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

4. Beware Magic & Beware Plants

Hey !

YOU. ARE. NOT. DREAMING !

Amazing, huh ? Got the sudden inspiration. So here is the new chapter !

Oh, and – for the guest who gave me the ever-so-lovely reviews saying that my fic was 'utterly boring', 'pathetic and annoying', and a 'waste of time'… don't bother giving reviews anymore, thanks.

Anyway, everyone else, I hope you enjoy !

---

Kakashi opened his right eye slowly.

One would have some problems doing so without opening the other – at least, succeeding without strangely grimacing, especially when just waking up – but he had become an expert at this. It came with using only one eye outside of fights in his everyday life..

He was lying on a very, very comfortable, four-posted bed, with black sheet – which somehow were always cool, just as the Hime had promised they would be. November was coming fast to its end, but the weather was still relatively warm (as it always was in Fire Country), yet it was one of the first times he didn't have to sleep on his covers rather than under, in order to not be too hot.

As a ninja, he had a high metabolism ; but as a Hatake, his metabolism was even higher. Additionally, that meant that his body heat was also considerably higher – hence the need to avoid overly warm sheets.

But here the sheet kept him cool, and he had stopped wondering about Magic – it only gave him headaches. He was thankful to Hari-san for having used a... spell, she said, on the sheet, and decided to not think about it further.

Still, he know had in front of him yet another day of doing absolutely nothing. And while he admitted that Hari-Hime was snarky, funny, smart and not afraid of displaying any of those traits ; he was still bored. What could he do ?!

The Hokage had promised him that he would be called, should his presence be needed ; but had been very clear when stating that he wasn't to go on missions higher than D-ranked for as long as he was on watching duty.

Meaning a year.

And since he adamantly refused to do D-ranked missions – his friends would never let it go, he would never live that down, and they would probably be even more boring than pure boredom – he simply couldn't do anything for the moment. But he wouldn't wait a year – he couldn't.

He was a ninja ! What would – how could – Why ?!

He wasn't made for this, wasn't made to stay in Konoha and do nothing ! Nothing constructive ! Because while it was procedure to watch any new citizen of Konoha for a year, and while it was also procedure to procure bodyguards to any important person in Konoha ; and that Hari-Hime fitted both those criteria – he knew perfectly well that she wouldn't betray them !

She wouldn't betray Konoha, simply because she had no reason to do so, and lacked the will to cause any problem. She said that she had already had a too long history with problems, and he tended to believe her.

Oh, he knew that she liked to prank people, sometimes – and Kami, he hoped she never met Naruto, though she didn't seem fond of going out of thei- her house – but it was funny, and not malicious in any way.

For example, only yesterday, she had had the wonderful idea to color his (beautiful) silver hair (of which he was very proud) in (a horrible) purple. It clashed terribly with his good looks, but thankfully she had stopped whatever spell she had used on his (marvelous) hair, as soon as he explained that it was a sensible point for a Hatake.

She didn't ask 'why', she just stopped it. So really, she didn't have a malicious bone in her body – as long as she wasn't provoked, that is. Considering that she had killed before, and probably tortured for information (for no war can be won without someone having to do the delicate work of obtaining important information from unwilling persons), Kakashi didn't doubt for a second that she could become downright vicious given a reason.

But anyway, all of this to say that, though he was one of the less trusting ninjas of Konoha, he still trusted Hari-Hime. He didn't know why, or how she won his trust. He just knew he hadn't been manipulated in any way – his Hatake side would have sensed it, magic or not, it was too animal-like not to remark false emotions – and he sincerely believed that she was no threat to Konoha... as long as Konoha was no threat to her.

For all she was willing to trust and fight for Konoha, she still didn't trust them, and would retaliate should anything be attempted against her. And he found that he couldn't fault her for that, it was smart and he would have certainly been even more reserved had their positions been reversed – though he would fight her should she try anything against his village.

Nevertheless, he was now on meaningless baby-sitting duty, and he had never been good at those kind of D-ranked missions. Not even when he had been a genin, under Minato's lead, though the D-rank missions had lasted very short time only. Then there had been the war, and then he had never done any D-ranked mission anymore.

And Hari's cooking, though excellent and new, was also very rich. His body was used to take the maximum from food, to burn calories into energy. Which meant that he had a lot of energy, and no actual way to efficiently release it. Training was well and good, but it lacked pressure. The pressure you feel when you fight for your life, or for your goal.

Point was, he was a man of action, and there was nothing to do.

Oh, he could train all he wanted. Since it had been confirmed that whatever happened inside the wards, stayed inside them ; he could basically train as much as he wanted without fearing to be spied on. Something that wasn't always possible in Ninja Villages.

Not only they had to keep some advantages from allies (you never show anyone your most secret techniques, or some that you want to keep as an asset ; not even if they're your closest friend), but enemies' spies were to be avoided too. That, and you could never know when one of yours would go rogue. Of course, they didn't suspect each other – they trusted each other with their very lives – but fact was that Nukenins existed.

So caution had to be applied.

Still, it meant that he could now train to his heart's content, not worrying over whether someone would see it or not.

And the garden was automatically repaired afterwards, so who was he to complain ? Knowing that the Hime had absolutely no interest whatsoever in copying him, since she didn't use chakra and wouldn't be able to use his techniques, he didn't need to hide anymore when training.

Not that he would have feared her copying him, but – wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Wait.

His eye widened, and he sat upright in his bed.

Everything he had thought about was true. Life was becoming dull and annoying, and he couldn't do missions, hadn't done any in almost a month, and he couldn't go and train with teammates since he couldn't leave Hari-Hime unprotected.

But.

But he could test the Hime, couldn't he ?

She had won a war ! She had fought battles against all odds, and defeated enemies way stronger than her – or, at the very least, with a lot more training than she had. She had to be a worthy opponent.

And though she had been forbidden to use magic in Konoha, because her Kekkai Genkai had to stay a secret (except if she had a real need for this, for example defending herself, or another one, from an attack – which would doubtfully ever happen, since she was always with Kakashi and at least a team of ANBUs)... This didn't apply to her house.

She could do whatever she wanted in it, as long as no one could see her.

And she had said something, last time, about how she was warned when someone entered her wards. Apparently, the wards themselves warned her (how that worked, Kakashi had no idea. He was good at Fuinjutsu, but no genius ; and apparently some wards were based on Runes, which was the equivalent of Fuinjutsu, and it was all too overly complicated for him), so she would just have to warn him, and no one would ever know they were mock-fighting !

Well, he didn't think he would have to try that hard. He was an ANBU, as well as a Jonin ; he didn't think it too far-fetched to think that a woman, that came from a – for the most part – peaceful population, would give him any problem. They had trained together two days a week for almost a month already, so he knew her physical limits. But of course, use of magic would be allowed, so that he could see what she could do.

That was the true – or, at least, official – goal of a possible spar.

From what he had seen thus far, magic was about protection and creation – whether it was glass or water, or changing one's hair color, magic could make this happen. But she had never used it in a fighting contest, and though he wasn't underestimating her, he didn't think he would lose.

So he could do something, and he would have something to report to Hokage-sama, and the day would not be as boring as he had feared it would be !

Alas, it turned out that he did underestimate Hari...

---

Hari Potta, as she was known as in Konoha (since exactly four weeks and one day today), looked up pensively.

Excited emotions were suddenly coming from upstairs. She wondered what had Kakashi in such a joy. She had had the distinct impression that he was bored, acting as a bodyguard to protect her from nothing at all.

Well, to be fair, she expected some attempts against her life soon, since her presence and status had been officially revealed to the general population seven days ago. The fact that a Hime had decided to settle in Konoha was without precedent – indeed, no Lords or Hime settled in any ninja Village.

(It was dangerous enough being rich, they didn't need to tempt Fate by living in a Village that was basically composed of killers who would be willing to kill them for the right price).

But that also meant that everyone knew she would give funds to the Village. Whether for her protection, or because she honestly wanted to, wouldn't be known to others ; but it had been announced that she would give annual transfers of money to the Hokage, in order to help the ninja corps.

It probably wouldn't sit well with the others Villages, for money meant a lot even in this world. They would either try to kill her, hence preventing Konoha from receiving money (they wouldn't know that she had decided to give everything to the Village should she die, but she wasn't one for advertising this particular point – only the Hokage and herself were aware of that particular point – she saw no interest in leaving her gold hidden in forever sealed trunks for the rest of eternity, the runes being self-sustaining in magic. What good would it do ?), or try to kidnap her, hence gaining her money in exchange of her life.

In any case, interesting moments were sure to arrive soon, but she did admit that the week since the announcement had been... calm.

Not bad, but certainly not good either. During the previous four weeks since her arrival, her integration in Konoha had been kept an absolute secret, though she had been presented to the Council. She hadn't been present herself, but the Hokage had explained who she was, using her official, fake past ; and told them that she had decided to settle in Konoha.

The last details had been ironed out a week ago, which was when she had been officially presented to the civilians and ninjas of the Village alike. Since then, not much had happened, bar an augmentation of envious and greedy stares when she went to the market.

She was feeling a bit restless, and she knew the silver-haired Jonin had been, too.

So why was he suddenly so excited ? Had he been called by the Hokage for a mission ?

Thinking about it, it was also strange that he was still in bed. Usually, he was up way earlier than her, training in the garden or sometimes cooking breakfast. She had been surprised to discover that he was quite the good cook – though she wasn't fond of Asian breakfasts. She was a British, and that meant coffee, or tea if she felt like it (but she had become used to coffee to act as a wake-up punch, and tea was too soft a beverage to quickly and efficiently wake her up), pumkin juice, toasts, eggs, ham, fruits and marmalade.

She sometimes joined him for physical training, despite having sworn never to do it again with him. Somehow, he always managed to goad her into pushing her own limits – she hated that it was so easy for him to bait her, it was as if the Bastard knew exactly which buttons to push – and she always ended up regretting it. Still, even though it happened, he was always training before she went down, and would keep training after she... went down in exhaustion.

So it was strange for him to laze around in bed, though he did like to act like a lazy man. Well, whatever worked for him.

Pushing her thoughts out of her mind, Hari poured herself a large glass of cold pumpkin juice. She remembered Kakashi's expression when she proposed him one, she had almost laughed to his face. But it had been funny, in her defense.

Well, it came with being a wizard, she supposed. She didn't know of one that disliked pumpkin juice. Every wizard and witch, whether they were Pureblood or Muggleborn, or a goddamn Death Eater – all liked pumpkin juice, and it was in every home and on every table. Muggleborns, since their very first year, learned to love the stuff – there was more pumpkin juice than water on the tables, during the meals, at Hogwarts.

And it wasn't limited to Great Britain, either. It came with having to drink it every day – that, and other juices such as orange or apple were rather rare in the Wizarding world, because the plants didn't thrive around magic. Pumpkins did, though, hence their presence everywhere. It absorbed magic, and could grow to amazing proportions.

She remembered fondly the giant pumpkins Hagrid had in his self-made garden, at Hogwarts. They weren't the biggest one could find in the Wizarding World, but they were of amazing proportion still for a Muggle-raised like herself. And Hermione.

Anyway, drinking it soothed the magical pathways of wizards and witches, pathways that were more and more regularly used by children at the age of eleven. That was why it could as well have been mandatory, in wizarding houses and schools ; and why everyone drank it as often as possible. She, herself, had been surprised first – who would drink this, seriously ? – but it had felt so right, so good, not in taste, but in a pulse of smooth, cool energy filling her body the first time she had drank it.

It had soothed her pathways, irritated by years of accidental magic. Every Muggleborn had felt the same way, she knew, because Hermione had, at first, disdainfully looked at her glass, during the Welcoming Feast.

