AN: Sorry for taking such a long LONG time; I hope everyone still remembers what happened last chapter.
A huge thanks to all the reviewers; you were the only thing keeping me writing despite not really having inspiration.. From here on out I might have to change the rating to M for it will get disturbing at some points though it will start out quite easy and light, it will soon turn around and get ugly. You see Harry is strong; stronger than what would fit into the canon-verse; so the opponents will get stronger and cleverer as well.
This chapter concludes the chuunin exam and marks the end of part one of this story, so buckle up and sit tight because this might end up to be quite a ride. Longest fight-scene I've ever written, I really hope you end up liking it.
A huge thank you goes out to C.J.C. of DLP for BETA'ing this chapter.
Now without further ado:
Chapter 24: The end of part one, the start of part two
Walking through the streets of Konoha was a blonde boy. The boy at first glance didn't seem all that important or even special but if one looked at the boy's future one could see that the entire world depended on what this boy would do the next time he was given a choice it would decide whether or not villages would rise or fall, whether or not the world would see another sunrise after 'that' day.
The boy knew what his destination was, he had been told that as soon as 'he' returned they would meet each other there, so that was why Naruto had been going there every single day after sitting through class (yes, he went to school every day and sat through Iruka-sensei's boring classes because he was dumb enough to lose a bet… but that is another story). He was walking towards the only orange colored bench in the entirety of Konoha waiting for his first friend.
You see, his first friend had to go away for a few weeks, his first friend was a real ninja and as real ninja's do, his friend had to travel to a country far and away from Konoha where he would fight in a epic destiny-changing tournament where he would have to prove his worth as a ninja.
Yes his first friend sure knew how to word things properly.
Naruto, as soon as the orange bench came in his sight ran towards it because he saw that his first friend ever had returned from his all-important tournament. "Harry!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, not being able to contain his excitement. "You're back!"
The boy that was sitting on the only orange colored bench in Konoha flashed Naruto a teeth revealing smile. "So it seems, and guess what? I am still in one piece!" the boy said while Naruto was hugging him.
"You have to tell me everything! The old man has been back for a few days but he didn't tell me! So tell me, tell me; did you make chuunin? Did you win? Who did you have to fight? Did you get hurt? Di-" Naruto questioned the smaller boy before he was cut off.
"Sssht, I will tell you exactly what happened, but first I have to ask you something, and it is a very serious question." At saying that the smaller boy stifled a laugh. Naruto's face turned serious as his smile made way for a thoughtful looking gaze. "Do you want to eat ramen first or do you want to hear just how the chuunin exam went?"
Far away thunderclouds announced that the fate of the world was going to be decided by just how the boy was going to answer. Lightning struck a tree in an arena that had, just a few days earlier housed the final part of the chuunin exam at the same moment as Naruto full heartedly said "Ichiraku, here we come!"
After describing to Naruto what he had done through the entire chuunin exam, leaving out only the smallest of details like how Kakashi-sensei had been reading his Icha Icha-paradise books while watching him and his team fight and how Harry had actually killed not just defeated Mangetsu Harry arrived to the part of the finals. "The last fight, had shaken the entire stadium. And it had all started with the strangest meeting I had ever had."
"You see, after I had given Mangetsu's sword back and Terumi Mei had walked out of the room I was left with Kakashi-sensei and this really big rapper-ninja! He went through his knees to see eye to eye and was like…
"Yo, bakerayo. Imma enjoy seeing you throw it out against Samui oh!" The blonde giant of a man was moving his hands in a erratic way.
"I'm sure our students will give us a show that will be very entertaining to watch." Kakashi said as if answering a question. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to talk with my student." Kakashi placed his hand on Harry's shoulder before his vision was filled with green leafs that swirled around him.
Harry blinked as he was no longer standing in the same room as just a second ago. "You really ought to teach me how to do that Kakashi-sensei; it is so much cooler than my body popping!" The room Harry and Kakashi were standing in seemed unending. The walls were pitch black and white dots that gave the illusion of stars were on the ceiling.
Harry felt somewhat disorientated after being 'transported' from the bright jounin-booth into this dark room. "Why did you bring me here?" Harry asked while staring up to catch Kakashi's eye.
Kakashi looked down at Harry. Harry wanted to use his legilimency to find out what was on the man's mind. He didn't say a thing but Harry could feel there was some sort of tension in the air. What was it that made Kakashi look so serious? As Kakashi sighed it hit Harry like a brick wall falling down on him.
"I killed him with that jutsu." Harry suddenly felt as if he was under a magnifying glass, being observed as if he was some sort of insect. "I killed him, and you… what is it you brought me here for Kakashi-sensei?" Harry had to play this right. He hadn't killed anyone in this world yet, who knew how Kakashi might react? They hadn't discussed it before, not like this. They had talked about killing your enemy; of course. They had talked about assassination when ordered to by the Hokage. Kakashi had told them about killing enemies to protect his comrades but never had he said anything about killing someone when you could have; just as easily, knocked them out.
"You killed someone for the first time, Harry." Kakashi leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down and sitting with one knee up. "I need to make sure you know what this means."
Harry hadn't fully realized yet just how important one's first kill was. It was not something he had researched in the scrolls at home and it wasn't something that was brought up at the academy. Harry's mind was racing; what would a normal genin say? What would Kakashi expect him to say? Harry wanted to peek inside Kakashi's mind to find the answer but he couldn't break his promise to the Hokage, not for something like this. Silence made itself master of the room as Kakashi waited for an answer and Harry remained quiet while thinking.
"I…" Harry wanted to answer but was distracted by how young his own voice sounded. The body he was currently in was only six years old… only six years and Harry had already managed to make it a killing device. 'how fitting' he thought as he remembered his previous life. He had killed many people for the same reason he had today. At first because it was expected of him but after centuries went by and people slowly started to forget Harry's role in the world, the role of the savior boy, the chosen one; after a while Harry killed those who didn't deserve to live because he needed to keep balance. Needed to fulfill his true meaning in life. But he wasn't that person any more. He was a ninja now; his priorities should've shifted. "I…"
But they hadn't.
They hadn't changed at all. He had let the Uchiha die because there needed to be balance. Too much negativity would give way to hate and destruction, it would slaughter feelings of hope and joy it would only leave behind the burned ashes of misery.
Harry realized once more that his role; his only role in life, be it his first one or his second; he was meant as the scale. The scale between utter hopelessness and pure unfiltered hope. Master of Death, Master of Life; the scale keeper. The words flooded Harry's mind before he pushed them away; it would not do to go in much deeper than that, at the moment he was but a boy who had just killed another person for the first time.
