Over the Hills and Far Away

Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto.

Author's Note: I apologize for the insanely long wait. Yeah. That's all.

Thanks to my good friend and beta, Beta the Second.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Harry stared down on the ever-going plains that stretched far into the horizon, and even further, his breath taken away by the sheer beauty of the scenery, both the tranquillity and the loneliness that he felt by gazing as far as the eye could see and never reaching an end. The grass was tall and waved and shone healthily in the wind, and the river that made its way from the wild waterfall to Harry's immediate left looked like a long silver snake that slithered its way through this sea of green.

He stood on the very edge of the unclaimed lands that lay beyond Earth Country. Behind him stood the tall, treacherous mountains, and beyond those again was the Earth Country and civilization. Ahead was a wild, largely unexplored and unnamed country that belonged to demons and a few scattered tribes of nomads.

"Perfect," Orochimaru almost purred as he stepped up beside Harry, and gazed out across the plains. "This place is perfect for a hideout. Nobody would search for us here, not even Hunter-nin from Iwagakure."

"Perhaps," the green-eyed young man said, turning to his grandfather. "But I see no place to hide here, it is far too open and we'll be seen too easily unless we go underground. And this is demon-country. It is far too dangerous for only two shinobi to live here."

"That is exactly why no one would expect us to be here," the pale man replied. "Besides, tribes of nomads live hand-in-hand with the demons. I know for a fact that if we were to follow this river long enough we would reach one of the nomad settlements." He smirked and pointed at the river.

Harry frowned. "I do not think that they would welcome us with open arms, I know I would never trust a stranger that suddenly appeared one day. How are we supposed to get these people to trust us enough to allow us to stay?"

Orochimaru didn't seem worried at all. "These people are very peace-loving despite their living hand-in-hand with demons."

'I suppose you found out all this by accidentally coming across a nomad,' the green-eyed male thought to himself, sending a quick look at the other man from the corner of his eye. 'Poor bastard, whoever he was.'

"These people have come up with many of the potions and balms that the Iwa-nin use and you know how effective those are," Orochimaru continued talking. "They trade with the Iwa-nin every six months or so."

'So that's where you came across the nomads, and how you got all this information.' He sighed.

"If someone needed help, I doubt these people would refuse." The Snake Sannin finished, his eyes flashing at the opportunities this presented him.

"So your plan is that one of us has to be hurt, and hurt badly enough to be forced to stay in one of these settlements long enough to gain the trust and friendship of the people," Harry concluded, with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly."

The younger of the two shook his head. "It's far too dangerous, and far too many what-if's are involved. The hurt one could really die, the people could refuse to help, a demon might attack, and a hundred other things could go wrong. I am against this, it simply does not seem to be worth it."

"Unfortunately for you, grandson of mine, you're not the one who calls the shots here, as they say," Orochimaru sneered, his face and voice gaining a certain amount of ruthlessness, "nothing ventured, nothing gained. This place is perfect for a hideout, and I will not let this chance pass me by simply because you are a coward."

"Am I no coward," Harry replied, his Gryffindor side balking at the very thought. "I am simply cautious."

The wind blew harshly over the never-ending grasslands, bending the tall grass and howling as it passed through the cracks and passages in the mountains. The scenery really was beautiful in its loneliness and vastness, but Harry didn't pay it much mind. He was more focused on Orochimaru, certain that the old snake would try something. There was no way that Orochimaru would allow himself to be hurt for such a cause as this, and there was no way that the snake summoner would bring in a third party to take on said role. That meant that it all would fall onto Harry's shoulders, and the mission to establish such a hideout would be his.

"I want a firm foothold in these lands, Harry-kun. I want the friendship of these people, not their fear. There is less chance of them betraying me that way. You can take all the time that you need for this mission, but I shall contact you when I need you so be prepared to leave at a moment's notice."

"… hai…" the green-eyed male was tense as a bowstring.

"And one more thing," the old snake said at the same time as the sound of steel slashing through the air.

Harry barely managed to twist enough out of the way to hinder the sword from spilling his innards all over the mountainside. However, he received a deep and long slash going from his hip down to his knee. Barely able to keep standing, Harry glared at his grandfather who simply stood there with Kusanagidrawn and coated with the younger man's blood.

