stamina freak, but you're a bit slow. Do something about it," Naruto blinked. "Harry-niisa—Are?" Naruto looked around him; Harry was nowhere to be found. "Dobby!" the elf appeared with a crack.
"Yes, Naruto sir?"
"Where's Harry-niisan?"
"Mr. Potter has gone to his weapon shop. Apparently a shipment of standard ninja weapons arrived this morning," said the elf, as he handed Naruto his lunch box.
"Hee…" Naruto nodded and accepted it. That was fast. "Thanks, Dobby. I'm leaving for my team meeting now." Dobby bowed low, as Naruto dashed out of the house.
Meanwhile in the meeting spot, Naruto was shocked to find his chronically-late-sensei had already arrived before him. He had purposely stayed late for an hour the day Kakashi arrived earlier than usual. "Whoa, you're not late!"
Kakashi turned his annoyed glare to the blond. "And you are late for an hour," he flipped the porn book back to his pants pocket and crossed his arms. "Any excuse?"
"Nope, but I guess your habit has rubbed off on me," said Naruto cheekily. So what if he had to wait for an hour? He was used to wait for Kakashi for several hours.
Kakashi sighed. "Anyway, there's news that Konoha will host the chuunin exam this year in 3 months time. There is no definite plan yet, but it will surely be held in 3 months. I'll start to train you seriously from now on."
"Aha! So you do admit that you didn't even try to train use before this," Naruto pointed triumphantly at Kakashi. The masked jounin scowled.
"Eh? You're going to enter us, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura exclaimed in shock. It was unusual for a rookie team to take the exam, except if they were extraordinaire.
Naruto frowned and his lifted fingers were lowered. "Sakura is right. I don't mind training, but are you really gonna make us enter the exam? We're still rookies after all."
"Are you afraid, dobe?" Sasuke smirked.
Naruto scowled. "Hardly, but I don't fancy getting myself killed just because I'm not ready. Kakashi-sensei has neglected our training for so long that I doubt even though he wants to train us seriously we'll be ready by the time of the exam," Kakashi's eye twitched, "After all it will allow killings and the participants are supposed to be the best from their own villages. I don't want to fail and humiliate myself or worse getting myself killed. Not to sound humble or something, but I realize that I'm still lacking many things to be a good ninja. Anyway I don't think I need to rush everything. But if you want to enter it, be my guest. I won't forbid you or anything," Naruto shrugged.
Naruto, the stubborn mule dobe actually admitted he wasn't ready? Sasuke stared at the blonde boy.
The silver haired jounin cleared his throat. He didn't know that Naruto even had any sense. "Entering the exam or not is up to you three—Yes, Sasuke, all team members have to agree first before you can enter the chuunin exam as a team. You can't enter the exam individually, sorry," he didn't feel sorry at all. "Still, I'm going to prepare you incase you decide to take it. I'm going to cut our mission time short in exchange for training," Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Is that okay with you, Naruto?"
The genin boy understood why he asked him that. He was an orphan and until Harry took him in (seemed like Kakashi didn't know about it yet) he was alone and had to come by money on his own. The orphan fund Sandaime had given him was pretty tight for his daily needs alone; especially when people always overpriced the goods he wanted to buy and gave him the worst goods they could find. It seemed the old man hadn't taken that into consideration when he handed him the money. When he became a genin, his mission payment had helped him a bit (well… a lot, not that he wanted to tell anyone that catching a cat on missions helped his life). Now that he was taken in by Harry, however, he didn't have to worry about that anymore.
"It's okay. In fact I don't think I'll need the orphan fund anymore," Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh right, I haven't told you yet, but I have moved into Harry-niisan's house."
"…You have?"
Naruto nodded. "He offered to take me in and I agreed. You should see my room!" Naruto grinned. "It is much more spacious than my old one!" Sasuke watched him with narrowed eyes.
"Does Sandaime know about it already?" Kakashi asked carefully.
"Yup! Since yesterday actually."
"Oh." He would need to talk with the Hokage about it, like why he didn't tell him about the news. He was Naruto's jounin instructor after all.