"I believe I did what was needed." Kakashi's eye didn't betray any kind of feeling to that answer. But Harry didn't need to see in order to know what Kakashi felt. "He wanted to kill Koh, he would've killed Yuugi! All because he had this twisted idea in his head that no one was more important than he was, all life around him was worth no more than the dirt under his shoes! How could I not end a life like that? Should I have let him go on terrorizing everyone he met? Imagine the hurt he must have caused already, the hurt he would've cost in the future!" Harry's blood was boiling as he explained his reasons. "I couldn't let a person like that live on. I couldn't risk it."
Kakashi just sat there, unresponsive, why didn't he say something? Once again silence took hold of the dark room.
Harry calmed himself down; his hair was sweaty and dangling in front of his eyes. His fight with Mangetsu had tired him more than he had first thought. As the adrenaline in his body was slowly dissipating Harry felt that his muscles were actually hurting. His skin had been scrapped a few times in his hand to hand fight with Mangetsu.
Harry redirected his chakra to start working on healing his wounds; he had actually been struck by the hydrification user multiple times.
"I have taught you a lot of things Harry, I have taught you monsterous jutsu's. I have taught you silly jokes. I have helped you find the secrets of your chakra Harry. But I cannot teach you how to make the right choices when it comes to let live or die. You should always follow your instincts, always, don't let others cloud your judgment." Kakashi eyed Harry for a moment before continuing. "You are a ninja Harry, killing people is part of your job, but never forget that, however easy it may become, we do not just kill, we protect." Kakashi petted Harry's shoulder before standing up.
"So I did the right thing back there?" Harry's voice sounded so much more fragile than he had wanted, it was almost like he was asking for forgiveness; even though he knew to his very core that what he had done was just.
"You used the gifts bestowed upon you in the best way that you could." Kakashi gave Harry his famous eye-smile. "And you showed everyone that Konoha's tree still stands as mighty as it did when the First planted the seeds, you did well Harry."
Harry knew that for Konoha this was like a jackpot when it came to publicity. An Uchiha that was capable of teleportation and mokuton. An Uchiha that had been experimented on by Orochimaru, an Uchiha with Senju cells.
"You have one hundred and eighty minutes to get ready, in the mean time you should freshen yourself up and change your clothing." Kakashi clapped his hands twice as the white dots on the ceiling started to glow brighter and lightened the room, revealing a huge suite. "Kumo has made sure that none of the finalists have any discomforts, enjoy the luxury and get some sleep. I'll see you in the arena in three hours."
As Kakashi walked out of the room Harry rushed himself to the huge bathtub that was in the bathing room.
"Ahhh, time to relax."
Oonoki was old, he knew that. But he was also as dangerous as he was old. A keen mind not unlike the third Hokage. A sharp eye not unlike the First Tsuchikage. He was a patient man when needed, it was a lesson he had learned as a brash young man; only those who wait will see the end.
As a young man Oonoki had made many mistakes because he had acted before he thought. Because he had spoken up before it was his time. Because his mind had already been set before he had even considered all other options.
He had waited exactly three seconds too few before losing his teammate and killing his enemy.
He had waited exactly five seconds too few before he asked out an obviously married woman, if her husband was anything to go by.
He had waited eight seconds too few before he accepted the hat of the Tsuchikage and all the responsibility that went with it.
As the third Tsuchikage Oonoki had taken all the time he needed to make his mistakes.
He had waited a day too long with firing the council.
He had waited two days too long with instating law one hundred nine.
He had waited one year too long before he gave up on his war with Konoha.
But as always Oonoki had learned from his mistakes, he had become wiser; he had become a true world leader. And as every true world leader he knew a possible threat when he saw it.
It had been almost three hours ago that the smallest runt of all the participating runts had killed his opponent. Not that Oonoki cared about the death of a genin in the slightest. No what had interested him was the fact that the water boy had only moments earlier been ready to slaughter the friends of the smaller runt. And then as if struck by lightning the water boy froze in his movements before a tree erupted from the ground that consumed him.
Oonoki was many things, but unobservant wasn't one of them. He had seen the boy use the same eyes as Uchiha Madara. The same cursed eyes had looked at the water boy before his fate had been sealed.
A thousand simulations were playing in Oonoki's head, in some he had killed the small child with the red eyes before he had taken hold of the sword that Mangetsu had dropped. In a few more he had simply issued a kill on sight order for the small boy; those eyes were truly special, special enough to start a war over. But Oonoki had grown wise with the years; he had become the great fence sitter for a reason and truth be told; Iwa was not ready for a full out war against Konoha just yet.
So as all wise world leaders did when a possible threat came known to them Oonoki leaned back and took his time with watching the small boy's legend unfold before his very eyes.
Three genin were walking into the arena. It had been three full hours since the last battle had been fought and the terrain looked spectacular. The arena had started out almost serene in the morning but after the earlier rounds it wasn't even recognizable anymore.
Almost in the exact middle of the round arena stood a high, thick tree with a foliage filled with leafs and twigs; it blocked the sun's light that was still high in the sky. The air on the field tasted dry and small dust clouds could be seen clashing with the craters and stone slabs. The ground looked cracked as if it hadn't rained for years and it looked almost colorless, which was in stark contrast with the three genin that were making their way to the middle of the arena.
The smallest of the three genin, Uchiha Haru was dressed in dark red colors. Unlike his previous clothing the boy was wearing armor consisting of leather shoes and iron plated body parts, the only thing missing was a helmet or the boy would've looked like a samurai, a small samurai but a samurai nonetheless.
Nearly on the opposite of him a taller boy was standing with his arms interlocked. The boy had dark spikey hair and sunglasses that obstructed any sight of his eyes, whether the boy hid them for a purpose was unknown but in combination with the large grey cloak the boy was wearing it made him look like an intimidating person.
On the nearly opposite of the taller boy was a blonde girl that looked every bit as dangerous and intimidating as the previous two, perhaps even more so when one bothered to look at all the ninja tools she had strapped on her body. On her back a small blade was resting while trying to glister in the little bit of sunlight that managed to get through the thick foliage above them.
The three children, because do not forget that that is what they are despite their profession, were standing in a perfect triangle around a dark skinned man with near white-blonde hair. The man was almost three times as large as the smallest boy and almost twice as wide as the only girl on the field. This man was, despite not looking like it, the proctor of this chuunin exam and rumor had it that this person also had a big influence on whoever made it to chuunin and who didn't.
