Idle leaves danced down with the warm, eastern wind as Harry slowly opened his eyes. Blinking, Harry gazed dumbly up at the forest's canopy for a moment before finally beginning wake up mentally. Beneath his body, he could feel the warm scales of a gigantean snake curled to create his current bed. Harry turned to sleepily peer at the creature's massive head; resting beside him it seemed as big as a car. The creature breathed steady, deep breaths. Harry grinned. She was asleep.

Time to have some fun!

Harry carefully wiggled his way to the edge of the behemoth. Beneath him, the green and yellow spotted scales shifted slightly in restlessness. Harry stilled and closed his eyes.

Please don't wake up…

The serpent stilled, and Harry let out a gusty sigh of relief. Shakily, he pushed his legs over the side of the snake's body and pushed off.

"Eep!" Harry gasped as he was suddenly caught in taught, muscular loops of muscle. A cold feathery feeling fluttered across his body and Harry couldn't help but let out a shriek of laughter.

"Stop! Stop! T-That Tickles!" Harry gasped out. Harry's emerald eyes watered as he continued to laugh and giggle uncontrollably. "Hehe-hahahhah!"

"Good morning little one. I see you're already up and ready for the day…" The large serpent's tongue retracted from Harry as she drew her head back. Blue serpentine eyes regarded Harry with sunny warmth. Her coils moved, and Harry found himself sitting safely on a risen lump of the snake's body.

"Good morning Kaa-Snake." Harry hissed. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No, I'm sure you didn't. You were trying to sneak off to play again, weren't you?"Harry ducked his head and blushed at her correct accusation.

"Maybe. But you never let me go very far from the nest anymore. Why should I stay here when we have the whole mountain?" Harry whined. He puffed his cheeks slightly and send Kaa-Snake his best pouting face. Recently, the mothering snake had seemed dead-set on keeping him confined to the top of the mountain only. Harry wasn't really sure if she'd always been that protective or if something new in the area had stirred her protective instincts, but he was really getting tired of it lately.

"A wise snake has patience, and waits to strike, a foolish snake leaps too quickly and misses the prey." The Great snake hissed. She bent her head and nuzzled him softly on the stomach. Harry sighed in irritation. Kaa-snake evidently did not want to share her reasoning. Harry's stomach grumbled.

"Kaa-snake, I'm hungry. Can we go hunting?" Harry asked. The behemoth shook her head and instead dipped her head behind one of the massive trees that circled the mountain top clearing. When Kaa-snake's serpentine visage reappeared, she was gripping a vine woven basket full of fruit, nuts, and even some pilfered loaves of bread. She twitched the muscles underneath Harry and deposited him gently on the ground. Kaa-snake created a protective circle around the boy with her body before lowering the basket of food.

"Not today, little one. Here, try these instead. The lesser serpents gathered them just for you." Kaa-snake practically purred. Her eyes glinted in amusement and Harry felt certain the mothering giantess knew exactly what he had been trying to do. Harry pouted but moved forward to sift through the food. He really was hungry.

Harry grabbed two apples, a handful of nuts, and a loaf of bread. He bit into the bread eagerly and hummed. Bread was a rarity on the mountain. Since it wasn't something the snakes could hunt or gather for him, bread had to be stolen from one of the three nearby human settlements. The thievery was fine in miniscule levels but if humans ever noticed that snakes were stealing their bread of all things, it wouldn't be pretty. Harry shivered slightly as he imagined the uproar it would cause.

"Are you cold, little one?" Kaa-snake asked as she loomed overhead. Harry blinked, and the forest came back in all of its dappling green glory.

"N-no. I'm not." Harry hissed quietly before biting into his apple. The tangy juice dripped down his chine as he savored the apple's refreshing taste. He took another bit without bother to wipe it off. Out here, on the mountaintop, it didn't matter if he had manners or not. There were no humans to judge him or tell him what to do. So, in their absence, Harry did just about anything when and as he pleased.

It was nice.

Harry stuffed the handful of nuts in his mouth and tossed the last apple core away. Swallowing her peered around in irritation. Now that he wasn't hungry, he was bored.

