Chapter Three: Month of Hell
Anko's patience was really starting to run out.
The Kunoichi wondered just what kind of society built upon themselves of utter prejudice, and childish antics? The slits gazing upon the several 'adults' that were gathered in the room, each vocalizing their obvious opinions regarding Harry; it ranged from crushing concern to utter apathetic disgust. The Great Hall was a very large hall with five tables each one with a giant banner over them. Giving the quick and easy explanation, Anko came to wonder if common sense had been thrown out the window, followed by it's good friend; Logic. Just... looking at these so-called teachers made her skin crawl, not nearly as much as Gai and his green jump suit. Though, that isn't to say that it didn't fall under the same category or it's own. She really hadn't decided yet, but from the looks of it, it probably fell into it's own.
But, one of them caught her attention.
Snape Severus, was his name. Anko recalled cautiously, her eyes narrowed while looking at him. The man reeked of evil and blood, the tainted air seemed to circle around his arm before reaching up swirling around his very body like a poison. It made her snarl with disgust, this man... this THING. Just him standing there was driving her nerves into a wall. The cold steel of her kunai pressed against her skin, the feeling of the sharp blade made her body tingle with blood-filled excitement, wishing to indulge in the scaring these wizard folk. A feral grin split her lips, her eyes hidden underneath her bangs, eyeing them coldly. Oh yeah, it would be such a delicious treat! Licking the edges of her lips, lustfully the woman pushed away from the chair-
A hand grabbed her instantly.
Brown eyes met with stern hazel.
Anko raised an eyebrow.
Genma shook his head.
'Kill joy''. Was what her look said, nearly making the man snort.
The senbon chewing man would be lying if he stated that he actually WANTED to near these civilians, as Genma rather referred to him, prattle on about inane and pointlessly things. Yes, they were concerned with the boy's health. Yes, they were concerned about his psyche, which the man already knew Kotetsu was currently taking care of. Izumo was busy at the moment talking, and quite animatedly so, with Hagrid, a rather absent minded though extremely bubbly and friendly man, over the craziest of things. Mainly about the rare creatures that the taller man (waaaay taller man) gushed over happily. The Shinobi could have swore that a child-like glint was shining from bearded man, nearly jumping for joy at finding a kindred spirit. A snort escaped, but hidden it well since it was be rather rude to make a mockery out of these wizard folk-no matter how much they seemed to deserve one way or another that; however was not up to them. Their job was to defend the skill and successfully capture Sirius Black and 'safely' return the man straight back to his cell, thankfully there were absolutely no restrictions or penalties whether or not killing this supposed dangerous man would infringe upon the contract.
Killing wasn't something any Shinobi enjoyed. Not unless they were psychologically unhinged like like a certain rouge Sannin.
Genma could practically feel his eyes harden.
"...I see." The clearly annoyed and disapproved tone of one Umino Iruka's voice reached the edges of his ears, much to his glee and joy. The rigid stature of the tanned man was like a giant a trigger for those whom knew teacher and were fully aware of how close the other man's patience was starting to vanish at the disgust at the so-called "standards" of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The kid, Harry, Genma thought to himself, would benefit from getting far away from the school-if not the entire country in general. Being all for getting the kid away from this upside down world and somewhere safe the lingering thoughts of Harry actually joining the Shinobi ranks seemed... extreme. If down right stupid. There was no way that the Sandaime would have approved of this, at the same time it still felt like they were being played like pawns upon a chessboard.
It took the senbon-user all of his strength not to snort loudly, unaware that he had already caught the attention of one Professor Sinistra.
Genma lend back into his chair, lazily trying to keep himself from falling asleep from the boring chit-chat. Where was Kotetsu when you needed him? Looking around the room, the man grinned at the scene being acted out between Hayate and Pomona, the plump woman whom seemed to be mothering him like a child. The poor guy! The fellow Tokubetsu snickered at the annoyed look that flashed upon the swordman's face as he tried to deflect and ignore the woman's attempts at talking to him (aka: Smothering him with love and affection) aaah... if only Genma had his hands on a camera, it would be decent blackmail material or even better selling it straight to the fangirls back in Konoha! Despite being rather ill and frail, the man already had a fanbase set up and totally devoted to him.
It made the man wonder if they knew about Yuago? A shrug. Who cared?
Babbling inclined her disapproving eyes towards McGonagall but otherwise kept her mouth shut, Genma had noted from across the room. The woman was old, though not as old as McGonagall was, from the looks of it. Thin dirty blonde hair tied back in a small bun, similar to that of a certain member of the Elder Council. Hell, the woman even pressed her lips together in the same fashion! Though, it appeared that Babbling was not a fan of McGonagall nor was she utterly thrilled with Dumbledore either. The animosity radiating from her eyes was evidence of the concealed loathing and disgust that the woman seemed to hold for two higher-ups, she didn't seemed as much of a blind follower of Dumbledore as all these others were.
Filtwick seemed to also be a rather devoted follower, the old midget that animatedly talked too Raidou about Charms and the professions liked to it.
That was another thing that Genma actually wanted to take a look out, what sort of professions were there in the wizarding world anyway? There had to be some form of employment among this disfunctional upside-down community that they had been drawn into.
And the laws. Can't forget about the laws, after all it would be wise to see what exactly they could get away with!
