"Crazy old lady! Just because I buy groceries every other day, doesn't mean…" Harry paused in his rant to Hedwig when he reached the top of the stairs. "Naruto?"
Naruto jumped up from his cross-legged position by the apartment door and grabbed most of Harry's grocery bags. "You said I could come."
"Yeah, I just needed to get some stuff. Did you have to wait long? The old lady at the store just kept talking..."
Naruto shook his head. "I just got here a few minutes ago."
Harry but pushed his apartment door open as Hedwig settled on Naruto's shoulder and trilled excitedly. He grinned at Naruto's confusion and said, "She's probably telling you about the crazy lady at the grocery store."
"Was the lady mean?" Naruto asked as Harry walked to his kitchen area.
Harry glanced at Naruto as he unpacked the groceries on his dining table. "Mean? No, she's just old and nosy. And that's not my grocery bag. What's it doing here?"
Hedwig left Naruto's shoulder and perched on a chair as Naruto placed a large bag on the dining table. "I thought you left it at my place by accident."
Harry glanced at the bag pointedly. "I put your name on it, didn't I?"
"Yeah. But…" Naruto looked at the bag with wide eyes.
"It's yours. Have a look inside." Harry watched Naruto hesitantly pull a box from the bag and open it. He cleared his throat. "I noticed ninja wearing some sort of metallic mesh." At least Shikamaru did.
"I was thinking of getting some." Naruto fiddled with one of the pieces, lifted it to eye-level and gasped. "These are the latest flame resistant version."
Flame resistant metal? Harry threw the empty grocery bag aside. "I just told the shop keeper to give me the most useful thing."
"This gear just came out." Naruto said softly.
Is this how you felt back then, Sirius? Harry grinned. "Just consider it a few years worth of birthday presents."
While Naruto struggled to talk, Harry pointed to the bag, "Another few years' worth of presents is still in there. You can never have enough medical supplies." Not as nice as weapons. That shopkeeper was obstinate about not giving me, a civilian, ninja weapons without the right permits. Next time I'll just take Naruto there and get him whatever he wants. There are many more birthdays I need to make up for.
"I can't accept this!" Naruto stepped away from the bag with the mesh still in his hand.
"Why not?"
"I didn't get you anything!"
"You're right. There's only one way to solve that." Harry nodded. "You need to come here every morning for breakfast."
Naruto gaped at him.
"Dinner too! And bring a box of dango every once in a while."
"That's not what I meant!" Naruto said.
"Oh, fine! Dango every other time." Harry turned and pushed some items in the fridge to hide his amusement. He turned back and said, "I got a new cake flavour."
Naruto's eyes focussed on the only box at the table. "Cake?"
"Yes, that's the cake." Harry said, "And no you can't just eat it right now. You need a proper breakfast first."
"Did you get take out?" Naruto didn't look away from the box.
Harry shook his head and said, "Just groceries that need to be made in to proper breakfast…"
"How long will that take?"
Harry shrugged. "Depends. Anything special you want to eat?"
"What do you normally eat?"
"Nothing fancy." Harry examined the items on the kitchen counter. "Sandwiches are the fastest things to make right now. But I'll make omelettes too."
"And then cake?" Naruto asked.
Harry smothered a laugh, grabbed a knife and started slicing ingredients. "I'll get the sandwiches done first."
Naruto put the mesh back in its box and moved to the kitchen counter near the wall. "What should I do?"
Harry looked up from his slicing. "Can you chop up those spring onions? There's another knife in that drawer."
Harry layered numerous ingredients between two slices of bread. He'd just completed a fifth sandwich when he caught sight of Naruto at his side. Naruto held the knife in one hand and viciously stabbed the spring onions haphazardly while he waved his other hand in the air.
"Want me to cut that?"
Naruto shook his head and stabbed again.
"Not a fan of spring onions?" Harry struggled to keep his expression straight as Naruto glared at the vegetable.
"They taste horrible! Do you really need them?"
Harry made another sandwich. "Think of them like medicines. Horrible taste but really good for you. Besides, if you cook them right you won't even notice them."
"Good thing I never had to take any." Naruto muttered and stabbed the spring onions in to tiny pieces.
Harry frowned and pushed a sandwich towards Naruto. He chopped more vegetables, mixed it with the eggs in a bowl, added some bacon pieces and poured it in to a pan.
"I didn't know you had to put all that in an omelette." Naruto said as he dragged a chair from the dining table closer to the stove and sat down with his sandwich.
"My version of the omelette." Harry smiled as a delicious smell and the sizzle of the pan filled the kitchen.
Harry expertly folded the omelette in half, slid it out and plopped the plate in front of Naruto. "Eat up." He wolfed down a sandwich and turned back to the stove. The pan hissed as he poured in the next omelette's batter. Harry turned back to make sure Naruto was eating but twitched when he caught sight of Naruto's shoulder. "Hedwig!"
When did she get there? Hedwig ignored him, tugged on Naruto's hair and opened her beak wide.
"Hedwig, let him eat his breakfast." Harry said, slid the new omelette onto Naruto's plate and searched for some spare bacon. "Naruto, you don't have to…"
Harry sighed as loud knocks interrupted him but he dutifully moved out of the kitchen to open it. He looked at the pair standing in front of him and recognized the vibrant pink hair.
The pink-haired girl wore a short red dress and held a long box. The pale boy behind her wore dark blue clothes and carried a couple of packages.
He opened the door wider and said, "You're Naruto's friends! From the other day…"
The girl nodded but the boy stared in confusion. "I'm Haruno Sakura and this is Sai. The Hokage sent a few things."
Harry filed away the names and moved aside. "Come in. Naruto's in the kitchen. Let me take that."
He took Sakura's box, led them to the kitchen area and rolled his eyes when Hedwig eyed the new arrivals haughtily. Guess she doesn't want to meet them.
"You can just put that here." Harry said as he stacked some of his recent book to make space at the dining table.
Naruto swallowed a big bite of food. "Sakura-chan? Sai?"
Sai stayed silent as Sakura explained the reason for the visit. I almost expect him to take notes. "Would you like something to eat?" Harry asked and held up the plate of sandwiches he had made.
"Yes"
"No"
Harry placed the plate on the table, ignoring Sakura's glare at Sai and said, "Help yourselves."