But she hadn't dared disobey the Prefect's order to drink it, and Hari perfectly remembered the amazed expression that had illumined her then would-be best friend's face. It had been the same as her own, though she hadn't been able to see herself. And that was the reason pumpkin juice was almost a synonym of wizards.

Not that Muggles ever knew. For them, pumpkins were only for Samhain. Strange, that – they were spot on for wands and brooms and even, surprisingly enough, with pointed hats and dresses. And owls, cats, toads, they even knew about dragons, unicorns, giants, werewolves ! For a world supposed to be protected by the Internal Statute of Secrecy, Muggles knew an awful lot about it. They even knew that pumpkins and wizards were linked together, though they ignored to which extent. But they knew a lot about their supposedly protected world.

Even if they thought it was all children's stories.

Anyway. Now, Hari didn't need to drink it anymore. Her pathways were all developed, and way larger than any other wizard's, because of the amount of magic she possessed . But when you drank it every other day, for seven years straight ; and didn't stop drinking it for another century...

Well, you kind of develop an addiction.

Plus, it was very good. For wizards.

She was startled out of her memories by the sound of an explosion. Blinking in surprise, she realized that she had been thinking about pumpkin juice of all things for almost an hour ; and that Kakashi was now training, as he was every day when they weren't outside the wards.

Strange. She had never heard him go out. Well, she never heard him do anything, really ; but she generally always knew where he was, as long as he was inside her magical awareness. She shrugged, thinking she had to be tired.

During the near month that she had been in Konoha, she had faced a deeply emotionally tiring situation, when she had had to lower her Occlumency barriers, and face her own past once more. But she had also spent the time reading books, mastering a bit more magic. Only wards for now, but she would be damned if she didn't have the single best protected house of all the Elemental Nations.

She hadn't had the time to go out, to breathe something that wasn't the dusty air that came with old books, except for when she had to do some grocery shopping, or placing some new repere points in newly discovered parts of Konoha for her Map. It still wasn't finished, but in her defense, she found that she disliked being out in the Village.

Too many people, too many possible threats, too many leering looks or greedy stares. It made her twitchy. She felt much better in the secure haven that was her house and garden.

Anyway, she closed the book that she had left open in front of her an hour ago. She had wanted to read it, but apparently today her own mind didn't want to work right now. She didn't want to see another sentence on wards, on Runes, on Arithmancy (damn it !) or on intrinsic fluxes of magic on which posing the runic stones, depending on the positions of different and specific constellations.

No, thanks.

She wanted to do something, but she couldn't. Not before one. Whole. Year.

She would never survive ! She wanted to do missions !

Sighing, she silently stepped out in the garden. She took great care in concealing her presence from the shinobi standing in front of her, facing the opposite direction. Hands on the hips, he was looking over the destructed garden with something akin to satisfaction, she thought. Well, from her critical eye, he hadn't made more damage than the other times.

The satisfaction was odd.

It was strange, really. Every day, without fault, he trained out there. Noises and exploding sounds, which disturbed her lectures. But she never said anything to him about it – because, the first time she tried to do so, after having endured a whole hour of this incessant racket... she had seen the shinobi standing proudly in the center of his destruction.

But – but... By then, his tank top was sticking to his torso thanks to his sweat, and his impossibly long legs were hugged by his black trousers, and his skin and muscles were glistening under the sun, and she found that she had no problem with the noise, at all.

Because if she had to support it, in order to be treated with such a vision... then she would. Priorities, sacrifices, and all that.

His face may be disgusting for all she knew, but his body certainly wasn't, and that was good enough for Hari.

Plus, the noise had kind of become a welcome sound of life, in the background. It soothed her even if she wasn't realizing it when it happened. A constant reminder that she was not alone.

She took a minute to appreciate the view, as she always did, before coughing politely. She refrained from smirking at his startled jump, muttered curse, and flying kunai. Not in that order.

The kunai was neatly stopped by her protection bubble, that she had risen specifically for this outcome, and she was subjected to a death glare from the still cursing shinobi – a strangely effective death glare, considering that it came from only one eye.

"What ?", she innocently asked.

She did love to startle Kakashi. Ninjas were all sneaky and silent. She would never know where he was, if she didn't have magic. And for people always aware of their surroundings, it was particularly pleasant to surprise them this way.

She often did it to Kakashi – hiding her very presence until not even him could know where she was, could not smell her nor hear her ; then putting her protection Bubble up and startling him – it was, in a way, one of her guilty pleasures.

"How do you do that ?!", snapped the silver-haired Jonin, like he did every time he was caught like that. "You know what ? Nevermind".

He knew well enough by now that he wouldn't have an answer. Only that annoying, smug little smirk.

He looked at her, calculating. It was her turn to be unsure.

"What... ?"

"You said you won a war, didn't you ?"

"Err... Yes ?", tentatively confirmed Hari, though she had no idea of where Kakashi was going like that.

"Fight with me".

Now that startled her. She blinked quickly.

"... What ?"

He shot her an amused look.

"That's the third time you said 'what'. Try to vary the questions, will you ?"

She glared at him – the nerves ! – before clearing her throat, and smoothing her face.

"You want me to fight you ?"

"That's it", sagely nodded the Jonin.

"And... why ?"

"I need to evaluate your skills. I know you won a war, so you must have some. But I don't know them, and I need to, if I want to protect you the best I can. Your status had been announced yesterday, and I'm sure some will try to – attack you soon". Kakashi smoothly avoided the word 'kill'. He always did when talking to civilians he was asked to protect, and subconsciously did so again. After all, the Hime wasn't a ninja. "And for that I need you to fight me".

He beamed at the petite woman, looking very proud of his reasoning – especially considering that the truth was that he simply wanted to fight. She tried a false smile.

"Ah, I – see your reasoning", she tried. "But I don't think it's a good idea. I fully trust your competences, so I don't think I will risk anything during those... attacks".

And really, it wasn't that she didn't want to fight him, because it would bring a bit of adrenaline and fun. She very much wanted to do it.

But she wasn't sure she wanted him to realize the extent to which magic could be frightening. She didn't think she was exaggerating either. In this world, having magic placed her at the top. Being immortal placed her over the top.

A younger witch, or one with less years of training, would probably be weaker ; and less adapted to this world. But Hari was good at adapting herself to the circumstances, always had been. The result was that no one on this planet would ever be able to defeat her.

She wasn't speaking of killing her, since that was impossible from the very beginning. But defeat her, win against her. Magic was superior to chakra in every aspect.

Fact was, she didn't want ninjas to realize that, become wary of her, distrustful, hateful or greedy. She had enough of that with the civilians once they had learned of her wealth. Whether the ninjas would try to eliminate, or control, her – she refused these outcomes.

And every person she had ever met became scared of her, of what she could do. Eventually, she found herself alone. She didn't want this again.

"Ah, don't be afraid", tried to reassure the Jonin, misreading the situation. "I'll hold back".

And, oh. Oh.

Oh.

Hold back, it was ?

Like – like, not give his all ?

Well.

No.

Hari may be scared of being alone and rejected again (particularly since she had come to appreciate the silver-haired smartass, in the single month she had known him – that was a first, for her)... But she refused to back down.

She had always refused that. And to be underestimated ? Treated like a frail little girl ? She hated that. She had proved her worth countless times, and she would be damned if she let someone put her down, even if not maliciously. They had all tried to do it, the wizards – after she had defeated Voldemort, of course. Curse them.

Kakashi simply didn't know better... but she wouldn't lie.

No way.

Never lie about herself. She had done that during twenty years of her life – since her placement at the Dursleys', during Hogwarts, and up until two years after the Final Battle. And it had made her utterly miserable.

Plus, it was a question of pride. She refused to lose to the Bastard.

So she raised a sharp eyebrow.

"Hold back, it is ?"

"Maa, I didn't mean it like that", corrected Kakashi, realizing that insulting a warrior and a survivor wasn't a good idea. Kami knew no one ever insulted (officially) retired ninjas on their skills. It wasn't good for one's health.

"No, no, I understand", and this time, it was Hari's turn to beam. "Let's fight, then".

She waved her hand lazily, and the garden repaired itself quickly. She distractedly thought that she ought to simply engrave repairing runes on stones, strategically placed around the garden, to ensure that it would be repaired after each training. It would be more practical.

But it wasn't as if it was needed. Repairing it didn't cost a lot of magic – in fact, almost none at all. Used to repair things broken, reparo usually had to fight others' magic, or other spells, in order to function properly on magical objects.

But it met no resistance from chakra.

Silently, they took place on opposed places in the garden. Kakashi's back was turned towards the trees in the back, while Hari's back was turned towards the fence, and the street. They measured themselves, Hari's magic at the ready.

Suddenly, without warning, Kakashi dashed towards her ; and her eyes widened slightly in shock. She realized that, while she had trained in speed and reflexes, she was still lacking in those aspects. Especially against a Jonin-level shinobi.

She had never actually realized the difference between Genin and Jonin levels. True, she intellectually knew it existed, and that it was large ; but it was the first time she saw it.

She immediately apparated near the fence, looking into the curious eye of a surprised shinobi, kunai held high in the air. At the approximate emplacement of her throat. Wow, he was fast. She hadn't even seen him come.

She didn't move, but took care to slightly twitch a finger. She didn't need to move at all, but she liked to do it – and she wanted to see if Kakashi would see it. Ninjas were known for their observational skills, among a lot of other things.

And true enough, he did see it, for he immediately jumped back and up – just in time to avoid the invisible and quick Bombarda cast his way. The curse destroyed the ground, earth and grass flying everywhere – but as any good ninja would, Kakashi noted that the spell impacted right in front of where he had been.

Somehow, he doubted that Hari missed. She had deliberately aimed in front of him, and not him. It was good to know that she wasn't trying to kill him – because between the scentless, soundless, invisible spell, and the effects it caused ; he wasn't sure he would survive if she did try.

He quickly raised his headband, opening his Sharingan. He hoped to be able to at least see the Hime's magic, before it touched him. Stabilizing on a branch of the tree he had jumped into, he looked down at the woman. Maybe, maybe he had been wrong, when he had said he would hold back.

He gulped quietly. Kami, women could be frightening, but Kunoichis even more so. Especially when someone suggested that they lacked skill. He saw her finger twitch again, Sharingan memorizing the gesture involuntarily, and immediately shunshin-ed next to Hari.

His hand was stopped by the same invisible barrier that had stopped his attack, twenty-nine days ago, at the gates. Hearing a terrible, tearing sound, he didn't try to attack again, and instead decided to look behind himself. Both his eyes widened.

The large tree, on which he had been standing mere seconds before, was sliced in tiny bits. Sharp shards of wood were flying, and the whole tree was collapsing on itself, crumbling onto the grass. There wasn't a single part of it spared. If Kakashi hadn't shunshin-ed...

(Of course, if he hadn't, Hari would have apparated next to him, taken him, and apparated away the both of them. In less than half-a-second. Or she would have accio-ed him. But he didn't know that, and didn't need to know it).

"Oh, fuck...", he muttered, before realizing that when he had been standing, gaping like an absolute idiot at the destruction in front of him, Hari had taken the time to put a kunai at his throat. "I guess that means you win".

He dared anyone to have stayed on guard when witnessing such a thing, especially since the Hime no longer registered as a threat in his mind.

"I guess it does", she smiled smugly back at him.

Her eyes were brightened with joy, and he lost himself in them for a few seconds. Say whatever you want, but her eyes were mesmerizing. Such a captivating shade of green... Once again, he found himself thinking how adequate it was for someone with such green eyes, to join the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"Magic is... something else", he admitted finally, looking back at the crushed tree.

