Disclaimer: not mine

Definitely going to be Sasuke/Naruto eventually. Could be Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura? Not sure for Harry but definitely not Ginny! Maybe Sakura?

Chapter 5

Naruto carefully brushed Harry's hair back from his ear, feeling him shiver slightly. "Sorry."

"Tickles," the boy admitted.

Naruto frowned when he couldn't get bare skin, and then Sasuke's hands joined his, holding Harry's hair out of the way, leaving Naruto free to apply the Seal. He pressed the paper to the skin and then activated it, watching the ink fade, and when he pulled the paper off the Seal was visible on Harry's skin. He had to be very careful, Harry was a civilian even if he was related to Sasuke, ninja had to be careful of civilians because they were so easy to hurt and their chakra systems weren't developed. "Okay, take a deep breath," he warned and then activated the Seal.

"Oh," Harry gasped, wavering, and Sasuke wrapped an arm around him, holding him on his feet.

"Naruto," he snapped, and Naruto shook his head.

"The Seal uses chakra, Harry's never used it before so it probably feels weird," Naruto quickly explained.

"I'm okay, that just felt…really strange," Harry agreed with him thankfully. He stepped away from Sasuke and Naruto could tell his friend was reluctant to let go.

"See?" he crossed his arms, and Sasuke looked away, nodding slightly and Naruto accepted the unspoken apology.

"Come along now children, the Hokage will be waiting," Kakashi-sensei spoke up.

They headed for the gates and Kakashi-sensei handed over the paperwork for Harry to let him in before they headed to see Baachan.

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Tsunade leant back in her chair as she received the alert of Team 7's return with one more person. Only one though which was troubling. An orphan? Due to Itachi or something else? She really hoped the team had arrived in time to keep the elder Uchiha from killing anyone. If they hadn't then whoever was with them would be very traumatised.

Finally, the knock came and she called for them to enter. Kakashi opened the door, Sakura, then Naruto following him inside. Behind them was the Uchiha and beside him was a teenage boy around the same age. The family resemblance was easy enough for her to spot, though the green eyes and glasses were rather startling. The odds were he'd never be able to develop the Sharingan, although he might still be able to pass it on. His clothing suggested poverty and he seemed a little on the thin side even if she ignored the fact they didn't fit, then again even Uchiha men tended to be lightly built.

"Team 7 report," she ordered, listening as Kakashi spoke of their search for the lost Uchiha, the way the records appeared protected. She kept one eye on the boy as the report was given, seeing his wariness and confusion. Hearing that Itachi had shown up…well they'd made it back alive so mission accomplished. They'd beaten the elder Uchiha to his target and kept the boy alive, that was a massive improvement over previous clashes with him.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" the boy spoke up in a moment of silence.

She glanced to the Uchiha to see him staring out the window, hands curled into fists, Naruto and Sakura watching him, worried. She didn't blame them, unless everything had fully settled while they were on the mission then he was likely still suffering mood swings. She glanced back at the newest Uchiha, seeing he'd crossed his arms even as he'd shifted so he could see all of them, not bad for a civilian. Huh, he'd even spotted two of her Anbu guards, very impressive. She wondered just how needed those glasses were, she should get him into the hospital for a check-up, after all he could be carrying diseases they didn't have and he would need the immunisations for theirs.

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Harry spotted the tiny shift in movement, concealed guards? He could spot the snitch in a storm; the guards weren't as hard as that. He really wanted to know what was going on, who had that been back at Privet Drive? It'd been over an hour and Sasuke hadn't drunk anything so Harry was willing to believe the family connection but that didn't mean a lot when the Potter's were related to most of the old families and he'd never claim them and a lot of them wanted him dead. Add to that the hatred and disdain of the Dursley's and well…family connections didn't mean a whole lot.

