A Personal Matter
R. Winters
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Harry Potter, or Thanksgiving day... which isn't today anyway, so I don't know why I'm mentioning it.
You'd all laugh at me if you realized how long it took me to figure out why you were all so sure Harry was going to 'blow up' soon. Either my experience with kids, which I like to think is pretty wide for someone my age, isn't as good as I thought it was, or you're all thinking of Harry as a normal teenage boy... That is, what I'm trying to say is, kids change moods about as quickly as the weather in Minnesota. And if you ever lived in Minnesota, you know it can go from below freezing to a balmy 63 F in a matter of hours. Annoying. But my point is, teenagers, like the Harry we all know and love in the series, let things build up inside of them until they boil over. Little kids are more likely to simply forget and move on. They're very resilient that way.
But that's not what I planned to talk about here. Because I planned to tell you all two things. One, Rin's birthday (which takes place in this chapter) is November 15. Two, Konoha is in the Fire Country (ha ha, you all knew that). From what I've seen of Naruto, place names tend to reflect upon the characteristics of the place they're named for. I have also never seen any hint of "fall" or "winter" (as most of us think of them) happen in Konoha. I have chosen to interpret this as meaning Fire Country is a rather temperate place ranging from "warm" to "hot" to "really hot" all year. Of course, there also has to be a good deal of rain to keep the plant life healthy. This may or may not be correct, just thought I'd warn you that there won't be a lot in the way of "seasons" in this story. It's deliberate.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone, and please enjoy this timely chapter. (I only barely got it up today, what with Thanksgiving gatherings with my family yesterday and today...)
Chapter 12 – Monsters Don't Grieve
Boy and dark lord stared at each other over the body of the fallen woman. Harry's dark green eyes were bright with interest and curiosity, with no understanding of what was going on. Voldemort's dark, bloodshot eyes were equally bright with anticipation and excitement, seeing his reign open before him.
The man took a few steps forward and raised his wand, leveling it with the curious boy's head, a cruel smile twisting his lips. Harry looked down at his mother, frowning slightly as she lay still on the ground.
"Hello, Harry," the dark lord hissed pleasantly, drawing the boy's eyes again. Suddenly, the pleasant look disappeared from his face and he stretched his wand towards the boy. His features distorted in anger and hatred as he gave the wand a tiny flick, "Avada Kedavra!"
Harry stared briefly at the green light that exploded from the man's wand, then looked back at his hate filled face, suddenly afraid with this change of expression. Voldemort only smiled more cruelly as the boy's expression shifted from curiosity to fear.
The curse hit and pain flared to life in every one of the infant's cells. The boy let out a wail, but instead of falling dead his body began to glow. Voldemort's lips curled down in an ugly frown as he stared at the Potter infant.
Energy engulfed the boy in flames of white, converging at the very spot where his spell was striking. White energy met green, shielding the child as though it were alive and could sense the threat to its master.
Voldemort's confusion turned to horror as the white energy swelled, brighter and fiercer at the boy's forehead. The two forces seemed to be in tension, struggling against each other.
Then, quite suddenly, the white energy exploded and the green beam of light ricocheted away from it, back towards its caster. Voldemort's eyes widened in horror and anger.
The spell struck, Voldemort still staring at the infant that was supposed to be dead. The white energy disappeared as suddenly as it had flared up and the boy was left crying, blood smeared on his forehead, but very much alive.
The dark wizard barely had the time to take in as much before pain engulfed his senses and he was torn from his body by the curse of his own casting. Still, his awareness did not end there.
Everything became distorted around him, shapes indistinct and noises somehow more piercing, light more blinding. Voldemort didn't know what was happening, exactly, but he understood enough to know he had been defeated, somehow.
As if reacting to his will, his consciousness flew, fleeing away from that place and that unnatural child. He hated and desired nothing more than to kill the boy, but there was nothing he could do for now. He retreated with the single thought of returning in mind. Bide his time and stoke his power until he could secure his victory.
Harry was extremely disappointed when his cries didn't wake his mother, and his father didn't come running to see what was wrong. He cried for some time, waiting for either of his parents to bend over and pick him up in their loving embrace.
But no one came and the exhausted infant soon fell asleep.
Minato and the boys turned up for training only to find Rin already at the appointed meeting place. The girl sat on the ground, crying. She tried to stop as she noticed them, wiping her eyes and sniffling a few times, but the waterworks simply continued.
