TSSD Prequel : A new world, A new chance

by HecateTombe

Harriet Potter was done with the Magical world. Done with the whole world. When she learn that there is a possibility for a new life, in a new world, she takes it - and though she doesn't expect to find happiness, at least she will have freedom. KakashixFemHarry

2. Ritual and Konoha

Hey !

You're not hallucinating - this is the second chapter ! I'm glad I never said I would post regularly, because I have a feeling that will never happen. I sadly do love my inconsistency... Or something like that. Anyway.

Thanks to the reviewers for the reviews, and I hope you all enjoy this (very long) chapter... But on the bright side : dialogues !

Disclaimer : I own nothing (how sad is that ?) - but the plot is mine, thanks.

P.S : Someone asked me what Harried's third animagus form was. But I didn't say it on purpose ! So, anyone has an idea ?

And a lot of you were wondering when and how she would meet Kakashi. Well, I hope you won't be disappointed... because well, she followed her very simple plan...

Enjoy !

---

The day – or rather, the night of the Ritual, wasn't different from any other night in England, bar for one fact. While the black sky was barely lightened by stars and a full moon, half-hidden behind dark, ominous clouds (it was probably going to rain tomorrow), as any other night could have been ; this night was a peculiar one.

It was the night of Halloween, the day when the limit between Life and Death was at its thinnest. Wizards used to call it Samhain, before Muggleborn influence changed that fact. Harriet loved muggleborns, don't get her wrong – but she didn't like them more than she liked Pureblood (Voldemort's followers excluded, and for all that people liked to think that that meant all of the Purebloods, such was not the case. Just saying – the Weasleys. And Longbottoms. And Lovegoods. And Potters, even if Harriet herself was a half-blood. And Bones. Let's not enumerate them all, thanks. Her point had been made).

All in all, Harriet preferred to call it Samhain, since it was the name used in most of the rituals used that night – not bloody and nefarious rituals, mind you, but rituals that called upon Magic, and honored the departed. Such rituals went sadly out of fashion quite a long time ago – as if calling upon Magic, Her who created them, was a fashion – but Harriet had discovered them in old, important Family Books, and had endeavored to connect with the Being she loved above all else.

Because for all Magic had caused her great pain and grief, it was also the only light in her world, the thing that had saved her when she had been eleven and enduring the Dursleys' treatment – the wonder that had opened a whole new world to her. And though wizards let much to be desired (?) , the Magical world was not the same as the Wizarding world.

She loved the first, and despised the second.

In all cases, she was quite happy to welcome Muggleborns in their world, even though she knew they would be discriminated. Despite the war, things hadn't changed a lot – Purebloods were on top, Muggleborns on the lowest, and Werewolves, Vampires, Veelas, and every other kind of Magical races were creatures. Still, she was all for their integration in the Wizarding world (if they were numerous enough, things would have to change, wouldn't they ?)... Just not at the detriment of Wizarding's customs, traditions, rituals.

She could understand the Purebloods, on that point. Welcoming newcomers shouldn't mean forgetting and forsaking the Old Ways.

But apparently, the Wizarding world didn't know the signification of the world 'compromise'. Probably too stupid for that (she may have a grudge against them, the size of Hogwarts. Or Britain. Or something a little bit bigger, maybe).

Anyway, back to the subject – she called the night Samhain.

As a Necromancer, that had been the night where she had had to use all of her powers to block the calls of the dead – though she way too often ended up listening to their stories, and helping them the best she could.

'Save people' thing indeed. More like 'Help people, whether they're alive or dead'. It wasn't that strange of her to not make a difference between the two. She had always needed to help people – even if it only ever brought her pain, with the living ones at least.

Since this was the night upon which the barrier between the Living and the Dead was at its thinnest, a lot of the dead would rouse for but a few hours, whether in a ghost form... or rising their decayed bodies.

The first time that had happened, Harriet had had quite the fright (the terror of her life, really – but there was no witness alive, and no one could prove anything, so her pride was safe. Still, considering the absolute madness her life had been up until this point, 'the terror of her life' was saying something indeed). Thankfully, that had happened when she was at her parent's graves, for the anniversary of their deaths, thanking them for giving their lives for her. It meant, mainly, that there was no other living person in the cemetery, hence no witnesses.

The wizards were too busy celebrating the end of the first war, as they had done ever since her parents' death... and wouldn't understand why she never mingled in those parties. Ungrateful, insensible bastards. Still, it meant that she had been alone, since few were the Muggles still up and out at midnight, especially in a cemetary, and that meant peace and calm.

She had been terrified nonetheless, and had had the dubious honor of hearing Death laugh for the first time – an horrible, grating sound – before She explained that the dead felt the need to seek her, and ask favors if they could.

You may laugh at her, mock her fright, but really, how would you have reacted if you had been interrupted in your heavily emotional moment in front of your parents' graves by a rotting hand poking your shoulder ? Only to slowly, as if in a dream or an horror movie (yes, she knew those, Dudley had loved watching them at night when his parents were asleep... it had been easy for her to sneak downstairs and watch from the shadows – though maybe she shouldn't have, considering that her life could be seen as her own, personal horror-movie) – only to slowly, so slowly, turn her head and coming face to... skull, she guessed, with what had obviously been a person, and just as obviously wasn't one anymore.

(The jaw hanging only by a few, stretched, rotting bits of muscle, and the yellow-ish dead eyes looking straight at her from under sparse, falling and matted hair really did it for her. It totally justified her ears-splitting scream and the explosion of her magic, which had disintegrated the thing that was quite clearly attempting to kill her).

(It was, no matter what Death says. Don't listen to Her).

(Harriet is Mistress of Death. She will kill you if you so much as doubt what she told you had happened).

(Not that she would tell anyone).

(Still, that gave a new meaning to the signification of having 'dead eyes'. Harriet never used that expression ever again, even if she did meet someone, later, with particularly inexpressive and blank eyes).

She was now used to such things happening, and had learned to control her powers, of course. She didn't want to be taken for an evil witch, and no doubt the Britain Wizarding World would have immediately taken the occasion to call her the new Dark Lady, asking for her imprisonment and ultimate death, had they known that she could rise the dead and speak to long departed souls.

Not that they would have succeeded, you know, but they were enough of a bother for her right now, without adding a true, open man hunt after her. Mercenaries would be a pain in her behind – and mercenaries there would be, there was always stupid people who overestimated themselves, or where desperate enough, for the right price.

So she had hidden her particular powers of hers, the ones that came with her Necromancy, that is ; and on Samhain always settled in deserted places, in order to let the dead find her in peace, without risking being disturbed by the odd muggle or wizard.

But this night, her powers as Mistress of Death were stronger than ever, since she was willingly using the Hallows' powers so she could Call Death. She had never used the powers granted by her title – had never seen the need – but this night, she would.

Death was... strange. Not bad, not good either – She was neutral and the very definition of apathy. She didn't care that people died, She didn't care that people lived. What She did care about was that some people tried to cheat Her.

Those were Her source of amusement (one of the very few feelings She could apparently feel) and anger. No one cheated Her.

No one won, at least.

She had taken to follow Harriet sometimes, always unexpected, and rarely talking – though She had her moments. When She was in a talkative mood, She claimed that Harriet's life was interesting, amusing, and never boring. Death didn't like boredom. She was often bored, Time having no meaning for Her, and She couldn't go in a world and do everything She wanted. She couldn't interfere with mortals, not if some conditions weren't reunited.

The last time that had happened, She had created the Deathly Hallows (the Elder Wand, the Invisibility Cloak, and the Resurrection Stone, now all in Harriet's reluctant possession), and gave them to three brothers that had tried to cheat Her – and succeeded, for a time.

She had claimed the lives of the two eldest quite quickly – She was tricky like that – but the youngest had managed to cheat Her, until such a time that he was ready to meet Her. As an equal. She had been sufficiently impressed by his action (the only man, in every world, that could virtually cheat Her indefinitely – and who just hadn't, but had accepted that Death had to come to everything when the time had come), and had thus decided to look over his descendants.

Not to protect them, She wasn't one to do that (though it had happened for her to have favorites), but to see what would happen, to them and to Her Hallows.

And that had been hundreds years ago.

(When she had seen the Killing Curse being returned to its caster, and the mark on Harriet's forehead, many years later ; She had known. Known that she had found Her first, and last, Mistress. And She rarely, if ever, went against Fate).

Anyway, today would be the first time Harriet Called Death. And if all went well, probably the last.

Harriet was standing in a narrow circle of Fuinjutsu seals. They were supposed to act as an anchor, and send her to its twin, traced by her snakes in a place of their choosing, in the Elemental Nations.

(Harriet could admit she was nervous, though not for the reason you may think. Her snakes seemed to like pulling pranks on her, and she wasn't quite sure if they had decided to do it when choosing her place of arrival. She could only hope they hadn't).

(She did not fancy, say, arriving in the middle of a Hokage's office. Go and explain that).

Around this circle was another circle, larger, and made of Runes. The circle was powered by Harriet's, and Gaia's magic. Sending herself into another world wasn't easy, after all. And since summoning a simple snake asked quite a lot of magic, then sending herself through the worlds' barriers would ask a lot more – especially taking into account that she had countless magical and muggle objects, as well as animals and plants, to send with her. There was more to travel than just Harriet.

And she absolutely refused to leave so much as a galleon of her painstakingly assembled Trunks behind. She most certainly hadn't taken all of this time to just lose everything.

She was standing straight and proudly, clad in her battle clothes. Basilisk-hide boots, Basilisk-hide pants, an enchanted black top, and Basilisk-hide battle robes. Her eighteen shrunken Trunks were securely tucked in a magically protected pocket, except for one simple gold trunk, that she intended to use in order to prove that she was not only wealthy, but also that her magic was real.

(She could use it in front of them, but showing them a trunk accomplished two purposes in one, and it was pretty awe-inspiring for the novices. She herself had been suitably impressed by the available space inside a magical trunk. Strangely enough, it was more effective than, say, a fancy spell).

Her long, raven-black hair was up in a neat bun, held in place with magic and two silver, goblin-made pins, with emerald gleaming at the top. They were pretty – and they were coated with Basilisk Venom. Harriet used them as Senbons, in fact. She was quite good with them.

Her eyes were closed, and she was close to meditating, but wasn't. She was sending her magic through the seals and runes, powering them, feeling them activate bit by bit. She could feel Gaia's magic awakening at her magic's touch.

Gaia's magic was always there, but sleeping. Now, Harriet's magic was calling Hers, as was asked by the Ritual. She would be the one to power Harriet's travel. Death was the one who would permit it, thus rending it easier (and the one thanks to whom it was possible in the first place, since Death was in this other world, and thus Harriet could be there too).

She felt her magic pulsing through her body, and the Runes and Seals. Her right hand was clutching the Stone, the Cloak was draped around her shoulders, and she held the Wand in her left hand. She had become ambidextrous a long time ago.

She was also ready to use on their powers... for the first time since she mastered the Hallows.

---

It could have been a chilly night, but it was a warm one instead – all the more warm that Harriet's clothes were cold-resistant. A soft, soft wind was ruffling some leaves, but all in all it was rather quiet and still. Magic was concentrating in one place, and silence fell onto the Ritual.

Harriet felt the magic, pulsating through her veins, strengthening. The magics inherent to the seals and runes were merged with hers, and the Earth's magic was carefully intertwined within them all, powering everything.

It was her last chance at another life. A chance at Freedom, Liberty, a chance for Harriet. Only Harriet. She was trying one last time – if it failed, like everything before had failed, she would give up and live as a recluse.

Really, this was her last chance – her last try.

As the power augmented, Harriet concentrated on her power over the Hallows. It was a power like nothing else, and immediately it seemed that the temperature dropped. A deep mist slowly appeared out of nowhere, white and ghostly, progressively filling the area in silence.

The mist rolled and twisted, covering everything around the Runic circle. Strange, faceless forms could be seen in it, blending in shadows and opaque pans of mist threateningly. Whispers and murmurs could be heard, but no word was actually pronounced.

Maybe it was all in Harriet's head, or maybe it was some strange power of the Hallows'.

The whole area was now covered in the deep, strange mist ; except for what was within the circles. The vapor swirled around them, surrounding the Runes, curling around the symbols, and in the center of all was Harriet.

It was eerily, and scaring – an illogical, instinctive fear -, but Harriet didn't care. As Mistress of Death, the air charged with ominous omen and bearing the most ancient fear of all – Death – did nothing to her. At best, she was just distantly aware of it. It was part of her, whether she liked it or not, and so it could neither disturb nor scare her.

But even if it had, it wouldn't have been enough to stop her, for her concentration and determination were legendary. She would undertake this Ritual successfully, and nothing would stop her – certainly not mere mist, however deadly and powerful and otherworldly it could be.

But she wasn't aware of all of that. She didn't even see it. She only opened her eyes when the power was at its fullest, and when it was time to Call for Death.

"As Mistress of Death, I Call upon Death with the powers given to me by the Hallows. Answer me", she ordered, her voice steady and pulsating with power, in harmony with the waves of magic pulsing through the area by now.

The runes of the outer circle glowed in a bright emerald color, and Harriet could feel the magic that poured out of them. It was hers. They were Calling. She felt the magic pulsing through her body, through the earth and the air around her, and for a second, had the feeling that she could feel everything in this world, see everyplace, was everywhere.

The Hallows were vibrating in her hands, Wand and Stone clasped securely in her clenched hands, Cloak resting over her shoulders – she was protected from Death, unattainable. With or without the Cloak on, Death wouldn't be able to touch her, but this was a Ritual, an official Call. Decorum had to be respected, and though Harriet rarely was one for decorum, she did respect Death enough to follow with it.

(She also hoped Death would grant her request, though she would do it whatever Her answer was, but it would be easier with Her help, and there was no need to antagonize the powerful Being needlessly, was there ?).

It stopped as quickly as it had begun, but already a weight seemed to have settled on the clearing. A presence, other than hers, that was suddenly here – or more precisely, that finally showed itself. A portal appeared, tearing reality and darkening the clearing, pouring a strange, black smoke in the clearing. The smoke expended outward at an alarming rate, swirling with the mist, corrupting it. Soon, the only colors were in deep, dark grey and black shades. It was even more ominous than before, and the very air chilled when a tall, thin figure emerged from the portal.

It didn't emerge as much as the smoke suddenly condensed in a strange shape. Harriet could only see a long, black dress, and nothing else. But she didn't need to see in order to know who it was.

It was Death.

She could distinguish a long, thin scythe behind Death, and the only lights in the night by now were two eerily similar pairs of glowing green eyes.

Death and Harriet had the same eyes – or more accurately, the same eye color. An eerie green, deep and bright, and the exact same color as the Killing Curse. It seemed that those eyes could see past anything, through any barrier you may have constructed around you. They saw everything, and judged your very soul.

However, where Harriet's eyes had a warm light, shining with curiosity, weary hope, and Life, hidden behind carefully dressed protective walls ; Death's were cold, empty and freezing. They judged you, but you meant nothing to them.

Harriet's eyes pushed you to do better, to try and make her laugh, make her eyes shine and her heart mend ; and gave you hope if you had not any.

Death's eyes made you want to be dead, quite naturally, really. They were disturbing, in a more obvious way than Harriet's eyes were. They hold no warmth, no curiosity, no good feelings. If eyes were the soul's windows, then Death had no soul.

And if you knew you existed when being seen by someone else's eyes, then you would die if Death looked at you, for She never saw your life or your story when She looked at you. She only ever saw your death.

And Harriet's, while not as deadly and crushing, still held a wild, savage glint that said to anyone who knew how to see it, that she had seen more than anyone, that she had done more too, and that nothing, nothing would ever be able to make her yield. The beautiful fierceness and unadulterated pride of wild animals.

She was, in a strange way, a wild animal – and no one should ever try to submit her, for it would be their end. In that aspect, Harriet's eyes were as disturbing as Death's ones.

Harriet breathed deeply – it was time.

"You Called Me, Mistress ?", asked Death – and Her voice was the disturbing sound of gravestones grinding together – and how sad was it, that Harriet knew what sound that made ?

Harriet didn't even shiver.

"I have".

"What can I do for you, Mistress ?", rasped Death slowly.

Harriet wasn't fooled – she knew that Death already knew her intentions. She didn't think that her title was much more than just that – a title. While she was immortal, and the only soul Death couldn't touch ; she also knew that if she was to ask something of Death that She didn't want to do, then She wouldn't do it at all, no matter what Harriet would say or order.

No one could control Death – not even Her Mistress. Paradoxically, no one could control Death's Mistress – not even Death.

Yet she didn't doubt for one second that Death would make her regret ever trying to force Her to do something, if she was insane enough to try such a thing.

(She wasn't, for the record).

"From the powers of the Hallows, I called You, to judge my request and grant me my wish", she said, following the steps of the Ritual.

"I will judge and decide", accepted Death.

"I want to traverse the barrier of this world, and go in another one. I want to find a new life, a new chance, and depart forever from this Earth", exposed Harriet.

"You speak of Life when I am Death. Why should I grant you your wish ?", She rasped, walking slowly around the circles, disappearing in the shadows when they were too deep. It was as if She was gliding, hovering just above the ground, dissolving in the darker places until only Her glowing eyes could be seen, fixed on Harriet – freezing and killing the plants under Her. It reminded Harriet of the Dementors – but somehow, more.

Harriet never moved, didn't follow Death with her eyes. She was looking right before her. She was focused.

"Because I am caged, there, and not happy. Because I am Your Mistress, and ask this of You. Because You are as bored as I am, and that me going to another world will entertain You if nothing else. Because You don't care either way", said Harriet – and she couldn't help but smirk darkly. "Because Death is not to be chained to a world She despise, and I won't be either".

Being around Death always seemed to make the darkest part of her soul emerge.

Death chuckled – gut-clenching sounds of newborns' wails of agony, and nails scratching on a blackboard – though, for that one, Harriet was glad to say that it was only her own perspective, and that she had never heard newborns being tortured.

It was true, though. Death was bored, and Harriet's life was a source of amusement for Her. It was never dull nor boring – Harriet wouldn't be able to endure it.

As said before, she needed action, needed the feeling of being useful and helping, needed the danger and adrenaline. The risk, the thrilling taste of success, after a difficult situation. A peaceful, soft, and precious life wasn't for her.

Not now, maybe not ever.

(There was a reason she had decided to explore old, forgotten, dangerous places rather than just locking herself inside one of her Manor. It wasn't to perfect her tan).

(She didn't tan anyway).

"Because there is a price, for this travel, that I may be ready to pay. Because I will then owe you a favor", ended Harriet, calmly.

And it was true that she would have to pay something for this travel. One cannot cross the barrier of a world. Wizards are known to have travelled through Time, but never between worlds – they didn't even know other worlds and dimensions existed – and there was a reason for that.

One's soul is attached to one's world. They literally couldn't exist somewhere else. They are tied to a place, and when Death's servants come for them, they follow. It is different for every world – sometimes it is Reapers, other times Death Gods, or even Death herself, as an entity, who come and takes the souls.

But a Reaper couldn't take a soul that wasn't born on their world of jurisdiction. They had no rights, no power on other worlds' souls. That is why no one ever crossed worlds, even by accident – they were never authorized to do so.

Trying would kill the fool without fail, for the soul would be left behind, anchored to the world ; and the dead and soulless body would eternally float Nowhere, between worlds, and Damned.

Because their death would have been so unnatural, their soul would forever scream in agony, wandering unseen in the nights until the very end of the world.

But Harriet – Harriet's soul was out of reach for any Reaper, any God, and even Death Herself. It couldn't be taken – it was forever alive. So Harriet going to another world would really change nothing.

Her soul was only anchored to Harriet herself.

Furthermore, as Mistress of Death, she could go where Death was. Death was everywhere, every time – thus Harriet could go into another world. She was the only one able to do so.

Death outright laughed at that last answer – and this time, Harriet did cringe. Her laugh was nothing human, nothing kind, and even for someone like Harriet who had faced everything head on and persevered, it was a deeply disturbing sound.

"You are right. Very well, I shall grant you your request. Are you ready for My price ?"

"I am", she nodded.

"No one can see the ghosts in the world you want to go to. The souls pass in the Afterlife, and nothing will change that fact. You will not change it either, Mistress. I will block your Necromancer powers, you will not be able to use them", warned Death.

"... What if the dead attack me ?", asked Harriet.

And it was a good question. As Mistress of Death, the departed were naturally attracted to her, whether to ask for favor, answer, or eternal sleep. Some, though, were so full of hatred and loathing that they tried to attack her, maybe hoping to die once and for all. Those were driven by madness.

The dead could touch her. She was attuned to them – to Death – and ghosts could physically interact with her. If they learned that she couldn't protect herself from them – not anymore – they would harass her, and make her life a living Hell, ironically enough.

Harriet liked irony, but she doubted she would appreciate it on that point.

The dead were not bound to a single place, not the wandering spirits. Though some ghosts were indeed tied to a place, it was only those seen by every wizard or witch – those supported by magic. There were other types of ghosts, not all kind, and who could be full of malice.

Harriet didn't fancy going into another world only to be forever harassed by spirits.

"Smart Mistress", smirked Death with a pleased grin. Or what Harriet thought was a smirk, since Death's face was never visible. Harriet didn't think She even had a face. Still, Death had that annoying habit of always testing Harriet, carefully selecting Her words to see if Harriet would see the loopholes in them.

Harriet had learned her lesson after the first year in Her company.

(It involved alcohol, dead raised for the occasion, Harriet disguised as a zombie, and a small, terrorized village. Death could be childish like that. Harriet hadn't made the mistake again).

"You are still My Mistress. No dead can injure you. If some try, you are more than welcome to put their souls to rest. You will not be able to summon and see the dead, but you will be able to control those raised by others", She explained.

Harriet looked right into Death's eyes, sharply, eyes narrowing. There was Necromancers in this world as well ? Her snakes never told her anything about that.

"Your price is reasonable, and I will accept it", she answered simply, ignoring her own questions for now. There was no time for them in the middle of the Ritual – it had to be done before the sun even thought about peeking at the horizon. "What are the favors You ask ?"

