Crosspossted from AO3, with some notes missing.
Hope you enjoy.
Secrets of the Soul Spiral
Chapter IX
New Connections
Potter
Nothing brings a family closer than skirting the edge of the law together.
"Take a blanket, there's enough for everyone," I repeated, waving the small stack of blankets to the people in line. "Tomorrow might be even colder, better be prepared."
I pushed one into the hands of an older man that was rubbing his hands together, and his expression turned surprised as he brushed the fabric with his fingertips.
"Yes, you can keep it," I said to a confused sleepy woman, and bounded further down the line.
"Don't worry about it," I explained to a sleep deprived couple, after their young boy started dragging his blanket on the ground and they struggled to stop him. "It's a stain resistant fabric, you'll see!"
"I'll get back with a new batch in a jiffy," I shouted towards the end of the line, skidding on the sparse snow, rushing back to the table with food.
It was always unusual to see Mrs Tonks wearing civilian clothes, her coat a drop too expensive for working at the outside counter.
"Hazel, don't bounce as much," Andromeda cautioned, gesturing for the next person in line to take the packaged meal after exchanging a few words with them. "You'll slip and spill something."
"I'm careful," I grunted without much care - I was confident the slightly slippery surface was not a match for my kunoichi skills, even when limited by this world.
I took a quick glance at the tables with food. We seemed to have enough of everything, except for the pile of blankets that had dwindled to almost nothing.
"Take some noodle soup, too," Mrs Tonks gestured to the larger plastic cups with ramen in them. "My daughter cooked it this year, it's very good, take some for your family to try it."
I felt my ears warming up, as the man took two servings, a grateful look in his eyes.
Mrs Tonks helped him put everything into a bag, and gestured for the next person in line to make the pick - there were a couple of meal options - beef lasagne and fried rice with mushrooms. And of course, simple noodle ramen with boiled egg, but still the best offering of the lot.
"Could you help with - blankets?" I whispered to Andromeda, trying to swiftly take over her place at the table.
She instantly understood what I was asking for, and excused herself to head back into the old brick building.
We had set up shop in a tiny backyard of a small alternative-medicine store, distributing food, blankets and sometimes a few little envelopes with a small change, nothing major. It wasn't exactly illegal to distribute food to anyone who needed it, but neither was it an officially approved event by civilian authorities.
There was a tiny plaque on the wooden gates to the backyard that promised our return every Friday morning. It was charmed subtly, to keep those who did not need out help out of the loop.
As the Christmas holiday season was getting into the full swing, there was only a tiny chance of an overzealous officer going after our operation. Even then, I was sure, either of the Tonkses would handle any and all civilian officers with ease - wizards could bend the civilian laws without any repercussions for it.
The shop itself was completely above-board when it came to civilian law. It was a small business venture owned by Mr Tonks, employing a young civilian-born witch to run the counter. As far as I knew, it barely brought enough revenue to pay for itself, but that was never the intention.
Ted wouldn't be there every day, but he occasionally saw a more serious patient, looking for an alternative cure. He was careful to never present himself as a doctor, even though he was a certified wizard healer. His healing methods were rather unorthodox for the civilians, but his remedies worked wonders. And of course they did, they were magical.
As for the Ministry of Magic, everything we were doing today was highly frowned upon, in some cases even illegal and punishable by harsh fines - which was why the myriad of little spells were hidden in plain sight, and we never acknowledged them where the civilians could hear. As long as the Statute of Secrecy was upheld, we would be safe.
"Take more ramen, it's the best meal in the world," I preached the truth to a woman next in line. "There's more in the back, don't worry. Take it, while it's warm. Do you want a bag or are you going to use yours?"
The food would stay magically heated up for longer, the blankets would stain less and would keep away the cold better. We just needed to keep anyone from questioning the magical bits.
Magic had given us a few shortcuts in cooking, too. We only needed to prepare just enough ingredients for a few meals, because a skilled witch like Mrs Tonks could massively increase the amount of food we ended up with. Magic dealing with creation of food was tricky - conjuring it out of thin air was basically impossible, and even duplication could leave some of the food tasting blander. Whenever that happened, we would adjust the spices and the amount of other condiments to compensate.
It was a really good system, one that Mrs Tonks had a lot of experience with - and it helped me cook a lot more ramen in one go than I could have imagined. I could eat ramen for days with barely a tenth of the effort!
I sneaked an envelope with civilian currency into a bag for one family that declined taking it, allowed a scrawny man to pack a couple more servings for his family back home into two bags, and exchanged little pleasantries with a couple of regulars.
"Next Friday we should have some roast turkey and potatoes," I said, handing out yet another envelope. "Maybe some Christmas themed dessert, too - I promise!"
Mrs Tonks returned, empty handed, but with a soft smile, and nodded to me as we switched - she took the place next to the table with food once again, overseeing the line, where I darted through the back entrance.
The backroom of the pharmacy was a bit cramped, but it had a burning fireplace and a working floo connection back home, and that was plenty. Mrs Tonks had charmed a new stack of blankets, and I quickly grabbed most of it to distribute, and headed back out again.
This time, there actually were enough warm blankets for anyone wanting them, and the line was already thinning.
I was back at the distribution desk again, quietly whistling a catchy tune from the wireless when Ted Tonks came out of the back, joining us.
"Aren't you tired, Hazel?" he asked calmly, and there was some truth to his guess - we had been running the place since early morning and it was already past midday.
"I've got this, not that many people left," I said, beaming at him. "How was your patient?"
Ted chuckled and patted my shoulder. "All good. Thanks for filling in for me," he said and gave me another evaluating look. "Maybe eat a serving yourself, we should have just about enough."
"We've got food at home, too." Andromeda commented. She didn't say that I could head there via the fireplace at any moment, but only because there were muggles around.
"It's already past time we closed up," Ted commented. "We'll finish up here, if you want to head back in, Dromeda"
"Sure, I'll head out back," Mrs Tonks agreed, and quickly disappeared through the backdoor to the pharmacy - and knowing what I did, straight home through the floo network.
Mr Tonks took out a handful of boxes from under the counter, and stood firmly to guide people, to take everything that was left.
After a short while, I gave in, devouring a serving of ramen in under a minute. Still not even close to what they served at Ichiraku, but a decent attempt. I was getting better at this.
"When is Dora coming home?" I asked Mr. Tonks as the line thinned to barely a few people, and we started tidying up. "Next Friday, right?" I wanted to be sure I wasn't miscounting the days.
"She's not gonna miss Christmas," Mr. Tonks said, nodding. "We'll take you to pick her up at King's Cross, don't worry."
"Good."
