Harry Potter and the Wrath of Jashin
Notes on Japanese: Most titles, jutsu, and occasionally catchphrases such as Inner Sakura's "shannaro!" ("cha!" in the English dub) will be in Japanese, including a few insults such as "baka" (idiot), "dobe" (dead-last), and "teme" (bastard) and suffixes such as "senpai" (mentor) and "kohai" (protégé). Please bear with me and keep in mind that any other Japanese used, including all types mentioned above, will be translated at the end of the chapter. Thankies! :D
Episode Fifteen – 1,000 Paper Cranes
"Memories of our lives,
of our works and our deeds,
will continue in others."
-Rosa Parks
This, Harry reflected as he gazed into the stubborn purple eyes, was probably one of his least favorite things to do with his magic, no matter how useful it was. He hated invading others' privacy so thoroughly—to go rooting through others' minds, their personal thoughts, their feelings and memories. Normally he just remained on the surface but this boy, Suigetsu (just three years younger than Harry yet in many aspects much older—wasn't that a strange thought?), was being stubborn. It was like he had experience with casual mind-walkers and knew that the trick was to make your thoughts as scattered as possible or focus hard on other well-known subjects (songs were the most popular but this kid was ranting in his mind about swords) or whatever else worked.
"Well? Give up yet?" Suigetsu asked haughtily. "Your technique sucks. I guess Tobi was exaggerating when he said you were a threat."
"Kubikiribōchō, Decapitating Carving Knife, last held by Momoichi Zabuza the 'Demon of the Mist,' expert of silent killing technique, defected from Kirigakure seven years ago…"
This was the third time Harry had gotten that mental response. Apparently Suigetsu greatly favored his own blade.
"No," said Harry, smiling stiffly and lifting his Elder Wand, "but I must apologize for anything I bring up. Please don't struggle. It'll hurt more." Suigetsu opened his mouth, probably to say something, but Harry ignored him. "Legilimens."
Every person's mind was different. In his time learning the art, Harry had discovered a multitude of mental planes—Hermione, for example, had a library for hers with the memories being various books. For Ron, it was a Quidditch Pitch, complete with stands filled with "people" and the various instruments involved in the game to represent his memories. Harry's own mindscape was Hogwarts with his memories in different areas depending on importance: surface thoughts at the front entrance, bad memories in the Chamber of Secrets, comforting memories in the Gryffindor Tower, etcetera. Suigetsu's mind, predictable given his chosen focus when Harry went in, was a weapons' shop.
It was easy to tell that despite his knowledge of how to block casual mind-walkers ("mind readers" as Harry had once called it despite Snape's disgust with the term) Suigetsu had no idea how to organize his mind to prevent intruders. The front door was coated in his surface thoughts, which whispered along Harry's "body" when he "walked" through them, but past that were weapons scattered everywhere. These were Suigetsu's actual memories.
The floor had tacks/caltrops all over it, inconsequential memories of things such as what was for breakfast and prepared insults against someone named "Karin" for example. Harry ran his hand along a set of kunai on one shelf and found they were casual memories, mostly of peaceful times that probably helped for meditation; nearby were shuriken that were confusing memories, spinning from one feeling to the other on a dime, flying through the air. Senbon were the slightly painful memories, little more than pinpricks, mostly featuring old wounds.
The seven different swords in the back held the memories Harry wanted, however. He focused hard on what he wanted, memories involving "Tobi," and was drawn to a long, thin sword on the edge that had an equally thin handle and a little bit of thread hanging off a circle on the end. Judging by the earlier thoughts he had endured this was the Nuibari "Sewing Needle."
A hand touched it and with little direction Harry found himself standing in a spacious stone room. It was similar to a cave, but bathed in shadow, meaning little was visible outside of the three figures standing in the middle. In the middle of the trio was Sasuke, wearing that stupid outfit he had fought in with the purple butt-bow thing and open white shirt, looking with narrowed eyes straight ahead. On his right was Juugo, surprisingly calm, but clearly sad and sighing to himself. To the left was Suigetsu with Kubikiribōchō resting on his back and arms crossed. His expression was less than pleased.
