AN: Thank you for all the great reviews! There were so many questions about what's going to happen next. I don't want to give anything away, but hopefully everything will get addressed. Thank you for all the great feed back and suggestions. They've been really helpful in keeping me on track and for watching out for problems. Please let me know what you think!

As for updates….I'm going to start trying to upload a new chapter about every month. I can't promise that I'll be able to, but with the summer coming up, hopefully I'll be able to make a lot of headway. There's so much left to write! I'm not even half way…

"Boy, if we were trying to kill you, you'd be dead."

In the end, it all came down to that.

Harry followed docilely behind his three guides. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, the fingers of one hand rubbing reassuringly across the faint ridges of his wand. They said they weren't lying to him, that they weren't going to hurt him. And they hadn't. The possibility that they might hung over him like something he couldn't escape but at the same time there was nothing they had done that suggested they would. They didn't know he was for from defenseless. And yet they hadn't threatened him. They hadn't tried to intimidate them. They even took the time to at least offer some kind of explanation.

The teachers and the Order members back home hadn't always been so accommodating.

But a cousin?

It was both too absurd to believe and too absurd to be a joke.

Harry stared at Sasuke Uchiha's back and watched the stiff, jerky way he moved. This clearly wasn't a joke to him. The other boy had looked ready to do something drastic to prove himself. Harry couldn't imagine what that drastic thing might be, but he knew he didn't want to find out. There had been something about that bowed apology that to Harry felt like a terrible bastard mix of Dobby, Professor Lupin and Professor Snape – desperate determination, resigned regret and persistent pride.

It had been both mildly traumatized him while at the same time made him a little homesick for Hogwarts.

Harry sighed. This was just too much. It was like his life just couldn't stay stable long enough for him to catch his breath.

God, but he missed Sirius.

Sirius had always seemed to know what to do, even when he hadn't really. Sirius would have known what to do with a scowling stuck-up supposed cousin. And in the end, for better or worse, Sirius would have had Harry laughing right along with him.

"Ramen?"

Naruto's cheerful voice jolted Harry out of his thoughts. Their little group slowed to a halt in the middle of the street. Naruto had his hands behind his head, restlessness obvious in the careful way he stretch his arms back. He sent hopeful looks to each one of them as he grinned.

Harry was starting to think ramen had a greater cultural significance here than he was familiar with. It wouldn't be the first time something that seemed rather excited about it. While ramen wasn't his favorite food, Harry's early morning breakfast of a couple pieces of toast had been a long time ago.

"No." Sasuke was glaring at Naruto as if the very suggestion offended him somehow.

"But – " Naruto objected. He even glanced at Harry as if looking for support.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed. She didn't hesitate to yank on Naruto's arm, pulling him away. "I think Sasuke-kun would much rather take Harry-kun home. You know, so they can talk and stuff. In private."

It took Naruto a moment to reply. "Ooohh. Yeah. Right. Of course."

Harry stared at both of them. HE didn't see what they thought was so obvious. He didn't see what they thought was so obvious. He couldn't imagine what he and Sasuke could talk about. It wasn't like they were bound to have anything in common.

Sasuke sighed. "Tomorrow," he promised before stiffly turning away. He didn't wait for a response and instead continued down the street.

Harry hesitated. Apparently their little group was splitting up. Sakura and Naruto both smiled in an obvious attempt to be encouraging. Harry sighed and attempted to smile back. He had a feeling it came off flat. With a little wave, Harry turned away and followed after his grumpy cousin.

Sasuke kept about three steps ahead of Harry the entire way. As awkward as the silence was, it had its advantages. Harry could gawk all he wanted without the other boy noticing. None of the other buildings were quiet as impressive as the Hokage tower but there were still plenty of interesting things to look at. They passed several people dressed in army gear like Kakashi-sensei had been – and each one seemed to be more interesting than the last. The scars alone! Suddenly for once in a very long time, Harry was not self-conscious at all of his own scar. Part of him was tempted to ruffle up his bangs just because it was likely no one would notice or care but in the end he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

And then there was the giant carving. Harry wasn't sure what exactly it was, but it sure was impressive. Sasuke had been in the middle of leading Harry through an intersection when it came into view and Harry stopped in the middle of the road to state in wonder and confusion. It looked like Mount Rushmore and he wondered if the five faces looming overhead were presidents too. It took him a moment to recognize the woman on the end.