Soon, we closed the little wooden gate, and the backyard was once again private, hidden from the public eye. Ted took out a wand and the tables folded themselves and shuffled into the corner of the backyard.
Since a group of people passing through any place always left at least a little bit of trash on the ground, another thorough sweep of the wand was needed to vanish whatever trace had remained of them.
"Magic is so useful," I said. "When are you going to teach me that spell? Or any other, I'm not picky! I would be more useful!"
"You'll need to get your own wand first," Ted reminded me. "Before you get a letter from Hogwarts, I can only suggest a book or two if you want some basics."
I pouted.
The last time I had tried, the books had no instructions for actual spells, just some convoluted principles and wand movements for practice. There were similarities in broad strokes with what I learned in the academy - like learning hand-seals before using actual jutsu, and yet...
The differences were vital. Magic and chakra ran on principles so different it was infuriating trying to learn both at the same time.
He chuckled gently at my expression.
"It's weird that we have to keep magic a secret so much," I commented, dropping the wand business, right after we ensured the back door was locked. "Shinobi don't have to hide their abilities in Konoha. Unless it's a secret technique."
"Preaching to the choir here, Hazel, but it's not up to me." Ted made a few more gestures with his wand, adjusting the clutter of the backroom a little bit. "A lot of wizards fear the responsibility that would come with being in the open. While the Statute of Secrecy is in place, we can pretend there's a perfect excuse to never help the muggles - and there's a thousand more excuses that I've heard thrown around. None have been convincing enough."
I shrugged. "Maybe no one has thought about charging for magic? Civilians could pay for spells and potions, no one would have to do it for free."
"Like the ninja get paid for missions in the other world?" Ted took another look at the backroom and gestured for me to take the floo powder. "It's a nice idea, but the Ministry is very firm on keeping the status quo when it comes to muggles. That and there's little demand for muggle currency among wizards."
"What about gold? Isn't gold useful? There's golden cauldrons that wizards use!" I grabbed a couple leftover blankets with one hand, but still lingered next to the fireplace. "Civilians have gold."
"Gold's useful, but it's illegal to trade in any meaningful quantities of precious metals and stones with muggles," Mr Tonks said and sighed. "Every deal has to get approval from both the Ministry and Gringotts. Maybe it will be your generation that changes things."
This was a phrase I had heard more times than I could count. Whenever I learned something weird or unfair about the Wizarding World, Mr Tonks would often suggest that it would be my generation that breaks the pattern. At least it meant he trusted me to change it for the better.
In this case, it also killed whatever followup questions I had. The wizards in charge really seemed to fear any change - good or bad.
I picked up a pinch of floo powder, and threw it into the fire. It surged, turning green and rising higher than me.
I took a step forward.
"Green Furnace Cottage!"
The emerald flames spun me around, and after a short while they spat me out. I disliked traveling by floo, because it was really hard to keep my balance when jumping out.
At least I managed to land on the blankets I was carrying.
I was home.
Well... in my second home.
Tonkses' permanent residence was in Crowley, much closer to London than the Wooden Villa. It was very much a civilian-looking residence from the outside, unlike the villa, and while it wasn't as large, it was quite comfortable.
Ted was right on my heels, and even while carrying what leftovers there were remaining from the giveaway he still landed gracefully. I was already getting up, but he still offered a hand to help me up.
"Looks like you still need a drop more practice with floo," he joked lightly as I hung my head down in defeat. One day I would conquer whatever trick was needed to master the floo travel, but today wasn't that day.
"Floo is dumb," I complained. "This time it had one more spin right at the end - and I was a bit too slow to account for it."
"You'll get it next time," Ted said. "Don't give up."
I showed him a thumbs up.
"We're home!" Ted called out into the house.
We quickly untangled ourselves from the winter clothes, and I took both our coats to hang in the hallway.
"Hazel, go take a shower, you've got ash in your hair again," Andromeda called as she saw me rushing past. "Will you want something to eat after, or are you going to live on leftover ramen again?"
"Ramen!" I shouted back, hanging the coats. "It would be a crime to throw it all away! I made more so I could eat it!"
"We're not above petty crimes in this family." I heard Mr Tonks' joke, muffled by the distance.
"Don't throw out my ramen!" I shouted out, stomping up the stairs with a gusto. There was no real risk of it happening, but I wanted to be on the safe side.
Uzumaki
I groaned at the particularly difficult question, but that didn't help me find the solution. I tried turning the paper sideways, but no magical insight came. A pity.
The boy taking the exam next to me twitched slightly towards my direction. He looked slightly older than me, but not by much, which made us the two youngest people in the room. He had short dark hair and a very pale complexion.
His eyes were almost entirely white, and there were hints of half-healed scar-tissue both close to his eyes and further away, dotted like small splashes on his face. Old scars. Someone had poured a corrosive liquid right onto his face - and the boy had lived.
I shuddered at the thought. For an academy student to carry such wounds...
I took another look at the familiar features of his face. When I had sat down to take the test, my anxiety had stopped me from taking a good look at my neighbor, but now I noticed something I couldn't unsee.
If I pictured the face without the scarring, I could swap it with Sasuke's almost one-for-one, and only the much paler complexion would give the trick away. It was now clear that my neighbor was another Uchiha survivor.
I hadn't known there was someone else close to our age in the academy from the clan - Sasuke was still quite distant from his friends, and very much tight lipped about anything even a little Uchiha clan related. The only thing he did talk about was his dislike for Uchiha Noriko, and that wasn't at all useful.
My eyes strayed to the flowing movements of the Uchiha's pen, smooth and well-practiced - all the while his whitened eyes seemed to be straining to follow it. He clearly wasn't blind, but there were obvious difficulties with his vision.
There seemed to be no issues with the written portion of the exam for him - most of the questions were already filled in with detailed answers.
His questions were all different from mine - there were four different versions of the test, matching four cardinal directions. Mine was marked with east wind on the top right corner, and his was a kanji of south.
I stiffened when I felt the looming presence of the chunin overseeing the exam. She was standing right at our desk, her arms crossed, fingers tapping a quiet rhythm into her uniform.
She was looking straight at me.
I gulped, and felt suddenly guilty. Of what, I didn't know.
"I'm done," I stammered quickly, pushing the paper forward.
Yes, there was still time on the clock, but I had no idea how to even begin to answer like a third of the questions, and the penalty system for failed answers meant there would be little benefit from guessing.
Might as well take the plunge now.
The chunin - she was a quite tall woman with short dark hair and had the distinctive facial markings of the Inuzuka - showed me a toothy grin and snatched my paper in a quick, snappy move.