Hmmm…

Harry was broken out of his musing when Kaa-snake's scales suddenly tightened and stiffened around him. The giant head rose jerkily and scanned the surrounding forest. Harry tensed as well and scurried closer to Kaa-snake's protective circle. The scales against his arms felt reassuring in their strength and durability.

Harry clung to that durability as he waited tensely. Finally, after what seemed to be ages, Kaa-snake lowered her head.

"Something has disturbed the forest. I'm going to check it out. Stay here with Morgana." Kaa-snake murmured. Leaning close enough for her breath to be felt on Harry's pale skin, Kaa-snake opened her fearsome jaws. A yellow speckled, red serpent slipped from her depths to slink onto Harry's shoulder. The smaller snake greeted Harry with a gentle headbutt but did not hiss. Instead, she curled protectively about his neck and lowered her head in deference to the behemoth before her.

"I am honored by this task, Great One." Morgana hissed subserviently. Kaa-snake nodded in a distinctly human gesture that she had picked up from Harry before slithering into the forest. Her great form weaved impossibly stealthily through the trees. Though Kaa-snake was by far the largest creature within the forest, her bulk made no sound as she slipped into the gloom.

Harry peered curiously after her. He was a little frightened by the thought of an invader, but also excited by it. How long had it been since Harry had seen or spoken to anyone beyond the mountain? Harry wasn't sure, but it seemed as though it was ages ago. Perhaps its was a wandering Greater serpent and they wouldn't mind sharing a few stories of their journeys? Morgana tightened her grip in warning.

"You were instructed to stay here, Little Prince." She reminded him firmly. Harry sighed and turned away. He might have been able to weasel some freedom from Kaa-snake, but Morgana was an entirely different pot of snails. Though small, Morgana was able to create a potent sedative by mixing her venom with her saliva. She could both kill with her venom, or insure Harry's forced obedience. It was probably one of the reasons Kaa-snake called on only Morgana to care for Harry when she was otherwise occupied. It was one of the only downsides to living in a forest ruled by a dictator who just happened to think you were the most adorable thing on the planet.

"Yeah… I know. I'm just bored." Harry hissed as he trudged back to the center of the clearing. Here, the earth was hard and packed from the frequent weight of Kaa-snake. To alleviate the unyielding surface, Kaa-snake had had various animal pelts laid out for Harry to rest on. Here and there, a stolen bit of human contraband could be seen from the snakes' over-eager 'searching'. Harry sighed. It'd probably be a few hours before Kaa-snake came back. Till then, there would be nothing to do except wait, play games with Morgana, and sleep.

Harry perked up as a devious idea entered his mind. It was dangerous… but if it worked he'd be rid of Kaa-snake's overbearing protectiveness and be allowed to venture a bit further from the nest. Careful, so as not to knock down Morgana, Harry lowered himself to the ground. Then her shifted about and made a show of rubbing at his feet or curling up tightly.

"Hey, Morgana?" Harry asked innocently after a few moments of shifting.

"Yes, my prince?" Morgana responded.

"Do you remember yesterday when we were playing toss stuff at the birds? I tossed one of my shoes up at the yellow one and now its too high to reach. Can you get it down for me? My feet are cold." Again, Harry made sure to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible while rubbing at his bare feet.

"As you wish. Where is it?" Morgana asked. She lifted her head and peered at the surrounding trees. Harry resisted the urge to grin.

"It's up there, see?" And indeed, a worn (Stolen), yellow slipper was hanging precariously from one of the topmost limbs of the tallest elm in the forest. Morgana dipped her head in acquiesce before slithering down his body. She dropped to the ground delicately and hurried over to the tree.

"I will retrieve it. Stay here." Morgana hissed before beginning to carefully curl her way up the trunk. She braced her body against the trunk and carefully pushed herself upright against it. Morgana's powerful muscles squirmed under her skin as she propelled herself skyward. When she reached a slight dip in the trunk, she coiled a bit of her body there, to use it to push herself up even higher.

