Chapter 16

A/N: Oh will you look at that, another chapter - in celebration of this story's first anniversary. :) This chapter jumps back to the present.

Hunting wild animals for fur and meat was hardly a chore for Hari; she could sense Life signatures in a considerable radius around her, and using the Killing Curse was as easy as breathing, considering who she was. It was the hunt for medicinal herbs that proved to be a challenge.

This world did not have magic, not in the same sense as her own did. Chakra flowed through all Living Things. Plants, no matter the shape or size, had Chakra flowing in them too. The problem was that, poisonous or not, weed or medicinal, all plants have roughly the same amount of Chakra, and their Life signature was the same as well. She could tell a tree apart from a blade of grass or a shrub, but that was it.

The Point Me spell was hardly useful; it needed a specific target. In a lush mountain forest like this, herbs would grow in proliferation, just not in places that Hari would be able to reach easily. But she took her time harvesting the herbs she needed to sell to the nearest town, along with the rabbits and the pheasants she already had stored into her magically-expanded bag. The herbs and the game served two purposes: a source of income and a way to keep up her carefully constructed identity.

She looked up through a gap in the canopy; the sun was already beginning its descent to the west, so it was probably early afternoon now. Sasuke was probably long gone from her temporary camp. She shrugged; it was easy enough to track him.

Imagine her surprise when Sasuke was still there, sitting on his bedroll and reading a scroll.

He looked up at her approach. "Had a good hunt?"

Thank Merlin she'd had the presence of mind to pull out the brace of rabbits out of her bag before she entered the clearing. She smiled, her lips barely visible under the hood of her cloak. "Good enough. I'll be heading back to town to sell them tomorrow."

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise in his throat and resumed reading.

Hari sat down across from him, setting the rabbits down on the ground. "I thought you'd be gone by now," she admitted.

Sasuke shrugged. "I have clones scouring the perimeter. If I haven't found snake tracks here, I'll move to another area."

Hari could not hold back a sigh. "Still want to kill the giant snake?"

Sasuke seemed to be considering his answer. "I am...not sure," he said after a while.

"Oh?"

"You said it hasn't eaten anyone yet," Sasuke explained. "But I've seen it kill two humans faster than you can blink."

"But it didn't seem to have hurt you," Hari pointed out. "And it may have killed two people, but did the snake eat them?"

Sasuke nodded. "True. Not to mention, it could understand human speech. For a regular snake, this is very unusual." He lowered his eyes in thought. "Maybe what Aoda said was true."

Hari tilted her hooded head. "Who is Aoda?"

"A nin-snake," Sasuke replied. He paused. "Have you heard any stories or legends around here? About a snake?"

Hari shook her head slowly. "Not really," she said. "Do you think...this snake is something like a legendary beast?"

"That's what the nin-snakes tell me," Sasuke grunted. He rolled back the scroll he was reading. "You're very lucky not to have crossed paths with it."

Hari grinned. "I try very hard not to cause trouble, but trouble usually finds me."

"Why do I get the feeling that I should not be surprised?" Sasuke said dryly.

Hari laughed. "You seem to be in a talkative mood," she commented. "And you seem...less broody," she chuckled. "Did something good happen?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Something of the sort," he answered honestly.

He did not say anything more, just stared into the distance, so Hari left him to it. She hummed as she worked, separating the herbs she gathered and tying them in small bunches with twine from her small bag. The rabbits she left alone for now; once Sasuke was asleep later, she would use magic to skin them.

"How far did you say the river was?" he asked suddenly, as if remembering something.

"A half day's walk in that direction," Hari pointed, glad that she remembered that little lie. "Why?"

Sasuke stood. "I'll be back before evening." He strapped Kusanagi to his waist. He looked at Hari. "Stay here."

He flickered in Hari's vision, then was gone in a swirl of leaves. Hari could sense his Life signature going west at a speed that a normal human would never be able to achieve.