"Welcome back, Suigetsu-kun, Juugo-kun," said a smooth tenor. Out of the darkness where Sasuke was staring an orange mask faded into existence, a red glowing circle on the left side, and after a few moments Harry realized it was an eye. A Sharingan eye, three-tomoe'd, spinning lazily… "I trust Sasuke has explained the situation."
"What bit?" Suigetsu asked, looking irritated but keeping his voice slightly lowered in respect. He knew better than to piss off Tobi or whatever his real name was (he severely doubted the guy was Madara but didn't want to say anything; Sasuke would take his head in a heartbeat if he voiced his thoughts without Karin there to take the brunt of his rage off…'least she was useful for something) so did his best not to be insulting. Well, sort of. "About Karin getting kidnapped by Konoha, about you being the main reason we were broken out of that place, or do you mean about this guy who's claiming to be a god?"
Tobi's eye crinkled slightly and Suigetsu guessed he was smirking beneath his mask. Or glowering. Or frowning. Or…well, it was hard to tell. "All three of course."
Suigetsu did his best to act normal despite the pressure he could feel…whether it was in his head or not was beyond him. "Then yeah, he has."
"Good," said Tobi, softly, icily. Suigetsu was reminded of his brother when he was angry but Harry thought it was more like Snape when being honestly cruel to someone—a rare thing but definitely something Harry had witnessed. "That would be why I assured you were broken out."
"You would have just left us there?!" Suigetsu asked, not really surprised but still pissed. Tobi didn't move but there was a faint amount of warning in the air so the Hozuki quickly shut his mouth.
Tobi went on as if there was no interruption. "While this 'Jashin'," the amused disbelief was evident yet Harry could sense a bit of unease hidden deep within the man's voice, "seems to have little to no skills himself, aside from his revival technique, those who travel with him pose a potential, minor problem should they decide to move against us. You all will prepare to face them."
"When will we move out?" Sasuke inquired. His voice was dead but there was a hint of anger; his fist clenched involuntarily. Tobi on the other hand somehow managed to seem surprised.
"Move out? Why, never, of course. There's no reason to bring their attention to us unduly."
Sasuke scowled at the idea. "'Unduly'?"
"Of course. They seem mostly uninterested in shinobi events outside of irritation at Konoha. Perhaps I will offer an alliance in the future, should 'Jashin' revive someone of interest, but it would be better to simply observe them for now. Zetsu has been taking care of that."
"If he can revive the dead," Juugo suddenly said, his voice soft but curious as his gaze travelled slowly around the others, "why don't we approach him sooner? Or" (he grimaced in disgust) "get rid of him and the others?"
"Zetsu has assured us that 'Jashin' is no threat on his own," said Tobi, clearly becoming bored, "and those he's surrounded himself with are easily taken care of. When we prepare to create the Juubi…then perhaps I will send your team to take him out. There is no reason to do so sooner."
Suigetsu was silent even as he watched Sasuke fume, and as Tobi continued to give directions to their group, Suigetsu just knew they were going against the maybe-Madara's orders…he grinned to himself in anticipation…maybe he'd finally get a good challenge once again…
Harry pulled himself from the memory and furthermore out of Suigetsu's mind. The kid blinked blearily, reeling a bit, then his gaze sharpened and he glared at Harry.
"What," he hissed, trying to be intimidating despite being on the inside of a cell reinforced with seals to suck his chakra as well as Harry's own wards so he couldn't escape or reduce himself to water, "did you do?"
"Confirmed a suspicion," was all Harry said. His wand raised once again and he took a deep breath. "Ready for round two?"
So it continued.
-Wrath of Jashin-
"He doesn't think we're a threat?" was the instant question from Nagato, honestly looking shocked, as Harry carefully healed his wounds. Harry hummed while continuing his work; he was a bit upset he didn't do so sooner but after healing Hidan's "life-threatening" injuries the others insisted he, ah, interviewed Suigetsu. They actually hadn't wanted to do that much until Harry pointed out how uncoordinated Hidan would be with one eye and how hard it was to clean up bloodstains…
This was definitely a strange group Harry had brought together.