"My price is not yet entirely given, Mistress", warned Death. "You will like it, though, I think. You complained often about your immortality, and while I am not surprised that My Mistress wouldn't be afraid of Me, I decided to help you. In this world, you will lose a part of your immortality. While nothing and no one will be able to kill you, Time will resume Its course for you, Mistress. You will age again, until such a time that your body will fail you, and ultimately die"

Harriet's gasp stayed caught in her throat, eyes wide.

"I will be able to die ?", she asked, hope coating her question.

Death made a shrugging gesture, indicating it was not exactly true. Such a human gesture coming from Death was as disturbing as Her laugh had been, though in a different way.

"Yes and no, Mistress. You are My Mistress, you cannot die. But your body will. You will then join Me, much like an entity, as I am. You will be able to reincarnate yourself, or take your form in another world – but you will not be tied to this body anymore. It is the best I can do for you", explained Death, not sounding sorry at all.

If fact, She didn't sound like anything particularly. She just talked.

Harriet swallowed – it was better than she could have hoped. Getting old... She had always thought she would never get to do that, thinking that she would die with Voldemort at best, or killed by him or someone (or even something, such had been her luck) at worst... So becoming old had seemed like an impossible, sweet dream.

Then she had become immortal, and the dream she had almost had, escaped her grasp forever. So to learn that she would be able to die, as much as she could die, of old age... That was a priceless gift. Death had to have known it.

"Thank You, Death. And You were right, I accept your price. Is there more, or will You tell me Your favors ?", Harriet asked, recovering quickly, pushing her rushed thoughts in a closed off room in her mind, silencing them.

She would think about it later. A Calling Ritual for Death is no place for wonderings. Not when she could almost touch Freedom with her fingertips.

"Men from every worlds and every time have tried to escape Me. None ever succeeded in this foolish quest, and none ever will. They always fall in front of Me when Time is due. But there is two souls, in this world, that I want you to claim for Me", said Death, finally stepping back to where She had first arrived in the clearing.

She had walked slowly through smoke and mist, walking with fantastical shapes, around the circles – never entering one.

"You will have them", immediately accepted Harriet.

She knew Death would never ask for an innocent's soul – She had no care for them. Every soul came to Her at a point, She had no need for Harriet's help – nor the interest for it.

The only souls She asked for were the ones of immortals, the ones She couldn't touch Herself (exactly like when She had asked Harriet to destroy some long forgotten Horcruxes, buried under magically hidden and deserted pyramids or temples. They were useless and wouldn't resuscitate their makers, the pieces of soul were too weak for that, but they irritated Death nonetheless and had to be destroyed).

"I do not care how much time you will take", She allowed. "As long as I have them before your body's death. I will give you their names when I so chose it".

"Understood", nodded Harriet, again. "I accept both your prices and request".

"Then, I have judged your wish, and decided to fulfill it. You may go", accepted Death, finalizing the Ritual.

Just as Her words ended, the wind suddenly began to raise. The clearing that had until now been calm, and otherwise quiet except for the two voices and the mist's murmurs, was suddenly agitated by a burst of wind coming from nowhere. It twirled around the circles, making the smoke dance and swirl wildly.

The same portal that had brought the smoke reappeared, only this time, it was sucking the mist back, pushed by the wind. Death dissolved in smoke and shadows again, Her glowing green eyes the last part of Her to fade in the black, swirling smoke. The wind picked up, howling in Harriet's ears, and it suddenly entered the circles.

Harriet felt it rage around her, and it was charged with a strange magic. It was old and young, sentient and hollow, cold and yet strangely warm to her. It was Death's magic. She had always felt it around her, but it was the first time she could actually realize it and pinpoint what it was. It was a feeling that had followed her for as long as she could remember.

But it was the first time she consciously recognized it.

The magical wind hurled around her, and she barely had the time to catch her pins before they disappeared in the smoke swirling madly everywhere. Her carefully brushed hair immediately became untamable again, right before they were too dancing wildly with the wind. She distractedly felt her pins' poison burning softly through her veins, where she had cut herself when catching the pins.

She didn't even look down, knowing her poison could do nothing to her – no poison was efficient against her, and certainly not her own. Her venom was the most potent of every world, she was sure of it (and her snakes had confirmed), and nothing less potent than it could ever affect her.

Not that she would die anyway, since she was immortal – except against Time, she remembered with a start. She felt a smile stretch her lips unconsciously. The poison dissolved in her blood, but she didn't even realize it.

She was watching the portal. It was sucking the smoke in, and she felt it tug at her, a force pushing her towards it. It was an ominous, black color ; and seemed to swallow every light there was. Not that there was many, but the green light of the runic circle seemed muted, now that it was there.

It was frightening, this portal. It reeked of death, of impossibility, of unknown. But it represented her Freedom, her Liberty, her new Chance.

Her last Chance.

She had been betrayed too many times to keep going, if this try revealed itself as crushingly disappointing as the others had been. It was truly the last time she tried.

And because it represented all of this, Harriet felt that she had never seen anything as beautiful than this portal. It represented Life, for her, rather than Death. It represented... everything.

She was suddenly aware that her Fuinjutsu seals were glowing as well, and felt deeply satisfied by this. She knew she had succeeded, of course, else she wouldn't have tried the Ritual now. But it was the first time she was using seals on such a large-scale effect, tied to Runes, and she still wasn't an expert in Fuinjutsu (far from it, though she could act as one, thanks to her knowledge of Runes. In many aspects, Runes were far more advanced than Seals. They offered a lot more possibilities, and flexibilities – yet Seals were... different. Purer. Maybe stronger).

The Seals were tugging at her, and she could feel the Runes pushing her, helped by the magical wind. The portal was nearing her, and she could feel the strength of the attraction exerted on her, body and magic.

She took a step, and disappeared in the darkness, closing her green eyes. For the first time since too many years, a sincere, hopeful, joyful smile was painted on her lips. Then, Harriet Dorea Potter-Black-Peverell-Slytherin-Griffindor-Ravenclaw forever disappeared from Earth.

For a moment, there was absolutely no light whatsoever. Then all the smoke was back in the portal, which disappeared soundlessly. The Seals had disappeared as soon as Harriet's feet had left the ground they were etched on, and the Runes were slowly losing their magic, dissolving as well in the Earth.

A moonlight ray suddenly pierced the clouded night, but it lightened only an empty clearing, where potent magic was slowly disappearing in the air. The sky cleared, stars like tiny diamonds shining as brightly as they could, valiantly providing light to everyone that was out tonight.

In the clearing, as in the forest surrounding it, animals' sounds reappeared, and Life cautiously returned to normal, blackened plants straightening and going back to a healthy green. A few hours later, as the sun was dutifully lightening the world, it was as if nothing had ever happened here.

And no one would ever know what had happened in this place.

---

Harriet was nowhere, and everywhere. She was no one, and she was so utterly herself, that for the first time she felt completely free. Free of burdens, free of thoughts, free of past, and even free of body.

She felt as if she had no form, but was only essence. Her, with no artifice, no masks, no lies. Nothing to tie her down.

She couldn't hide, but felt she didn't want to. There was no one, there, only her and her magic, hugging her presence. There was no north nor south, no up nor down. There was nothing, and everything.

It was exhilarating.

She wanted to laugh, but she didn't know if she even had a mouth. She felt at peace, one she had never felt before, not even when she had just killed Voldemort. Back then, she had just felt hollow. Now, she was feeling.

It was the first time of her long life, that Harriet felt peace in her soul. It was the first time that she knew what peace was. It was a strange, but marvelous feeling. She wanted to stay like that for as long as possible. Nothing mattered.

It seemed to last for eternity, and ended way too soon. A tug on her soul and magic jerked her away, strengthening slowly, and directing her in a given direction. She was so utterly satisfied, then suddenly it ended, and there was ground under her feet.

Literally coming back to earth was violent.

---

She was standing in a fading Fuinjutsu seal, the one traced by her snakes to act as her anchor in this world. All around her, there was green and brightness. The sun was high, through surrounded by ominous dark clouds, but it shined warmly on the world while it still could.

Despite the clouds, announcing a storm soon to come, it was warm and calm. All around Harriet, tall trees with luscious green leaves let her know that she was currently standing in a forest – in a clearing, to be more accurate.

It was a small clearing, with no signs of human life – except, maybe, for the kunais scattered across the ground, and embedded in tree trunks, as well as the broken branch here and there. Her eyes momentarily widened, and she quickly checked that her trunks were still safely in her pocket.

Her fingers brushed across the reassuring coldness of the shrunken basilisk hide (it would have been impossible to shrunk them, if not for the runes engraved in the trunk, for basilisk hide was absolutely resistant to magic), and the soft hum of her own magic.

Those kunais weren't hers – but she wouldn't have bet too much on this, given her legendary luck. Thankfully, it appeared that her painstakingly packed trunks were still perfectly secure in her magically protected pocket. Thank Merlin for small favors.

(Or, you know, Death and Magic).

There must have been a fight here, recently, for the kunais weren't covered with moss and grass, but there was no presence for miles around her – none that had a human soul, at least – so she was safe on that point. No prank from her snakes, no unwanted stranger she would have to suppress the memories of, no need to hurry or hide.

That moment was hers.

Harriet breathed deeply. The air was pure and clean, like nothing she had ever breathed. There was no gas, no pollution in it. It seemed to cleanse her, and with each breath she took, she felt her shoulders lose the apprehension that made them tense.

Her native world may be way more advanced than this one, but it was also way more destructive. If she had had to choose where to live, between this world and her old one, even without her past, she would have chosen the Elemental Nations... purely based on the quality of the environment. She had yet to see if this world was better than her old one, inhabitant-wise.

The only sounds around her, were the nature's own. Birds were chirping an unknown song, wind softly whispered through the trees, and small animals moved here and there, shuffling through leaves and bushes. It was truly wonderful, peaceful, idyllic.

Harriet immediately felt a feeling of loss. It wasn't something she had expected, truth be told – but it wasn't a feeling tied to her mind. She wasn't missing her world, or her past – that she very much wanted to leave behind – and didn't even regret what she had done, though it had a taste of finality... There was no going back. No, the feeling of loss pertained to something more primal, more natural, instinctual even.

The Earth's magic, that she had bathed in since her birth, was gone. It was something she had never really taken note of, something that had always been with her, to the point that it had faded in the background, like a given. The sort of thing that you are so used to, that you realize how much it meant to you only when you lose it.

Like a mother's presence, enlacing you wherever you are – until a cold feeling of loss seize you when she dies. Harriet knew, intellectually, that Earth had her own magic. She had herself asked for Her help in her Ritual, using it to power her circles. But it was only now that she was realizing that while soft and quiet, it had accompanied her everywhere and every time, without fail.

Whether she was at her best or at her worst, it had always been here – not caring, per se, but... here enough that she had never really been alone. It was a new realization, for her, one that strangely tightened her throat.

This realization came with the bittersweet feeling you have when you realize what you had sacrificed for freedom. Freedom always had a price, and up until then, Harriet had always thought that the price she would pay – leaving her parents' graves behind, her manors, her house-elves, who had become a make-shift family, and everything she knew – was an easy one. One she really didn't mind paying, one she would not really feel the loss of.

And no there was this... emptiness, inside her. Oh, it wasn't a glaring one, or even overwhelming... But there was a sudden silence in the back of her head, where the Earth's magic had always buzzed faintly. Harriet didn't regret her choice, not now, and probably not ever (she would have never been left in peace, in her native world, and she knew she would have had to fight the same people she had fought for before. In this world, she was no one, and literally no one knew about her right now), but she no knew that it was a feeling that would never really leave her. It would fade in time, like the Earth's magic had faded in the background long ago, but right now...

Right now, she was feeling the loss keenly.

It wouldn't last forever, of course, but she would remember the motherly embrace of her Earth's magic, the only motherly embrace she ever consciously remembered feeling. Mrs Weasley's didn't count. They had always been a bit... suffocating. Not easy, not loving, not warm – strong and invasive, sometimes.

No matter. She looked up, eyes closed, and laughed.

It was laughing, in order not to cry – she couldn't cry now. She hadn't cried in so long, not since Sirius' death, except when she had nightmares. Then, she woke up in tears, but they would quickly abate once she was back to her senses. She disliked crying – always had. It was a mark of weakness, or so she had always been told by the Dursleys... no one ever told her otherwise.

So despite the unplanned for feeling of loss, despite the realization that she had done it, that her old world had been too much and she had had to flee in order to be herself – despite the fact that no, there was no going back, and that she would never make up with the persons that had been her first friends, ever, and who had been with her through the life-threatening seven years she had spent at Hogwarts... Despite everything, despite the mess of emotions raging inside her mind and heart right now, she laughed.

She had just gained her freedom, after facing all of the hardships Fate and Life had sent for her. Why would she cry ? So she laughed, and laughed so much, it became liberating.

And exhilarating.

Fresh air caressing her skin, brushing softly her messy black hair, she was standing tall and freely. She had done it. She let that knowledge come at the front of her mind, said it in all the languages she knew, let it roll on her tongue and let the mirth the words created burst inside her.

She had succeeded !

Oh, how she would love to see the wizards' faces ! They had never planned this, had they ? In all of their plans to take her inheritance from her, and take control of her, they had never planned for Harriet leaving their world altogether ! They could all burn in Hell, now. As far as Harriet was concerned, she was done with them.

She had been done with them since a long, long time already – but now, it was real. Because not only she was done with them, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They could try anything they wanted, they would never be able to reach her.

Now, they could vote however much they wished. It would mean nothing, would change nothing. She had won, again, against an enemy worse than even Voldemort. Voldemort, she could fight against. She had fought against, with everything she had. She had never had any hope of being accepted by him, nor had she ever wished for his acceptance, and it was an open, magical fight.

Both of them knew who the enemy was, and both of them knew what to expect. Roughly. (He probably hadn't expected her to best him).

But against the wizarding world, what could Harriet do ? There was so much enemies, she didn't know how to fight. She couldn't fight with magic, because she wasn't attacked with it. If she retaliated by violence, she would be in the wrong, at fault, and a monster.

She was attacked with politics, greediness, and slander. They used words, and for all her inner Slytherin, Harriet wasn't that good with them.

She could use them, and win people, but she was honest to a fault (she loathed lying. Her relatives always lied to her, and she refused to look like them, even in a single point), and in politics such qualities weren't an advantage. She had had to hide who she was for so long, that she couldn't do it anymore – refused to do so. She wouldn't do any concession on that point.

So how could she have fought without losing the last thing of importance that was still hers – herself ? How could she have succeeded, without playing by their rules, thus becoming what they wanted ?

She would have lost before even beginning. She didn't know their traditions, their customs, and in a hundred years she had never learned any, except the obvious ones. After the war, they had refused, criticized, and ridiculed her, because she wasn't a perfect Heiress. She had tried nonetheless, because of Ron and Hermione's insistence, but she was done taking abuse from anyone.

She had then decided that if she didn't like her, after all she had done for them, then she wouldn't try and become someone else, someone up to their expectations.

She had given too much, she refused to give herself.

So she had never really learned – magic was way more interesting and useful. What interest could she have in learning how to behave like a proper Lady, when she could learn a spell that created the animal of her choosing out of air and earth ? (Of course, she had to know said animal before attempting it, but it would have been too easy otherwise. Harriet had never said 'no' to a little challenge).

Anyway, she had never had any interest in learning rules that considered her to be a property of males. And now, she would never have to learn (though she knew how to act her part as an Heiress, put a polite, refined, aristocratic mask, for a bit ; after having to suffer through multiples balls she had been dragged to by Hermione and Ron before she broke her friendship with them some knowledge had stuck).

And she would never have to fight for those ungrateful bastards ever again either. No matter what happened to them – a new Dark Lord, serves them right ; or a riot from magical creatures, even better – she would never have to fight their battles for them every again.

They could try as much as they wanted, she had already won this particular war. She would never see them again, not if she could help it, and they would never be able to do anything against her.

So she laughed all of her regrets and insecurities out ; arms extended on either side of her body. She laughed as the constricting weight around her heart disappeared, and she felt as if she could fly without needing wings. She felt that light.

She didn't stop laughing when a cold raindrop fell onto her cheek. She didn't open her eyes, either, when suddenly the sky broke with a thundering sound, and all the water contained in the clouds poured down on the earth. The soft thumping sound of the raindrops on and around her was peaceful, and she felt the water dampening her hair and clothes – but found she didn't care.

She stayed right in the rain, laughing and breathing. There is something in a storm on a sunny day, something so alive and warm, something beautiful. Powerful. Unrestrained. But soft, reassuring. Cleansing.

After a while, Harriet felt the quiet, neutral energy around her, that wasn't magic but was everywhere like it had been – chakra.

It was utterly neutral, not welcoming her but not rejecting her either. It wrapped around her, like it wrapped around everything, when her Fuinjutsu seals finally ended dissolving into nothingness.

It was neutral, and it was new – exactly as her life was right now. Neutral and new – full of possibilities and hope. Everything could happen. Harriet was determined to face the future as she had always had – head on. Regrets had no place in her life, not anymore. She was determined to let her past behind.

Her bill was cleaned.

Despite the rain, it was still warm and bright. Her drenched clothes were sticking to her skin, but she wasn't cold. She was smiling uncontrollably, so much it hurt her cheeks. There weren't used to such exercise.

She finally opened her eyes, looking around her in interest. Her smile, honest, true, and so full of life, widened. The clearing she was standing in was full of snakes – coiled on the ground between forming puddles, hanging from trees, hiding under brushes.

They were all looking at her, and she heard their pleased hisses. Their Queen was back in this world, and soon back in their realm, if only for a few hours. They would be able to clear their name, get free of Orochimaru and Manda, and finally get their respect back.

They would stop being looked down upon by the other summons (though they didn't care much for those sticky toads), and they would be back to Konoha.

Speaking of this, thought Harriet, making her first step in this world ; she would have to find her way there. Soon.

But, she mused, as she walked slowly towards her snakes, that was for a later time. For now, she had a Sannin to find, questions to ask, snake to punish, and Contract to get back.

Her smile lessened, becoming a smirk. She was needed, she had something to do. She didn't know of what tomorrow was made of, she didn't know if something unexpected would happen – probably. Her heart was pounding in her ears – she could literally do anything, from there.

No one knew her.

No one had the smallest idea that she existed !

She was in front of a white page, and she could do absolutely everything from there. If she wanted to become the worst kind of people there was on this world – she could ! If she wanted to become a nurse, a butcher, hell, even a teacher – she could !

She could do absolutely everything she so wished. No one knew her, or even about her. Her name held no history, no interest. No one could judge her.

She was herself. Even if she had her body back, which she didn't feel when she had been floating nowhere before touching the ground, she was still herself. No expectation, no one knowing her name, no past following her everywhere.

Just Harriet – not even that. Just an unknown woman, in a world full of unknown people.

She ignored her damp clothes – she would dry them magically as soon as the rain stopped, or simply take a bath in one of her magical tents. She had put her battle clothes on because she didn't know where she would land, (facetious snakes and all that) and better be prepared than sorry.

She had already decided to present herself as a Lady – an Hime, in this world. No matter the world, money and lineage were important, and would open her many doors. Money would make sure she would be accepted in a ninja Village – they needed money to survive, after all, and wouldn't turn her away if she admitted to being rich. Better go all out and say she was rich like Croesus, than try to justify where her gold came from. Better face the other lords' hypocrisy (though they could surprise her, she wasn't holding her breath) than the ninjas' suspicion that she was a thief.

She wasn't, for the record. The only thing she had ever stolen was food, when she had been desperately hungry.

So several kimonos were ready for her use, and she very much intended to use them as soon as she came in contact with important people (such as what they called the Hokage, in this world). But right now, combat clothes were good enough.

And rain couldn't go through them anyway, though it could very well go under them by running down her exposed skin.

She disappeared through the trees, magically recovering the forgotten kunais, and stocking them in a bottomless pouch. You never know when you might need some – and it would help her see the differences between this world's kunais and her native's, if there was any. It was sure that there would be some, considering that her world's were for competition mainly ; and this world's were used – perfected – to kill.

It was a literal business.

Slaloming through trees, making almost no sound under the drumming rain, she walked slowly, allowing her slithering friends to keep up with her.

She had a Sannin to find.

While she had already fought, against stronger enemies, it had always been with the crushing weight of the disaster that would follow should she lose. Everyone's lives literally reposed on her shoulders. It was the first time she would fight for herself, and her snakes, and without the world's future laying in her hands.

She was fighting for herself only.

She had never felt that alive, in all of her life.

---

Tall, strong walls were standing in an immense clearing, encircling a village. They were so tall Harriet had to look ridiculously up in order to see where they ended. She had never been tall (damn the Dursleys !), but it truly was ridiculous.

Though, those were mighty walls. From what her snakes had told her, they had only been breached once, six years ago, during the Kyuubi's attack. They were good walls, if it had taken the strongest of the Tailed Beasts to breach them (though, granted, even the weakest of the Bijuus would have had the same success. It just had never happened).

They were of a dark brown color, but even then, it didn't quite manage to hide the brown stains of blood, dried on them. There was also some smoke stains – they had seen death and explosions, alright. Those walls had seen war, and survived.

While less respect-worthy than if it had been people (though Harriet knew that every ninja in this village – no, this world, probably – had seen battle and survived), Harriet knew the worth of a strong, trusty wall.

How many wards and walls had failed, during the wizarding war ? Too many to count.

Those walls were encircling what had the potential of becoming her home.

In the two weeks she had spent in the Elemental Nations, she had never felt so at peace, so right. Almost as if she had been made for this world (and bar the magic she had, she fit so well here, it was amazing. Harriet wouldn't be surprised to learn Destiny had planned for her to come there. She didn't like Destiny, or Fate, or whatever you wanted to call Her – but she felt that she couldn't fault Her... This time).

But she needed a Village – a Ninja one, in fact.

As said before, she didn't have chakra. What she had was magic – which could easily be considered as a kekkai genkai, in this world. But it was a cheated one. There was nothing she couldn't do – and as such, she didn't think she was narcissist in thinking that she would have all of the Ninja Villages after her.

They would surely try to capture her, and breed her, in order to have more magic users (yeah, right. They could always try).