My neighbor Uchiha raised his head, giving a slightly longer than necessary look at the chunin holding my paper and a much shorter glance towards me, before zeroing on the Inuzuka chunin again.
"Is something the matter?" he asked almost emotionlessly.
"Nothing from you, Uchiha," the woman said roughly, and clicked her tongue, irritated. "Mind your own test."
Then, she turned around and marched off with my written test, placing it into the east pile in front of the classroom.
I let out a heavy breath, slumping on the table, feeling especially drained. I had expected the test to be less difficult.
Wishful thinking on my part.
The Hokage had allowed me this early attempt after a handful of guilt trips and general pestering, but by this point I wasn't as certain in my ability to follow through.
There was still hope I would ace the practical portion of the test and regain my lost points, but I wasn't sure it would be enough.
There was roughly a one-in-three chance that I'd be asked to demonstrate the Transformation jutsu, and I was still undefeated in the area. Sure, Ino had cracked the basics of Haruko's Infinite Wardrobe, but no one had the mastery of the base jutsu that I had.
The other two academy jutsu would still trip me up something fierce. My failures with creating proper clones were infamous.
I could have left to wait outside, but I was too focused on gathering my strength and calming myself down. I would be called back soon anyway.
I spent the next few minutes listening to the other academy students writing out their answers, the sounds of scribbling on paper quite soothing.
If only I could have taken this test as Haruko - it would have been even more comfortable.
As the allotted time was about to end, I took another peak at Sasuke's look-alike. His pale face remained undecipherable and neutral, the white irises entirely out of place for Uchiha. A part of me couldn't help but feel the simmering anger that arose every time I got reminded of Itachi's treachery.
The wounds of the Uchiha Massacre were still visible all over Konoha, even after more than a year had passed.
Itachi's methodic cruelty had been all encompassing and mind-boggling. Non-combatants were cut down together with the shinobi that tried to fight back - neither the elderly, nor the women, nor the children were spared, slaughtered all the same. Only a handful were allowed to live, and it hadn't been by chance.
Some of the details were still fuzzy and argued about, but The Uchiha had kept extensive private track of their clan's genetics, relying on strange inheritance charts and careful, selective marriages to keep the clan's bloodline strong.
It was a lot more extensive than what other clans did, and Itachi had unrestricted access to it right up to the massacre. By this point, no one doubted that Itachi's failed coup had a genocidal backup plan - a complete and utter extermination of the Uchiha blood limit. No one would have the Sharingan except him.
Sasuke was the single survivor that didn't fit this theory - all of the other survivors had little to no chance of developing a sharingan themselves or passing it onto their children. I've heard it whispered that even if Sasuke married one of the three surviving Uchiha girls, the chances of his children inheriting the blood limit would be significantly lesser than if he married outside of the clan.
At least that was the rumor that kept Sasuke's fanclub going strong. A reason for him to seek a match outside the meager survivors of the clan. An excuse to keep circling around him, hoping for a chance at restoring the Uchiha clan's powerful blood limit.
Ugh.
My Uchiha neighbor finished with his sheet, turning it upside down before himself. Then, he all but froze in place, becoming a pale, motionless statue.
His whitened irises stared into nothingness before him. The cruel calculus of Itachi must have deemed this boy's chances of developing a sharingan himself too high to leave to chance - and the maniac had all-but destroyed the boy's sight for it.
Itachi's use of dangerous, custom made poisons was but a single, laconic line in his bingo book page. For this boy, that line was nothing less than a life changing injury. The scars screamed incredible pain to me, violently bleached white with a strange acid of Itachi's own make.
The chunin started walking the rows, collecting the papers from everyone. The students waiting outside were called back.
And then we waited some more. Minutes passed.
The tension in the room was rising, I could taste the nervousness in the air.
I gripped onto the table to keep my hands from shaking.
The first name was called. An Aburame.
A boy got up, and disappeared through the side exit to a separate room. I couldn't sense it, but I knew he'd be called upon to demonstrate a jutsu out of the academy three.
Please, let it be Transformation jutsu…
After a couple more minutes, another kid was called. The first one didn't come back. There were scant few whispers in the room.
"Why are you fidgeting so much?" The boy to my side asked, his white irises shining like a frozen white flame framed by his pale face. "Nervous?"
"Who, me?" I mumbled under my breath. "I'm going to ace this," I said, trying to inflate what little confidence I had.
"Doubt it," the boy deadpanned.
I grumbled under my breath. "Hey, hey," I said loudly, pointing towards his face. "What do you know about anything? I should have graduated years ago!"
There was a short pause.
"Clearly," the boy said in that same indifferent tone.
"Uzumaki, Uchiha, keep it down," the Inuzuka barked at us. "You're allowed to talk amongst yourselves, but no more shouting."
I bristled quietly before realizing something strange. "Wait, why did she single out to you too?" I whispered to the Uchiha. "You're rude, but you weren't loud."
Another name was called, and a girl with a civilian surname disappeared from the room.
The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "You're as oblivious as you're weird," he said. "The Uchiha name isn't what it was. Haven't you heard? We're the clan that breeds traitors."
"Huh, but-but - Iruka doesn't treat Sasuke differently," I said. "Wait, weird? Why am I weird? What did I do?"
"Your way of speaking, for one, this isn't a rakugo performance," the boy said. "The way you hide yourself in that entirely too-bright jacket. The fact that you seem to think my rudeness is an invitation for friendship. I could go on."
I grit my teeth in annoyance. I knew what he was getting at with his way of speaking remark. Unlike in English, Land of Fire's language had more varied personal pronouns, and I was bending the suggested usage a little bit whenever I had to pretend to be Naruto. Or - well - a lot, in some situations.
This last year, whenever I had to use the Naruto disguise, I kept at it so much that even Iruka had given up on correcting me. My way was against common convention, but it was a way to keep faithful to my true self.
My classmates got used to it, and since I barely went places in my Naruto disguise, it was rare for anyone to point it out. So what if I used a female-leaning variation of a formal pronoun? It still could be viable for either gender in some situations. I knew a few traders that used it like that, and no one thought them weird.
I wasn't planning to start using boy exclusive ones anyway, especially not for this dumb Uchiha.
"The jacket is cool, shut up," I said, instead of unloading all of my reasons on him.
He didn't bother responding after that.
Slowly, very slowly, the room thinned out. Almost everyone had left, except us two.
"Uchiha Hikaku," the Inuzuka called, and the Uchiha stood up.
I was the last one.
I tapped the table nervously.
Time stretched on.
I still held onto hope of getting tested on Transformation jutsu.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you're up," the Inuzuka's voice shook me from my nervous state and I jumped up, bumping my knee painfully into the edge of the table.
