Naruto and Sasuke hefted Kakashi-sensei's limp body between them, stumbling out of the marshy clearing they had battled in and back onto the hard packed clay road. The dappled green canopy of the forest bore no signs of their desperate fight against the demon mist swordsman, Momochi Zabuza. The only difference compared to before the ambush, was the eerie silence now that every bird for at least a mile had been frightened away.
Sasuke glanced down at Kakashi's head lolling between the white fabric of his forearm protectors as he gripped the back of his sensei's flak jacket. A mess of grey hair hid the scar bisecting sensei's left eye. It was obvious Kakashi had not been born with a sharingan.
Kakashi had better be ready to answer some questions once he woke up.
The battle with the mist swordsman had taken a lot out of everyone, but it seemed that for a non Uchiha, using the sharingan for long periods drained a person's chakra quickly. Witnessing how much it augmented his sensei's fighting style though, Sasuke couldn't wait for his own eyes to mature.
Once they did, he'd be one step closer to surpassing Itachi. To gaining the strength to get his revenge. The way he had frozen up at first under Zabuza's killing intent, he could never let that happen again. If he couldn't fight under that kind of pressure he would never succeed in killing Itachi.
This was how jounin fought. This was what he needed to aspire toward, in order to kill Itachi.
"We're so lucky that hunter-nin came and finished him off," Sakura sighed, her body sagging against a tree. "Can you imagine if Kakashi-sensei had collapsed while Zabuza was still here?" Old Man Tazuna's grimace deepened and his wrinkled hand went to his throat. It wasn't hard to imagine that outcome.
"Hey Sasuke-teme," Naruto squinted up at the Uchiha with Kakashi's feet tucked under his armpits. "I wonder what's under Kakashi-sensei's mask."
Sasuke glared at him. "This isn't the time."
"But, look at him 'ttebayo. He would never know if we peeked. Aren't you a little bit curious?"
Fingers twitching nervously, Sakura's gaze went to their sensei's masked face. "Maybe he has more scars and that's why he covers it," she suggested.
"Or, what if it's beaver teeth?" Naruto asked. "Maybe he's super embarrassed about his face."
Sasuke shook his head. Why were his teammates so stupid? Part of him was a teeny bit curious, but the mystery of Kakashi's sharingan eye weighed much heavier at the moment.
"Do you think he has a mustache?" Sakura asked. "Would it be a big thick one? Or a little tiny mustache?"
Naruto sniggered, "I bet he could only grow a tiny baby mustache."
A soft gust of air caught Sasuke's attention. Naruto yelped and dropped Kakashi's legs in the mud, fumbling with a kunai as he hurled it at whatever rustled in the leaves overhead. Luckily, the kunai missed. A large pale owl with tawny wings burst out of the branches with a metallic, rasping screech and glared at Naruto.
"AAAHH! I'm so sorry owl!" Naruto yelped, pulling at his face in embarrassment.
"Idiot!" Sakura shouted, cuffing him around the head. "Didn't you learn anything from attacking that poor rabbit before?"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The bird had something wrapped around one leg. Lowering his sensei's shoulders to the ground with far more care than Naruto had taken, he stood straight and held an arm out for the bird. It landed delicately, encircling his forearms with wicked claws. Once it was settled it threw a piercing stare over its shoulder at Naruto.
"It's tame!" Tazuna breathed. "What's that tied on its leg?"
Carefully, Sasuke worked the little package loose. It was tied with a thin, golden thread that shone prettily in the dappled green light. Slipping it free, his eyes narrowed. The kanji scrawled on the paper read:
Uchiha Sasuke
The owl turned its heart-shaped face toward him and clacked its beak. "Sakura," he said sharply, "come take the owl so I can open this."
Cheeks flushing pink enough to match her hair, she stopped pounding on Naruto and hurried to his side. The owl stepped onto her outstretched arm. She whimpered when the bird's long talons pricked at her pale skin.
"Do you know who it's from?" Tazuna-san asked anxiously.
Ignoring everyone's questions and stares, Sasuke carefully peeled back the paper. Inside was a glass vial the size of his thumb. A thick silvery liquid swirled within, glinting and catching the light just as the golden thread had. He folded open the paper it had been wrapped in.
Dear Sasuke,
My sensei made this medicine. If someone is injured, drinking it can heal their wounds. Please keep it with you in case it is ever needed.
Also, please squish Fukumaru's pads for me. I miss him.
Thinking of you always.