The man waited until the crowds silenced down before speaking the legendary words that were always shared before the finale fight. The crowds were sitting on the edge of their seat. As was tradition the final fight would be the most epic of them all, none of the genin would hold back in these fights. Years ago the two-tailed Jinchuuriki had her chuunin exam in this same tournament and released a power that was still talked about these days, she had made the very burn into flame. Years before that Darui, the current proctor, had unleashed a storm so powerful that his opponents had fallen into a coma after mere seconds of impact. Yes, tournaments like this were spectacles. Spectacles that created chuunin of fame; that created jounin of fearsome power; that created legends.
The crowds seemed to hold their breath and even the birds that had seated themselves in the newly formed tree had silenced in anticipation of what was to come. The proctor tilted his head so everyone could see his face. "Today, under the watchful eye of the three Kage present, three genin will fight for the honor of becoming chuunin. In this fight there are no rules, no limitations. There will only be one victor and he or she has will have the right to the title chuunin by default." The crowds shouted in excitement and started chanting their favorite's name. "All bets have been placed, all preparations have been made, all genin are ready to fight this battle to the very end and so with great pride and honor I announce the final of the twenty-third chuunin exam, you may start!"
After his announcement the proctor vanished in a blur to make way for the three genin, the doors that gave access to the arena closed off, hermetically. The crowds cheered and the genin started.
Samui, as soon as Darui had started the match, reached for he kunai with tags on them. She was fighting two boys that were at least her equals and so she did what she did best. She observed. She already knew a lot; she knew that for now one of the boys was her ally. She knew that her main target for now was the smallest child, the child with the sharingan eyes. She knew that the one weakness of a doujutsu was that if you couldn't see, it was ineffective.
The tags on the kunai she was currently holding in her hand had a kanji on it that read 'light'. The tags weren't sold often and they were quite expensive but, oh, it was so worth every penny. She had already discussed this with the bug-boy. She would distract the smaller boy, she would keep him busy while bug boy tried to attack when he could, not even the famed sharingan could handle a two versus one fight.
Samui threw her kunai with note just as the small boy activated his sharingan. 'Perfect' she thought. As the kunai was sent flying through the air the small Uchiha was already moving; quite fast. He wasn't running or even moving in the normal sense of the word but his eyes, they were spinning, fast; it was mesmerizing to say the least. For a split second Samui forgot about her tag attached kunai, for a second she was just standing there, unmoving watching those black dots spinning as if putting on a show just for her. However as the kunai came in her line of sight and broke the spell-like effect of the Uchiha's eyes. Samui lifted her hand to concentrate her chakra as the tag started to burn up; Uchiha Haru's eyes widened considerably before the tag burned up and unleashed a blinding light an arm's length away of the young boy.
-flashback.
"So you want to team up against your own teammate?" Samui quirked her left eyebrow. "Why would you do such a thing?" she asked.
Koh didn't say anything for a few second while in the arena the rubble settled and the two genin were locked in a tai-jutsu battle. "Because for me to make chuunin I need to show that I am insightful and not blinded by emotions. What better way to do that than to do the unexpected? What better way than to turn on my very own teammate?" he asked.
Samui smiled as an idea hit her like lightning. "Yes, I believe it might be best if we work together if we have to fight either of them. Can you tell me a weakness of your teammate?"
Koh's eyebrows came together in a frown "Haru's greatest strength is also his most obvious weakness. The sharingan can see with a clarity that is rivaled only by the Byakugan. One time, when we were on a mission Haru was fighting a weapon master. The man was strong, terrifyingly so, but Kakashi-sensei was fighting the two other jounin, quite successfully I might add. We were not doing badly considering the circumstances, my teammate Yuugi and Harry both had their doujutsu activated that seemed to give them the edge we needed. However fighting a jounin was way out of our comfort zone, the jounin weaponist knew just what to do against the two doujutsu. He blinded them, for all intents and purposes they could not see for a whole minute before they slowly regained sight." Koh finished by adjusting his sunglasses.
"What did he do? How did he blind the two of them?" Samui asked unsure.
"He threw a barrage of light-bombs."
-/end flashback
Samui's lips pressed together to form a small smile, it had worked, how utterly simple. The boy was bent forward with his hands over his eyes while loudly screaming in pain. Looking to her right she could see that the Aburame had already released bugs. The bugs were forming a cloud before they seemed to multiply tenfold and rushing towards the smaller boy. The dark red cloud was out for blood, Samui could feel it and as the bugs swarmed around the Uchiha and were slowly but surely finishing him off she got scared. The bugs were crawling inside the boy's entrances, his ears, and his mouth his nose. He was suffocating before he let out one last scream and dropped to the ground. Slowly the bugs crawled out of the boy. And Samui's feeling of fear soon changed into a mild panic.
If the Aburame could attack his own teammate so viciously, so relentlessly; then what would he do to her?
While the Uchiha boy was lying on the ground, alive but unconscious, Koh turned to face her. "Now, Samui, I believe our previous union can be disbanded-" Koh raised his arm and directed it towards her, "now that our goals do not match anymore."
Samui steeled herself for the incoming onslaught of dark red kikai bugs. 'Not all of the bugs moved at once, odd' Samui mentally noted. As the bugs got closer Samui rushed through her hand seals; creating a raiton-bunshin hardly took anytime but it proved extremely useful as it jumped into the dark cloud of bugs and exploded.
The high voltage electricity that was released as the clone dispersed electrocuted a large portion of the blood sucking and chakra draining bugs. The bugs that died seemed to fall through the air in slow-motion; some seemed to float in the still air. Still, she hadn't killed even half of the little crawling insects which meant that the incoming cloud was still after her with the same vigor. Meanwhile it seemed that the world around her had stopped, the crowds were unmoving and hadn't cheered or gasped ever since Koh had turned on her. Were her parents watching here, if she would just look at the stands she might see them and her brother? She hadn't seen Karui and Omoi after their fights; how were they doing? Were they watching? The kikai bugs got closer and she could hear them buzzing.
Pushing the thoughts about the crowd and everyone else aside; this truly wasn't the time to become distracted, Samui pushed chakra into her legs and ran as fast as she could while keeping both an eye on the swarm of kikai bugs and Koh.
The Uchiha was still on the ground, unmoving. If she was not careful the same fate would befall her. She grabbed the hilt of her tantõ, her faithful Culicidae, and quickened her pace even more.
Koh was just standing still even as her short blade inched ever closer to his torso, was it a trap? Why wasn't he guarding himself against her attack? It didn't matter, she wouldn't hold back because he was too stupid to block her.
Unfortunately, as Samui was only half an inch away from Koh the boy grabbed her arm and pushed his chakra through it.