While Harriet wasn't worried they would ever succeed, she didn't fancy having to live her (now limited) life on the run. She could hide perfectly (she had practice, since the Horcruxes' hunt – well, that, and magic), but didn't want to live a life hidden, always having to look over her shoulder to see if they weren't catching up with her. They were way stronger than wizards, after all. And while they couldn't kill her, nor capture her (forever, at least. She could always escape, even if she ever was knocked out by one of them, as soon as she was back to herself. It's not as if they knew how to block magic, after all. A quick apparition and she would be out of wherever they would have tried to lock her), that didn't mean it wouldn't be an enormous bother.

She hadn't exchanged a shitty life for a slightly less shitty one. No way.

So she had decided to willingly rejoin a Village. Now, she hadn't chosen it lightly. She had chosen Konoha for a reason. Reasons, in fact.

Not only was it the original affiliation of her snakes (this way, they wouldn't forever be labeled as traitors), but Konoha's mindset was the one she liked best. The way they didn't see their ninjas as mindless tools – that, and their conviction in teamwork.

Enemy shinobis going into a fight with Konoha knew that rather than one-and-one matches, like they would face should they be against any other Village, with Konoha it was always going to be a melee – and rarely in their favor. Konoha ninjas fought in team, with each knowing their teammates' strengths and weaknesses, and knowing how to fight with them.

They were even more dangerous for this – for all that the other Villages mocked them for their 'softness'.

That was this softness, that had also attracted Harriet. Konoha was the only Village that accepted differed payment, or accords in means of payments. If one didn't have enough money for a mission, Konoha would try and find another way for him or her, or them, to pay.

Those were the reasons why Harriet had chosen Konoha. She had more hopes for this Village than for any other – but that didn't mean she would accept everything they said.

She was determined to be accepted as she was, and nothing else. By nature, she was a leader, though a reluctant one. She was better as a lone wolf, but she knew how to give orders. She was less good at taking them. Had been, once, when she had been very little – but that had left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she had now an almost pathologic inability to play by the rules. It came from her deep distrust in adults, and considering that they had been the ones to give orders and rules for most of the time she had been around people, trying to control her life and actions... her first reflex when given an order was to see how she could avoid it.

Whether by simply saying 'no', as she had done more and more often once adult, or by finding ways around it, it didn't matter. She rarely followed orders if they went against what she wanted, or if she disliked them. She could follow them if they were good, if the person issuing them knew what they were doing... She had done so, during the war. Hermione, mainly, was a bossy person, and Harriet had rarely felt the need to go out of her way and work around her.

After the war... well, let's say that Harriet's trust in Hermione had melted like snow in a desert. And thus she hadn't taken orders from her anymore.

Thankfully, ninjas were not fond of rules either. Or rather, they knew them all in order to better break them. That was fine by Harriet, though she knew that they lived by what they called the 'Ninjas Rules'. She also knew that the best of them considered the Rules more as a guideline. Well, she hadn't read the rules yet, hadn't managed to get her hands on them, but she could guess what they said.

So yes, ninjas followed rules – more, they followed their Hokage's orders whether they disliked it, or whether it meant their death. The Hokage's words were absolute... and that was something Harriet wouldn't accept. She would never blindly follow someone – not again.

But she knew how to follow orders, if it came down to that – though she much more preferred to be given a mission, and have the freedom to accomplish it as she wanted. The stricter the orders, the less inclined she was to follow them. Still, follow them she could, and she also knew how to work in a team. Hermione, Ron and herself hadn't been called the 'Golden Trio' for nothing.

As said before, she knew the importance of teamwork, and as such knew how to fight with someone. She also wasn't too proud as to refuse advice from someone better informed than her. Many times, she had encountered wizards who knew more than her on a subject, and she had dutifully listened to them – until such a time that she didn't need to listen anymore, because she knew as much as they did, if not more.

She didn't like depending of someone else. It came with her childhood.

Still, the person issuing the orders couldn't be anyone. They would have to have won her respect, even her trust, and that was no easy feat.

(Dumbledore had, once. Had won her respect and trust, just because he had been the one to open the Magical world to her – even if it technically was Hagrid, the half-giant had heavily insisted that it was all thanks to Dumbledore's actions. And she had been young, naïve, hopeful, blinded. Not burnt enough by betrayals yet. That's how Dumbledore had been able to somehow control her, better than anyone else had ever been able to do).

(It only made his betrayal all the more painful).

But she had never submitted herself, to anyone. She even rejected the 'Impero', since the very first time it had been cast on her. She had been fourteen, with an escaped Deatheater cosplaying as her DADA teacher... Quite the normality, in her life.

But there, she would have to recognize someone as her leader – the Hokage.

She would have to judge the man, of course, but she was confident that she would be able to trust this man. She would never bow to him (neither Harriet nor Death ever bowed to anyone – they literally couldn't), but she could, should the need arise, take direct orders from him (except if it was stupid orders, in which case she would make him listen to reason, even if she had to force him). The rest of the time, she would just take missions. She could follow mission objectives.

Well, she knew she would have to wait a bit for that – they were a ninja Village. They were nothing if not suspicious as Hell. But she would manage. She always did.

Still, if they didn't accept her and her terms, she would just have to go to another Hidden Village, right ? No matter which (except Mist, since they seemed to have a bit of something against kekkai genkais in this moment, if her snakes were to be believed).

(And there was a civil war. She would do her very best to avoid the place, thank you. She really didn't want to go and search for problems, or willingly take part in another war).

And if none of the Village was satisfactory, then she would just wander through the Nations, ninjas hot behind her ass. A shitty life, but a better than her last one – and a better one than the one she would have had should she had to submit herself to a Village she had no loyalty for.

Not that they would ever be able to force her, and not that they would ever be able to find her if she wanted to hide ('cause hello, magic. In extreme cases, she would just put repulse-muggles wards around the largest of her tents, and live happily in the Caste (yes, a castle-tent, because why ever not ?), going to do missions of her own and disappearing back in as soon as she was done.

Freedom.

Yet she knew she would become crazy, because for all that she liked to try and convince herself, she wasn't made for loneliness. She had been, once (Dursleys), but she had known friendship – even if the end had been painful, Ron and Hermione had been her friends, her siblings – and now that she had tasted it, she craved it, even if she knew how badly it could burn.

She knew she would need people to talk to, to see, people knowing her and people she knew ; people she could fight with and laugh with and live around if nothing else.

Yet she would never lessen her standards. She was too proud for that, and had been betrayed too many times. She knew concessions, and had made too much of them already. She was ready to make some more, because no one in the Elemental Nations had ever betrayed her, but there was some things she refused to ever abandon.

Well, she would see, she decided, returning to her study of the walls.

She was standing at the edge of the forest, at a small distance from the gates. She wasn't hiding, but given that she was using the invisibility power of the Cloak, it was as good as if she was.

She had followed the path up until there, and had seen a team of shinobis from Konoha racing above her towards their Village. They had been quick, but she had been able to make that they were Jonins, coming back from a mission.

They had the standard uniform, so it wasn't hard to tell. That green vest was a dead giveaway.

(She was quite satisfied with herself, realizing that her training had been successful, and that she could now see people and things moving at high speeds. She had trained in her world, but there was nothing better than certainty).

She still found a bit strange that ninjas preferred to run through the trees when there were perfectly good roads, but she had to admit that it was quicker that way (though she was still favoring the roads for now. She wasn't hurried, after all). They hadn't seen her, since she was hiding her presence with invisibility and an 'Ignore-Me' ward, but Harriet was reasonably certain that they were very high ranked nins.

The team was still at the gates, speaking to the two Chunins guards, when she arrived a few minutes later. Harriet knew what they were doing – a show of strength.

They were probably some very good and infamous ninjas, of that she was sure now. Them staying there after a mission showed their strength, resilience, and power. They were not wounded, not tired, not stressed, if they were taking the time to chat with the guards.

In truth, they were maybe one of this aforementioned things (though probably more tired than anything), but it was a warning. A warning to spies, and enemies.

For you see, Konoha was dangerously weakened.

Eight years ago, the Kyuubi's attack cost them their Hokage, as well as a lot of ninjas' lives. Three years later, a scheme orchestrated by Kumo began with the attempted kidnapping of the Hyuuga Heiress, Hinata, at the age of three ; and ended with the death of their best Jonins, the Hyuuga Clan Head's twin. Hinata's father, Hiashi, killed the kidnapper, but since they had no proof of his misdeed, Kumo had been in its right to ask for Hiashi's life in retribution, the kidnapper having been Kumo's ambassador for a peace treaty between Konoha and Kumo. Hiashi's tween, Hizashi, had taken his brother's place – but one of Konoha's best Jonin had died nonetheless.

Then, only a little less than one year ago, four years only after Hizashi's death, occurred the Uchihas' massacre.

One of their stronger Clans, annihilated in a night, by one of their own ninjas – a member of the very same Clan, Itachi Uchiha, now a missing nin.

All of this had happened a few years after the Third Great Shinobi War. It had been a very rough time for the Village, with a lot of losses and hardships. They were weakened, and many, if not all of the other Villages, were trying to infiltrate them, in order to see if they were weakened enough for an invasion (even in this state, they were still rumored the strongest of the Major Villages, with none other than The Professor, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as their Hokage. It was enough to make one pause).

But they were on very shaky grounds, and at the first sign of distress, others would act like sharks smelling blood in water – and do everything in their power to try and behead Konoha once and for all.

It was a very tense climate right now, and that would most definitely complicate her integration in Konoha. They would be even more suspicious of her now – but if she played her cards right, everything would be alright. Her story was too extravagant to be anything else than the truth, after all, and she knew they were suspicious, not stupid.

Still, it was going to be a long conversation, she was sure of that. And it would be truly successful only if they accepted her, conditions and all. She would settle for nothing else.

At the very least, it would be an interesting day, thought Harriet, stopping her invisibility and stepping out in the open.

Immediately, the shinobis' attention focused on her, and she could see their hands suddenly hovering over their weapons' handles (though she hadn't seen the movements they did in order to do so. They were fast).

Still, she did nothing else than walk slowly towards the gates, doing her best to look peaceful. She was peaceful, of course, but with ninjas you never know.

There was three Jonins, the squad that had hopped above her just a few minutes ago, and two chunins, the gates' guards. She was sure that they were all part of the ANBUs anyway, but they had to be seen doing regular and official missions, after all. No one could officially know who was an ANBU and who wasn't. A ninja suddenly stopping doing missions would be a little bit too obvious.

Still, their faces were visible – though for one, it was as good as if he still had his mask, since the only part of his face visible was his right eye. Way to hide one's face. But if it worked for him...

Another one was smoking (and Harriet would have thought that as ninjas, they took the utmost care of their health, but apparently no. Strange, that – not only it weakened his lungs, but the smoke's odor must be hard to hide when in field missions, since it stuck to the skin).

The last one was lazily rolling a senbon in his mouth (and it supported her humble opinion that the best ninjas were all crazy – scratch that, her humble opinion that all ninjas were crazy. In the good way, though – not Orochimaru-crazy. It that was the case, she would never have come here). But she had to admit, apart fro his apparent need to put pointy objects in his mouth, he was quite handsome.

The guards were strange as well, at least from Harriet's point of view. They were quite different from any other guard she had ever seen – even though they looked bored as Hell, as a lot of guards often did. Well, right now they looked weary and suspicious, but you know what she meant. One of them showed only one eye, the other one hidden by his dark brown hair ; while the other had a bandage around his face, covering the arch of his nose, and his black hair was in strange spikes.

Sadly, right now, none of them looked particularly happy to see her.

She stopped right before the guards' post, and tactfully pretended that the Jonins were not surrounding her in case she tried anything. With a start, she realized that she was still under her hood, and that they couldn't see her face. That certainly explained a tiny bit of their weariness – they probably thought she was hiding something.

Well, something even bigger than what she was hiding (she wasn't intending to reveal everything to them. Her having to kill two 'immortal' ninjas, for one. You never know – what if her targets were from Konoha ? Doubtful, but possible).

Slowly, she raised her hands and put her hood down, smiling as gently and non-threateningly as she could. She could do gentle, yes, but she had a bit of difficulty about the 'non-threatening' part. Mistress of Death – it apparently affected her aura, whatever that was. She had dozed on during Death's lengthy and dry explanation. Right now, she knew that what she was going to do and say during this day would decide of her immediate future. It was no joking matter, so she tried to smile as best as she could.

She could feel their surprise, and privately admitted that she didn't look like an intimidating kunoichi – more like a beautiful doll. She was aware that she looked delicate, and fragile ; but they should know, better than anyone else, that appearances could be deceiving.

No matter. If they became too relaxed around her, then they would have to learn the hard way, should they ever do anything to anger her.

"Good morning", she said, breaking the silence.

"What is your business with Konoha ?", asked one of the guards suspiciously.

Well, straight to the point, huh ? They sure didn't waste time. Not even a 'good morning' back.

"I have information for your Hokage, and would like to obtain a meeting with him", she explained softly, taking a pre-written piece of paper out of her pocket very slowly (they were looking at her like hawks), and posing it on the guards' table.

There, she didn't look threatening at all.

She felt a wave of this neutral energy they called 'chakra' wash over her, and knew that they had tried to sense her. As in, tried to sense how much chakra she had. Well, she had to say, they would be disappointed. In fact, disoriented would be more exact.

And sure enough, they looked puzzled – and dare she say it ? Worried.

Well. That hadn't been expected.

"Is something the matter ?", she asked, frowning.

She hadn't made a mistake, had she ?

"Who are you ?", wearily asked one of the guards, kunais tightly held in both his hands, in a reversal grip.

In fact, every one of them had their weapons out, and she could feel their chakras ready to act. The leader – the one hiding his face, and to whom they all deferred – had even lifted his hitai-ate up.

Well. His hidden eye was different from his black one, all red and whirling black comas, and she wasn't sure why he was hiding it – but now wasn't really the moment, was it ? She couldn't have already messed up. She had literally just talked ! So sure, she had never been the best with words, but Hell, she couldn't be that bad, could she ? She was sure she had done nothing to warrant their extremely obvious suspicion of her.

"Right", she nodded, realizing she had forgotten the quite basic politeness. "Harriet Dorea Potter – I will save you from the rest".

There was a silence, full of disbelief, and one of the Jonins (the one who would one day choke on his senbon, Harriet was sure, and it would be a stupid, stupid way to go for a ninja, but whatever worked for him, huh ?) tried to pronounce it.

"Hari-hètte Dore-ha Potteru... ?"

Harriet winced softly at her name's butchering, and wisely proposed another way of calling her. She wasn't that attached to her name in any case – had, in fact, been called 'Harry' ever since her first year at Hogwarts, even if it was a man's nickname – and what she had in mind was still close to her original name.

"Well, how about you call me Hari Potta ? I think that's my name's translation in this world".

The leader – and silver hair was so strange, since he wasn't old at all – growled warningly, and she got the feeling they all thought she should be scared of the red moving eye – but really, she had no idea of what it was.

Maybe she should have asked her snakes about Konoha's best ninjas. She would have been prepared. Damn. She always managed to forget something.

"I just told you. My name doesn't exist there, I can't do anything about it" she snapped, annoyed.

She took a deep, calming breath – she had never been the best at this patience thing.

"Look, I really mean no harm. I just want you to give my paper to your Hokage, and ask if I can have a meeting with him. What is the matter ? I know it may sound suspicious, but come on, I'm not trying anything – just staying put, waiting at the gates", she explained.

Her tone wasn't whiny.

No.

"You're dead !", finally blurted one of the guards – the one that hadn't talked to her before.

And really, that was their problem ? Nothing she couldn't rectify – hold on. She shouldn't be dead.

Had she been attacked and she wasn't aware of it ? No, that was stupid. She would have, at the very least, woke up if they (whoever they were) had attacked at night, and she didn't think she was that oblivious to her own body. Plus, they would have had to go through her protective wards – and let's be real. That would never happen, since they didn't have magic.

Surely she would have remarked ?

She quickly glanced down at herself, frowning. There had been this one time (only once, okay ?!) where she had walked away from a fight with a sword stuck through her heart. She hadn't realized at the time, and it was only when other people, walking in the streets, panicked that she had remarked this small detail.

But there had been a fight right before ! She had been distracted, and she couldn't die anyway so it was no matter, but at least there had been an occasion for that to happen.

But not right now – and she was relieved to see that indeed, she wasn't prone to forgetfulness, and there was nothing that could make one suppose that she should be dead.

"I'm not", she deadpanned. "At least, I don't feel like I am".

"You have no chakra", growled the silver haired Jonin.

And really, what was with him and growls ? He looked like a dog – or maybe a wolf, but that was near enough. Both were canine.

Actually, she realized, he also smelled like one – in undertones, as if he was often in contact with some. Often enough that it had become part of his scent. Oh, wait, there was some ninja Clan in Konoha that worked with dogs, her snakes had said. Maybe he was one of them ?

If he was, then maybe he wasn't that bad. Harriet quite liked dogs (obviously).

Still an annoying ass (but a fine one).

"No...", she confirmed, slowly, unsure of what was the problem.

Then she realized, and wanted to smack herself on the head. Of course they would be shocked about that – everyone had chakra in this world ! From the strongest leader to the smallest civilian newborn, they still had chakra – and at the very least, chakra coils.

One without chakra coils was dead.

Hence them thinking she was dead – or should be.

Damn, how utterly stupid she could be sometimes !

Well, she had never been one to refrain herself for doing something, so she did smack herself on the forehead.

She ignored their somewhat amused and puzzled looks. It was such a stupid mistake ! So evident, why hadn't she realized... ?

"Yeah", she finally nodded tiredly. "That's actually part of what I want to talk with your Hokage, but you can say that it's a part of my kekkai genkai".

They still looked very unsure, and she could feel their chakra checking her, where her coils should have (approximately) been, and her heartbeat. It was beating, alright.

"What are you ?!", snapped the silver haired one – and he was doing nothing to be appreciated. Really.

"A human being, if that's what worrying you", she snapped back, narrowing her eyes. "I'm very much alive, thank you for caring".

And maybe being snarky and sassy right now wasn't her best idea, but she was stressed – her future depended on this very day ! – and worried, and sarcasm was her first defense.

"You don't look – don't feel like you are", he barked, suspicion pouring out of him in waves.

"Appearances can be deceiving, you should now that", she growled, before adding with satisfaction. "Prat".

He launched himself at her – and oh, my. He was fast, very fast. As fast as Orochimaru, but then the creep hadn't have very much time to do anything other than take her hits. Yes, their... discussion hadn't gone that well.

But as fast as he was, he was still brutally blocked by her protective wall. It was a ward that she had invented long ago – created by her own magic, it acted like a literal bubble around the caster. She had used it often enough that she could put it up with a thought and within a second – and she had them raised since stepping in the open. She didn't need any concentration at all, because she had written the ward in Runes, translating its effects, and had tattooed said Runes on her right arm.

Well, she hadn't done it herself – she had gone to a tattoo artist, thank you very much – but she had infused her magic in the black ink without the artist's knowledge, so one could say that she had a part in the realization of her tattoo. Still, it meant that her magic only needed to activate the Runes, and the ward immediately appeared. Less than half of the half of a second, all in all.

It was a habitude, really, and though it had never saved her life (since she couldn't lose it), it certainly did have saved her a lot of pain. It's not as if she couldn't feel pain because she couldn't die, absolutely not – though sometimes, the pain was very much dulled by adrenaline.

That's way she hadn't remarked the sword sticking out of her chest, by the way (That, and four whole days without sleep before the fight. She had really needed to sleep).

Anyway, the bubble stopped everything – weapons, bullet, magic, physical attacks, even air were filtered, and nothing nefarious could enter. She had been quite paranoid when creating it – not that it wasn't justified. Things and people could still pass through, of course, but only if they had good intention. Magic was based on intentions, after all, so it could feel others'.

She would have been in a really stupid position if she had had to deactivate her protective bubble to open a door, to renew the oxygen she was breathing, or simply to sit down or take objects in her hands. It would have been terribly impractical, honestly, and everything that could and would hurt her was blocked by the barrier.

Well, apparently the silver-haired guy didn't have very good intentions, for he was stopped neatly before the bubble's place – but he didn't have very bad ones either, since he wasn't magically rejected to the forest's edge. He could have been.

Guess he was just doing his job – attacking suspicious persons who came too near Konoha.

"What's that ?!", he growled furiously, eyes wide and darting around her, searching for what had stopped him.

His weapons were tightly held in his hands.

"My kekkai genkai", offered offhandedly Harriet. "Look, I just want you to give a single little paper to your Hokage – you can ever read it beforehand, no problem – and I will just wait right there until he decides whether he would want to talk with me or not. If not, then I will just go my way – but it would be a loss for Konoha, no arrogance there".

Even if she was sure the paper would have been read anyway, offer or not, before arriving to the Hokage ; it never hurt to remember them that she had truly no means to attack their Hokage right now.

Well, she had, but they definitely didn't need to know that.

Nope.

She could see, right before her, the talking guard (he talked more than his comrade, as far as she could tell anyway) hesitantly reach for the paper, innocently posed on his table. She silently encouraged him, all the while steadily ignoring his teammates' tensing forms.

They were going nowhere. Maybe the paper would convince him – them – enough to act. She had written it with this purpose in mind : interesting enough to warrant a meeting with the Hokage, or catch his curiosity at the very least.

She mourningly asked herself why she hadn't just apparated to his office – before remembering that not only she had never been there previously, but it would also have been a very, very bad first meeting. Oh, well.

Sure enough, the guard's eyes widened, and he quickly looked up at her, before giving the paper to the shinobi next to him. Soon enough, it had been passed through the whole circle around her, and their reactions had been much the same – surprise for the chunins, neutrality for the Jonins.

They had great poker faces – Harriet would hate to play cards with them. Their presence must be forbidden in Casinos, as well (except as guards, maybe).

Harriet knew very well what was on the paper.

'Orochimaru is dead. I have some information I think you would like to know, as well as a proposition'.

It wasn't the Nirvana, but it was enough, since the talking guard took to running towards Konoha (and presumably his Hokage's office), after a nod from the silver-haired leader.

Her snakes had been right. Orochimaru was a pressing matter to Konoha ninjas, as well as for the Hokage. And, for once, Harriet knew the history behind that one – what with the Hokage being Orochimaru's old sensei.

Harriet could feel the ANBUs stationed around them all, looking at and studying her. She had no doubt Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, already knew of her presence.

When the guard was back with his leader's authorization for her coming in, she just smiled smugly at the silver man, whom she had lovingly dubbed 'The Bastard'.