"It's not signed," Sakura said, peering over his shoulder. "Do you know who sent it?"
Biting his lip in irritation he deliberately ignored the pink haired girl. "Can you take a return message?" he asked the owl. The bird's neck feathers fluffed out and it chirruped.
"Hold on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura knelt to rummage through her knapsack even as her arm trembled under the sustained weight of the bird. "I've got some paper and a pencil."
Sasuke snatched the paper she tore from her journal. Carefully wrote a few lines, and addressed it to Sayuri. The owl leaned forward in anticipation and held out a leg for him to tie it to as he folded it up. "You know where to find her?" he asked the bird, wrapping a bit of wire securely around the animal's leg with letter attached.
The owl screeched in the affirmative, bobbing its pale face as it sprang off Sakura's arm and winged its way upward through the branches. Sasuke watched it leave, wishing he wasn't on a mission right now. Wishing he could follow it and find out where it was taking his message.
Where it had come from.
"What was that stuff it brought you, teme?" Naruto asked, rubbing at a fresh lump on his head.
He protectively enclosed the vial inside his fist. "Medicine."
"Hey, do you think it would help Kakashi-sensei if we gave some to him?" Naruto asked. "It's just, he's kinda heavy and it's still a long way to Old Man Tazuna's village."
"No way!" Sakura interrupted angrily. "Naruto, the letter said if someone is injured it will heal them. Kakashi-sensei isn't injured, he's just exhausted! Plus how can we be sure who it's even from? It might be a trick. What if it's poison?"
As annoyed as Sasuke was by his teammate reading over his shoulder, he had to admit she made some good points. "We're not going to waste it on him," Sasuke said. "If you're too weak and tired to help carry him I'm sure Sakura can manage just fine."
Sakura's face immediately twisted into a look of panicked horror, but she didn't need to worry. His insults had the desired effect. Naruto's face turned bright red as he scrambled to throw Kakashi-sensei over his shoulders. "I'LL CARRY HIM BY MYSELF! I'M NOT WEAK OR TIRED!"
"Fine," Sasuke said. "Sakura, you stay near Tazuna-san. I'll keep watch while we walk."
"Who made you the captain?" Naruto complained.
"Just be quiet and listen to Sasuke," Sakura scolded. "And be careful! If you throw sensei around too much you could give him a head injury!"
Sasuke sighed as the other two devolved into yet another meaningless argument. Tazuna looked between them worriedly. He couldn't blame the old man. He'd be worried too if he had to depend on Sakura and Naruto for protection from rogue ninjas.
They'd be screwed if Zabuza wasn't already dead.
Folding the letter back around the vial, Sasuke slipped it into the very bottom of his weapon pouch.
If Sayuri had a sensei, that meant someone was looking after her. Someone was teaching her. That meant she was likely safe. But, where was she? And why hadn't she made any effort to return to Konoha after all this time? It was obvious from the two letters he'd received that she was trying to conceal her identity from any outside party that might read them. She hadn't signed either one.
That meant she wanted to keep her contact with Sasuke secret. But from who?
The familiar sting of rage shot through him. Of course. Of course! Sayuri's mother had been murdered right in front of her, just like his own parents had been slaughtered by Itachi. The village had never solved the crime. Sayuri must be afraid that whoever murdered her mother might intercept her letters. That they might discover she had survived. That was why she was being so cryptic.
She might even know who the murderer was.
He clenched his fist. He would never let them reach her. He'd find her and protect her. And once he learned who was responsible for her mother's death, he would kill that person too. When he was finished, Sayuri wouldn't have to be afraid to come home to Konoha.
He wouldn't be the only Uchiha anymore.
A little over one week after the school owl had departed with the healing potion, Sayuri was stunned to find the same owl before her at breakfast in the Great Hall.
"This is the first time you've gotten a letter," Draco remarked, putting down his own package unopened. "Who is it from?"
"Give me a second and I'll just read it out loud to everyone," she said, voice brimming with sarcasm. The bird was gulping sausages off a serving plate as if it hadn't eaten in days. She patted it down gingerly, paper crinkling on its right leg.
"Is that wire?" Blaise asked. "No, stop. Let me get it with my wand before you hurt it."
Gratefully, she let go of the bird and after a quick tap from Blaise and a mumbled spell, wire pieces clattered to the table. She carefully unrolled the paper. It was a small rectangle and ripped on one side as if it had been torn from a book.
"What language is it written in?" she asked Blaise.
