Crosspossted from AO3, with some notes missing.

Hope you enjoy.

Secrets of the Soul Spiral

Chapter VII

Clouds After the Storm

Uzumaki

I floated in a pool of... liquid.

Small waves passed through me, pulling at my hair and splashing my face.

The smell was ferrous and unpleasant.

I refused to open my eyes.

I knew what I would see if I opened them. It was better to be still and blind while floating in the sea of blood, lest it swallow me again.

Something was watching me. Was that Itachi or something entirely inhuman? The looming presence was all but choking me, as I swayed with the waves.

The movement of something humongous caused even more waves to roll over me. What kind of monsters lived in the blood ocean?

There was a loud, animalistic roar.

A dull splash followed it, and yet another wave of blood washed over me.

The roar repeated once more.

An impossibly large beast crashed against what might have been a metal cage, and the clatter of claws on metal echoed through me, making me clench my feet from the unpleasant sensation.

Yet another wave washed over me, almost dragging me under.

I was not going to open my eyes. No matter what.

For the third time, a roar echoed. This time, I could almost make out the meaning - could almost understand the anguish of the huge creature. "ACCURSED EYE!" it screamed to the heavens.

A final wave pulled me under and I drowned.

Or woke up.

Potter

I was lying on a firm bed.

It was warm. I could feel an open window nearby, the wind sweeping up the smell of apple trees inside. There were also scents of pears and cherries, and those of a distant forest.

It was summer outside, and-

I couldn't help but still feel the taste of blood in my mouth.

At least I wasn't drowning anymore. I hoped.

I slowly moved my hands, feeling the bedding around me. This was clearly not the bed from my tent. Narrower, but still more than big enough for my small size. I did not know where I was, but the world stood still. There were no waves.

Was I finally safe?

"Hazel?" a girl's voice asked carefully.

I groaned.

"Are you awake?" the voice asked again. Tonks.

"No," I lied.

"I'll go get dad," Tonks said. "Don't go anywhere."

"Funny," I grumbled. Moving was the farthest thing on my mind. I didn't feel like getting up, even if there was no pain.

I touched my throat. I was breathing normally.

For now.

I felt dry. I could feel the soft fabric of my clothes. Only barely itchy. That was good.

On my back, I could feel a stain of sweat, the shirt sticking to my back, but that was in no way like I had felt when drowning in the ocean, so I didn't start to panic just now.

I considered opening my eyes.

No.

I suspected what I would see and I certainly didn't want to... I kept them closed shut.

Outside, I could hear a distant beat of the wings, getting closer and louder by the second. Then, there was a scraping noise of talons, and something small landed on top of the roof. The roof must have been right over me.

I sighed.

I could guess that I was in one of the guest rooms in the Wooden Villa. I knew they were in the attic only because Andromeda had suggested I pick one of them to move in while staying here.

That time, I argued for staying in my tent, and we found a compromise by moving the tent closer to the house instead.

I sat up, shuffled to the back of the bed, finding a wall to lean at. Pulled my legs closer to myself.

Wrapped my arms around my legs.

Didn't open my eyes.

I remembered the feeling of drowning, and shook my head to clear it, but bumped it into the ceiling. The roof was slanted, and I must have chosen the wrong corner to sit in.

I felt around with one of my hands, as I rubbed my head with another.

My hair felt dry. That was also a good sign.

I adjusted myself, pulled the top blanket over my shoulders and wrapped my arms around my legs, resting my chin between the knees.

I heard footsteps first, and then two people entered the room. There was no sound of the door opening, so it must have been left ajar. I could hear fingers brushing at it; how the wooden doors lightly bumped into the wall.

"Hazel?" Mr Tonks asked, his voice firm, but concerned. "You gave us a little scare yesterday, so we moved you inside. How do you feel today?"

"Fine," I mumbled, uncertain. "I'm alright. Nothing hurts."

I could hear him stepping up, closer to the bed. Tonks must have lingered at the doorway, because I could hear her breathing further away.

"Any lingering pressure on the chest, or dizziness? Any burning sensation in your ethereal pathways?"

"Not really," I said, pushing myself back into the corner of the bed. The experiments we performed seemed like they happened days ago, and yet... "That last jutsu, I couldn't manage it without chakra, right? Metamorphmagi can't change their clothes, can they?"

"Not without the help of a spell," Tonks chirped from the direction of the doorway.

"You shouldn't have tried a different technique without discussing it first," Mr Tonks said calmly. "Mistakes happen. I would like to cast a few small spells to ensure everything is fine, but if you don't feel any pain, it can wait until the evening. Can you look at me, Hazel?"

I didn't reply.

"Would you like anything brought up, or maybe join us two for a meal downstairs?" Mr Tonks was relentless.

I rubbed my throat again. There was still the aftertaste of blood and sea-salt. "I don't want to eat," I said. I was starting to get hungry, but I didn't think I could swallow anything solid at all. "Could I have a drink instead, please?"

"There's a self-refilling glass of cold water on the nightstand," Ted pointed out. I could imagine him pointing. I could guess the direction of the bedside table. On one side, there was the low ceiling that I found with my head minutes before, so the nightstand must have been just to my right, close to the bed.

I took a deep breath.

"Something else happened to you, maybe while you slept? A nightmare?" Mr Tonks guessed. "Is there anything you could share?'

"I'm afraid," I said the truth. "I thought Konoha was safe."

I slowly patted around myself, and first found the edge of the bed, and then a sturdy wooden nightstand.

Before I could continue my search, Mr Tonks cast a spell with a quiet incantation. It was made up of two foreign words. Then, I heard something that must have been the glass skidding slowly towards me, the water sloshing inside.

I opened my grip, and the glass slid in, resting at my palm. I grasped the cold glass, raised it to my lips, careful not to spill it and took a few sips. The water didn't taste much of anything, and that was exactly what I wanted. It still didn't wash out the aftertaste of salt and blood, but it was a start.

I drank a few greedy mouthfuls, finally placing the glass back on the nightstand. I didn't hear anything spilling, even without opening my eyes.

My thirst satisfied, only the ghost of hunger remained.

"I need a minute," I said, placing my head back on my knees. Pulled the blanket so it covered my head, too.

I heard Mr Toks whispering to his daughter, and soon, her weight joined me on the bed - at the farthest edge from me.

"Hey," she said quietly.

I didn't move.

There were footsteps as Mr Tonks left.

"Dad's going to try and floo Dumbledore," Tonks added quietly. "But it might take a while - we don't know his schedule for today. And yesterday, their spells showed you should have recovered quickly."

"I see," I replied. Was there anything to say about this? I didn't need Dumbledore to solve every little thing for me. Did I?

We sat there in silence, for a minute or two, but it felt like hours.

Up on the roof, I heard the bird walking around again.

"Is that Fawkes on the roof?" I asked carefully. "Maybe we could call him inside?"

"That's Araltes the Third, hiding in the shadows of his favorite nook," Tonks said, extra pompously, as if introducing me to a Land of Fire nobility. "He's a northern hawk owl, here to bravely deliver mail for our family, in the far south of Southampton." She said in a more regular voice before posing for a brief moment. "I doubt Fawkes is around, he left with Dumbledore yesterday."

"The Third?" I asked, and the side of my lips twitched. "You keep naming your owls the same name?"