He only growled back, both of them ignoring the small amusement coming out of the other shinobis (there was truly nothing fun in this, from Harriet's humble opinion), and quickly travelled through Kokoha, towards a big, tall tower standing proudly at the center of the Village.

Harriet was certain that The Bastard had took the rooftops only to see her fail, thinking that since she didn't have chakra, she wouldn't be able to follow. That would force her to show a weakness, and to ask for the civilian route. It was a psychological game – ninjas were quite good at those.

They were quite good at everything pertaining to their work, really.

But Harriet had roughly a hundred years of advance on him, and she was perfectly able to follow them. She had spent months working on copying this particular use of chakra with magic, after all. She did so with a knowing smirk.

And, though she could feel the annoyance coming from him, as well as the amusement coming from the others, she didn't fail to note that they were carefully surrounding her – one taking point in front, and the two others running behind her to prevent any attack. And that was without counting the ANBUs stealthily following them.

Harriet could feel the trust.

They were standing in front of a door, and if the ANBU secretary working at the desk right next to it was any indication, then it was the Hokage's office's door. (Harriet thought she was an ANBU, because she reeked of death. A civilian would never smell like that, and a Jonin wouldn't have had to disguise herself as a civilian. Hence, an ANBU).

Well, that, and the fact that it was the most secured floor of the whole building, and where her guards had walked her.

So many clues.

Still, the door was opened with the Hokage's authorization, and they all entered. All the eyes fastened on her were making her nervous, but she pushed the feeling down and only looked perfectly at ease. She had a lot of training in this – she supposed that having to suffer through those insufferable Balls at the Ministry, all those years ago, had had at least one positive aspect.

She could now be bored as Hell, and still look perfectly pleasant and at ease.

Her bubble was still up, but now they were standing inside it, since they had no nefarious intentions against her. Should they suddenly feel one for whatever reason, they would be ejected out of it before even realizing they were feeling like hurting her.

All in all, Harriet felt quite in security. She had nothing to fear – and she could, technically, destroy this Village without even sweating a bit. Even if she had never liked to kill innocents – she would just apparate away, if push came to shove. She was fine.

The office was quite spacious, with the past Hokage's pictures hanging from the back wall (and how sad was that, putting them behind the actual Hokage, knowing that all the others had died in duty ? That was a bit macabre. Then, she remembered the Headmaster's office, at Hogwarts, and admitted to herself that a lack of common sense was maybe not limited to her world's people only. At least those paintings weren't animated, and the past Hokages weren't looking and talking and maybe criticizing whatever the living one was doing). There was also quite a bit of scrolls (ninjas seemed fond of them) and a few books.

And paperwork. Lots of it.

The man standing behind an imposing mahogany desk didn't look like much, but there was an aura and a power around him that belied this first assumption. He was a leader – a warrior, a survivor, and a strong man.

Before Harriet could make more than two steps in his direction, she was stopped by an arm right in front of her. It was the Bastard, and the other two Jonins of his team stood ready behind her.

"Your cloak", asked the silver haired man.

Well, she should have known. They weren't going to let her come near their Hokage with a cloak on, given that she could be hiding quite a lot of weapons under it. She shrugged it down, and put it on the extended arm before her.

"Thank you, my good man", she muttered with a quick smirk, totally ignoring the way he was shooting daggers at her with his single, smoky grey eye (which was quite the feat, since he had only one eye open. Why he kept the other closed, she didn't know – maybe a particularity of his ? Ninjas were known to be crazy : the stronger they were, the crazier they become).

(Not that she had, herself, anything to say about it. Hello, immortal 120 years old witch wanting to die one day, and coming from literally another world there ! That, and she could admit that she had some... particularities. One eye kept closed ? So what ?).

He could keep the cloak, for all she cared. It was one she had... borrowed, from somewhere in the road (bandits did have some good stuff), in order to fit in better. She didn't care about what happened to it. Bastard could hold it for now. Everything important to her was in a single trunk, hanging around her neck from a silver runic necklace, except that one Gold Trunk that she had tucked in her pocket, and intended to use in order to demonstrate that not only what she was saying about her kekkai genkai was true, but also that she was filthy rich.

She skillfully ignored the surprise that came from the shinobis, as well as the annoyance coming from the silver one. She was wearing a precious looking kimono, made of a dark green satin (?) with a beautiful arabesque (?) pattern, in golden thread. Her feet were encased in soft, deep green satin sandals, and all in all she looked nothing like a warrior, but more like a noble.

An Hime, as they called the Ladies there.

That was her point, actually. She had wanted to present herself as an one – they could (but doubtfully would) refuse a kekkai genkai user, but not a very, very healthy woman.

Money meant a lot, even in this world.

(Though, she would have loved to have her trusty and comfortable basilisk hide boots, instead of this soft little things, but they clashed with her kimono. Truly, the sacrifices she had to do).

Then, she looked right into the leader's eyes.

As said before, she was ready to submit – somewhat – herself to him. But only if he was worthy enough, and she certainly wasn't going to take any chance about it. She had first been worried ninjas would feel her magic, but as her one-sided fight with Orochimaru had taught her, they simply didn't.

Harriet supposed it was because magic didn't, in fact, exist in this world. Bar from her, it had no place there. Ninjas couldn't feel it, because they had never felt anything like it before ; and it was so different, yet so similar to chakra, that their own bodies didn't react when it entered them.

Though, to be fair, Harriet very much doubted that wizards would have felt anything if ninjas had used techniques onto them back in her world. While her magic was a special case (being Mistress of Death stopped anything, from manipulations to invasions), they would have probably fell for it.

In any case, she looked straight into his eyes, judging him. She was too concentrated to see him stop his ninjas with a gesture, when they were ready to shove her away for doing what they thought was an insulting action (glaring, and defying the Hokage ! Not on their watch !), but she did feel the amusement and grudging respect the man felt for her right now.

It wasn't because she was looking at him in the eyes – she wouldn't be the first, though he preferred that to someone avoiding his eyes – but it was because he felt what she was made of. He knew, instinctively, that she was a warrior, a survivor, and someone who never broke, despite everything she went through. And he knew she went through a lot – it was all written in her cold, hardened, ancient green eyes.

She was weary, wary, and determined.

He knew he was being tested. For what, he didn't know, but he had a feeling it was important. That this woman's judgment did matter, and that he should pass it. Unsure as to why, he calmly looked back, trying not to flinch at the rare intensity of the green, green eyes that seemed to see right to his soul, and waited for her to make her decision.

Meanwhile, Harriet was making liberal use of legilimency.

It was very handy that they couldn't feel nor detect it. Their chakra didn't even fight against it, since it didn't recognize it as an intruder, or an enemy. All the better for her, she knew, though she didn't abuse of her advantage.

She wasn't looking for the guy's life, but for indications of his personality.

And she had to admit that she was impressed.

The man wasn't perfect, far from it, but he tried to be as good as he could. He had made a lot of errors, but what saved him were his regrets, and his will to do better. Orochimaru hadn't had any regrets, and didn't want to stop what he was doing. Sarutobi, though he was the man's old sensei, couldn't be more different.

That was, she admitted to herself, a man she could follow. A man she could trust. As a Ninja's Leader, he had done a lot of bad, shady things, but he truly wanted the best for Konoha, and for each and every one of its citizens, ninjas and civilians alike.

He also wanted the best for others, as long as it wasn't detrimental to Konoha. He longed for peace, all the while knowing that it was a unreachable ideal. He wanted the best for the world, but did what he had to do for Konoha – for those who were under his responsibility.

He was not a great man, but he was a good one, and that was good enough for Harriet. Even good men were rare, nowadays.

She nodded softly, leaving his mind, to let him know he had passed her judgment.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi was feeling both respect and dread. The woman was something else, that much he was sure of, but she should also be dead. No one, no one could be alive with no chakra, and no coils.

No one. Not even animals.

But she was, and from his ANBUs' reports, he knew that she also had a kekkai genkai – but how ?! She didn't have chakra ! Not one ounce of it in her whole body !

He carefully masked his thoughts, fingers curling around the piece of paper in his hand. The one that his guard had given him from her. The one stating that his old student, Orochimaru, was dead.

Oh, how much had he failed ?

He closed his eyes for half a second, getting ready, before he began what he had a feeling would be a very long, very complicated conversation.

"You wanted to talk to me ?"

There, general and neutral.

She nodded graciously – and she certainly wasn't what he had expected. She looked like an Hime, moved like one. You can't fake these things, not to this point. She had noble blood in her veins.

But she also had fight and survival coursing through it, walking like a predator, silently and graciously. Her whole body moved in sync, and she had the tranquil assurance of someone who knew precisely where everybody was in the room, and who knew she wasn't at risk.

"Indeed, though I think that it may be better to use a bit of privacy", she talked softly, before rolling her eyes at his ninjas' tension and adding. "Not just you and me, but a seal maybe ? Not everything I'm going to tell should be known by anyone".

The Sandaime hesitated, unsure. She wasn't looking threatening, and he very much doubted she would be able to do anything to him, given his own power and his ANBUs' presence ; but he knew better than to underestimate anyone.

Even someone who should by all rights be dead, but was standing here confidently, with a perfectly beating heart, and a smell that could only be described as Life coming from her.

He nodded finally.

"Kakashi stays, the others may go", he dismissed the two Jonins, keeping silence on the ANBUs' presence in the room.

His shinobis immediately followed his orders, bowing respectfully before closing the door behind them. Sarutobi then activated his Privacy Seal, noting the interested and curious look that Hari-san had upon seeing them.

A Seal Master ? There was no incomprehension in her gaze, only curiosity. She knew this Seal, or at least knew Seals well enough to understand what this one was made of, and how it was written, so maybe – but no. No chakra meant no Seals, since one had to use chakra in order to do Seals.

And you simply cannot know Seals if you're not able to do them.

"Thank you, Hokage-dono", she nodded in appreciation, seemingly unaware of the tiny dose of killing intent directed her way by Kakashi, upon hearing the suffix she had used for him.

It was interesting, though. She was clearly not recognizing as her superior, even if she knew of his position. Better yet, she used 'dono', and not 'san'. Did it mean that she recognized him as a clearly important person, but considered herself as just as much important as he was ?

There was too much unknown, and Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't feel comfortable. He wanted answers, and he wanted them three minutes ago ! But, since he didn't know a single thing about her, he decided to wait. He was bound to discover things while talking with her, after all.

"Just to be sure, though", she frowned pensively. "The only persons in this room are your four ANBUs, your Jonin, you, and myself, is that right ?"

Sarutobi took note of her capacity to know when ANBUs were here – maybe a type of Sensor that didn't need chakra ? Or maybe she was just smart enough to realize that as a Hokage, there was always ANBUs in the same room as him wherever he went.

Then again, she said four, when the usual number was two. He had been in a mission report with them when he had been made aware of this woman's presence and request by one of the ANBUs patrolling around Konoha ; and he had sent them to see if this woman was a threat or not. They had followed her and her escort right to his office without spotting any threatening intention from her, and had decided to stay and see.

There was never such a thing as too much protection around their Hokage. Especially when the possible menace was an unknown woman, that should be dead by all accounts !

So she must have felt them.

"That seems about right", he admitted calmly, ignoring his shinobis' agitation.

My, they could be so skittish, he thought with detached amusement and fondness – before shaking himself mentally. Now was most certainly not the moment.

"Then I take it you don't know about the guy that's posing as your indoor plant ?", she asked innocently, looking pointedly at an neutral-looking plant in the corner of the room.

As they were still processing the information, meaning half a second after her question, the plant suddenly shifted back into a human shape, and the unknown ninja tried to escape through the locked window.

He would have succeeded, too – they were that shocked – if not for him to be suddenly hit by a red light, and suddenly go rigid while running. He crashed into the floor, body seemingly frozen, and a heartbeat later he was surrounded by ANBUs, kunais held menacingly at his throat.

He still didn't move, but there was a stunned silence in the room.

A spy in his office ! In his office !

How could he not know ? How could that have happened ?! Was the security that lax, that someone could enter his office, and just henge himself into a plant, with no one seeing anything ?

Where his ninjas this incompetent ? Or, more worrying, was there a mole in his ANBUs ?

That was the only solution.

What had the mole reported to their master ? From which Village were they ? What secrets had been spilled ? How could that have happened ?

They were a ninja Village, for crying out loud ! Was he becoming that old that he couldn't even sense a spy's presence in his own office ? The room in which he spent the most of his time ?

"Sparrow, Boar !", he seethed, calling the two ANBUs responsible for his security. "How could that have happened ?!"

The two men flickered in front of him, bowing deeply.

"We have no excuse, Hokage-sama. We don't know", admitted Boar, and he could feel the anger in his voice.

Both were very angry at themselves. Probably saw it as a failure – and it was one.

But they weren't lying – their chakra and heartbeat didn't shiver, though they were both agitated ; and while it was possible to have enough control to hide that you were lying, it never worked on him.

He knew when people lied. They hadn't.

Good to know not all the ANBUs were traitors, he thought grimly.

His office was supposed to be the most secure place of all Konoha. It was truly a major breach of security – and who know the damages this breach had already caused, or would cause ?

"...Ne", muttered gravely Kakashi, holding the mole's tongue between two fingers, exposing the seal inked on it.

Danzo.

Sarutobi felt the fury course through him, but quickly pushed it down. Now was not the moment. Not now, he would have to wait.

When the time was done, though...

Danzo. He couldn't believe it – but the saddest part was that he could. He could believe it – he believed it. But to face the fact that Danzo was a traitor, to his Hokage if not to Konoha...

"Why isn't he moving ?", he asked tersely, head jerking toward the still man on the floor.

"He still has a heartbeat, Hokage-sama. I'm not sure of why he's like that, the red light wasn't -", began Kakashi, Sharingan eye spinning wildly through the room, before he was interrupted.

"He's stunned", nonchalantly explained the woman, sitting primly in a seat in front of his desk.

He wasn't quite sure of when she had moved, though. She was discreet, too discreet – he didn't like the situation. At all. Sure, they were all a bit shocked – who wouldn't be ?! But still, she had managed to walk to his desk, and sit down quietly, without being spotted.

She was too stealthy – but she couldn't be a ninja. She couldn't ! She didn't have chakra – she was an anomaly !

Why was she here ? Why did she want to meet him ? Why now ? Was it a trap ? How did the woman know the spy was there ? Was he hers ?

Why was she there ? She still hadn't said anything useful, for all she had claimed knowing something about Orochimaru.

But no – the spy could have been there for a long time, it just so happened that she came into his office today, and that she was a better sensor than all of his ninjas and himself. Hard to believe, but then again, she was hard to believe as well – clearly living against all odds.

His guard did say she had said something about a kekkai genkai – was that it ? He knew of few things that could stop an attack of Kakashi, but she had done it, as had been reported by one ANBU.

There was something fishy there – but not necessarily bad. He was suspicious, not paranoid.

Paranoia could destroy a ninja.

(Though, it was better to be paranoid than to become complacent).

As for Orochimaru, he would never have given a meeting as soon as he had, usually – if not for the very good reason that it had been rumored that the Snake Contract only had one user now, Anko Mitarashi.

She had confirmed it herself a few days ago, looking as bewildered as they were – though much more emotionally shocked.

So Orochimaru could indeed be dead, or could have lost the Contract for whatever reason – nothing was sure, and every information was welcome. He knew Jiraiya was working on it right now, but there were no leads so far. One thing was sure, and that was that something had happened to his old student, something that hadn't been to his advantage.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the woman's voice – Hari-san, his guard had said.

Apparently, she had felt the disbelief coming out of the shinobis centered around the spy, as tiny as it was – ANBUs were good at hiding their emotions, and Kakashi was ANBU, for all that he was wearing his Jonin uniform.

He did take notice of the fact that one of the ANBUs around the mole was a clone, and that the original was hidden in the shadows right behind him, ready to strike should Hari-san try anything.

"I mean, literally stunned", she explained. "It's one of my... kekkai genkai effects".

"So... ?", drawled Kakashi, clearly asking for more information.

"Right", she shot him an annoyed look. "Well, basically, he can't move anymore, and he doesn't see nor hear anything around him. He will stay this way until whether he dies, or I stop the spell".

"Interesting...", muttered Sarutobi, ignoring the 'spell' comment for now.

He made a quick decision.

"Alright, I don't want to report this meeting to a later date. Boar, secure the man, then as soon as we're done here, you will bring him to the T&I, clear ? Sparrow, you will search for Inoichi".

There was a concert of 'Hai's, and Boar tied the spy before putting him in one side of the room, and quickly creating an sound-blocking barrier around him, having seen his Hokage's hand signs.

Just because the woman said that the mole couldn't hear anything, didn't mean that it was the truth. Sarutobi wasn't taking any chance – not on that. Maybe, maybe Inoichi would be able to get enough information in the spy's brain before it was destroyed ; and if there was enough to condemn Danzo...

But he already knew the chances were slim. Still, better than nothing. He would make an error, someday.

"You should be dead", he directly attacked.

He was in no mood for idle talk. The most obvious, glaring problem in the room right now had to be addressed. He knew of techniques that could raise the dead, knew of techniques that could grant immortality – none were peaceful and likeable.

The woman better have one hell of an explanation.

He saw Kakashi slowly walk across the room, and lean on the wall, right next to the green-eyed, black-haired woman, facing her left side.

Even the ANBUs were watching her with intensity. She really, really shouldn't be alive.

"Right, yeah, I know", she grinned sheepishly. "It was a mistake of my part – I had forgotten everyone had chakra here"

"What do you mean ?!", snapped Sarutobi, patience at its thinnest.

She eyed him, before shrugging helplessly.

"There's nothing I can do about it, you know ? Chakra does not exist in my world", she explained quickly – as if that explained anything.

Yeah. No.

"Your world ?", he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Well, that's a long, long story – but I think it's better if I tell you everything in one go, right ?". She didn't wait for an answer.

"My name is Harriet Dorea Potter, my mother was Lily Potter née Evans, and my father was James Potter. I was born the 31 July 1980, at St Mangoust, England", she introduced herself – and was it normal that he hadn't understood the majority of her words ?

Was it a code ?

"What is In-glande ? When is 1980 ?", he asked, ignoring the strange names. Some people gave weird names to their kids – maybe an old tradition of her family, she did look like she was from nobility.

Hari-san sent him a reproaching look, and he crushed the strange and stupid impulse of apologizing. There was something with her eyes... He had never seen something like that.

They exuded power, determination, conviction, and a strength of character and will that was rarely seen. Even among ninjas.

"England is my birth country, and 1980 is obviously the year of my birth".

"This world isn't even in his hundred year, records wise, and I know of no country that is called 'In-glande' – and I know every country of this world", he snapped, angered by what could only be lies.

But her heartbeat wasn't lying, no matter how much he searched – was it a special technique ? Did it come from her so-called kekkai genkai ?

It would be really annoying to be unable to determine whether she was lying or not. There would be no trust at all. He could feel the frustration coming from his shinobis, but he didn't blame them.

The woman came her with information and immediately begins with lies ? What a waste of time, and extremely suspicious with that. How did she know about the mole's presence ?

No, he wanted answers. And he wanted them now.

"Whoever said I was talking of this world ?", asked Harriet, smirking.

There was a bit of a silence, before the Sandaime shot a lot of sharp, cutting killing intent straight at the young woman.

"So you think it is funny ?", he asked very softly and calmly – but a deaf would have heard the threat.

"This is the third time you interrupted me, Hokage-dono. I will not be able to explain properly if you continue to do so – and did you really think you were the only world in existence ?", she huffed with annoyance, small fingers tapping lightly an unknown rhythm onto the arm of her seat in irritation, ignoring the shinobi's crushing disbelief that washed over her. Their thoughts were deafening, and she tried to tone down her passive legilimency as best as she could.

She thought that she had felt something a bit before, something that remembered her vaguely of Death, but she wasn't sure. Oh, well. It was so weak, almost imperceptible, it was probably not important.

Killing Intent had, of course, nothing on Death's actual presence, and Harriet – Hari, now – had herself been hit by the Killing Curse, which was an incredibly concentrated dose of Killing Intent – nothing ninjas would ever been able to do. That would kill them before it even left their bodies.

Nonetheless, the result was that the shinobis were shaken to see this soft-looking, small woman shrug their Hokage's Killing Intent as if it was nothing – they had shivered upon feeling it, and it wasn't even directed at them !

This woman was – illogical ! Utterly illogical !

"I can do an Unbreakable Vow, if you want", she pronounced slowly, looking right in the Hokage's eyes to convey the seriousness of the offer.

"What is it ?", he asked, jaw set.

He was losing his time.

He should have her dead right now.

Why wasn't he giving the order ? Why did he feel as if he should wait ? Why did he feel as if what was going on was really, really important – crucial even ? Why did his shinobis have the same feeling ?

He knew they had, he could feel it.

If it was only him, he could have thought he was imagining things.

But all of them ? There was no way.

"It is a magical Vow. What I swear to do, or not to do, in this Vow ; will be magically binding. Meaning, if I break my Vow, I will lose my life", she stated quietly, sitting still in her seat.

"Magical ?", asked Kakashi while raising a brow.

His skepticism was heavy in his tone.

"Where I'm from, there is no chakra, as I already said. But there is magic", confirmed Harriet.

"Magic ?", asked Kakashi again. "Are you sure it's not the word you give to chakra ?".

He had decided to skip the 'in my world' part. Maybe the woman was crazy – you never knew.

"Yes, I think I'm pretty sure it isn't", she snapped at him, glaring. "Magic can do things that chakra cannot, okay ?"

"Right", he drawled lazily. "And chakra can do things that... magic, cannot, right ?"

"No", she shook her head. "Magic can do everything – the only limit it has is your own imagination. It can imitate what chakra do, though it is not really worth the trouble, generally. Chakra is very limited".

It was Sarutobi's turn to raise an eyebrow. Well, that was quite the degrading statement – she had literally just said that she was better than them all… whether she had done it on purpose or not.

"Really ? Seems like it's quite a strong energy", he mocked blandly, not believing her at all.

"Yes, and it's also why I don't have chakra or coils – I don't need them, since they don't exist in my world, and we're seven billiards", she countered, waving her hand with exaggerate gestures, and conjuring a cup of Iced Tea.