As Minato stared awkwardly and tried to think of what he should do, Kakashi stiffened by his side and Harry stared blatantly. First item of business—Minato turned to the boys, voice low, "Kakashi, can you take Harii-kun somewhere?"
The young Jounin nodded, grabbing Harry's arm to drag him from the clearing, and only presenting a quiet command of, "Let's go," after they were back in the trees.
The blonde then turned and reluctantly approached his student. It was still awkward, but he'd gotten a little better at dealing with tears since Harry had come to stay with them. He crouched at the girl's side and silently rubbed the young teen's back until her sobs began to slow.
"I-I'm sorry, sensei," the girl sobbed, still rubbing at her eyes and trying to calm herself down, "I—it just won't s-stop..."
"Sh, it's alright," the man assured the girl, suspecting the sudden bout of grief had been triggered by Obito's absence at dinner the preceding night.
Eventually Rin's crying subsided until she was left with a bit of a runny nose, puffy, red-rimmed eyes, and a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, sensei," she apologized again, head lowered so she wouldn't have to look at him, "I... don't know why it hit me here all of a sudden..."
"It's alright, Rin," Minato assured her again, "It's okay to cry, sometimes. This is a hard time for you and Kakashi..."
"And you, sensei," the girl added observantly, looking up at the man and still sniffling a little.
The man was quiet, but his expression confirmed her assumption.
"Did you..." Rin trailed off, momentarily losing her nerve. After several long seconds she tried again, "Did you ever lose a teammate, sensei?"
Minato remained silent for almost a minute before he answered, "I've lost several in my time... It can be hard to keep going afterwards—especially at first... hard to understand how the world can keep moving forward without them."
His haunted look vanished as he smiled at the girl, a little melancholy clinging to the expression, "But you have to go on, anyway. For yourself, and for them, and for all the other people that you care about. The pain will lessen with time, Rin, and you may even come out stronger for it."
The girl remained thoughtfully silent for a few minutes before standing. Minato watched her take a few steps, then turn back to him.
"I'm going to go wash my face," she said, an embarrassed blush still coloring her cheeks as she pointed in the direction of a nearby stream.
Minato smiled, standing as well, "I'll see if I can track down Kakashi and Harii."
Rin returned his smile with a weak, watery one of her own before turning towards the stream again. Minato looked around, scratching the back of his head in thought, then leaped into the trees after his missing wards.
Harry shifted uncomfortably next to the older boy, looking around restlessly. Beside him, Kakashi was staring listlessly at one particular spot on the stone in front of him, face disturbingly blank.
"Kakashi-niisan," Harry broke the silence with a whisper, a little afraid to speak louder in this place. He recognized the stone they stood in front of—it was the same one the funeral had taken place at almost two weeks ago.
The older boy didn't respond and Harry followed his gaze to the rock, and the lines carved across it. With some difficulty he managed to decipher the first character.
"Uuuuu...chiii..." The boy's face screwed up with thought as he pronounced each character with unnatural slowness, "Haaa..." His eyes widened as he thought about what he'd read, "Uchiha." That was Obito's other name—he'd heard it a lot during the funeral service.
"Uchiha... Obito..." Kakashi's voice was quiet and rough and Harry's eyes snapped up to look at him rather than the stone, "This... this is the Memorial Stone," he explained quietly, "The place where dead heroes have their names carved."
"The... Memorial Stone...?" Harry repeated uncertainly, not really understanding the whole of Kakashi's explanation, but at least recognizing the name of a place when he heard it.
Kakashi didn't respond, but Harry was sure if he'd said it wrong he would have been corrected. He looked back at the words he'd been considering earlier, lowering his eyes to the rest of the name.
The six-year-old tentatively ran a finger down the text as he read out loud, "Uchiha Obito." He looked back at his brother for confirmation, only to be surprised at the moisture in the other boy's eyes. Quickly, Harry looked away again, heart pounding in his chest.
Was Kakashi crying?! Kakashi, who had looked at that dead body in the woods without so much as blinking? Kakashi, who took down that mean man who'd attacked them without ever losing that calm, cool expression? He hadn't even cried during the funeral—Harry had checked.
A long time seemed to pass and Harry didn't dare look back at Kakashi again, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. It wasn't like he'd never seen people cry before—even adults, like his aunt and uncle, cried sometimes. But Kakashi was such an unlikely person for him to find crying that it completely shocked him. That, and the older boy always kept such a cool façade that when it broke Harry felt as though he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to.