"Not really." Tonks chuckled quietly. "Mom named him after some old wizard ruler, I think. He actually responds to Araltes, no need for titles."

"I see," I said.

There was another pause, a short one this time.

Tonks, having been sitting on the edge of the bed, leaned back, and slumped to lie down on her back, the bed creaking ever so slightly.

"I hate it when I have nightmares," she started slowly, her words followed by a soft tapping sound - she was patting her fingers on the bed. "When I was just a little sprog, our family moved around a lot. Changing houses often, and the like. Dad had the biggest target on his back, because he was a well-known muggleborn Healer, but also because he married mom. Mom tried to convince him we should leave the country, head to France or anywhere else out of the Isles, but Dad didn't want to. He kept showing up at St. Mungos, working overtime to patch people up. He was saving lives."

I heard her arm swishing through the air, as if she was painting a picture or just gesturing wildly.

"I only remember bits and pieces of that day, but I remember being scared. It was late at night, when they found our safehouse. Dad had just returned from his second shift - he was pulling double duty at the time, so he was very tired, and could barely hold a wand straight..."

Tonks paused.

"I don't know how many of them were there," she said. "When I dream of it, there's dozens, floating above the safehouse's protections, but it can't have been more than three or so, or we wouldn't be here." She took a heavy breath. "Mom held them off, right up until the Aurors arrived. It was close. In my dreams, the house shakes as my mom begins to fight them, but it might not have been exactly like it. They burned down the protective magic - almost got inside... I think I caught a glimpse of one of them through the window - a dark silhouette with a strange metal mask. That's how they always look in my dream."

Her assailants sounded like some evil ANBU from a different village, and while I didn't know what an Auror was, I could guess it was like a squad of good Jounin coming to help.

"That's why I want to be an Auror when I graduate," Tonks added, her voice firm. "To keep others from having nightmares of dark wizards. I'll protect you too, Hazel. From nightmares and from dark wizards both."

"It wasn't a nightmare," I said, and took a deep breath. "I don't dream."

"Oh?" Tonks asked slowly. "Maybe you just forget the dreams when you wake up? That happens often, you know."

"No." I shook my head, careful not to hit the slanted ceiling of the attic. "Well, if you listen to the old man - my old man, not Dumbledore, I'm currently in a dream, waiting to wake up." I shuddered. "Well, not really waiting." The indifferent look in Itachi's eye bubbled in my memories. "Dreading."

For a brief moment, the sliver of panic returned. What had Itachi done to me? Where would I wake up, if ever?

"It would be quite disappointing to learn that I'm just a figment of your imagination in some dream," Tonks said calmly, and then shrugged - I felt her shoulders move as the bed swayed a little. "Then again, it wouldn't really matter for me if I was, would it? Tell me I'm at least a good dream buddy."

"Sure," I chuckled reservedly. "I don't actually think you're made up. Just a friend from my past life."

"I don't follow," Tonks said. "You've got an interesting imagination, Hazel. So... What does the waking world look like?"

"I thought wizards knew about rebirth," I said, off balance by her question, still mulling over how to answer. "When Dumbledore told me about my parents' death, he called it the next great adventure. Wasn't he talking about the spiral of reincarnation? My parents are dead, but their souls have moved on to their next life. I might get to see them again, even if they won't remember me."

"Er-," Tonks sounded utterly confused by this point. "I couldn't dare to guess what the Headmaster meant exactly, but souls and their study is a very obscure topic of magical research. I'm a bad person to explain this - and, well, my parents don't agree on it, either. You should ask dad if you want to hear about the afterlife."

"Afterlife?" Now it was my turn to be confused, Tonks' previous question forgotten. "Is this, er, the church thing? The Dursleys never took me there, whenever they went. I've seen only a few churches, well, I've sneaked into the Guildford Cathedral, it was the largest one of the ones I've been at. Very brown from outside and very tall and gray when inside."

"Ask dad," Tonks said, and I could feel her crossing her arms above herself. She groaned. "I'm - so - not fielding this one. Let's talk about something else, please. Can I ask why you're still keeping your eyes closed?"

"Ah-" I said. "I have a couple of weird questions before I can answer."

"Fire away."

"Is there anything on the floor? Like a puddle of something wet?"

I could hear Tonks rolling over to get a look at the floor. She took the question seriously. "Only the carpet. It's yellow, with white dandelions. No puddles anywhere. Clean, regular wooden floor - well, magically stain resistant, but that's about it."

I sighed.

"Is that... a bad thing or a good thing?"

"Probably good," I said.

I opened my eyes. I had to try, eventually, so why not now?

The room wasn't too large, slightly bigger than my bedroom at Dursleys, with the slanted ceiling. On the sides of the room, there was barely enough room to sit, but in the middle you could have stacked three of me, one on top of the other...

There were two vertical walls - one next to my bed, with a large window facing the forest, and another wall held the entrance.

The furniture was sparse - a table, a couple of chairs, a small dresser, a wooden chest and a large wardrobe behind which there was enough space to hide.

There was also the bed we were on. It was almost big enough for two adults, but I barely took up space on it because I was huddled to one end. Tonks, meanwhile, was lying on her stomach, propped up on her hands, glancing between me and the floor. Her legs were bent, feet lifted upwards over her back, her black and yellow striped socks almost at the height of my eyes.

I only peeked at the floor for a moment, noticing Tonks' pair of trainers on the floor next to the bed - floating in a pool of - before turning away to focus on the bedside table.

In the middle of the nightstand, there was a pair of glasses. Ones that Dumbledore had conjured for me yesterday. Next to them there was the self-refilling glass of water.

It was once again full.

The water looked exceptionally clear, and I almost reached out for it.

It was full of blood-red liquid, and there were wav-

No.

I closed my eyes. Rubbed them. Opened them again.

Stared at the glass of water like it was guilty of treason. It was completely clear and clean.

Peeked at the floor.

Something red was seeping through the wooden floor, pooling up, rising.

I felt a bit nauseous and looked away.

Focused on the glass. The water was clear.

I could feel Tonks watching me intently.

"There's nothing on the floor, right?" I asked again and closed my eyes once more. "No... water?"

"All perfectly normal," Tonks replied. "Very much dry."

There was a pause.

"Are you going to be alright?" Tonks asked. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Do you know how to dispel genjutsu?" I asked nervously. "I don't understand what's happening. I should have read more of that damned book," I grumbled. Shikako had lent me a book on genjutsu, like she had offered, but I was barely a few pages in, as it sat in my apartment close to my bed and served as an incredible sleeping aid. "I can't cycle my chakra, but maybe you could punch me or something?"

"No, thank you," Tonks said, surprised. "Why would I do that and what does that foreign word mean? Is that some kind of curse? Mom knows a lot about curses..."

"Pain disrupts genjutsu," I quoted the book and Shikako at the same time. In the Land of Fire language. Right. "I meant to say - pain can break the illusion. Genjutsu is the term for an illusion made with chakra."

"Sounds to me like you've been hit by a right end of a Confundus Charm," Tonks said. "Are you saying that you can see an illusion of… water on the floor? And I can't see it? Selective illusions are not how illusionary charms are supposed to work, Hazel. Are you sure?"