It was hot, she was thirsty, and it was magic.

Chakra couldn't do that. Not that she knew of.

And indeed, their expressions were priceless.

She saw the two visible ninjas cross their fingers, and expel chakra with a muttered 'Kai', and remembered it was what was used to break a genjutsu. Did they really think she had put one up ?

She had no chakra, for God's – wait, it was Kami now – for Kami's sake ! Sure, she could do Illusions (it was a truly fascinating branch of magic, and the prime example that magic was intention, since the very foundation of this branch of magic was to show to someone else something that wasn't here, something you had to have invented, imagined perfectly, something that wasn't a speel pre-written in an old book by other persons insisting that it was the only way to use that magic), but genjutsu ?

She was pants at them. You had to target your enemy's coils, and she had no idea of what they were, where they were, how to do it. She couldn't do genjutsu – but it had nothing on Illusions, so no cries there.

She couldn't even detect them – then again, she didn't need to – her magic rejected any other energy trying to control her. So she was safe on that point. You know, perks of being Mistress of Death, same old.

"Magic", she smirked.

She let that sink for a bit, but ninjas were good at processing information very quickly (it saved lives), and went back on the discussion.

"I... see", slowly said the Hokage, looking between her cup and her face in something not quite unlike disbelief.

"So, do you want this Vow or not ?", she asked, feeling tired.

They were all being too un-trustful, and though she knew it was a given for both parties (her for her life up until now, them for much the same reason), they were going nowhere like that.

If they could just listen !

(Still, if she was being honest with herself – right now she wasn't – she would have been as suspicious as they were, should the places be reversed).

"How do we know you don't lie ?", questioned Sarutobi. "About the Vow ?"

Harriet shuddered, not bothering to hide it.

"Look, you don't joke about the Vow. It doesn't as much take your life as it takes your magic. For a wizard, losing his magic is like... I don't know. It's a nightmare, and it would be way better to lose your life. Well, given that we cannot live without our magic, the result isn't that different in both cases, but you just don't joke with losing one's magic. That's not done – that's unnatural. There had been very, very few Unbreakable Vows done, and in no case the person doing the Vow ever died, except for the one who had tried to see if it truly was Unbreakable. He had been the first – and the last", she explained tightly. "As a rule, we don't do Unbreakable Vows. It exists, but it is something of a taboo. It is too binding, too absolute".

Her whole body language screamed tension, and they knew it was no joking matter. Not when there was this look in her eyes, not when she described it as the worst thing that could ever happen to a person – and not when everything in her appearance showed that she had seen a war. It was in her eyes. She had not lied about the war, at the very least, and that meant something.

A warrior would not joke on something as important as death.

"As for knowing if it is all a lie or not – you can't know. You can't be sure. But really, why would I lie ? I'm not even from this world, my magic just proved that, and what would I have against you ? I don't even know you", she tried.

Sarutobi looked at the cup in her hand for quite a long time, before nodding.

"Alright. You won't be able to lie ? Whatever the question ?", he asked to be sure.

Harriet looked right back, sharply.

Oh, he was good. He wasn't the Hokage because he was the stronger – he was also pretty smart. Cunning, too.

"I won't be able to lie, indeed", she confirmed, before smiling coldly. "But if I don't want to answer a question, then I won't. I won't be lying, hence I won't lose my magic"

"Fair enough", sighed the Hokage, looking tired.

He pressed his temples, and wished for a bit of Sake. He wasn't crazy enough for the job.

A woman from another world ? Seriously ?

Why did this shit always happen to him ?

Harriet took the Elder Wand out of her pocket. She didn't need a wand to do magic, but she needed one to make the Vow. The wand served as the witness to the Vow, as strange as that sounded.

Harriet didn't know much about the specificities, but knew enough to use one.

"I solemnly swear, on my Magic and on my Life, that only truth will escape my lips for as long as this meeting will be. No lies will be told by me, so Mote it Be", she intoned calmly.

There was the tell-tale golden light of an Unbreakable Vow flashing through the room, and though they tensed, none of the shinobis attacked her.

The light subsided, and when she rolled her right sleeve up, they could see the golden crisscrossing pattern on her arm, up to her elbow. There were runes as well, since she was a Rune Mistress, but they didn't know what they were.

Probably thought they were tattoos, since Fuinjutsu didn't look like Runes at all – physically, at least. Usually, her runes sets weren't visible, but since she was using such an important magic in her dominant arm, they had gleamed along the binding of the Unbreakable Vow.

No matter.

Then, Harriet looked tensely at Sarutobi, seeming to collect and prepare herself. After a bit of silence, she nodded, and took a deep breath.

"I am a ma – ugh !", she hissed through her clenched teeth, before interrupting herself, one hand clutching her breast, over her heart.

The gold-like tattoo on her arm had flared up, shining with a strangely efficient threat in the room. Gold wasn't a color often associated with ominous things – usually more with miracles, in fact – but right now it sure seemed menacing enough. Her heart had stuttered, before accelerating quickly under the pain. That wasn't something that could be faked.

"A woman !", she hastily rectified, relaxing marginally when the Vow's marking subsided to a small glow, easily unnoticeable to an untrained eye.

A quick look on her right indicated her that the shadow falling over her was the Bastard hovering around her, ready to help if needed be – and she had to admit that she was a bit touched.

They didn't really like each other – he may be handsome, body wise (she didn't know about his face), but he was also aloof and condescending, two things that rubbed her the wrong way – yet he still was ready to help her. It was in his thoughts.

That was more than she could say of her own people. They would have waited to push her down.

In between deep breaths and grimaces of pain, she nodded in thanks to him, letting him know that though she appreciated the offer, she wasn't in need of his help. He returned to his previous post, and she took her time to calm down properly.

While technically that was a way for her to die, even as Mistress of Death, she knew she would never had done it. Better live for thousands years than to lose her magic. Especially considering that the Hallows' magic would have fought the effects of the broken Vow, and would have lengthened her agony for an unknown amount of time.

She hadn't lied when she had said that losing one's magic was a taboo, in the magical world. That wasn't for nothing that squibs were abandoned by their families, if they were not outright killed.

Just because they didn't have magic.

In her opinion, it was more the parents' fault, than the child's.

But in any case, a wizard's magic was an essence, literally intertwined to his soul. One cannot live without a soul ; and a wizard couldn't live without his magic.

Losing it was – no.

Best not to head that way.

She tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace.

"See ? I can't lie"

The Hokage only nodded.

"Right. Then what ?"

"Then I talk and you listen. I'm sure you will find it interesting, if not entertaining", replied Harriet, sitting back in her seat and trying to relax, with little success.

Her magic was agitated. So was she, for that matter, and her heartbeat still had yet to calm down.

"What will be ?", asked Kakashi curiously.

"Why, my life story, of course", chuckled Harriet, before taking back the cup of Iced Tea that had been floating in the air in front of her while she had been proving that the Vow worked, and drank the rest of the cup, before dismissing it with a gesture.

After clearing her throat, she began.

"As I was saying before, I was born in 1980, in a country called England. Now, what you need to know about my world, is that there's basically two worlds in one : one is the Magical world, so called because only magic-related people know about it and live in it ; and the Muggle world, so called because it is composed of non-magical people".

She supposed that it was easy enough to understand, so she continued.

"The magical world is hidden from the muggle one – they don't know that we exist".

"Why ?", interrupted the Hokage, feeling again the need to apologize upon receiving her reproaching glance for his interruption.

"Well, long ago, there had been a time when we all knew each other, but then the Witches Hunts happened, and the magical world went into hiding. We're but legends for them, now", revealed Harriet.

The Hokage opened his mouth to ask something, before he closed it and reluctantly raised his hand, as if he was in class and in the middle of a lesson.

An history one, with a strange sensei. He nevertheless received a nod from said sensei, and asked his question. Strangely, none of the shinobis in the room ever so much as thought to snicker – it looked quite right to do this.

"What are the Witches Hunts ?"

"Yes, I was coming to it", nodded Harriet, feeling more at ease now that her magic was over her risky test. "People – muggles, I mean, suddenly decided that wizards or witches, meaning people with powers, had obtained them by dark actions. That their powers came from the Devil himself, and that they should therefore be killed. We're not exactly sure of what had caused this, but soon enough, every person suspected of Magic was condemned to be burnt alive".

"I don't understand", frowned Kakashi. "You all lived in one world, and then they suddenly decide that you should all die ?"

"Jealousy, hatred, envy", shrugged Harriet. "Magical people could do what they could only dream of, and it was easier to hate them than to accept that wizards were, somehow, better than them. Because while muggles happily burned us, wizards weren't exempt of fault either. They probably thought they were Chosen, better than what they called, and still call, 'lowly muggles'. Whatever the reason why, they hunted us, and we went into hiding. To be honest, the majority of the burned 'witches' were actually muggles, all women since they apparently thought only women could do magic. But some witches had been caught, all children that hadn't been able to run away, and hadn't been saved in time. Hence the decision to separate our worlds"

She said that as if it was obvious, and it really was. Jealousy and envy could make you do horrible things, they could twist you and darken your soul. Petunia had been a perfect example of this – jealous of Lily, her little sister that had had magic when she had not, that had been a great student, a beautiful girl, and everything she wasn't.

Harriet wasn't searching excuses for her aunt – she hated her, her and her little, normal family – but she knew that if Petunia hadn't been jealous of Lily, then she would never have acted that way towards her niece.

"... Still don't understand", muttered Kakashi, and Harriet rolled her eyes.

"Well, let's put it that way. In this world, ninjas use chakra and civilians don't – but both have the possibility of learning to use it. Now, imagine that only ninjas can use it, and that civilians don't have any. You can basically do anything, and they would be utterly defenseless against you. Do you really think they would accept you ? Especially taking into account that there's one ninja for a hundred civilians – probably more ?", asked Harriet.

She saw comprehension dawning in his eye. He had closed his other one, but not putting his headband back on it. She would have to ask the story behind that, someday. She still wasn't sure why he was closing it, and only used it sometimes. Though maybe the long scar bisecting said eye was the reason. Maybe it hurt, and he wanted to limit his use of it ?

While the red eye was different from the smoky black one, and was a bit strange, it appeared useful.

And the shinobis in the room knew she was right. As it was, civilians didn't really like ninjas. They engaged them, and were thankful for their help, but they didn't like them.

Ninjas were too different, in mind and in work. They didn't take holidays, or even weekends. They trained, killed, went on missions, were injured, repeat. They also died, much younger than civilians.

Ninjas didn't care for wedding – a very simple ceremony was enough, and they didn't need wedding bands. They generally put the ring in a necklace around their throat, if they took the time to have one at all : they didn't need proof of being together, any other ninja worth his chakra would know they were in a relationship, ring or not. Ninjas were always a bit tense, ready for anything, even in their own Village. They overthought situations, were suspicious as Hell, and overall civilians and ninjas rarely mixed.

Then, there was the fact that a ninja could basically destroy a civilian village in one night, and kill everyone inside without getting caught. The fact that a ninja could be engaged to take your life, and you couldn't do anything about it except hope that your enemies don't have enough money to command your death (assassination missions were quite costly) was also a bitter pill to swallow, for the civilians.

Ninjas fought everywhere, and when they did, they destroyed everything around them. Jutsus were impressive nowadays, and they did a lot of damages.

All in all, ninjas were not loved by civilians. Accepted, yes, but that was it.

If civilians didn't ever have the potential to train their chakra, and were much more than the ninjas, then chances were that they would indeed, one day, hunt them and try to destroy them all.

Beginning by children, the easiest to kill, and thus preventing them to learn and progress, hence becoming as dangerous as an accomplished ninja. Kill the younger generation, let the old one die slowly.

So yes, they could understand what Harriet was saying. Well, it was highly doubtful that they would manage to eradicate ninjas – shinobis were simply stronger than them, no mistake. Yet it would be tiring, to live in a world were more than half the population wanted to see you dead.

Kakashi nodded in understanding, grimly, and Harriet resumed talking.

"Anyway, there is two worlds in one. In the magical world, there is also three different classes of wizards – there was no real differences between them, mind you, but they were considered extremely important", explained Harriet, before conjuring a new glass, of water this time, and taking a sip.

Not only was she talking that much for the first time since more than a hundred years, and it made her thirsty ; but it was a hot day of November in Konoha. Fire Country indeed, they didn't seem to know what winter really meant.

All of this made Harriet thirsty, and she happily drank her cold, fresh water.

Hurrah for Magic !

She tactfully ignored the, yet again, muttered 'Kai's ; and continued.

"The first class is the Purebloods, so called because their ancestors were wizards. They pride themselves on not having muggle blood in their veins – but they succeeded by inbreeding. Then there's the Half-bloods, meaning the people with at least one magical parent. Granted, that class is a bit confusing, for the son of a pureblood and another person who isn't a pureblood would be called a Half-blood, whether his mother was a Halfblood, a muggle, or a muggleborn. Which is the last class : the Muggleborns, wizards with muggle parents, also called Mudblood by the Purebloods, since they believe that muggle blood is not much better than mud", frowned Harriet.

She had always found the distinction between them all ridiculous – and stupid.

Dumbledore, Voldemort, and herself – all Halfbloods, and they had been – and still were, for her – the most powerful wizards of their times.

So really, Pureblood beliefs were stupid.

(And, if you really wanted her opinion, Purebloods were stupid, period).

(Must be all this inbreeding).

"Wait", interrupted one of the ANBUs, ghostly voice echoing through the room, "in your... world, you separate the two different populations – magical and non magical. I get it. But you also separate yourself in three classes ?"

"As I already said, we're not perfect – no one is. Purebloods thought they were better than everyone else, and Muggleborns were new to this world, and they knew next to nothing about it. Not for lack of trying – though for many, it was that – but because they were kept away from this knowledge by the Purebloods, who didn't want to see their so-called 'supremacy' disappear", patiently explained Harriet.

She then decided to continue with her first comparison of their two worlds.

"See it like that : you yourself have the shinobis coming from Clans, those coming from parents ninjas, and finally the civilian born. Can you honestly look at me in the eyes and affirm that they all think they're on the same level ?", asked knowingly Harriet, only smiling when no response was heard.

From what she's been told by her trusty snakes, Clan-born shinobis were smug, proud, and thought themselves better than the others. Not all of them, of course, but every ninja coming from a Clan were very proud of said Clan. Granted, most of them had the ability to back their feeling of superiority up, but they grated on people's nerves nonetheless ; and all in all managed to gain quite a number of enemies.

They usually didn't live for long.

(But, as far as Harriet knew, they weren't as bad as the Purebloods – probably because they fought alongside other shinobis, and had to trust them with their lives when on the field. You don't antagonize people that could, one day, save your life – and there was a mutual respect among all the ninjas anyway).

(Much better than the Purebloods).

"Anyway, back to the subject. There was this wizard, a very strong and bad one, who called himself Lord Voldemort. He wanted to take over Britain, our country, and exterminate muggles and Muggleborns, thus making the purebloods the only 'true' wizards of his government. He decided to do this with violence, of course, as all good villains are prone to do – but there was no laughing matter, that I can assure you. He and his followers, who were called the Death Eaters -", explained Harriet, eyes cold and hard, shrugging when she saw the skeptical looks of her auditory.

She interrupted herself for a second at this. Well, it was true that their chosen names were stupid, she suddenly felt almost ashamed for them. She was ashamed of her own enemies, what a world.

She ignored all this as best as she could, and continued.

"They tortured, raped, killed, and laughed. There was a war, and that's when I was born", said Harriet, with a quiet voice.

She had seen too much of war to tell any of this with nonchalance. She couldn't – not when she was talking about what had happened to friends, and family.

Not when she had suffered torture herself. Not when it had been her life.

The shinobis around her took a grave look, and their posture changed to that of somber understanding. Not only were they just out of a long period of losses and suffering (the Yondaime' sacrifice and death, the Kyuubi's attack and all the losses that came with it, the aborted kidnapping attempt on the Hyuuga Clan Head's older daughter, only to have to give Hiashi's twin to die because they weren't able to prove that Kumo had organized and knew about the kidnapping, the Uchihas' massacre by one of their own...) ; not only that, but as ninjas they knew death, torture, and the darkest parts of human mind.

They knew what people, who had of 'human' only the name, could do to others, for whatever reason – sometimes for no reason at all. They knew what could happen, especially in a war.

Then knew, and they understood.

That's why, upon hearing Hari-san words, as well as the sheer pain still fresh in them ; they knew it was the truth, that she wasn't lying, and acted accordingly. They were, it had to be said, enthralled in her story, because as far as they could tell (and they were ninjas, they could tell very well), she wasn't lying.

Not only there was her 'Unbreakable Vow', which they were still skeptical about ; but they were monitoring her heartbeat with their senses, and not once did it show that she lied.

Sure, it accelerated when she remembered painful memories, but not once did they hear the slight tremor, almost imperceptible and always spontaneous, that always accompanied a lie. You couldn't fake it, and while you could suppress it with training (they all had), it was obvious that she hadn't had that training.

They recognized the glint, wild and fierce and untamable, in her eyes for what it was ; but her hands weren't calloused, her visible skin didn't show any scar, except for a strange one on her left hand (and granted, she was almost entirely hugged by her deep green kimono, but still, they doubted she had much scars), she was soignée and pretty and soft, and looked pampered and spoiled. She didn't look threatening, even for their senses – and even if they knew that she was.

If only for the fact that she was talking of this war as if she had participated in it, and you had to be strong to survive a war, or even simply to find the courage to fight in one.

"Anyway, my parents were against Voldemort, of course, since my father was a Pureblood and my mother a Muggl – Ugh -", she interrupted herself, hand shooting up again to grip the kimono above her heart, face crisped by pain. The arabesques curled on the bare skin of her arm flared a menacing gold.

She thought quickly, and corrected her phrase.

"And my mother was thought to be a Muggleborn".

The Vow was absolute – she couldn't lie. They had thought she had been a Muggleborn, her parents and, indeed, everyone else ; and only Harriet knew that her mother had been a half-blood. So, while at the time she was talking about, what she had meant to say was true (at least as far as anyone knew), it wasn't true anymore.

She could feel the shinobis relax imperceptibly from the corner of her eyes, and knew they had finally understood that her Vow was true and whole. Well, took them long enough, she thought glumly, rubbing her breast.

The pain was still there, vivid ; and even if she had suffered torture during the war, it had nothing on what she was suffering now. Because, while she had suffered under 'Doloris' and such curses ; the sheer pain that came from her magic, from something so intimate, so important – it was worse.

She would have to be quite cautious with her words, for now on.

"So you see, they fought against him. Then, they learned that my mother was pregnant with me, and went into hiding. But Voldemort had apparently decided that I would be the one that would bring his downfall, and went after them. My parent's hiding place was perfect – but they trusted the wrong person. This person betrayed them, and revealed their home to his Master, Voldemort. The rest is history, of course. He came, killed my parents, tried to kill me, failed. I don't know what happened this night, even now, but I destroyed him, and I became famous for it", bitterly added Harriet, taking a sip from her ice-cold water.

The shinobis had tensed when hearing of a traitor, and she knew they felt something close to respect for her then. They had probably thought that she had had a great life, but to begin hers by being an orphan was hard, even if not rare.

She also felt their skepticism about her 'defeat' of Voldemort, but ignored it.

"That's my oldest memory, actually", suddenly confided Harriet, not quite knowing why. "My mother begging for my life, begging him to kill her instead of me, then the green light of the Killing Curse, and her dying, screaming my name".

She lost herself in her thoughts for a bit, reviving this old, old memory of hers. The pain it brought her was light now – she had experienced way more painful things, and had nightmares that were infinitely more hurting than this one, all coming from her other memories – but it still procured her a slight pang in her heart.

It was always, always accompanied by 'what if's. But Harriet knew better than to lose herself to those 'what if's.

"Well, so I became famous for ending the war, and defeating the most terrible Dark Lord of this generation. His followers were arrested, and send in prison, for a few of them. But most of them just bought their 'innocence'. Old families, lot of money, you see", darkly laughed Harriet, before shrugging uncaringly in a 'what-can-you-do' way. "As for me, I was left on my mother's sister's doorstep, in the middle of a cold night of October, with a letter. She was married and they had a son. They took me in, but never liked me, and I never learnt the truth about me, my parents, or my world", finished Harriet.

She shifted in her seat, to find a more comfortable position.

Reminiscing all of this wasn't a good thing for her. She had come to terms with it, of course (she had had to, if not for mastering Occlumency, then to keep her sanity), but that didn't mean that she liked re-living it.

She had accepted her past, and now wanted nothing more than to let it sleep in the deepest part of her mind, not to bring her any pain anymore, even if she couldn't control her nightmares. She had left her own birth world, to leave everything behind her.

She honestly didn't plan to ever say her story ever again after this. Whatever happened, she had decided long ago that she was done with this. She refused to let her past tie her, bound her, torture her.

"I discovered the truth at eleven, because it is then that Wizards' children begin to train their magic, and they do this by going to a magical boarding school. I had been on their lists since my birth, so not even my relatives could forbid me to go".

As ninjas, they knew how to read through the lines. They knew her family hadn't liked her at all – Hari-san never called them 'aunt' or 'uncle', but always 'my mother's sister', or 'my relatives'. She distanced herself from them, and she did it knowingly.

It wasn't some dark part of her past – though it was dark, and a part of her past. In fact, it wasn't a secret. It was not something she was ashamed of, wasn't something she tried to hide, something she tried to forget. It still hurt her, that much was obvious – but it was also obvious that she was past it.

It was her past, in every sense of the word.

They were smart enough to understand this, but they still memorized it. It could always serve as a weakness, should they ever need it. And it helped understand her personality.

Though, admittedly, it didn't help that much.

They were honest enough to admit, at least to themselves, that they didn't quite know what to make of this strange little woman.

But as dumb as it sounded, they understood the people considering her famous for stopping a war. Especially considering that the 'Light' side, as Hari-san called it, seemed to be losing.

It hadn't been said, of course, but the simple fact that 'Vauldemor' had come after Hari-san's parents himself meant that they were important in this war, and active fighters – and for such important actors to be betrayed, and killed, in their own home meant that not only this 'Dark Lord' 's spies were everywhere and well infiltrated ; but also that he could basically do anything he wanted.

It didn't bode well for the Light side.