"Perfect wound, grandson of mine." Orochimaru's arm shot out and he easily pushed the unsteady Harry off the cliff and into the raging river below. "Do not disappoint me, Harry-kun."

Harry had been in shock when Orochimaru pushed him off the cliff, and therefore he hadn't reacted to anything. He had known that the Snake Sannin was a right old bastard, but he hadn't thought that the older man would go so far as to practically kill him just for a stupid mission. Sure, Orochimaru had thrown him into several dangerous situations before, but never had he done something like this.

'Family my arse, Orochimaru. You're no better than Voldemort!' Was the last, hateful thought that passed through Harry's mind has his body hit the cold raging waters.

-x-x-x-x-

"Do not disappoint me" and "failure is not an option" were two of Orochimaru most favourite sayings, and Harry had heard them so often that he had developed a burning hate for the two phrases. If Orochimaru had been more concerned with actually making Harry feel like family rather than a tool to be used and discarded when no longer useful, then the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander might have been a bit more hesitant about going through with his treachery. Or, at least, looked for a different way to accomplish what he needed to reach his goals. However, the Snake Sannin hadn't been concerned with family, but with power, and thus did he plant his own seed of destruction.

As Harry slowly came out of the all-encompassing darkness, the first sense that returned being his hearing. He could hear shouts and explosions and jutsu being performed, kunai and shuriken were thrown and cut through the air, the metallic twang of wires tightening and snapping, and the general noises of a high-powered battle between some of the best shinobi alive. The ground shook slightly, and small rocks fell from the ceiling, but all the combatants were conscious of the fact that they were underground and to go all out with their power and strength could bring the underground lair down around their heads, so they were extremely careful.

Or, rather, as careful as a battle of life and death could be.

The next of his senses that returned was his sense of touch. Harry soon found out that he was neither bound nor overly hurt – apart from a few scrapes and a killer headache. He could only surmise that Orochimaru wanted to use him as his next Body, and that the Sannin was preparing to perform the technique that would transfer his soul into Harry's body.

'Let him try it.' The green-eyed shinobi snarled mentally, his fingers twitching slightly at the thought. The sounds of vicious and bloody battle went on as Harry slowly regained control of his body, and lastly his eyes. Green eyes opened behind a grinning wolf-mask, and through the slits observed what was happening.

Kakashi, Hermione, Ron and Manji were all desperately fighting against fully-fledged Cursed Seal users that Harry had never seen before, and that Orochimaru must've bit, infected and, consequently, trained without telling his grandson about. All of them were flinging techniques and various weapons left, right and centre, and everyone bore wounds from the fight, but it was painfully obvious that these Seal-users were much better and far more advanced than the Sound Five had been, and the green-eyed ANBU Squad Commander realised that the Snake Summoner had enhanced their abilities to a far greater degree than he had ever done with Harry.

'In fact, I think I was merely a guinea pig, the first one who survived and who pointed him towards the correct formula.' Harry sneered behind his mask. Orochimaru's willingness to use and discard anyone and everything in his path never ceased to infuriate him.

Itachi stood back to back with Kisame, the two of them working surprisingly well to fight off another three Seal-users, one of those being Shisui. The bitten Uchiha's eyes were empty and glassy and he displayed all the signs of being under the Imperius Curse. This meant that Harry's headache wasn't a result of a poorly cast Imperius, but rather someone knocking him out with something.

"Shisui! Pull yourself together!" Itachi shouted as he deflected yet another of his fellow Uchiha's attacks. The young Clan Head was clearly aiming to hurt and not to kill, but Shisui wasn't under such restrictions and Itachi was already suffering from numerous wounds and scratches.

"The guy's gone, dammit!" Kisame barked to Itachi as he used his enormous sword like a bat and sent two Seal-users flying across the room. Not that it helped much seeing as the Seal-users simply bounced off the wall and right back into the fray.

"He's still there!" Itachi snarled right back, delivering a powerful kick to Shisui's sternum. But his voice was lacking any real conviction; it was more like Itachi was trying to convince himself as well as anyone else. "Shisui!"