"Why, thank you", honestly smiled Hari, waving her hand once more, and repairing the garden.

"That thing you did, when you disappeared and appeared in another place, it looked like a shunshin. What was it ?", asked the Jonin, because he hadn't known magic could do something like that.

A shunshin energized the whole body of a ninja, along with his brain, with chakra. It permitted the user to move at insane speed, though the distance it allowed was limited, and it didn't do well when taking turns were needed. Or course, that small flaw was corrected easily – they just had to do multiple shunshin one after the other, which was easy since the brain was energized enough it allowed them to think and act quickly.

Generally, it was used in fights, so that one could avoid an enemy's technique, or could sneak behind the target, or just to get a burst of speed so as to get an advantage and get the hell out of there. It wasn't enough to save one's life, of course, since it basically just gave a head-start, and then the chase would begin – but one second could make a difference between life or death in their world, and that was all someone needed.

The other way of using the shunshin was the most used – it permitted a ninja to move quickly inside their Village, since they knew the topography perfectly, and didn't need to stop or even really think about what they had to do in order to go somewhere. That was one of the most used way of moving among ninja in a Village, and what the ANBU used always, since it was important for them not to be seen.

They were supposed to be shadows, and the shunshin allowing them to move at such speed that one couldn't see them move, that was the one technique they used the most outside of training, when they were in Konoha.

But what the Hime had used hadn't been a shunshin. Not only she did not have chakra, but he had been centering his senses on her, and she had simply ceased to be in one place, only to reappear in another. She hadn't moved, she had… he didn't know what she had done.

"Oh, apparating ?", she mused, looking thoughtful. "I thought it was the same principle ?"

"… What do you know of the shunshin ?", Kakashi decided it would be easier to exchange information if they both knew what they were talking about.

"Well… you go from one place to another ?", she said it in an obvious tone, as if questioning his intelligence.

And that was quite unnecessary, thank you very much.

"Yeah…", he drawled, whole body language and tone of voice making it clear that he was now questioning her intelligence. The twitch her eyebrow developed was very satisfying. "but how do we do that ?"

"Well", she blinked slowly, as if startled. "You just… go ? I don't – I'm not sure what you want me to say…"

"When using shunshin, a ninja boost their speed with chakra. It cannot be done for long, it cannot go through walls, and it can only go in straight lines ; but basically it allows us to run at very high speed", he explained – he had been right, their techniques were two very different things.

"What, so you run ?", asked the black-haired women, looking stupefied by that information.

"Yep".

"Oh", she blinked again. "I hadn't known that. I thought it was similar to apparition".

Ah, they were going somewhere. Kakashi thought his patience should be praised.

"And what does 'apparition' do ?", he pushed calmly, resisting the need to sigh, or otherwise show how frustrating the whole discussion was being for him.

He just wanted to know what she had done ! Was she being slow on purpose ?

"Well, I'm not sure of the theory, or why it works that way", she began, and he nodded slowly.

He had remarked that, about the Hime. She was smart, scarily so, in that that she knew how to do a lot of things. She wasn't stupid, she was cunning, and had learned everything she could get her hands on. The fact that she could spend hours curled on a couch, with a book on her lap, learning about Runes (which was all theory since she wasn't doing anything with them for now), showed that she was smart.

But she didn't care about the reasoning behind the spells, and wasn't interested to learn why magic worked that way. She wasn't interested in discovering why she could do what she could, or why it wouldn't work if done differently. She learned what could be useful, what she could do later – but she didn't really care about the specifics.

So her not knowing the theory behind 'apparition' wasn't surprising.

"But basically, I can go anywhere I've already been to, and I can also go anywhere I have seen", she finished.

"What is the difference ?", he asked her, because while he thought he knew, he didn't want them to be speaking of two different things without even realizing it. They did that, sometimes.

"Well, if you show me a picture of a place, and tell me roughly where it is, then I will be able to go there even if I, myself, had never been there before", she clarified.

Well, he had been right. Nice to know.

Still, her technique sounded extremely interesting.

"What if the place is in another country ?"

"Eh, that's not a problem", she shrugged. "It will cost more magic, but I – I don't run like you do, I just go from one place to another. Like a jump".

So that nullified the limits of the shunshin – walls and curves didn't matter. Distance didn't either.

"Can you take someone with you ?", he wondered, since shunshin allowed a ninja to take another in side-along shunshin.

"Yeah", she confirmed. "Up to two, three if I push it, but more and we would risk splinching".

And, okay, what ?

"Splinching ?"

"Yep", she nodded, as if all was perfectly normal. "It isn't rare for debutants, or drunks for that matter, to disappear when they shouldn't, and to leave parts of themselves behind".

Oh, wow. What ? Shunshin could cause disorientation, and could even cause your first up-close meeting with a tree if you didn't stop on time. It could cause muscle tear, and broken bones – but leaving a part of the body behind ?

The number of crippled in the Magical world must be insane. Probably explained why they were all crazy – they probably left a small part of their brains behind, too. What a crazy, dumb world – Kakashi kept being surprised by human idiocy when learning about that world.

"Yeah, never happened to me, but I've heard it's a bother. Happened to one of my friend, though it was only part of his eyebrow. Still, it's not rare for people to come to Saint Mungo to drop off body parts other people left behind ; or for splinched people to come to St Mungo, and tell where they had been when they had disapparated, so that the healers can send someone to get the body parts".

Kakashi blinked, very slowly. He inhaled, kept the air in his lungs, and exhaled slowly. He did this a few times, determined to keep his cool.

Once assured he wouldn't scream, he calmly looked at the Hime.

"I have three questions. One, what is the difference between disapparition and apparition. Two, what is a St Mungo. Three, why would they need the body parts for. Aren't splinched people basically dead ?"

He honestly didn't think that a person having lost his or her leg had any luck to survive – not only the pain would make it extremely hard to concentrate, but they hadn't been trained to think through it as ninja were, thus he very much doubted they would think about going to whatever Saint Mungo was. Not only that, but if apparating – or disapparating, whatever it was – was that difficult, then he didn't think doing it while in pain would be very wise, or successful, for that matter.

"Well, first, apparating and disapparating are the same thing, basically. It's just that when you apparate from a point A to a point B, for people still at point A, you have disappated – you have left. For people at point B, you have apparated – you have arrived".

Kakashi nodded – that was logical. For once.

"Fair enough. What else ?"

"St Mungo is our hospital", she simply said, not seeing the need to explain further than that.

"Okay", he nodded – he didn't want to know more about it right now, he had more important things to do. "Next".

"Splinching is when you leave a part of yourself behind. But when this happens, that part is still magically relied to you. The pain is limited, since your body think the part is still here, and if it's done quickly enough, it can be reattached to your body, and you can be on your way".

The silence was loud.

"You can reattach body parts ?", Kakashi was the one to break it, in an astonished whisper.

"Well, yeah", she nodded – it was true that wounds made by the darkest of magics couldn't be healed properly, and limbs couldn't be reattached if they had been severed by dark magic, but such wasn't the case for apparition. She didn't think that it was the simple fact of reattaching limbs which had shocked Kakashi. "Since the splinching of someone has been done by his own magic, and since the magic still connect the parts".

Kakashi nodded slowly, missing the fact that she was only talking of wounds made by apparating. He didn't realize that reattaching body parts could be done in other situations – the simple fact that the magic relied the parts explained why reattaching them was possible.

"Okay. What happens in side-along apparating splinching ?"

He supposed that the splinching of the 'passenger' was done by the 'conductor's' magic. What then ?

"Well, it's the same", she shrugged, frowning slightly. She had never thought she would one day spend so much time explaining Apparition of all things. "The one making the apparition connect his magic to the other, but it doesn't move the other, it simply direct the other's magic. So if the passenger ends up splinched, it's by his own magic".

"Okay. Okay", he mumbled, feeling slightly dizzy. "That… makes as much sense as someone knowing about magic could expect".

He would have loved to know the why behind the how, but Hari simply hadn't cared to learn.

"Can you show me how it feels ?", he asked the younger woman.

"What ? Apparating ?", she blinked up at him, befuddled. "How could I do that ?"

He stared blankly at her. "How about you side-along apparate me ?", he deadpanned.

"Huh". The Hime blushed spectacularly. "Sorry. I haven't done that since… quite a while".

She had never had someone to side-apparate with. Not since the end of the war. She had been alone, and without friends – not that she had tried to make new ones, no thanks, once burned, twice shy – and had thus never had to side-along apparate someone. That's why she hadn't thought of that directly – side-along apparition demanded a certain amount of trust in the person making the apparition, and she had never let someone get close enough to her that they would trust her.

Kakashi didn't say anything, instead he went on.

"How about I shunshin with you so that you can feel the difference, and then you apparate with me ?"

He wanted to see if she could apparate with him, since he didn't have magic on his own. There would probably be a difference, right ? Since apparently, when side-along apparating with someone, they also used the passenger's own magic.

"It's – uh, okay, deal", she nodded slowly.

"Fine. Now I'm sorry, but it's not really comfortable", he warned her, wrapping his hand securely around the woman's arm.

He quickly shunshined them both on the other side of the garden, a short enough distance for a first-timer it wouldn't be really unpleasant, and quickly positioned himself to catch her should she fall, all the while being out of the way should she throw up, mindful of how people reacted when they first shunshined.

But she surprised him (as she was prone to do) by quickly standing straight, looking at him head-on, not seeming the least bit disturbed by the experience. No throwing up, no dizziness, nothing. Huh. She had a better stomach than many – he, himself, had felt a bit dizzy after his first shunshin.

"Not bad", she said appreciatively. "A bit disconcerting, the burst of speed, but much more comfortable than first-time apparition".

And how comforting, knowing that, just before his first apparition. She was so thoughtful.

"My turn".

"Sure", she grinned, extending her arm towards him. "Don't let go, no matter what".

Well, since Kakashi didn't fancy experiencing what splinching felt like, that was a no-brainer. He clenched his hand just softly enough to not hurt the Hime, and nodded.

The woman made a fast turn on herself, so fast he wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't been a ninja – and what was surprising was that he found himself turning as well, without even wanting to do it. Then came the surprisingly unpleasant experience. He felt the Hime's arm twist away from him, and re-doubled his grip. The next thing he knew everything went black; he was pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull (1).

When it stopped, whole body tense and ready to fight – against what he didn't know, but he was ready to lash out – he was in front of his sofa, on his part of the coffee table. The Hime was right next to him, and she was scrutinizing him as if waiting to see his reaction.

He stopped the shiver that had been making its way up his spine, and deliberately relaxed his body, muscle by muscle, waiting for the adrenaline to fall down, and for his heart to slow down. She had said it was unpleasant.

She was a dirty liar.

Who, in their right mind, subjected themselves to that just so they could go to one point to another ? Except in a life-or-death situation, Kakashi would rather walk.

"That was… interesting", he finally said, once his nerves didn't feel so raw. "A bit disconcerting – does it even get better ?"

After all, shunshin got better once you got used to it.

"Yep", she confirmed. "It's also better for the one apparating, so it's not so bad, really. Still, it was harder than I thought - I had heard that it was harder to apparate with Muggles, but I had never done it before".

"... What's a Muggle ?", he asked, having the faint feeling that he had been insulted, somehow.

"Oh, it's just how we call people who don't have Magic", she explained.

Mmmh. Knowing what he did about the Wizards – the Hime excepted – he had the feeling that the term wasn't eulogistic. Even if she probably hadn't used it that way, it was most certainly a derogatory term. Bah, the more he learned about the Wizarding world and its inhabitants, the less he ever wanted to visit it even once. Even if it became possible one day, somehow.

"I have chakra, though", he countered, because okay, he may not have Magic, but he wasn't lacking in his world's energy either.