"Potter!" Sasuke was frowning again as he came hurrying back to where Harry was. "Don't wander off!" the other boy snapped, as if Harry was an errant five-year old.

For a moment, it would have been easy to get angry and snap back at the other young man. But the impulse passed and it was suddenly just too much effort. Harry sighed. "I didn't wander off" he replied. "I was just looking," he explained as he pointed up at the five frowning faces above.

It was enough to make Sasuke hesitate and glance up. But then he frowned again. "It's just the Hokage monument."

Harry sighed and shoved his hands back in his pockets. "Never mind," he muttered.

Sasuke stared at him for a moment longer before pivoting sharply on one foot and lead the way again.

Harry was going to be relieved when all this walking was done. He didn't think he was a lazy person by any means, but he could really use a moment to just sit and do nothing for a moment. It would do wonders for his poor brain.

The people moving around him suddenly thinned out dramatically. There was a thin wall separating the area ahead and Sasuke led him unerringly towards the open arch leading through it. There was a faded red and white symbol painted at the very top of the arch and Harry recognized it immediately. He'd been staring at the much smaller version that was stitched onto the back of Sasuke's shirt. A crest of some kind? Living in the wizarding world had made Harry more familiar with symbolism and family crests. Harry started to ask just what the symbol was supposed to be but then a sobering thought hit him. What if it was a family crest? If Sasuke was his cousin and the funny red and white symbol was the crest of Sasuke's family, then what did that mean for Harry? Nobody had ever told him much about the Potters as a family line. He knew they were a wizarding family and an old one at that but nobody had ever told him anything about them. Did they have a family crest? Was it still his then?

Harry stumbled a little over his own two feet. Sweet Merlin, but what had just happened?

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed as if he knew exactly what Harry was thinking. He didn't say anything, however. He merely kept walking, leading Harry down through the empty streets.

After the second street filled with empty weather beaten old houses, Harry was quite positive that this had to be the most unnerving place he'd ever been in his whole life. Which was saying something.

Where the bloody hell was everyone? The rest of the village had felt like it was bursting at the brim with loud colorful people. Even as they had passed stiffly postured soldiers on the earlier roads, there had been yelling and laughing children pushed their way by them. But here it was just – dead.

Sasuke's pace had picked up and Harry wondered if he felt as uncomfortable as he did walking through the empty streets. The possibility was enough to keep Harry quiet.

Eventually Sasuke made a sharp left, then came to a sudden stop. Apparently they were there. Harry glanced up to find they were standing on the edge of destruction. Deep gorges ran from the dirt road, across the small strip of grass and shattered large portions of the front porch. There were burn marks everywhere. There were a scattering of oddly shaped knifes spread out across the yard. A couple of nearby shrubs had been uprooted. The front door of the house had been cracked nearly in to two and hung limply eschewed.

"Damn," Sasuke muttered suddenly, then sighed.

Harry's eyes widened even more as they moved from the damage to Sasuke. That was it? This place was trashed and all Sasuke said was 'damn'? "Is this your house?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Sasuke sighed and kicked a nearby clump of dirt out of his way. "Yes, my family's home."

Harry flinched as if he'd been slapped. His chest felt like it had collapsed and he had to take a slow deep breath to force it to expand again. A family's home…but Sasuke's reaction did not fit at all. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke looked up and met his eyes. The dark aloof young man frowned in confusion. It was bizarre how clearly different this frown was from his other frowns – how much more expressive. Then he blinked and the entire expression was gone. He snorted and stepped towards the house and over a hole in the yard. "It happened second days ago, before we left to retrieve you. I just hadn't taken it into consideration before now."