Still, they said nothing and continued to listen, fascinated despite themselves.

"What followed were years of fight for me", continued Harriet, relaxing further in her seat. "Hogwarts, the surest place of the world, my ass. There is seven years before graduating. From eleven to sixteen, I had to fight for my life at the very least once a year at school, without help except for my two best friends. Honestly, I managed to survive through sheer luck and will, not much skill at all, I have to say", she admitted, before smirking when remembering that now, she had luck, will, and a lot, lot of skills.

"Well, I know that I should have died, but I hadn't. I had to pass through my headmaster's test each year – and he is the equivalent of your Hokage", she explained, shifting again in her seat in order to find a comfortable position.

Those seats weren't all that comfortable, truly. Maybe it was done on purpose ? Or maybe they still hadn't created comfortable seats in this world ?

Would they be offended if she transformed her seat now ?

She shrugged her stupid thoughts out of her head, and just sent a cushioning charm under her ass. She sighed in pleasure as her seat suddenly became quite great.

"Anyway, at seventeen, I had to run away, because Voldemort was officially back and kicking – he kicked a lot", she joked, but there was no humor in her voice.

"Wait, I thought you had – no, wait, you said 'destroyed', not 'killed', right ?", realized Sarutobi.

"Indeed", nodded Harriet. "I don't know what happened, but I only destroyed his body, not what was left of his soul".

One of the ANBUs – Boar, if she wasn't mistaken, at least his mask kind of looked like a boar – flickered next to her. Her bubble had a diameter of one meter, but he was standing in, even if only a bit.

No menace, so.

"What do you mean by that ?", he asked – or was it a she ?

She wasn't able to determine this. Not at first glance, since odor and body, and even voice were hidden or changed. But a glance at his soul revealed a man.

"Voldemort was terrorized of Death", she said at least, "So he did everything he could to prevent his own death. He had split his soul in seven pieces, so that even if you killed his body, as long as one of his containers was still on Earth, then he wouldn't die. Those containers were called Horcruxes".

The shinobis shivered imperceptibly. It sounded eerily like Orochimaru, even if they doubted he had split his soul. But no doubt, he had done something as dark and unnatural as this.

Boar nodded, and disappeared back in his corner of the room.

"Anyway, I had to flee, because the Death Eaters had basically control of not only Hogwarts, but also the Ministry. I was enemy number one, and I had my face printed on 'wanted' posters about everywhere – and how cool is that ?", she asked bitterly, a shadow obscuring her eyes. Her smile was bitter as well. "I fought and finally won the war, at eighteen".

She vaguely thought of the 'Wanted' poster with her face on it, that she had carefully kept with her all these years – a remainder.

Not that she needed one but – she wasn't sure why she had kept it. To remember, maybe, that she had made the good choice, deciding to leave Great Britain ? Memento of a period where she was hunted by what was supposed to be the Government – but had only been a playfield for Death Eaters.

Remember that Wizards were fickle, vain, stupid – and above all, mindless sheep that blindly trusted what they were told by the Ministry. And the journal.

So she had kept it – what can she says ? She's a sentimental.

(Though, not to the point of sticking the poster to a wall – she kept it in her travelling bag, now in one of her trunks – she wasn't sure which one).

Anyway, no need to show them that. It wasn't to show, it was for her to keep. Nothing else.

Kakashi raised his own hand, not even thinking about how it remembered him of his academic years, all those years ago (though, granted, even then he rarely raised his hand, if ever – he already knew everything they taught, he wasn't a genius for nothing – but the others did).

"You won a war at eighteen ?"

Sure, he supposed she could be a genius too – but she had begun her training at eleven, by her own admission, which meant that she had had only seven years of training, and even then she had admitted that she hadn't had much skills.

And what business had an eighteen year old in a war ? Why was she talking as if she had led the war ?

Well, he could admit that it was a bit hypocritical of them – eleven year old were in war, in their world, and even younger too if need be – but at least they had all graduated from the Academy, and they were as much protected as they could be.

She hadn't even graduated from her own academy ! And from what she had said, it didn't seem like she had had a lot of help.

But Hari-san only laughed, darkly, painfully.

"Oh, but who else ? You see", she said, straightening without even realizing it, "I was the 'Savior', I was the Chosen, I had to fight and save them all – but them ? They owed me nothing. They waited in their homes, cowering and whining, saying that I wasn't making enough efforts, that I should do more, and what was I doing ? I let a lot of people die, really, I should have done better, quicker – they would have, of course, but they hadn't. You see, it was my job, after all – hadn't I destroyed Voldemort already once ?"

Her voice sounded bitter, hurt, and hateful. Whatever those people had done, they had betrayed her deeply, and they knew now and then that she would never truly forgive them. Never forget, either.

It explained a bit why she had been so ready to leave her world for another one – step in a dangerous and unknown place alone and without anything. She didn't even seem to have luggage with her.

"So you're saying that they had decided that it was your responsibility to kill this... Vaulemaur guy ?", asked Kakashi, a puzzled look on his face – though it was only visible in his left eye.

Harriet absentmindedly thought that his eye was way more expressive than everyone else's eyes, even if he only showed one and the others generally had a pair. Though he did have a pair, he seemed to only open his red eye only every so often.

Right now, it was closed. Harriet really wanted to know the story behind this – but later. She was tired enough as it was, and there was a lot to talk about still.

Well, she guessed that when someone only showed a single eye to everyone else, that someone must learn to convey feelings quite well with it. Else, it would be terribly inconvenient to be understood – and he didn't look like a talker.

"Pretty much, yeah", nodded Harriet, sighing deeply. She didn't mention the Prophecy – she was almost sure Prophecies didn't exist in this world anyway.

She didn't want to hear, or even think the word 'Prophecy' ever again. She was allergic to Prophecies, she was.

"But they trained you, surely ?", probed Sarutobi, a concerned look on his face.

As a Hokage, one that was in office for the longest time in History, he had had to send children to war. He had seen two wars, after all, and while he never liked this, he knew that it had been choices that he had had to do.

Children could do things adults couldn't, even well-trained ones, and geniuses were an asset, especially in war times, when every ninja counted. But he had made damn sure to train those children as well as it could be done in those times, and he never sent them alone, without backup, or on suicide missions.

But to send a young girl of eighteen, from her own admission, against a man that terrorized their world since decades (it must be, since she had said that he had killed her parents, and even then his side was on the brink of victory, so he had to be an adult by then ; then count roughly twenty years before the last fight between him and Harriet – how old had he been ?) – meaning a man with years of training and experience...

That was a suicide mission.

Without backing or help ?

That was murder. And cowardice, and stupidity, and disgusting.

"Trained me ? I hadn't even graduated from our equivalent of your Academy", snorted Harriet, green eyes clouded with painful memories. "I had to risk my life every year – literally – then it was the real deal. Kill, or be killed. Admittedly, there were times where I thought that the second choice was terribly tempting ; but my friends' lives, and the lives of hundreds of innocent persons, were on my shoulders. I simply couldn't give up, you see ? And it was personal. Every year since eleven, he made my life a living Hell. In fact, he made my life a living Hell since he had killed my parents, when I was one year old. So I was determined to kill him – and I did".

"... Without training ?", questioned one of the ANBUs – but she couldn't know which one it was, since they hadn't appeared next to her this time.

And, though she knew that the voice came from her right, up in front of her, she didn't know which ANBU was hiding there. Well, it wasn't Boar. Except if they had somehow exchanged places, but she didn't think they had.

She would have felt it... Probably.

"Yeah, without training – I would even say that I had less training than past graduates. Our Defenses teachers were shitty, no lie. Not only we learned nothing useful, but they all more or less tempted to kill me. It's funny, actually", she said pensively, "the first one I had to kill when he tried to kill me because he was possessed by Voldemort ; the second one was the world's biggest fraud, and he tried to flee when one of his student was in danger, and tried to erase me and my friend's memories ; the third one, while great and the best teacher we ever had, lost control during the full moon – he was a werewolf, you see, and I adored him and considered him a surrogate uncle, but fact is, he tried to kill me – ; the next tried to kill me, failed, tortured me, the next one hated me because of what my father had made to him when they were both students – you get it", she surmised.

"And they were all teachers ?", asked an incredulous Hokage, eyes wide.

What kind of Headmaster allowed this to happen ?

"Yeah. Rumors say the post is cursed, and I would say it's true", shrugged Harriet.

It wasn't really her problem anymore, and it had never really bothered her before. She didn't think good teachers would have changed anything, and anyway, it was quite Dumbledore-like to let things in this state, without even trying to break the curse. Greatest wizard of their time, indeed.

As you could gather, she was not a Dumbledore-fan. Not anymore.

Not when the man had made his best to raise her like a lamb to slaughter. Not when he had seen her as a tool. Not when he had kept her isolated, and tried to make her decide to give her life for the – no, not for 'the', but for 'his' greater good.

Not when he had done his best to keep her inheritances from her, thinking it would give her a reason to live, and he definitely couldn't let that happen. She was to die, and she was to do so willingly.

Not when he had already decided of her life and death, right after her parent's own deaths – right before letting her on the doorstep of her personal Hell.

"The post was cursed and no one did anything ?" asked incredulously Kakashi.

He couldn't believe it – nor could the others, he knew. He could feel it – and even the Hokage's neutral mask had cracked a bit.

(Well, it had cracked quite a few times already since Potta's entrance in the room, but whatever).

In their world, for ninjas at least, children were very important. To let their education to incompetent fools, that was unthinkable.

An maybe it was a bit hypocritical knowing that they had sometimes to kill children, given their jobs ; but they did their best to help their own. It was their missions, they had no choice (though in Konoha, this kind of mission was really, really rare), but they had a choice when they weren't on mission.

They were ninjas, not monsters, not mindless killers, no matter what civilians might say or think.

Protecting their own kept them sane, and though a lot of shinobis were awkward and uneasy around children, they would die for any of them. They would die to protect an innocent life.

"Typical", snorted disdainfully Harriet. "A friend of mine once said that, to enter the Magical World, you had to let your common sense behind. That was one of the smartest things she had ever said, and she was a very smart woman – that is, before she lost her common sense as well", she added, reminiscing Hermione.

Hermione, as she was, before... Before everything.

There was a bit of silence, which stretched for a while, since Harriet was once again lost in memories – not painful, but bittersweet, this time.

Finally, the Hokage broke this silence. As much as he would have liked to let her have a bit of peace, after everything they had learned about her, admittedly, shitty life ; he couldn't.

He was Hokage, he had things to do. He couldn't stay in his office, away from the present, forever ; and he still had many questions to ask, and a village to manage.

And, while she didn't seem like a threat to Konoha, he couldn't be sure – and a ninja was nothing if not distrustful.

"So, how did you kill him, if you were on the run alone ?"

Harriet startled out of her thoughts, seemingly surprised at his question. She frowned a bit, green eyes piercing his very soul (that was his feeling, anyway), before she took another sip of water, finishing her cup, and making it disappear.

"I never said I was alone, have I ?", she asked pensively, trying to recall the past conversation. "No, I was with my two best friends – more like the brother and sister I never had".

Again, her smile took a sad edge.

"As to how I killed him... You see, much like your Orochimaru", she began, and the shinobis all startled. With everything going on, they had all but forgotten about Orochimaru, whom she said was dead. "Voldemort was afraid of Death", she continued, ignoring their intake of breath at the remembrance of what she had written on her piece of paper.

"But", she added thoughtfully, "I think I had already said you that. Moving on, as I said, Voldemort created Horcruxes, and hid them, behind protections. That's what my friends and I did, during our run : we searched and destroyed every single one of his Horcruxes but one, and when only one was left, I let Voldemort himself destroy it, without even knowing it".

She had a very satisfied air on her – even now, she was still a bit smug knowing that Voldemort was the one responsible, at least partly, of his own death.

"Why did you let him kill the last one himself ?", asked Sarutobi, at the same time that Kakashi asked his own question.

"Why did he kill his own... safeguard ?"

They both had their hand raised in the air. It looked quite like the thing to do.

Kakashi nodded toward his Hokage, an apology and an acknowledgment of the priority of his question, but the Hokage waved a hand. Kakashi did have a good question. And, right now, he didn't really feel like an Hokage, and more like a student in an History classroom.

Except that, for once, the lesson was amazing, and nothing near boring at all.

"Well, the answers to both your questions are linked", sighed Harriet, wishing they were done, and she could go to sleep. "Voldemort made seven Horcuxes, but he knew of only six. You see, to create an Horcruxe, you have to kill an innocent. In our world, such an action tears our soul, and we lose a piece of it. Of course, it's more complicated than that, and there's a whole ritual to do, but fact is, to create an Horcruxe, you have to kill an innocent, then you take the ripped piece of soul and tie it to an object".

She paused a bit, before conjuring a new glass. She was so very thirsty, because it was so very hot in the office – and no, she wasn't talking about the shinobis in there (though shinobis all seemed to have great bodies, and she wasn't a pervert – she didn't think she was – but she did appreciate looking at them), since she could only see the Bastard – Kakashi, was it ? – and the Hokage... and she wasn't desperate enough to drool in front of an old man.

No matter that she was 123 years old right now. She had been out of Time, she hadn't aged – she had stayed someplace between the human world, and nowhere. She had had the feeling of being in a literal other world, very different from how she was in an actual other world now.

She had seen people growing up, living, walking – but she had had the feeling of seeing it all through a window. Near enough to see, yet distanced and unconcerned. She wasn't like them – she wasn't on the same plane, for all that they cohabited.

That's mainly why she had stayed with almost only animals and nature. There, even if she wasn't aging, and even if she saw everyone and everything die around her bit by bit – it hadn't been the same. No one judged her, and animals didn't care that she was immortal, or that she avoided creating links with them. She had been able to forget that she was literally out of time.

And anyway, she rarely stayed long in only one place. She travelled everywhere, wanted to see everything – but was always separated from the rest of the world. As far as she was concerned, despite the years she had lived, she was only eighteen years old. It was at that age that she had stopped ageing, and it was at that age that Time began Its course for her again.

Now, now she was a part of this world. Time finally had a meaning for her – she was like the others. Not 'like' as in, 'similar' ; but 'like' as in 'mortal'. She could die now, when Time was due at least, and the window's glass that had separated from the others had dissolved into nothingness. She could live again, because now she had a timeline.

She was the same as everyone else – bar the fact that she could only die of old age. Still, the hundred years she had suffered out of Time meant nothing – she hadn't lived, though she had learned to live for herself.

She had learned to take care of herself, but living had a different meaning altogether – one she couldn't quite describe, but one she could try and find now. She could try and connect with others. Experience. Be a part of something else.

She was startled out of her thoughts by a polite cough, and smiled sheepishly in excuse. She looked at her visible auditory, and shrugged, seeing their envious looks on her glass.

"Want some water ?", she asked. "I swear it's not poisoned"

They did look thirsty, as much as she could say (she couldn't from their looks, but they didn't know how to guard their thoughts from a Legiliment at all, and while she was trying to tone her ability down, their minds were so strong that they all but projected their thoughts to her), and she had no problem conjuring a bit of water for them all.

Caught wrong footed by the sudden change in subject, both shinobis blinked, before declining.

"You do know I can't lie, do you ?", she pushed. If even know they weren't at least a tiny bit trustful of her, then she had no hope for the future.

Kakashi was ready to decline once again, but the Sandaime hesitated. It could be a test of her truthfulness – and he had the feeling that she hadn't lied once since the beginning of their meeting. As said before, ninjas weren't trusting – but neither were they paranoid.

"I don't suppose you would have sake ?", he asked at least, strangely hopeful.

It was a crazy day – crazier than usual.

A bit of sake could only help.

"Well, I could", admitted Harriet, before crushing his hopes. "But I won't. I don't think I could manage to explain why I'm in your office, and you're all wasted".

"Water it is, then", sighed the Hokage, rubbing his temples tiredly.

He doubted he or his shinobis would drink enough to become wasted, especially in someone else's presence – but admitted to himself that it was surest not to drink at all.

Better that way.

(He could – and would, the rest of the world be damned – drink a lot later).

He watched with a bit of awe the glasses suddenly appear out of nothing, and the water filling them quietly. While ninjas could create water – meaning take it from nearby sources or, for the best of them, from the very air around them – create a real glass with it was another thing altogether.

Magic, if it was true (and how could it not be ?), would definitely be a major asset to Konoha.

She had created six glasses, and he stopped her.

"Only two, please. My ANBUs already have theirs".

Partially true. They had their own pills, as disgusting as they were, and he wasn't stupid enough to possibly let her poison everyone in his office. Willing to trust her, yes.

Stupid, no.

Again, the woman only shrugged, as she seemed prone to do a lot, and four of the glasses disappeared silently. The last two floated leisurely towards them, through the air, and they took them prudently.

Kakashi hummed his, checking that no poison was in it, before taking a small sip through his mask, keeping it in mouth and trying to find a scentless poison. When neither smell nor taste revealed any poison known to him (and he liked to think that he knew almost all of them, considering he was sort of friend with Anko, the Poison Mistress of Konoha), he swallowed.

After a few minutes, he was still quite well. His body wasn't fighting any internal attack, and his condition was still top-notch (except for this recent wound on his left shoulder).

He waited for a bit still, before reluctantly nodding toward his leader.

Sarutobi then took a sip of water, and bit by bit, they reassured themselves seeing they were still alive. Looking up, they saw the annoyed look Hari-san was sending them both, but they only smiled back innocently.

They had taken a big bet, following their instinct, and they had won. Now they trusted the woman a bit more. If she had indeed been there to kill the Hokage, that would have been the perfect moment. But she wasn't there for that – in fact, they believed her and her unbelievable story.

Still, they had to know a lot more about her before trusting her – and for that, they had a lot of questions unanswered yet.

"Where was I ?", wondered out loud Harriet, letting the subject go.

She wasn't naive enough to think they would blindly drink everything she gave them, though it did seem a bit over-cautious.

"You were explaining why he didn't know about his seventh safeguard", helpfully supplied Kakashi, not quite knowing how to pronounce 'Horcruxe'.

In doubt, he preferred to avoid saying it entirely – as he had been avoiding saying any of the stranger-than-strange names she had spoken about.

"Right", accepted Harriet, tilting graciously her head toward him in thanks. "So, as I was saying, when he came that night to kill my parents, he had already prepared the ritual necessary to create an Horcruxe. When he tried to kill me, I was of course an innocent. It ripped his soul – what was left of it. But something, supposedly my mother's protection, rendered him unable to kill me".

"Your mother's protection ?", asked a puzzled Hokage.

"Yeah. It's thought to be really archaic magic, one of the oldest forms of Old Magicks. She gave her life for mine. When Voldemort killed her, he accepted her offer, even without knowing it. Magic is sentient, you see. His magic recognized the sacrifice for what it was, and it became magically binding when he killed her. So when he turned on me, not only did he rip his soul, but his magic destroyed his body for breaking his word. That, and he didn't kill me – he couldn't".

There was a bit of silence, before Kakashi menacingly took half a step toward her.

"I thought you said you didn't know what had happened that night ?"

Harriet raised an eyebrow. Good memory. Bad timing, but good memory.

"I don't", she admitted. "Know what happened that night, I mean. Everything I'm telling you is supposition. No one knows for sure, but that's the only thing I can think of".

Kakashi marginally relaxed, going back to his original place, still a bit cautious.

"Anyway. His body was gone, and his shard of soul was still here. But it didn't want to die. So, it went to the only place where it could survive. Me".

"... You ?", asked the Sandaime, not quite understanding.

"Me", confirmed Harriet calmly. "For seventeen years, I lived with a piece of Voldemort's soul in my head, kept out only by my own magic, but still within me".

She made no gesture to reveal her lightning-shaped scar, hidden under her fringe. She didn't want to reveal it, she didn't want them looking at it – she didn't want them knowing it was there.

It was her secret. Everyone, in the Magical World, knew it was there, where it was, what it looked like. It meant a lot of things – her parent's death, the fact that she had been an Horcruxe, the fact that she had been 'chosen' by this three-time damned Prophecy...

Here, she didn't want it to mean a single thing.

As far as she was concerned, no one would ever know what it meant. Not if it wasn't important for them to know.

She wasn't considering it important.

"... You went and let him kill you ?", asked incredulously Kakashi, both eyes wide under the surprise of the realization.

"Yes", she confirmed only, a bit resentful still that she had allowed herself to do that – had allowed everyone to manipulate her. She would have done it either way, but she didn't like remembering that her sacrificing herself was part of a plan.

It made it seem as if she had had no choice – as if her own sacrifice hadn't even been her choice.

"I didn't have a lot of chances against him, you know ? He was stronger, and much more educated in magic than me. He hadn't kept his Horcruxes with him, so I hadn't had to fight him in order to kill them, so that had been the easy part. But I couldn't just let him win, even if I didn't see any way of winning against him. What I could do, though, was taking him with me", she said.

She was so very tired, now. She wanted to sleep – talking of her past made it resurface, everything all at once. She was using her Occlumency barriers to keep it together – but she wanted to sleep. A good night would soothe the pain away. She hadn't slept a lot ever since her arrival in the Elemental Nation – she never slept a lot, not since... ever, in fact – yet here, now, she wanted to sleep like a baby.

She felt she could allow herself to sleep like one.

Maybe because she now knew she could work for the Hokage, and live in Konoha ? As far as she was concerned, right now, she could live in this village. She could work there. Her choice was done – the only one she was waiting for was the Hokage's. If he accepted her, then she would stay.

If not, then she would leave.

Because her choice was done any way, there was no anticipation, no anxiety. Only acceptance, and sleepiness.

She forced herself to stay awake – she could sleep later. There was a lot to do and say still.

But there had been a shift in the room's atmosphere right now. Shinobi were raised, and trained themselves, with the knowledge that Death could come for them every time. Every day. Every hour. Every minute.

From the moment they became ninjas, they were fated to die. Ninjas courted Death too often, it was impossible for them not to meet Her at long last.

Still, the best way to die, for them, was to die fighting. Fighting to protect what or who they held dear. Die knowing you protected people you loved. Die fulfilling your mission.

A meaningful death.

And to die, sacrificing oneself for others ? That asked for courage, determination, and a very good heart. Especially when others, at least in Hari-san's case, were strangers – ungrateful ones, at that.

Still, to be ready to die that way at 18 years old only – going to one's death, knowing there was no way to survive...