Out of nowhere a cacophony attacked her senses, the wind was howling and the crowds were shouting. The bugs that she had killed earlier were still swarming the field and the Uchiha that had been defeated first was no longer lying on the ground but was grinning quite madly at her and Koh.
"I see my ever helpful teammate has pulled you out of my genjutsu." The Uchiha smirked. "I honestly didn't expect you to fall for it, genjutsu aren't really my strong suit you see?" the boy slowly brushed off his armor while talking, all the while she and Koh were communicating as well through hand signs.
"When I was younger I always waited for things to happen to me, I used to only attack after being attacked. I was foolish back then, but how could I not have been, I was but a young child. I am older now and more aware of the horrors of actual combat." Harry was gathering his chakra; it had already been well balanced way before he had entered this battle. His chakra was filling his entire body, he just needed to stall for a few more seconds to make it as potent as possible.
"But you see, despite all that gained knowledge I am still willing to hold back my punches for you, you will be defeated that cannot be changed. But let me give you the option of giving up while you still can with all your dignity intact." Harry already knew how the two genin would react; they would never give up this early in the fight. It was actually a big insult to them for Harry to even offer such a cowardly way out of this battle.
"Harry we will not give up, do you know why? Because we have joined forces, and that will be your downfall, already you are surrounded by my bugs; there is no way out of this situation." Harry could feel that Koh was right, he was surrounded by the blood-red kikai bugs. But that didn't mean he didn't have a way out.
"Don't claim your victory prematurely, Koh." Harry jumped up which triggered Koh into action, with two hand movements the Aburame forced his bugs to collapse on Harry. But Harry had prepared for this while he had been gathering chakra. It most surely was not his most effective attack, it depleted his chakra too fast to be used multiple times in a battle; but for what he needed now it was perfect, it was flashy which would impress the crowds, it was of a high skill level which would impress the Kages, but most of all it was scary, which would intimidate his opponents.
Rushing through an astounding amount of hand seals within a mere second Harry clapped his hands together.
Koh had just commanded his bugs to pulverize Harry; he had known Harry for quite some time now and as his teammate had fought side by side with the little ninja. He had always known that Harry had hidden depths within him; he had seen it in their very first training session. The way Harry could turn from the very likable child that he normally was into the sharp edged shinobi was almost scary to even him. But he knew his teammate well enough; the boy had become his friend; they had shared secrets with each other.
Koh knew for example that Harry had once put itching powder in Yuugi's shoes. And he had confided in Harry that he had done the same to Harry's own shoes; which caused the boy to laugh that innocent, carefree laugh of his before he had taken of his shoes and hurled them at Koh in revenge.
Koh had told Harry that he still missed Rin-sensei and Harry had said that he missed her too; they had become friends.
Friends that were now fighting with all they had. Was the boy with the blood red eyes that he was currently facing still the same boy he had been friends with for over a year? Or was the Harry he was fighting now another person entirely? He had seen Harry's change as soon as the battle had started, the glistering in his eyes had diminished and made way for an unforgiving glint.
Yes the boy he was now facing had to be someone else entirely. His Harry, his friend could never conjure fear in him with a mere glance. The Harry he knew had eyes that seemed to care for even the smallest bug that Koh had in his hive. But this Harry would kill that bug the instant he laid his eyes on it. The unforgiving red eyes that changed his friend into his enemy now that he was on the receiving end of its power.
Power.
That was what Koh was feeling washing over him in waves. Harry's chakra had always been a comfortable warm cloud he could feel protected in; a nebula of sorts. But now that Harry's chakra had identified him as an enemy the chakra felt more like a boa constrictor that was trying to suffocate him by tightly wrapping itself around his neck.
Power.
The waves of chakra were rapidly increasing in their pressure and seemed to become tangible. Huge waves of chakra seemed to conjure water out of thin air. And at that moment Koh actually feared one of his only true friends; how far was his friend willing to go for the title of chuunin?
"Suiton; Bakusui shouha!" Harry voice boomed through the arena.
Samui tried to defend herself against the coming tsunami but found she too slow to react properly. Huge volumes of water pushed/pulled/slammed her. Seconds felt like minutes as the water surrounded/imprisoned/suffocated her. All around her, all that she could see was water. Water obscured the sun, water obscured the sight of everything, she tried to swim up, up to where there was oxygen so that she could breathe but each time she tried to go up a water current pushed her down.
She tried, and tried but no matter how furiously she moved her arms and legs the water was relentless, it kept pushing her down. It had even managed to push her against the wall. For that she was thankful. The wall was not water, which meant that Haru had no control over it! Wasting no time Samui managed to move her arms against the oppressive water and grabbed two kunai out of her pouch. Using the Kunai she stabbed the wall, fist with her left hand followed quickly by her right. It had taken thirteen seconds but she finally had a way out of the horrible and panic inducing jutsu.
It took another four seconds before Samui managed to work her way up and by then she gladly inhaled the precious oxygen that was in the air. Using chakra she stood on the surface of the water, it looked almost otherworldly, the sight that met her. The bluest blue was filling the stadium, it was almost cerulean blue yet it looked so much more purer than that. This was water the way it was meant to be. Water that gave life and took it away, water that would swallow her whole if it was given the chance but also water that could give life to the sick.
Samui stopped that train of thought. The lack of oxygen must have affected her more than she realized if she was this interested in the way the water moved and glistered in the small rays of sun.
Shaking her head, causing countless of tiny water drops to fall and cause ripples in the calm looking water under her feet, Samui rubbed her eyes and gave herself two seconds to get over her almost death.
After gathering her wits Samui focused on the boy that was sitting in the tree, the sharingan eyes only bothered to look at her for a moment before they focused on something else. The boy had his hands placed in the water and they glowed with bright blue chakra. 'He must be using his chakra to control the water!' Looking around she found that Koh was nowhere in sight, which meant that he was most likely still underwater! 'I need to stop Haru if I want Koh to help me defeat him…' Samui went for her pouch again as she grabbed two kunai with explosive tags. 'But do I want to save Koh? Wouldn't it be better to let Haru defeat Koh and knock Haru unconscious as soon as possible after that?'
However, the decision was taken from her as the brilliant blue water started to get darker, turning purple before violently exploding upwards causing waves that crashed into the still standing tree and Samui. Samui pulled her arms up to protect herself as she was thrown against the wall. Her ears were ringing now, and she felt dizzy.
As the water calmed down once more, Samui dropped her arms next to her side and saw glimpses of Koh in a huge sphere of kikai bugs.
