Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 7

"So you're staying with Kakashi? Iruka asked as they watched the children practice.

"Yes sir."

"Call me Iruka. He hasn't driven you insane yet?"

Harry laughed. "No, not yet. Though you should have seen the looks on his teams faces when he showed up on time last week."

Iruka stared at him in shock. "How?" He had his own methods for ensuring Kakashi was on time with him but they were hardly ones others could use.

Harry just smiled. "My secret. It's not that bad actually. We made a deal, I cook and he cleans. This way we avoid food poisoning and can actually see the floor now. He's a nice guy really."

"Yes. He actually asked me about helping you with something." Iruka watched as Harry blushed slightly. He was hoping the teen would admit to needing help and it seemed he was going to. He found the best Shinobi were those who could ask for and accept help in areas where they were weak.

"I…I can't read your language," Harry said quietly. "It's not the same as back home." He pulled out one of his books to prove his point and Iruka wondered if he'd have the chance to get a better look latter, access to a language unknown to the other villages would be a good advantage. "I need to learn or else I'm going to be stuck relying on other people to tell me what things say and I can't live like that."

Iruka nodded in understanding. "Are you doing anything this evening?"

"No."

"Then we can have our first lesson," Iruka offered.

Harry smiled at him. "Thanks."

"It's no problem," he assured him. He was a teacher, it was his calling, he'd never actually had to teach someone to read or write from scratch before. He'd helped Naruto because his language skills beyond speech had been lacking, but at least Naruto had some of the basics done, Harry's language seemed to have nothing in common with theirs. It would be a challenge.

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Harry sat at the table, work books spread before him. He'd caught a glance of some 'manga' once in Pier's bag when he was at the Dursley's, the language looked like that…Japanese. Pity he'd never learnt it but he was very grateful for magic letting him at least understand the spoken word. Umino-sensei was a good teacher, his class had been fascinating but also…sad.

His job was to teach children to kill, no matter how they prettied it up, in the end they were training child soldiers. Harry wished it didn't have to be that way, but he knew from how entrenched beliefs in the magical world had been, it would take something massive to change how the Elemental nations did things.

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He looked out at the grounds from the room's single window. He could see the Ministry forces as they continued to work on the wards, they'd fall soon. He looked over at the rooms other occupant, the blond was still asleep and Harry envied him that. He had given up trying to sleep days ago, or was it weeks? All he ever saw was Tom. The visions were forced on him whenever he tried to sleep. All he wanted was to see Itachi, to hear that everything was going to be all right. But he hadn't seen him since that day in the corridor and he was honest enough to admit, at least to himself, that he would probably never see him again.

Harry knew what his chances were, even with Itachi's training he was still only seventeen and he was facing an enemy more powerful than any other who had at least fifty years' experience on him. He stiffened slightly as he felt something pass through him and then looked into suddenly alert grey eyes. The two teens were on their feet and ready to move in seconds, the wards had fallen.

They dashed through the corridors, using their knowledge of the various passageways to avoid the enemy. They hoped to get behind them and help the attacking forces by taking out some of the rear defenders. With any luck, the various traps they'd laid would take out more of the Death Eaters than their allies.

Harry pulled his wand as the sounds of fighting began to reach them. Beside him he felt more than saw Draco do the same. It wasn't long before they joined the fight, throwing themselves into it. Harry dodged automatically as a spell flashed past him, hitting the Death Eater he'd been fighting and putting the man out of the fight. Eventually he managed to fight his way to Remus' side. The werewolf smiled at him for a second before they went back to back, firing off curses as quick as they could. Harry was saving his few jutsu's for the fight with Tom.

Harry collapsed, exhausted onto the ground, eagerly accepting the flask Remus handed him.

"I'm glad you two are okay. When Hermione showed up alone…"

"Someone had to keep the idiots occupied until the rest of you could get here. It hasn't been the most enjoyable month but we managed." Harry leant tiredly against his honorary godfather, just glad to be with him again.

"Get some sleep cub, I'll watch over you."

"Can't, he won't let me," Harry muttered tiredly.

Remus pulled him into a hug. "It's okay cub, it'll be over soon," he murmured, holding him tightly.