Everyone was looking at Sasuke who was staring out the window, his hands clenched. Why going looking for him, they were only distant cousins. What had the attacker said? Harry hadn't recognised the language. Had he been attacked because they were related? Voldemort had wiped out whole families, was that man doing something similar? And what was with this place? So many people in some kind of uniform, armed, the high walls and a knock off Mt Rushmore…

He ran his fingers over his wand, wishing for the holster that was currently hidden in the Mokeskin pouch Sirius had given him for Christmas along with the communication mirror, the remains of it were also inside the pouch. He'd bought the holster on the one sneaky trip he'd managed to Diagon earlier in the summer when Dung was on guard duty. There'd been no sign of his guard when that man attacked…he hoped because it was Dung and he'd slept through it or bolted and not...worse. he fought back a shudder at the idea someone else might be dead for him, again. He needed to keep his head clear. What else did he have in the pouch? Some Runes books, the Marauders Map, what money he had left from his last shopping trip plus some pounds he'd kept that had been change for his Aunt's shopping when she hadn't bothered checking the amount, quill and parchment. Nothing very useful and he was kicking himself for not putting the cloak in there even if it would have been a tight fit. The pouch itself was sitting against his chest, hidden under his oversized shirt. At least he had money, it might not be the local currency but gold was gold, right? Gold and silver should be worth something to someone.

He hadn't felt so out of his depth since Hagrid had shown up at that tiny island to tell him he was a Wizard and it wasn't a feeling he liked. Obviously, they all thought it was something Sasuke should tell him but the other teen seemed…angry, conflicted…lost? He knew those feelings well. It had to be personal between Sasuke and the man who had attacked them. It was starting to look more and more like it was something like the purges the Death Eaters used to do.

"I need to go home," Harry told them. As soon as the Order realised he was gone it was going to cause chaos, not that he really cared. They were pretty useless after all. But there were people there he cared about and they would be worried once they found out what had happened.

Finally, Sasuke turned to face him, dark eyes shadowed. "You can't, it's not safe."

"Because…"

"That man, he'll come after you until you're dead."

"Why? What did I ever do to him?" Harry pressed.

"You exist," Sasuke almost spat, and Harry felt sick, he'd been right. "He…" Sasuke took a deep breath. "He killed them all."

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He didn't want to say anything else, that should be enough to prove to Potter that Itachi was a serious threat. But some civilians never understood that kind of danger until confronted with it and they'd gotten him out of there before Itachi had gotten close enough to be a threat. Despite how much clearer his head was now, talking about him was too hard, brought the anger back to the front. How could he tell Potter what had been taken from him? From both of them before the other boy even had the chance to know them.

"Why?" Potter…Harry…his cousin asked, and Sasuke felt sick.

How was he meant to tell a civilian raised so far from the shinobi life what Itachi had done and why? He'd never really talked to anyone about that night and to tell a stranger, even if they were related? He couldn't…not yet…maybe not ever.

"Does it matter?" Naruto jumped in, and Sasuke was relieved at the interruption. "He wants to kill you to wipe the clan out but we can protect you."

"This is crazy," his cousin muttered.

"Well, now that that's all sorted why don't you get your cousin settled in. And maybe find him some things since it seems he didn't have time to pack," Tsunade-sama suggested, dismissing them.

Right, all the teen had were the clothes on his back, he should have thought of that. He was technically clan head; it was his responsibility to make sure Potter…Harry had everything he needed.

His cousin stared at them all like they were nuts and he supposed to someone raised in such a different place they probably seemed it. He met suspicious green eyes, hoping he would understand that Sasuke couldn't talk about it, that they were family, and he wanted to keep him safe. The others had moved to the door but he waited for his cousin and finally he moved towards Sasuke. He waited for Harry to reach him and then walked beside him out of the office, letting his team lead the way out of the tower, Naruto chattering away about everything and nothing.

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Naruto talked to keep it from being silent, feeling Sasuke and Harry following them which was a relief. They would protect Harry but he guessed if he didn't know about ninja then it had to be really confusing for him. He couldn't imagine not knowing about shinobi.

Naruto glanced at Kakashi-sensei but he already had his book out so Naruto began steering them towards Ichiraku's. The others could all use some food after the fight and Harry looked too skinny so he should eat too. Sakura shot him a look and he grinned in return, what better way to welcome Harry-kun to Konoha than with ramen?

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Albus stared at his desk and the mass of paperwork there but his mind was hundreds of miles away from his work. Harry Potter was missing. He glanced at the remaining instruments, Harry's temper at the end of the school year had done a lot of damage, permanently destroying several of them. There had been no alarm raised despite a magical battle happening within the wards and how was that even possible? Nymphadora had reported no magical residue of any kind and yet muggles couldn't cause that kind of damage.