"I cannot believe you managed to do that... Your bugs shouldn't have been able to move their wings with all that water pressure, let alone the water itself. How'd you get out of the water with your entire swarm still alive?" the Uchiha boy withdrew his hands from the water and wiped them dry on his pants. "Too bad, I had hoped to defeat you with that jutsu…"
"You are not the only one who has learned from previous missions and weaknesses that have been exploited, Harry." Koh's swarm was somehow lifting the boy in the air while shielding him at the same time.
'Such an impressive sight compared to these two… I feel like an academy student.' Samui, during the boy's conversation got hold of her sword. 'But I am not without some impressive jutsu myself; let's see how the little boy deals with my kenjutsu.'
Aburame Koh stretched both arms out as more and more bugs seemed to be released. "I coated my bugs in chakra, something like that is not outside of my skillset. Harry, it is time we even the playfield. You have taken hold of the ground, I will take hold of the air." The bugs around Koh started to move erratically, making them look more like one being than thousands of bugs.
"My bugs have been feeding on the chakra of my opponents twice today, I have been preparing for this fight since before entering the finals. I will not succumb to your jutsu as long as I have chakra running through me." Koh finished his speech at the exact moment his bugs started going after Haru.
"May the lord have mercy on you, for 'Culicidae' has none." Samui said as she dropped into a stance closing her eyes, this was her chance, Samui realized.
Her short blade had been drawn, ready to aid her in her fight. "First dance; Dance of the open throat." She whispered. And with chakra under her feet she closed the distance between Haru and her in a split second. The boy's eyes had widened. Koh's bugs had hidden her from his sight; he was effectively using their own tactics against the Uchiha.
Despite her fast movements Haru evaded every possible hit with easy, even managing to find the time to use a jutsu of his own. Samui backed away to prepare for the second dance as Haru released a fire ball from his mouth "Goukakyuu no jutsu" the boy had said as he roasted a small portion of Koh's bugs.
Not that it really mattered what the small Uchiha did, Koh was still releasing bugs from inside his coat; 'How many does he have on him anyways?'; and they were attacking Haru succeeding in distracting him enough for Samui to get through her dances.
'I don't need to do every dance for long; but I can't continue to the next dance without going through the earlier dances; I just hope I won't be the one he will aim his next fireball at.' Samui changed the way she held her tantõ and went charging in for the second dance.
Harry had been doing three things continuously; first, evade Koh's bugs. Second; evade Samui's sword and third try to find the time to attack Koh's bugs; they presented a bigger threat than Samui.
With his sharingan he could easily follow the blonde's movements; and seeing as the sword was not imbued with chakra he could easily predict what she would do with it.
They had been going at it like this for almost two minutes; evade bugs, evade Samui, try to get rid of the bugs; more bugs being released by Koh and evade the bugs again.
The bugs had become even more annoying than at the start of this routine; they had started to getting louder and louder; disorientating him. Making it harder to focus on Samui's movements. And it was looking like each time Samui went at him she got faster and faster; it was actually starting to get so fast Harry's body could hardly keep up with it.
"Sixth Dance, The bone breaker" Harry heard Samui's voice behind him, behind him! Harry turned around just in time to see Samui coming at him with her short blade in her hand, however the sword was reversed, she had unwrapped the bandage around the hilt and used it to safely hold the blade.
'Too fast.' Harry thought before Samui managed to hit him, he could hear a loud crack before he felt the bones in his left arm split in two.
'Shit, I need to get out; I can't keep this up otherwise.' Taking a deep breath Harry grabbed the girl's hand with both his arms despite the pain that was currently running through him and body-popped them both underwater.
'Koh's bugs won't be able to reach us easily and I can control this water. It is time to take this battle to the next level.'
Letting go of Samui and distancing himself from her Harry guided his chakra through the water around him; preparing to take down Samui for real this time but it seemed that Samui had other ideas entirely. Somehow she managed to get hold of Harry once more; her movements were sluggish in the water compared to when she was walking on it but she was still insanely more faster than what should have been possible for her. 'How come she is suddenly so fast, it doesn't look like she is using chakra to augment her muscles or anything, the strain would be visible if she did that…' she was holding her sword with it's point clearly aiming for Harry's heart. She moved her mouth as bubbles of air were released.
Harry panicked, she was radiating killer intent; she was seriously going to kill him!
Harry body-popped once more, this time they ended up high in the sky, miles away from the ground. "If you want to survive this fall, you will sheath your sword now!" Harry said hoping she would do just that.
Samui's eyes told him everything he needed, they looked panicked. "I can take you to the ground safely, but sheath your sword."
In the Kage booth three, somewhat wise, men were watching what was happening with intense eyes. "It seems like your boy wonder has met his match in Samui." A said with a hint pride in his voice.
The hokage didn't respond directly as he suddenly looked up as the chakra signatures changed location once more. "Yes, young Samui shows great potential. Her mastery of the Eight dances makes her quite the opponent for young Harry. Especially as she seems to have joined forces with Aburame Koh."
Oonoki, the third Tsuchikage, nodded his head at that statement. "Good teamwork is instrumental when it comes to fights like this. I am surprised to see how well that Aburame has managed to match his own style to that of the girl's. It speaks volumes of his intelligence and skill."
"That maybe so but he is just waiting his time out; he is letting Samui and the young Uchiha tire each other out while he is manipulating the field ever so subtle. It seems like we have three genin that are capable of not only fighting in the moment but also planning ahead. It is that quality that I can appreciate the most; they are not just brute force; they know when to go full out and when to fall back." The Hokage smiled before his eyes started to narrow. "Young Uchiha Haru is in a predicament though; fighting not only a very skilled opponent but also fighting his own teammate who seems to know most of his moves." The hokage folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "It seems that Samui is the one who is at the disadvantage now."
The Raikage laughed at that statement. "Come on Hokage-dono, don't tell me you can't see what the Aburame has prepared?"
Sarutobi shook his head sagely "It is all about looking underneath the underneath; Koh will dispose of Samui as soon as she is no longer of use to him. Don't tell me you can't see that."
"I hate to say this Raikage, But Hokage is right; the Aburame has set the field, he will save the girl; earn her trust and when she least expects it, she will fall."
The Raikage stayed silent; he had placed a lot of money on Samui; and he refused to see that money go to waste.
Samui had sheathed her sword; she had given in; there was no way she would survive this fall without the help of the small Uchiha. The wind rushing through her hair was nice though; it felt almost relaxing; almost, because she knew that as soon as they reached the ground she would have to fight again; she still had her last dance, after the spectacular failure of the seventh dance she had used under water it was time for the eighth dance; the dance that would finish this fight; she could finish both Haru and Koh with this dance.