Meanwhile, Harry was ordering the delivery men to put the weapon crates inside his shop. After they exited the shop, he immediately waved his hand and some of the weapons flew out of the crates into specific places on the shelves, while the rest stayed in the crates and were placed in the store room. He went to label the shelves and put on the price tags. Before he was finished with it, however, the door to his shop opened with a ringing sound because of the bell he put there.
Harry looked up and noticed a long white haired man entered his shop. "I'm sorry, but this store hasn't been opened yet," said Harry, as the man turned his eyes toward him.
"So, you're the new blacksmith I have heard much about from Sarutobi-sensei," the middle aged man stated, ignoring the fact that the shop hadn't been opened yet.
"Sarutobi?" Harry frowned, not knowing who the man was talking about. "And who are you?"
"Huh? You've never heard of me, the Great Jiraiya?" he asked with wide eyes. The wizard shook his head. "Then I believe an introduction is needed!" Harry's eyes twitched. "I am one of the sannins of Konoha! The frog summoner and the creator of the greatest book in the universe; Icha Icha Paradise! I am Jiraiya, the frog sennin!" Harry was reminded of a kabuki show he had seen on TV when he was a kid and sweatdropped, wondering why the man wasn't in an asylum.
"Riiiighhht…" the two stared at each other awkwardly. "And? Who is this Sarutobi?"
"Huh, you don't know? He's the Third Hokage; Sandaime. His name is Sarutobi," Jiraiya blinked.
"I didn't know his real name, only his title," Harry replied. "Well, I guess since you're his student… you're his student, right?" The white haired man nodded. "Then I'll allow you to look around. What do you need? I'm afraid that there isn't much variation right now," half of the space was still empty.
"Actually I'm more interested of you," Jiraiya took a seat on the cashier's table and smirked.
"..You're not gay, aren't you?" Harry backed off.
The frog sennin's jaw dropped in shock. "What do you mean gay? I'm perfectly straight!" he bellowed in horror. "I only want to know what makes my sensei intrigued, that's all," he protested.
"Oh, really?" he stared intently at his eyes.
"Really, really," Yondaime's former sensei nodded.
Well at least he doesn't try to sneak around… He scores some brownie points for that alone. "Start talking then. What do you want to know? I'll answer as best as I could. But I get to ask you questions too."
Jiraiya thought of it for a moment and then shrugged. "Why not? I'll answer your questions as best as I can too. So, tell me about you."
"About my what? My life? I'm afraid that I won't be able to tell you much. Well, my name is Harry Potter. I was born at July 31; 19 years ago. My parents were James and Lily Potter or Potter James and Lily, according to the custom here. They died when I was one year old; murdered by a racist maniac. I lived with my aunt from my mother's side for 10 years and the seven summers after that before I took off on my own. A war brewed in my homeland, led by that racist maniac. I managed to kill him at last, but then I was washed away to Wave Island where I met team 7 of Konoha." Jiraiya knew that Harry didn't tell him much and wouldn't answer if he asked further. "Now, I get to ask you a question. Do you know Uzumaki Naruto?" Jiraiya stiffened. "It seemed that he was quite close with the Hokage and you are his student."
"I know of him, but I'm afraid I don't know him. It has been so long since I set foot here. I always wandered out of Konoha."
Makes you wonder why you're here right now, Harry thought with a smirk.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because many people eye him with hostility. I know he's a good kid, and have to wonder why he seems to be hated by them. I can count those who are kind to him on one hand. I also know that the younger generations don't know why he's hated, only that their parents dislike him and tell them that he is a delinquent. One of those I met even shouted that he was a demon, which is quite ridiculous I must say. So, do you know why?"
"…You have done your homework, I see," Jiraiya said dryly.
Harry smirked. "Of course."
"Well, I can't tell you about that because there is a law that prohibits me from telling you," Jiraiya scratched his hair.
"There's a law specifically made for Naruto?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
The sennin nodded. "I can only tell you that people are afraid of him… well, more like what he has the potential to be, I guess."
"That makes no sense. If they're afraid of him, shouldn't they-oh, I don't know-grovel at his feet and hope they don't anger him?"
