A Personal Matter

R. Winters

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Naruto, or anything else that looks like it came from a million dollar franchise. I do own Three Fingered Saburo. But we don't talk about him.

Wow, there were a lot of reviews on the last chapter! Thanks to so many people for reviewing! Anyway, this chapter should clear up a few things... Namely, of course, Harry's little disappearing act.

Keep in mind, when you read Harry's actions, that he's a six-year-old boy, and a six-year-old boy is much more likely to believe the adult authorities in his life than an eleven-year-old boy, so while eleven-year-old Harry might have accepted the possibility that he was magic rather easily, a six-year-old Harry might still have thought that magic was a four-letter-word (even though it's not) and believed that his aunt and uncle had good reason to hate him for certain things that were outside his control.

Shunshin no Jutsu is, of course, the body-flicker technique, which is used on numerous occasions in the manga and anime. It isn't the same as apparation. At least, in my mind it isn't. I hope you like the early update!

Chapter 13 – One Little Boy

"—James… James was dead in the door," the large man was struggling to get words out between all his sniffles and tears, "And-and Lily! Sweet, sweet, Lily… she… she was on the playroom floor." He had to pause to blow his nose in a large handkerchief.

"What about the baby, Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked anxiously, "What about Harry?"

Hagrid sniffed several more times and shifted the bundle he held again in his arms until he was holding it out, "He—'e's here, prof'ssor," he sniffled, " 'E was sleepin' when I foun' him."

The old man took the bundled infant in his own arms, still worried. He folded back the blanket that covered the baby's face and was relieved to find the child was, indeed, sleeping, breath calm and even. He had blood and soot on his face, but otherwise he appeared largely uninjured. Dumbledore pulled back the blanket further and could only stare as a head of perfectly white hair popped out of the top, untidy bangs stained pink with blood.

His fellow teacher, Minerva McGonogall, let out a gasp of surprise as she saw it, "Albus… what…?"

"I've… never seen anything like it," Dumbledore whispered, his surprise leaking into his voice, "Hagrid, was he like this when you found him?"

The half-giant snuffled again and looked to see what the Headmaster was talking about, "Y'mean the hair?" He questioned. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Yeah… yeah, li'l feller was like that when I foun' him," he confirmed, "'Is playroom was all burned an' 'e was bloody like yeh see, an' 'is hair was all white."

"I wonder where the blood came from," Dumbledore murmured, pulling a handkerchief out of his own pocket and beginning to clear it away.

Harry stirred at the touch, and dark green eyes opened to stare up at the old man as he continued to clean his blood away. The baby began to whine a little at the presence of people who were not his parents, but Dumbledore soothed him, murmuring quietly as he continued his work.

At last the source was discovered. A small, lightning shaped cut was in the middle of the boy's forehead. It wasn't bleeding, but it was bright red, almost as though it had cauterized.

"How could Harry have gotten a cut like that?" McGonogall wondered, leaning in for a closer look, "Hagrid, did anything fall on him? Did you see?"

"No, ma'am, I'm sure of it," the half-giant replied.

"This wasn't made by any cut," Dumbledore murmured, examining the injury carefully as the infant fussed in his arms. He pulled out a wand and pointed it at the scar, murmuring under his breath.

McGonogall and Hagrid watched on anxiously, wondering what this could mean.

When Dumbledore looked up again his face was pale, "This scar… is the result of dark magic," he announced in a hushed tone.

McGonogall gasped and Hagrid teared up again.

"Dark magic?" The woman repeated fearfully.

"An unsuccessful curse, as far as I can tell," Dumbledore confirmed. He ran a hand through the infant's soft, white hair, "The hair, as well, may have been affected… we must bring him to St. Mungo's to learn more."

"Albus, will he be okay?" McGonogall asked anxiously.

The old man looked at her, blue eyes dull behind his half-moon glasses, "I don't know, Minerva," he answered wearily, "I really don't know."

Bewildered, the red-haired woman searched over the edge of the cliff for any sign of her falling charge, but found no sign of him. It was as though he'd simply disappeared.

Kushina put her hands together in a familiar seal and disappeared from her cliff-side perch in a puff of smoke. Logically, the only place he could have gone was down—although she didn't see how he could have suddenly begun falling so fast that she couldn't even see him anymore.