It was an arduous task for a snake to climb a tree. Most snakes were capable of it, but not adept at it. Morgana was one such snake. Though she could lift herself up the tree, it was slow, and she was unable to move quickly or respond to much outside stimuli.

Harry finally allowed himself to grin as she continued upwards. Soon, she was a dozen feet above the ground. Now, if she wanted to get down, she'd have to climb down. Jumping from that height would injure her. Harry rose quietly to his feet and began to tiptoe from the clearing in the opposite direction of Morgana. When he breached the circle of trees he glanced back at Morgana.

She was close to a third of the way up. Harry bolted quietly into the trees. It was time to have some fun! And find whatever had set off Kaa-snake's instincts. If Harry could prove he could defend himself, she'd have to let him out more often!

Harry grinned and gently touched the wand hanging from his belt. It'd been a while since he'd needed offensive magic. Though, he kind of hoped he wouldn't need it. Getting some good stories out of a passing summon, Greater animal, or friendly creature sounded much more relaxing than fighting something.

After a few moments of running, Harry slowed and flicked out his tongue to taste the air. Dead leaves, some foxes, a deer, a cherry tree, and… humans! Harry's eyes went big when he caught the last and faintest scent. Humans were on the mountain! They'd been the ones to trip Kaa-snake's senses. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea…

Harry's hand automatically rose to touch his left eye. A deep-seated fear bubbled up from within him and made his arms shake and tremble. At the same time, a furious creature of anger clawed its way to his skin and roared a challenge. The two connected within Harry's rapidly beating heart. He closed his fingers in a fist and squeezed his eyes shut as fear and rage battled within him. Why… why did he always feel this way?!

Harry hissed viciously and punched the nearest tree. He hated this! He hated how afraid he always was, and he hated how he hated it because he had been hurt and, hey, wasn't a little caution supposed to be normal if you're hurt that bad? Yet, another piece of Harry held onto his anger and hurt and screamed to be let loose. To hurt, and maim, and hurt, and kill those who had hurt him. To make them feel the pain and the fear and the indecision that he was feeling. Harry hissed out a strangled whimper and brought both hands up to grip his hair.

No! He couldn't do this right now! There were humans in the forest and Harry was supposed to be proving to Kaa-snake that he wasn't completely helpless. Harry let out a strangled sob and stumbled to lean against the nearest tree. Why, oh why couldn't he just get it together? Harry took in a strangled breath and forced himself to hold it for a minute. Then he let it out of his mouth. He breathed in another breath through his nose and released it by way of mouth again. Clenching his eyes shut, Harry forced himself to repeat the process a few more times. He couldn't freak out now. He really, really couldn't afford to.

Not when there were humans in the forest.

Another strangled sob tried to climb up Harry's throat, but he forced it back in favor of another calming breath. There were humans in the forest. That was okay. It wasn't good, but it was okay. Harry could… deal with that. He'd just go back to the clearing and apologize to Morgana.

Yeah… he'd just- Harry's instincts screamed and he leapt to the side.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

Long, slivers of steel buried themselves into the trunk of the tree Harry had been leaning against. From his place on the ground a few feet away, Harry looked frantically into the treetops.

There, he spied a terrifying white panda mask. Harry screamed.

And Finally, a look at poor little harry... yeah. I'm not really super nice to Harry in this fic, just a warning. Don't worry though, Big Bro Naruto is totally going to save the day, just wait! And yeah, I know its been a while but in my defense... I SOOO do NOT recommend working seventy hours to anyone who wants to keep their sanity or healthy work ethic intact.

Cuz like, I won't lie. I like to work. I get bored otherwise. But... SEVENTY HOURS? I Will never torture myself like this again... I hope. Anyway, I'm sorry for how short it was. I've been making new plot bunnies like crazy and they won't stop bullying this one and stealing all of my attention even though I haven't even started on them cuz I only write what's on my fanfiction planner which is this so I've been like, "I have to write this but I really don't wanna right now!", ya know?

Anyway, I'm off. Too tired and I've got work in an hour. See ya!

~Blitza