Jiraiya snorted. "Tell that to them. My turn to ask then. I heard you made a special sword that rivaled Raijin."
"Raijin?" Harry asked.
"Nidaime's lightning sword. It's an heirloom of sort, but it was stolen by a thief years ago."
"A lightning sword, you say? Interesting," Harry commented. "Hm, well I made Zeus, that's the name of my sword by the way; after the name of an ancient God who used lightning as his weapon, when I was 17 years old. I was out of my relative's house and was no longer in school." Jiraiya wondered what kind of school he had attended. "I was apprenticed under Master Kienne. He was the one who taught me how to become a blacksmith. All in his family were blacksmiths. He had this ancient broken sword that his ancestor had made. I used the essence of said sword to be the sword I had worked on forging for months. It already had its lightning power by then, so I guess that I only re-forged the sword." That wasn't true, but what Jiraiya didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "That's why I don't know how to make another sword as special as Zeus, aside from the fact I almost gotten myself to be killed. I don't know how to recreate said essence of the sword and the knowledge was lost through time."
"And your master allowed you to do that?" he asked skeptically.
"He said that I was destined to be with the sword," Harry smirked. He didn't know why, but he felt somewhat comfortable around this man. He reminded him of Sirius or Fred or George or even Naruto. There was an air of mischievousness around him.
"So you had long decided to become a blacksmith?" his reply was a laugh.
"Actually no. I had never considered becoming a blacksmith before I was outside the school. In fact I had thought that I would be an Auror, our version of the police in my homeland. But then I thought about it again. I don't like my government; most of them are so pompous and annoying I can't stand them. Don't know what landed me on Master Kienne's doorstep," he chuckled. "I heard that ninjas here only need to be in school until they turn into genins. Lucky bastards," he muttered.
"Actually as soon as they're out of academy real life would bite them in the ass. Ninjas matured faster that way, especially in the time of war."
Harry was about to speak when the door of his shop rang again. "Hm, I think I'll need a 'closed and open' sign," he muttered. "I'm sor—Iruka-san?" it was Iruka who stood on the front. "Is there something I can help you with?"
The academy teacher rubbed his temple. "Well, I heard that Naruto moved into your house," he trailed off. Jiraiya's eyes widened a fraction. Sandaime hadn't told him anything about that.
Harry nodded. "Yes, he did. Is there something wrong with that?"
The brown haired man shook his head. "Actually no. I just want to say that I'm grateful of what you've done for him. The boy deserves it. I'm afraid that my hands are pretty much tied and I'm happy to know that someone is standing up for him."
"It's not a problem. He's a good kid and I like him," Iruka nodded. He then noticed the white haired man beside Harry. "Jiraiya-sama?" he blinked. The man reminded him of the photo of Sandaime and his genins on his table.
"Ohoho, there's someone who recognized me, the Great Jiraiya at last! So have you read my great novel Icha Icha Paradise?" he asked.
Iruka's lips twitched. "Excuse me?" that was the name of the porn book Naruto had told him that his jounin always read in front of his students.
"You haven't heard of it?" Jiraiya asked, horrified. "Not a problem, because I always bring copies of my books!" he then took out an orange book from his clothes and shoved it into Iruka's hands. Harry had the sudden urge to flee somewhere else and he trusted his instinct, especially when Iruka's expression darkened. But he couldn't do that, this was his shop.
Iruka's fists clenched. "You're the author of this book?" he asked in a soft growl.
"Indeed I am!" the man yelled proudly, not knowing about the looming danger.
Iruka then turned to Harry. "Excuse me, Harry-san, but I need to borrow Jiraiya-sama for a moment. A talk about the importance of examples set by an elder, you see."
The former Boy-Who-Lived nodded. "Don't let me bother you two," Harry waved his hands, as Iruka dragged a bewildered sennin with him forcefully, not having an idea that Iruka would soon chew him out. "Now back to work!"