A split second later she appeared on the ground in a second puff of smoke, at the base of the Hokage's Monument. Her sprained ankle let off another jolt of pain, but she ignored it, staring with wide eyes at the scene that had formed.

Harry stood in the middle of a group of people, tears running rampant down his cheeks and sobs shaking his shoulders. Most noticeable among the onlookers was Minoji and his sister. The young boy was struggling in the hands of his older sister, but Minoko held his arms firmly, not allowing him to escape as she stared at the white-haired six-year-old.

Confusion, worry, and even a touch of fear swirled inside the young woman as she approached the group—how could a small child survive a fall like that? How could anyone survive a fall like that?

"Harii-kun…?" She started uncertainly—the group opened up to allow her to approach the boy. Harry didn't look up at her voice, although he did start crying a little louder. Kushina studied the faces of the onlookers in confusion, standing inside the circle, but not quite approaching the boy, "What happened?" When no one answered immediately, she turned her questioning eyes to Minoko.

The girl's hold tightened on her brother a little and she paled at the attention being directed at her, "I-I don't know," she stammered, "One minute we were… and then… I don't… he just appeared there. Out… out of nowhere."

"What do you mean he appeared there?" Kushina demanded, "Like Ninjutsu, you mean?"

Minoko shook her head, "No… He just appeared," she stressed again, "There wasn't any smoke or anything." She turned worried eyes to the woman, "Kushina-san, what is he?"

Kushina shivered at those words. How could a six-year-old child disappear from somewhere just to reappear somewhere else? It was… unnatural. She knew what everyone must be thinking—she was entertaining her own thoughts on the matter, as well, after all. Was it really possible…?

"—Monster," the woman heard someone in the crowd mutter.

Kushina's head snapped in his direction, eyes glaring, but someone else beat her to the task of chastising the man.

"He's not a monster!" Minoji shouted, still restrained firmly in his sister's arms—the older girl flushed in embarrassment at his words. "He's Harii and he's my friend!"

"Shush, Minoji," Minoko hissed into his ear.

The mutterings did die down a little, though. The others obviously weren't convinced by the four-year-old's words, but they were holding their tongues for now. Could even a demon do something like that…?

Shaking thoughts of demons and monsters from her head, Kushina purposefully approached the sobbing boy. Some of the onlookers took cautious steps back. The woman knelt before the boy and carefully touched his shoulder, "Harii-kun?" She repeated.

The boy opened watery, swollen eyes to look back at her uncertain face for a moment. His loud crying had subsided and the flow of his tears slowed as he stared at her.

"Harii," Kushina said again, carefully, "What happened…?"

The boy's eyes widened again, despair written all over his face as tears sprung again to his swollen eyes. He backed up a step—the crowd mimicking him—then turned abruptly and ran, people moving out of his way to give him a large berth.

Kushina stared after him a moment, then cursed under her breath as he disappeared into the trees at the edge of the clearing. With a sigh, she took after him.

Harry dodged through trees, running as fast as he could. He couldn't believe that had happened—not here! Not when he was just beginning to like it—when he was just beginning to fit in! Now they would all know that there was something wrong with him. That he was a freak, like his aunt and uncle liked to say.

He made his way into the playground, ignoring the laughter and gleeful calls of the other children. Single-mindedly, he dashed into the large cement tube that lay off to one side—not a favorite toy for the children, but a good place to hide. He crawled inside and settled against the rounded wall, knees drawn up to his chest.

Worriedly, he wondered whether she would tell sensei. Probably, he decided. And Kakashi, too. He lowered his head to his arms miserably as sobs racked his body again.

What would they do? Would he still get to share a room with Kakashi? He doubted it. Maybe they'd clear out a little space in the closet for him… Or maybe they'd just leave him on the streets somewhere, like Uncle Vernon thought he should have done.

Maybe if he explained to Kushina that he hadn't meant to do it, and he wouldn't do it again, he could convince her to keep it a secret. The boy doubted it—he didn't think he'd be able to express his intentions well enough.

Miserably sighing into his arms, Harry's grip on his knees tightened. He really was stupid—how could he have let that happen? He didn't want it to happen, but he knew he'd made it happen, somehow.

Just like he somehow caused the milk carton to explode when Dudley tried to pour it on his head. Or like he'd made Uncle Vernon's pants fall down when they went to school that first time and his uncle had been lecturing him for the whole car ride that he needed to keep his hat on in school and he'd better not say anything to anyone and how much trouble he'd be in when he got home if he heard Harry had done anything to disturb his Dudley's education. Harry didn't know how it happened, just that it did and it was his fault.