"I think he does, somewhat," said Harry when he finished, casting a diagnostic to make sure he'd healed the fracture in Nagato's jaw. He nodded to himself at the affirmative and handed Nagato a bruise balm he had stored in his moleskin pouch. It seemed he was running low…he'd have to make some more soon… "The only thing is he is underestimating us. By now, I'm sure everyone knows I'm a civilian with a strange power at my disposal that is supposedly 'useless' for combat.
"The revival of Hidan and Kakuzu is obvious; we stormed Konoha's gates after all." (Kakuzu muttered something about stupid tactics but was largely ignored.) "No one has officially seen and recognized Deidara but we've been travelling enough that word has surely gotten out. However it seems he doesn't know about Kisame or you, Nagato…if he did I'm sure we'd already have been assaulted. If Zetsu really is checking in, though, he's sure to find out soon."
"His loss of Sasuke will set back his plans," Kakuzu drawled, lounging in a chair with a newspaper in his lap. Harry had to stifle a laugh when he realized it was the economic section he was focused on. "You said that Sasuke was supposed to be merged with the Statue of the Outer Paths to create and control the Juubi, but I doubt he'll storm Konoha to get him this late in the game. If the team we gave him to was intelligent in the least they probably rushed back to make sure he stays safe."
"No matter what they did, there's something I need to do right now," said Harry gently, staring thoughtfully at a wall. He could practically feel the question marks in the air from his companions. "Itachi needs to know what happened to his brother…not to mention that he may have some more information on Madara we could use."
"Well then, the fuck're ya waitin' for?" Hidan asked, probably thinking he looked less excited than he did. "Call him up!"
"Is it that easy?" Kisame asked with a blink. Harry smiled at him, one hand already touching the Resurrection Stone, and nodded.
"Now that I have a lock on his energy, then yes, it is," he admitted. "I could just as easily summon Sasori's spirit if I wanted to…although I don't."
The memory of Deidara's sorrow made Harry scowl to himself and, luckily, no one commented.
Silence fell over the room as Harry focused and stroked the Stone. Once, twice, three times…
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…it isn't working," Deidara needlessly announced. Harry frowned.
"This doesn't make sense," he muttered before again stroking the Resurrection Stone, focusing hard on Itachi's energy. Yet again—nothing occurred. There was barely a faint stir of his magic before everything settled with no difference.
"Do you have to go back to Itachi's resting place?" Nagato offered.
"No, I don't." Harry scowled at the ring gracing his finger. "I've done this before back home with the spirits of my godfathers and parents…it's never failed before." A horrid thought occurred to him and his gaze snapped to his first follower. "Hidan, didn't you say there was a revival technique similar to Inferni?"
"Yeah, it was Orochimaru's thing, reviving dead bodies using freshly dea—oh. Shit-fuck," Hidan finished, apparently realizing where Harry was going with that. The others looked suitably ill/pissed at the insinuation and Harry hurriedly tried to summon the only other spirit he could at the moment.
"Sasori's soul isn't responding, either," Harry whispered, horrified. Slowly his horror was replaced with rage and he snarled; a vase nearby that looked suitably priceless was destroyed spectacularly. Whether this was due to Harry's rage or Deidara's wasn't exactly clear since both looked equally angered. "That bastard! As if I wasn't pissed enough, now he's screwing with the dead against their will—he has no idea what he's messing with!"
Kisame and Nagato looked bewildered as Harry slipped into Parseltongue and continued to rant about idiots. Kakuzu pinched his nose, clearly restraining his own anger, and Hidan was nodding along with the rage. Deidara snapped in a few agreements every now and then.
"Um," a voice quietly interrupted. In an instant everyone had their various weapons pointed at the owner of the voice; faced with Samehada, the Elder Wand, a clay bird ready to explode, a triple-bladed scythe, a mass of threads, and glowing Rinnegan eyes the poor masked woman was ready to bolt.
"What is it, Shi?" asked Nagato after everyone had calmed. The ANBU member, clad in simple form-fitting black clothes with a black cape attached to a hood and the lower half of her face covered by a rebreather-mask, quickly regained her composure and bowed respectfully to him.*
"Lord Pein-sama, I was sent by the Council to let you and Lord Jashin-sama know that the target has been found. Head Counsel Tsuki is awaiting you in the 'old place.'"