The blue-skinned, shark-like jounnin sneered and took all of his anger out on the attacking Seal-users.

'I'm so sorry for everything,' Harry could feel a tear escape the corner of his eye, and his limbs twitched again. Soon. Soon he could move once more and put an end to this madness. He growled lowly as his eyes searched the room for Orochimaru.

The Snake Sannin himself stood not too far from the green-eyed ANBU, a pair of snakes and another pair of Seal-users defending him from the constant attacks of Tsunade and Jiraiya. The pale-skinned man was laughing at the almost futile attempts that his former team-mates made to get to him, his back being turned to Harry.

"Do you really think you can win this?" Orochimaru questioned. "Even with the aid provided by my oh-so-traitorous grandson?"

"He is a much better man than you ever were," Tsunade snarled. She was completely pissed, but unfortunately she couldn't use her overwhelming strength unless she wanted to bring down the underground lair around their ears. Nor did she want to summon anything in such an enclosed space. It was bad enough with Orochimaru's summoned snakes attacking and pounding into the walls and the ceiling.

Kakashi shouted in warning as Hermione's defence was finally bested and one of the Seal-users sent the bushy-haired woman flying, following the woman and delivering more hits and kicks. Just before the Seal-user could deliver a devastating punch to the woman's throat which would've undoubtedly killed her, Kakashi appeared and sent the Seal-user backwards with a powerful kick, then grabbed Hermione and easily landed with her.

"Thanks!" Hermione panted and then was up again, throwing spells and curses at any opponent that entered her field of vision. She had a clear advantage in fighting in such close quarters seeing as even if her spells didn't hit, they hardly did any damage to the structural integrity of the place.

Manji was busy sealing the chakra-points of another Seal-user, forcefully converting the man back into a normal human being so that he was easier to kill. "Jyuuken: Hakke Rokujyuu Yonshou!" (Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Points of Divinity!)

Ron almost casually beheaded the man that the Hyuuga had just defeated, and in the same swing the redhead easily sliced through the stomach of another enemy, his katana glittering red in the weak light of the room. "Just die, god damn it!" he practically roared as the Seal-user simply continued attacking, not seeming to notice the deep wound.

Kisame screamed as a lightning-based jutsu from Shisui hit him. If he hadn't moved out of the way he would've been decapitated by now, but as it was he nearly lost the use of his arm, his fingers and hand twitching almost uncontrollably as the electricity ran through it. The other two Seal-users – thoroughly battered but not beaten – took this chance to attack the shark-like man again, and Kisame barely managed to keep them from tearing him limb from limb.

'My legs are almost usable again,' Harry thought to himself, finally feeling the heaviness and boneless feeling leaving him. 'Orochimaru must've given me some sort of drug to keep me out for so long, and for my body to be so relaxed and boneless. Probably thinks that I'll be out until he's ready to perform his little body-switch. Boy, won't he be surprised.'

Perhaps it had been some sort of instinct or the knowledge that he'd one day have to fight Orochimaru, hidden deep within the darkest and most secret parts of his soul, but Harry had been hiding his true abilities from the very beginning. From the very moment he'd first met the Snake Summoner, the green-eyed man had been misleading and downplaying his skills – firstly his skills as a wizard, and then (as he gained them) his skills as a shinobi. The only time he'd showed Orochimiaru what he could truly do was the fight with the Death Eaters in the park in Little Whinging all those years ago, and the little one-on-one battle he'd had with Kabuto not too long ago.

'And no matter how good a shinobi, not even Orochimaru can deduce exactly how good I am from that. Hopefully,' he thought. He didn't want to get too cocky around his grandfather, the man was far too slippery and deceitful for something like that, but Harry felt fairly certain that he could give the old man a run for his money. 'And his snakes won't be too helpful either. All I have to do is speak Parseltongue to them, and they'll back off.'

Itachi groaned as he crashed harshly with the walls of the cavern, creating an indentation. His ANBU-mask had long since cracked and was gone, and he had numerous bruises and cuts all over. He looked at Shisui, his cousin and best friend, and finally admitted to himself that aiming to only hurt wouldn't help him in this fight. He needed to attack with the intent to kill Shisui, and that thought nearly choked him. He knew that he was better than Shisui, and if he went at the other with the intent to kill Shisui would most likely die before they'd have the chance to defeat Orochimaru.