It didn't take long for Kushina to find the boy. His path through the underbrush was relatively obvious, and it just took a few questions of the people in the park to be pointed in the right direction. She knelt down at the entrance of the cement tunnel, peaking in at the crying child.

The woman sighed, running a hand through her hair. She wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. Could Harry really be dangerous? But the Hokage would have known—he'd never have let something dangerous into the village. And besides that, she'd known Harry for a while now, and he'd never been anything but a lost, shy little boy.

Smiling slightly, Kushina rolled up her sleeves and crawled into the tunnel. Harry didn't even notice her until she was beside him, wrapping an arm around his shaking shoulders. The boy jerked in surprise, then looked up at her with wide, red-rimmed eyes filled with fear.

Instead of speaking—she had no idea what to say—Kushina gently moved her hand in a soothing motion, up and down the boy's arm.

Harry relaxed a little, but continued to watch her warily for moment longer. He slumped after a while, dropping his head back into his arms, a few more exhausted tears escaping him. Kushina waited patiently until he moved again, this time snuggling a little closer to her side.

"I-I'm sorry," the boy whimpered meekly, "I… don't want to."

Kushina frowned slightly at the little boy, wondering what he meant by that. She released a long breath in the form of a sigh and smiled down at him again, "Shh… Harii-kun, it's okay," she assured him.

Harry looked at her doubtfully.

Kushina's smile quirked a bit more naturally, "I mean it," she insisted, and in a rare, maternal moment, she rubbed a stray tear from his cheek, "Stop crying now, it's okay."

Harry sniffled a little more, but rubbed his eyes and cheeks, his tears finally subsiding. He wasn't sure why she was being so calm about this—by now, she should certainly be screaming at him, but he'd take her calm mood while it lasted. Maybe she didn't think he'd done it?

At last, the woman began to unfold herself, and tugged Harry a little towards the entrance.

Outside, Kushina took a moment to stretch, wincing as the weight was returned to her swollen ankle—which hurt a lot more after her little run through the forest than it had all day. She tested out her weight on it cautiously, but it seemed to hold up. She glanced down to see Harry climbing timidly out after her.

"Come over here, Harii," she directed, holding out an arm invitingly.

The boy looked at her cautiously, but obeyed, silently moving to her side.

Kushina directed his hands to her jacket, and closed his fingers around the material, "Now," she said with a small smile, "Hold on tight, okay?"

Harry stared at her in confusion, but held on as she raised her hands to form quick seals.

In a swirl of wind and smoke, the pair of them disappeared. For an instant Harry felt the sensation of moving at obscene speeds, then a second later the world jarred to a stop again and they reappeared in the hall outside of the Hokage's office, smoke and leaves picked up by the Ninjutsu slowly settling around them.

Harry blinked rapidly, looking around himself in confusion. Kushina grinned and ruffled his hair, "See?" She asked, "I can shunshin, too."

The boy flashed a brief, tentative smile, but it disappeared quickly as his worried look resumed. With a sigh, Kushina motioned towards the doors in front of them.

"Let's go, Harii-kun," she said, hobbling towards the door, trying and failing not to favor her injured leg.

Harry trailed behind her to the door and the kunoichi knocked quickly.

It took a moment before it was answered, and the shinobi inside looked annoyed. He frowned at the pair, "What is it?" He asked snappishly, "Hokage-sama is busy right now."

Kushina frowned at the man coldly, "Toro-san, I'm sure whatever you're discussing with the Hokage is important, but I have a feeling that my news is even more urgent."

The man frowned back unhappily, "What news could you have that's more important than the peace talks with Earth?"

Kushina's frown quirked a little deeper, "I'm sure it's above your level of classification," she returned coolly, "But I'll give you a hint. It may have something to do with bijuu."

The man's eyes widened and his face drained of color. He glanced back over his shoulder anxiously before whispering, "The demons? What about them?"

Kushina raised an eyebrow.

Toro sighed and reluctantly opened the door further, "Very well," he conceded, "I will allow you to take my place this once… After you're done, I expect to be informed."

"Of course, Toro-san," Kushina agreed amiably, leading Harry past the man.