"There you two are," a voice said behind them and Harry forgot about not turning around. Minato was walking towards them from the nearby forest, the smile on his face looking a little forced. Kakashi, Harry was relieved to notice as he caught a glance of him out of the corner of his eye, didn't look at all as though he'd been crying much.
"We'll try to get in a little training before lunch, still," the man continued, not waiting for either boy to acknowledge him, "Kakashi, I want to see how you're coming along with your aim."
The teen turned away from the stone and his voice was as calm as usual, if a little quiet, as he replied, "It's getting a lot better. I think I'm up to 70 to 80 percent of normal, now."
The man grinned, "Well, let's go." Kakashi obediently left the clearing, heading back towards the training grounds while Harry just stared after him, wondering if he'd just imagined the water he'd seen in his brother's eyes.
"Harii-kun," Minato prompted, looking a little concerned when he didn't follow, "Is something wrong?"
"... It's fine," Harry replied absently, before moving to catch up with the other two. There was still a lot he didn't understand about these people and this place, but he was used to not understanding things. He'd learn, eventually.
They broke for lunch a little over an hour later. Rin went home while Minato and the boys went to the ramen stand, as usual.
"I think you're on the right track, Kakashi," the man was saying over his noodles, "You know what you need to do intellectually, it's only a matter of training your body to react the way you want it to. Get as much training in as you can and before you know it you'll be back at your usual level."
Kakashi nodded absently.
"Harii-kun," the man added, "After lunch I think we should start working on your Taijutsu form. Most students have some level of experience with Taijutsu when they enter the Academy, and since you'll be entering a little late, it would be especially good for you to have a strong foundation."
Harry didn't respond, not really knowing what the man was talking about, and the three continued to eat in silence.
"Where is o-tousan?" Harry asked several minutes later. He thought he should probably let the subject rest for now, everyone was still really upset because of Obito's death, but he couldn't get the question out of his mind.
Minato just about choked on his lunch and Kakashi's chopsticks stilled immediately.
"Wh-what?" The man spluttered.
Harry frowned—he thought he'd said it right. Thinking a little more carefully, he repeated, "Where is o-tousan?"
The blonde rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Mou… That is, Harii-kun… your dad…"
Kakashi abruptly stood, leaving his ramen half empty.
"Kakashi?" Minato called after him with concern.
"I'll see you on the training grounds, sensei," Kakashi said without turning towards him, "Like you said, I need to practice more."
Minato sighed as the boy lost himself in the crowded streets. He turned his attention back to a confused Harry and smiled sadly, imagining that he should have expected the question, "Harii-kun… your father… he's dead. He's been dead for about six years."
"Dead…?" Harry repeated uncertainly. His face fell, "Like Obito…" Absently, he wondered if his father's name was on that stone, too, like Obito's. He didn't notice any Hatake, but he hadn't really been looking, either.
The man nodded, his eyes far away at the mention of his student. It took several long minutes for him to reply, "I'm sorry you never met him, Harii."
Harry had a sinking feeling that his mother was also dead. Maybe the Dursleys had been telling him the truth, after all.
Minato took a big drink of his broth and set the empty bowl down. He forced his other thoughts aside and smiled at Harry, "We should give Kakashi a little time to himself. Why don't we swing by to pick up Rin and walk around town a bit?"
Following his example, Harry took one last drink of his soup and slipped off his stool. Minato took a glance at the two half empty bowls and shook his head in exasperation.
"You two," he sighed, "I'm losing money on you. If you'd only eat a bit more…"
Kakashi and Harry weren't really talking when Rin's birthday came around, almost two weeks later. With as much time as the Jounin spent training and going on missions, though, it was never really obvious, and when he was forced into interaction with his brother, he continued to act painfully polite.
Rin's birthday was a simpler affair than Kakashi's had been. Harry gathered that the actual day of the celebration was taking place several days after the actual anniversary of her birth—which was understandable since the day of the celebration also happened to be the day after the three of them had returned from a mission.
There really wasn't much of a party, either. The mood started out rather heavy, the happy event shadowed by Obito's still recent death, making this the first birthday they had celebrated without their fourth team member. Over the course of lunch—which was at a restaurant that was considerably nicer than the ramen stand they usually frequented—things gradually lightened.
The meal was served in several small dishes, which confused Harry initially, until he'd realized that the multiple dishes were all his. He still found the situation very strange, wondering why they didn't just serve everything in one big plate.
Afterwards, they went to a small pool off the river. Rin and Minato stripped down to as little they could possibly wear without being outright offending. Even Kakashi removed his outermost layer of clothes—which, apparently, didn't include his mask or hitai-ate.