"I have no idea how else to explain what's happening, unless it's a genjutsu," I said honestly. "And it's not exactly water. Before, I could hear the waves, too, but now only a visual part remains, so I'm hoping it just wears off on its own."

"That's a bit scary," Tonks said. "I haven't heard of magic exactly like this, and certainly not one that could be slapped away. I'm still not hitting you, by the way."

I shrugged.

"Any better ideas?" I asked.

"Only one." Tonks jumped down on the floor.

The sound of her feet bumping onto the carpet, without any audible splashes, made me hopeful again.

"Araltes!" Tonks shouted out, through the window. "Come!"

There was a quiet ranking of talons on the roof, which soon turned into a flutter of wings, and then something landed on the edge of the open window, just outside.

I could hear the soft creaks of the open window as the bird found his balance.

"Araltes, I need you to find mom," Tonks urged the bird. "No message, just call her here."

There was an answering hoot, followed by a clap of the beak.

"We'll get you a treat after," Tonks said. "Please hurry."

I heard the bird jumping off the window, and taking off.

"Your mother isn't home?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's likely," Tonks said, and by her voice I understood that she was leaning out of the window. "Yeah, Araltes is heading towards London, I think. Won't be long. He's very fast when he wants to be."

I leaned back and sighed. "When I don't look," I muttered. "I feel perfectly fine. I just really don't want to drown again."

"How are you such a danger magnet," Tonks mock-whined. "Should have expected something like this, honestly. Hey, will you be fine for a minute alone, or do you want me to stay? I would grab an owl treat and come back, but that can wait."

I thought about it.

"Please stay," I asked quietly.

"Sure," Tonks said, and sat back on the bed.

"Thank you." I judged the distance between us the best I could, and shuffled a bit closer.

Tonks caught on without me having to ask, and soon, we were sitting side by side.

"I'm sorry," I muttered.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about, Hazel."

"I meant I'm sorry about your nightmares," I said. "If I could dream, I'd probably be having those too, and they sound extremely unpleasant. I've lost my parents - and I don't even remember the night when it happened, but I must have seen or heard something. For me, they were there one day, and then I never saw them again..."

Tonks carefully wrapped her hand around my shoulders, over the blanket.

I leaned into the hug.

"I still remember bits and pieces," I said. I almost started retelling a full scene or two, but then reconsidered. The memories felt a bit too private to be shared in full. "Mostly little ones, like the color of my mom's hair, dad's smell, crawling on a wooden floor."

"We honor their courage and cherish their memory," Tonks said softly, possibly quoting poetry. "There's no wizard who doesn't know their names, but I think they'd be happy to know you still remember them, even if it's the little things..."

"Don't make me cry," I mumbled into Tonks' side. "I don't want to feel anything wet on my face. Not now."

"Try to relax if you can," Tonks patted my back through the blanket. "I can vanish any tears for you. You'll stay perfectly dry."

I nodded.

No words were exchanged for a while afterwards, but for an occasional spell. The vanishing spell made my nose twitch weird, but it did keep my face dry, as promised.

Andromeda Tonks found us still in the bed, but I felt a lot more confident than before.

"What happened?" The witch said as soon as she entered the room. I could hear her robes billowing, and I could smell a whiff of strange, unusual perfume. I couldn't place the smell, slightly vanilla-like, but very subtle.

"Hey," I said and tried to wave in what I believed to be the right direction. "There's no rush, but I have a bit of a... problem."

I could feel Andromeda's questioning look shifting to Tonks.

"Hazel's been cursed," Tonks explained. "I'm stumped as to how and what's the exact curse, is there a non-lethal version of Final Lethifold's Slumber? She's got a decent hold on it as it's visual-only, and she can keep it away by closing her eyes. The vision is focused on the floor, mostly. Can't tell much more than that."

"We'll talk about how you shouldn't even know about curses like Lethifold's Slumber later," Andromeda announced in a steely voice. "Did Ted try anything yet?"

"Dad went to floo Dumbledore, before Hazel said what was going on," Tonks explained. "He's still away."

"Alright." I could hear Mrs Tonks brandishing her wand with a quick swish through the air. I tried not to flinch. "Let's see what this is about."

Dumbledore's spells were either imperceptible or humming with restrained power. I had sensed some of Mr Tonks' spells, and they had a steady, calm quality to them.

Whatever magic Andromeda worked on me was certainly wilder and considerably more direct.

It felt like static electricity was building up in my body. It was especially prominent in my hair, and I could feel the individual strands reaching out for something unseen, as if hoping for a discharge.

The rush of… magic ended as unexpectedly as it began.

"Are you certain she's been cursed?" Andromeda asked.

"Maybe it's a chakra curse," Tonks replied.

"For that, we might need Albus." I could feel Andromeda's gaze on me. She was evaluating something. "Do you remember how it happened?"

"I do," I said. "It was Itachi, he used some kind of illusion to trap me in, and then I…" I swallowed heavily. "I drowned. Repeatedly... When I look, I can still see the rising tides, threatening to pull me under again. But... When I close my eyes it doesn't feel real or dangerous anymore. It's hard to keep my mind off it, but Tonks has been helping me a lot."

Andromeda paced a few steps back and forth. "Would you let me see how you saw it - touch your memory of the event? There's a spell to take a peek, and I'm just about good enough to have a chance of catching what curse was used."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "Aren't techniques like that very dangerous? Would you be able to see anything that happened in Konoha at all? It happened in a different life."

There was a short moment of silence. I might have missed a gesture or a questioning look.

"She believes it," said Tonks, as if answering a silent question.

"Fine, I'll humor you - if you remember something now it shouldn't matter when or where it happened, at least not for the spell I have in mind," Andromeda said. "Do you want me to try?"

I considered it. "Will it help me get rid of this... cursed illusion?"

"It won't hurt," Mrs Tonks replied. "Might be a bit unpleasant, but I'll at least learn how you think you got it."

"Let's do it, then," I said, steeling myself. Normally, I'd have been a lot more wary about such an offer, but I trusted Tonks. Which meant that I'd risk it with her mother. "What do I do?"

"I need you to look into my eyes, and try to remember how it happened. You shouldn't push yourself to recall all the details, just get a general memory started and I'll take care of the rest. Whenever you're ready."

I opened my eyes. Brown, wide eyes found mine, and while there was steel in the gaze, there was also kindness.

A stark contrast to the single, indifferent eye of Uchiha Itachi.

"Legilimens."

Itachi. Blood. Someone fell over next to me. A distorted voice. An argument. A clone of Itachi ran past me.

The world tilted.

I was drowning - back at the sea of blood.

Tonk's trainers, floating on the blood tide, washing up on a blood soaked carpet.

A self refilling glass, full of blood-red liquid.

And then - silence.

I was waist deep in the red sea-

"You can close your eyes now."

I did.

There was a clatter of wood on wood as Andromeda slumped into some chair, possibly by the desk.

"Merlin," she breathed out the name heavily. "That dark wizard was certainly something. Very... unique mind arts at his disposal. When did this happen?"

"When I was asleep," I said. "In Konoha."

"That doesn't- No, one problem at the time." Andromeda's voice was regaining the steely quality. It seemed that whatever threw her off had passed.

Tonks patted my back softly.