There were other deliveries that day and Harry was busy arranging his shop. He considered hiring a worker or two to help him, so he could focus on forging weapons and training; instead of standing around his shop and serving customers. With that in thought, he let the weapons arrange themselves (he had closed down the shop to make sure no one entered it) and wrote a vacancy letter for two workers. The applicator would be interviewed later by himself using legilimency discreetly to make sure his would-be workers accepted Naruto or at least didn't outright hate him.
After he was finished with the shop he decided to take a nap in his own bedroom and immediately apparated there, not caring about his stalkers that were planted outside his shop. Let them watch the shop for a long time. After eating his lunch and getting sleepier, he decided to crash on his bed and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Meanwhile, Naruto and the others had Kakashi beat the crap out of them by his hellish training. Sakura were resting under a big tree as her body couldn't take more strain. Naruto and Sasuke were panting. Team 7 had been given weights to put on their ankles and was ordered to get used to the feel of the weights by running 5 laps around the training field. Afterwards Kakashi set off a group of dog-nins - complete with sets of claws and fangs - to chase after them and unless they wanted to be bitten in the ass they had to run away, using everything in their arsenal to fend off the dogs. Bad news was they weren't allowed to fight the dogs directly.
Naruto whizzed, as he leapt to dodge a bulldog attempting to bite his leg, and created a couple of bunshins to distract the dogs. Sasuke, who was beside him, couldn't help but feel grateful for the clones. They had been running for hours non-stop. He'd like to ask for a 'time's up' like Sakura, but there was no way he did that before Naruto. He was annoyed, however, that he wasn't allowed to directly fight the summons. Most of his techniques were offense moves and thus couldn't be used here. Naruto was lucky to have the kage bunshin technique, as his clones could fight the battle for him and distracted his opponents by either attacking or laying traps. Stills he wondered how come Naruto hadn't dropped dead from chakra exhaustion. He had created hundreds of bunshins during their training. The heir of the Uchiha clan himself had conserved his chakra for running and not doing any jutsus.
Kakashi had said that there would come the time when they needed to escape without engaging their enemies and this was training for that kind of situation. The black haired genin didn't want to admit it, but Naruto was the better one among team 7 members to distract his opponents while loosing their pursuits. Their training was harder because they weren't allowed to exit training field 7's perimeter.
"What I wouldn't do for a dung bomb right now," Naruto panted.
"Why in the hell do you want a dung bomb of all things?" Sasuke almost lost his footing on the branch he landed on.
"Dogs are using their noses, ears and eyes to track people. If we can somehow incapacitate their senses, we'll be able to rest," the blonde genin reasoned. "Oh well, Kakashi-sensei told us to not exit the field, but he said nothing for my bunshins," he managed a weak smile. "I have a couple of dung bombs ready to be used and perhaps some other things in my room. Let my bunshins get it for us," he created two bunshins and, without speaking to them, his bunshins leapt to the direction of his new home.
"And why didn't you do it sooner?" the weight, even if he only had 5 pounds each on his ankles, were straining his legs.
"Because I wanted to test my durability, but this is starting to get old. Why? Are you almost at your limit, Sasuke-chan?" he teased.
"In your dreams, dobe," he gritted his teeth.
"Hah, I don't see you do anything helpful except for planting those explosion tags and run! I might not be as fast as you, but my endurance is more than making up for it. And why are you following me anyway?"
"I am not following you!"
"Riiiigggghhhhtttt," Naruto commented and they continued to run.
Harry blinked tiredly when he felt a shadow of Kyuubi's presence in the house. There were two of them. He immediately guessed that they were Naruto's clones. The real Naruto would have a stronger feeling of Kyuubi around him and none of them felt like that and he could only detect weak sign of the fox demon.
He apparated to Naruto's room, yawning. "What are you doing?" he asked them.
The two bunshins turned toward him and with a grin plastered on their faces showed him a case of dung bombs made by yours truly Naruto-sama. "Boss needed them for his training. He wanted to use them for traps."
"Traps you say?" the wizard blinked, some of his weariness ebbing away. "Hm… I might be able to help him," he remembered the pranking goods he got from the Weasley twins. It had saved his lives a couple of times too and he was thankful that the twins showed him how they created them. "One of you comes with me. The other can send the bombs to Naruto, while I search for a couple of things." The bunshins looked at each other and shrugged. One of them rose and dashed away to Harry's bedroom.