"Come on, Harii-kun," Minato invited cheerfully, noticing that the six-year-old wasn't doing much more than stare, "Don't you like swimming?"
"Swimming...?" Harry echoed uncertainly, looking at the man and then at the two teens at the water's edge.
Rin was crouched down, feeling the water while Kakashi watched, arms crossed over his pale chest self-consciously. The girl smiled up at her teammate, "It feels good," she announced, standing up.
"Let's go, Harii-kun, it'll be fun!" The man cajoled.
Harry looked at him hesitantly again before reluctantly moving to pull off his shirt and pants, slipping out of his sandals.
Minato looked the six-year-old over unobtrusively as he undressed—he was still very small for his age, but he was slowly starting to put on a little weight, and no longer looked so malnourished. Not for the first time, the man found himself wondering what kind of life the boy had led before he came to live with them—most of the scars could be explained by the attack on his family, but his short stature and thinness could only be from extended neglect. He'd come to the conclusion that Harry's family had either been poor or abusive—the man liked to think it was the former.
He grinned when the boy finished and held out a hand, "Ready?" He'd come a long way in two and a half months.
Harry nodded and took his hand, allowing the man to lead him to the water's side. Minato let the boy hang back as he dropped into the water, already up to his thighs at the edge. Rin was already further in, laughing at some comment Kakashi must have made as he crouched on the water surface beside her.
Crouching down next to the water to tentatively stick a toe in it, Harry followed the man's line of sight and let out a squawk of surprise, gaping at the sight of the older boy somehow standing on the water surface instead of falling in. That, he knew, was not natural.
"What's that?!" He asked in disbelief, pointing.
Minato laughed and ruffled Harry's hair as Kakashi frowned over at them, "That's chakra," the man explained. He climbed back out of the water and demonstrated, concentrating his chakra to his feet as Harry watched, wide-eyed, then stepped out onto the surface of the water he'd been knee deep in before. It was an effortless exercise for the blonde and he turned around to grin at Harry, "See?"
Harry continued to stare at him for a moment, then jumped to his feet, eyes alight with excitement, "Me, too!" He decided, clumsily attempting to put his hands together in the same seal the man had used to concentrate his chakra.
"Like this, Harii-kun," Minato offered, demonstrating it again with his hands as he crouched on the water's surface to decrease the height difference between them.
"Sensei... are you sure that's a good idea?" Rin asked worriedly, drifting a little closer and watching the two with interest.
"Why not?" The blonde shrugged, "Academy students his age learn how to concentrate their chakra."
Rin didn't look convinced—Harry wasn't an Academy student and didn't even really know what chakra was. Besides, water-walking was unarguably a Genin-level technique.
Harry looked at the man's hands studiously and managed to get his own fingers in the same shape, then he tried to step out on the water. Minato caught him before he could fall, chuckling as he put him back on the shore.
"No, no, no, you have to concentrate your chakra, Harii-kun," he corrected, "You can't just make the seal and expect it to work."
Harry stared at him with a small, bemused frown.
The man climbed out of the water and stood beside him again, "Alright, seal first," he started, forming the seal and waiting for Harry to copy it.
"Next, chakra," Minato continued, concentrating chakra to his feet, enough of it to create a visible blue aura.
Harry stared in surprise and looked down at his own feet, which weren't glowing at all. He frowned in confusion.
"Then you can step out on the water," Minato finished, doing so and standing easily on the water's surface.
Harry looked from the man down to his own non-glowing feet, then back up. He sighed and dropped his hands—how was he supposed to make his feet glow? That was impossible! "I can't," he admitted dejectedly.
Minato reached down to ruffle his hair, "You'll get it eventually, Harii-kun," he assured the boy, "It just takes lots of practice."
In the meantime, Rin swam over and held a hand out to Harry, "Come on, Harii-kun, it's just as fun down in the water."
Harry gave Minato and Kakashi one last long look before taking Rin's hand and allowing her to help him down into the water, which was already nearly up to his chest even near the edge.
"Have you ever been swimming before, Harii-kun?" Rin asked in amusement as the boy looked around with wonder at the experience.
It was a lot like taking a bath, but a lot different, too, Harry thought.
"Try this," Rin added, pushing off and floating on her back for a moment.
Harry hesitantly started leaning back to do so and Rin righted herself, supporting his back with a hand until he was stretched out horizontally, then pulling back a little to allow him to float on his own. Harry grinned.
"Kick your feet," Rin added.