The Hokage regarded them with interest as the other shinobi left, closing the door behind him. He smiled wanly, "As important as treaties are, I appreciate a distraction from politics… I'm just not sure how you managed to convince Toro-san to leave, Kushina-san."

Kushina smiled back briefly, then her expression hardened again, "Hokage-sama, it's about Harii-kun."

The old man frowned, eyebrows drawing together in confusion as he looked at the tired boy, "What about him?"

"We went up to the Hokage's Monument today," Kushina supplied, "Harii was near the edge when he was startled by some birds." She frowned seriously at the Hokage, "I want to know how a six-year-old boy survives a 200 meter drop."

The Sandaime looked surprised at her query, "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion, "Harii-kun fell?" He looked the boy over again appraisingly. His eyes were red and his expression was morose, but he didn't appear hurt.

"Yes, he fell," Kushina confirmed with some irritation, "I saw him—he fell right off the edge, and he kept on falling…" She paused, expression wavering slightly in confusion, "Then… he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" The Hokage repeated, eyebrows raising.

Kushina nodded in confirmation, "Not knowing what else to do, I teleported to the bottom of the cliff, only to find him standing there, as if he hadn't just fallen a couple hundred meters. I questioned the onlookers, and they said he just appeared there out of nowhere."

The Hokage frowned in thought, not sure what to make of this sudden change in events.

Kushina frowned, "Is Harii-kun a jinchuuriki?"

The old man blinked at her abrupt question, "No!" He answered quickly, a bemused smile appearing on his lips, "No, of course not. Harii-kun is nothing of the sort."

Kushina relaxed slightly, but continued to frown in confusion, "What is he then?" She asked, "How did he do that?"

The Sandaime sighed, rubbing his temples tiredly, "Harii-kun is from another country," he explained slowly.

Kushina raised an eyebrow, "You're not going to tell me that some other country has ninja who can just naturally teleport places, are you?"

"Not in so many words, no," the Hokage replied with some amusement. He sobered and continued, "Harii-kun's mother… had a special power of sorts."

"A bloodline technique?" Kushina pressed.

"In a way," the Hokage allowed, "She was… I believe the term was a wizard."

Harry stiffened at the word and Kushina blinked, then frowned again, "A wizard?" She asked incredulously, "Hokage-sama…"

The old man chuckled, "I'm serious, Kushina-san," he said, "The man who sent him here explained. In the country he was born in, there are people who can tap into some sort of magical source and do things that even we could only imagine."

The woman still looked dubious. Harry, at her side, looked more nervous than ever.

"What Harii-kun did must have been caused by magic," the Hokage surmised, "I was told it is not uncommon for young wizards to tap into their powers accidentally, usually in times of strong emotion."

Kushina continued to stare. She looked between Harry and the Hokage before asking, uncertainly, "Are you really serious, Hokage-sama?"

The old man looked slightly affronted, "Of course I am. It is not the first time we've had dealings with these wizards, although the cases are few and far between. The records extend back into the Shodai and Nidaime's time." He paused, regarding her, "I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but this is all very confidential."

Kushina frowned slightly, "What about the villagers?" She asked, "A lot of people saw what Harii-kun did. When we left there were plenty of rumors going around that he was a demon."

For a moment the Hokage returned her gaze, wearily, then he announced, "Then that is what people will think. I'm afraid this is not a secret that can be broken just to save one little boy from embarrassment. If the problem becomes serious, I will make an official announcement to tell the village he is not a jinchuuriki, but I cannot tell them how he did what he did."

Kushina sighed and lowered her head, "I understand, Hokage-sama…" She hesitated, then looked up again, "What about Minato and Kakashi?"

Somberly, the man shook his head, "They will be told nothing of this unless the time comes when they need to know."

"They'll hear the rumors," Kushina pointed out.

"Then they will come to me and ask after him themselves," the Hokage supplied, "You are to tell them nothing. We may have to take steps to prevent this from happening in the future. Too many cases of mysterious happenings, and the people may not even believe me."

Reluctantly, the woman nodded in agreement. She bowed briefly to the old man, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I understand." She straightened again, "I'll send Toro-san back in."

From the look on his face, Kushina imagined he really didn't want her to, but he didn't say anything as she limped towards the door, a slightly bemused Harry in tow. They'd just go back to the apartment for now. Harry was tired and she doubted he would want to play after what he'd been through. Plus, she wasn't sure how far she could get on her own two feet.