Nagato's eyes lit up and after a moment Harry realized why. The 'target'…that must mean…
"Thank you, Shi," Harry said with a warm smile, his anger drifting off for the moment. The woman ANBU bowed deeply again before disappearing from sight.
"What's going on, un?" Deidara blinked. Standing along with Nagato, Harry couldn't help but grin.
"Well, there's one more person we can revive, if you remember. Hopefully she will agree."
-Wrath of Jashin-
While the state of Konan's body wasn't as bad as Harry had feared, it was far from perfect. She had been pulled from one of the many rivers in Amegakure, having presumably washed downstream after her death, and enough time had passed that her body was beginning to rot. The only real wounds though were superficial except a large hole through her ribcage, and ignoring the waterlogged decomposition the body was easily fixed.
As it was Harry, Nagato, and Hidan (who had tagged along for obvious reasons) had Bubblehead Charms put upon them by the only wizard in the room so they could breathe. The scent of putrefaction was suffocating otherwise.
"Nagato," Harry began, rotating the ring holding the Resurrection Stone slowly around his finger, "don't forget to keep your hand on my shoulder or else you won't be able to see or hear Konan."
"I heard you when you said it before, Jashin-dono," said Nagato with a faint frown. Harry smiled faintly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to insult your intelligence. I'm simply used to having to repeat things for Hidan."
"What the shit, Jashin-sama?!" Hidan shouted, scowling half-heartedly. "Seriously, aren't You on my side!?"
Harry couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Always, Hidan, but you can't deny it's true," he said. While Hidan gaped and grumbled half-heartedly Harry turned back to focus on the energy from Konan's poor body, rubbing the Resurrection Stone and transferring the energy for what could quite possibly be the final time.
The smoky form of Konan's spirit began to rise and gradually formed into a much more beautiful version of the body they had already seen. She was about the same height as Harry, perhaps a fraction shorter, she was very beautiful…from what Harry could see while studiously focusing on only her face and not her naked form (although he did get a glimpse of decent-sized breasts to his embarrassment). Her features were thin and she seemed soft and gentle despite the deadpan expression she wore, her slanted amber eyes resting on Harry for only a moment from between blue locks of hair that hit her chin before darting to Nagato.
Those eyes widened in shock. "Nagato-sama?" she breathed, clearly struggling to come to terms with what she was seeing. Harry noted Nagato blushing heavily out of the corner of his eye probably having made the same mistake in seeing her breasts…if not more. Luckily Hidan saw much less detail than either of them or else there'd have been quite a few lewd comments sent her way.
"Konan," Nagato greeted, his blush embarrassingly dark on his pale skin. Konan blinked before smiling; it was a gentle smile that softened her whole face and made her seem much younger (although she hadn't seemed particularly old to begin with).
"You're you again," she noted softly before her gaze flickered to Harry again and her expression blanked. "Is this man the 'Jashin' whom we heard was reviving the others?"
"I am," Harry said, giving a smile of his own. "It's nice to meet you, Konan. Hidan has spoken highly of you in the past and since his revival Nagato has confirmed many of the tales I heard."
Hidan's albino-pale skin flushed and he grumbled something about secrets not being secrets, scratching his nose as he looked away from Konan. Her amber gaze swept to him with surprise that soon softened into fondness.
"Ah," was all she said before turning back to Harry. This time her ease didn't leave as she observed him. "Will you be reviving me, then, as you have the others?"
"Only if you want to," said the Jashin. "If not I won't be forcing you."
Konan was quiet for only a moment before nodding. "You have the support of Nagato. Where he goes, whom he trusts, I go and trust. I won't fight you."
Harry smiled and nodded. "Before I do, I must warn you that in order to return your body to a useable state, there will be a slight sharing of traits between us. For the most part it has been physical—Hidan has received my messy hair, Kakuzu gained my eyes—but occasionally it is power-based such as Deidara gaining an ability that is similar to your Kekkei genkai. Do you still wish to do this?"