Harry forced his face to remain blank as he watched Remus collapse lifeless to the floor, Wormtail's silver hand still halfway through his chest. Without a thought Harry's hands flashed through the seals of his most recently learnt jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu." He watched as Wormtail died and then turned back to the fight, ignoring the pain in his heart.

He hadn't wanted to use any jutsu's yet but his body had reacted because of Itachi's training. At least the traitor was finally dead, he would mourn Moony later; either that or he'd be joining him. Harry pushed those thoughts away as he dodged a killing curse, sending a blasting curse back. His use of a jutsu had brought an advantage, those Death Eaters close enough to see what he'd done had been shocked into stillness for a few precious seconds, enough that most had fallen to a barrage of curses.

Harry dodged and then jumped, using chakra to run up the wall and out of range, trying to get his breath back. It had been three days of near non-stop fighting since the wards had fallen, two days since Moony's death. Now he was finally facing his enemy. Tom had blocked them from the rest of the fighters and Harry wasn't about to complain. It would be easier to fight without worrying about being hit from behind.

Both sides had suffered heavy losses, the most painful being the many students who had been killed while the Ministry forces had been trying to get in, despite Harry and Draco's efforts to distract the Death Eaters. They were children and yet they had still been slaughtered. He smiled slightly as he saw Hermione and Draco fighting back to back to protect a group of first years that looked a bit the worse for wear but otherwise unharmed.

"I do not know how you are doing that Potter but it will not save you," Tom hissed.

"All it has to do is buy me time Tom."

"Do not call me that! I am Lord Voldemort!"

"No, you're just a pathetic little half-blood who can't accept what he is. Because of that you've torn about this world and tried to destroy another. How many people have you killed Tom? How many innocents whose only crime was that they weren't magical?"

"Innocents? They are not innocent!"

"What? Because your father abandoned you? Because you were treated badly at the orphanage? Grow up Tom; you're not the only one who had a bad childhood. There are tons of people out there who had worse. You don't see them trying to take over the world!" Well his plan was definitely working, Tom was getting madder by the minute.

Harry stumbled slightly as the wall he was standing on shook, they had to end the fighting soon, the castle had taken too much damage. He could feel Hogwarts' spirit screaming in pain as spell after spell hit her walls. Sometimes he hated being so in tune with magic. With a thought he summoned Gryffindors sword and dropped from the wall to land silently behind his nemesis. Only incredible reflexes allowed the older wizard to dodge what would have been a killing blow. He blocked a curse with the blade and then attacked. He had to immobilise Tom and fast. He winced as part of the ceiling collapsed, taking out a few wizards but he didn't have time to worry about whose side they'd been on.

Harry forced himself back to his feet, ignoring the blood trickling from his wounds, and instead staring in shock at the body in front of him. Tom's shield had dropped ten minutes ago, making their fight more difficult as they now had to dodge spells thrown by multiple attackers. Lucius Malfoy had taken advantage of that fact and only Draco's throwing himself in front of Harry had saved him. Harry shook off his shock and shoved his rage and grief deep down, forcing himself to remain calm and focused.

He was vaguely aware of Hermione in the background and could remember hearing her scream when Draco had fallen but none of that was important right now. He stared at Lucius and the older wizard smirked, uncaring that he'd just killed his only child. Harry whispered a little known curse that he'd found in the Black library, Malfoy Snr. would not be leaving alive. With that knowledge secure in his mind he turned back to his battle.

"What, no tears for the bravely fallen friend?" Tom taunted, and Harry smiled grimly.

"Battle is no time for tears Tom." With that they were once again going all out.

Half an hour later Harry smiled and his hands flashed through the same seals he'd used two days ago. Tom was down, the back of his legs slashed by a lucky blow from Harry's sword, the venom weakening him but even Basilisk venom wasn't enough to bring the madman down.

"Goodbye Tom. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

Harry watched impassively as the so-called Dark Lord burned. As Tom Riddle's spirit finally left the mortal plane every living Death Eater dropped, dead before they hit the ground. There were a few shocked looks when Severus was not among them, no one outside their tight knit group had known about Harry removing is Mark.