"I know", she rolled her eyes. "But chakra is neutral, I've found, and chakra and Magic don't mix. I can't use my magic to dirige your chakra, just the same that Genjutsu don't work on me since it targets the victim's chakra to deceive the senses".

She would know, the Creepy Weirdo Snake had tried to use some on her as a last resort.

Kakashi hummed as he took in everything he had learned in the last hour, classing and analyzing the information. He would have to make a new report to the Hokage – he had to meet with the man tonight, once the Hime was asleep, since she herself had a meeting with Sarutobi in a few moments now.

She had a meeting once a week with the Hokage, to make sure she was adapting to the life in the Village. It wasn't usually done when someone decided to settle in Konoha, but Hari was an important person, so it wasn't surprising that she had to do this. Of course, after that meeting was over, it was Kakashi's turn to go report to his Hokage, without the Hime knowing. For that, he went at night – but he was under no illusion that she didn't know about that. She had told him that she knew when someone entered her wards, it was logical that she also knew when someone exited them. Hence Kakashi's goings were not a secret for her – though he had never outright asked her.

Still, he had learned a lot, and the report tonight would be substantial.

He silently followed the smaller woman back out in the garden, watching quietly as she repaired the garden as she always did. Magic, yet again, never stopped to amaze or surprise him. He still had to ask her about potions – potions, really ? – but decided that he didn't want to breach that subject right now. Let's learn about Magic first before asking about the different branches relied to it.

It would be the same if it was the ninja arts : he had began to learn about what Ninjutsu was, and he would wait to have learned everything he could about it before asking about poison.

"What else can it do ?", asked Kakashi, assured at least that he wouldn't have to go to the extremes in order to protect her.

(Hell, as things were, it would probably be her protecting him. He was determined to not let this happen).

"I already told you. Everything", she chirped happily.

He rolled his eye, putting his Hitai-ate back down on his left one.

"Yes, but concretively ?".

Hari gave him an odd look for a few moments, before smiling deviously. He automatically tensed. He knew a prankster's smile when he saw one. He had watched over Naruto when he was in the ANBU !

"What ?"

"Concretively, you ask ?"

"Yes ?", he tentatively confirmed, feeling the sudden need to take his question back.

Her smile widened, and he felt a strange feeling in his body. He didn't dare look down.

"What... was that ?"

He kept his body rigid, hoping against hope that it was nothing.

"Why don't you see for yourself ?", winningly asked Hari.

And he did. Slowly looking down himself, he couldn't retain a horrified whine.

Gone was his (marvelous) body. Gone were his clothes. Gone were – gone. He incomprehensively stared at his breasts for a few seconds, before looking back up at the Hime, eye as wide as it could be.

No.

No.

It was – he was dreaming. Nightmaring, if such a word existed.

Nevermind that he suddenly felt a strange weight on his torso. Nevermind that he suddenly was encased in a dark blue, silken kimono. Nevermind that his feet were bundled up inside useless, pretty, high-heeled shoes.

With a strangled scream, he quickly put his hand between his legs, and – gone.

No.

He looked up with horrified fury.

"What did you do ?!"

Hari was laughing uproariously, so much so that tears were running freely on her cheeks.

"Ah ah ah ah – you are – your face !"

"Stop... stop this !", he shrieked – and he didn't care that his voice was way too high. He was panicked, and he wanted his body back !

"Oh, look at the hour ! I have to go, meeting with the Hokage in a few minutes... See you around !"

And with that cheeky sentence, Hari Potta turned around and fled, out of the house and on the rooftops, running quickly towards the Hokage tower... still laughing like mad.

Kakashi didn't wait even for a second before chasing after her, yelling and cursing loudly, but sadly often tripping over him- herself in those useless, dangerous, high heels.

---

Ninjas and civilians alike weren't sure of what they had seen, or simply heard for some of them, this morning.

The day had been, up until now, perfectly normal. As normal as life in a ninja Village could be.

No attack, no assassination attempt, no explosion, nothing. Rumors were flying left and rights about the newly announced Hime – about her beauty, wealth, and kindness ; about the tragedy that was her past (she was the last one of her Clan), and about the fact that she was young and single. They now all knew the name of the mysterious, exotic beauty that had been seen on the market a few times already.

Ninjas were considering what her presence meant to Konoha, wondering why she had decided to settle in a ninja Village of all things, and why she was considered so important by the Hokage, that he even assigned the Copy-Cat ninja himself as her bodyguard.

It wasn't rare for nobles to ask for A-rank bodyguards, of course ; but Kakashi was a living legend as far as even ninjas were concerned, and though he was highly sought after, it was the first time he was given such bodyguard mission for such a long time.

A year.

No, there was something else there – they just didn't know what. And not knowing, of course, made them suspicious. Then there was the fact that the Hime should be dead, and even though their Hokage had clearly stated that they were not to bother her, and that she was no threat to the Village, they simply didn't trust her – at all.

But no matter what everyone thought this morning – though it was nearing noon – the peaceful chirping of life was suddenly broken by some loud noises.

First, those skilled enough could see a young woman (quickly identified as the aforementioned Hime) running across the rooftops, laughing madly, clad in a emerald kimono, her luscious black hair flying behind her. That in itself was strange enough, considering that not only was the Hime generally calm and collected – no one had ever seen her laugh in public – there was also the fact she was running across rooftops.

(There had been a rumor saying that she had done it once before, during her arrival at the Village, but no ninja had taken it seriously, for it had seemed preposterous).

As in, running ninja-style.

Like, using chakra, and all.

Which would mean that she had been trained in ninja arts.

(Which would be inconceivable. Nobles don't train, ever. They laze around, eating and drinking, plotting ; and thinking themselves better than anyone else... And she didn't have chakra. They decided then and there that they liked her even less than before. She was an enigma, and they didn't like those).

Stranger yet, she was being hunted by another woman – one they were sure they should know, but couldn't quite recall. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't shake the feeling of knowing the person. It was highly disturbing and irritating.

Said person was, as said before, chasing after the Hime. But she wasn't laughing at all – in fact, she was showing her vivid imagination, and in-depth knowledge of various curses. Strange, coming from such a beautiful woman.

Though probably not as exotic as the Hime – they had never seen a woman like her before – this one had long silver hair flashing in her back, and was hugged by a dark blue kimono. Not much of her face was seen – they were both running very quickly – but some very observant ninjas thought there was a mask, keeping the lower half of her face hidden.

Still, the Hime was Kakashi's responsibility, and they all knew better than to suppose he wasn't aware of what was happening. The Hatake was a very serious and expert shinobi, and if he didn't want to stop whatever was happening, then they wouldn't either. It wasn't their mission. Intruding would not only mean more work for them, when there was no doubt no need for it ; it would also be rude and Kakashi may become annoyed with them.

Not on their to-do list.

So that's what ninjas heard and saw this beautiful morning.

Civilians just heard a joyous, bell-like laugh, lifting their spirits for a bit – right before they frowned and put their hands on their children's ears. Such curses shouldn't be uttered aloud, and even less in front of children !

Ninjas really wouldn't recognize decorum if it bite them in the ass, they thought grimly.

Anyway, the day then continued as if nothing had happened, as peaceful as it had been before – though it was now different from any other day of the past week.

(That, and a few ninjas would have wanted to know the two women a bit more. They certainly were something else. Alas, the silver-haired one was unknown, and Kakashi was very protective of the black-haired Hime. She was very rarely out of her house, and when she was, Kakashi's body language dissuaded any approach – except for stupid civilians who just couldn't take a hint).

---

Sarutobi Hiruzen was painstakingly working through his piles of accumulated paperwork. He couldn't seem to ever defeat it ! There was always more and more papers waiting for his signature – and what did he care about a new shop opening in the center of Konoha ?!

It had nothing to do with the Ninjas Corps – it was just a butcher shop becoming a baker shop ! What was the point of him having to validate this ?

It just meant more paperwork !

Muttering darkly against Minato, the Sandaime desperately wished for something to happen. He dearly wanted to burn those thrice-damned papers, but was kept firmly in check by his strong sense of duty, as every ninja was prone to be.

Yesterday, he had been able to avoid it for two whole hours, since he had organized a Council meeting. It was the last one before they announced the presence of Hari Potta, Hime and new citizen of Konoha, to the world.

(He wasn't nearly naive enough to think that one country wouldn't know of her existence one day after the announcement, even if that country was at the other side of the world. Spies were something else).

Of course, the civilian side of the Council was still deeply interested – since the Hime was a civilian, she should fell under their jurisdiction ; and they very much wanted to take advantage of that.

Her amazing wealth had been evasively confirmed by Sarutobi – he hadn't had much of a choice, it was that or outright say how rich she was. It would have attracted too much greed. At least, 'more gold than I can count' left everything to the imagination, which would always be less than what the Hime really had.

Still, he had made it perfectly clear that she was not, in fact, under the Civilian council's jurisdiction. Until she had passed the one-year trial period, she was under his jurisdiction. He never said anything about her wish to become a kunoichi – now was not the moment to alert them. They would be pains in his... backside well enough as soon as they learned about it, no point in offering himself a whole year of unnecessary torments.

Sighing again, he shot a dark look at the ceiling's left corner. He knew Rabbit was mocking him. But did she think paperwork was easy ? It was a terrible foe – the only one he had never defeated.

He was resignedly picking yet another paper, when his sharp ears heard an approaching laughter. His eye twitched slightly – who dared be so amused when he was stuck with annoying paperwork ?!

Then he realized that the laughter was coming right there. In fact – yes, there it was.

A person suddenly burst into the place by the window (and why did his ninjas seem to ignore every door's existence ?!), crashing on the floor in front of his desk. He immediately recognized Hari Potta, wheezing and laughing so hard that she was crying.

His ANBUs guards had been ready to attack the unidentified threat before it even entered the room, but he had sharply signaled them to back down.

Not that he thought they would be able to kill her, even by accident ; but he didn't want them to learn about her magic. Then, some very loud and imaginative curses were heard – he commended the person's imagination – and another woman crashed through the window.

Her smoky gray eye darted around the room, quickly narrowing on the still laughing woman on the ground.

Sarutobi dimly thought the newcomer made him think about someone else...

"YOU !", seethed the silver-haired woman, jumping onto the dark-haired one, and trying to strangle her.

The other was still laughing, and Sarutobi realized the furious one wasn't really trying to kill her. She was, in fact, taking care not to hurt her. Mm, strange.

The silver-haired one really looked familiar... Then it came.

She had the exact same hair than Kakashi ! Except hers was longer. Strangely enough, she also wore a black mask, on the lower part of her face. In fact, she even wore her headband over her left eye, exactly like Kakashi did.

And now that he thought about it, he had no silver-haired woman among his ninjas.

Now, he may be old, but he was in no way stupid – and having known the Hime for almost a month already, with weekly meetings, he knew that magic could do anything. Almost.

He eyes widened under the surprise.

Because, while he didn't have a silver-haired, mask-wearing, one-eyed kunoichi in his ranks ; he did have a silver-haired, mask-wearing, one-eyed shinobi in them. And he realized who the mysterious woman was.

What. The. Hell.

"Rabbit, out", he ordered, and the ANBU obeyed, though he could feel she was surprised and worried about letting him here with potential threats. But Boar was still there, and he already knew about magic, since he had been there during his first meeting with the witch.

He quickly lightened his pipe, puffing contently on it, while looking over his new citizen, and his best Jonin. It seemed magic would never stop amaze him.

"If you would explain ?"

His question went unheard in the mock-fighting that happened in front of him. Kakashi – he was almost sure the woman was his Jonin, and what a strange thought – was trying to make the Hime stop laughing, but it seemed to be in vain.