Sai sat beside Naruto at the dining table while Sakura hovered next to the pile of things they had set on the table. As Harry turned back to the stove and poured the remaining batter into the pan, he heard a lot of chewing, tapping and soft coughs behind him. He glanced to the side and observed his guests in the kitchen window's reflection.
Hedwig pestered Naruto for food ignoring the other two, Sai chewed on a sandwich and Sakura tried to get the Naruto's attention covertly while eyeing the food on the table. She finally took one of the sandwiches with a resigned air and stared at Harry's back.
Harry cleared his throat. "Would you like some juice?"
Naruto said, "No need to be so nice to them. They can help themselves. Aren't you eating yet?"
Harry slid his omelette onto another plate, turned to the table and looked at his guests guiltily. "Would you like an omelette?"
Naruto turned to both visitors. "They're fine with the sandwiches, right?"
"Actually…" Sai paused with a slight wince. "These sandwiches are wonderful!" He finished with a wide smile. Did Naruto kick him under the table?
Harry sat beside Sakura -the only open seat at the table- and ate silently as Naruto talked with Sakura. As soon as he was done with his last bite, Sakura turned to him, "You have a nice apartment. It's very unique. Were the walls red when you got it?"
Harry collected the empty dishes and piled them in his sink. "A friend helped me find it but I repainted on my own. I left the kitchen alone, didn't want red walls everywhere." Painting the walls and Scourgify spells were mostly magic practice.
Sakura looked around and said, "That separates the kitchen from that main area nicely especially since it doesn't have a door or wall. Like a nice little alcove… "
"You painted with your hands like that?" Naruto interrupted Sakura.
"They didn't bother me." Harry said with a nonchalant wave as he cleaned the table.
"Sakura-chan should check on your hands." Naruto looked pointedly at Harry's hands. "She's a medic."
Harry stifled the urge to hide his hands. "I don't want to be a bother."
"I don't mind. Since you're on the Hokage's official payroll, you're entitled to free check ups." Sakura said.
Naruto frowned and said, "Official payroll? He's not a ninja!"
Sakura fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. "Tsunade-sama just told me about it today. He's a specialized craftsman."
Noticing the confused expressions, Harry said, "I fixed the Hokage's desk when it broke."
"At least you'll always have work." Naruto took a deep sip from his glass. "The old hag's always going to be violent."
"Naruto! Don't disrespect Tsunade-sama." Sakura said, an angry threat lacing her words. When Naruto nodded with wide eyes, Sakura turned to Harry with a more professional air. "I can schedule an appointment for you at the hospital."
"I'm not fond of hospitals." Harry frowned at Naruto's surprise.
"I can give you a check up now." Sakura smiled.
Harry stared at her warily. She's very eager about a check up…
"And you won't have to pay for it!" Naruto glanced between Harry and Sakura with wide pleading eyes. "He doesn't have to, right?"
"Of course, that's the whole point of being on the official payroll." Sakura said.
"I didn't know that." Harry said, taking her attention away from Naruto. "Kotetsu and Izumo never really explained anything."
"Those two..." Sakura rubbed her forehead. "A civilian only lands on the Hokage's official payroll because they're the best in their field. They become the first choice when important jobs, from people like the Daimyo, get requested."
I thought I just signed up for a bank account. Harry gaped. "The country ruler?"
Sakura nodded. "But if someone's better skilled than you, you immediately get replaced on the payroll."
"So Harii's the best craftsman in Konoha?" Naruto smiled.
Sakura frowned at Naruto but shifted her chair pointedly and turned to Harry. "I really don't mind giving you a check up now. It'll hardly take a few minutes and you won't even have to remove the bandages."
At Naruto's concerned expression Harry turned his chair, slumped down with a resigned sigh and held his hands in front of him. "Fine." The worst of the damage has already healed. All I have are faint scars and the pain.
Sakura turned his hands so his palms faced upwards and held her hands over them. She doesn't need medical tools? Harry gasped as a warm green glow coated Sakura's hands with a faint buzzing sound. She poked various points on his palms and said, "Never seen a medic-nin work with chakra before?"
Harry shook his head as Sakura's prodding left a hint of eerie coolness within the warm energy that surrounded his hands.
"No wonder you've bandaged them! The chakra pathways in your hands have clogged up with stagnant chakra putting pressure on your nerves."
The Ostenero spell didn't show any… Harry looked at his hands in confusion. Oh no, the spell didn't show anything about chakra. So the spell doesn't register chakra pathways?
Sakura moved her hands over the length of his arms and said, "The tenketsu, the chakra openings on your palms have increased in size trying to get rid of this build-up for a while."
Harry gazed at the green glowing hands thoughtfully. Her chakra lets her concentrate on one area inside the body.
"Have you taken any pain killers?" Sakura tapped his palm gently.
"No." Harry said.
"But it hurt, right?" Sakura leaned forward and the green glow around her hands intensified. "Your chakra pathways reach all the cells in your hands but there's no chakra flowing through them. The chakra just stops…" Sakura's green eyes reflected the glow from her hands menacingly as they locked on to Harry. "Why didn't you go to the hospital?"
"I've never used chakra in my life. I didn't know…"
Sakura pursed her lips and concentrated on his finger tips. "Ninja rarely encounter internal blocks because they push their chakra out regularly and regulate the flow with jutsu."
Harry frowned. "So it's common in civilians?"
The green glow vanished but Sakura continued to examine his hands. "There were some old cases from the wars. It used to be seen in people who failed to become ninja."
Harry struggled to keep his hands steady as he sorted the information. "Since they don't push their chakra out anymore?"
Sakura nodded and tugged his fingers. "People who started chakra training very early… sometimes when they failed to become ninjas, after all that conscious pushing, their bodies forgot the normal flow."
"Wouldn't early chakra training make better ninja?" Harry said in confusion.
"It's not the only requirement. Some people just can't stomach the real duties." Sakura said. "Anyway, your condition's different. Since your chakra is untrained, I'm sure your chakra circulation got disrupted at the same time you got these wounds."
"And that doesn't make sense!" Harry stilled as Sakura glared at his hands. "These cells are already in the final stage of healing. If the chakra had been blocked for that long…"
Harry stared at Sakura blankly.
Sakura sighed and said, "Natural wound healing occurs in three stages. First the wounds clot over, then your body makes new cells to close up the wounds. Finally there's the reconstruction phase where the new cells become stronger every month and lose that red appearance. These cells are almost back to normal strength."