Ignoring my wince, she motioned for me to enter the examination room.
I was so nervous, my hands were shaking.
Soon, I stood in the center of the small, almost empty classroom.
Before me, there was a table with a handful of forehead protectors, and two shinobi seated on the other side, watching me intently.
I knew only one of them.
Mizuki-sensei served as an assistant teacher to Iruka, sometimes even substituting Iruka when the class was purely theoretical. The other man I was seeing for the first time. He was a little older than Mizuki, and had an unpleasant, tense air about him.
There was a second of silence as I met the older man's gaze, trying to get my jitters under control.
"We'll start by a demonstration of the Transformation jutsu," the unfamiliar shinobi began.
I grinned.
Uzumaki
"Come on!" I was pacing back and forth in yet another empty classroom, my only companion the Uchiha boy. Hikaku.
Again. I'd have preferred to be alone.
He was seated at the end of the class, calmly painting on a paper scroll, his bleached eyes burning with determination in their own weird way. He had kept his responses mostly to grunts, or just ignoring me altogether, and I was ready to start climbing walls at this point.
"Why is it taking this long?" I complained to him anyway. "Mizuki said that my Transformation jutsu was practically flawless!"
"Hn."
"Didn't you have - like - all of the answers filled?" I asked loudly. "Did you mess up the jutsu or something?"
"No. My performance should have matched graduation criteria for genin rank, and I am proficient in the academy level techniques," Hikaku said the longest sentence since I found him in this classroom. We both were directed to wait here for our results. He didn't even look up from his art while speaking. "Nakano-sama wouldn't have recommended me for an early graduation otherwise."
I blinked.
"So why didn't you get a forehead protector right away, if you're so cool?" I asked.
The Uchiha shrugged.
I groaned and resumed my aimless pacing. It was getting old. I chafed in the Naruto disguise, my clothes felt heavy and uncomfortable. I retreated even further into the jacket - at least it was soft and warm.
After a few more excruciating minutes of waiting, I wandered over to his desk, taking a look at the intricate beast he had inked on the paper. Anything for a distraction.
I stood right opposite to him, hands placed on the table, staring right at his drawing while looming over him, but he didn't even spare me a single glance.
There was something to the way he was focused. The way his ink brush traveled through the lines, slowly, deliberately. Was there something in the ink? Was he doing something to it with chakra?
"Is this a sealing style of some sort?" I asked, mildly intrigued.
"No."
"Why are you putting chakra into the ink, then?"
This time Hikaku did look up.
Suddenly, I was face to face with him. The eerie white burns in his eyes were right before me. Even when his eyes seemed to be aimed right at me, it felt like he was looking through me, into the distance. I got goosebumps on my skin from it.
This close, he looked almost... pretty. No. I pushed the thought down. He had an annoying face. Yes. That. Maybe Ino or Sakura-chan would appreciate this guy more, I didn't care for him at all.
His breaths were calm, measured, and his expression was still neutral. After staying still for a short while, he settled on a reply. "Easier."
I opened my mouth and closed it.
"Ask," he said.
"How much can-" I faltered. "You can see my face, right?"
"Yes. You look girlish." It might have been the lighting of the room, but his burned irises seemed to brighten with the way he glared at me. That certainly drew my gaze to them. "Do you - need - to be this close?"
I jolted backwards, bumping my back into the table behind me. No one had called my Naruto disguise girlish before, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It was probably a good thing to be called out on - but quite confusing, too.
"Sorry," I said, fighting the heat from rising into my ears. "I didn't want to stare that much."
"Clearly," he said, word dripping with cold sarcasm.
I was still staring, I realized.
I grumbled under my breath, breaking eye contact. "You're worse than Sasuke," I said, pointing at him accusingly. "I'm trying to apologize here, and you don't care."
He shrugged. "I'm not here to socialize."
"What if we end up on the same team?" I tried. "Usually there's teams, right?"
"I'd go back to the academy," he said emotionlessly and then I saw a tiny smile playing on his lips - and it was gone as soon as I had noticed. Was that supposed to be a joke?
"I had to beg the Old Man so much just to get a chance to take this exam early, you must have jumped some loops too, neither of us would throw it away like that." I chuckled.
Hikaku placed the ink brush on the table. "Fine," he said. "I wouldn't go back."
"Progress," I said.
"But it's not gonna happen."
"What? Us on the same team?"
"Graduating this year," he said. "They're just wasting our time, looking for an excuse to fail me."
"What?" I said.
"You were right to be surprised that I hadn't gotten my forehead protector yet," Hikaku said, crossing his arms. "They're not gonna let another Uchiha prodigy through the system."
"Some prodigy," I said. "Are you giving up already?"
"No. Just observing."
There was a short pause when I considered his words.
"Since you're a genius and all," I began in a sweeter tone, taking a page out of Ino's book - when she wanted to appear sweet and innocent. "Do you know any cool jutsu?"
He blinked at me, clearly surprised at the question. "Some."
"Could you show me?"
"I'll consider it, if we ever end up in the same team."
I tapped at my cheek, preparing another avenue for approach when the door to the classroom slid open.
"Old man!" I shouted out as I turned to see the Hokage enter the room. His expression was one I've seen often. There would be bad news. It was quite telling that he came himself instead of letting us get the results from one of the chunin that oversaw the exam, like it was supposed to happen.
"Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san, I am here to commend you for your performance in this test," the old man started. "In a few key areas, you have exceeded our expectations. Hikaku-kun, your perseverance in the face of an injury that would have stopped career of other shinobi is something to be proud of, and Naruto-kun, your written portion of the exam was - almost - passable, which shows a growth of-"
"You're failing us?" I shouted out loudly, interrupting his obfuscating speech. "What gives, old man, I basically aced the practical part! And the Uchiha is annoying, but he's-"
"Naruto." The Hokage suddenly seemed to tower over us, even as he stood calmly at the entrance to the classroom, a fair distance away from us.
I shut up.
The Uchiha rubbed at his forehead. Silently.
"Your final scores just weren't good enough to pass this year. Your performance in the current academy classes was taken into account as well, but both of you do not make the cut," the Hokage said, his voice soft, even as the message was harsh. "Hikaku-kun, your taijutsu still needs to be adjusted to compensate for your injuries. Naruto - you need to polish the other jutsu - only knowing the Transformation jutsu isn't enough."
I wanted to protest again, but a look from the old man silenced me.
"Early graduation was always reserved for our top students. Neither of you are it - not yet. Even if I overruled the verdict of the academy instructors, and made an exception at this time, there would still be an inspection by a jounin instructor.
"Neither of you are in a state to pass it - which would send you back to the academy with a stain in your record."