"Good news is that there's no more lingering curse on you, and there seems to be no real permanent damage to your mind - ignoring the part where it doesn't feel exactly like the mind of an eight year old should," Mrs Tonks said. "Bad news is that your own mind hasn't gotten the message about the attack being over yet. Our minds can be fragile like that sometimes - especially with something as dark as this spell was."

"How do we fix it?" I asked, ignoring the bit about having an older mind.

"Chocolate, rest and time," Andromeda said. "Most of the senses have recovered already, have they not? Think about it. Do you feel like you're drowning, now that you have your eyes closed?"

"No."

"That means you're already on the way to full recovery," Mrs Tonks said. "Albus' bird would be useful to have around, but there's chocolate in the villa, and that will have to be enough. Accio chocolate!"

There was a clatter of drawers in some other room, and then, like thrown from outside the room, something small zoomed in through the air. I heard Mrs Tonks catching it.

Soon, I was munching on a very sweet bar of chocolate. It did help.

"Nymphadora," Mrs Tonks called.

"Yes, mom?" Tonks tensed up.

"Good job, kid."

I could sense the brightness of Tonks' smile even with my eyes closed.

Ted Tonks returned a couple of hours later, empty handed. Dumbledore, as far as everyone knew, was in France, visiting an old friend, but beside leaving a message, there hadn't been a way to recall him early.

By that time, we had already moved downstairs, and I could spare an occasional glance towards the floor without flinching.

Oh, and we pampered Araltes the Third with a bunch of owl treats. I didn't understand how he could have reached London in a matter of minutes, but the answer was probably magic.

Uzumaki

I woke up groggy. My mind was wide awake and ready for anything, but my body felt sluggish and lazy. It was as if a heavy weight had been placed over me, and my chakra felt sluggish, like it had turned into jelly, and had forgotten how to move.

I opened my eyes carefully, and found out that either the sea of blood was in a low tide or it had finally left me alone. Maybe it was enough to get over it in my dream-world?

I was in Konoha hospital.

There were flowers next to my bed, a whole bunch of them, a varied mix brought by different people. Next to the larger vase with the chaotic bouquet there was a separate, smaller arrangement. It was closer to me, too.

At the base, a long, thin branch of willow was wrapped around itself a few times, firmly lodged into the wooden base. Emerging from the willow wrap, a larger branch of red-leaved mansaku leaned out, reaching for the heavens. The color of the leaves was deep red, reminding me of my mother's hair, and I couldn't help but smile at it. A lone, bright pink kikyo blossom shone in the middle of the arrangement.

I wasn't Ino, but...

The base of a long willow branch, for a long life and, since it was given in a hospital, recovery. A bright and soft Kikyo for honesty and unchanging love. Mansaku was trickier. Inspiration or magic?

Was there another layer to the manasaku? Ino had been curious about flowers and plants in England and witch hazel - basically an identical bush to manasaku - had definitely come up, it's English meaning very much on the nose for my name there. It would be just like Ino to remember.

So...

A wish to recover, grounded in earth.

A bright promise of human honesty and love.

The inspiring heavens for the magical witch Hazel.

I figured I'd cracked Ino's message, and smiled.

"Haruko-chan!" Sakura-chan's voice startled me.

I had focused on the flower arrangement too much and didn't even notice her - she was seated to the side, one of the academy's books currently sliding off her legs, forgotten.

"Hey," I tried to shout out loudly, but I mumbled the word instead. My voice was slightly tired, but that didn't stop me from pushing through and pouring out a handful of questions all at once. "Sakura-chan! What are you doing here? What time is it? How long have I been out?" I found my voice only mid-way through. "Is Nara-baasan alright? What's today's date?"

"Haruko, you're awake!" Sakura-chan said and stood up - the academy textbook fell down with a dull bump as it impacted the floor, but Sakura-chan didn't pay it any heed. "We were worried about you!"

Were these - tears - running down her face?

I took another look around. There were a handful of small wrapped packages next to the flowers.

"What day is it?" I asked again, already dreading the answer.

"You slept through your birthday," Sakura-chan said. "It's the next Tuesday after it - you've been out for weeks, Haruko-chan."

I groaned.

I tried to sit up, and found that I couldn't push through the invisible pressure. I could turn, move my limbs, but I couldn't sit up.

"What's going on?" I asked, slightly scared. Sakura-chan didn't seem too bothered, so I tried to calm down, slowing down my breathing.

"There's a lot of seals on you," Sakura-chan hurriedly said. "I don't know why, but I'm sure they will get everything off you soon."

I experimented with the limits for a bit and soon found that I could lift myself on my elbows, shuffling back and propping myself over the pillow in a half-seated position, so I did that.

"I need to see the Hokage," I said to Sakura-chan. "Do you know how to get out of these seals?"

The doors to the room opened before Sakura-chan even attempted an answer, and a young medic-nin in a hospital staff uniform strolled in. He had bright Yamanaka hair, and their clan crest was clearly etched on his white clothes. His expression was relaxed, but there were dark marks under his eyes.

"Nara Haruko," he said, emphasizing the Nara name with a reserved smile on his lips. As if he was in on some clever joke. No shinobi had ever called me Nara, only civilians. Especially not anyone as official as a ninja medic. "Please do not fight the seals. They are monitoring your condition, and you still need some bed rest. Your clan head was informed and will be here as soon as he's available."

"Hey, hey," I protested. "I need to see the Hokage."

"I cannot help you with this. Take it up with your clan head," the Yamanaka said in a no-nonsense tone. "You seem remarkably coherent, considering the condition you were admitted in. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine," I grumbled. "When can I get up?"

"Take it up with your clan head."

I stopped fighting the seals and slumped back onto the pillow.

"This is so unfair."

"I'm sorry, Nara-chan," the Yamanaka medic said, tone very much neutral. He picked up a small card that was affixed to the back of the bed, quickly scribbled something down on it, and placed it back. "Take it up-"

"With my clan head," I interrupted, finishing the sentence for him. "I will. Anything else I should complain to Shikaku-san about?"

"Don't try to use your chakra until the seals are taken off," the man said. "We won't be running any additional tests beyond taking the readings of your seals, so you're free to rest until Shikaku-dono comes around."

I groaned, and turned my head to look at Sakura-chan. She didn't seem surprised at me being addressed as Nara. To get out of the man's way she had sat down, patiently and politely waiting for the medic to leave.

He soon did just that.

"Do you know what that was about?" I asked Sakura-chan. "Why Nara?"

"I don't know-know, but," Sakura-chan said, standing up. "Shikako's dad asked us to use that name while you're here..." She took a few steps closer, leaned in very slightly - she clearly wanted to come even closer, but there was a clear dark line next to my bed that was marked 'do not cross'. "We've even seen someone looking like - Naruto - running around in Konoha... And Shikako said..." Sakura's expression fell and she stopped talking. "Maybe I shouldn't worry you before they fully discharge you."

Someone was impersonating me as Naruto? Why? Everyone who knew me well should know that these days I barely showed myself as Naruto outside of the classes.

I scratched my head, still confused.

"I actually feel perfectly fine, if not for the seals. Well, maybe a little hungry," I complained. "Tell me everything you can. What happened?"