She thinks I got injured months ago? I guess the scar-reducing salves sped up… Harry interrupted her, "Can you usually tell if it's natural healing?"
"Chakra healing would force rapid creation of new cells that will hold traces of foreign chakra. Even when they get replaced in the normal cycle of growth and aging, they'll retain traces of the healer's chakra."
Harry nodded in understanding. She sounds very text-booky.
"Your wounds don't show any chakra interference."
"Maybe he has natural super fast healing? Like a bloodline limit." Naruto said from behind Harry.
When did he move here? Bloodline limit? Sakura gave Naruto a soft look. "No, his chakra flow's been blocked."
"Without chakra!" Naruto said.
"That's not possible." Sakura glanced down at Harry's hands. "If anything, the wound would have taken longer…"
"Not to sound stupid, but how is my pathway blocked?" Harry asked. "Is something physical blocking the flow?"
Sakura shook her head, "There's no physical block. Your chakra flow just stops at certain points and refuses to move forward."
"Do I have to go to the hospital?" Harry leaned back in his chair. Izumo's going to be unbearable if I have to.
"No, the easiest thing to do is push your chakra out and teach your body to regulate the flow properly by itself. I could also make a slight hole…"
Harry couldn't hide his apprehension and Sakura hastened to reassure him. "Which is really just a last resort… I don't think we'll need to anything that drastic. The thumb on your right hand shows that your chakra just needs to be pushed in the right direction."
"My thumb?" Harry stared at his thumb curiously.
Sakura nodded with a smile. "Even though there's no chakra flowing there now, I noticed that the pathway to your thumb was a little bit more used. You've been using your thumb to open seals, right?"
"I… yes."
"Blood activating seals would pull the chakra there." Sakura pulled his hand towards her. "Since the injury, does it take longer for you to activate a seal?"
Harry shrugged. "I haven't noticed any difference."
"Well, activating seals with blood won't fix this. Even though you have experience with seals, I think it's best to manually push the chakra and…"
Harry bit his lip apprehensively. Can she tell I was trying to make a seal?
"Since you don't know how to mould chakra, I doubt you were making a seal. I've seen seal injuries before when people unknowingly trigger…" Sakura paused grimly. "Though I've never seen them along side such odd chakra behaviour."
Mould chakra to make seals? Harry winced. That would explain…
"This blockage probably wouldn't been prevented if you had seals that only opened with a chakra pulse. There's only one thing to do now. You've never used chakra before, right?"
"Not consciously." Harry said. Chakra pulse?
Sakura then proceeded to explain how to search for, visualise and consciously move his chakra through his body.
"So I just…" Harry flexed his fingers and mimed a pushing motion.
Sakura nodded. "You'll feel a prickle when it moves, but that's only because of the current proximity to your nerves."
Harry closed his eyes and searched for the energy Sakura had explained. After more than a few minutes of staring at the back of his eyelids, Harry sighed. "I can't see it." Can't even find it.
Sakura motioned for him to close his eyes once again. There was the slight hum and after a few tense minutes Harry felt a tug of something flowing through his arms. He tried to get a feel for manipulating the energy's movement.
It was empowering.
It was foreign and so familiar at the same time.
It also hurt. A lot.
"Stop pushing! That's enough." Sakura said frantically.
"Son of a …" Harry flinched as a burning sensation covered the entire surface of his palms. He opened his eyes and saw Sakura's chakra coated hands hovering over his twitching hands.
"Naruto, it's completely normal for that to happen."
Harry turned to find Naruto panicking and smiled reassuringly but cringed when Sakura pulled her hands away.
"Temporary hypersensitivity, hmm, be glad only the pathways in your hands were blocked." Sakura said as she poked his elbows and various parts of his arms.
Harry grimaced at the prodding and said, "Is it odd to just have blocks in one area?"
"There's no fixed area where internal blocks can occur especially in people who don't use chakra often. But we don't have a lot of research with this." Sakura went back to his palms and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Harry stared at her apprehensively.
"Your tenketsu aren't shrinking."
"That's bad?" Harry said.
Sakura glanced up at him. "If you were a ninja that would have ruined your chakra control. From a civilian point of view though, it's not a problem."
Harry shrugged. "As long as I can use my hands for everyday things, I'm good, even if I do have odd tenketsu."
"Has the burning sensation faded? Ok, I need you to push your chakra out again!"
Harry pulled his hands back. "Now?"
"I need to make sure you can do this on your own. You should know how to prevent another build-up…"
Harry tuned her out and concentrated on the sensation he'd felt earlier. After what felt like ages, he pushed the energy and slumped down as it left a wave of prickles across his palms. He rubbed his palms ruefully trying to quell the sensation.
Sakura nodded in satisfaction and said, "Even though it takes you a while to connect to your chakra, I'm glad you can recognize it. You're tired because you pushed out a lot in a short amount of time. There's nothing wrong with that."
Harry flexed his fingers absently and grimaced. "How often will I have to do this? And will it always burn like that?"
"The burn is just sensitivity from restarting the flow. It'll fade. You'll need to do it as often as you can. If you feel the pressure and pain from before then you're obviously not exercising enough. By the end of the week, your chakra will be flowing normally by itself."
"Thank you." Harry flexed his fingers revelling in the absence of internal pain. She thinks I got injured months ago, but I started wearing bandages less than a week ago. Sure the scars look old, but do Izumo and Kotetsu remember I didn't have any scars on my palms before? At least my bandages weren't bloody. No one really knew what was under them.
"I'll need to do another check up." Sakura interrupted his musings.
Harry snorted. "At the end of the week?"
"At the end of the week in the hospital."
"Can I be there too?" Naruto said.
Harry turned around in surprise.
"It's an ordinary check-up, Naruto." Sakura idly pushed her hair back.
"Yeah, but Harii doesn't like hospitals. And shouldn't I be there? To know about his, I mean…" Naruto shuffled awkwardly.
Harry rubbed his palms together and said, "Sure. It'd be nice to have help in case they decide to tie me to a bed."
Naruto grinned at him and Sakura snorted.
"Plus I'm sure anyone will be able to see my medical files. Not like I'm a ninja." Harry said. Will she take the bait.
"Your medical files will only be seen by medical staff." Sakura said. "We don't even allow family members to look at their relatives files."
Harry stared at her in surprise.
"Obviously we inform family members about things. They just can't look into official files."
"I see." Harry frowned at his hands. Guess I can't find out anything about Naruto that way.