He observed them for a bit, silently. Both women were pressed together, clothes rumpled and hair disheveled – but that did nothing to lower their beauty. In fact – damn.

He realized with a start that he had a perfect scenario for his student, Jiraiya ! The spy was writing those marvelous little books, full of... interesting situations. And right there, in front of him, an amazing scene was happening ! It was gold.

He quickly memorized the positions, the actions, the looks – everything important. Oh, yes, he could see it now. It would be perfect in Icha Icha – though he would have to make sure Kakashi never learned about it. Finally done, he posed his pipe.

Time for some answers.

He coughed politely but pointedly, and finally obtained their attention.

"If you would explain... ?"

Immediately, Kakashi jumped on his – her ? – feet, pointing an indignant finger towards a slowly standing up, still grinning Hime.

"Hokage-sama ! It's her ! Look at what she did !"

Raising an interrogative eyebrow towards the green-eyed woman only made her laugh again.

"Aah ah ah – his face !", she managed, wiping some tears with one hand.

Sarutobi felt his lips twitch without his accord, but managed to subside his smile. It was the first time he heard the woman laugh, freely and truly. He had heard her laugh bitterly, sadly, disdainfully even – but it was the first time she laughed with joy, and it was strangely contagious.

She had a beautiful laugh. It illuminated her eyes, and brightened her face. She was breathtaking, in a lively way. She made him think of young Naruto, when he laughed – a true laugh, not a fake one.

"Can you tell me what happened ?", he tried again.

"She – we – we were training – fighting – then I asked what Magic could do – then she did this !", half screamed Kakashi, hands hovering over his – damn, was it really her, now ? – own body, without daring to actually touch it.

"Ah ah ahh – ", helpfully added Hari.

"Stop this ! Stop whatever you've done !", urged Kakashi, turning back toward the woman.

"But you're so cute like that !", protested Hari, lips stretched in a bright smile.

"I'm not – !", Kakashi looked deeply offended. "I'm not cute ! I'm a male, I'm handsome !", he insisted loudly.

"Whatever you say", grinned the Hime.

"Hokage-sama !", complained Kakashi, looking at him with an hopeful, pleading eye.

And damn, but that was much more effective when he – she was a woman. Where had the somber, grim, somewhat suicidal Kakashi gone ? Not that he was complaining, mind. In fact, it was excellent news. Even if it did make his Elite Jonin revert to a slight child-like behavior.

"Could you ?", he asked Hari, nodding towards the Jonin.

"Must I ?", she pouted, still smiling a bit.

He only sent her a pointed look, and she let out a put-upon sigh and snapped her fingers quietly with mock-sadness.

"Oh, well", she shrugged uncaringly. "I prefer watching him as a male anyway. Pretty good eye-candy".

Completely ignoring Kakashi's suddenly startled look – and was that the hint of a blush he could see creeping over the top of the mask, wondered the Hokage, squinting at his Jonin – the Hime vaguely waved her hand in the silver-haired man – woman – direction.

Without so much as a poof of smoke, Kakashi was back into his own, very male body. And his uniform was back too, with was a good thing, because the Hokage didn't particularly want to see his best ninja in a pretty, feminine kimono.

(But he wasn't against seeing him as a woman. You know, if it were to happen again...).

Kakashi beamed, and that was the first time Hiruzen saw him beam honestly. He often did it to infuriate or annoy others, or to deflect questions ; and that was the first time he did it with actual joy. He hadn't had much to enjoy, ever since his father's suicide... maybe since a bit before that. Sarutobi was quite satisfied to see him less tense than usual.

Kakashi was patting himself, reassured to feel everything was back to normal, and – a hand in-between his legs quickly confirmed that everything was back. Relief washed over him.

It was over.

It wouldn't happen, ever again.

"Magic really can do everything", said Sarutobi, in a slightly awed tone.

It hadn't been a genjutsu – he had checked several times. But he was becoming used to the fact that impossible things happening were real, and not mere illusions.

Kakashi only half-heartedly glared at his tone (being somewhat close to the Hokage didn't change the fact that Sarutobi was his Kage, and one simply do not glare at one's Kage), but Hari laughed delightfully.

"I know !".

"How did she surprise you ?", he asked out of curiosity. Kakashi wasn't one to be caught unaware.

It was curious, in fact, that he had even been caught.

Kakashi went to open his mouth, and protest furiously about the surprise in his Hokage's voice – he didn't have to live with the Hime, he knew nothing about what magic could do, especially in pranks ! You can't avoid something that can't be heard, felt nor seen ! – but closed it quickly.

In front of his very eye, his Hokage had suddenly become an old woman – though the very air around... her, still belied the false impression of frailness and weakness.

"Just like she surprised you, Hokage-sama", deadpanned Kakashi, though there was a underlying hint of smugness in his voice.

The Hokage's eyes widened in shock, looking down at himself and realizing that yes, he was – he had a woman's body.

Suddenly, Kakashi was able to see the harmless fun in this prank. You know, now that he wasn't subjected to it anymore.

Hence, he snorted, quickly morphing his expression into a neutral one. Hey, it was his Hokage, not some other Jonin or whatever !

They all clearly heard the strangled cry coming out of the old woman's mouth, and Kakashi could honestly say it was his first time seeing the Sandaime that shocked. The old man was usually always unfazed.

Clearly his poker face failed him right now.

(Not that Kakashi had anything to say about that, he inwardly admitted, considering his poker face had been crushed into pieces mere moments ago. But he won't speak about it if you won't, and he will kill whoever talks about it. Just saying).

"Can you – Turn me back", ordered the Hokage, a deeply disturbed look on his – her face.

Hari only grinned, and snapped her fingers once more, instead of waving her hand. Kakashi noted that in a corner of his mind – it certainly confirmed his theory that the witch didn't need to do any special gesture in order to do magic. It would mean that she did so by habit, or to make them more comfortable around her, knowing they could at least see her doing magic... Or for some other reason. He wasn't sure yet.

The Hokage experienced then the same relief Kakashi had, patting himself to be sure he was back to normal.

"Thank you", he muttered, glaring slightly at the unrepentantly grinning woman. "Was it a... permanent change ?"

"What do you mean ?", questioned Hari.

It obviously wasn't permanent : they were back to normal now, weren't they ?

"I mean, how long would it have lasted, if you hadn't reversed whatever it was you used on us ?", clarified Sarutobi patiently.

"Oh", realized Hari, before her smile widened a bit. "Forever".

Well, until her death actually, but that was so far away, it could be considered as 'forever' for her victims. The Hokage himself was old enough, he would never see her die ; and Kakashi, though only one little year older than her, was much more liable to die before her, since he could actually die of mortal wounds.

"And it was a complete transformation ?", demanded the Hokage, interested despite himself.

"Yeah", she confirmed. "Entirely women, you both were. You could have had children, if you had tried something like that".

The disturbed looks on their faces made it clear they wouldn't have tried that, but Hari skillfully ignored it all.

"So, I'm on time for my meeting", she chirped. "Kakashi insisted to accompany me".

Said Jonin shot her a dark glare, but said nothing. There was nothing to say.

"Ah, yes", sighed Sarutobi, shuffling some papers. "It was supposed to be about how you felt in Konoha, and if you had settled well, as I do every time ; but I can see the answers to my questions already. Something in particular to tell me ?"

Hari thought about it a second, and was about to decline, before remembering something.

"Actually, yes. You wouldn't happen to have a parcel of land to sell ?"

"We have several, but you can see that with Konoha's estate agency ?", answered the Hokage, with a curious voice.

"Yes, but this particular parcel of land would then disappear from everyone's memory, and would not be visible anymore. So I would prefer something discreet, not in the center of the Village. It's a bit obvious if I keep disappearing out of thin air".

"Wait", frowned Hiruzen, already feeling another headache coming. He always had one, when talking to the strange woman that was the Hime. "What ? It will disappear ?"

"Yes", she said, as if it was obvious. "I will render it unplottable. No one will be able to see it, whether they happen to walk right next to it, or fly over it. Additionally, every person that knew it was there will forget it ever existed or at the very least will not be able to remember where it is located. There will be a part of land, almost in another plane. No one will be able to enter it, either, without my Keeeper's written permission", she explained.

As much as she personally disliked the Fidelius, she knew it was the best and easiest solution to protect something – as long as that something wasn't a house. It's not easy to live somewhere, when people can't see your house, and can't visit you without having to read the address on a piece of paper.

And she would have to choose a Secret Keeper. The caster of the Fidelius charm couldn't be the Secret Keeper, sadly. Well, Kakashi would do, she supposed. She had known him for only a little more less than a month, but she could already say that she... didn't dislike him.

(It was more than she could say about every other person she had met in her past world. And in this one, she knew so very few people that she didn't have a lot of choice... but she felt better with Kakashi than with the Hokage. Huh. Strange).

"It is very handy", complimented the Hokage, visibly interested in the possibilities offered by said charm. "Is there any drawback ?"

"As a matter of fact, yes", she shrugged. They probably wouldn't understand them, though. "The land will disappear from everyone's mind, except the caster's, and the Secret Keeper's minds. The Secret Keeper's will be the only one able to reveal the emplacement to someone else. He would have to willingly write the address on a piece of paper, and then let someone read it. Only after reading it, said person will be able to see and enter the land. He or she won't be able to reveal its emplacement to anyone else, however. Only the Keeper can do so".

"And what are the drawbacks ?", asked Kakashi, after having assimilated what they had been told.

"You have to be really sure about your Secret Keeper, and then keep him under watch", she smiled sadly. "My parents were under the Fidelius – the charm's name – before they died. They trusted their Keeper, he was one of their best friend. They didn't keep watch on him".

And considering this, it was obvious as to why she considered this as a drawback.

"And if the Keeper die, no one will be able to introduce new persons to the land. We would have to cancel the Fidelius, then recast it. It can be quite taxing", she added in an afterthought.

"I see. Still, I think the benefits outweigh the inconvenient, if we are cautious", decided the Hokage.

Of course you had to chose the Keeper, or whatever his name was, carefully. It was obvious, and no ninja would ever chose someone they weren't entirely sure they could trust with their life. But he didn't tell this out loud.

Because Hari's parents hadn't been ninjas, and they hadn't been cautious enough ; and Sarutobi knew what it was to be betrayed. Orochimaru's betrayal was still very fresh for him, even if it had been a few years already ; and even though it had been discovered that he was, in fact, probably still alive... the Sandaime was practical enough to know that his student had died, and wouldn't ever come back.

It was simply tact. Kakashi seemed to have understood this too, for he only sent a quick glance toward him, but kept his mouth shut.

The Hokage decided he would ask about the charm in details at a later date, and went to his other, obvious question.

"And what do you need this... unplottable land for ?", he inquired, carefully enunciating the word 'unplottable'.

It was a new one, and a mouthful. Still, probably better than 'land perfectly hidden that no one can find'.

"Oh, well, I need a garden", explained Hari simply – as if that was an explanation.

"A garden ?", interrupted blankly Kakashi. "You already have one. A big one".

And it was true that the house she had bought beneficed of a particularly large garden – almost large enough to be a training ground. She had bought this house for this reason only, even if it helped that the house itself was nice.

And what would she need a garden for, anyway ?

Surely the one she had was more than enough for whatever it was she planned to do with one ?

It couldn't be that she wanted to do some illegal stuff, because she had said herself that she would need a Keeper, meaning someone other than her. Someone who would know what was happening inside the charm, and who would be able to report it to Sarutobi (for the Hokage had no doubts as to who would be chosen for this task. Kakashi and Hari were already remarkably well living together, even if it had only been roughly a month. And they were still flirting strangely with each other, without even knowing it).