There was only a second's pause before Konan nodded again and Harry smiled wider, lifting his wand. "Alright, then. One moment…Reverto Somnes ut Vita."
It was then Konan seemed to notice her body and grimaced slightly at its horrible state. Yet even then it regenerated, dead cells inflating with life, the rot turning into healthy skin and organs and muscle. She appeared almost the same age as her spirit—perhaps with a few less stress lines around her eyes and on her forehead but otherwise she was unchanged. Physically it seemed that way, at least.
Although the regeneration was less than any of the others he had done, Harry was still quick to use the Resurrection Stone to connect Konan's soul to her body. There was once more pain shortly after, but notably less than with any of the others; Harry only hissed faintly while gripping the left side of his head as the skin tingled and pinched in pain.
Hidan of course completely overreacted, shoving Nagato (gently thank Merlin) aside and instantly grabbing Harry's shoulders. Harry gave him a grimace of annoyance.
"Hidan, I'm fine," he grumbled through clenched teeth. Nearby Konan's amber orbs blinked open and Nagato seemed to light up, bending over to help her into a sitting position and whispering something to her. It was apparently something good judging by the flattered and faintly embarrassed look Konan was sporting. "Honestly it's just a little headache and some tiredness. Don't worry about it."
"Why is everything so blurry?" asked Konan suddenly. Harry, startled, glanced over and blinked; indeed Konan was squinting as if she couldn't quite make out anything, although she seemed to see Nagato just fine. It took a few moments for Harry to understand why and he grimaced.
"Ah…that's…unfortunate." Nagato and Konan turned sharply in his direction (Konan squinting badly) and Harry gave an awkward grin. "Um. It looks like your vision deteriorated as a result…although since you seem to be able to see Nagato fine it's not as bad as mine…so that's good?"
The two Amegakure natives glanced at each other before looking back to Harry. Konan was eventually the one who spoke as she climbed slowly to her feet, Nagato hovering awkwardly at her side. "I will easily deal with it," she said eventually before lifting her sleeve and grimacing in disgust, "but…could I possibly get some new clothes? These are…less than pleasant…"
"Would ya prefer to be bare-ass naked?" Hidan said in what he probably thought was a flirty tone.
Harry face-palmed as Konan's eyes hardened and she did something that resulted in Hidan howling in pain and shouting about how he was joking. Well once again his little family was getting larger and more interesting.
Although if Hidan kept making comments like that he was probably going to be the first near-immortal to end up truly dead. Luckily Harry knew better than to get in between a woman and her revenge, no matter how painful it looked. For this one Hidan was on his own.
-END-
*The ANBU from Amegakure are never described so I took creative liberties. For those who are curious, each ANBU has the same form-fitting outfit with hood and cape, their identities concealed with both the hood and the rebreather mask (look at the genin from Ame in the Chuunin Exams for the best example). They all have code names, as well, but instead of being an animal instead they use numbers. Ichi (one) is the most powerful of them and the rest are in no particular order. Shi would be four.
MKL's Post-Production Notes (1-2-12): So I cried today. Like, seriously. I cried like a baby. Tears of joy. 1,000 reviews, guys. 1,000 REVIEWS! ! I just...I still can't believe it! You all are so awesome. You made a lonely young woman's dreams come true. To think one of my stories is so popular...even though it's a fanfiction it's still wonderful! Thank you all! ! !
Um, well. I won't gush anymore, I promise. Thank you all again. As a reward, I decided to post this up super early. Imagine, two updates in one week! Are we sure the apocolypse already passed? Hahaha.
On a completely unrelated note (kind of), I'd like to plug a story. Normally I don't do this but this is a story that really caught my attention. It's a HP/Naruto crossover involving the Akatsuki being reborn. Written by phoenixyfriend, it's titled "Reborn at Hogwarts" and it has only one chapter, the prologue, up now...but I've had the honor of reading past that and know that while you may find the prologue a bit slow since it's mostly backstory for her universe, it picks up fast and is super entertaining. Go check it out. Seriously. Go. Now. Shoo. Give her 1,000 reviews if you can. (Also from her are the equally wonderful "Gender Confusion" and "Fly Free"; check those out, too!)