"I better get going. I have a hospital shift." Sakura smiled, stood up and turned to Sai. "Aren't you coming?"
I forgot he was here. Sai stared at Sakura. "Did you forget the way there?"
"Sai!"
Harry coughed to keep a straight face when Sakura rushed forward, grabbed Sai's shoulder and dragged him out of the chair towards the main door. "Naruto, we'll see you later."
"It was nice to meet you Sakura. And you too Sai." Harry snickered after he closed the door behind the pair.
"You have interesting friends." Harry said as he returned to the kitchen. "Sai's not much of a talker, is he?" He only answered when spoken to directly… like he didn't want to interrupt the conversation.
Naruto nodded and scratched Hedwig's head. "Sakura-chan's awesome. She's really smart and she can heal anything. And Sai… he's all right, I guess. He's strong but he's not… I'm not completely used to him."
Harry frowned as Naruto's voice tapered sadly. There's a story there. What to do? I want to know but… He placed a plate and knife in front of Naruto. "Want to start with the cake?"
Naruto's face lit up as he reached for the cake box, opened it and sniffed curiously. "What is it?"
"Kabocha cake."
Naruto cut the cake slowly and piled it on the plate. "Pumpkin, really? Doesn't smell like that."
"Smells like pumpkin to me." Harry grabbed a piece from Naruto's plate. "Even without cream icing or anything, that's good."
Naruto pushed Harry's hands away. "Where's your plate?"
"Who needs a plate?" Harry snatched another piece of cake and moved to the pile of packages he'd gotten from the Hokage. He opened the big box first and chuckled. A whole box of Dango…
"You really like dango, don't you?" Naruto said.
"I'm just testing the quality." Harry finished the dango in his hand and pushed the box forward. "Want one?"
Naruto snorted and cut another piece of cake.
"At least you like other sugary things. Otherwise I'd be worried." Harry said, closed the box and pulled the next item from the pile towards him.
"Worried?"
Harry leaned forward and took another piece of cake from Naruto's plate. "I'd worry you were some sad evil person who doesn't like sweets."
Naruto huffed and pulled his plate out of Harry's reach. "What else did the old lady send?"
Harry grinned at Naruto's poorly concealed excitement, opened the next bag, pulled out the only item in it and snickered when Naruto groaned. "A book? That's so lame."
Harry cringed at the title- Regulations for Store ownership- and placed it with his other books on the dining table.
"Those are probably books too." Naruto eyed the remaining packages with distaste.
Harry opened the next package and found two more dull looking books. When he opened the third package though, he paused.
"Harii?" Naruto's hesitant voice interrupted him.
"Oh, it's… here!" Harry shoved the object in to Naruto's hand.
Naruto dropped his spoon and looked between Harry and the object in his hands. "A photo frame?"
"That's… those are my grandparents!" Harry said and pulled the last package towards him. "Before she met granddad, grandmum was Uzumaki Orihime. She's holding my mum in that picture."
Naruto held the frame closer to his face.
Harry found another photo frame in the last package. The photo of his parents in muggle clothes was in a wooden frame identical to the previous one. He smiled at the delicate flower carvings on the wooden frame and pushed it towards Naruto. "And that's a picture of my parents before I was born."
Naruto tore his eyes away from the first picture, picked up the second frame and held them side by side. He turned from one to the other tracing them with hungry eyes. Just like when I first looked in the Mirror of Erised. He definitely doesn't have any family pictures.
Blue eyes looked up at him. "Red hair."
Harry nodded. Naruto turned back to the pictures and Harry struggled to say something.
A loud series of brisk knocks startled Harry but Naruto remained oblivious.
"I seem to be pretty popular today." Harry muttered as he walked to his main door. It's probably not Izumo or Kotetsu.
Harry glimpsed back at Naruto one more time, opened the door and tensed at his visitor's appearance. A lone black eye stared at Harry from beneath pale grey hair. The rest of the man's face- nose, ears and even neck- was covered with a blue facemask and a headband tilted at an angle over the other eye. Is his eye is missing? Or is it a fashion statement? Either way his presence just screams ninja. Not like Itachi, though. And yet he looks… lazy. Especially with that normal green vest that everyone seems to wear. "Can I help you?"
"I think my student is here."
Harry tilted his head to the side.
"Naruto?" The man said.
Harry frowned. "You weren't there the other day."
"Ah! I was held up elsewhere!" The eyelid crinkled downwards and Harry wondered if the man was smiling behind the blue cloth mask.
Harry twitched a little but didn't move and kept his gaze fixed on the man. "How…"
"Harii?" Harry leaned back and found Naruto walking to the main door with Hedwig on his shoulder.
Harry concentrated on Naruto in worry. "Are you all right?"
Naruto nodded, caught sight of the man at the front door and grinned. His entire demeanour lightened up as he spoke. "Kakashi-sensei? They let you out of the hospital?"
Hedwig flew to Harry's shoulder and he watched Naruto silently, suddenly unsure of what to do.
"Aren't you going to introduce me, Naruto?" Kakashi interrupted and pulled out a small book.
Naruto paused in his fast paced talk and turned back to Harry with a wide eyed look. "Kakashi-sensei, this is my… cousin, Harii. He's on the Hokage's payroll, you know!"
Kakashi-sensei gave Harry a little wave.
"And Harii, this is my team leader and teacher."
"Nice to meet you, Kakashi-san."
"I hope you don't mind me taking Naruto away from you for some training." Kakashi shifted the book to his other hand.
"Really? You mean…" Naruto said but paused and turned back to Harry.
"You have to work off that breakfast you ate anyway." Harry waved his hand nonchalantly.
"I probably won't be able to meet up for lunch or dinner today." Naruto said and turned away from Harry.
"There's always tomorrow!" Harry said softly. "Ah!" He ran to the kitchen and grabbed the metal mesh box and gave it to Naruto "If you're training, go test this."
Naruto smiled and turned to the other man. Kakashi nodded at Harry and they both jumped on to the building's railings. With another wave, they jumped down to the street below and disappeared from sight.
Hedwig hooted loudly as Harry closed and turned away from the door.
"What? I'm not jealous!" Harry said loudly. "I'm just worried. That teacher of his looks like a… Did you see the book he was holding?"
Harry swore Hedwig gave him a human-like incredulous look before she flew away from him and settled down for a nap.
"So what if Naruto was eager to leave just like that?" Harry moved to the kitchen alcove and grabbed the two photo frames. Harry absently traced the carved flowers and examined the walls around him. Where should I put this?