(Needless to say, the Hokage expected some development. Soon).

(He was delighted !).

"Ah, but this one is for training. Where would you go instead ?", she asked rhetorically, continuing without waiting for an answer. "Besides, I need a place apart from everything else, and protected. I plan to grow my very own magical garden. Magical plants need special accommodations, and some of them can be very dangerous, in addition of being fragile. I can't let them grow just outside the house – it's not safe, not for them, and not for us".

"How can plants be dangerous ?", asked a puzzled Kakashi. "If you think I will stick everything in my mouth, you've got it all wrong".

He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed with her apparent lack of trust in him. He was an experienced ninja – he knew not to eat something he didn't know, and he was smart enough not to touch something potentially dangerous, now that he knew it would be.

Hari shot him an unimpressed look in answer.

"Mandrake's scream can kill an adult. Devil's Snare will try to strangle you, and it's strong enough to succeed if you're not careful. Carnivorous plant will, of course, try to devour you. Some plants will launch poison at you, other will sneak around trying to contaminate you – the Shape-shifting rose, for example, gained its name for its habit to stick its spores on unsuspecting passerby. The spores will enter the body, contaminate it, and slowly kill their host. Then the plant will simply grow out of the dead body, feeding of it, and thus gaining the form of whatever it had killed. Be it an animal or an human", she listed quickly, noting their gobsmacked expressions.

Though it was harder to tell with Kakashi, since he was wearing a mask.

"You... What ?", stammered Kakashi, eye wide with shock. "Is that true ?"

"Why would I lie ?", she questioned back.

"Your plants are that dangerous ?", asked a shocked Hokage.

"Oh, yes, and I only spoke of a few of them", she confirmed, smirking at their expressions. "That's why I can't let them grow in my garden, no wizard worth his wand would do that. The land will become a greenhouse, obviously. It is needed, since Devil Snare, for example, can only grow in the dark. It will die, if exposed to light".

There was a stretch of silence, broken by the Jonin.

"And why do you need such dangerous plants ?", he asked, still perturbed by the idea of a world where the very plants were out for your life.

Actively out for your life.

Sentient enough to plan against you.

(And what was a world where you had to protect yourself from some plant's scream anyway ?!).

(Suddenly, the fact that wizards were insane made more sense. Their very world was insane ! They had to cope with it, and as they said : if you can't fight them, join them. Obviously, they had chosen the sensible option, and joined whatever them was).

"Very well" finally accepted the Hokage. "I will search for several grounds that have what you are looking for, and send you the results. You will choose the one you like best. Who will be your secret keeper ?"

Hari shot a quick look at the silver-haired Jonin next to her. The man caught it, of course. Hari-Hime may be exceptionally discreet for a civilian, but she had never been trained to be sneaky enough to fool ninjas.

She didn't know how to hide her expressions either – though sometimes her face closed, only showing an utterly neutral expression. Even her eyes became glassy, their door closed by... something.

As if she suddenly closed a book. It was strange – and vaguely disturbing – but it didn't close her body language, and she had obviously never learned to do so.

"Well, I was thinking of you, actually", she announced in falsely detached manner, looking nonchalantly at Kakashi, but none of the ninjas in the room made the error to believe she truly didn't care about his answer.

It was a show of trust, however small it may look like. If he rejected her offer, he would reject her trust. She may not even be aware of this herself, but this was a test.

Fortunately, there was only one option Kakashi ever envisaged.

"Maa, I'm touched you thought of me", he drawled, smirk audible in his voice. "It would be my pleasure to protect your darkest secrets".

The tension disappeared from Hari's petite form, and she smirked back.

"Oh, trust me, you have no idea of what my darkest secrets are...", she purred slowly.

Kakashi's smirk widened, and his body leaned towards Hari without realizing it himself.

"Do tell...", he purred himself.

Sarutobi decided it was quite enough.

Those two fools weren't even aware they were sweet on each other ! He didn't intend to take action, but if they waited for too long, then he would.

For now though, it had been a trying morning. Though he was thankful for the break from his paperwork, he had seen his best Jonin changed into a woman, had himself been changed into a woman, had learned things that would made him weary of plants from now on, and just learned that Kakashi could purr, and that it was effective.

At least, if the faint red on the Hime's cheeks was any indication, it was.

But he really didn't need to see more than that, especially not if today was the day they finally decided to... try to learn each other a bit more. His paperwork couldn't wait !

Plus, Rabbit was probably dying of worry out there.

"Right", he forcibly interrupted the duo. "If you will excuse me, some of us have work to do".

He ignored Boar's snort, just as he had ignored his choked out laugh when he had been changed into a... a woman (Kami), and he would have a conversation with his bodyguard on this point later – and continued.

"You may take the door".

"Of course, Hokage-dono. See you around", cheekily waved the green-eyed wonder, before jumping out of the room.

Straight through the window.

"Ja ne !", waved Kakashi, following his... whatever she was to him now, using the same way.

Sarutobi sighed tiredly. Why did his ninjas always insist on using the windows ?! There were perfectly good doors everywhere !

He sat back in his seat, finally allowing a small smile to play on his lips.

It was good to see the woman laugh freely. She had never showed any truly positive emotion since her arrival, what seemed an small eternity ago. Sure, it was understandable. She had been betrayed too many times, had suffered through too many things, to be open and bright.

She needed time to heal, something she had never had in her old world. Time to be herself, and to do whatever she wanted – within the rules. Time to make true friends, time to center herself.

Everything she had been denied in her past world.

That's also part of why he had chosen Kakashi as her bodyguard. He knew the Jonin would never push to know about her, to discover her past. He knew about painful events, and would be the last person to make the Hime close herself off... but he was skillful enough to pick some information just by living in the same house as she. And it had worked, too.

Though Hari Potta had always taken care to show that she didn't defer to him – and there was a story behind that, other than her explained visceral disgust for authority, he was quite certain of that – it was now more natural. Before, it had been defiant – a sort of test, as if she was daring him to take offense.

Or maybe, as if she was making quite sure he understood that she would never bow, and never call him 'sama'. Sarutobi supposed he should care, since it could be interpreted as insubordination or insult ; but she wasn't doing that maliciously, or because she was a spoiled brat.

No, as said before, there was a story behind that – one he would know one day. But for now, she was more natural when doing it. She wasn't consciously doing it anymore, it came naturally, as if he was a dear, old friend. He wasn't complaining – it was strangely refreshing. It in fact almost always made him smile. As long as she didn't fall outright into insubordination, he could deal with it. Only Naruto had the same ease when talking to him – though in his case, it was simply because he didn't know any better. Still, he quite liked the boy, and was pleased to be talked to so easily sometimes.

Anyway, the prank he had just witnessed on his Jonin (and on himself, but that is a forgotten part of his life, so really, it doesn't count), and the laugh that had illuminated her features, were the proof that she was opening herself to others, slowly but surely. She was mending, all the more quickly that she wanted to heal. Kakashi helped, too.

And she helped Kakashi – it was the first time he had seen the Jonin and ANBU that relaxed since... since Minato's death. Since before that, even. He had even laughed freely, too. Well, he had been laughing about Sarutobi's little misadventure (that never happened, by the way) but it still counted.

Kakashi and Hari were good for one another. Now, he only had to make them realize that.

As long as he wasn't changed into a woman ever again, he would even accept to be pranked, if that was what was needed.

But if only they would take the bloody door !

(In another part of Konoha, Hari privately thought that if the Hokage wanted ninjas to use the doors, then he wouldn't let the windows open. Or, he would at the very least trap them. Since he did neither of those things, it was safe to assume he didn't really care about everyone's attitude of favoring windows over doors).

(Using only windows was one of the quirks she had learned from Kakashi. The man always used the windows if he could, often going out of his way to do so. Since it was a cool and fun habit, she didn't care to have picked it up. It made things easier).

(And really, the Hokage was practically asking for it !).

---

Five days after the meeting with the Hokage – and the man had been very interested with Kakashi's report, though he had thought it wise to seclude a meeting with the Hime so that she could answer questions about her abilities in a more formal way, instead of it being reports – they had been notified that the Hokage had found several fields that could satisfy the woman's exigencies.

After examining the choices, the Hari Potta had chosen one and then proceeded to drag a curious Kakashi right to the field the very next day. Then she had done her magic – he never really knew what she did whenever she used her special energy, so he couldn't say more than that – and then she had pointed at him and he had felt a wave of something wash over him. That had given him the shivers, even if it wasn't malicious or threatening.

Now, Kakashi looked lazily around him, but the sharp spark in his eye belied his apparent nonchalance. Though, one would need to be near him, if they wanted to be able to see it. As it was, Hari was near him, but she was looking forward so she missed it. Still, she herself didn't look alarmed by anything, and all in all looked perfectly relaxed.

It probably meant that there was no danger around, what with her strange capacity to always know when someone was close and where they were, even if they were completely hidden from every sense ; but Kakashi was a ninja – better yet, he was an ANBU, so he was on guard even when there was no apparent need to be.

It's by lowering one's guard that one become complacent.

There were currently standing a few hundred meters away from Konoha's gates, but it wasn't the main ones. No, it was a smaller gate on the side, well protected and giving way onto fields. Konoha had, after all, some fields in order to have its own crops, though it mainly depended on trade with other villages, as any Ninja Village was prone to do.

The majority of the fields had crops in them, usually, but considering that there were in early December, roughly a little more than month after Hari's appearance, they were currently empty. Probably to let the earth breathe or something like that – Kakashi was no farmer, thank you very much.

Kakashi was no stranger with plants, even if he was no specialist – you would have to ask a Yamanaka, for that. He knew poisonous ones, medical ones, and life-saving ones, when you're lost or trapped in a place, and have no provisions left. Still, the space required was quite vast, and she had declined the Hokage's offer of asking for some Yamanakas to help her.

The Jonin wasn't sure why she thought she would be able to manage on her own such a large crop, except that maybe magical plants didn't need any care. Maybe they somehow managed on their own. Well, he would see, of course. In any event, it was way larger than any Yamanaka's greenhouse.

In a way, he could see why the Hime had chosen this field for her peculiar cultures (well, he wasn't sure how different the plants would be – he was expecting anything strange, and dangerous, from what she had told them, but more than that he didn't know, since she had found it very amusing to keep it a secret – but apparently she needed a lot of space, so there must be quite a number of them). It was relatively away from Konoha, but still close enough it was easily accessible – though she could just Apparate if she ever wished too (even though he personally would prefer to walk rather than go through that again).

There was also the fact that, though not the largest by far, this field was definitely the most remote from everything. Nicely encased in-between the forest, it was almost lost – hence the reason it had been in sale at all. The price had been surprisingly low, but the earth there must be constantly monopolized by the trees, meaning that the necessary elements needed by other plants had to be lacking.

Not a good thing for a field, he guessed. Especially considering that Konoha didn't particularly like cutting the forest surrounding it.

When asked, Hari had just shrugged and said that she had her own soil, and that she wasn't intending to sow the plants in the earth directly anyway. What she meant by that, he wasn't sure – probably, she intended to have some greenhouses rather than directly use the field. She most certainly needed the space more than the soil.

Well, all that was good and well, Kakashi thought, eye wildly searching around him. But it would be even better, if the field he was thinking about, was actually there. Right now ?

Right now he was standing at the edge of the forest, where he knew the field was... but he was only looking at the other side. Directly. With nothing in-between.

The field was notably missing.

Like, how ?!

Now, Kakashi was willing to admit that magic was amazing. Self-washing dishes, self-repairing training ground (or, to be more precise, garden – but whatever), changing one's hair color, changing one's sex and appearance, cutting whole trees into little shards or exploding the ground... Okay, it could do some incredible things.