"Uchiha Nakano didn't pass the test of her assigned jounin instructor, Hokage-sama," the Uchiha commented in a neutral tone, but imagined he was as disappointed as I was, just hiding it better. "She was then given an option to join the Genin Corps."
I knew the dubious reputation of Genin Corps - especially after having to listen to Sasuke complaining about the supposed incompetence of the very same Uchiha Nakano. It would still mean becoming a shinobi - and a part of me was ready to accept it over another year in the academy.
"Allowing a would-be early graduate to be assigned to the Genin Corps is just not done." The Hokage answered an unasked, but obvious question. "Do not misunderstand - failing to pass the exam early does not mean that you're not fit to be shinobi - and either of you would be wasted in the Corps, if you spent at least another year completing your academy training. I believe you will become a great shinobi, a valuable part of Konoha. Do not aim for mediocrity."
Maybe the Hokage was right...
But he wasn't finished. Not yet.
"There are other issues with the current early graduation system that need to be addressed," he said.
"No," I breathed out quietly. I didn't know what he was going to say, but I knew him and this specific tone. With rising dread, I felt as if the Hokage was removing the floor from under me, and there was nothing I could do, but watch and hope for - something. Anything.
"Konoha will be suspending early graduation for the foreseeable future," the Hokage said, evaporating my hope of passing the exam next year in my second attempt. "Multiple clan heads spoke in favor of it, including Uchiha Nakano. I have granted their request."
"I see," I said. Was there anything I could say that could change the old man's mind? I doubted it.
I scratched at my arms with my nails nervously. I had spent this whole day pretending to be a boy, and for what? What a cruel joke.
I clenched my hands, nails digging painfully into my arm - the strong kunoichi-grade nail polish aiding the unintentional cut. I could feel my skin giving out, a drop of blood oozing to stain one of my orange nails.
Instead of showing my pain, I swallowed it, clenching my teeth to keep it in. I slowly inched towards the nearest window, and then quickly opened it in a burst of movement.
"I could have done literally anything else today," I complained towards the old man as I sat down on the windowsill, still facing inside. "But no, I had to take tests and worry, and all that as Naruto, instead-" I cut myself off. I didn't care too much what the Uchiha thought about me, but he might tell on me to others.
The disappointed look the Hokage gave me stinged, but I wasn't exactly happy with him either.
"You were right, Hikaku," I said, giving the Uchiha a last glance. The Uchiha's whitened eyes were looking in my direction, but they seemed unfocused.
I flashed a fake, completely forced smile and vaulted myself backwards, like a diver jumping from a boat into the sea.
When I finished my roll on the ground, I was already back to a variation of my usual Haruko self. Red hair in twintails, with a differently cut orange jacket to keep the spring winds away, dark, comfortable pants to go with it. I managed the whole Transformation without even using a single hand-seal, and there was barely any smoke following the change. After all, I was just dismissing my disguise, not creating a new one.
For the first time that long day I felt back in my own, comfortable body. This felt like removing irritating clothes after a long tiring day and jumping into a warm shower.
My mood still wasn't great.
I didn't linger in the academy grounds any longer than I needed to.
Potter
There was already a small crowd at the platform, as the gleaming red train pulled into the station.
According to Ted, the Hogwarts Express ran on magic, without even needing civilian coal or other fuel. It was quite a sight, made even more impressive by the fact that no civilians would even see it - the whole platform was its own little world.
Ted had wandered off to exchange small talk with a former colleague from St. Mungos, and I was eagerly waiting next to Andromeda. We couldn't have looked more different.
Mrs Tonks was all regal and distant, other families giving us some breathing room just due to her presence alone. Her robes were dark, glimmered with subtle stars and the way her brown hair drank in the shadows gave her a firm edge, even as her face concealed a content smile.
While Mrs Tonks stood perfectly still, I dealt with the wait by constantly fidgeting in place. I rocked back and forth, from heels to the fingertips and back again. I tapped my foot impatiently at times, and when that drew the looks of others, I just smiled and waved.
My colorful dress robes were a gift for my ninth birthday, all bright, patterned with falling leaves - orange, red and yellow colors swirling in sync with my movements. The robes were also charmed to change their size to match mine - with some limits - which made them perfect for a metamorphmagus.
I always looked for an excuse to put them on - which was just another reason I was glad to be included in picking up Tonks for the holiday season.
The train came to a full stop. Doors opened, and a steady stream of students poured out. A handful were still in school robes, but the majority had changed their clothes to either casual wizarding robes or a civilian wardrobe - the latter was the case with a lot of civilian-born and-
"Tonks!" I shouted, dashing forward.
I only heard a muffled chuckle from Andromeda, and then I was too far to hear her, weaving through the reuniting families.
It didn't take me long to navigate the crowd, even when I had to be mindful of the hem of the dress robes. I pushed past a family of redheads, and only a few steps later I was close with my target.
Tonks was wearing mostly civilian-made clothing. I recognized her already faded T-shirt as the one we found in a Portsmouth shop - asking for divine intervention to save the queen. She had a cropped fake-leather jacket on, imitating dragon hide - and I knew there was a hidden charm for more warmth to fight off the colder weather. A scarf in Hufflepuff colors - striped black and yellow - was draped around her neck. Only her dark plum-colored pants were new - perhaps she had brought them in Hogsmeade or spelled the color herself.
There was also a taller-than-her redheaded boy right next to her - leaning into a trolley with what looked to be his luggage. I ignored him completely as I leapt in for a hug. Tonks had noticed me running and had just enough time to push the boy aside and step into my hug.
She laughed as I wrapped my hands around her and foolishly tried to pick me up and spin me, but I wasn't prepared for it, and Tonks had stepped over the hem of my dress robes...
We both tried to compensate for it and failed spectacularly, ending up on the ground.
I was unlucky enough to be the cushion for my sister's fall, and got wind kicked out of me for my trouble. Still, we escaped without any serious scrapes - soon, I joined Tonks in wild laughter.
The boy, having watched our fall, was trying to stay polite, but a bright smile betrayed his cheer.
His robes looked quite used, and not perfectly fitting. Possibly bought second-hand or a hand-me-down. They wouldn't come anywhere near the quality Andromeda demanded out of her favorite robe seamstress, but at least the boy clearly kept his robes in a decent condition.
Seeing us struggle with getting up, he was quick to offer us a hand. I accepted his left hand and Tonks grabbed onto his right. Rather stubbornly, I refused to let go of Tonk's waist through the whole effort, making standing up a bit more complicated than it had to be. It all worked out in the end.
"Missed you," I whispered, and she chuckled, giving me a soft look that said the same thing, no words necessary.