Harry stared at the blank wall that separated the kitchen from his bedroom. Naruto is going to be eating here a lot…
After a few well placed spells Harry stood back and examined the two frames. He tilted his head to the side and squinted at his grandmum's face. Naruto's face looks as round as hers. Did she have kids when she came here? How exactly is Naruto my cousin?
Wait a minute. Harry stared at his hands suddenly. What about Itachi? If Ostenero doesn't tell me anything about chakra pathways, then he could have… Harry went to his bedroom and found a familiar book. Looks like the perfect time to get started with the medical studying. I better put a charm on the cover.
Harry spent the remainder of the morning searching for answers from his limited collection of magical books dealing with healing and medicine. By mid-afternoon, he was hungry, cranky and still lacking answers. He pulled off his necklace, threw it on the table in front of him and rubbed his neck wearily. Everything feels annoying. Harry groaned as his hands tingled with pain. Time for those chakra exercises too. What a hassle!
Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It took even longer to find his chakra. He pushed it out with a vague sense of anger and sputtered as smoke and angry squawks filled the air. What in the world?
He opened his eyes, waved the smoke away and gaped at the tattered notebook lying on the table. He stared at his hands with faint apprehension. Then he rolled his eyes. It couldn't have come from my hand.
Harry poked the book aside and found his necklace beneath it. His grandmother's Koi pendant looked different. He touched it warily and frowned at the smooth texture. What happened to the carvings on it? His stared at the notebook. Was that sealed in here? But how… Harry bit his lip and stared at his own hands. Could the exercise be releasing a chakra pulse?
He picked the book, flipped through it carefully and found pages upon pages of familiar handwriting. So this is grandmum's. But what…
Harry paused when he caught sight of a circular design on one of the pages. Parts of it had been scratched out with notes written all over it. Seals? He slammed the book shut as a brief terror of blood and exploded paint brushes filled his mind.
He slowly reopened it and read the first page. He frowned as he read over the notes. Research. This is some sort of research journal for a seal. But I can't make any sense of it. What's an elemental corner derivative?
Harry twitched as he moved forward. What was grandmum trying to do? If the first page was hard, the rest of the book was downright frightening. I better put this somewhere safe. And read something less complicated. Harry pulled the thin book the Hokage had sent him and frowned at the title. Clan Regulations of Konohagakure.
Harry flipped open the book and winced at the small print.
Under the alliance treaty set up by the First Hokage and...
Harry groaned. It's almost as bad as the goblin revolutions and I'm not even done with the first line. But the Hokage did send it, so I should at least try… He had barely made it past the first few pages when his mirror buzzed. What's so special about today?
Harry ran across his apartment, cast some spells on the closed door behind him, turned on the tap, grabbed the mirror frantically and said, "I'm here!"
"Harry? We were worried when we didn't hear anything. Well Hermione was…" Ron gave him a scandalous look and said, "Are you in the shower?"
Harry sat on the edge of his tub. "It's a precaution. And I'm just standing by the shower."
Ron gave him an exasperated look. "What did you do?"
"I found a cousin!"
"I knew you... wait what?"
Harry grinned and filled Ron in with the details. Ron shook his head, "So he's blonde?"
Trust Ron to fix on to that. Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, blonde with blue eyes and wears a lot of orange."
Ron grinned. "Well if he likes orange, he can't be too bad!"
"Because colour choices determine whether someone is evil." Harry shook his head in amusement.
"What?"
"Nothing, well I just realised how odd this is. Being able to talk to you like this."
Ron gave him a look.
"I'm supposed to be in another dimension, right? Doesn't it make you wonder how this mirror is connecting us?"
Ron shrugged. "Magic?"
Harry snorted. "Ron!"
"Well, what do you expect me to say? That it goes against all common sense, oh! We must find the source of this oddness…psh! You're Harry Potter, boy-who-lived and all that wonderful stuff. I don't think you and common sense go together."
"Thanks." Harry rubbed his scar absently.
"Fine, maybe…" Ron huffed and said, "Maybe you're not in another dimension."
Harry shot him a sceptical look.
"That's all I got!" Ron frowned at Harry. "I'm going to be asking Professor Lupin about this, aren't I?"
Harry grinned.
"Fine! Honestly, the things I end up doing. Do I at least get to meet your cousin?"
Harry's grin faded. "I haven't really told him about the magic or the whole… I'm probably from another dimension thing."
Ron blinked. "But he's your cousin. The cousin you've been searching for. You know, travelled halfway across the world and then to another world for. Are you planning on lying to him?"
"No! No, I don't. But how exactly am I supposed to bring up the topic?"
"You could just wave your wand in front of him and explain things to him when he gapes. Didn't it work with your granduncle?" Ron said.
"Well…" Harry hesitated.
"Don't you trust him?"
"I do!" Harry retorted sharply. "It's just… the ninja here…"
"You don't trust the other ninja?"
Harry looked away from the mirror. "It's hard to imagine why some of them are nice to me. Why would they spend time with me unless they want something?"
Ron stared at him and said, "You're over-complicating things. Maybe they're friendly because they want to be."
"I want to believe that but…" Harry paused and remembered every ninja he met. "I think if they're older than me, I start to wonder if they're just… I'm fine with people like Itachi. And even Shikamaru."
"The one whose dad made you play chess?" Ron said.
"Yeah, and I suppose I'm fine with his dad too, but I'm not really, I need some time to get used to this." Harry said.
"But if you wait too long with the magic..." Ron bit his lip. "I can't believe they didn't just put you in prison yet. You're not a very convincing liar."
"Well I was honest most of the time."
Ron frowned. "They must have known when you were lying."
"But they seemed to take in stride. Like they had expected me to lie a lot more…" Harry said with a slight shrug.
"And you think they know more than they're letting on about Naruto?"
Harry nodded. "There's no doubt. That one-eyed man I told you about, he definitely perked up when I talked about my clan. As if..."
"...he knew about your clan." Ron finished with a frown. "So if they know Naruto's parents, why are they hiding the information? Especially from Naruto?"
Harry tapped his scar. "Maybe the same reason I never knew the exact details of my parents' life and death."
Ron raised an eyebrow.
"I think, something must have happened with his parents. Something big enough to affect the entire village. And not telling him about them is some sort of warped sense of protection from the truth. I just don't know what yet and maybe that's making me wary of telling them all about my magic."