All she needed her footing.
The wind was still rushing through her hair, her fingers. It surrounded her she looked at Haru wondering why he hadn't teleported them back yet only to find that he was gone.
He had lied!
The wind that had been blowing through her hair started to howl, the sound matched her current feelings of impending doom. But within moments the sounds changed no longer was the wind howling, it was buzzing and no longer was there actual wind blowing through her hair but hundreds if not thousands of bugs were somehow slowing her descent down. It didn't take long before she reached the water filled arena and stood on her own two legs.
"Thank you." Samui said looking at Koh who had a concentrated look on his face. "If you can distract him for a few seconds, I will make this fight between just you and me." The words had hardly left Samui's lips before Koh spread out his arms and he vanished from view as bugs started surrounding him, her and the space between them and Harry. 'Perfect.'
It was finally time for Samui to slip into her last stance; the stance that marked the ending of this match. She put her tantõ back in its sheath and crossed her arms. "The last dance is my strongest offensive technique sacrificing all my defenses; I use all the chakra that I have left in my body to make myself the ultimate sword!" lightning started to appear around Samui while her voice boomed through the arena, it looked as if she was statically charged as her hair started to spike. "With this much chakra concentrated in and around my body I know exactly where everyone is!" Samui, faster than she had moved before, turned around and somehow slashed the Uchiha that had tried to get closer to her for a sneak attack with her fingertips.
The boy's armor seemed to be cut through as if it offered no resistance. The electricity around Samui flared up as the bugs between her and Haru got fried, the fell into the water but soon got replaced by new ones. Samui didn't stop though; seeing the wide-eyed Uchiha just at arm's length away from her she pressed her attack on. She started to spin around and make stabbing motions with her hands destroying the kikai bugs and managing to hit Haru's armor several times.
"Eighth Dance; Death" Samui said vanishing from everyones sight; the only reason everyone knew she was still in the arena was because the electricity was still crackling.
"Suiton: Suijin Heki." Haru screamed after flashing through a series of hand seals. The water under his feet started to rise and created a wall around the small Uchiha; a wall of water that was spinning fast enough for it to actually cut a leaf that had fallen off the branch.
It didn't bother Samui though; in this last dance water, no matter how fast it was spinning around, could not stop her. Her hand was covered in chakra fueled electricity. She stopped moving around and stood still, she could vaguely see Haru's body though the water and struck it with her hand. The water around her hand and arm evaporated instantly, it didn't even look like she had noticed it was there it didn't stop at the water though, her hand pierced through Haru's armor and with a sickening sound it pierced through his left shoulder once again Haru's eyes closed and his face contorted in pain before he let out a high pitched scream. Samui didn't let it bother her; if she was to show everyone what she was capable of she had to numb her feelings of concern for the boy and finish the job. All she needed was for the Uchiha to not be able to fight anymore.
She withdrew her hand, the blood on it seemed to dry in mere moments leaving behind brown stains. Samui made use of the boy's distracted state and stabbed the boy once more with her other hand this time managing to completely go through the boy's body; taking a huge chunk of flesh from the boy's side. She had missed his spleen but the pain would certainly make the boy lose conscious.
The water wall that had surrounded Haru had collapsed onto itself as the young Uchiha fell onto his knees. His skin had paled significantly making drops of splashed water on to his face look like he had a high fever.
Samui knew she had taken out Haru, now it was time for Koh.
After being stabbed twice by Samui, Harry couldn't move his body. His whole body was hurting. He could feel his chakra rushing through him trying to heal him as fast as possible, but without the proper jutsu he wouldn't make it before the match ended.
Harry tried to use his occlumency to calm himself, his mind was panicking but he could not use that at the moment. What he needed was to make his chakra emotionless, let it fill him up so that nothing but chakra was in his system. Harry balanced it out making it a steady stream that was now filling his every cell.
Harry had closed his eyes but knew that his hands were glowing with green chakra, chakra that was softly pulsating. It gave off a very peaceful feeling even as he tried to reach his shoulder to heal the puncture wound and the roasted flesh. It would most definitely leave a scar, but that was what you get while fighting.
It had surprised Harry tremendously that Samui had managed to go through his water wall. He had performed it in a rush but it had still been created perfectly; as every of his jutsu's had been when he had his sharingan activated. The water wall was one of his strongest defenses, it had withstood huge boulders and fires when he had battled his own bunshin, the fact that Samui had managed to slice through it as if it were nothing more than air was disturbing.
'She had said that it was dance of death; that she had sacrificed all her defenses for this ultimate sword. It must act a lot like Kakashi's Raikiri, yet it didn't sound or look like it.' Harry winced as he felt his chakra cleaning the wound. 'She did a real number on me there; I should have created clones to fight them… or just defeat them as soon as we started while they were in the genjutsu. Note to self: don't play around when fighting.' Harry regretted his earlier decision to let both Koh and Samui have their moment to shine as well.
The shoulder wound had stopped bleeding and was slowly regenerating; too slow. How could he win this duel if he couldn't even stand up straight? Harry pushed more of his chakra into the healing jutsu; he wouldn't have any chakra left if he healed both wounds perfectly. All he could do was stop the bleeding and make sure it could endure him moving.
It had been a full minute and his shoulder had finally been tended to enough for him to start working on his side. He had never treated his own wounds like this; Samui had actually managed to cut off a piece of his body. Albeit not much, only and inch and a half, but considering the size of his body it was more than he could afford.
Harry cleaned the wound the same as he had with the puncture wound in his shoulder, the heat that he exuded from his palms while guiding his chakra was a welcome side effect. The water he was floating on had been cooling him off, he hadn't realized that the water he had created earlier on was almost as cold as ice, that was something he should probably remember, all aspects of a jutsu were important, that included the temperature. Harry pushed the thought from his mind; it would not do to become distracted at the moment. He had but one job to do now and that was getting well enough to finish this fight.
It took another minute before Harry felt he was ready to continue the fight. He had taken some extra time to regenerate the flesh. Koh and Samui were still battling it out. It looked like Samui had the upper hand, she moved graciously, her mere presence roasted Koh's bugs. It was beautiful as it was scary.
'I cannot believe that the girl who was not even able to get out of my genjutsu is capable of such destruction. But it looks like Koh has just been evading her with his bunshins, if the piles of dead bugs is anything to go by.' Harry gave himself a few seconds to observe the battle field. It was still filled with water despite it getting evaporated wherever Samui was standing.