Shouts of joy went up only to turn to screams of terror as the castle lost her fight and began to fully collapse. Although nearly dead on his feet from exhaustion Harry reached for his magic and that of the castle, weaving them together to strengthen the building for just a little longer.

"Everyone run! The castle won't last long." There was no argument as people began levitating the wounded and running for the doors. Only two paused as they noticed Harry hadn't moved.

"Harry run!"

He smiled sadly. "I can't Mione, I'm the only thing holding this castle up. Go!"

"No!" She screamed, tears flowing freely. "I won't lose you too!"

"Mione," Harry whispered sadly.

Severus met his eyes and nodded, giving the teen a small sad yet proud smile. He stunned the young witch and then took off as fast as he could. Harry closed his eyes, still smiling sadly as he waited for the last survivors to leave. As he felt his two friends leave he released his hold on the magic and simply stood there calmly as pieces of his beloved home began to rain down around him. He looked up at a loud crack and watched as a large piece of the ceiling plummeted towards him.

"Goodbye," he whispered sadly and closed his eyes, waiting for death. Instead he felt fiery warmth encircle him and then pain like nothing he'd ever felt before. Thankfully he passed out after mere seconds.

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Kakashi was up and halfway into Harry's room when the teen slammed into him before bolting into the bathroom. Harry's scream had probably woken their neighbours, but at the moment he was more concerned with his flatmate. Sure the boy had been having nightmares nearly every night but he had never screamed like that before.

Kakashi grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen before joining him in the bathroom. He knelt beside Harry and awkwardly rubbed his back as the teen continued to heave. When he was finished Kakashi handed him the glass and wet a cloth for his face. The whole time Harry remained silent, worrying the older man.

"Harry?"

"I remember," Harry whispered, shivering slightly and staring off into space.

Kakashi looked down at the teen, knowing there wasn't much he could do for him. He would talk when he was ready, hopefully. To his utter shock he found himself almost wishing for Harry to dream of Itachi. That was something he'd never thought he'd do, but the teen needed comforting and for some reason the Uchiha seemed to genuinely care about him.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Harry didn't protest but he didn't help either, leading to Kakashi mostly carrying him back to his room. He didn't know what had happened but it must have been bad. He felt sorry for the boy, thrust into a strange world with his only long-term friend being an enemy of his new ones after having been in what must have been a cataclysmic battle. The teen acted old for his age but he was still only a boy, only a few years older than his team. Harry just continued to stare blankly ahead, lost in his memories.

"Call me if you need me." With that Kakashi went back to his room but he didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

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Iruka carefully sat on the edge of the bed, taking a limp in hand in his. "Can you hear me?" he asked, but there was no reaction.

He looked to Kakashi, able to see his concern. Very few people could garner that reaction from the older man and so quickly, but Iruka was glad to see him reaching out to more people than just himself and the team.

"Has he responded at all?"

"He'll swallow if I get fluid into his mouth but that's it," Kakashi admitted.

"Try soup as well, he'll need the nutrients," Iruka pointed out before standing. They left the bedroom and Iruka wrapped his arms around Kakashi who leant against him. "If he doesn't come out of this, he'll need proper care that you can't provide."

"I know, I'll report his condition to the Hokage tomorrow and see what she thinks."

"Whatever you need," Iruka promised, tugging his mask down to kiss him. "He's a good student, I hope he wakes up soon."

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"He remembers."

Tsunade looked up at Kakashi as he slid into her office via the window. She did have doors although sometimes she wondered why.

"It may have been better if he didn't."

"Why?" She asked, concerned.

"Because all he has done since is stare at the wall or whatever else is in front of him. It's been two days now and there's no change."

"Is he sleeping at all?" She frowned, that was not good,.

"No," Kakashi shook his head.

"If he's at least drinking then give him another two days, if there's still no change bring him to the hospital. Perhaps you should have your team visit. They may be able to snap him out of it." If he was taking in fluids then they could risk waiting that long before intervening medically. She'd prefer he come out of it on his own but if necessary she would have a Yamanaka try.