"I hope you know what you're doing!"
Harry grimaced, "So do I. I doubt they're ones to take to blatant secrecy and outright deception that well. But they are ninja."
Ron gave him a look.
"I have my magic?"
"What if they break your wand before you have a chance to do anything?"
Harry frowned. "Has Hermione been telling you about ninjas or something?"
Ron just muttered under his breath and looked away for a few seconds.
"Well these ninja are on a whole other level from what the twins told you. So you got in an argument with Hermione?"
"The OWL results are supposed to out soon. She's been…"
"Hermione?"
Ron nodded with a wince. "She's been mental about it. She's been researching about NEWTS."
"What? Why?" Harry asked with a grimace.
"For you." Ron said. "She wants to make sure you can take the NEWTs even if you aren't here for 6th and 7th year."
"That's possible?" Harry asked with surprise.
"She said something about home-schooled wizards managing to take the exams at the ministry. And I sort of told her, we should concentrate on other things…"
Harry grimaced sympathetically.
There was a minute of silence before Ron said, "Are you at least going to get a camera? I'm willing to settle for photos of him. And…"
X-X-X-X-X
Konoha's Greenwood Orphanage.
Harry gazed at the building in front of him with an odd sense of blankness. It looks rather nice. For an orphanage. And big. But that's to be expected, it's the only orphanage here.
I'll just go in, have a look around and ask some questions. Harry stopped beside the gate as he caught sight of kids playing in the open space near the building.
They were smiling. They were laughing. They looked like a happy bunch of kids. There were watchers who seemed to be monitoring the kids from the shade of the building. It was a rather normal orphanage.
Harry couldn't go forward. He wanted to scream. I know Naruto never lived here. What was I looking for? Reasons?
A ball came over the fence and stopped at his feet. A tiny boy with light brown hair ran towards him and paused unsurely a short distance away from him.
Harry bent down till he was half kneeling on the ground and held the ball out to the boy. "Here."
The boy grabbed the ball, gave him a ridiculously wide smile and ran back to the other kids. Harry watched them for a few minutes and turned, suddenly eager to leave.
A ball hit the back of his legs.
He turned back to find the boy surrounded by a tiny group of kids all staring at him. One of the watchers looked over at him but remained in the shade. Harry picked the ball and bounced it. The kids watched eagerly.
He threw the ball and watched in amusement as the kids ran after the ball. Like little puppies.
"Sorry, they tend to search for new playmates every chance they get." The watcher came forward.
"Not in your job description to play with kids?" Harry winced at his tone but the watcher didn't seem to notice.
"They like getting older teens to play with them. Some of the ninja try to spare some time and the little ones love it."
"You've worked here a long time, then?" Harry watched the kids fight over the ball that ended up moving further away.
"This will be my twentieth year."
Harry turned away from the lady as one of the kids threw the ball to him. Harry caught it, gave it a bounce and threw it as far as he could. "That's a long time. I bet you've seen many kids leave this place."
"We've had a good amount of successes over the years." The lady said. "They go on to live such productive lives. It's wonderful."
"When do they usually leave?"
"If they become ninja after graduating from the ninja academy we let them out at twelve. The civilians stay until we're certain they can live productive lives. We try and support every orphan like a surrogate family when they're really young and…"
Lies. Harry smiled slightly as the ball came to a stop at his feet once more. "Ok, first one to catch the ball this time gets a box of dango tomorrow!"
Harry watched the mad scramble of legs follow the ball and smiled at the watcher who gaped at him. "I guess they really like dango."
X-X-X-X-X
Harry walked beside Naruto sedately through the lamp-lit village streets. "So your training's been delayed because your teacher's going on a week-long mission?"
Naruto nodded with slumped shoulders. "And just when he'd finally gotten around to training me."
"But he just got out of the hospital."
Naruto shrugged. "He's not your average ninja."
Obviously. Then again, I just met him today. "So what are you going to do for the whole week?" Harry moved to the side to let a couple move past him on the narrow street.
"He told me to practice some stuff until he comes back."
"Naruto!" A voice yelled loudly.
Harry looked up and caught sight of the huge white dog with a boy, dressed in grey, sitting on top of it waving enthusiastically.
"Kiba?"
Next to the odd pair was a large boy in a red outfit and grey armour. And beside him was… "Shikamaru?" Harii said.
Shikamaru nodded in greeting.
"You know each other?" Naruto looked between the both of them.
"We met before." Harry said.
"Oh. Well that's Shikamru's team-mate Chouji," Naruto pointed to the boy in red. "And this is Kiba." Harry blinked at the red triangular tattoos on the boy's cheeks.
"Guys, this is my elder b…cousin, Harii."
No surprise. They must have already heard of me. They both have headbands on. Harry smiled at them, "I'm glad to meet you."
"And this is Akamaru."
Even though he reminds me a little of Sirius, I don't feel sad. Harry smiled and patted the dog gently. "Nice to meet you!"
The white dog barked back in greeting and Harry eyed the others with an easy grin. "So where are you guys headed?"
"Going to eat some barbeque!" Chouji said with a wide smile. "You're welcome to join us."
"What a coincidence!" Harry said and turned to Naruto. "Shall we join them?"
Naruto nodded and moved between Akamaru and Chouji.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Did you have other choices?"
"Just because I don't know any other restaurants doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the barbeque place." Harry said and slowed his pace when he realized that Shikamaru was walking slower than the others. He shot Shikamaru a questioning glace and was rewarded with a quick nod at Naruto. "He seems a lot less quiet."
Harry grinned. "You sound disappointed! Afraid of some noise?"
Kiba laughed loudly up ahead and Harry winced. Shikamaru snorted. "You don't seem like a big fan of noise either."
"I'm fine with Naruto being noisy." Harry said.
"Give it time." Shikamaru said as they reached the restaurant.
"Yakiniku Q?" Harry read the sign on the top of the store.
"Didn't you come here before?" Shikamaru said.
Harry nodded. "I never bothered to look at the sign before."
"Well, it's the only barbeque place in this sector, so it doesn't matter that you're an unobservant person."
"Hey! Izumo and Kotetsu just drag me here giving me no time to examine things." Harry said. "They probably think I'll try to escape from them or something."
Shikamaru gave him a look.