"Looks like your potions notes. The paper's got a bunch of little hearts and flowers printed on it, looks a bit girly. Did you want me to use the Pellegemanus charm on it?"
Sayuri bit her lip and nodded. Professor Flitwick had tried to teach it to her and she was getting better at it, but she wasn't willing to risk accidentally incinerating what was likely her first and only letter from Sasuke. Madam Pince had banned her from the library indefinitely after her latest attempt.
Blaise tried, several times in fact, but only the printed hearts and flowers raised up as if embossed. Otherwise the paper stayed as smooth as ever. Draco leaned over, still curious. "Maybe that spell only works on things written with proper ink. What is that stuff?"
"Looks like graphite," Blaise said. "My mum uses it for her artwork sometimes."
Chest tight with frustration, Sayuri folded the letter and slipped it into her bag. "Thanks for trying. I'll figure it out later."
After breakfast, she held her breath as she filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with an assortment of other first years. The smell was something like a rotten onion deeply infused with garlic and a dash of goat turds. She could taste it. Back on the first day of Quirrel's lessons, she had decided to spend her defense classes pulling her chakra in tight and burning it in lieu of breathing air. Same technique any decent shinobi used for extended underwater activity.
So far she could manage 9 minute intervals before gagging on the next putrid lungful. She really needed to get more efficient at it.
Quirrel's stammering was more annoying than usual with the mystery of the letter weighing on her. She fantasized about what it might say. Had Sasuke written to her about his teammates? His missions? Was he less lonely now? Had he finally made some friends like she had? Had Itachi left him alone all this time?
Once class was dismissed she hurried out past her classmates, went around the corner, and slipped into an empty classroom. Crouching on the cold stone floor, she hurriedly summoned Tsuchibue and fumbled the letter out of her bag for him to see. The bird cleared his throat before reciting in a startlingly clear imitation of Sasuke's voice;
"Sayuri,
Thanks for the medicine.
I'm outside the village on my first C rank mission so maybe it will come in handy.
Fukumaru got fat. When can we meet? I'll bring him to you so you can squish his pads yourself.
Sasuke"
Her heart pounded in her ears. Hearing Sasuke's voice, even if it was just coming out of a dumb bird was jarring. Sucking in a jagged breath, she squeezed back tears. Something so dumb shouldn't affect me like this, she thought. Why is it making me cry?
"H-how can you sound just like him," she croaked.
"Crows are naturally good at mimicking voices," he said, falling back to his much deeper natural voice. "I thought you knew that."
"But how do you know what he sounds like?" she hiccoughed.
The crow sighed, then hesitantly reminded her of his other summoner and the surveillance they'd been instructed to carry out.
That makes sense, she thought bitterly.
The doorknob to the room twisted, and she froze. Hating not knowing who was about to walk through the door, she snatched the letter and stuffed it into her pocket.
Draco's soft, fluid chakra shimmered with curiosity as he stepped through the doorway. The longer she spent around him the more it reminded her of an icy stream. Colorless, cold, and unpleasant to step in if you weren't paying attention. But also unexpectedly refreshing at times.
"Sayuri, what are you doing in here? Are you crying?" he asked. "Did someone do something to you? If they did, tell me who and I'll get Crabbe and Goyle to pound them for you."
"No, nothing like that," she said, picking up her bag off the floor. "I-I'm just happy."
"Happy," he deadpanned, as if he didn't believe her. "This, is happy?"
"Yeah." She cleared her throat. "I just found out my cat is alive. All this time I thought he was dead, so I'm happy."
"Is that what your letter says?"
She nodded numbly, not trusting herself to speak.
"Did your bird read it to you? He can read?"
"Well yeah. Of course he can."
"Right," Draco muttered. "Of course a bloody bird knows how to read. How silly of me. Are you going to get your cat back then?" he asked.
Sayuri's shoulders sagged. "He's really far away," she said in a rough voice. "And the situation makes arranging transportation difficult."
"Well if you want, my owl is really strong. Much better than the school owls or even your crow I'll bet. He can do international deliveries and carry heavy things so even if your cat is a fatty I'm sure he could get it to Hogwarts."
The mental image of a rotund Fukumaru being carried by an oversized owl for several days made a wavering smile pull at one corner of her mouth. "Thanks. I don't know what I'm going to do yet exactly."
"Any time," Draco said carelessly. "If that won't work, I'm sure my father could arrange something. Is he in Japan? My father knows everyone at the ministry and could easily get an international portkey approved. Or even arrange a courier."