Harry lay in bed the day after the incident. It was still relatively early in the evening, but he'd wanted to be alone so he turned in early. They hadn't gone out that day. Harry hadn't wanted to and Kushina had been lectured by a medic who'd been sent over to check up on her about staying off her foot while it was injured.

Kushina was over the entire day—they'd worked a little more on his writing and reading that morning. They'd played a few board games—which had been covered in a thin layer of dust as testament to how infrequently they were used—and read a story about a pack of wild dogs that rescued and raised a young boy—Zuka—who'd been abandoned in the wild. When he returned to civilization near the end of the story, he acted and fought so much like the dog he'd brought with him that people called him "Inu-Zuka." Harry hoped the same thing didn't happen to him—he didn't think "Inu-Harry" had the same ring to it.

After the awkward afternoon yesterday, Harry had been a little surprised when the woman behaved normally towards him today. She'd given him smiles, ruffled his hair, and made jokes he didn't really understand. It was the first time someone had known about him and not treated him like a freak afterwards. It was a real novelty experience, for Harry.

As he lay on his futon, he let his thoughts drift. Was this what a mother would act like, he wondered? What his mother would have acted like if he'd known her? Would she have been so easily accepting of the weird things that happened around him? He wondered.

The wondering led to an inexplicable longing. At first, he thought he was longing to meet his mother. Then, with a start, he realized that he was longing for Kushina to be his mother. He wished she'd stay with him always, to hold him and read him stories and make up embarrassing nicknames—like Harrypoo or ickle Harikins.

Voices suddenly starting in the other room made him stiffen in surprise, eyes wide as dread began to fill him. They were back.

Mind coursing with anxiety, Harry quickly scrambled under his covers and curled up, pulling up the cover until it was almost over his head entirely, leaving only a bit of white hair sticking out of the top. He wondered if Kushina was going to tell them. He didn't think she would—she must know how they would react to it—but he couldn't say for sure. He hoped that she wouldn't.

Maybe, if she did, she would let him live at her house when sensei and Kakashi kicked him out. She didn't seem to mind, but would she want him to stay with her? It seemed unlikely, but Kushina was full of surprises.

He heard the door slide open and he snapped his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. He could hear Kakashi moving around the room briefly, then the older boy left again. Harry didn't move, not wanting to risk being caught awake if someone came in again.

Avoiding Kakashi and sensei was easier than Harry had expected it to be, considering they shared an apartment and whenever they were home he was usually with one of them. The six-year-old took a very old tactic. He stayed in bed and refused to get up, moaning a little like Dudley did whenever he didn't want to go to Sunday School.

Minato had been awfully persistent for the first ten minutes, asking if he was sick and trying to take his temperature. He made a mistake by trying to rope Kakashi in to help, too, though, and the young teen had bluntly told him they should just leave him home. Amazingly, it hadn't taken much longer before the man agreed.

Kushina came over again, teased him a bit about being sick—they both knew he wasn't, but sensei was apparently convinced that he was—and then went about the usual things. She did manage to get him outside, but only as far as the ramen shop for lunch, then straight back. Harry thought he could feel everyone looking at him, whispering behind his back.

He wasn't entirely sure what they were saying about him, but the few words he overheard didn't sound kind, and he could guess well enough at their meanings.

The day ended too soon, with Kakashi and sensei returning home. Kushina refused to let him go hide in his room again, pointing out that he had to face them sometime.

It was an awkward meeting. Kakashi didn't seem at all interested—which wasn't unusual—but neither did he disappear into his room or anything, staying by his teacher's side after they entered.

Minato's cheerfulness seemed a little forced and he joked awkwardly until Kakashi elbowed him and shot him a disdainful, single-eyed glare.

The blond grinned and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Right, right, I was getting to it, Kashi-kun." He casually walked over to the couch and sat next to Kushina—or, at least, it looked as though he were trying to act casual and failing miserably.

"How was training?" The woman asked.

"Oh, it was good!" Minato answered a little too eagerly, "Yeah, Kakashi's doing really well now. I'm impressed." He shot the teen a smile.

Kakashi didn't return the sentiment.

Minato cleared his throat awkwardly, "So, er… how's Harii-kun?" He leaned across to see the little boy, sitting on Kushina's other side, "He looks better. Harii-kun, are you feeling better?"