By the time he got there, Harry was rummaging through a small wooden case and took out some things from it. "Aha! Portable swamp! What a remembrance! By the way, who's his opponent?" Harry asked.
"A group of nin-dogs."
"Dogs you say? Hm… then let's use these fake bones! Guaranteed to attract dogs like a bitch in heat! Dung bombs v. III will be able to knock out the dogs—and other living beings, actually—for days! A red paint that will create the illusion of being cats to those that are splashed by it! And this! And this too!" the bunshin sweatdropped, as Harry cackled evilly. "And lastly; a camera! Always remember to bring a camera! Don't forget to take snapshots, alright!" he patted the bunshins on the shoulder after he dumped the pranking goods in his hands. "Now shoo, I want to get back to my sleep!" Harry pushed Naruto's clone out of his room and went back to his sleep. He dreamed of the twins and how they taught him to be what they called the 'Proud son of Prongs' before they were killed. Here in this world without someone trying to kill him (stalking was different) this mischievous side of him was able to be let out for a moment when he was half awake. When he woke up later he wouldn't even remember giving Naruto's clones anything.
Needless to say it was a sad day for Kakashi's dogs… and an eventful day for Naruto.
Kakashi had to treat his dogs at Inuzuka's later, where he was chewed out on the importance of taking well care of his partners, even if they were summons.
"Harry-niisan, thank you for those things you had sent to me!" Naruto yelled cheerfully.
Harry blinked and stared at the blond. "Ha? I sent you something?" he said dumbly.
"Eh? You were the one who sent those portable swamps and the other things, right?"
"Portable swamp? How do you know about it?" he asked in confusion. He didn't remember ever telling Naruto about that thing, much less sending it to him.
"Eh? But my clone said you gave me those things, you even asked me to take photos! And the bunshin's memory confirmed it!"
"…" curious, Harry took a look at Naruto's mind and sweatdropped when he saw himself—or someone that looked like him—cackled like madman. He dug into his own memories and got a fuzzy memory about rummaging something and gave that to Naruto's clone. "Oh, yeah. That…" Damn, that sleep must have muddled my brain or something! "I remember it now. You're… welcome then."
"Ne, ne, did you create those things by yourself? They're so cool!"
"Actually they're the remnants of pranking materials that I had gotten from my friends. They were pranksters and quite ingenious too," Harry said with a smirk, remembering their pranks during their Hogwarts days. "But if you want to, I can make some for you," he said.
"Eh? Can't you just tell me how to create them myself?" he protested.
"Sorry, but even if I tell you—which I won't—you won't be able to create them. You don't have the necessary skill; in fact none of the people here have this ability."
"You mean like a bloodline?" Naruto asked dejectedly.
"Bloodline? Yes, I suppose it is," the genin's head lowered. "So how's your day? You looked pretty much out of it when you arrived."
"It's good, I guess. I mean Kakashi was actually punctual and he even said that he was going to train us seriously from now on. Not that I'll forget just how many hours I had to wait for him and how our trainings were neglected," he bit out. "Oh, and about that paper you gave me this morning, the one about speed? Well, this day he decided to give us weights, not much, but we'll feel the strain after we train for some time. I'm thinking of increasing the weight of the bands."
"As long as you don't strain yourself too fast, I'm fine with it." Yeah right, as if. Harry remembered how he strived to break his limit everyday after his friends all died. And Naruto was as stubborn as he himself, if not more. Beside he didn't have to worry much about his body's condition. Naruto had Kyuubi to thank for that. It was Kyuubi's power which healed all of Naruto's injuries.
He wondered if he could control his bonded demon's power to do the same. Not an instant healing that would take its toll of his body that happened when he was wounded in his demonic frenzy, but gradual healing in which its pace he could control. He had once asked Naruto subtly about how he felt the next morning after he trained hard. Naruto told him that his body felt refreshed and he didn't feel sore. If only he somehow could do the same he wouldn't have much problem after being possessed by his demonic sword. And surely using demonic power constantly would let his body adjust faster and then he would be able to be a berserker for a longer time and channel more power to his body.