You could say that their respect for the strange woman in front of them just augmented, as it had been prone to do since the very beginning. The more they learned about her, the more they realized how good a person she was.

How strong.

They honestly needed more people like her, not magic-wise, but personality-wise – especially considering that in their job, people were prone to think about themselves first, or to let themselves be corrupted by the fact of murdering people every day.

It took a huge toll on someone, having to kill strangers for nothing, just following orders– sometimes even when knowing that the target they had received was an innocent, and good man or woman... A child, sometimes. To stay sane, and to keep kindness in oneself... That was hard.

(Which explained the strange ways ninjas had to cope with their jobs – also known as 'ninja's craziness', it could be seen in every single one of them. From the guy that ran around in a strange, green uniform and a weirdo haircut ; to the one that chewed on senbons, every one of them had their ways).

Still, it hadn't been her job to kill the madman, no matter what her fellow... wizards seemed to believe. But she had still decided to do it. It certainly was worthy of their respect.

"And yet, you're still alive", was all that was muttered by Kakashi. He seemed to think for a bit, before adding. "You sure you're not actually really dead ?"

Hari shot him a half-heartedly annoyed look.

"Pretty sure".

The Jonin hummed noncommittally, nodding towards her to ask further explanation as to how she was still alive, considering that all the odds had been against her, and that she had herself told that she had let this... bad guy, kill her.

(Said bad guy's name really was unpronounceable. Sue him).

"In my world, there is a spell, called the Death Spell. It's an Unforgivable – its use is a direct pass to what pass as a prison for Wizards, but is really Hell on Earth", Hari announced, filling everyone's glasses again.

Well, conjured water was fresh, pure, clean, and all in all perfect to drink. No wonder all the glasses were already empty.

"This spell will, as its name very clearly indicates, kill whoever it touches. What's important here is that it do not simply stop the heart – it rips the soul out of the body. The death is immediate, of course, but it also mean that no matter where it touches, it will kill all the same", she explained, conjuring the spell in her right hand, and looking at the hauntingly beautiful, vivid green light.

The same color than her eyes.

She quickly made it disappear. No need to render her auditory even more nervous than it already was. Ninjas, when feeling danger, liked to attack first and calmly ask questions later, or simply flee if they felt it was better. Since they couldn't exactly flee the room... Well. Best not to provoke them.

(They seemed to appreciate the concern).

"Meaning, whether it hits you in the head, or just grazes your pinky finger, the result is the same. You're dead", she concluded blankly.

She had seen too much battlefields lightened by this color, lifeless bodies scattered across the ground – all for one spell.

So beautiful in appearance – so deadly and cold in truth.

A life, wasted. In one hit. Without scream, without sound. Just – just a green light.

"I fail to see how that explains you being still alive", flatly interrupted Kakashi, looking impassively at her.

She tried her best to convey her disdain for him with her eyes only – wasn't sure she succeeded. She didn't have his experience, clearly. (She also didn't try to kill him with her eyes, since she wasn't sure she wouldn't succeed).

"I'm coming to it. Patience, will you ?", she asked, annoyed with his strange, stupid upturned U-smile. With his eye, since his face was still hidden.

(She briefly wondered if anyone knew what he looked like. Probably not).

"As I said before, the Killing Curse target the soul. But I had two souls in me", she revealed, smirking smugly.

Ah, to see Voldemort's face in Hell, realizing he had killed himself, just when he had had the possibility to really be immortal ! A living Horcruxe that no enemy of his would have wanted to kill ! (Though, she knew that Dumbledore would have had no difficulty doing the deed. And a lot more of people, speaking about 'greater good' and 'necessary evil'. What's worse, she wasn't sure she would have stopped them).

Alas, only the dead could go in Hell – or in the afterlife, really. Not even she could go and visit... So it was all wistful thinking.

"My own, and his shard of soul. When the Killing Curse hit me, I was given a choice – die, or live on. I chose to live on – see what a life without death threats would look like".

She greatly shortened what had been proposed – the difficulty of the choice. To die – to end it finally, once and for all, see her parents, her godfather, her friends, honorary uncles and ancestors... Find peace, finally.

Or go back, and resume fighting. Was it worth it ? Back then, it had seemed like it.

(Now... Now, this was her last chance).

"So, you choose to came back to life ?", asked Kakashi, deeply interested in the young woman in front of him.

Even in their line of work, this was crazy. And – maybe because he was a shinobi, and all shinobis were crazy – he was fascinated.

"Obviously", she answered, rolling her eyes a little bit.

The silver-haired Jonin looked down on her. She glared. He raised a silver, mocking eyebrow. She stuck her tongue out at him. Sarutobi sighed tiredly.

He was too old for all this shit ! Why, oh why was he still Hokage ?! That hadn't been in the job's description !

He longingly thought that it should have been Minato's mess to deal with – but the man had gone and died on him ! Sarutobi could have done the Shinigami seal himself, thank you very much ! But no, instead, he had had to take the stupid hat back – and the paperwork with it !

Damn Minato.

And no matter how much he would have loved to pass the hat to Kakashi, the damn brat was way too smart for that.

Damn Kakashi.

Damn this woman ! It was way too early for such a headache !

And if at least they stopped their awkward flirting, he thought moodily, massaging his temples and staring blandly at the two adults making faces at each other.

(Kakashi was losing. He couldn't do grimaces when having his mask on. Still, he fought valiantly, and his eye's expressions were worthy of respect).

"Hum", he coughed politely, trying to get them to concentrate on the subject at hand – which was much more important than, well, grimaces.

And they were an Anbu Captain for one, and an admittedly awe-inspiring survivor for the other. Kami, save them all.

"If we may continue ?", he drawled, whishing again for a bottle of sake. "You won the war – so it was over, wasn't it ?"

"It was", curtly confirmed Hari-san – but her eyes were haunted, and he knew enough about war, really, to know that though it was actually over, she hadn't been over it. None of the wizards would have been over it. None could be – the repercussions of a war extended to years after it was over, sadly.

And especially for such an active participant such as Hari-san. No doubt, nightmares and regrets would have surrounded the young woman. Sarutobi allowed himself to feel compassion for the green-eyed, black-haired woman, before going on.

"So, why exactly are you here – why have you decided to... travel between worlds ?", he asked, unsure of the exacts terms for what she had done.

"Ah," nodded Hari-san, looking burdened and relieved at the same time. "Because, everyone went back to a normal life. More or less, I will admit, but they put the war behind them. And I couldn't".

She smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I'm what they made me into – I'm a warrior. I know war, I know how to fight – I have this mentality. I don't know how to live in peace, I never have. So I couldn't settle down, I couldn't go on, I couldn't – and they would never let me do so, anyway. I've always been a public figure, for them – I've always been criticized, no matter what I did".

Her face contorted shortly in pain – not a physical one, but an emotional one. And that was only that much worse, because while you can easily take care of physical wounds, at least to an extent – emotional pain was way harder to soothe. But she quickly put a smooth mask on her face, an impassive one.

It was an impressive mask, and they weren't able to see what she thought or felt, but they knew all the same. While her mask was clearly ANBU-level, she didn't seem to know how to mask her body-language, and it was easy for them to read her emotions just by looking at her. Even if the totally blank look that suddenly overtook her face was sort of disturbing.

It wasn't neutrality – it was the sudden disappearance of any and every emotion she had been displaying. She didn't seem to take care of hiding her emotions, but sometimes her face shifted and she showed nothing at all – as if she was suddenly lost in her own head, her own world, and didn't control her face anymore.

Yet her body-language was clear and for all to see, so she was still here, with them. Only, the disturbing nothingness was here to mask her pain.

"Even my victory on Voldemort – it had been prophesized, hadn't it ? So it was only natural that I had done so. They were grateful, sure, but they never understood how much- – they never understood. It was a given, for them. I was a given. And, since I was such a public figure, I was never good enough for them – and they let me know it", she concluded quietly, her voice devoid of emotion.

But her body screamed of pain, loneliness, and treason.

The shinobis themselves were repulsed. Not only throwing an untrained child in front of danger, thinking she was the one who would save them all, and placing crushing expectations of her shoulders was appealing... But to, then, when against all odds she had succeeded, simply consider it as natural, and never recognizing her sacrifices nor treating her like the hero she was...

It was disgusting.

What was the mentality of those wizards people ? Who – what civilization let their warriors and protectors, as well as their heroes, just suffer continuously without even having the decency of expressing their thanks for what they had done ?

It was a deeply flawed attitude – and veteran shinobis were always treated with the respect they deserved.

To do otherwise was truly... unforgivable.

They could certainly understand now why she had not decided to stay in the world she had given so much to protect. And why she had decided to come to a ninja village. As sad as it was, once you've known war and fights, blood and death... Well, you simply can't live a peaceful life anymore.

Nightmares and paranoia prevent you to live quietly among civilians.

"And you choose our world ?", asked Kakashi, curious to know why she had chosen their world in particularity, when she had hinted that there was a lot of different worlds out there.

"I didn't really have a choice", smiled Hari-san, shrugging softly.

"What do you mean ?", frowned the silver-haired man.

"Well, while I could have chosen any other world, really ; yours was the only one I could learn about first before going there", she revealed. "Which was helpful, since I don't particularly fancy finding myself in a world I know nothing of – what if the very language is one I don't even know ?"

"You mean – how were you able to learn about our world beforehand, then ?", Sarutobi looked really interested, and maybe even a bit concerned.

"Oh, well, it's a bit funny", falsely smiled Hari.

"What ? I'm still laughing about your life story", mockingly deadpanned Kakashi, making reference to the fact that she had announced earlier that her history was a funny one.

(Which it hadn't been, by the way. Amazing, awe-inspiring, humbling in some ways, disturbing even – but funny, certainly not. Or, at the very least, Kakashi and the woman had deeply different kind of humor).

"Yes, you do seem a bit slow", snidely replied Hari, showing a smile with a bit too much teeth in it. "Should we wait for you ?"

"No, thank you", he snarled back. "Go right ahead".

Sarutobi cleared his throat, whishing once again to be somewhere else – better yet, someone else – before looking at them pointedly.

"Right", Hari-san had the decency to look embarrassed. You could never really know with Kakashi. "Well, when I was twelve, I had to fight a snake that wanted to kill me, as well as a lot of other children. It was in a school, and commanded by an enemy of mine, so I really had no choice but to kill it".

"So... You killed a snake ?", slowly enunciated Sarutobi, not sure to see the link between that and the fact that Hari-san was allowed to learn about their world.

They hadn't known about the fact that there were different worlds out there, but if people from other worlds were able to learn about their own, then people could learn about them – even spy on them, who knew what that 'magic' could do ? – and if they decided to attack, for whatever reason... It was a risk he couldn't take.

He needed to take care of this problem, if there indeed was one.

"Wait !", he startled before Hari could answer, eyes wide with shock and maybe even a bit of fear. "Was it Orochimaru ? Is that him who controlled the snake ? Is that how you learned about our world ? Did he know about other worlds ?"

So much questions, each as important as the others – but for the last one, which was way more important than the others. The last one was scaring, at the very least. What did Orochimaru learn ? What did he discover ? What – ?

"Wow, wait, hang on", interrupted Hari, looking faintly amused – but that was no laughing matter !

"No, while my enemy did have a lot of things in common with your Orochimaru, they are – were – two different persons, that I can assure you", reassured Hari.

"They were ?", asked a much calmer Sandaime, even if still a bit suspicious.

"I swear they were. After all, your Orochimaru still have – had hair and a nose".

"You mean your enemy didn't have those ?", and both visible shinobis looked faintly disturbed by this idea.

No hair, why not. No nose ?

"He didn't. He was born with them, obviously, but he managed to lose them. Don't ask", shrugged Hari, before going on.

"A moment", interrupted the Hokage, searching something in his desk. He took a pipe, along with some tobacco, and made himself a good pipe. It was no sake, but it would have to do.

He lightened the tobacco with a fairly small fire jutsu, and breathed the smoke in deeply. He exhaled with satisfaction.

"Go on".

"Right", mumbled Hari, a bit disconcerted to see that even the Hokage smoked. She would have thought that he would have taken the utmost care of his health – but then again, ninjas could die anytime (though it was less of a given for the Hokage, since he was pretty well protected, and was no pushover himself), so it was no surprise that they decided to live life to its fullest.

It was doubtful that they would die from a cancer, after all.

"Well, this snake was fairly big, way bigger than me. There was also the small matter of its skin being impermeable to magic and weapons, its venom being so potent it could melt stone, and, of course, the fact that its eyes were deadly".

"What do you mean, deadly ?", prompted the scarecrow, letting go of the no-hair-no-nose subject.

"Well, whoever looked into its eyes died. It gave a whole new dimension to 'dead glare', really", she explained, still half-relieved no one died – except for Moaning Myrtle, sadly, and she was still astounded by the Wizards' stupidity concerning her death (really, Myrtle had been there, right there, as a ghost, yes, but still herself... And no one asked her how she had died. Hari had known that wizards were complete trolls, but she had thought that at least, they would try to protect their own children... But Myrtle had been a Muggleborn, and that meant everything, didn't it ?)– and half-astonished at the sheer luck they had that, indeed, nobody died.

Talk about the absolute weapon of Slytherin.

(She wasn't complaining).

"... And how did you kill it ?", wondered the Sandaime, remembering that by then, Hari-san had only had little more than a year of training – if that.

The odds weren't good – then again, this young woman seemed to thrive when everything was against her.

"With a sword, a friend's help, and a lot of luck", smiled gently Hari, keeping herself from laughing at their annoyed looks.

"Yes ?", encouraged the Hokage.

"Well, a friend of mine put the basilisk's eyes out – I mean, the snake's eyes ; and I managed to transpierce its head with my sword", remembered Hari fondly – which was kind of disturbing, since she had almost died at that time, and it wasn't the sort of things you remember fondly.

Then again, if that was the case, then there was not a lot of things she could remember fondly since, sadly, she had risked her life more time than she had lived years – at least, before the end of the war.

And even after, there had been some adventures and events that may have caused a bit of danger for her person – but that was neither here nor there.

"Your friend put the snake's eyes out ? How ? Who ?", questioned Sarutobi impassively.

She had never mentioned any friend – apart from her supposedly two best friends, but she never once gave their names, so they were not in good terms anymore. Which also meant that they hadn't died during the war, or she would have talked of their sacrifices, or even help, more thoroughly.

She still liked them a bit, though, else she tried to never mention them.

Anyway, she had to be talking of yet another friend.

"My friend was called Fumseck, and he was a Phoenix", she announced proudly, laughing a bit at their blank faces. "It's a bird, a bird of fire", she clarified helpfully.

"Right", deadpanned Kakashi.

"I swear it's true !", grinned the green-eyed woman. "An immortal bird of fire, whose tears can save a life. Even the deadliest of venom will be destroyed by them".

"Huh uh", nodded the Hokage, looking, for all intent and purpose, as if he was more ready to believe that he was a woman, after all these years thinking of himself as a male.

"Well, you also didn't believe I was a witch, and from another world with that. And yet !", exclaimed Hari, having more fun than she had had since... since decades. "And do remember the Vow's still active, so I can't lie. Fumseck blinded the Basilisk with his beak. He pierced its eyes".

She went on, savoring their unbelieving looks of shock. She had the feeling that they did not often show that much emotion, that freely.

"That's how I was finally able to transpierce it with a sword, since, you know, I could actually look at it without dying".

"Be that as it is, I fail to see how that explain you learned about our world", asked the Hokage, deciding that there was enough crazy things right now to bother asking about more crazy things.

So what if 'immortal birds of fire' really existed in another world ? Not his problem.

Nope.

(Fascinating, though).

He pressed his temples tightly, whishing for an aspirin, but looked at the woman in front of him instead. Kami, he was so tired – and it wasn't even noon ! He couldn't take much more shocks than he had already suffered.

His world was literally crumbling under his very eyes ! Other worlds, with other people and animals and customs... It is hard, to learn that your world (the one you thought was the only one) was but a drop in a river.

And for a shinobi like them, learning that there was other worlds with very strong threats, which they knew nothing about, and which could come to their own world ; all of that without having the means to protect themselves... That was a nightmare, for people who liked to know everything about their enemies, or their possible enemies, or their neighbors, or about what was happening at the other end of the world – even if that would have no incidence on their day-to-day life, but just because something was happening and they needed to know everything about it.

Knowledge is power. They needed to know about everything they could – and they knew nothing about these other worlds. He wanted a break.

"Well, after I killed the basilisk... -"

"Yeah, speaking of that", interrupted Kakashi, smirking at the annoyed look Hari-san flashed his way – thankfully, no one saw his smirk, since he had a mask. "You said you killed it with a sword, right ?"

"Yeah...", prudently answered Hari, not seeing his point.

"I thought you said before even that, that its skin was impermeable to weapons ?"

"Oh", Hari sighed, relieved it was only that. "Yeah, its skin was – I transpierced it through the roof of its mouth"

There was a stretch of silence, broken by the Sandaime.

"You transpierced the giant snake through its mouth ?"

"Yeah ?", she frowned, puzzled.

"Meaning, it was near enough from you, you could do it ?"

"Well, yeah, since it bit me".

Another pause.

"The snake, with the stone-melting venin, bit you ?", verified Kakashi.

"Oh, you wonder why I'm still alive ?", realized Hari. "Well, I did tell you that a phoenix's tears have wonderful healing properties, didn't I ? Fumseck cried on my wound, though I still have the scar", she replied, her hand automatically raising to the scar's emplacement, on the top of her right arm.

"Can we see it ?", asked the Hokage – it would serve as proof, seeing that since the very beginning, the only proof they had that what she was saying was true, was her 'magic', which enabled her to do things chakra couldn't.

But even then, it could be a sort of mutating chakra, so...

Hari-san nodded simply, rolling her sleeve up high enough on her arm, and showing a large, oval, and faded scar.

The shinobis shuddered, remembering that it had first been on a twelve year old's arm.

This magical world was sheer madness. It was insane, and stupid, and incredibly dangerous for children – and that was coming from experienced shinobis !

What were doing the adults ? The senseis ? It all happened in a school, had it not ?!

"Thankfully, it was only the tip of its fang", smiled Hari, releasing her sleeve. "I don't want to think about what would have happened, should the entire fang... – Ugh. I would have lost my arm".

It would have been a real pain to re-grow it – and that, only if the basilisk's venin was weak enough it allowed healing potions to do their work.

(And a new limb isn't like a real one anyway. She had been told it felt kind of strange and alien, which explained why Mad-Eye preferred an artificial leg).

(Then again, he was one of the very few – the others all preferred re-growing their limbs).

(Mad-Eye may have favored the artificial ones for the weapons he could hide in it, though).

"Okay", Sarutobi breathed deeply. "Okay. Fine. Just – a minute, will you ?"

There was a pause, again, and Hari felt a bit uneasy with the looks heavy on her. Well, she knew that while wizards lacked cruelly in common sense, it certainly wasn't the case for shinobis – far from it. She also knew that they protected children as best as they could, considering the circumstances.

And she was absolutely certain that they would have hated the wizarding world – or the wizards, at least.

She hadn't expected them to feel a raw respect for her. When was the last time someone respected her – respected what she had done ? When was the last time someone had looked at her as a living, free person ?

When was the last time that she had been acknowledged for who she was, instead of who she was supposed to be ?

It was... She would have liked to say that it was liberating, perfect, something positive – but it was so new, so different from everything she had ever known, that she wasn't quite sure of how to act.

Still now, she was of the idea that what she had accomplished at Hogwarts was no big deal. Well, she had had help, hadn't she ? And luck.

It hadn't been thanks to her skills. It hadn't been 100% her.

She knew it wasn't the truth, knew that what she had done was respect-worthy ; she knew that it had been the kind of things only heroes – if only she believed they existed – would do. But that had never really been driven home.

Everyone had thought it had been the natural ending – her victory, everything she had done, everything she had sacrificed ; just normal. She was just another witch, whose only quality in the Wizarding world's eyes was the immense fortune to her names.

But the looks in their eyes said otherwise, and that was... strange.

"Moving on", continued the Hokage. "The link between the snake and our world ?"

"Ah, yes", she nodded sagely, glad for the distraction.

Give her an enemy or something to learn – no problem.

Ask her to deal with positive sentiments – or, Kami forbid, feelings towards her, and she was gone.

Nope.

She wasn't good with that.

"The Basilisk, in our world, is considered as the King of Serpents. Turned out it wasn't so much the King as it was the Queen. In fact, the Basilisk I killed in my Second Year was the Boss of the Snakes, from your Snake Contract. Don't ask me why she was in such a place, I wouldn't know. I just know that she was magically tied to this place, and had gone crazy long ago. So I killed her – but point is, her title is an Hereditary one, so I became the Boss of the Snakes".

"You are the Boss of the Snakes ?!", blurted out Kakashi, both eyes wide open with shock, after the moment of stillness that had succeeded Hari's announce.

"Yeah", she nodded, dismissing the suddenly coughing Hokage in front of her.

She completely understood their shock, for once.

Well, she had understood it before too, of course – she was honest enough with herself to admit that her story was a crazy one, and that she wouldn't have believed herself should the positions be reversed.

But, as far as she was concerned, being the Boss of the Snakes was the most shocking thing that had ever happened to her. I mean, come on – when you lived in a magical world, where everything was theoretically possible, a lot of things (considered amazing by others) were pretty common for wizards – and even more common for her, considering everything she had experienced.

But even then, suddenly becoming the Boss of a Snake Clan, from another world, was a different thing altogether. Even for her, it was crazy – and she was Mistress of Death. Literally.

So it was good, yes, but crazy.

"You don't look like a snake", prudently muttered the silver-haired man, both eyes eyeing her with caution.

She rolled her eyes at him, eyeing from the corner of her eye the Hokage, who was still coughing, after having choked on his smoke. He gulped down the remaining water in his glass, and she kindly filled it again.

"I obviously still have my human body, since, you know, I was born human", she drawled sarcastically, and the man managed the feat of rolling one eye.

The other was once again closed – it was becoming quite frustrating, actually. It obviously worked, so why keeping it closed ?!

"But I also have a Snake form".

"You can... transform ? Into a snake ?", quietly murmured a voice, from the shadows.