"What? I wouldn't. They're nice, you know. A bit odd, but I'm fine with that when there's food to distract me." Harry sat beside Naruto on one side of the table while Shikamaru sat on the opposite side beside Chouji who had already ordered and was currently spreading the meat on the grill. Kiba sat at one end of the table with Akamaru resting behind him.
"Hokage?" Harry questioned when he caught wind of Kiba and Naruto's conversation.
Naruto looked at him with bright eyes. "Yeah! I'm going to be Hokage and have everyone in the village acknowledge me."
Everyone in the village acknowledge him? Harry stared at Naruto's face and said, "Well make sure you smile when they carve your face on that mountain. Otherwise you'll look just as constipated as the others on there."
Naruto's face broke into the widest smile Harry had ever seen and he grinned at Kiba's sputtering form. Before Harry could say anything they were already arguing about something else.
Chouji chuckled and expertly turned the meat.
Shikamaru sighed. "Don't mind them."
Harry grinned and picked some cooked meat from the barbeque grill. "Shikamaru, you're starting to sound like an old man."
Shikamaru looked behind Harry and said, "Dad?"
"Damn you!" Harry griped when he instinctively turned back with a flinch only to find no sign of the older Nara.
Shikamaru ate his food with a smug expression.
Chouji glanced between Shikamaru and Harry in confusion. "You're scared of Shika's dad?"
Harry feigned a deep shudder. "Just the thought of him makes me want to hide."
Shikamaru sighed. "I still think mom's scarier."
Harry turned to Chouji with a wild expression. "He didn't even let me eat…" He paused as a familiar alarm rang though his mind. Someone's in my apartment near the kitchen window.
"Harii?" Shikamaru said. "Something wrong?"
Harry shook his head. "Just wondering if I left a window open for Heduwigu to leave."
"But you let her out when we left." Naruto said from beside him.
"I did, didn't I?" Harry said with a frown as the alarm settled down. The intruder left? He was in there for less than five minutes…
Naruto let out an irritated yell and rubbed a large stain on his sleeve. "Gah! Stupid sauce."
"You better wash that out before it stains." Chouji said simply.
Naruto jumped out of his seat, squished past Harry and hurried to the washroom.
"You're not bad!" Kiba said after he swallowed large bite of food. "I don't know what I was expecting. I thought I'd meet a taller Naruto. But when I saw you I thought you'd be all stoic and shit like Uchi…"
"Kiba! Don't say that." Chouji reprimanded him with a harsh glance.
"What?" Kiba said. "You were totally thinking it too, right? He could've been Sasuke's brother! Or even his replacement. All black hair and pale like that. He looks nothing like Naruto."
Harry cleared his throat loudly. "Family members don't always look alike."
Akamaru whined and Kiba coughed awkwardly. "I didn't mean…"
"It's fine." Harry stifled his irritation. "Just don't ever say stuff like that in front of Naruto."
Shikamaru smirked as Kiba nodded. Chouji pushed some food on to Harry's plate with a kind smile.
Before they could say anything, Naruto bounded up to the table with his jacket in his hands and said, "Did you miss me?"
Kiba snorted and Harry said, "No, but we decided to eat your share because you were taking so long!"
"What!"
Harry's breathing eased as Naruto examined his plate carefully. It's fine. He's fine. He didn't hear any of that. He'll never have to hear anything like that.
"Harii?" Naruto looked at him with bright blue eyes.
"Hmm?"
"You're too slow." Naruto grinned at him cheekily and swiped the food from his plate.
"Hey!" Harry retaliated by snatching something from Naruto's plate. Shikamaru sighed, the others laughed and even though Harry felt utterly ridiculous, he fought childishly and revelled in Naruto's light hearted laughs.
X-X-X-X-X
Harry opened his apartment door warily after Naruto dropped him off. Even though the intruder was long gone, Harry didn't want to take any chances as he entered the kitchen- the intruder came in and left though here - and pretended to get a glass of water.
He caught sight of a brown envelope placed strategically on his dining table to catch his attention. He reached out for it.
Wait, before that… Harry searched his pockets and sighed in relief when he found a bezoar. Harry ignored the voice in his head that told him he was too paranoid. There's always a possibility of poison. Although why someone here would want to kill me so soon is beyond me. I haven't really made any enemies. But with my luck…
Harry opened the envelope and held it upside down over his table. His heart pounded as he read the top sheet. Medical papers. Someone's given me copies of Naruto's medical history.
Every page was littered with numerous black marks that blotted out chunks of information. Harry ran his fingers over the paper's surface in curiosity. Everything was in the same flat black ink tone. It's definitely a copy. The hospital symbol and the hand-written notes are the same colour. And they feel the same.
He searched his book stash and pulled out everything that dealt remotely with medicine and anatomy. Unfortunately none of his magical books helped him understand the doctor's technical jargon.
But with the little he could vaguely understand, Harry pieced together a very disturbing picture. There's so little information about Naruto before he became a ninja.
He re-read the single medical paper from Naruto's childhood before the age of twelve. A lot of it was blacked out. Why would they black out the reason for him not getting his immunization shots? And what does it mean "shots not necessary"? How can a child not need shots?
Another horrible discovery that really caught his attention was the mention of one Uchiha Sasuke on the paper where Naruto had the worst injuries. It's the only time where Naruto's been bedridden with injuries in the hospital. There's some note about his heart here that I can't really understand.
Just who's this Sasuke? Kiba compared me to someone who hurt Naruto… Why wasn't that name blacked out?
And more than that, who gave me this file? Harry stuffed the papers back in the envelope and moved to the bedroom. He placed the envelope in to one of the empty seals on his scroll, checked to see if his modified extendable ear was still collecting information under his bed and lay down eager to sort through the information. At least I know Naruto's blood type so I can give him blood if he ever needs a transfusion.
X-X-X-X-X
Harry stopped outside Konoha's Greenwood Orphanage and watched the kids play.
"You came!" One of the kids ran towards him.
The watcher stared at him with an unreadable expression.
I'm surprised she's not stopping me. Harry ignored her and held the box towards the kid. "Of course I came. I had some dango to deliver." He knelt down, opened the box and handed it to the boy. Harry smiled and walked away when the boy went to every kid and gave them a dango stick.
"Good morning Naruto's elder brother."
"Sai!" Harry turned around in surprise. "You do know my name is Harii, right?"
Sai nodded. "Yes, but when finding a new relation it's always best to remind them of their position in your life. So that they know they're wanted."