"You're an accidental casualty of a bloody attack against Konoha," Sakura-chan said, her voice cracking a little. I might have flinched at the word bloody, but the vision of the sea didn't surface. "There's a large number of injured in the hospital, and there have been even more deaths - the Uchiha clan was-" She stopped and took a deep breath. "There's only a handful of Uchiha that survived," Sakura-chan mumbled, ashen faced.

I stiffened. Only a handful? The Uchiha district was huge - what - how? Did Itachi have anything to do with it, or had I seen him after he'd been fighting for survival? Why did he attack me at all? Who did the other voice belong to? The thoughts ran in my head, but I didn't ask anything yet.

"Sasuke-kun is the only main-house Uchiha that lived," Sakura-chan found strength to continue, but her voice still shook. "He's in hospital too, but they're not letting anyone see him yet."

Tears returned to Sakura-chan's eyes. "I hope he recovers as you did," she whispered. "I don't understand how or why..." She breathed out.

"Who was it?" I asked, my own voice sounding a bit off and distant. "Which village?"

"Our own," Sakura-chan said, looking down. "It was a fight between Uchiha, and it burned Konoha..."

"No." I clenched my teeth. "I thought he was injured and didn't recognize me," I muttered under my breath. What had I said to Dumbledore, before I ran into Itachi? "I thought that in Konoha, I can trust everyone," I said much louder, not recognising my own voice as it strained against the new truth.

"There were traitors among the Uchiha," Sakura-chan said, confirming my worst fear. "There's so many rumors going around right now, it's hard to keep things straight, but they're saying that the one to start the attack against their own clan head was Uchiha Yashiro - and he had recruited Uchiha Itachi to help, along with a few others."

"Uchiha Yashiro?" I asked. I hadn't heard the name. Ever. "Was he someone important?"

"I don't know," Sakura-chan said, and sighed. "Whatever his true position in the clan, he's been killed in the attempt. But Itachi escaped... Itachi's a missing-nin now. Their assasination of the clan head succeeded, but there must have been non-Uchiha present who raised the alarm. Had no one else been there, Itachi could have become the clan head of Uchiha," Sakura added. "Who knows what they'd have done next!"

I remembered Itachi's crimson eye, and the way he had dismissed me as nothing. I clenched my fists to keep myself from flinching.

"Nothing good," I guessed through the clenched teeth. "Was anyone else from our friends hurt?" I asked carefully. Surely Sakura-chan would have said anything if others were hurt, but I wanted to be sure.

"Only Sasuke-kun and you," Sakura-chan said, shaking her head. "Ino and Shikako have distant relatives that got hurt, but none of them... died."

"How about Nara-baasan?" I asked. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know, but I think so," Sakura-chan muttered uncertainly.

The door opened, and Shikaku-san strolled in. His pineapple-like hair was slightly more disheveled, and he was slowly rubbing at his face, as if he'd just been awoken from a nap.

Sakura-chan bowed lightly, and I raised my hand, waving it weakly.

Shikaku's eyes narrowed, as he took in my hopeful expression. A slow, lazy smile appeared on his face, and I could see how his face shifted awake as he banished the leftover sleepiness with his chakra.

The door closed behind Shikaku, but I could swear I saw a glimpse of at least one other shinobi lingering outside, leaning at a wall with a small orange book in his hand.

"Let's see how to get you more comfortable, Haruko-chan," Shikaku-san said calmly, and strolled lazily to loom over the bed, crossing the line on the floor that cautioned against it. "Sakura, you should leave us for a short while - maybe you could get word to Yoshino-san, tell her that Haruko woke up and is well?" Shikaku-san said, leaning even closer to the seals painted on the side of the bed. From my position I couldn't even see them properly.

"You're getting me out of here?" I asked cheerfully, just as Sakura-chan collected her book and dashed outside.

Shikaku stayed silent, focused on the seals, and I glanced through the open door - Sakura quickly turned the corner, and there was no sight of the shinobi I'd noticed before. The corridor seemed completely empty. The door closed.

"Let's get you some breathing room first," Shikaku-san noted, tapping his fingers on the bed. I could feel the chakra sparkling in the air as he did something to the seals, and the pressure I felt from above subsided. "I wanted to move you to the clan grounds, but I've been overruled," Shikaku pointed out as if it explained something, but I only grew more confused.

"Overruled?"

Shikaku didn't elaborate. "You'll have to stay here for a couple more days for observation," he said. "The Hokage will come to see you before you're released. For the duration of the stay here, you're a Nara. Don't tell anyone otherwise, and your friends will be able to visit you."

I knew there must have been a good reason, because Shikaku seemed a bit more determined than usual, but it was almost impossible to get a read on the adult. "Why Nara?" I asked, curiously.

Shikaku loomed over my bed, motionless. The shadows darkened in the room, and I could almost sense his chakra building up in the air. He closed his eyes and opened them again.

"One reason is that we don't know if the attack on you was accidental or deliberate," Shikaku said, finally. His words were slow, but firm. "There's only a small chance Itachi could decide to come back, but that still means increased security and misdirection around all of the survivors of the attack."

I nodded, slowly.

"The clan name is just a temporary measure," Shikaku added. "I'm sorry I cannot go over every precaution we took, but they will keep you safe, and that's all you need to know."

"I-" My throat felt slightly strained. "Thank you."

Shikaku nodded, and the shadows seemed to calm down, retreating back to how they were before, but there was still some of his chakra in the air.

"Do you feel strong enough to talk about what happened?" Shikaku-san asked suddenly. "You won't be expected to write a report as an academy student, but a verbal retelling of your perspective would help."

"Honestly, I feel fine." I didn't hesitate. "I can report in. I'm sorry I failed my mission, Shikaku-san."

"Is this about your care of Senbei-obaasan?" Shikaku-san shook his head. "No one blames you for that, Haruko-chan."

"I'm still sorry," I repeated. "I had this one job, and I messed it up. Had I stayed where I was..."

"What caused you to leave in the first place?" Shikaku-san asked without a hint of anger, lazily leaning back. "Were you trying to get to the Hokage or did you sense something happening and tried to investigate on your own?"

"No - I wasn't looking for anything or anyone, honest," I said and scratched my head. "I just had a dream - one that I needed to talk to the Hokage about. But there was something, I don't know, wrong in the air? I just didn't think I would be in danger inside Konoha..."

There was not much to tell, so I quickly reached the point where I met Itachi. Shikaku-san kept a neutral expression as I described the seemingly injured state of the Uchiha, including a weirdly closed eye.

"It was weird that he called me a half-Nara," I mentioned after I had said everything I remembered. "I've never been called Nara by a shinobi before, but a lot of civilians assume that, and I've never corrected them. Do you know why?"

"Civilians gossip without much reason," Shikaku said and sighed. "It's based on an old and untrue rumor. Most shinobi would know better - it's possible that Itachi was misled, or he did so deliberately. As for the gossip itself, there's no point in trying to clear up the misunderstanding, because that would only feed the rumor mill."

"I don't get it," I raised an eyebrow. "How would telling the truth make it worse?"

"Some of my jounin find these kinds of harmless rumors hilarious, and make sure to keep the flame going. They should mind their own business, but it's worse than herding cats," Shikaku said, and his eyes twitched towards the door to the room, before focusing back on me. "Truth doesn't always help when there's a juicy conspiracy theory. Outright denial can be taken as lies to cover up the conspiracy. Having misleading rumors running around at least makes for a decent distraction. You'll understand better when you're older."