'How does she keep up with the chakra that she is exuding? She hasn't eaten any soldier pills, as far as I could see, and she hasn't stored her chakra anywhere that is way out of her league, so where does she get the chakra from… could she be? No.' Harry worried for a split second that Samui might have been the Nibi Jinchuuriki, but that was impossible. The Nibi had been sealed almost twenty years ago and Samui was only a teenager. 'But then what is her secret? Her eyes show that she is straining her body, could it be that she is using the inner gates? It would explain the crazy amount of chakra and the change in her speed… Either that or she has a bloodline limit that I haven't heard about before. She must have been training a lot though to reach this kind of mastery in a jutsu. Not even I could keep up a constant stream of chakra like that without damaging my chakra pathways.'
Harry activated his sharingan once more, what he wouldn't give for his wand right now. Two stunners and this match would be over. Moving slower than he felt comfortable with Harry pulled himself up. No one seemed to notice him though, Koh and Samui were focused entirely on each other. Koh was trying to suck all the chakra out of Samui with his kikai bugs while Samui tried to reach Koh.
Harry realized that his best chance at winning this fight was if he got both Samui and Koh in one shot. Emerging himself in the water he had created earlier in the fight Harry felt his chakra connecting with the water once more. He didn't have a lot of chakra left; the medical jutsu having depleted him almost entirely. 'only enough for one more jutsu… I will have to make it count I guess'
Sarutobi looked down into the arena. It had not surprised him that Samui had managed to cut through the small Uchiha's defenses, the water wall was an astounding defensive jutsu but it was never meant as a defensive jutsu. His sensei; Tobirama had created the jutsu because it summoned a lot of water around him that could be used in an offensive jutsu while it hid him from sight.
It was not the first time that Hiruzen had seen a promising shinobi use a jutsu the wrong way. Young ninja learned high leveled jutsu that were extremely useful when used properly but they almost never managed to use it to the fullest extent. It was what separated the good from the great. It was what had made him the strongest shinobi for over forty years. It was something that young Uchiha Haru still had to learn.
"This is the second time in my life that I've been given the opportunity to watch the eighth dance, and I must admit it is still as fearsome as when the Nidaime Raikage used it against the Nidaime Hokage, it shows just how talented this girl is." Sarutobi complimented.
"Samui is one of the strongest kunoichi that have come out of the academy the last three years, it is why I placed her under my own brother. Talent should be nurtured by the best, talent needs talented teachers or talent will be wasted." The Raikage said proudly. "But admittedly, the Aburame seems to hold his own quite well. And what is that? Is the Uchiha healing himself?"
Hiruzen raised his eyebrows. "It seems so." He said more to himself than to the Raikage. "The girl did quite the number on him; it will take considerable will to heal despite those injuries."
He kept his eyes focused on the fight between Samui and Koh; they were tiring each other out. Koh had put a lot of his chakra in creating more and more bugs earlier in the fight and it paid off now; yet Samui had turned herself into a dangerous weapon. Koh couldn't get close without losing hundreds of his bugs in mere seconds and Samui couldn't get close enough to actually hit Koh because he kept confusing her with his clones. It was a bit of a standstill, a battle of endurance. Who would be able to keep this pace up longer?
Looking at the black haired Uchiha, he could not help but place his bets on Uchiha Haru. The boy was currently working on patching himself up and Hiruzen knew exactly what the boy would do. He would strike as soon as one of his opponents showed a sign of weakness. Something that wouldn't take long; both Koh and Samui were already slowing down.
Cracking a smile Hiruzen saw that Haru was going to finish this battle. "Now, Raikage-dono and Tsuchikage-dono, it seems like this battle will end before sunset."
Koh had been wasting his chakra on creating clones for his entire fight with Samui. She had somehow managed to defeat Harry, something he had not thought possible this early in the fight, it had put him in a disadvantage. He had hoped that Harry and Samui would take each other out or at least wound each other enough for Koh to end this quickly.
That hope had been crushed when Harry had fallen to his knees and Samui had focused entirely on him. She was fast, too fast to keep up with in a hand to hand fight. So he had created dozens of Mizu bunshin. They would keep Samui busy enough for Koh to think of something.
His bugs couldn't get close to Samui for her chakra seemed to electrocute them almost instantly. He had tried trapping her in ninja wire, but she had cut through it without as much as a thought.
In other words; he was just waiting for her to stop her current jutsu.
Harry was using his chakra to manipulate the water. He wouldn't need a lot of chakra to change all this water into water clones. The water was already accustomed to his chakra when he had 'created' it, giving it a shape and purpose was a piece of cake after that.
Spreading out his chakra the water started to illuminate. Slowly his chakra had taken hold of the entire body of water and then he forced his will through it after going through the hand seals that were required for this jutsu.
In an instant the water that had filled up half of the arena turned into water clones of Harry, hundreds upon hundreds of clones. Koh and Samui, both caught off guard by the disappearance of the huge mass of water that they were previously standing on fell down into the clutches of the clones.
They both tried to fight them off but there were simply too many of them. Most of the clones evaporated after coming in touch with Samui but the girl lost chakra each time she destroyed one. It did not take long before Samui was drained of her chakra and became defenseless. A dozen clones were holding her in place, making sure she was unable to move.
Koh on the other hand had his bugs fighting the clones but even he could not focus on the dozens of clones that were trying to knock him out long enough to destroy all clones. Koh managed to destroy a total of thirty-two clones before one of the clones managed to knock him out with a single hit on the back of his head.
Breathing heavily and sweating profusely Harry deactivated his sharingan, he was tired. Creating all those clones had been taxing on him. Harry walked towards Samui, the girl hadn't lost consciousness unlike his own teammate and she hadn't given up yet.
It took Harry, who was walking as if he was dead on his feet, a whole minute before he reached Samui. Most of his clones had dispersed leaving behind small puddles of water in the mud. "Do you give up Samui?" Harry asked, plastering a determined look on his face and folding his arms over each other.
Samui looked at Harry with eyes that were ablaze. Harry was sure that if she even had a handful of chakra left she would have used it to fight him, but she was drained completely. His clones had overwhelmed her and there was nothing she could do now but admit defeat and hope she had showed off enough skill for her to be promoted anyway.
Samui's eyes started to moisten as she realized just how thoroughly she had been beaten in less than one minute. "I.. I.." Samui coughed up some blood, she tried to move her arm to place her hand in front of her mouth but the clones restrained her completely. Harry awaited her answer.
"I yield." She said with as much pride as she could muster.