Yes, the idea merited some thinking.
Dinner was a lively occasion this time, as Naruto narrated his training that day (and exaggerated it a bit). The boy wondered why there were so little vegetable dishes than the other night, but decided to shut his mouth. Unknown to Naruto the truth was the other way around. Most of the food were vegetarian food. They looked and even tasted like meat but they were not. Dobby still cooked meat since Naruto was a growing boy and would need nutrition.
What he doesn't know will not hurt him, Harry smiled softly as he watched Naruto retreat to his room upstairs.
Two days later, after he felt that his shop was complete enough, he opened it helped by Naruto's bunshins. The real one was still training under Kakashi. And boy was he grateful for the help, because just as he opened the door a group of ninjas: genin, chuunin, jounin and even some ANBUs, were there. The wizard wondered whether Sandaime's free ad was a bit too much. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about not getting any customer.
Some ninjas stopped in their tracks when they saw Naruto (or rather his bunshins) were there. Fortunately the ninjas didn't say anything before they resumed their activity. Perhaps because they didn't want to end up on his wrong side. Rumours about him standing up for Naruto had spread fast. He felt that he had acted quite accordingly to those who attempted to persuade him of Naruto's deceit and evilness.
Although he didn't really need the money, he still set a standard price, not wanting the other weapon shops to get angry for lowering his prices. By the time the shop was closed down more than half of his own creations were sold; mostly kunais and shurikens, or swords for ANBUs. Some customers even gave him pointers that he wrote down in his notebook.
Three days after that he hired three workers to take over the shop. Two of them were girls and all three didn't have any problems with Naruto. Harry himself would stay in the shop for 1 to 2 hours in the morning only.
Right now he was choosing a pair of 15 pounds ankle weight bands for Naruto from his collections. After picking them up he went back to his house and put them in Naruto's room. Picking up his sword, he rode out on his horse and searched for a good training ground around Konoha. It felt good to ride a horse again, to feel the wind caress his face. He had no flying broom here and his animagus form was too eye-catching to be used.
Harry decided to hold off on the kanji learning for Naruto, seeing that the boy was busy training and he didn't want to make Naruto think that he was controlling his life. The boy had told him about the upcoming chuunin exam and though he was excited at the possibility to show off his worth, he was worried that he wasn't ready for this year. Personally the Head of the Potter family felt that it would be a good idea for Naruto to enter it. If he would ever encounter a tight situation he was sure that Kyuubi would help him as the fox wouldn't want to die. Beside he wanted to see what Naruto was capable of. He only told Naruto that it would be a good experience if he was to enter the exam. The blond perked up and told him that he'd enter if he felt he was ready for it. He was sure that if Sasuke wanted to enter the exam, Sakura would follow even if she didn't want to. And he knew that Sasuke was eager to take the exam. Kakashi also seemed to want them to take the offer, whether it was because he felt they were ready or because he wanted to brag about his rookie team entering the exam or perhaps because it was Konoha who hosted the exam and thus his team would have the advantage because they were used to the climate and terrain (which would tell how little he thought of the team if it was the case) or not, Naruto didn't know.
Harry had trained Naruto in the basic sword style a bit, so Naruto could practice using his black kodachi on his own. He told the boy to ask for someone else's help for further training, since his sword style was different seeing that his sword was a huge double-edged one (and was capable of electrocuting someone to boot). Naruto was told to be careful because his kodachi was sharper and stronger than a common kodachi and it was coated by a paralysis potion, which was the cause of the black color of the short sword. The black haired young man had given him the antidote. He could only hope that Naruto didn't forget to bring it with him when he was training. It wouldn't be funny to have him paralyzed because of a small mistake on his part.