I thought about it.

"What's the original rumor?" I asked. "The old one?"

"Troublesome. Ask me again when you're at least a genin." Shikaku-san stopped my curiosity in its tracks. "Can we go over the conversation Itachi and his unseen partner had with you one more time?"

I sighed, and tried to figure out if I had missed something. In that conversation or in this one.

Uzumaki

I was so engrossed in Shikako's gift, I didn't even hear the door opening. She had found me a manga about a witch academy, and it was quite different from anything I've ever gotten from Kiba's collection. I turned another page and then-

"Hello?" a girl's voice echoed in the room. Shikako. It was as if my thoughts had summoned her.

I raised my eyes and saw all of my three best friends clustering at the entrance - Sakura-chan, Ino and Shikako had all come for the visit.

"Hey!" I waved, and placed the manga back on the nightstand, right next to a giant pile of torn gift-wrap and other trinkets. "Thanks for all the gifts," I said quickly. "At first, I thought I'd wait to open them when you were here, but when I realized there was absolutely nothing to do here, I couldn't delay it longer! Sorry you weren't there for it."

The girls exchanged a look between themselves.

"Feeling better now, I take it," Shikako said, and offered a reserved smile. "That's great."

"That's an impressive recovery speed - especially compared to others," Ino pointed out and chuckled lightly. Her little laugh felt slightly strained. "You scared us all, Haruko."

"Sorry about that," I said. "It was just a bit of bad luck - wrong place at the wrong time." I swallowed, remembering the unpleasant voice proclaiming my bad luck. "Won't happen again."

"We're just glad you're alright," Shikako said.

"Yeah." I offered a quick, weak smile. I had no idea why exactly Itachi attacked me, but by the same whim it all could have ended much differently. "Thanks for visiting me."

"Always," Sakura-chan said.

Ino took a step closer, but then stopped herself, looking at the floor.

"They got rid of the seals?" Shikako asked, pointing.

"There's no more line?" Sakura-chan asked almost at the same time.

I nodded. "They left only a couple, so you don't need to keep your distance." I dragged my legs closer to make some more room. "If you want to, you can come and sit on the bed."

The girls shuffled closer.

"Do you feel well enough for a hug?" Shikako asked.

"Obviously-" I managed to say before the girls all but pounced onto me.

I found myself smothered by a group hug. I melted into it without much thought.

"Thanks," I choked out. "You're the best."

"Anytime," Ino said, and Sakura-chan nodded fiercely.

Shikako just patted at my head.

The bed was suddenly very crowded, but that was a good thing. Very comforting, too. Shikako shuffled to lean into my legs, as Sakur-chan and Ino made themselves comfortable at my sides. It felt like home.

I chuckled merilly and caught myself. Suddenly, I was a bit too aware of how happy their presence had made me.

"It's a bit weird, isn't it?" I said out loud. "There's been a serious attack and I can't help but feel happy about you being here for me."

"That's the Will of Fire," Ino said. "The connections between us that matter."

"You lived," Shikako pointed out. "Don't feel bad about celebrating that."

"As long as you don't throw it into people's faces," Sakura-chan added. "Not that you would."

I nodded.

"Everything feels a bit weird these days - everyone's tense and dealing with it in their own way," Shikako pointed out. "That's normal."

"The Academy feels really empty," Ino pointed out. "When are they letting you go?"

I shrugged. "A couple of days? I feel perfectly fine, but they want to observe me for a bit for any side effects of the genjutsu, I guess. They don't let me leave the bed for more than a few minutes, and even then I can't really go outside." I pointed towards the smaller door in the corner that hid a tiny bathroom.

Shikako placed her fingers together, but said nothing, lost in thought.

"Nobody knew it was going to happen," Sakura-chan said. "We've never had to deal with traitors in Konoha."

"That's not - strictly - true," Shikako interjected, a bit tense. "Konoha had a handful of traitors turned missing nin. Not as many as other villages, but still..."

"Oh," I said. "Like who?"

"We'd have to look in a bingo book for an updated list, since most missing-nin do not last for long," Shikako said. "But there's always Orochimaru if you want a notorious Konoha-trained missing-nin."

"Who?" I asked.

"It's not a good name to throw around," Ino said and shuddered. "He was once one of Konoha's best, one of the Sannin, trained by the Hokage. He betrayed Konoha with secret kidnappings and vile experiments on his victims..."

"Wait, Iruka had mentioned the Sannin once or twice," Sakura-chan said, shuffling closer to me and Ino. "It was almost always Tsunade - and her reforms for the hospital. Did he skip Orochimaru on purpose? What about the third one?" Sakura-chan tapped at the bed in thought. "Jiraiya?"

"Yes to all that," Shikako confirmed. "Jiraiya is a famous seal-master, but he's very rarely in Konoha. Tsunade hasn't been in Konoha for years, either."

I had heard Tsunade's name before - somewhere. I tried to remember Iruka's voice, but couldn't conjure up any lessons about her. "Hmm," I said.

I received a couple of questioning looks.

"Where else have I heard about Tsunade? Besides the hospital stuff?"

"Her super-strength technique?" Sakura-chan offered. "In pure physical strength, she's the strongest shinobi from Konoha."

"Oh, that one must be it." I said. "Where can we learn how to do that?"

"Didn't you ask Iruka-sensei about it when he talked about Tsunade?" Ino said and let out a short giggle. "A lot of ninja have tried to reverse-engineer it, but none have been successful yet."

"I don't remem-" I stopped speaking and scratched my head. "Oh, yeah, I remember now." I pouted. Iruka said I should focus on the basics before even trying complex jutsu. Like always.

"It probably is similar to the way we enhance our bodies with chakra," Shikako guessed. "Just way more demanding in terms of control."

I didn't fully understand what she meant, but nodded. "Sounds difficult. But once they let me out - maybe we could experiment..."

"I don't think we're there yet," Ino cautioned.

Sakura-chan nodded. "That and there's a limit to the chakra enhancement that you can do, before you start damaging muscles and tendons from strain." That sounded like something Iruka-sensei would say.

"But if we-" I started and closed my mouth. I remembered the last time I was careless with a technique that changed my own body - granted that was in the dream-world, but still... I sighed. "Maybe there's some kind of trick to it?"

"Probably," Shikako said. "I have about a page of half-baked calculations in my notes, but I'm not sure I'm onto anything yet."

"Of course you'd be trying to work out how to steal Tsunade's technique with your free time," Ino chuckled at Shikako. "What's next, explosive punches?"

"Explosive punches sound cool," I said, just as Shikako shook her head in protest. "Will you teach me if you figure them out?

Sakura-chan laughed and Shikako looked suddenly embarrassed and uncertain.

"Are you actually working on something like that?" Ino asked, incredulously.

"No - not really," Shikako denied. "And it's not stealing a jutsu - it's just a few ideas and equations inspired by famous super-strength techniques that haven't gone anywhere. I shouldn't have mentioned it in the first place."

"Sorry," Ino said. "We can talk about something else."

"Can it be something nice?" I asked. "I don't want to think about traitors..."

"Sure," Shikako said, glad to make use of the shift in the conversation. "So - do you like your gifts?" Shikako's subtle smirk betrayed that she had noticed just what I was reading when they came in.