Whether he understood or just kicked out of instinct, Harry found himself being propelled slowly across the surface of the water. For a moment he panicked and sat up abruptly, only to find that he'd lost buoyancy as he did. Rin caught him before he could submerge completely, and she helped him back to where he started.
"That was good, Harii-kun," the girl said with amusement.
As they continued with their impromptu swimming lesson, Kakashi approached his teacher. The teen frowned as his teacher watched the other two with a fond smile. Abruptly, he skidded his foot along the water, sending a wave of water splashing at the senior Jounin.
"Hey!" Minato yelped, spinning around.
A small smirk quirked under Kakashi's mask, "Sensei, fight me."
"Now?" The man asked.
The boy nodded.
"Kakashi, we're supposed to be celebrating Rin-chan's birthday," Minato pointed out, one eyebrow raised.
Kakashi shrugged, "She's with Harii-san."
"A fight, huh?" the man mused, "Right here on the river."
Kakashi nodded again, "We haven't done that in a while."
After several long seconds, Minato smirked, slouching back with his hands in his pockets, "Yeah, alright."
Kakashi's smirk grew a little, "Alright."
"Ready? Go!" They both flashed into motion, their chakra under constant control as they were forced to jump and slide and dodge on the ever-changing viscosity of the water.
"Rules...!" The man shouted in a question after their first conflict—kunai against kunai in midair.
"No Ninjutsu, just Taijutsu," Kakashi returned a second later as he twisted around a handful of shuriken his teacher threw. It was what he needed the most work on, after all.
"Right," the man conveyed his understanding, as Kakashi slashed at him, first from the right, then dancing around to slash again at his back. Minato skillfully blocked both blows and Kakashi jumped back when he tried to return the favor.
"Don't go easy on me, sensei," Kakashi added firmly.
The man grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it," he assured his student, already moving in for another attack.
By then their antics had attracted the attention of Harry and Rin. The girl rolled her eyes, "Those two can't go one week without sparring," she sighed, "Look at them showing off like that..."
Harry smiled vaguely, not sure what she was talking about, but impressed at the abilities his brother—his brother, something he still couldn't stop being amazed at—and the man were displaying.
It was completely unnatural, two people fighting on water as if it were as solid as the ground, water spraying every time they touched and skidded. His aunt and uncle would have hated it, but Harry thought it was awesome. He didn't know how they did it, and doubted he'd ever be able to do anything like that—but, after all, who knew? His brother could do it, so maybe he could, too.
Minato disappeared for two weeks on end after that. Kakashi dragged Harry with him for a brief training period every morning while his teacher was gone, then he disappeared for the rest of the day. Harry wasn't sure if he went on missions during that time or if he was somewhere in the village or surrounding forests—even when they trained together, they hardly spoke.
When Minato finally returned Harry hadn't seen Kakashi for the last three days. So it was surprising when he found himself being woken up early the next morning by the older boy.
It was early enough that the sun had yet to rise, but Harry reluctantly crawled out of bed and got dressed at Kakashi's quiet insistence. Instead of going out into the main room, however, Kakashi went to the open window and impatiently directed the boy onto his back. Confused, curious, and tired, Harry did as he was beckoned.
Kakashi leapt lightly out the window and landed on the vertical face of the building across the street. Harry's grip abruptly tightened as the surprising move startled him to full wakefulness and the other boy sped up the wall unerringly to the roof. It was still dark as they made their way to the edge of the village via the rooftops, and the sun was only just beginning to peak over the horizon as Kakashi jumped back down to street level and let Harry down to walk beside him.
Harry stared around at the empty streets. There were high walls on both sides, occasionally broken by large gates, and beyond the boy could see large, low buildings like none he'd ever seen in Surrey.
They continued until even these unusual manors began thinning, large forests protruding from behind the walls. Kakashi led the way to a gate at last. He made a seal with his hands and pressed one hand to the old gate. It pushed open easily.
Inside stood another large manor in the style of the others he'd seen around. There were several buildings on either side of the path leading up to the large building, but all of them looked to be in disrepair: cold, unkempt, and empty.
Kakashi ignored them. He led the way swiftly across the grounds and into a small forest behind the manor. They continued through that for quite a while until the trees began to thin and finally broke into a clearing.
Harry stopped and stared.
He'd never been to a graveyard before but he had seen pictures and knew that was what this was. There were dozens and dozens of stones standing in the yard. Some had ornately carved statues towering over them and some were no more than small rectangular markers or crosses.
"Harii-san," Kakashi prompted, pausing on the path to look back at him.