But that was on an entirely new scale ! The field had been right in front of him moments before, and now, try as he might, he couldn't see it anymore

Making some part of the world disappear, literally – that was... !

That was way more serious than any prank the Hime had used magic to do. Magic wasn't only amazing, it was dangerous.

He knew that, logically, what with the war she had been talking about and all, as well as from when they had mock-fought that one time. But that, right now, really drove the point home.

Because how hard would it be to fight against an enemy whose base was entirely inaccessible ? Whose base didn't exist ?

Insanely hard, that's how. Their base would be so secure, they would be able to relax, avoid spies and assassins and attacks, and would be well-rested for actual fights. That was an ace – more than an ace, that was literally an assured win, if played correctly.

And that would be really frightening.

Kakashi was suddenly very, very glad Hari had chosen Konoha among all the Villages – even if she had done so on a external reason. He got the distinct feeling of having avoided a kunai, despite knowing that she would have refused to use her magic in order to allow whichever Village she would be in to win a war. She was okay with fighting, and doing missions as long as she didn't have to kill innocents – she would have never accepted to take part in an attack on the others Villages just because hers would be assured to win thanks to her, and they wanted to take advantage of that fact.

She didn't care for such petty affairs.

Not for the first time, Kakashi felt glad and proud to be a shinobi of Konoha. Because it was thanks to his Village's values than she had chosen Konoha, among all the Ninja Villages.

"So where's the field ?", he asked mildly, eye still searching sharply the surroundings.

So he had been warned of the... Fidelius effects. It was still relatively disturbing to witness it. Still, he was supposed to be the Secret Keeper (apparently, there were capital letters – it was that important). And the Secret Keeper was the one to know where the field was – the only one who could give the location to others.

He was proud to have been chosen – it spoke of a confidence he didn't know the Hime had in him. And he knew it wasn't just because he was her official bodyguard, and just the easiest choice : she could have chosen the Hokage, and he would have accepted immediately. And gladly, at that.

He had clearly felt what he guessed was magic wash over him, so he guessed the Ritual had worked. Still, apparently the part where he knew where the hidden place was... that part was clearly missing.

"You know where it is", she only smiled, eyes shining as if laughing at him.

Well, he supposed that he did know, what with him technically knowing that he was just in front of it... He just couldn't see it. That was the problem.

"I think I know", he admitted. "But I can't see it, and clearly that's a problem".

His tone may be a bit dry, but come on ! She was laughing at him while he was witnessing an impossible thing !

"Yes, you can", she smiled. "You're just not looking".

"I'm looking all right", he mockingly chirped, comically widening his eye for emphasis.

He hadn't even bothered to use his Sharingan – by then he knew that whatever Magic was and did, he couldn't see it anyway.

"Think about the location".

Yeah, thank for the advice.

It wasn't even that difficult. Hari-Hime's magical garden is in the clearing at the edge of the forest, at the east of Konoha. A bit long to say, but -

Wait.

What the fucking fu – !

The trees were moving ! Like, there were sliding away, making place – moving !

And, wow.

He didn't think he could ever become used to that. The clearing had suddenly appeared, just like that. The trees had made place. That was – there was no words.

"Isn't it a bit obvious, the moving trees and all ?" he managed to ask – and maybe his voice was a bit faint, so what ?

He would like to see you try.

"You're the only one to see it", she explained. "I would ask you for the address, but I was the one to cast the spell, so I don't need it. But you will have to write it for Hokage-san if he wants it – just make sure to burn the paper afterward, and to let no one else read it".

She was serious, so he nodded. Not a promise, but he couldn't do more than that. If his Hokage asked – demanded – to keep the paper... Well, he would try to explain, but at the end of the day, his orders prevailed on everything else.

"Come on in", pressed the Hime, herself entering the field. "I will put some more wards around here, so don't talk to me for a bit. It won't be very exciting, I'm afraid".

He hummed, standing not quite awkwardly at the edge of the field, and watched her wave her hand this way and that. There was no beam of light this time (and he had gathered that she had made them appear on purpose that first time : showing him she was doing something. He had been quite skeptical, back then – clearly that was a long time ago), but her expression was concentrated, and he knew better than to disturb her.

He looked around idly, not quite sure of what to do. Yet he remarked that forest animals were back around the field, obviously not seeing them. It also meant that they hadn't felt or seen the trees move around, else they would have been much more cautious about being in the open. They would have run away, and hidden for quite some time.

So. That really was interes -

Hey.

The clearing was clearly growing in space, right now. It had already been large, but it kept enlarging – he wasn't crazy, was he ?

Well, he was a bit, but not to the point of seeing things where there wasn't any (though that had just taken a whole new dimension, considering that he was now seeing things others couldn't see at all).

No, no, he was a good judge of distances (duh, ninja), and the clearing was clearly enlarged.

"What... ?"

Hari stayed concentrated for a few more minutes, before relaxing and opening her eyes. She looked around, satisfied, and nodded to herself.

"What happened ?", he asked again, now that he had her attention.

She looked up, apparently surprised to see him here – she had evidently forgotten about him, and what that said about her habit of doing important things alone, Kakashi wasn't sure – before smiling widely.

"I needed more space", she shrugged. "I took the clearing for the privacy, not the size. I could have chosen the smallest of them if it was well located for my need. Magic can help enlarge places – you've seen it with my trunks", she reminded him with a smirk.

And okay, they may have been a bit stunned at her trunk (full of gold !), but she could stop being so smug about it, seriously. He shot her an unimpressed look (completely false, he was very much impressed), and her smile subdued.

"I can have all the place I need with magic. I could enlarge it to the size of a country if I so desired – though it would be incredibly taxing and exhausting", she shrugged again. "I have no need for so much space, but I needed more than what I had before. Plus, now the whole place's saturated in magic, and that will do good for the plants".

"Okay", he simply said – because, what could he say, uh ?

Her smile returned, and she looked quite content. Whatever she wanted, he supposed fondly. He did like seeing her smile.

"So, when are we sowing the plants ? And where ?", he asked, looking around curiously.

The clearing's size had almost tripled, and now he was really surprised she hadn't wanted any help to manage such a large place. But she knew what she was doing. He hoped.

"Right now, of course. Why would you wait ?"

And she honestly looked surprised. Well.

"You have everything you need on you ?", he asked, because he was surprised as well, since she had no bags at all – and of course. Magic.

"Yes", she nodded, taking a miniaturized trunk out of her pocket. "Of course".

Of course.

He sighed tiredly.

"Let's do it, then".

She nodded, and opened her trunk. She then proceeded to take a lot of other miniaturized trunks out – and when he said a lot, he meant a tone. And there was clearly magic at play (how could it not ?), because the trunks opened alone, and began emptying their contents.

Said contents were perfectly satisfied with having to place themselves on the ground, and soon enough (way sooner than should be possible), rows upon rows of neatly arranged greenhouses were standing proudly in the clearing. The majority was in glass, shining brightly under the sun's rays, but some were in black – black glass, probably blocking the sun's rays, and how that could be good for plants, he didn't know. She had spoken about a plant – Devil something – that hated the light...

But well. Plants needed light, didn't they ?

"Good", she said satisfied, looking around and all in all looking pleased by the results.

Kakashi was still trying to wake up, move, say something, not faint, take his jaw off the ground – the usual. He most certainly did not whimper a bit. No. He could certainly deal with that.

"I will plant the majority of the species now. Follow me, but do be prudent", she warned, looking at him straight in the eye in order to convey her seriousness.

"Prudent ?"

Oh, look at that. He could still speak. Trust him, it hadn't been a given.

"Yes", she began walking towards the first greenhouse – quite conveniently bearing the number '1' on its doors. "Some of them I will sow, but some I will simply transfer from pots to pots, because I need some matured ones, and I have them anyway".

"Why prudent ?", he reiterated, because she hadn't answered his question at all. Why would it change anything, that the plants were fully grown up or not ?

She looked surprised, again – and really, that was his right, not hers ! – before understanding dawned on her face, along with realization and glee.

Glee.

Coming from the woman who loved pranks and had turned him into a woman, he wasn't feeling safe at all.

"What is it ?", he asked sternly, eyeing him warily.

Her smirk only widened.

"Oh, you will see".

And with that, she disappeared inside the first greenhouse, laughing lightly with anticipation. He was not reassured.

Nevertheless, he wasn't one to flee (he totally was, when he couldn't win a fight, but this was different) ; so he took a deep breath, and followed her with determination.

What could possibly happens ? He was an Elite Jonin. They were just plants, seriously !

---

They were monsters !

Monsters !

What – How – Why – When – !

That was insane !

Those weren't plants, no, they weren't ! There were aliens disguised under the deceptively innocent appearance of plants !

They were bloodthirsty not-so-little things !

That's what Kakashi was thinking, escaping yet another of the plant's attempt at catching him. His eyes were flickering wildly around him, Sharingan long since revealed in a bid to save his very life, searching for another attack – they were relentless.

The tentacle retreated – and he knew it was looking sad ! Sad ! – just as another one went from behind him. And there was a few tears in his uniform, and this Devil's Snare (and what a deeply appropriate name !) wouldn't leave him well enough alone, and Hari was busy laughing her pretty little ass at him, and he couldn't even fight back because she didn't want him to damage her plants ! And he wanted to be out of there, right now !

Especially considering that it was dark and that that made him all the more paranoid. Hard to protect himself when he only saw the outright attacks at the last moment !

Between the plants whose screams (screams ! They looked like deformed babies ! They had a mouth ! They were quite clearly alive ! Come on, how was that even possible !) were deadly – literally deadly, because that would be no fun otherwise ; the plants that liked to spit poisonous saliva onto unsuspecting persons, with the admitted intention of afterwards eating them ; the plants that tried to jump on him in order to depose their eggs (Eggs ! Come on, eggs ! Do someone see the problem ?!) into his body ; and the one that was currently trying to strangle him, he was done.

He wasn't even talking about all the others – some were safe enough, he supposed : they respected the way plants should be, and they looked like plants, and behaved like plants, and Kakashi liked them a lot. But the others...

Oh, yes, he understood perfectly now why she had refused the Hokage's offer. She didn't want to be accused of the poor Yamanakas' upcoming demise ! And – Ah ! A sneaky attack !

The tentacle had been hidden under some earth, on the ground, waiting for its moment. Well, too bad, Kakashi was better than it, take that you organic green rope ! And yes, he was talking to a plant.

Right now, he wouldn't even be surprised if one of them answered him. He was that gone.

And of course, it would be so much easier if he could see ! But no, apparently Devil's Snare could only grow in the dark, hence the need of the black greenhouses. Some plants simply couldn't support daylight – and Kakashi was having wild ideas of breaking the roof and letting the sun burn them all, mad little fuckers.

Serve them right, it would.

"Stop playing", mock-chided Hari (and just she wait, he would have her back for that). "I'm done here, should we head back home ?"

And yes, salvation.

"YES !", he screamed, twisting in mid-air to avoid yet another tentacle.

He shunshined right next to her, and she was easy to find because her eyes, like cat's , reflected what few (very few) light there was here. They shone in the dark, and the green of her pupils glowed softly as well. It would have been creepy, of course, but Kakashi was much more worried and disturbed by the sentient, murdering plants.

You know. A man gotta have his priorities, like surviving the day. And Hari was a safeguard – for some reason, plants never attacked her. He guessed it was a magical thing. He quickly took her arm, and shunshined again out of Hell – of the Greenhouse, he meant.

Greenhouse. Hell. One and the same, really.

He immediately shut the door, using maybe a bit too much strength doing it, but the door was closed and that was enough. No complaints, thank you very much.

He had enough.