"Yes Hokage-sama." He bowed and left.

Tsunade downed her drink. Whatever had happened to bring the boy to their world must have been bad to cause such a reaction. She only hoped that Harry didn't react to Sasuke as if he were Itachi, that would complicate things even further.

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"Kakashi-sensei, you're early?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Where's Harry? Isn't he watching today?" Naruto asked, obviously disappointed.

"I need to talk to you three about Harry," Kakashi said carefully.

"What is it? Is he hurt?" Naruto demanded.

"In a way. A few days ago Harry remembered what happened to him."

"That's good isn't it?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Yes, but the memories appear to have been too traumatic. Harry has retreated into his own mind. For the last two days there has been no reaction from him," he explained, and even Sasuke seemed worried, not that his expression showed it. "The Hokage suggested the three of you visit him so that is what we will be doing today. Would you do that?"

"We have to help Harry!" Naruto cried.

Sakura nodded and Sasuke just shrugged as if to say he had nothing better to do.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked as they walked towards Kakashi's apartment.

"Just act normal, talk to him. Try to get him to respond."

The three teens nodded and before they knew it they were at the apartment.

"Harry's room is the second door on the right." Kakashi watched them walk down the hall, hoping this would work. He'd grown to honestly like Harry and didn't want to see him hospitalised, the odds of him ever coming out again weren't good. He didn't want to think about what would happen when Itachi found out.

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"Hey Harry!" Naruto called out as they entered the room. He hesitated when he saw the older teen just lying on the bed, staring blankly at the wall.

Sasuke pushed him further into the room so that he and Sakura could get in as well. They'd never been in Harry's room before; then again they hadn't been in the apartment before either. It was a nice room and Kakashi had obviously made the effort to brighten it up for Harry since the blinds and window were open and some fresh flowers were on the bedside table, placed nicely between photos.

It was clear that Kakashi had been caring for him, his pyjamas were fresh and his hair had been combed. Naruto hesitated before bouncing onto the bed beside Harry but the teen still didn't react.

"Kakashi-sensei said you were sad so he sent us to cheer you up. Harry? Come on talk to us, please?" Naruto was scared, though he wouldn't admit it. Harry was his friend and he didn't like seeing him like that. Sure, he was used to seeing his friends injured but those were battle wounds, Harry looked perfectly healthy. "He was actually early to our meeting today Harry. You must be rubbing off on him." Naruto looked to the others for help.

"I saw Iruka-sensei yesterday, he asked about you," Sakura said, but there was still no reaction.

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Sasuke moved so that he was standing in front of Harry. "Wake up Harry, please." The last was said softly enough that his teammates didn't hear him.

Despite his efforts he liked the older teen. He was usually so cheerful but Sasuke had seen the old pain and grief in his eyes. Harry had seen some painful things but had been able to move past them and continue with his life, something he almost envied him for. Of course he doubted it was as bad as what he'd seen.

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The three stayed for several hours, just talking about anything and everything but there was no response. Sakura was the last of the team to leave. She reached out and touched Harry's hand gently.

"Please come back Harry, people need you." She went to leave but paused as she heard something.

"Ita…chi."

She froze at the sound of Sasuke's brother's name coming from the still figure on the bed.

"Harry?" She moved back to the bed and was surprised to see his eyes closed in sleep.

Smiling slightly she left the room, but she couldn't forget what she'd heard. Maybe she had heard wrong? After all the whisper had been barely audible, he could have said anything. Kakashi watched her as she left the room.

"He's asleep sensei."

Kakashi's visible eye widened. "Asleep?"

She nodded. "He said something just before that. It was a whisper so I barely noticed it. Kakashi-sensei, it sounded like he said Itachi."

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He smiled behind his mask, perhaps the teen would dream tonight. At least Sasuke and Naruto had already left.

"I doubt that was what he said Sakura but at least he said something and is asleep. Perhaps he will have improved when he wakes up. I'll let you all know."

"Yes sensei. Goodnight."

As soon as she was gone, he peered into the room, just to confirm it for himself. She was right, Harry was finally asleep.

TBC…

The italics were because he was dreaming the memories.