"I'll let you know if I need help with it." She wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Ugh, sorry."
"It's all right," Draco said. "Girls cry a lot. My mum cries all the time. She not unhappy mind you! It's just, even when she sees something like a butterfly she thinks is pretty she'll cry about that." He shifted on his feet awkwardly. "No offense, but girls are weird. Here, take this. Don't use your sleeve that's disgusting."
He nudged a soft handkerchief into her hand. Sayuri blew her nose loudly into it.
"Just keep it," Draco said. "I have plenty. You should come down for lunch now instead of sitting in here. Goyle said it smelled like they were cooking corned beef earlier today. My mum always feels better if she eats something after a good cry."
"You go on ahead," she sighed. "I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Suit yourself." The doorknob creaked, and heavy door groaned as he hefted it open. He didn't bother to shut it behind him so the sound of his footfalls echoed down the corridor as he left.
"I get lunch too?" Tsuchibue asked. His English was slowly improving.
"Sure. Just behave yourself."
She gathered her bag and pushed herself off the floor, Tsuchibue settling on her shoulder. The hallway was blessedly quiet, until a familiar, terrible smell wafted around a corner. Professor Quirrel soon followed, with a startled yelp and exaggerated gasp when he came upon her.
"S-s-s-sorry," he managed to get out. "I-I don't like b-b-birds."
Tsuchibue sprang off her shoulder and flew at the teacher, feathers rustling as he flapped and cawed in his face. If Quirrel wasn't so annoying and his very presence wasn't wrecking her appetite she might have felt a little sorry for the man. He screamed in a sort of gurgling voice and ran the opposite direction down the corridor.
"He not like birds?" Tsuchibue huffed as he landed on her shoulder again. "Well he smell like trash. His chakra trash too."
Sayuri realized then, that she'd been so concerned with her ability to breathe around the man that she hadn't paid that much attention to other aspects of his presence. It didn't help that instead of spreading her chakra out during his lessons, she was drawing it in and burning through it to avoid breathing the foul air.
Then again, he didn't seem horrible at all or have any odor to speak of when she and Harry had met him in Diagon Alley before school started. Why would he suddenly become more gross?
"Well, I'm glad I haven't paid close attention," she said. "I'd probably start barfing in class if it's that bad."
Tsuchibue laughed, and she turned her thoughts back to the letter.
My cat is alive. For sure this time, he's really alive. Sasuke is alive. They're both okay.
Briefly she let herself fantasize about what it would be like to have Fukumaru at the castle. They were allowed to have cats as pets after all. She wondered what it would be like to have Sasuke there. Jiji would let Sasuke stay with them at The Hog's Head, it wasn't even a question. He was gruff, but when it was something really important he always indulged her.
Hogsmeade was safe. It was quiet. They could restore the Uchiha clan here, in this peaceful country. Where people didn't have to worry about getting ambushed by bandits while walking down the road, or blown up by wizards from rival countries or villages. Where children were allowed to grow up soft. To be children. She couldn't help but notice that even though their country had recently endured some type of war, her classmates were still innocent. Unlike her classmates at The Academy in Konoha. Even kids like Harry, who had been directly hurt by it. Adults here seemed to try extra hard to shelter them. There was no emphasis on training them to take part in future conflicts. Quirrel's defense class was disappointingly useless. While that was extremely inconvenient for training toward her goals, it was also strange and wonderful in a way.
Here, nobody expected children to kill. It seemed even the adults weren't burdened with that kind of responsibility.
Sasuke would be safe from Danzo. Nobody would think to steal his eyes. Itachi wouldn't know how to get here, so Sasuke couldn't be drawn into whatever shitty plans his older brother had for him.
How would she bring him and Fukumaru here safely though? She could send Miu but- damn that Itachi! Sasuke would never climb onto a crow summon and let it carry him away. He'd think it was Itachi's bird.
The mouthwatering smell of corned beef signaled her approach to the Great Hall. It pushed all thoughts of Quirrel's unappetizing classroom far from her mind, and her stomach rumbled. Maybe Draco was right. Maybe she'd feel better after eating something.
Author's Note: Sorry for the lag in updates. My middle child had a really intense brain surgery to remove a bleeding lesion last week. It is not cancer! Hooray! Also the surgery went super well and she is recovering better than anyone expected. So, there's some happy news if anyone needed some.
I wanted to include a third scene in this update, but it will have to go into the next round. Back to the Land of Waves!
If you could save any character who died in either Harry Potter or Naruto, who would it be?