He'd forgotten. Forgotten that someone had attacked his house and did a good job of nearly destroying it. Harry took another deep breath and tried to focus on only the important parts and freak out about the rest of it latter. "Are you alright?"

Sasuke froze with one foot up on the porch. He turned very slowly and stared at Harry with both eyebrows raised.

It made Harry feel like an idiot and he glared back. "I was just asking. It looks like a tornado swept through here."

Sasuke blinked once, continuing to seem surprised and mildly amused by Harry, before inexplicably scowling darkly. "No, it wasn't a tornado," he growled before snapping, "I'm fine, Potter."

Harry felt like hitting his head against something. Would it kill the other teen to be civil? Harry ignored the way the knot of tension lodged deep in his chest lessened and met Sasuke's aggressive star with his own. It was amazing how much it felt like confronting Mafloy. "Don't call me Potter like that."

Sasuke's foot slipped out from underneath him and he landed heavily back n the grass. "What?" he asked quietly, voice no longer caustic and eyes almost humorously wide.

Harry rolled his eyes and carefully started to cross the ruin of a front yard. "You sound like a prat when you say it that way."

Sasuke didn't move even when Harry came up beside him. "What should I call you then?" he asked slowly.

Harry shrugged, looking away and suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the whole conversation for some reason. "Just Harry is fine."

There was a long moment, and then Sasuke nodded sharply. "That would be – appropriate – I suppose. Then you should call me Sasuke."

Harry had planned on doing so anyway, but apparently he had been given permission now. He nodded back, solemnly and waited for Sasuke to lead the way into the house. The inside wasn't much better. There were deep gouges in the walls and floor and long streaking burn marks that looked like they came from something that burned very hot and very fast.

Sasuke seemed completely unconcerned as he led Harry down the hall. The entire house was set up like something out of an Asian movie. It was a peculiar feeling to be walking by paper screen doors and hanging scrolls. It seemed like just once he was starting to get used to medieval style stone castles, he found himself lost in a kung fu movie. If the ninja popped up out of nowhere, Harry was going to give up trying to understand or predict the world.

Sasuke led him into a surprisingly undamaged room. Sasuke opened a closet while Harry took a quick look around. There weren't any of the typical pictures and things that Harry had come to associate with other people's homes. But there were still subtler signs that someone used this room regularly. The desk chair was slightly eschewed, the blanket wrinkled, a well-worn camping bag clumped against the dresser….

Sasuke pulled a bundle of thick fluffy padding out of the closet and stood there holding it as if it wasn't something terribly ungainly looking. "You'll sleep in here," he announced.

"Whose room is this?" Harry asked in reply. He didn't like the idea of turning someone else out of their room.

Sasuke immediately scowled in response to being questioned. "None of the rest of the bedrooms are habitable. You'll have to stay here."

Harry glared back reflexively. He wasn't trying to be difficult. It was just a simple question…Except if the other rooms really were uninhabitable, then "where are you sleeping?" he asked out of curiosity.

Sasuke shifted his burden higher and walked towards the door. "Across the hall, in the Receiving room. You'll be safe."

Harry rolled his eyes. It was almost like being back in Grimmauld Place and being told to stay out of the way so that he'd be safe. As if that would keep him safe. "That's stupid. This is your room," he said, since it clearly had to be. "You ought to stay here. I can sleep across the hall."

"No, Sasuke replied, right away shooting down the very suggestion."

Harry wasn't going to be brushed off that easily. "Why not?"

Sasuke stopped just before the door, but he didn't turn around. "Because I'm not going to have you – " he broke off mid-sentence and made a frustrated sound. "Just because, Potter."

Stupid stubborn prat. "My name's Harry, Uchiha," he replied coldly. Fine. If he didn't want to compromise for his own sake then Harry wasn't going to try either. But he wasn't going to let Sasuke go back to that stiff form of address.

Sasuke didn't turn around. He didn't say anything. He just nodded curtly, stepped outside the door and snapped it shut sharply behind himself.

Harry was left standing in an unfamiliar room in the fading light with nothing else to do but think – a lot.