She cursed. If Sasuke kept this up, he would be back at the waterfalls within an hour. She cast her hand out, casting a silent Notice-Me-Not charm on the small clearing, as well as a simple ward to keep animals away. Then with a trill she transformed into a phoenix and disappeared in a flash of black fire.

Ren was lounging by the riverbank, soaking in the warmth of the sun, when Hari appeared beside her in a flash of phoenix fire. The basilisk raised her head, tongue tasting the air. "Oh, mama! Did you have a good hunt? How is Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Hello, darling," Hari greeted her with a pat to her scaly snout. "I need you to hide inside the cave. Quickly now."

"What's going on?" Ren tilted her head, curious.

"Uchiha Sasuke is coming."

The basilisk raised her head higher. Her tail waved in the air. "He is? That's great, mama! I like Uchiha Sasuke." Ren's mouth opened into her version of a smile, complete with rows of pointy teeth.

Hari almost missed a step. "What?"

"I like Uchiha Sasuke," Ren repeated. "He is very strong, and he is not afraid of me. Just like you." Ren hissed. "He is a good match for you."

This time, Hari did fall flat on her face, displacing her hood. It revealed her open-mouthed shock, emerald eyes unblinking. She stared at Ren.

"Ren-hatchling-what-how-who gave you this idea?" Hari's voice was near breathless with disbelief. "Match? With-" she choked, unable to continue.

Ren sighed, the sound coming off as an airy hiss. "You need a good mate, mama. A strong one. Who is not afraid of me, or you. I talked with grandpa about this, and he says a mortal mate will only make you sad. But!" Ren waved her tail excitedly. "I thought really hard, and I think if you bonded your mate to you the way you did to me, then your mate will not die!" Ren puffed out her chest, proud to have found the solution that will make her mother happy and not lonely anymore.

Hari pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. She took a deep, calming breath. "Ren," she said, exasperated.

But Ren kept going.

"Everyone else we met in the forest smells weak. They will not make a good mate for you, mama. I can tell. But Uchiha Sasuke is different! He will make a good papa, I am sure of it." She hissed excitedly. "And when you get hatchlings, I will be a good older sister and kill anybody who wants to harm them!"

Okay. There were too many things to unpack in that monologue that Hari did not want to touch with a fifty foot pole. "Wait a minute, Ren. Calm down."

"Yes, mama?"

Hari swallowed. She could feel blood rush to her cheeks-how in Merlin's name did her basilisk arrive at the conclusion that she and Sasuke-nope, not going there. Not now. "Darling, we will talk about this later. For now, please hide in the cave."

"Why though?" Ren asked. "I want to meet Uchiha Sasuke and ask him if he wants to mate with you," she asked innocently.

Hari was sure she must look like a tomato by now, but by sheer will kept her face calm. Of all the times for her basilisk to acquire her rebellious streak... "Renenutet," she said in a low, warning tone. "Please, get inside the cave. We can talk about this later." When the basilisk opened her mouth to argue, Hari shot the basilisk with a warning glare, emerald eyes flashing. "I said later." She took another deep breath. "Please," she repeated, gently this time.

"Okay," the basilisk sulked, crawling into the hidden entrance behind the waterfall, but not before shooting Hari one last baleful, mildly hurt look.

Dear Merlin, I'm not ready to talk about this. Ren is too young! Hari thought, faintly.

There was a rustle of leaves from the opposite bank. Hari turned, in time to see Sasuke break through the tree line, dark eyes scanning the river until he found her there, standing. His blank face morphed into one of shock. He stopped just a few steps away from where her invisible ward ended. "You!"

Hari grinned, waving. "Hi, Sasuke." She needed to think of an excuse fast.

Strange. Instead of lowering his guard, Hari could see his hackles rise. He lowered his stance and had one hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheathe it. "This is-how the hell are you here?"

And that was when it struck Hari. Her hood. It had fallen off her face. Sasuke was seeing the woman who had not too long ago been in his mindscape, and not Hari the huntress.

"Shit," Hari whispered in Parseltongue, smile dropping.#

A/N: Renenutet is the name of an Egyptian snake goddess. This story will resume updating every Wednesday.