For his training, Harry started to practice using ninja weapons too; mainly using kunais and shurikens, since he had practiced with throwing knives before he learned to use a sword. The first time he trained it was hard. It was different from using a wand that didn't need power to boost the magic out of the wooden stick and he had snapped his wrist four times before he was able to get the stance right. He was no good when it came to using something long like wires or chains though. He had tried to use a combination of sickle and long chain (like the one Kohaku in Inuyasha used) only to be unable to control it and received the end of the sickle on his forehead. It was thankfully the blunt side or he'd have lost so much blood and perhaps even suffered brain damage. He wouldn't die, he had Zeus to thank for that. He had to drink a foul potion to heal his purplish bump in just seconds to avoid Naruto seeing the bruise and asking him where he got it. Fortunately there was no one around him to watch the embarrassing scene. The wizard never tried that weapon again.
He also started to train his body harder, even though he was much stronger than normal people in his world. Sadly he knew there were ninjas that were capable of going against him and win here, especially if he was without the help of the demon he bonded to. His non-verbal magic was going to be an asset here. Sure even the ninjas here shouted the name of their attack, but if he, who was a non-ninja, did that that would be the same as announcing his presence and thus signing his own death sentence. Stealth, surprise, speed and a bit demon's power here and there (and of course don't forget about his luck) would help him much. He didn't need strength much with his magic, but he needed it to use his sword. Relying on adrenaline would hurt him in the future. These people weren't the same like the ones in his world. Their fighting prowess and skills were very different and so he had to adapt if he wanted to survive.
He had promised his friends that he would live for them. And now he had someone to care for. He would become stronger so it wouldn't happen again. He wouldn't let someone hurt his precious people, not this time around. Harry knew that Naruto was bound to be hurt. He was a ninja after all, but Harry would do his best to make sure he didn't die like his friends and to provide a safe and warm home for the blonde boy.
His mind drifted to the other boy of team 7. He had heard from Naruto that the boy's clan members were all killed, leaving him as the only survivor. Naruto didn't know the person who was responsible for the massacre and he didn't want to ask the angsty boy. Harry had once thought of inviting the black haired genin to join them, but stopped before he even asked him. Sasuke was too proud. He wouldn't accept the offer. He was from an influential clan and surely had many offers like that, and since he was living alone that would mean he refused those offers. Beside he was more worried about Naruto who was all alone from his birth and if he invited Sasuke too Naruto might think that he was just an addition, because of pity. Sasuke had many people who adored him, while Naruto only had a handful of them.
The young wizard wanted to be one of those handful people. He wanted to be special in someone's eyes, not just one of many. He knew that the reason was selfish. And in the end he chose Naruto over Sasuke. If someone asked him to reconsider it, he'd do the same thing over and over again. Because of the war he was weary when it came to trusting people. He knew that Naruto wouldn't betray him, but he couldn't say the same for the young black haired ninja. Right now the boy was reminding him of himself when he was hell bent on revenge. He could see it in his eyes. And he was uncomfortable with it. He didn't need or want a reminder of what he once was. He wanted to forget about it.
Harry sighed and cleared his head from such depressing thought. Here he could create a new life so he might as well enjoy it.
TBC…
The real reasons why Harry didn't offer Sasuke to stay with him (not just because he didn't want to appear to be conversing with a statue) is now revealed. In the end Harry is still a human who's bound to make mistakes and isn't perfect. Like Kakashi, his past is still interfering with (and screwing up) his life. Naruto reminds him of himself when he was staying with his aunt, wanting acceptance. Harry was able to recover from it because he had his friends, but he was still unable to face the fact (in this story) that he acted like a monster and slaughtered many people and creatures without an ounce of compassion.
On the other hand, Kakashi liked Sasuke better because he was similar to him, while Naruto reminded him of his dead friend Obito, and his dead sensei (well, they do look alike; blonde hair, blue eyes and similar faces) and the Kyuubi who killed his sensei (he didn't hate him for it, but every time he saw Naruto he would be reminded of the nine tailed demon, telling him that he was weak and that he failed to protect his precious people… at least that's what I think)
Anyway please don't forget to review!
Next will be the long awaited chuunin exam. I wonder how I should make it turn out to be. Still haven't thought of it… Damn, that sounds like there is no plot whatsoever (sweatdrop : )