The six-year-old shook his head and then buried his face in the woman's side. She rolled her eyes but patted his head affectionately, anyway.

Kakashi sighed, "Just ask, sensei."

"Ask what?" Kushina prompted, turning to the blond.

"Oh, heheh, it's not important," Minato said nervously, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head awkwardly again, "Just, heh, a weird story we heard today, right, Kakashi-kun?"

Kushina frowned slightly, "Would this weird story happen to deal with Harii-kun?"

The man flushed a little, lowering his hand to rest on his knees with his other one, "Er, so… you must've heard it, too, then…"

"Depends what the story you heard was," Kushina pointed out.

"Right," Minato agreed awkwardly, "So… what was the story you heard?"

Kushina rolled her eyes, "The other day Harii-kun and I were up on the Hokage Monument. He fell off, disappeared in midair, and reappeared safely at the bottom." She raised an eyebrow at the man, "Is that what you heard, Minato-san?"

The man blushed again, "I know, I know, something like that couldn't really happen."

"They said he was a demon," Kakashi added, eyes landing on the younger boy. He certainly didn't act like a demon, the thirteen-year-old thought. He didn't see how anyone could think the six-year-old was a demon; really, he was just too pathetic to be one.

"He's not a demon," Kushina sighed, shooting the teen an annoyed look.

Kakashi shrugged as though to say, "It wasn't my idea."

Kushina turned to Minato, "But… yes, that did happen."

The blond started in surprise, "What do you mean that happened? How… I mean… How could that happen?! Harii-kun doesn't know any jutsu!"

"It wasn't a jutsu," Kushina said awkwardly.

"And he's not a demon," Kakashi said dryly.

"No, he's not a demon," Kushina repeated with some irritation.

"But… how…?" Minato trailed off helplessly, looking at the little boy in wonder and confusion.

"I can't tell you," Kushina replied, "All I'm allowed to say is that he isn't a demon."

"So… what is he?" Kakashi asked, catching the implications in her words.

Kushina sighed, giving the boy an exasperated look, "I just told you that I can't tell you. The Hokage says he'll tell you himself if you need to know."

"Wait…" Minato, if possible, looked even more confused, "What's Harii-kun?"

Kushina swatted the man on the arm—he yelped—"What did I just tell Kakashi? Don't you listen to anything?"

"Hey! I listen!" Minato insisted, "You don't have to be so mean about it, Kushina-san…"

Kushina rolled her eyes as the man pouted. The Mighty Yellow Flash of Konoha, if only his enemies could see him now. "He's just a little boy, Minato," she sighed, "He… inherited some unique abilities from his mother, but he's still just a little boy."

Kakashi looked a little interested, "What kind of abilities?"

"I don't know, Kakashi-kun," Kushina replied, slight exasperation back in her tone, "I guess you'll have to talk to the Hokage if you need to know anything else."

"You just started training," Kakashi said coolly as he dragged a reluctant Harry to the breakfast table the next morning, "So you need to make sure you keep up the routine, otherwise you'll form bad habits."

Minato chuckled at his student's lecturing, feeling much more at ease after a long conversation with the Hokage. Kakashi had opted not to go, declaring that if his sensei said so, it was probably alright. Minato hadn't pressed the issue because the teen had been avoiding the Hokage ever since the meeting he'd had with him and the Uchiha elders over the matter of the Sharingan.

"Kakashi's right, Harii-kun," the man agreed, "Besides, you can't hide in your room forever."

Harry's expression said he'd have been willing enough to try.

After breakfast the three of them went out to the training grounds. Harry was acutely aware of the eyes that followed them. Disapproving, curious, and fearful. Whenever he looked to find the source of the staring, heads would jerk away and people would clumsily go about pretending to be busy until he looked away again.

The boy's shoulders sagged—he wished he could have just stayed inside. It was bad enough when just the Dursleys hated him, now he had to live in a whole village that thought he was a freak!

Rin was waiting for them on their usual training grounds, looking distinctly awkward. Minato smiled at her and tactfully set Kakashi to making sure his brother warmed up properly before he approached the girl himself.

"Something wrong, Rin-chan?" He asked lightly.

The teen looked awkward and embarrassed, "Not really, sensei," she started slowly, fidgeting a little, "It's just... People have been saying such mean things about Harii-kun!" She looked up at the man imploringly.

The blond smiled, "Well, you know they're not true, right, Rin? It's just rumors."