In other words, there was little chance for Shisui to be saved.

'Sacrifice one to save hundreds of others,' Itachi thought, and hated himself for what he was about to do. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, the Sharingan was blazing, almost glowing demonically in the dim light from the torches. Then he jumped back into the fray in time to save Kisame from being decapitated. 'I'm so sorry, Shisui.'

Jiraiya feinted to the left, avoided one Seal-user, and was almost by Orochimaru when he was hit by the whipping tail of one of the snakes and sent flying backwards until he flipped in mid-air and landed back on his feet. The old man was bruised and bloodied like everyone else, and he glared at his former team-mate. "Stop hiding!" he growled.

"But I am standing right here, Jiraiya," Orochimaru smirked, "so come and get me."

The busty, blond Godaime Hokage of Konoha growled angrily as she punched a Seal-user with all her might, taking out her frustrations. They hadn't been able to touch Orochimaru since the start of the battle, and she just knew that her childhood team-mate was gloating over this. But then she spotted something behind the pale man which made her relieved.

The body of Harry had, so far, simply been lying there. When the group had finally entered the great cavern they'd been very worried upon seeing the wolf-masked ANBU lying so still and unmoving behind Orochimaru, but they'd just had enough time to discern that he was still breathing before they'd been attacked from all sides by Seal-users and had to fight for their lives. But now Tsunade could see her ANBU Squad Commander twitch and slowly and somewhat stiffly get to his feet, and she knew that Jiraiya had seen it as well.

Their inattention to what was directly ahead of them cost them, and both suddenly found themselves jumping out of the way of four foot long fangs with poison practically dripping off them as Orochimaru's two great snakes attacked them.

'Damn it!' Tsunade cursed silently and focused on taking out the snake that was attacking her. Harry could take care of Orochimaru from here on.

-x-x-x-x-

Minerva McGonagall stared out of the window of her office at Hogwarts, and was deep in thought. The dangerous maze stretched as far as she could see, and occasionally she could see a dragon flying across the sky and hear them roar. Another school year had begun, and it had begun with very happy news. Nymphadora Tonks had returned to them a few weeks ago, and none had been happier than Remus Lupin. Since then the two of them had been practically inseparable, and Remus had even joined the pink-haired woman when she'd visited Kimimaro and had a long and serious talk with the young man.

And then there was Kimimaro. The bone-user had been so sick and weak when Harry had brought him to Hogwarts months ago, but now the white-haired man was looking – and feeling – healthier than ever. His curiosity seemed to know no bounds, and he'd been a quick study of the English language, and could by now speak with barely an accent. The Ministry of Magic had, of course, latched onto Kimimaro the second they realised that he was there, but Kimimaro had easily danced in circles around them no matter what they'd tried to do, and in the end it was the Ministry that did what he wanted and not the other way around – as first planned.

The old headmistress had to chuckle at that, having personally witnessed a great deal of Kimimaro's meetings with some pompous Ministry official. It was a great amusement every single time, and she'd even seen the Weasley twins selling tickets to the next meeting between the shinobi and the wizards.

'Things sure have changed,' Minerva mused to herself, completely ignoring the paperwork on her desk. 'All those little children have grown up into strong and responsible young men and women. Even Neville Longbottom has gained confidence and skills, and turned into the embodiment of Gryffindor. His trip to the lands of the shinobi have obviously been good for him,' she mused fondly, remembering the first time she'd seen him right before the sorting feast all those years ago.

And then there was Harry.

Harry, who had gone from an insecure and malnourished eleven-year-old to a confident and powerful ANBU Squad Commander. Who had toiled and walked a knife's edge for the past 19 years in order to get to the last couple of Voldemort's horcruxes. She couldn't help but worry what would become of him after everything was done, for there was no doubt in her mind that Harry would survive it. She doubted he would become a teacher, and she doubted that he would stay in the spotlight – whether in the wizarding or the shinobi world.