Licking his lips nervously, Harry followed. They made their way through rows of tombstones until the stones around them began looking a little newer, like they'd been carved in the last decade or two, rather than dozens of years before. Then, at last, they stopped.
Kakashi looked at one pair of stones in particular and Harry followed his gaze. The inscriptions were in kana and Harry couldn't make out much, but one set of characters he did recognize.
"Hatake!" The boy read in surprise, remembering to associate the name with himself and Kakashi.
The teen didn't respond for almost a minute, then he nodded, still staring at the stone, "Hatake Sakumo," he read. He hesitated, glancing at Harry, and added quietly, "O-tousan."
Harry looked at the marker a second time, confused emotions roiling inside of him. He'd always been told his parents were dead, but seeing grave markers made it all the more real. He didn't—couldn't—question the fact that the name read 'Hatake Sakumo' instead of 'James Potter,' even though he desperately wanted to. What connection was there between the two names? Were the two names the same man, or was there some other story behind them?
He wondered at it silently—the Dursleys had only mentioned his father once or twice when he asked. James Potter, they had called him, a deadbeat and a bum and a loser and a freak. He had died and abandoned Harry to their mercy when he was only a little baby. But they'd never mentioned anything about this—any of this! They'd lied to him about a lot of things, it seemed.
"O-tousan…" The six-year-old repeated softly, wondering what the man had been like. Even more softly, he repeated in English, "Dad…" Something inside of him hurt at the word, the acknowledgment that buried somewhere beneath him lay the father he never knew but had always desperately wanted.
Harry wasn't sure how long they stood there together, but neither spoke again until Kakashi finally said it was time to go back. The sun was fully risen and the sky a pale blue of morning. People were beginning to take to the streets with their business and a few shops were even opening for early morning customers.
Kakashi took Harry back up to their apartment and they entered through the small window again before joining Minato for breakfast.
Harry was sure the man knew what they'd been up to from the way he looked at them, or at least he knew that they'd been out, but he didn't say anything. The day continued from there as usual, with training and meeting Rin, like they hadn't spent the morning at a graveyard at all. But Harry couldn't keep his thoughts off of their early morning excursion, and he spent the rest of the day wondering what Hatake Sakumo had been like and making up personalities for him to suit his curiosity.
In his mind, Harry imagined that a trip to a graveyard to visit dead parents might bring two siblings closer together. In reality, Harry found it couldn't have been further from the truth. If anything, Kakashi was avoiding him now more than ever. It helped, of course, that he started going on long missions again a few days later.
Sensei had talked to him a bit before they left—something about his father, he thought. It had sounded very serious and the man had looked a little sad as he spoke, so Harry hadn't interrupted to let him know that he really couldn't understand much of what he was saying.
Kushina was over again today—this time she had a sprained ankle wrapped in bandages and elevated on the table next to Harry's book. Harry was laboriously sounding out short words that the woman pointed out for him, when she wasn't too distracted by glaring at her crutches as though they'd insulted her.
"Ne, Harii," the woman said at last, interrupting the six-year-old in the middle of a particularly frustrating word, "Let's go get lunch now." She smiled at him and struggled to get her leg off the table without hurting it further.
Eventually, she managed to get to her feet, leaning on her crutches as the boy finished putting away his things. Harry liked the red-haired woman—she taught him a lot, but they didn't study all the time, either. Kushina didn't like to sit inside all day, and could usually only keep still for a few hours in the morning before abruptly calling an end to their lessons. This suited the six-year-old just fine, as a few hours of studying was more than enough to give him a headache.
Kushina led the way to the door, pausing to struggle for an awkward moment to get her crutches to cooperate. Harry took the opportunity to slip in front of her and open the door, allowing the woman more ease to exit. She smiled her thanks and ruffled his messy white hair before leading the way out again, leaving it to Harry to close the door and lock up after himself.
It didn't feel like autumn to Harry, even though he knew very well that by now it must be autumn. The leaves on the trees were still as green as ever, and the air was still hot, though not as unbearably as it had been earlier in the year. The air had turned drier, too, and cool winds from the North offering occasional respites from the dry heat.
"Mm… After lunch, I'll take you to see the Hokage Monument," the woman decided. She grinned down at the boy by her side, "You can see it from just about anywhere in the village, of course," she said, "But we'll go all the way to the top—you can see the whole village from up there! You'll love that!"
Harry smiled back bemusedly, not entirely sure he'd understood her correctly. Had she meant they'd go to the top of the mountain where the Hokage faces were carved? He frowned up at the looming faces of stone—surely no one could actually go that high.