"Yeah," the girl agreed morosely, "That's what I told tousan and the others... But, sensei, they said people saw him fall from the top of the Hokage's Monument without getting hurt!"

Minato scratched the back of his head, "Ah... well, that doesn't really mean anything, Rin," he offered, "There could be lots of reasons for something like that happening... like, maybe there was a big updraft right when he fell, and that slowed him down enough to land softly. Or maybe there was an ANBU member nearby and he flickered in to save Harii, then flickered away again before anyone could see him."

The girl frowned at him, looking entirely unconvinced and even more uncertain than before, "Are you saying that actually happened, sensei?"

"Um..." He laughed nervously, "That is, I didn't actually see anything like that happen."

Rin frowned up at him in the way only a woman could. She was growing up far too fast, her teacher thought.

He gave, "It didn't exactly work like that, anyway." He drew himself up importantly and adopted his most serious expression as he intoned, "Harii-kun teleported to the bottom. You see, he's a flicker-nin."

The girl stared at him dryly, "A... flicker-nin."

The man nodded sagely, "His mother was from the... Shunshi clan, an ancient people who were the first to use the Body Flicker in battle. They developed it as a bloodline technique, of course, but most ninja nations use a lesser version of it these days."

He looked so certain of himself that Rin felt tempted to believe him, if only for an instant. Her frown quirked a little more, eyebrows drawing together, "Sensei, I studied a scroll in the library about Shunshin no Jutsu... it didn't say anything about a Shunshi clan."

Minato deflated, "Ah... but it was a good story, right? I almost had you convinced, didn't I?"

The girl shot him a bemused look, "Sensei, what are you talking about?"

Minato glanced at the Hatake brothers over his shoulder—Kakashi looked annoyed, probably because Harry wasn't doing his push-ups the right way, but neither looked like they were paying any attention to him and Rin. "Rivaling Rumors," he whispered.

If anything, Rin only looked further confused, "Rivaling rumors?" She repeated, "Rivaling rumors about what? Sensei, you're not making any sense."

"Shh!" Minato hissed hastily, "Kakashi'd kill me if he knew my Top Secret Rumor Killing Technique!"

The girl stared at the man, clearly resigned to his growing case of insanity.

"I've only had to use it once before to this degree," the man explained in a hushed tone, "But I think the situation is serious enough already that it's time to use it again. Everyone in the village seems convinced that Harii-kun is one of the demons. Of course, he's not, but it's hard to explain away what happened when it involves secret information. So, by spreading even more false rumors, the general population should be distracted enough from the original speculation that they give up trying to figure out what's really true." He nodded self-assuredly.

Rin was silent a moment, puzzling out her teacher's crazy scheme, "So... you're going to spread more rumors about Harii-kun in order to stop the rumor that's already been spread about him?"

"Exactly," Minato confirmed brightly.

"Why don't you want Kakashi to know about it?" Rin asked in confusion, "He could probably help. People expect him to know the most about Harii."

Minato rolled his eyes, "Kakashi's no fun when it comes to stuff like this," he said, "He thinks if you just ignore a rumor it'll eventually go away. And, sure, it usually does, but if the rumor's serious enough it'll be a long time before anyone forgets, and you've got to live with the repercussions in the meantime."

The girl shot him an exasperated look, "I think if you explained it he'd agree, sensei," she commented reasonably, "But even if you won't let Kakashi help, I can, right?"

The man grinned widely, "Of course! Listen, I'll tell you another one."

Within a week rumors were raging about the young white-haired boy. It was the fastest growing web of stories to hit Konoha since the Three-Fingered Saburo, and maybe even bigger than that.

Hatake Harry was the heir of a Body-Flicker Bloodline. He was an air god in disguise, come to hide in Konoha from the growing unrest in the mountains to the north. He'd been raised in dark, magical arts and could control everything from the air to the sea at a whim.

Harry was said to be a demon, a genius, and even Sakumo back from the grave. Things had gotten so out of control that you couldn't go anywhere without hearing something about him, and couldn't talk to anyone who wasn't sick of all the talk. It didn't help that there were more shinobi in the village than usual with so many withdrawing from the frontlines as the peace talks drew to a close.

Minato—upon returning from another mission only to find himself assaulted with just about every possible invention of what Harry was—thought it was his best work yet, and allowed the chaos he'd caused to flow around him with his own, secretive smile.