Between all of those different plants – and he was still persuaded that some of them were animals disguised into plants, okay ? – and Hari's utter nonchalance about this madness, he was done for the day. He would report to the Hokage, explain exactly why it wasn't a good idea to require the Yamanakas' help, and try to avoid those... places, as much as he could for the rest of his life.

There.

Now he was standing in front of the last greenhouse they had visited – and there was still a lot more to go, but it was late already, and surely they could go home now, couldn't they ? – right in the middle of the clearing.

Surrounded by trees and grass and bushes.

There was a soft wind that ruffled the vegetal, and wildlife's sounds were clearly audible for him. Of course, since they were still inside the Fidelius, the animals couldn't hear nor see them, hence the reason why there was wildlife at all.

The sun was hanging low in the sky, barely visible above the trees. The sky itself was a warm orange, and pink ; and all in all the night was soon to come. It was very peaceful, and Kakashi knew he ought to be relaxed now that he was out of there, but...

But the plants were moving – it was the wind, he knew it was, but wasn't this one bush moving a bit too much ? And wow, look at that, a root right next to his foot ! Recent reflexes kicking in, he jumped the hell away from the innocent (seemingly innocent !) root, startling Hari.

"What are you doing ?", and she had the gall to sound bewildered !

"Nothing", he cleared his throat, trying to calm himself, but his eyes were darting around sharply, seeing shadows where there was none.

Well, try having to survive murderous plants, and to escape improbable, sneaky attacks for a whole day – and not even being able to fight back, Kami ! – and he would allow you to voice your opinions.

As it is, shut up.

Plants were terrifying.

(He suddenly felt a bit, tiny bit scared of the Yamanakas. Oh, he knew that their plants were inoffensive, as long as no one ingested them, but still. Damn. Plants were scary).

"Should we go home, now ?" He had wanted to sound annoyed, but it had come out as annoyingly whiny.

A few more minutes in there, and he would be begging to go back home, pride be damned.

"Yes", and she was smirking and laughing inwardly, he knew she was, the damn woman ! "I planted all the species I could today. I will have to come back at specific times for the rest".

"What do you mean ?", he pressed, very much not wanting to be forced to come back at all.

"Well, some species can only be sowed at specific times, specific days or night. Nightshade, for example – and I am here speaking of the magical one, not the mundane one – can only be sowed on a moonless night, either in December or in November. Never another night. And the plant doesn't live more than a year, whether it is still in earth or cut – after the year is gone, it will burn. Not sure why, I'm not a botanist, but it happens and though the ashes are used as well, I may find myself in need of some fresh ones", she babbled, already leading Kakashi out of there.

As soon as they were out of the wards, Kakashi turned back, only to see the other edge of the forest, with nothing in-between. Nothing visible. Yet as soon as he thought about the emplacement, it appeared. A bit breathless, he pondered on how useful that would be for Konoha, if disconcerting.

He twitched as an innocent leaf fell from the trees around them – but the last time one did this, it immediately tried to wrap around his arm, and Hari had to burn it away, chiding him about avoiding man-eating plants, so, well. He wasn't taking any risk.

Keeping a healthy distance between the leaf and himself (and hysterically thinking about the sheer number of leaves in the Village Hidden in the Leaves), he concentrated on what Hari was saying, still dutifully eyeing their surroundings. There may have been a bit of paranoia there too, but hey. He had reasons.

"And that is only one of the numerous plants that need specific periods of sowing. I will have to read some more books on Botanic, still. I have read some already, to be prepared for today, but I still have a lot I don't know about plants I really need ; so I will be fairly busy in the upcoming days", she sighed, honestly looking put-upon. "Damn. I have some boring reading to look forwards – but I can't wait to plant the Whomping Willow".

And – nope. He was ignoring that.

With his luck, it was a literal name. Because of course.

"Boring ?", he asked, fastening his pace in order to escape the forest as soon as possible. "You're always reading, I thought you liked it".

"You were wrong", she huffed, nevertheless hastening her own pace without protest, if with a little smirk. "I read because not only they're interesting – it's on wards and runes, for the moment, and I love those – but also because I will need their knowledge as soon as I'm a ninja. I have a year to prepare for it, and I do not want to waste it".

She began to run a bit next to him, because his legs were way longer than hers, still not complaining. He wished he could simply shunshin them back into Konoha, but it was impossible to shunshin through the walls, even when you were a Konoha nin. Protection, and all that.

"But I am not as interested in Botanic as I am in Runes, wards, offensive or defensive magics, or even healing magic. I don't even like Botanic, but I need it for Potions, and I sort of like potions, even without taking into account how useful it is. I will definitely need potions, so I better be prepared, even if I have a lot of provisions on potions ingredients – enough to last a few years, but still. I'm more of a doer than a brainer anyway, I prefer to do things rather than to learn about them, though I'm much more interested by books nowadays than I was before, so it's not so much of a chore anymore, not at all. I guess it's for the better – and would you stop running already ?!"

She wasn't panting, not quite, but her cheeks were definitely a bit flushed. And maybe he shouldn't have begun to run, yes, but it was a windy night, and his nerves were raw from hours in the vegetal Hell. Give him a break.

And now he was seeing Konoha, and his walls – protective walls which would stop nightmarish plants – and he wanted to be on the other side already. But at least now they were in the open, and he would be able to see if something attacked him, so he calmed a bit.

That was the first time he somewhat regretted being a Konoha nin. What with the living-inside-the-forest and all. Damn it all.

He had a sudden need to be in Wind Country – lots of sand, not a plant in mind – but squashed it down. He could do it. He was stronger than plants.

"Really", he said blankly. He had to believe he was. "Why didn't you just, uh… miniaturize the greenhouses with the plants already in it ?"

Because really, it was a damn good question. That would have avoided Kakashi a whole world of trouble. He didn't want to fight for his life against plants – hell, he didn't even want to have to run after a runaway plant ever again, that damn Walking plant (and what kind of name was that, huh ? Original much ?) – and he didn't want to become afraid of thrice-damned fucking plants, damn it, and keeping the plants inside the greenhouses would have saved him from suffering through several hours of torture.

There.

"No can do", she shrugged, still jogging slightly next to him to keep up. "Magical plants require a specific spell to be shrunken, else the magic in the spell messes with the magic in the plant. The results can be… ugly".

He sighed. Obviously. It couldn't be easy, could it ? Damn plants.

They weren't going fast enough. The sun was falling in the sky, and shadows were growing – and plants could hide in them, plotting and waiting for the right moment to attack – and he wanted to be inside the house already, where no plants lived.

He put an arm around her shoulder, quickly bent down to put his other one behind her knees, and smoothly straightened, carrying her. She gave a startled little squeak – he would tease her for that later – and rushed to the gates.

He nodded at the guards, sending a small wave of chakra to let them know it was him, using the correct code. They let them pass without interruption, and as soon as they were inside the walls, Kakashi shunshined repeatedly until he was in front of their own gates. Now he was a bit winded (keep in mind that he had spent the day doing everything he could to avoid attempts on his life) and he slowly put the Hime down.

"Next time, give a warning, will you ?", she snapped mock-haughtily, opening the gates. "Plus, you've lost my ANBUs", she added thoughtfully, looking around curiously.

"Maa, they will find us soon", he appeased calmly, already sending a wave of chakra to let them know where they were – after all, despite having been warned that Kakashi was going to use a technique to disappear with the Hime for a test given by the Hokage (total bullshit, but better than saying the truth), the ANBU team must still be going crazy at having seen them disappear and reappear out of nowhere. No need to add unecessary stress on them by making them launch themselves into a seeking frenzy inside Konoha to find them. He wasn't that cruel.

He then followed her inside, closing the doors behind him. He sighed, relaxing finally – no trees, no deceitful plants, and warm, protective walls around him. He had never thought he would one day feel protected when inside walls – not enough escapes, too small, too boxed, not secure enough – but here he was.

"Still, there was no need to hurry so much", she grumbled, going to the kitchen and washing her hands.

"I just wanted to be home", he smiled innocently, not willing to admit his sudden bout of paranoia. It would pass.

It was just his first experience with dangerous plants, at least of that kind. He would honestly like to see you try. You don't get to judge him, no sir.

(He can kill you seven ways with just his little finger. Just so you know).

"Yeah, I got it, you don't like the plants", she rolled her eyes, already searching the cupboards for some snacks.

It was not late enough to eat already, but they had been in the greenhouses all day, and they didn't eat. They weren't especially hungry back then, but know they were. Well, a bit. And Hari always had those little cakes and cookies she made during the weekend, and they were to die for, really. Who was he to say no ?, he mused, accepting the one she was giving him.

Cookie with dark chocolate chips. Mmmh...

"It's not that I don't like them", he still protested, because damn it all, it had nothing to do with his dislike of it, and everything to do with their malicious lethality. "It's that they obviously were famished, and I looked particularly appetizing to them".

"You're over-dramatic", she huffed, wandering to the living room, and picking a left-open book on the table, sitting in her sofa and making herself comfortable.

He followed, sitting as well in front of her, on his own sofa. He put his feet on the coffee table, because he could and she never said anything about that, and relaxed back, arms displayed on the sofa's back. The cookie's taste is still strong on his tongue, and he thought about going to the kitchen to take another one ; but he was comfortable there and didn't want to move, so he regretfully discarded the idea.

"Botanic book ?", he changed the subject, knowing he wouldn't win this debate. He didn't often win against Hari.

"Yes", she answered, looking up – and he couldn't help but smirk inwardly at the bored look in her eyes. Served her right. "On Mandrakes. I know they need some replanting every few months, but I forgot when precisely".

"Have fun", he chirped brightly, because he will take his revenge where he can, and her glare was worth everything he suffered his day. Almost. "Wake me up when it's time to eat, will you ?".

He didn't wait for her answer, because he knew she would, even if she only huffed again.

He closed his eye, and stayed still for a few minutes, wondering about how much his life had changed, in the past two months. Here he was, lazing on a sofa, and waiting for his friend to cook for him. He was willingly relaxing and dozing in another's presence, because he was trusting her. He was waiting for her to wake him for dinner – he relied on her.

Before, he would have been training, probably. Or on a mission, he was often on those. Or at the hospital, since he had had the habit of courting death, and though he was apparently too skilled to die, he wasn't skilled enough to avoid injuries. Or laying on his cold bed, not even under the sheets, eye wide open in the dark, unseeing, reviving his worst memories and failures, and regrets.

Well, he didn't regret being here right now. He was so much better now, and he knew he wasn't becoming soft, because he still kicked asses when he could go to friendly spars with ANBUs and the like. He was even more efficient than before, now that he was well-rested, ate properly, and had a lot of time to train in private. His mindset was different, too, peaceful and relaxed – it allowed a better concentration and a clearer judgment.

Yes, Hari was the best thing that had happened to him in years.

Still, it was a startling realization. Not an unwelcome one, but shocking nonetheless.

He let his mind wander away, feeling a not-quite-sleep settle over him. His breath deepened, though he was still distantly aware of what happened around him – Hime was moving in the kitchen, and from the smell, she was doing that pizza-thing that was delicious and not at all healthy food – and he let go.

He would take care to not lower his guard too much, but he wasn't going to waste the chance he had to make peace with his past. He knew he needed it. His Hokage had been right, he had needed a break from the ANBU.

He fell asleep, to dangerous plants and green-eyed faeries.

---

And Done !

(1) : I directly picked the passage from HP's book - Harry's first experience apparating with Dumbledore.

Hope you liked it, people, I'm going to sleep. Don't hesitate to tell me if I've made any mistake or if something doesn't add up. Just, please, don't insult my fic in the process ? Thank you !

Have a nice day/night/week :)