"And then… hmm… maybe we can go to the park after," Kushina mused.
"Yeah!" Harry agreed enthusiastically—he loved going to the park. The other kids were all nice—well, maybe not all of them, but most of them were nice enough—and he enjoyed playing some of the games he'd only been able to watch back in Surrey.
Harry finished his lunch quickly, anticipating a fun afternoon, and soon the two were approaching the foot of the Hokage's Monument, Kushina grumbling at her crutches the whole way. Harry walked along side her, looking around at everything with wide eyes. He grinned as he spotted a familiar person sitting on one of the benches underneath the towering, stone monument.
"Minoji!" He called out enthusiastically, running up to where the younger boy, one of his playmates from the park, was sitting with a juice box.
The boy looked up at his call, and then smiled back, waving, "Konichiwa, Harii!"
Kushina approached behind him and smiled over Harry's shoulder at the young boy and his older, female counterpart, "Hello, Minoji-kun, Minoko-kun."
The teenage girl had dark brown hair similar to her brother's, held back in a spiky ponytail, and dark lines running back to her hair from both of her eyes. She smiled and gave the woman a slight bow, "Good afternoon, Kushina-san. You've met my little brother?"
"Harii-kun plays with him at the park sometimes," Kushina confirmed with a nod.
"Harii!" Minoji put in, grabbing the boy's attention. He'd set down his juice box and stood, and now he grabbed his sister's hand, "This is my big sister, Minoko-neesan!"
Harry blinked, frowned up at the girl, then frowned at Minoji again in confusion, "Niisan?" He repeated incredulously.
The dark haired boy giggled and shook his head, "No, no, not o-niisan! Neesan! O-neesan!"
Harry looked at the other boy as though he were crazy—they both sounded the same to him.
Smirking in amusement, Kushina intervened, "It's nee, Harii-kun, not nii. Can you hear the difference?"
Harry frowned, listening carefully as she repeated them once more. He could—sort of. The boy nodded and carefully pronounced, "Neesan...?"
Minoji laughed again and nodded, "Right!" He looked up at his sister and told her confidently, "Harii's not from Konoha, so he doesn't know how to talk, even though he's older than me."
The two females laughed while the boys looked on bemusedly, wondering what was so funny.
"Well? Are you two busy?" Kushina asked after a moment, still grinning, "Harii-chan and I were just going to climb to the top of the monument. You can come if you like."
"Yeah, yeah!" Minoji agreed enthusiastically. He looked up at his sister beseechingly, "Can we, neesan? Please?"
Minoko smiled apologetically, "Thanks," she told the older woman, "But Minoji has got a dentist appointment in an hour, so we'll have to pass today."
The boy frowned unhappily. "Why can't we pass on the dentist appointment today, instead?" He asked grumpily.
Minoko ruffled his hair affectionately, "You know we can't do that, Minoji-chan, dentist appointments need to be scheduled in advance. You can play with Harii-kun tomorrow."
The boy grumped, but relented bitterly, sticking his tongue out at his sister when she turned back to Kushina.
The girl looked at the woman with concern, "Are you sure it's alright, Kushina-san?" She asked, "With your injuries?"
"It's just a sprained ankle," Kushina shrugged, "Besides, Harii doesn't know chakra control, yet, so we'll be using the stairs."
Minoko didn't look entirely convinced, but she nodded, "Okay… be careful, Kushina-san. We'll be down here for a while, still, so if you need help or anything let us know… Minoji can find his own way to the dentist if he has to," she looked at the boy—who hastily pulled his tongue back in—and smiled, "Can't you, Minoji-chan?"
"I guess," Minoji agreed reluctantly.
Kushina just rolled her eyes, grinning, "Now, now, I'm a big ninja," she noted playfully, "I think I can take care of myself, Minoko-kun."
The girl blushed a little. "Still," she mumbled, "You should be careful when you're injured, Kushina-san."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kushina promised, patting the girl on her head and then ruffling her still sulking brother's spiky hair. She smiled at Harry, "Ready to go?"
The boy nodded and followed as she began to move away. He looked over his shoulder and waved to Minoji as they left, "Bye, Minoji! Bye, Minoko-neesan!"
"Goodbye, Harii!" Minoji shouted after him loudly, "I wish I could come with you but my mean sister won't let me!"
Minoko rolled her eyes and ruffled the little brat's hair before calling out her own goodbye to the pair.