"I love them - your manga especially so," I said, smiling. "Now I get what you meant by broomstick for a witch - thanks!"

"A broom for a witch?" Sakura-chan asked. "What?"

"This." I grabbed the manga off the nightstand and pushed it into Sakura-chan's hands. The cover had the main character front-and-center, flying on a broom towards the witch academy. The broom had a torn chain hanging off it, as if it had escaped a broom prison. "A few scratches won't stop me! If I say I'm gonna ride a broom, then I will ride it!" I quoted. "The main character - Akko - she's so determined in everything she does. I really like her. I've read it once already, and I hope there's another volume!"

"I've only seen this one on sale," Shikako admitted. "But I'll keep an eye out, there might be the rest of the series in other shops."

Ino glanced at the cover, and leaned to read a few lines as Sakura-chan paged through the manga. Afterwards, Ino gave me a short look and smirked knowingly. "You like it because it's basically about you, isn't it?"

I coughed awkwardly, unsure how to reply.

"Poor knowledge, but lots of potential. And of course, she wants to become the best," Sakura-chan said, turning yet another page. "I can see it."

"I don't know if I should feel insulted or praised," I said slowly. "Am I really that clueless about things as she is at the start?"

"You're not clueless," Shikako interjected. "You just learn in a different way."

"Do I?" I rubbed the back of my head.

"And you're determined enough to make it work," Shikako continued.

I smiled confidently and took a deep breath. "Believe-"

Ino quickly moved her finger close, almost touching it to my lips, stopping my loud exclamation in its tracks. "Queter, Haruko, we're still in the hospital."

"Right, right," I said. "I'll become the best kunoichi in Konoha, believe it," I said with determination, even if it was a few times quieter than I wanted to.

"Not going to give you that spot without a fight," Ino's eyes glimmered with a challenge.

"Hey now," Sakura-chan interjected. "First - Ino - who says that you're going to be on the top spot? Not if I have anything to say about it."

Ino grinned, but said nothing, which made Sakura-chan bluster even more.

It quickly devolved into a mock-argument about who was the better one out of Ino and Sakura-chan.

I threw a short glance at Shikako, who seemed to be entirely happy to stay on the sidelines of that discussion.

Before I could get involved, Sakura-chan seemed to give in. "We'll just have to wait and see who gets the top spot," she said to Ino and turned to me. "Haruko - you haven't said anything about the other gifts."

"Oh, right," I said. "I love the spices you got me and I can't wait to try them out, but they're not letting me cook anything here. And I wasn't going to use them on hospital food," I pouted and pointed at the fancy set of spices, a mix of local and foreign ones that Sakura-chan had gotten for me. Some of them were really expensive - at least for me. Especially the red peppery powder from Suna. "I'll get to try out a few more dishes from the Land of Wind."

Sakura-chan smiled softly.

"You're all invited when I get around to it," I added. "Obviously."

"Great," Ino said. "What else did you get?"

I showed of Ino's gift bag of various smaller gifts. Together forming a small, but extensive kit of self-care, with scentless options of skin cream, all fitting in a very compact box. In addition, there was a tiny orange bottle of kunoichi-grade nail polish, which was a bit on the nose and brought back the tiny pang of guilt from the duplicate gift.

"Should I also expect nail polish on my next birthday?" Sakura-chan questioned with a small blush to her face.

"I don't know," Ino said. "It might stop being funny by then. If so, I'll figure something else out." She winked.

I moved on to a few smaller gifts that weren't from the trio. Shikamaru and Choiji had pooled together to get me a card for six free meals at Akimichi restaurants. Surprisingly, there was a gift from Kiba, too - a thin-chain necklace fashioned from a wolf's fang.

"I have no idea who bought me the plush toad," I said, pointing at the little almost-perfectly-round toad sitting on a leaf that could be turned inside out, which would change its expression from happiness into anger - and make its colors darker. "There was no card."

"Maybe it was your Yamanaka-senpai from his mother's shop," Sakura-chan suggested. "Still keeping his name a secret from you?"

Ino perked up. "Which shop?" she asked quickly. "Yuriko-san's?"

"Yeah, Yuriko-san's. But I don't think the toad was from him," I said, shaking my head. "He did send a get-well card - and the toad's box was unmarked."

"So, he must have signed the get well-card?" Sakura-chan said. "What's his name?"

"I have no idea," I said, picking up the card and giving it to Sakura-chan. "It's been too long to just ask," I added for the benefit of Shikako and Ino, both of whom seemed to be amused by the pickle I found myself in.

"Haruko-chan, get well soon, your senpai," Sakura-chan read out loud. "I expected a longer message."

She flipped the card to see a white rabbit with a bandaged paw and let out a short giggle.

I looked away.

"I don't think he knows my birthday," I pointed out.

Ino chuckled, too.

"Wait." Sakura-chan said. "Ino, do you know? What's the name of Yuriko's son?"

Ino seemed to be considering something. She was clearly amused by my ignorance.

"Please?" I pushed. "I can't keep calling him Senpai forever, can I?"

"Your senpai is Yamanaka Io." Ino smiled graciously. "Use kanjis for 'one' and 'cherry blossoms' when writing. He's quite a distant relative - I didn't know you were friends."

"I knew the name sounded similar! And sure, let's say we're friends," I said, slightly stumbling through the words, my last visit to Yuriko-san's shop with Sakura-chan playing in my head. "We talked a few times, he's alright..."

Ino raised an eyebrow. My voice must have betrayed something.

Sakura-chan opened her mouth, closed it and turned to me, obviously wanting to say something but unsure if I'd approve.

Oh, right.

"Er," I said even more awkwardly, a blush appearing on my cheeks. "Ah - well - you see..." I kept digging a hole for myself. One that I wanted to hide in.

"You don't have to say anything," Sakura-chan hurried to say. "It's nothing," she hissed the words to Ino. "Just something I noticed, but it's not really important."

Ino narrowed her eyes. "Do you like him, Haruko?" she asked curiously.

I took a few quick breaths. "I don't - think so?" I half-said, half-asked. "Do I have to - know?"

Ino took a long look at me, and then at Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan seemed to be bursting at the seams, but she clenched her fists and held on, silently.

I glanced at Shikako, but she was clearly uninterested in this turn of conversation. It didn't look like she would be saving me from it, though.

"Fine," I said. "Sakura-chan thinks that he likes me."

I closed my eyes, and to better protect myself, tried to cover my face with the bed's blanket - which was quite hard to do as the girls were still sitting on it.

There was a pause.

I opened one eye.

Shikako held a neutral expression, Ino seemed excited and Sakura-chan was blushing and not meeting my eyes.

"But I-" I tried. "Well - now you know."

"Do you mind that he might like you?" Ino asked carefully. She had interlocked her fingers and was fidgeting a little bit - she also exchanged a look with Sakura-chan which meant that they'd be certainly talking more about this, with or without me. "If he's being weird, I'm not above threatening boys from my clan."

"No- It's not that," I said. "Can we just - not do anything about it? I didn't even want to talk about this."

Sakura-chan whispered something to Ino and they both giggled. I didn't catch it.

Shikako rolled her eyes. "If Haruko doesn't want to talk about it, let's leave it alone," she said firmly.

Sakura-chan and Ino exchanged another look and nodded. Reluctantly.