"Charlie," Tonks started. "Meet my sister Hazel. Hazel, this is Charlie Weasley - he's -" She hesitated.
Charlie raised an eyebrow, but didn't lose his mirth.
"He's my boyfriend," Tonks said in a slightly off-tone voice, but then collected herself. "I'm gonna ask mum to let him come over for Christmas - gonna use the open invitation for him to join us."
"Oh," I said. I hadn't expected anyone else intruding on our family holiday. I held onto Tonks even firmer. She absently patted my head.
I narrowed my eyes and gave Charlie a long, evaluating look. He didn't seem nearly cool enough for Tonks. I barely held myself back to not say that out loud. I really wanted to.
"Nice to meet you, Hazel," Charlie said, pacing slightly awkwardly - and after a short hesitation he offered me his hand to shake. "Tonks talks about you a lot."
"Does she?" I asked, thinking what to do with the offered hand. "She never-"
I got poked by Tonks for the obvious lie.
"Fine, she mentioned you, you're the guy who's obsessed with dragons," I allowed, and took the hand to shake it. Lightly. Quickly. "I didn't know you were dating anyone."
"It snuck up on us a little," Tonks said. "We're giving it a go."
Charlie chuckled. "You're making it sound weirder than it is, Dora."
"It was a bit weird," she argued back lightly. Glanced at me. "Not a story for you Hazel, sorry. You're too young."
"No, I'm not," I protested and pouted. Just what had she meant?
Now, it was Charlie who was giving me an evaluating look. "How old did you say your sister was, again?" He asked Tonks, confused.
Tonks chuckled. "She's younger than me."
"I remember that part," he commented and gave me another look.
I transfigured myself to be ever so slightly taller as he watched me. I couldn't help but grin - he looked entirely thrown off trying to place my age. It wasn't like there were any benefits trying to keep my appearance to an arbitrary age based on years in this world. In Konoha, all of the academy students were more - grown up - and I was glad to keep matching their age in appearance, but in this world I had most success when I passed for a teenage girl.
It was closer to how I felt, anyhow. Which was exactly what was giving Charlie trouble.
"Are you in Beauxbatons or something?" he asked me, utterly confused. "It makes it very hard to guess since you're also a metamorphmagus."
"You noticed?" I raised my eyebrow, and copied his exact shade of red hair, to drive the point home.
"It might have come up one day," Tonks said. "Not gonna guess, Charlie?"
"If that's a no on attending a different magical school..." Charlie pressed on. "I'm gonna go with almost eleven - but that's completely ignoring your appearance, just estimating blindly. You must be starting Hogwarts next year, right?"
"Close enough," I said. "If the Headmaster lets me, sure, if not, there's another year of waiting ahead."
It had been a while since I last spoke with the Headmaster, but he did mention it as a remote possibility. I wanted to start even earlier, but there was a significant milestone of magical development that happened when witches turned eleven years old, and I still had no idea if my soul-memories counted for it or not.
There were a lot of questions like this one, without satisfying answers, but Dumbledore and Mr Tonks were exchanging notes and working on understanding my situation better - just not as their highest priority.
"Er," Charlie said eloquently. "I'm not sure the Headmaster grants early admission often."
"Sorry," I said. There still was a chance I'd get to share the school with Tonks for a year, and I would not be discouraged by an annoying redhead who didn't know any better. "You're probably not old enough to know about it."
"Funny," Charlie shrugged. "Keep your secrets."
"You two done?" Tonks asked. "Let's go talk to mom about Charlie's visit."
"Does he - have - to come?" I whispered at Tonks as we slowly pushed through the barely dispersing crowd. Charlie was pushing the trolley - with both of their luggage. A large trunk and a smaller dark bag. Judging from the wear and tear of the large trunk - I guess it was Charlie's, which meant Tonks only took a small bag when heading home, leaving most of her stuff in her trunk at Hogwarts.
"Don't be too hard on Charlie," Tonks hissed quietly back. "He's a good guy."
Charlie waved at what looked to be his family - all redheads - but went with us, passing them without even stopping. It seemed that his family knew what was going on, as no one said anything to stop him - except for a pair of twins, who tried to wolf-whistle, but it wasn't a very inspired attempt. There were a few inquisitive looks thrown my way, too - possibly for borrowing their family hair color for a bit. Or admiration of my dress robes.
"Ignore those two," Charlie mumbled to Tonks and himself both, and took her free hand into his. He kept one hand on the trolley, nudging it along.
Tonks lit up with a light blush on her cheeks, and her hair turned into a darker shade of pink. It didn't look like she was too excited for the hand-holding in public. Or maybe Charlie was just bad at it.
Maybe he had gross, sweaty palms. That must have been it.
I sighed. "Fine. I'll behave," I answered her request.
"Is everything alright?" Tonks asked me quietly after a few more steps. "You're a bit tense today. Did you already take the ninja test? How was it? Older ninjas give you trouble again?"
"Failed it," I admitted. I didn't feel tense, but I was certainly confused by the intrusion of this boy into our family time. Even if Tonks liked him. I sure didn't. "But it was a close thing."
"Going to get them next time," Tonks whispered, encouragingly.
"Not gonna get another chance soon," I said. "But yeah. I'll show them. Thanks."
"What are you whispering about?" Charlie asked, also in a whisper.
I exchanged a quick look with Tonks.
"Ninjas," I replied, but didn't elaborate.
Charlie shrugged ever so slightly. "If you don't want to tell me, you can just say so."
"Relax, Charlie," Tonks said, and swayed his hand back and forth. "Don't poke Hazel for information, she takes a while to open up."
I offered him a fake smile. There was no way I was opening up for this guy.
Tonks deserved only the very best and Charlie clearly wasn't it. He looked and sounded quite boring - probably just another scholar of theoretical magic without any skills, social or otherwise. Even his interest in dragons didn't seem as cool now, compared to when I first heard of it.
I started to think of a way to test his abilities that would convince Tonks to leave him, but then we reached Mrs and Mr Tonks. Ted had returned before us, and the pair was waiting, watching us navigate the quickly thinning crowd.
"Wotcher, kids," Ted said and waved.
"Hi." Andromeda smiled gently. Well, gently for her. There was still steel hidden in her words. "You must be Charlie Weasley."
"I am." The boy straightened himself, bracing for - something.
"I've invited Charlie over for Christmas," Tonks said, before the boy or our parents said anything further. "I hope you don't mind the short notice."
"Not at all, there's no trouble at all," Ted was quick to assure them. "Going to stay for the whole two weeks, lad?"