He had immediately contacted the Weasley's and Miss Granger, if Harry had the chance he'd either contact or run to them. As of yet, they'd heard nothing. They had to find him and fast, he was needed to keep moral up until the time came for him to face Tom for the last time. Albus glanced at his arm, that confrontation would need to happen as soon as possible and yet if it did, the Potter line would end. They had lost too many of the old families already, would likely loose even more over the next months. It was a well-known fact that Miss Weasley was obsessed with young Harry and they were a strong line when it came to producing children. Surely it wouldn't take much encouragement to get the two dating, once they were a fertility potion to ensure things went well, and then there'd be a Potter heir. At least such a child wouldn't be completely orphaned, they could be raised by Molly and Arthur to allow Ginny to finish her schooling. Their world simply couldn't afford to give Harry the time to get older and fall in love in his own time.

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Sakura glanced back at Sasuke and his cousin, easily able to pick out the similarities in their looks. Without the worry of attack, she had time to take that in. Though the eyes and glasses made a startling difference to any Uchiha she could remember from when she was a child, she'd never seen a member of the clan with anything but dark eyes. She might still be in training but even still, she could tell Harry was too skinny and hadn't been sleeping well for some time.

She really wanted to get a look at his eyes though, those glasses were thick. Sakura didn't doubt that Sasuke would want his cousin to receive some training and those glasses would be a liability in a fight. She wasn't naïve enough to think Harry-kun would never have to fight for his life, he was the weak link in the Uchiha clan and once his existence became known others would come for him, other villages would want him for the possibility of fathering children with the potential to awake the Sharingan or worse, to experiment with ways of overcoming it to fight Sasuke and Itachi. That would usually mean experimentation, torture, and death. Those taken to make families were at least usually treated alright. He'd need to be able to defend himself to some level, escape and evade at least.

Sakura knew the ability to use the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu was very important to the clan, it was their coming-of-age rite. By clan laws, Harry wouldn't be an adult if he couldn't perform the jutsu, that could become very awkward. He had chakra obviously, but his coils were untrained in handling its use, could he still learn? Or was he too old for his body to adjust? A question for Tsunade-sama to clarify, or Shizune maybe. Sasuke wouldn't like her asking anyone else.

She took a seat and ordered a miso ramen as Naruto extoled the virtues of the noodles to a rather bemused looking Harry. She was relieved when he ordered a bowl and began eating, it had been at least several hours since his last meal and he'd been through some severe shocks, he needed the food. She'd wait a day or two before insisting he get checked out at the hospital. Sakura would talk to Sasuke about Harry's eyes and if their unique colour meant he would never awaken the Sharingan, and maybe they could do something to help improve his vision that the people of his home couldn't.

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The meal was quiet, other than Naruto chatting away. Sasuke knew he should talk to his cousin but he just didn't know what to say, especially with others around. A lot of what they should speak about were clan matters, then again his team was the closest he'd had to family or clan since he was eight, not that he'd acknowledged that before he'd…left. He paid for his and Harry's meals, glad his cousin had eaten two bowls, he looked like he needed it. A glance at Naruto had the blond walking with them even once Sakura and Kakashi-sensei split off to their own homes. It was stupid but he slept better with Naruto near, he shouldn't need that but he did.

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Harry glanced around as they walked through the village, trailing slightly behind his cousin and the blond. It was all so different to anything he knew and he really didn't like feeling so out of his depth. Though he'd never known ramen could actually taste good, that meal had been way better than the two-minute stuff Aunt Petunia gave him. he was also kind of actually wanting a Pepper Up potion despite the horrible taste. The day had just been so crazy that he needed that or at least a few hours uninterrupted sleep, something he doubted he'd get since he hadn't had a night free of nightmares in ages. At least he'd managed to stop screaming in his sleep, Uncle Vernon hadn't liked that at all.

He could almost make himself think of the village as something like Hogsmeade if he ignored the signs of technology. They obviously used magic to some extent…even if it didn't quite feel right. How else could those people be running across rooftops like that? And he was pretty sure that guy they passed two streets back was breaking at least one of the laws of physics so it had to be magic, right?