"If you ever change your mind," Ino said slowly. "I'll always find time for the matters of the heart."

I shuddered. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but it was better than getting drilled about it in a hospital.

"Sure," I said, and shook my head. "Tell me more about what you've been up to - I missed a few weeks, didn't I?"

The girls stayed for another hour, telling little stories about Konoha and how it was dealing with the wound.

I had missed the funeral ceremony and the Hokage's speech. There was no word if Konoha Police was going to continue its operation, and what would take its place. The Academy was planning to shuffle a couple of students around, maybe merge a couple of classes into one, nothing was yet decided.

There was a figurative dark cloud hanging over everything, but life in Konoha hadn't stopped.

Potter

"Wotcher, Hazel!" Tonks caught me just as I was wrapping up my morning exercises. I was outside, near a small pond with water lilies. The water was clear, and didn't have even a hint of red hue. The air was warm, even with the sun hidden by the rolling clouds.

"Hey yourself!" I chirped back happily. I was still taking it slow, but I finally felt like the training wasn't just a waste of energy. I still had miles to go to even come close to what I could do in Konoha at the start of the academy.

"I keep forgetting to ask - are you doing tai chi, or is this something else?" Tonks asked curiously. Wind played with her hair, and she played back with it, allowing her hairs to lengthen as the strand was picked up, shortening it quickly whenever one threatened to spin into her face.

This time, Tonks had her hair light pink, almost an exact replica of Sakura-chan's. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the familiar color.

"I don't know what tai chi is," I replied, starting a set of defensive katas. "I'm training to be a ninja - these are just the basic exercises for strength and flexibility and a few academy style exchanges."

Tonks chuckled. "Really?" It didn't sound like she truly believed me. "You must be a bigger fan of the ninja-fad than I pegged you for. Should I be worried?"

"A fan of what, exactly?" I asked after dodging an invisible blow from an imaginary opponent, and following up with a counter attack. "And it's not a fad, just something I want to be. Worried about what?"

"Um, you haven't heard about it?" Tonks scratched her head. "There've been a few films released recently - what was the name of the one I've watched with dad - Nine Deaths of the Ninja. Quite popular. Heard about it?"

I shook my head between the steps.

"The muggle government is being a bit weird about it and other ninja related media," Tonks pointed out. "Trying to keep the kids away from seeing them, but I figure you'd have snuck in a movie theater anyway, right?"

"I haven't yet tried to sneak in for a movie," I said. "They're doing what now? Keeping kids away from... ninja films?"

"That and more. The House of Lords was debating the dangerous allure of all ninja-style toys, barely a few weeks ago," Tonks said, and smirked at my disbelieving expression. "The Home Secretary is planning a sweeping weapons ban for the parliament, maybe sometime this year - and all of the ninja-tools will be in it. It was in the muggle newspapers recently - well - not the front page news, but it's there. Some of the politicians really care about this issue."

"I-" I shook my head and moved on to the next exercise. "You're just making fun of me, are you?"

"No, no," Tonks giggled, which didn't help her case. "Honest. They're going to ban swordsticks, too. Unless it's an antique. Maybe."

"Swordsticks?"

"You might know them as sword canes?"

I knew what a sword cane was, so I just nodded.

"Some wizards still carry them."

"That's so absurd," I said. "It's not the weapons that make one a shinobi. If you ban all weapons, you might as well try to ban all ninja. Not gonna work."

I vaulted over my head to show off. I slid only a little, landing on the grass only a drop heavier than I prepared for. There was a pleasant burn in my muscles that indicated that it was enough for me, so I just slid down to sit.

Tonks showed a thumbs up for my flip and shrugged. "It's not like the parliament cares about real-life ninjas when they make the laws, it's always about protecting the children." I could hear how little she thought about such an excuse.

"You're just trying to trick me for not knowing stuff about the Parliament or the Lords, whatever they are. Or you don't believe that I'm a real ninja."

"I'm not taking the Mickey," Tonks said. "Cross my heart. Just a strange situation, that's all. If you want me to go over our system of government, I'll complain, but I could do it."

"If I ask you to explain it..." I sighed. "Are you going to throw a fat book at me and leave me to find out for myself?"

"I would never," Tonks protested. "But I can find you one if you're set on having things thrown at you."

"Cha - cha," I mock-laughed. "Wait, is that why my teachers hated my answer of 'I'm going to become a ninja when I grow up' in school? Because of some silly parliament?"

"Maybe, if your teachers followed the news," Tonks laughed. "I was home-schooled, because I wouldn't have been able to keep from shifting my appearance in a muggle school, so I have no idea how it usually is. How did you like yours, by the way?"

"St. Gregory's was a bottomless pit of boredom," I said. "I haven't looked back since escaping."

"Huh," Tonks said simply. "Not planning to head back, are you?"

"Yeah, all I need is going to be covered in the Academy - and maybe Hogwarts."

Tonks, seeing that I wasn't going to return to the exercises, plopped to sit on the grass beside me.

"What's the Academy?" Tonks asked. "Does it have anything to do with chakra? Or Konoha?"

I scratched my head.

"I don't know what to tell you," I said, and sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I think so," Tonks said. "At least the important bits... Won't tell anyone without your say-so."

I leaned backwards and landed on the grass with my back.

Dark clouds swam overhead.

"I have a few great friends in another life," I said, as I watched the shapes overhead. "One of them really likes to watch the clouds. Sometimes, it seems just silly, but on days like today, I think I understand him."

Tonks turned over, perching on her elbows, half-prone. Her face hovered close in my field of vision as she continued to watch me instead of the clouds. Very much unlike Shika. "Is this about that afterlife thing you mentioned before? I said that you should talk to-"

"I don't want to talk to your dad about it," I said. "I like you and I want you to know the truth about me. You won't have to explain anything - I'll just tell you how I was taught."

Tonks considered it. "Fine. Go ahead."

"Thanks..." I said and raised my hand towards the clouds, as if to take hold onto the tail of a darker cloud. "Do you think the clouds cross between worlds?"

"I doubt it," Tonks said, glancing to the sky through her side - and returned to watching me instead. "Who knows where exactly the water spends its days through its long journey to come back as a cloud? Maybe it does take an occasional weekend vacation, over in a different world before coming back?"

I chuckled, and returned my hands to rest over my stomach.

"Let me tell you about the spiral of reincarnation," I said. "As has been told to me by my closest friend, Ino."

I don't know how long we spent there, under the looming dark clouds, and I couldn't tell how much of what I said Tonks believed in. I might have gone overboard and told Tonks a bit too much, but I didn't regret opening up.

It was nice to be the one with answers, for a change.

Notes:

Thanks for reading.

I still have no buffer to speak off, even had to publish the chapter without a scene or two that I've planned to write, but couldn't do so in time. I guess this leaves the first arc incomplete until the next update.

The short name Io is written as 一桜 kanji meaning "one." + "cherry blossoms." as was mentioned by Ino.

I referenced Little Witch Academia, and even though the quote I used is from the anime, and doesn't appear in the first volume, let's just say the Konoha version of the book is different.

As for the last scene, I wanted to use parts of it earlier, but when I researched ninja films and references from 1988, I found out that Brattain was right in the middle of it's anti-ninja legislation. So I used this instead.

Take care.