"Maybe," Charlie said, struggling to sound sure of himself. I got instantly suspicious - well, more so than before. "I might floo to my folks for a day or two, but I haven't yet decided when exactly. I'll try to find time that's convenient for everyone."
"Of course," Andromeda said. "Did you get a chance to talk to your parents before Hazel dragged you both here?"
"Hey," I protested quietly. "I didn't drag anyone."
"You did get us moving faster than planned," Tonks whispered to me.
"Not yet," Charlie admitted almost at the same time, but louder than us. "But if we're in a hurry, I'm sure they won't mind. I can always floo home to talk things over."
"Go," Ted said and winked at him. "They're going to appreciate it, I'm sure. Take your time, we won't go anywhere without you."
Charlie gave a quick kiss on Tonks' cheek and scampered off, leaving the trolley with us.
"Ew," I said when he seemed out of the earshot, playing it up a little. "Did he have to?"
Tonks ignored the remark completely. She was clearly more concerned about what Andromeda and Ted were thinking than about my opinion. I pouted.
"He's the Quidditch team captain for Gryffindor, right?" Ted asked, clearly trying to remember one of Tonks' letters that mentioned Charlie - the name I never paid much attention to before - I knew they were good friends, but not much else. "Or a prefect?"
"Both, actually," Tonks said.
"Sounds like a quite busy boy," Ted remarked. "You like him?"
There was a tiny pause. "Yeah." Tonks finally said. "He's nice and lovely," she added, in a more self-assured voice.
Andromeda nodded, but didn't say anything.
"That's enough for me." Ted took a step closer, and looked at me. "Hazel, would you mind if we put him in the guestroom next to your room?"
"Er- sure, whatever," I said. "I don't mind."
Tonks untangled herself from me - ignoring my silent protest of wanting to keep her close, and went to rummage through her own bag, looking for something.
"If so, you'll have to be a bit more careful," Andromeda said, lightly tapping on her forehead with a finger, while looking at mine. "Just keep it in mind."
She was talking about my cursed scar - it had a tendency of reappearing ever so often, even through the metamorphmagus transfiguration. I could usually feel it just before it was going to show, and fixing it took barely any effort.
"Not a problem," I said confidently. "I'll keep a lid on it."
"Great," Andromeda said, and I beamed at her.
Tonks had found what she wanted to - and pushed a small, plainly wrapped packet into my hands. "Here."
"What's-"
"I'm sorry I brought Charlie over when you wanted time with me for the holidays, but - we'll have Easter and my birthday just for the two of us, alright?" Tonks said. "This is an apology gift from us, nothing to do with Christmas."
"I-" I stuttered. "What? From you both?"
"Open it," Tonks urged. "It's not a serious gift."
Inside of the bland packaging there was quite a colorful book. Bright and cheerful, all of the colors had a nice shine to them.
A slightly unevenly drawn, funny looking griffin was the main focus of the cover. The beast was constantly circling around what looked like an active volcano. Down below, there was a tiny human-like figure, flying on a broom close to the ground, darting between stylized oriental looking ruins. It was unclear if the figure was hiding from the griffin or just unaware of it yet.
The griffin let out a silent screech - the cover didn't seem to have any sounds spelled into it - and dove down.
The book's title solidified from the dark clouds.
"What is this?" I asked incredulously. I could read the title easily, but I couldn't believe my eyes.
"The Adventures of Hazel Potter: Taming the Griffin of the Fire Mountain," Tonks read it out loud, grinning wildly, like it was the best joke in the world.
It certainly looked funny to me.
"Nymphadora," Andromeda rebuked her. "This is a bit thoughtless, we don't need anyone asking questions."
"Oh come on, no one will ever take this seriously," Tonks protested. "Kids ask their parents to do something like this all of the time. It was a small extra-credits project for the Charms class - I tried to charm the surname too, but the book was too stubborn for that. Only got a few points for partial success."
The griffin crashed through the letters, scattering them though the cover where they turned back into clouds.
"You still shouldn't have..." Andromeda sighed, and didn't continue.
I laughed loudly at it, flipping through the pages. There were a lot of illustrations intermixed between the text. It wasn't very good, but for some reason I couldn't help but keep laughing the more I read.
"I love it! Wait, are there actual fake-adventure books about m- er - Potter?" I asked, brushing away tears of laughter. I had been shown the page of half-truths and speculation in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts about the attack on the Potters - and it was supposedly one of the more accurate accounts. This one was hilariously inaccurate - I haven't even seen a live griffin yet, much less tamed one. "You didn't just take a random adventure book and charm the whole name in?"
"I found this copy in Hogsmeade," Tonks said, chuckling. "There were a couple of stand-alone stories, but this one seemed the most epic of the lot. Charlie got one for his little sister, so I figured I'd grab a copy for mine, too."
"Thanks, Dora," I muttered, chuckling again. "Did you charm her copy too?"
"Of course, it was a collaborative project, after all," Tonks looked super proud of herself. "Ginevra Potter will also have an adventure taming the Griffin of the Fire Mountain." She winked.
"Is that even a real place?" I asked. "Fire Mountain?"
"I doubt it, but might have been inspired by someplace." Tonks shrugged. "Or just entirely made up - just a fun adventure for kids to read about."
"This sort of thing wouldn't be legal in the muggle world," Ted remarked, shaking his head slightly.
"Editing books after publication?" Tonks asked, surprised.
"No, writing fake stories using a minors' name without permission," Ted said. "I doubt anyone actually approved this."
"All perfectly legal, dear," Andromeda said. "A tad impolite, but that's all."
Ted sighed.
"Don't," Andromeda said, and patted his hand. "I know what you're thinking. You're just going to waste your time running between departments, drafting and filing an official complaint, and the Ministry's going to toss it in the same box with the others you sent, and you'll get yet another response letter with empty platitudes."
"But-"
"This book seems harmless enough," Andromeda pointed out, reaching out to take a closer look at it. I obliged, and she spent a moment turning pages back and forth. "It clearly doesn't even pretend to depict real events. Nothing to complain about, especially since no one knows where the boy lives and what his opinion about the book even is."
Right, other people might be listening.
"And you don't want to involve Dumbledore in this, the man is already working three jobs, and that's not including his research," Andromeda finished, putting the book back into my hands. "Enjoy, Hazel."
Uzumaki
Ino offered me a hand to get up. She was breathing heavily, and her right hand was marked with a bruise from when she had blocked my last slightly-too-dangerous-for-a-spar attack. I was regretting it a bit, since Ino had responded to the escalation in kind, and promptly introduced me to the ground.
"Well fought, Haruko-chan," Ino said graciously, as I took her hand.
Her grip wasn't too strong because she was tired, but I put most of my weight on the legs so she wouldn't further strain herself.