As they walked, the crowds began to thin out and Harry fought back a shiver, glancing around for any sign of ghosts. It felt like there should be some around but there were none he could see. Up ahead was an entrance between two walls, that was where the feeling was coming from, and where they were headed, wonderful. Harry took a breath before stepping through but there was nothing, no ghosts or poltergeist, nothing but silent streets and empty buildings. And scattered around was the same symbol as the one on Sasuke's shirt...a clan symbol? They'd said the clan was wiped out and this…this really brought that home. Some kind of compound that had once been full of life and now was a ghost town minus the actual ghosts.

He followed them to the largest house there, watching them take off their sandals, pulling off his worn trainers to follow them inside. It was obvious there was recent work done to the place but it still felt unlived in.

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Sasuke stared at his childhood home, seeing where work had been done to clean and air it out for their return. He'd paid for the D-rank missions himself and was pleased with the work overall. He didn't want to bring Harry home to a rotting house and he knew he had to do something with the rest of the compound eventually. Maybe the rest of Team 7 could move into some of the houses since he doubted Naruto would actually want to live with them permanently and once fixed up any of the houses would beat his apartment. He headed upstairs and slid open a door.

"This is your room," he told his cousin, stepping away to let him enter the room, after a quick look to ensure no one had left any traps behind.

He saw Harry's eyes widen behind his glasses as he took the room in. It had been Sasuke's originally but he couldn't face sleeping in it again, too many memories. "This is for me?" Harry whispered.

"Of course. We'll go tomorrow to buy you supplies. I've got some things that should fit you until then." Some of his old clothes would fit better than what Harry was currently wearing and he'd feel better with him wearing their clan symbol.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not," Sasuke denied, shaking his head.

He'd seen the looks Sakura had been giving Harry, the same ones the Hokage had. He was swimming in clothes that were obviously handed down and looked like he needed a week's worth of sleep. Was his cousin sick? He'd send Naruto out for food later so they'd have enough to keep all three of them well fed. If Harry got worse he'd have to take him to the hospital, unless it was something Sakura could deal with. He knew she was training as a medic but he didn't know how far along she was. There hadn't been time but he knew she'd been trusted to give him medication while he was recovering.

"We'll be in the room at the end of the hall," Sasuke pointed out the door. "That is the main bathroom," he indicated the door in the middle. "There should be clean towels and soap if you wish to shower."

"Thank you."

"Good night," Sasuke turned to the room he'd claimed, one hand latching onto Naruto's wrist.

"Night Harry-kun!" Naruto called cheerfully as he let Sasuke pull him along. He closed the door once they were inside. "You know, he's probably going to think we're together?" Naruto teased before flopping down onto the futon.

Sasuke froze as he realised what Naruto meant. Oh. He hadn't considered that. He'd just gotten…accustomed to sleeping within arm's reach of Naruto since his return. He would have to explain to Harry somehow…

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, and he blinked. "Relax, I don't care," he shrugged, arms folded beneath his head.

Sasuke stared at him and then moved to grab a change of clothes, turning his back to dress for bed. Naruto grinned when he turned back, having wriggled out of his jacket and pants, leaving him in his t-shirt and boxers. Sasuke quickly averted his eyes and moved to lie on the other side. "Go to sleep dobe," he grumbled, and Naruto laughed, but when Sasuke grabbed his wrist again he didn't pull away.

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The whole bed on the floor thing was kind of weird but it was a lot more comfortable than the rickety thing he had at the Dursley's, though nothing beat his bed in the dorm for comfort. He'd partially stripped, deciding to shower in the morning, and curled on his side, staring out the window at the nearly full moon. He was exhausted but his mind wouldn't stop. The day had just been insane which consider who he was, was saying a lot. He had a cousin who didn't hate him…yet. If he found out who Harry really was, would he? Until he knew for certain if what they did was magic, he'd keep his mouth shut, he couldn't risk breaking the statue unless his life or his cousins' was in danger. At least he'd be safe from Death Eaters and Riddle but how was he going to convince them to let him go home for school without spilling everything?

TBC….

So Harry and Sasuke are both emotional messes. Sasuke has kind of latched onto Naruto for some form of stability at this point, he knows if he loses it the blond has the best chance of taking anything he dishes out outside of Kakashi. And Harry now has a few ninja wanting to mother hen him cause he looks so small in Dudley's cast off's, pretty much drowning in them.

Can/should Harry ever be able to activate the Sharingan? If James ever did it would have been facing Riddle the night he died.