"He never did like the spotlight," the elderly Hogwarts Headmistress mumbled. 'And after his return and the defeat of Voldemort there will be a lot of spotlight. He'll want to retreat somewhere to be alone and in private, to grieve and to process everything that has happened.'

"He's a good boy, Minerva," the picture of Albus Dumbledore commented with a smile. "Harry will be fine."

Minerva smiled up at the picture. "I know."

Her fond memories of happier days and young children were interrupted when there was a hurried knocking on the door to her office. Blinking in surprise, Minerva picked up a pen and posed herself so that it looked like she was in the middle of going through important paperwork (image was everything, even to the Headmistress of Hogwarts!), and called, "Come in!"

Remus Lupin opened the door and stuck his head in, his face very serious. "You need to come down to the Infirmary."

"Why? Is something wrong?" she asked and got up from her chair.

"Tonks and Kimimaro just got a message from Harry through their communication medallions," the werewolf replied as he led the way. "There is a great battle going on in the shinobi world, and Harry told them to be ready."

"Ready for what?" Minerva inquired as she and Remus entered the infirmary. Tonks and Kimimaro were sitting on one of the beds, looking ready for some sort of battle, and with the old Madam Pomfrey hovering around them just in case something went wrong. Off to the side stood the Wesley twins, looking uncharacteristically grave, and also Mad-Eye Moody.

"The shinobi are fighting the last battle with Orochimaru," Kimimaro replied in his accented speech.

"What?" Minerva suddenly felt as though the world had turned upside down. She had known that this day would come, but it felt like too soon. Could her – yes, she considered them hers – children handle it? Could Harry handle killing his own grandfather, the same thing that Voldemort had done? Could he handle doing something like that?

'Stop being silly, Minerva. Didn't you just think on just how grown up they have all become?' she chastised herself as she sat down on one of the beds. "Then we shall simply wait until Harry or someone contacts us and tells us what has happened."

Moody, now so gnarled and scarred that he hardly looked human anymore, followed her example and sat down as well, and he was the one who stated what they were all thinking and hoping. "The boy will be fine," he grunted. "And no matter how much Harry has changed in the past two decades, he will never become like Riddle."

-x-x-x-x-

There, please tell me what you think.

This is, most definitely, not one of my best chapters. I know that. But after rewriting the damn thing five times, this is the best result I've had, and therefore this is what you get. I apologise greatly for both this and the lateness of my posts, and shall endeavour to do better in the future. Damn, why is it always hell to write something like this after a long Writer's Block?

Thanks to:

Steven Kodaly, Burning DragonSword, Lady Gaia, BasicallyAnIdiot, 2stupid, dark672, hope1090, Twin Tails Speed, Kira Demon, Kin Pandun, Morbious20, Wolven Spirits, Estheriana, Ore no Naruto, Dragonmage182, The Sleeping Creature, Inner Cameron, litlittledragon, Erisabeisuu, lokoloko-ako, nantukoprime, Saetan, kirallie, FT, EvilSpanker, ladykind, NightingaleRose, Morrolan, Deamon Child, Chosha Kurenai, Garnet Avi, momocolady, Seraph of Tales, HelKat, chineseartist, KitsuneOverlord, Anonymous Sister of the Author, agent radius, Jackie, Twilight Dusk, Karaii, Dark Thorned Rose, bookrascal, chrisperry1, colonelhavoc, padfoot's shadow, yumeniai, MagicallyInclined, queenskin, G, azaneti, Kingdark, Barranca, Beta the Second, Silent-Serpent, Devil-Speaker, Haru Inuzuka, quaero lumen, blake, Inuyasha's hun, Sakiku, , Sabishii Kage, EBIL DUSTBUNNY OF DOOOOM, TakiMizuno, x-Xanti-x, luzopi, Wings of the Night, Reviewer of the West, Merrymow, Alla-Aku2, SilverAegis, Nuvos Ars, Veve, Von, Kaluki, green ninja93, Skidder, Sailor 'Son', xRosePetalx, bloody vaginal vagina, TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics, PurpleKiwi, Shelik, 17AutumnLeaves, Dracomancer1, alicat54, anon, Amsuhl, Ryutana, FamilyRose and le angel del la muerta.