"Thanks," I said, a sadder note escaping me against my wishes. "I can't seem to catch up."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Ino protested. Her breathing was staggered, and she went to take a quick drink. "You're improving a lot."
We had brought our dinner to the private Yamanaka training garden. I whipped up a simple rice bowl with marinated tuna for us and Ino bought us drinks.
"I don't know where you get all that stamina from, but it's incredibly useful," she said after refreshing herself. "You'd win every time if it came to fighting until exhaustion."
"Ramen," I replied.
"Yeah, sure," Ino sounded very much unconvinced by the obvious superiority of ramen.
"Why didn't you try for an early graduation exam this year?" I asked as she paced around, trying to loosen her muscles after the spar. "Either of you three could do it, I think."
"You don't know that," Ino protested instinctively, but then she considered it. "Well, maybe KO Shikako could. They'd have to give extra points for her seals, too, right?"
"No idea about how the seals factor in the score, but they do look at the general academy performance, and all three of you place higher than me constantly," I replied. "So, why didn't you try?"
"I don't think dad would have let me, even if I wanted to. So it's not actually an option."
"Why not?"
"Tradition," Ino offered, slumping on our usual bench. "I'll probably get Choji and either Shika or Kako in my team - and that's a team I can work with and one that would have my back. Shika would never try for early graduation - too much effort and there's the needless danger of actually going on missions. Better be more prepared."
"I think I see your point."
"Don't take it the wrong way," Ino added. "But I'm actually glad you'll get to spend more time with us, in the academy."
"Thanks, I guess," I said. Then, I slumped to sit on the ground right next to Ino. I leaned my back at the bench, and touched my shoulder to her legs. "It's just - there have been too many times where I was denied something since I wasn't genin yet. Now the old man will keep using the same excuse. Had I passed that exam, I'd be allowed to tell more people about my dream-world, too."
"Speaking of..." Ino passed me my bento, slowly unpacking her own. "How's life in England these days? Happy that your sister's back from the magic academy? How is she?"
I just placed my box on my knees, only holding it for now.
"It's the holiday season, so Andromeda-san has stopped our usual lessons, so no more math or French until The New Year, which is great. I was looking forward to spending all this free time with Tonks, but…
"She brought home a stray boy from school. Supposedly, he's her new boyfriend, and she invited him for both weeks - and it doesn't look like he's in a hurry to get back to his own family, just happy to intrude on our holiday-"
Ino patted my head. "Sounds like you're jealous."
"No," I protested. I was just looking out for my sister. Honest. "There's something off about the whole thing - and I'm going to tell you when I find out, I promise."
I opened my own bento and grabbed a pair of chopsticks. Then, I stabbed them into the rice with a gusto.
"Ted-san brought out some civilian board games for us, and Charlie won most of them. I think he's cheating - that, and sis is clearly helping him."
Ino chuckled.
"Oh, and Tonks sends you her best wishes."
"Eh!" I could feel Ino's legs twitch as she froze in place. "What do you mean?"
"Well - I tell her a lot of things about Konoha - and I tell you everything about England, so you already know about each other, right? I mentioned that I planned to update you about what little was happening with me, and she told me to pass some of the Christmas cheer along. I told her it's still spring here, and that we don't celebrate Christmas in Konoha, but she insisted."
"That's..." Ino's voice was so quiet, I could almost hear the gears in her head turning as she digested what I was saying.
"She didn't say much, just 'give Ino my best wishes', and 'thank her for looking after you', or something like that. So yeah, Tonks is happy that I have you to talk to, and says 'thanks'. That's the whole message."
"Haruko-chan, do you realize what you just did?" Ino sing-songed in a voice that meant she was plotting something especially devious. "You intentionally brought a message through the Spiral of Reincarnation. I never thought it would work just like that!"
"I don't get it," I said. "What's so different between this and how I've been telling you about my life there?"
"Retelling and interacting with the past life is very much different," Ino said with a bout of sudden determination. She tapped her chopsticks into the side of the bento box. "In hindsight, it's obvious that your connection with the other life was always intertwined, I just never thought to - interfere - directly."
I leaned my head slightly backwards, giving Ino a questioning look. "Interfere how? Should I be worried?"
"We need to test it! Maybe you'd be up for a quick nap after we eat?"
"Why?"
"So you could take a short message back to your sister - and bring me another reply."
"I thought we were going to hang out for a while longer - I don't want to spend another day with Charlie in the middle of our time together! I haven't recovered from the last day with him yet," I protested weakly. "Why can't you just tell me what you want me to relay, and I'll get you an answer tomorrow?"
"We'd be making history, Haruko-chan," Ino cooed softly, her grin looking quite dangerous - for anyone that dared to get in her way. "This is the first message between the worlds, a connection between different versions of our souls!"
I sighed. "Second message. You're sending a reply."
"Pointless distinction. First message from this world."
"I guess we can try," I said and focused back on eating my food. "I'm sure it's going to work, unless you want me to memorize a really long message - then I'm saying no."
"Great! Now... I'll have to think of something good. And meaningful."
"I doubt you're going to get much use out of this," I commented between mouthfuls of rice. "Don't get too disappointed if exchanging messages amounts to nothing else."
"It's not nothing - it's a new connection!" Ino said, my words doing nothing to curb her excitement. "I'l get to be friends with someone from a different world!"
Notes:
Uchiha Hikaku:
Uchiha Hikaku is this AU's take on Uchiha!Sai, one who didn't get nabbed by Danzo during the massacre, because (spoilers). He has other issues, though. This has nothing to do with the Uchiha Hikaku mentioned in a Third Databook.
Translation Convention, continued:
Following the translation convention, the Land of Fire language is off-screen modeled after Japanese. I'm not a trained linguist, so take the following information with a grain of salt.
Like in Japanese, in the Land of Fire language there are different personal pronouns that are appropriate in different contexts. Watashi is a formal personal pronoun that can be used by the speaker of any gender, but younger boys usually default to boku, only using watashi in academic formal context, e.g. classrooms, while girls can use it everywhere.
In my head, Haruko goes a step further, using something like Atashi instead, even when she pretends to be Naruto. Atashi is a more female variation of Watashi, much more female-exclusive. Mind, there are a few minor exceptions where men use it - rakugo performers, and artisans or merchants in Edo era Japan.
Konoha is something of a weird amalgamation of different eras and technologies, so my excuse is that some merchants still use it in Konoha, same as the occasional in-house rakugo performers.
In the end, it's supposed to be a noticeable quirk of her Naruto disguise, but not impossibly weird. Similar to the verbal tick 'dattebayo', which gets translated into 'believe it'.