Naruto had managed to sit through Harry's story without even moving an inch. His eyes were glistering with joy. His best friend had won the chuunin exams! How incredible was that? And not only had Harry won the chuunin exam he had treated Naruto to ramen. Yes Harry was indeed the best friend anyone could ever wish for.
"That was awesome Harry!" Naruto took his seventh bowl in his hands and slurped the ramen out of it. Miso ramen was his favorite kind of ramen, but that was beside the point. "So you are a chuunin now? What does that mean?" he asked before putting the bowl back on the counter.
"It means I will get paid more for my missions, and that means we can eat at Ichiraku's more often! Great right?"
Naruto grinned at hearing that. "That's awesome Harry."
"Yeah, I guess it is." Harry tried to keep up an excited appearance for Naruto's sake but Harry's mind was somewhere else. He couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke.
It had been a few weeks since he had last seen his big brother Sasuke, he had missed him. They had parted on terms Harry wasn't sure how to label. They had talked about that day and Harry had confessed to a lot of things and he had managed to suppress some sort of second identity in Sasuke by locking it away through legilimency but Harry was not sure how Sasuke would react.
He had left almost directly after telling Sasuke; Sasuke had been alone at home ever since. Little Sasuke had a lot of time to make up his mind about me and Itachi, but Sasuke is good at holding a grudge. Far too good.
"Uhmm, Harry. Are you alright?" Naruto asked waving his hand before Harry's eyes.
Harry shook his head to clear it of all thoughts about Sasuke. "Oh, sorry. Yes I am, was just thinking. It is getting late and I haven't seen Sasuke yet so I am going to head home all right?"
Naruto gave him a thoughtful look but nodded and said goodbye.
Five minutes later Harry was walking in the Uchiha district. There was someone standing on the corner, someone Harry recognized. Those bandages and cane only belonged to one man. Danzo.
Harry kept his pace as he walked towards the old man. Well, relatively old anyways. There were not many people Harry thought of as old after he had reached the age of twenty decades but that didn't matter.
"Hello Danzo." Harry said. At one point Harry had hated this man with every fiber in his being but now he felt as if this was actually a good man who just needed some 'Harry Potter truth' knocked into him.
"Hello, Uchiha." Danzo said looking Harry in the eyes. "I've heard about your promotion, let me congratulate you on that."
"Thank you, Danzo." Harry suspected that Danzo had another reason to visit Harry like this other than congratulating him for becoming chuunin.
Danzo walked over to the bench next to him and sat down, motioning for Harry to do the same. As Harry sat down Danzo looked at him intently. "There is a new opening in the interrogation squad…"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Danzo was here to talk about that? "They are going to ask if you would be willing to fill that spot." Danzo's lips had an upward curve to them as he closed his mouth.
"The interrogation squad? Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked wondering where this would lead to. The interrogation squad lead by Ibiki was well known and feared through Konoha, it had been renamed into the T&I squad a few years ago, torture and interrogation squad. It consisted of two branches, which were overlapping but quite distinctive nonetheless, but why would Danzo tell Harry about something like that?
"Because I am here to tell you not to decline their offer."
"Why?"
"Certain positions in Konoha look good on a resume. Being a member of the interrogation squad is one of those positions." Danzo tightened his grip on his walking cane. "In the political system of Konoha, appearances mean a lot. I am sure you understand what I am trying to say Uchiha."
Being a member of the torture and interrogation squad was something Harry had only fleetly thought of when he still went to the ninja academy. Members of the squad didn't have to leave the village to go on missions, which was a plus and they also made a lot of money to ensure their loyalty but the downside was that it was psychologically very taxing and required an additional study in interrogation and psychology, which Harry honestly did not need. His legilimency was capable of reading a person's mind no matter how unwilling someone was to let him enter, he had yet to encounter a mind that was guarded well enough for him not to see it. And after having spent centuries with a lot of different people Harry was sure he knew humans well enough from the inside and out.
Danzo was right though, to become Hokage one needed to have an impressive resume, everything counted. Harry was sure that Hiruzen would step down within ten years; he was getting old after all; and if Harry could show that he was a truly capable ninja in those ten years it didn't matter that he was young. Not only that, but every Jounin would eventually have to do an three month internship in the T&I, it would surely help him advance in ranks faster.
"Would it mean I have to leave my current team?" Harry asked, his mind already made up.
"No, it is a part-time duty. You're only called upon when needed. And in times of peace, like these times are. T&I doesn't have a lot of.. Clients." Danzo stood up. "I have a meeting with the council in two minutes; I assume you will make the right decision Uchiha. I am looking forward to seeing your application on the council's desk in three days."
Harry flashed the man a smile and nodded. Danzo was helping him, helping him become the Hokage one day. It felt good to have a man like that supporting you.
As Danzo disappeared from sight after walking around the corner Harry continued his way home. Within seconds Sasuke was back on his mind. How would he react to Harry's coming back. Harry hoped for the best, preparing for the worst.
A few minutes later Harry stood at the front door, he could hear that Sasuke was inside, after all the toilet didn't flush itself. Opening the door Harry was met with a sight that had baffled him.
Sasuke was walking barefooted, a bag of chips in his left hand and a can of soda in his right. Sasuke looked like he had taken the day off. That was something Sasuke hadn't done since the death of their parents.
"Hi Harry." Sasuke said lazily. "Welcome back."
Harry blinked. It took his brain a full five seconds to process the scene. "Yeah, uhmm thanks."
Sitting down on the couch, Sasuke looked at Harry with a lazy grin. "Well, sit down and tell me exactly what happened."
Harry smiled back and before he even sat down next to Sasuke had started to tell him the story of his chuunin exams, glad that there were no ill feelings between him and Sasuke.
AN2:
I wonder how many of you have actually forgotten about this story and had to read back a bit to remember what happened earlier. As I've said in my fist AN, this chapter marks the end of part one. Part one was all about setting up the rules for this story, the mood, themes and characters.
Part two will tell the story of Harry finding his place in Konoha; his bonds will tighten with the people he'll work with. We will go into the backstory of some of the other characters and it will build up to an escalation of problems that were created in part one, no one has plot armor in the second act of this story and sadly we will have to say goodbye to a few people eventually.
With part one done, and part two underway we will have three more parts, which means this story is going to be long, but hopefully I will give enough twists to keep you all entertained.
I've made the poll results public; but I know that most of you probably won't check it so here they are. And see; I really do listen to you. Harry won.
90 Harry
8 Koh
4 Samui
which means that 102 individuals have participated. Hopefully next chapter won't take this long to write; but I cannot promise anything. Life is a bit crazy right now, school year is ending and I still have a shitload to do. OH and please leave behind a review; I really like reviews.
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