"How much farther?" Harry panted, repeating the phrase Kushina had taught him when he'd been struggling for an accurate way to ask just that some time ago—it felt like hours to his aching legs, but he knew it couldn't have been that long.
He'd been training regularly for a few weeks now, but it seemed like there were miles and miles of stairs. There was no end to them! Either way he looked, up or down, there were stairs as far as he could see.
Kushina, on the other hand, was barely breaking a sweat, even in the heat of the afternoon sun. She grinned at the boy, "What, are you tired already, Harii-kun?"
"Yes," Harry grouched—he'd been tired the last dozen times she asked.
"Just a little farther now," Kushina assured him.
Harry regarded her suspiciously—she'd been saying that the last couple of times he asked, too, "Really?"
"Really," Kushina confirmed cheerfully.
With a sigh, Harry turned his attention back to his miserable hike. He really hoped they would get there soon, because he wasn't sure how many more stairs he could take—his legs were burning with the effort. He had no idea how the woman made it up so many stairs on crutches without even getting tired.
Thankfully, it really wasn't much further, and five minutes later they were climbing the last few steps to the top. Harry let out a groan of relief and set about looking around as Kushina followed him up. They weren't so far over that they were on top of the Hokage's heads, which were still ahead of them and a little higher, but the sheer drop they were over now offered an impressive view.
Naturally, the boy gravitated towards the edge of the cliff and looked out over the village of Konoha. His mouth dropped open with a quiet gasp and his eyes widened as he stared down at the busy little village.
"Wow…" He breathed his awe in English, not sure how to express such sentiments in his new language, yet.
Kushina came up beside him and smiled broadly as she looked across at her home, "Pretty great, isn't it?"
Harry nodded silently—he could see everything from up here!
"Look," Kushina said, pointing, "There's the apartment where you, Kakashi-kun, and Minato-san live."
The boy looked eagerly in the direction she was pointing, and with some effort he managed to make out the building, laughing in delight—he'd never seen a building from so far up before!
Taking a cautious step closer to the edge, Harry was able to find the park, and pointed it out enthusiastically. Kushina laughed, admiring the small park with Harry before pointing out the Hokage's Tower, the most prominent building of them all.
"Look!" Harry cried in surprise, pointing as a man suddenly appeared on the roof, only to flit off again a moment later.
Kushina grinned, "Shinobi," she supplied.
Harry nodded. He'd seen shinobi jumping around enough to know they did things like that sometimes. It was still weird to see it, even after three months.
Kushina moved cautiously closer to the edge, as well, and craned her neck to see the people down below. Minoji and Minoko were little more than smudged black heads from this height.
Harry crept closer again, as well, one hand holding Kushina's closest crutch for balance, and looked in the same direction. He stared down at the pair of tiny people for a moment, then looked up at Kushina, pointing with his free hand, "Minoji?"
The red haired woman nodded, "Yep, that's Minoji-kun, and Minoko-kun, too."
The boy smiled, raising his hand to wave down at them—even though the pair probably couldn't see him at all.
Several things happened all at once. Kushina leaned back again, her crutches shuffling awkwardly over gravel, loosening Harry's grip. A group of birds, apparently startled, shot out of the trees behind them and towards the sky, letting out loud calls of alarm. Harry jerked around in surprise, throwing himself off balance. Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Kushina stared in horror as the boy's body tilted dangerously over the edge and continued to tilt. Dropping her crutches, she lurched after him, chakra infused in her feet to keep her from joining him in free fall. Harry reached towards her instinctively, arms stretched out, and Kushina reached out for him as she followed him over the edge, chakra keeping her feet firmly attached to the steep cliff face.
A bolt of pain shot up from the woman's injured foot and it took her a moment to push it out of her mind and work through it. The split-second was long enough for Harry to fall from her reach.
As time reasserted its normal flow, Kushina could do little but stare in stupefied shock as her charge plummeted towards the ground.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut, fearful sobs catching in his chest as the significance of what was happening hit him. He was going to die!
He'd heard about it once, on the news. Uncle Vernon had had the television turned up and he'd heard the account in his cupboard as he watched one of the spiders slowly spin its web in one dusty corner—the story of a man falling to his death from a tall sky scraper. He didn't want to die!
The woman blinked, and a confused frown crossed her lips, eyebrows tilting together. She narrowed her eyes, searching the area the boy had just been in with bewilderment.
"Where'd he go?" She wondered out loud, looking from side to side and craning her neck to be sure he hadn't hit some outcropping of rock or something. It looked as though he had completely disappeared.