And well, it was nice to know that the ANBUs were still listening. They could have been sleeping, for all she knew – though she very much doubted they would ever sleep on a job.

They were far too competent and serious for that. It simply wasn't in their personalities.

"Yes", she confirmed simply.

"Can you show us ?", calmly asked the Hokage – at least, as calmly as he could – and oh, she could suddenly feel the piercing looks on her.

"I can, but I won't – at least not here".

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "I assure you that it's perfectly safe – now. No one, apart us, will see you".

"Oh, I know", sweetly answered Hari. "It's just that the room's too small. I am the Boss of the Snakes, you know ?"

"Ah – ah, yes", muttered Sarutobi, not sure of what he should say now.

There was, again, a silence – but it wasn't, for once, a shocked, or tense one. It was a little, awkward silence, where none of the shinobis knew what to do or say, and Hari waited for their questions.

She had finished her story, after all, and – and maybe she hadn't been clear enough.

Meanwhile, the shinobis were trying to imagine how big her Snake form was (if she truly had one to begin with) considering that Manda was huge, and a pain in the ass in battle – and she wasn't even the Boss.

The boss was the strongest, the hugest, the most dangerous – they had truly thought that it was Manda's title. That it was not meant that Potta's form was even more huge and dangerous than Manda – and yeah, okay, not a reassuring thought.

"That's how I knew about your world", she finally blurted out, when she couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Since, you know, Boss of Snakes. They told me everything they could about here, and I decided to come – which was possible since I was linked to this world, as well as the Summon Realm. Since – yeah. Boss of Snakes".

Yeah. Well. She was a bit unsure right now, sue her. Rambling wasn't a bad thing, anyway.

"I... see", sighed the Hokage, not really seeing, but he understood what she was saying. He hadn't accepted it yet, but... That would come, right ? "And why did you choose to come here ? I would have thought you would have liked to see your world, without risking your life every time ?"

"Mmh ? I thought it was obvious", she sighed tiredly – and they could feel the exhaustion pouring out of her. "I was their hero, but above all, I was a public figure – not a private one, never a private one. When I showed no signs of settling, marrying and everything else, they decided that, since I was a woman, I needed the advice of a husband, as well as giving Heirs to my Families. So they took the choice out of my hands, and send me a letter stating that I would have to marry, or lose everything".

She reclined in her seat, a sad little smile on her face. A bitter one.

"I hadn't fought all my life, only to give up and submit myself to someone else – someone I didn't even like or know. I hadn't lost almost everything to become a trophy wife, whose only purpose in life was giving birth to Heirs, and smile prettily next to her husband. I hadn't".

There was a burning, fierce spark in her eyes, lightening her green, green eyes – and they all knew it was a woman they wouldn't cross. Not if they could help it.

"They took everything from me – I wouldn't let them took my freedom, nor what was rightfully mine".

And oh, how she would have loved to be able to see into the wizarding world for a bit ! Just – just to see what would happen into Gringotts.

She was certain they weren't waiting for her answer to their letter, and she could almost see them, arrogantly walking to Gringotts, after this shameful decision was taken by the Magengamot.

The decision that would give some people everything that was hers – even her life.

No doubt, their first stop would be Gringotts. Not even her – no, she wasn't that important. What was important was the wealth that came with her Families – the two Families they knew of.

Potter and Black.

It was enough to make one kill.

They would walk importantly, right to the Goblins, and pompously ask to be given control of all the Potter's and Black's Vaults, by immediate decision of the Mizengamot. The Goblins, devious little bastards that they were, would only smile chillingly, and agree.

Them and she weren't in good terms, but she was probably their favorite wizard – witch, whatever – and she trusted them more than she trusted wizards. Which was a sad realization, really.

And she knew she would have sported the same toothily scaring smirk that they doubtlessly would have on their faces, had she been there.

They would ask – which Vaults do you want to read the contains first ? The Potters ? The Blacks ?

... The Lestranges ?

She could almost see the greed, already present, now shining in their beady eyes.

Then, the list would go on.

The Peverells ? The Gryffindors ? The Slytherins ? The Ravenclaws ?

Oh – the greed, the winning smiles they wouldn't be able to contain, the awful, thirsty expression on their disgusting faces !

Only for the results to fall, sharp and crushing, definitive.

"The contents of these Vaults are... Nothing".

Yes, nothing. She had emptied her Vaults, long ago – gave back the loaded goblin-made objects, and took everything else. She even took the dirt. The Vaults were spotless, clean, cleaner than they had ever been, probably.

There was nothing there. Nothing for them to take.

They would be furious, of course, and the Goblins grinning. They certainly could appreciate her last, resounding action in this world, even though they hadn't liked to see their wealthiest client leave the Bank.

It was worth it.

They loved gold, but they also loved to see their enemies crushed. They could appreciate her action, even if it probably wasn't bloody enough for their taste.

They would protest, argue, demand – all in vain. The deeds of her commerce were securely kept in her Manors, and she had personally strengthened the protections and wards around her proprieties. The House-elves would take care of everything – stocking the money won by her shops in her absence in her different houses, accepting contracts in her name – they knew what to accept and what to refuse, she had been very clear in her instructions.

Nothing for them there either.

They wouldn't even be able to take her Seats on the Magenmagot, since she had forfeited her rights on them. While they could have acted as proxy, if the Seats had still been hers, such was not the case anymore. The Seats were empty, waiting for the next, true heir or heiress. Now, only someone approved by the Family's Magic would be able to take those Seats, and there was no one else to do that.

She would know, she had been very thorough in her searches – back when she still hoped she had family, somewhere.

Well, Malfoy would probably be able to take the Black Seat – but he would gain nothing from it, since he would only be able to vote on bills and such. Nothing important, really, nothing Harriet – no, it was Hari now – would regret.

Taking control of the Black Seats didn't mean he could take control of the Blacks' assets. Far from it, since she was the Head of the Black Family, and would stay it until her death. Forfeiting the Black Seats didn't mean forfeiting her position as Head of the Black Family. She would stay Lady Black until her time was over.

(Back then, it had seemed it would be forever, but now that she knew better, she was still satisfied by what she had done. She was assured to not die before a long, long time, after all ; and there was nothing to take after her death. Only persons acknowledged and accepted by the Family's Magic would ever be able to take possession of the title of Head of the Family, and she was the last of them bar the Black – and she would never lose the name. It was enough for her – only some deeds stayed back there, since she couldn't take them with her into another world, but she had magnanimously sold them to her other Houses. There was nothing to the Black name other than the name itself. It had been just a precaution).

(She didn't care. Everything else was with her, now, and forever).

The Black Title would have been at Malfoy's child's disposal, after her death – but she had taken the Black Ring with her. And magic was strong and amazing, especially Family Magics ; but even they would not be able to call the Ring back after her death – not from another world altogether. It meant that no one would ever be able to become Head of the Black Family, even after she was long gone.

What a satisfying thought.

"Because, at the end of the day – even after I saved the country, while they were cowardly hiding under their beds... Even then, I was still a woman – and it meant I was less than a man. I fought for others all of my life – but I also fought for myself at the same time. I just decided I had been betrayed too much, and to fight only for myself".

She shrugged tiredly.

"I couldn't stay here – not after... Not after everything. I'm tired of having to be on the run, of always running away from my problems, because for all I'm what they made me into – a fighter – I can't fight against them. Not when I did everything to save them. So coming here was my only choice – and my last try", she admitted quietly.

It was true. They made her who she was now. Not on purpose of course, they didn't set out for this to happen. They never wanted to transform her into a person that was unable to live peacefully, to settle and let go of the past. To let go of the War.

But fact is, if they had only bothered to get to know her, even a little ; or simply to ask her things to do that didn't include risking her life or saving them all, then she would – maybe – have been able to... live among them.

They hadn't, and she wasn't.

And she had long ago stopped to care about that. It hurt, but then again, in this world, she was always hurt – one way or another. Physically by her officials enemies, and mentally by her so-called friends and people.

But now, she didn't care about reputations, about broken friendships, about hurtful manipulations. It was in the past, and though she was unable to let go of the war, of the memories, of the loss – she was still able to let go of them.

They weren't worth it.

The good, Griffindor-like Girl-Who-Lived was long gone. Or maybe, she had never been there to begin with. Maybe – no, definitely, it had been an illusion the Wizarding World had created, and she had let herself believe in it.

It was easier to belong, if she was what they expected her to be, wasn't it ?

But she had never been like that – the Hat had been right, saying she would fit well in Slytherin. Her childhood certainly predisposed her for this House – waiting, pondering, carefully planning her moves, her words ; calculating the world around her in order to know when to react and when to stay silent...

She had never been one to rush in things head-on – it wasn't wise, it wasn't prudent, it was often hurtful, and rarely worth it. It went against every self-preserving instinct she had...

But she had ignored it all, just to fit in. To belong.

What an absolute waste it had been.

Because, at the end of the day, she couldn't hide herself forever, and it had shown when she had been betrayed by her best friends. She hadn't demanded answers, hadn't accepted to bend. Couldn't, not anymore.

She had finally listened to herself, the only person that had never betrayed her, and she had cut ties. Cut her losses. Cut everything out of her life.

And she hadn't been happy, but she had been better, and that was enough. Because she had never been happy, so she didn't know what it was, and you don't regret something you never had.

And now, she had a chance to find happiness – whatever it would be – but above all, she had a chance to be content if not happy, and that was more than she ever had.

She sighed, coming back to the present.

She was spent. She had finally said everything – there was nothing else for her to add. Nothing relevant to the subject, at least.

She wasn't about to let their know her status of Mistress of Death – no way. She may be ready to try and trust them, to fight for this Village, and to find a new life there – but that was for later.

For now, she was waiting their decisions, and wasn't trusting them. Oh, she trusted them more than she had trusted everyone else, bar her friends and mentors ; but she had been betrayed too many times to trust easily now.

And she had never trusted easily, to begin with.

(She should have been even more cautious – look at her, now !)

"I see...", finally pronounced the Hokage. "Can't say I understand, not by a large margin – I'm afraid it will take some time for that – but I see".

"So that's how you came in our world", resumed Kakashi. "And why Konoha precisely ?"

"That's an easy one", smiled Hari. "I need someplace where I will be able to settle and live in – I cannot chose a ninja Village just like that. I need one... One I will be able to fight for, one with a leader I will be able to... somewhat... obey to".

She grinned wryly.

"Konoha is the only Village that promotes and practice teamwork – and trust me, if someone knows the importance of teammates, it's me. You're the only Village that do things such as delayed payments, for un-wealthy clients. And you", she added seriously, looking at the Hokage, "are a man I can accept orders from".

There was another pause, as everyone in the room understood the meaning and importance of her words, before she ended.

"That's why I choose Konoha – I cannot stop myself for helping people in need, and I need the backing of a strong ninja Village for that. I don't think I'm being arrogant when I say that others ninja Village would destroy any civilian village I would choose to live in, should they ever learn about my capacities – and they will, sooner or later, you're all pretty good at spying. That rules out living with civilians – and I couldn't anyway. I need... action. Being in Konoha is the best choice – the only choice, really. The other ninjas Villages aren't good choices for me".

She contained a sudden yawn.

Damn, she was tired – but no was still not the moment. Soon.

"You're the only Village that doesn't completely consider its shinobis as tools – and I cannot let myself be used as a tool, not anymore", she finished, before adding as an afterthought. "Well, and the Snake Contract was originally with Konoha. We snakes may be sly and cunning, but we're not traitors".

The Hokage posed his extinguished pipe on his desk, massaging his temple with one hand, and looked pensively at nothing. Kakashi had long ago sat into the seat next to Hari's own, long legs extended in front of him.

She could also tell that the ANBUs had put themselves at ease, no longer concealing themselves in the shadows. She was no longer considered a menace – though she still wasn't trusted.

No matter. It would come with time – if they had trusted her right from the start, she would have immediately left Konoha.

No need to associate herself with idiots.

A feeling of calm settled on her, now that she was done with her life story. She hadn't told everything, and it was a very much sugar-coated version of her life – but everything she had said was true.

Yet, not saying the worst didn't mean that she didn't remember the worst. She was physically and emotionally tired – which was no easy feat, considering that her Occlumency barriers usually prevented her from emotional turmoil.

But they didn't work when she had had to lower her barriers – and even if she had already put them right up now, the feelings and memories still took a toll on her.

She patiently waited for their move – but first...

"My Vow is complete, so mote it be", she pushed her magic in the Elder Wand, and felt with relief the binding magic of the Unbreakable Vow slowly disappear from her body. Now, she didn't have to think twice about every word she said.

And she could lie or, at least, say half-truth again.

Her actions won her raised eyebrows – only two were visible, but still – but she only shrugged, letting them know that her story was really over, and that she had nothing to add.

"What about Orochimaru ?", demanded Sarutobi.

"What about him ?" she frowned.

Why were they talking about this... creepy crazy thing ?

(Someone with a tongue that long was not human).

The man sitting at the desk shot her an annoyed look.

"You said, in your paper, that you killed him".

"Oh, right !", she exclaimed, understanding dawning in her eyes. She had completely forgotten about this. "Well, I'm not entirely sure he's dead, to be honest".

"What ?!", snapped the Hokage, Killing Intent filling the room – but once again, Hari didn't feel anything.

"Hey !", she defended herself. "I killed him four times ! He kept vomiting himself, it was disgusting ! Then finally I killed him again, and he didn't regurgitate himself – but now I'm almost sure I saw a kind of little white snake slithering away, so I'm not so sure anymore. Chances are, if your bad guy is as annoying as mine was, he's still alive".

And, yeah, okay – it was totally something Orochimaru could do. Vomit himself. Doing everything to assure he wouldn't die easily.

Before they had the time to nod their understanding, Hari-san continued, looking pretty defensive.

"I killed him four times, so really, you can't fault me for saying he's dead ! Technically, he is !"

Now that she thought about it, why hadn't she taken his soul ? It was a disgusting and twisted one, but at least she would have been sure his worthless, disgusting life was over, with only a simple Avada.

Why hadn't she – Was it Fate's meddling ? Again ? Had Fate determined Orochimaru still had something to do ? Was there a Prophecy (Ugh...) in action in this world, too ?

God – no, Kami – she hoped not.

"Yes, I believe you", sighed the old man, raising his hands in a peaceful gest.

She frowned a bit still, judging him with her eyes – and Kami, he hadn't felt like that since his mother had looked at him when he was in trouble, so very long ago. Then she nodded, taking a piece of paper out of her pocket, and slowly deposing it on his desk.

He appreciated the fact that she did everything in her power to look as non-menacing as possible – though, if what she said about her... magic, was true ; then even if she was menacing, they would be powerless to stop her.

What a frightening thought.

Then again, his gut told him that she was a trustworthy person, and that she hadn't lied to them. And he always followed his guts – they never led him wrong.

(Didn't mean he suddenly trusted her).

"What's that ?"

"The creepy-guy last body", shrugged Hari-san, settling back in her seat. "I burned the other three".

Pushing a bit of chakra in the paper, he wasn't startled by the puff of smoke that exploded suddenly. That, at least, was normal.

He looked with sadness at the prone corpse of his, once, favorite student. The man he had considered for the position of Hokage. Oh, how much he had failed.

He sealed the corpse back. He would deal with it later. Give it to the ninjas in the Research and Medical Department – they would search for any information present in the body.

He didn't ask if she was the one who took the Snake Contract back from Orochimaru – the answer was pretty obvious – what with her being the Boss of Snakes, and having killed Orochimaru.

"So you want to join Konoha. As a kunoichi", he finally said, going straight to the point.

"Yes", nodded the woman seriously.

"Just like that ?", snorted Kakashi.

"No", she glared at him. "I told you everything relevant about me, and you know more than anyone ever knew. I know I can help this Village, very much so, and you know it too. However, there is conditions – conditions I won't negotiate".

"Such as ?", asked the silver-haired Jonin, narrowing his eye and glaring right back.

"I, for once, will never kill an innocent. In this world, it does nothing to you – except mentally, I know – but for us wizards, killing an innocent tear at our soul. I would lose a piece of soul each and every time I kill one – and that is not an option. I cannot – I refuse to kill an innocent".

"You fought a war", objected Sarutobi. "Surely you already had to kill an innocent ?"

"Never", quietly admitted Hari. "I saw some die, yes, but I never killed one – I never could. Not only for what it does to the soul... But...".

She paused a bit, searching her words, before taking a deep breath.

She seemed to do that a lot.

"Voldemort and me... we weren't that different. In fact, we were quite similar. In appearance, before he did all those rituals, but also in our upbringings. I can't – I know I could have turned up like him. It would have been so easy to hate everyone – non-magical people for my family, magical people for their actions towards me... So easy. You can't understand how that frightens me", she revealed, looking at the Hokage in the eyes, serious as she had never been.

"So I took great care to kill only Deatheaters and the like. I would never kill an innocent. I can't, still know. I won't back down from this".

And, from the iron-like quality of her tone, and the sheer determination burning in her eyes, she wouldn't indeed back down.

"What else", nodded Sarutobi, showing that he accepted this first condition.

"I will not obey and follow blindly. I did that once, and was betrayed. I will not follow stupid orders, nor will I do something you told me to do, if I think I have a better solution".

"Mmm... Acceptable", cautiously accepted the Sandaime – if push came to shove, he would simply have to convince her. He was skilled with words – and he would never refuse advice, especially if she proposed what could possibly be a better solution to a problem.

"Is that all ?"

"One last thing", she smiled sheepishly. "My body isn't as performing as yours are. I mean, I'm quite up-to-date with this world's standards ; but in my birth world what you do, especially physically, is impossible. I will tire easily if I do too many really physical missions – so I reserve the right to, sometimes, and with good justification, refuse missions. Take holidays".

Sarutobi looked at her pensively, fingers absently turning his pipe over the desk, before he accepted. It was true that her body was in good shape – in excellent shape, in fact... for a civilian. As with everything else, she was saying the truth.

"Very well. But if the mission is really important, then you will have to make an effort. Teammates assigned with you for the mission will help you, if it comes to that".

Hari thought about it a minute, before she relented.

"Very well".

They continued to talk well into the afternoon. They were all hungry, but if there's something magic can't do, it's conjure food. Sure, Hari could take a sheet of paper, and transfigure it into a sausage – but she wouldn't recommend eating it.

Except if, well, you liked paper. Because for all it looked like a sausage, it was still, fundamentally, paper.

So they were all more or less hungry, but they managed to discuss everything through.

Hari-san had already explained that, should another Ninja Village learn about her existence and capacities, they would go after her. The fact that Konoha was, still now, considered the Strongest of the Five Major Villages was a great advantage, since it meant that they would think twice before attacking.

Furthermore, Hari had already decided that she wouldn't reveal her magic – not if she could help it – outside of work. Meaning, as far as civilians and spies were concerned, she was and would only be a regular kunoichi. One that was so skilled with spying that she had managed to create a jutsu that completely masked her chakra coils. Perfect when you try to infiltrate a place without being caught.

Well, she would not exactly be a regular kunoichi, since she was to be presented at Konoha as an Hime. It had already been decided long ago by Hari. This status allowed her a lot more privacy, and she wouldn't have to keep a low profile – wealthy people were known for their eccentricities, after all (?) .

She had, of course, showed them her Gold Trunk. Hey, she had especially kept it apart, for this very purpose ! She wasn't going to pass the occasion.

And, oh, but it was funny as Hell. Their incredulous faces, looking repeatedly in and out of the trunk, trying to understand how it worked, trying to assimilate that yes, the inside was way bigger than the outside ; that yes, there was way more space in it than in all the room ; and that yes, there was a lot of gold in it – and it was only one trunk.

There was a lot more of them.

(And yes, they were hanging from her necklace. Yes, yes, the miniature little trunk there. It contained the other trunks. No, no, she wasn't lying – why, hadn't she proved that she wasn't a liar ? No, no, she wasn't laughing nor making fun of them. Why, the very idea !)

Finally, all was said and done.

Hari-san – no, Hari-Hime now, would undertake the one-year test period as a new civilian of Konoha, since such was the rule. She would be under watch by the ANBUs, and when the year was done, a secret Council meeting would be held, with both the ninja council and the civilian council present, where her acceptation in the ninja Corps would be decided.

The councilors would be sworn to secrecy on this, whether she was accepted or not, but everyone knew that it was only for the sake of the rule. It was obvious that she would be accepted.

She was far too precious.

The only tense point was when the Hokage decided to assign her a bodyguard. It was protocol, of course, since she would be targeted by a lot of enemy ninjas when her status as an Hime would be revealed.

She had protested, and tried to negotiate (she could very well protect herself, thank you very much !) before relenting. It was protocol, and it was better that way. She wouldn't have to reveal her magic that way.

Problem was, the Hokage had decided that he had the perfect shinobi for this mission. He needed someone strong, someone loyal, and someone in the secret. Obviously, her story would not be revealed to everyone (especially considering that there may be a mole in his ANBUs).

No, only the persons present in the room, as well as the ANBUs and Jonins Commanders, would be the only persons knowing the truth. It was enough persons already.

So, his perfect man for this mission was, of course, the silver-haired bastard.

Don't get her wrong – he looked strong (and he must be, since the Hokage had asked him to stay at the very beginning, and not the other Jonins), he was handsome (as far as she could tell – and that was always a good point), and he knew the importance of teamwork (the appreciative and approving look he had sent her way, when she had explained what she thought of teamwork, had been a big giveaway).

(There had been some muttering between the two men – the Hokage saying that he had done enough time in the ANBU, that he was running on fumes, that he should take a pause, step back a bit, stop doing suicide missions, choosing them specifically... All in all, Hari had understood what had been murmured between the two – she wasn't the only one trying to run away from her past, though his method seemed much more... definitive).

(Kakashi finally complied. Muttering darkly under his mask. Oh, joy).

Finally, finally, the meeting was done.

Papers were signed, hands were shaken, she shrunk her trunk again after having paid the fee for becoming a citizen of Konoha , and she was lead by Kakashi towards an hotel, in which she would spend the night sleeping.

Finally.

(The Hokage had proposed his Compound for the night, and though she knew it would have been really protected, and he would have been able to have her under watch way more easily, she still preferred an Hotel).

(She would search for a house, in which to live, tomorrow).

(Especially considering that she would have a host in her house, for a whole year).

(At least, he was good eye-candy).