"Then shouldn't you be calling me Naruto's cousin?" Harry concentrated on his fingers checking if he needed to get the chakra exercise done before he met up with Naruto.
"Naruto calls you his elder brother." Sai smiled. "Are you meeting him now?"
He calls me that in front of others? He kept saying cousin yesterday. Could be a language thing. And why does Sai's smile look so awkward? "I'm taking him out to breakfast. He said he'd be somewhere near here after his training."
Sai frowned in thought. "Is that what big brothers do?"
"Probably. I'm hungry and he's hungry, so why not eat together." Harry shrugged and walked forward. "Have you known Naruto long?"
Sai looked away. "I joined his team sometime last week for a mission, so I'm not really close to him. I'm just…"
"It takes time to get comfortable around new people." Harry said.
"He's comfortable around you." Sai said with a slight frown. "And you've known him for less than a week."
"He's not. He's frightened, which makes sense…." Harry said, mostly to himself. If I resemble that Sasuke guy.
"You're nothing like Sasuke-kun!" Sai said firmly.
"You knew him?" I said that out loud?
"We've met. You're not like him. Naruto, I don't think Naruto thinks of you as him." Sai tilted his head to the side. "His smiles aren't sad around you."
I wonder about that. Most of his smiles were rather sad yesterday. And we haven't talked about the clan and… Sai's trying in his own awkward way to make me feel better. Harry smiled. "Thanks Sai. You want to come eat with us?"
Sai paused abruptly. "Sakura said I shouldn't intrude on your bonding moments with Naruto."
Bonding moments? "It doesn't count if we invite you, does it?"
Sai actually thought about it before shaking his head. "She said Naruto would want time alone with you. Because Naruto can be a little…"
Harry gaped as an orange blur zoomed past his face and tackled Sai away from him with a loud yell. "Don't tell my Nii-san weird stuff!"
Sai looked utterly confused as Naruto shook him soundly.
"Naruto?" Harry walked up to the two.
"Sai's a weirdo! Don't listen to his perverted comments."
"Perverted comments?" Harry frowned in confusion as he went over his conversation with Sai. But his brain concentrated on something else. He finally called me brother without stopping himself. Then he slouched. But I don't think he noticed. I guess I shouldn't make a big deal of it. "Naruto, he was telling me why he shouldn't eat breakfast with us."
"You invited him to breakfast?" Naruto stopped shaking Sai.
"Well I thought I should get to know your friends better. And I don't think Sai's eaten yet. Look at him, so dull and lifeless."
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and stood pulling Sai up as well.
Harry grinned at the pair. "Naruto, don't you think he needs breakfast?"
"I suppose." Naruto dragged Sai and walked closer to Harry. "Can we go eat now?"
"You need a nickname." Sai said abruptly and gave Harry a long scrutinizing look while Naruto rubbed his forehead. Harry turned to Naruto when Sai looked away in deep thought.
Naruto leaned closer and whispered, "He read that nicknames are a good way of making friends. But I don't think he understands the idea."
Before Naruto could explain further, Sai focused on him and said, "Green."
Harry twitched when Naruto sighed in relief. That was anti-climatic. I was expecting something worse. He turned to Naruto. "Does he call you blue or something?"
Naruto looked away with puffed up red cheeks.
"Now I really want to know. Elder brother privilege and all that." Harry said to Sai and grinned at Naruto's wide eyes.
Sai frowned at both of them. "Wouldn't he be orange instead of blue?"
Harry shrugged. "I thought we were following an eye colour theme."
"Actually I call him..." Sai said.
Naruto's voice took an oddly high pitch. "I don't need a nickname!"
Harry snickered and turned to Sai. "So what should I call you?"
Sai gave Harry his patented confused look. A look that Harry was growing too accustomed to seeing. Hermione probably gets this every time she says something to Ron and me. "If you're giving everyone nicknames, what does everyone else call you?"
"I'm just Sai."
"I suppose that'll have to do for now."
"Does this mean we're friends?" Sai asked.
"Of course not!" Harry snorted in amusement at Sai's abrupt morose mood and Naruto's conflicted attempt of a glare at Harry. "We need to eat together before we're officially friends."
"Is that some kind of clan rule?" Harry heard Sai ask Naruto softly. These two are hilarious.
Harry spent the entirety of his breakfast listening to Naruto chatter about inane things. Sai sat with them awkwardly adding to the conversation till he got called away for some sort of work.
"You could come watch me train!" Naruto said as they walked away from the restaurant.
Harry shook his head ruefully. "I'd love to, but I need to get some work done. I managed to escape Izumo today morning, but I'm sure he'll hunt me down soon enough." He winced at the brief flash of sadness over Naruto's face and hastened to add. "This way we can meet up earlier."
"All right. I'll come by the apartment later."
"Yeah. I'll see you then." Harry turned to the side and walked towards the bookstore. I definitely need some new books. Lots of new books.
"Nii-san?"
Harry stopped and turned back. "Hmm?"
Naruto smiled at him with wide eyes, waved happily and walked away. "Nothing."
Odd. Harry shook his head, walked forward and stopped abruptly. Did he just call me… he did. Harry smiled. That little sneak.
X-X-X-X-X
Harry stayed still as the spells and Hedwig warned him of an intruder in his apartment. He turned around and came face to face with a bone white mask with a deep black circle around one of the eye holes. A mask that looks just like a cat. I guess the Hokage wants to talk. But...
"You're not Cat-san, are you?" Harry absently resisted the urge to rub his forehead.
"The Village Elders wish to speak with you, Uzumaki-san." The voice was dull, dead and most definitely male.
Uzumaki-san? Village elders? Not the Hokage? "Right now?" Harry asked.
Harry sighed at the silence. "Fine, give me a minute. I can't just leave the work lying about." He wrote a note, placed it on his counter next to the box of fixed items, gave Hedwig a slight pat on the head and turned to his silent guest. "All right, I'm ready to go. Where should…"
His vision darkened and the man grabbed his shoulder in a vice like grip. There was a rush of air and he blinked when he found himself in a corridor. He looked through one of the windows in the distance. This is definitely the Administration building. The masked man shoved him in to a room. And this guy is definitely not as nice as Cat-san.
Harry stifled his irritation as he entered a large room with two large sofas facing each other at the centre. Three old people sat on one sofa.
One of them was the familiar face of Danzo.
Danzo glanced up at Harry with his one eye. "Uzumaki-san, take a seat. We have a lot to discuss."