The giant doors opened as Kotetsu and the kid moved into the Great Hall. The spiky haired man looking rather smug while the kid seemed abashed and slightly embarrassed and was moving somewhat rigidly beside the Chuunin at the same time trying not to shrink under the scrutiny of the faculty.
"Finally." Izumo remarked with a mocking gaze. "I was wondering when you two were going to join us, here I thought you might have drowned by in your syrup by now." Ignoring the strange looks from the Hogwarts Faculty, the Shinobi present all snorted loudly.
Kotetsu simply smirked. "Oh please, like I'd do that?" folding his arms over his chest. "Besides, that would have been a rather sweet death-OW!"
"No puns, moron!" Izumo stated swiftly, grinning widely.
The spiky man pouted. "Fine. Can I at least make a joke?"
"No. That would require advertising." Izumo denied deadpanned tone, eyeing him as if he was a moron.
"...You always ruin my fun."
An atmosphere of humour began to settle in as Harry's lips twitched. 'The two of them are like Fred and George.'
"Alright, alright you two!" Anko cut in loudly looking rather irritated while gazing at Chuunin warningly. "You can go and have your lover's quarrel when were not in the room." Smirking at the flabbergast expression, the I&T specialist happily sat back and took in with joy. "So, the kid joining us or what?"
McGonagall's nostrils snarled. "Of course he isn't! There is no chance that Lily and James' child would willing become a... a...!-"
"Yes."
It was like a pin dropped straight to the floor and the echo was heard by everyone.
No one moved only allowing their eyes to fall upon the young boy that stood before them with firm resolution, his gaze and stature not faltering from the intense disbelief aimed towards him. Kotetsu stood by him with a vacant and emotionless expression standing as the boy's support awaiting the inevitable tone of verbal displeasure and abuse. Harry had predicted that it come from two, well, people in general: McGonagall, Dumbledore and of course, Snape. It was not the fact he cared what they had personally though about his choices, since the constant threats at Hogwarts had been an overall reasoning for being trained as a Shinobi. After last years fiasco with the Basilisk plus Lucius Malfoy's plot and Lockhart's uselessness... the fact that there were people whom truly wanted to help and guide him seemed like a dream come true. Normally, Harry probably wouldn't have trusted them or placed strong faith in them due to his history with adults...
Maybe it was the fact the Kotetsu seemed so earnest or was it because they had saved him from the Dursley's and given him a chance at an entirely new life? He wasn't entirely certain of the reason, nonetheless Harry knew that he was utterly grateful towards them.
Was this what they called fanaticism?
"Y-you can't honestly mean to become a... a killer!" McGonagall shrieked loudly with absolute horror written over her face, gazing upon him as if he had another head. "Your parents would not have stood by for this! Please consider your future Mr. Potter, your parents would have not wanted this." The pleading tone did resonate something in Harry as the Scottish woman looked so helpless and tired. "There are other options besides turning towards something so insidious and dark."
"HEY!" The Chuunin duo exclaimed.
"Of course Potter would turn to the darkest path, seeking glory for himself." Snape sneered, gazing down upon the Shinobi as if they were insects. "Can't miss the chance to out do others, can you Potter? Just like your arrogant father." The gluttonous snarl reached each and every part of Harry's body eyeing the older man with disgust and rage as the reflection of the glee of a bully at seeing the struggle of emotion that was building up inside of Harry. The young boy found it rather sick and pathetic that the man was doing everything he could to make his life hell while adding to deep wounds in his heart about his parents, though not everything that came out of the man's mouth could be classified as truth that much Harry knew for certain. "Your father," The man continued shelling the thoughts out. "Was a pathetic idiotic prankster that couldn't wait to show off to the masses, just like you."
Harry shot him a cold look. "I fail to see what my parents have to do with this, Professor Snape. I have chosen this path considering the last years of attending Hogwarts, and have nearly been killed and suffered at the hands of Voldemort-" Outwardly ignoring the cringes and the furious face of one Potion's master before continuing. "But also the accusations of last year, regarding me as the Heir of Slytherin. None of you did a thing to take measures in order to prevent Voldemort-Oh grow up already. Or act like professional teachers."
"Last year?" Anko asked curiously.
Harry looked over. "They thought I was evil because a rather dangerous creature was going around petrifying people and I just so happened to able to communicate with it. And yet, they did nothing to dispel these rumours and simply allowed myself along with my friends to suffer the ostracism from the other students until my friend, Hermione, ended up petrified. Turned out Voldemort, would you all of you grow up already, was acting through my first year professor Quirrel and again last year, by controlling a fellow student. Once again, doing nothing to stop it let along leaving it for three first year and later two second years to deal with the problem. Granted, last year only Ron and I were able to figure out where the creature was attack from and what it was with Hermione's help."
"And the year before that?" Raidou prompted softly, his voice barely above an octave.
Before any of the Professors would rebuke Harry had already continued on. "They built up traps in order to prevent anyone from getting near the object of Voldemort's desire." Deciding it would best to leave out the fact that said object was the Philosopher's stone was probably the best thing. "In the end, three FIRST years got past it... And now that I think about." His eyes landed upon Dumbledore, whose expression seemed to have melted a bit with shock. "Each test seemed to reflect us; Flying, Chess, and Puzzles. Each of us was bound to figure out one and eventually get to the Mirror; it sounds quite suspicious now doesn't it?"
"What are you implying Potter?" Snape roared angrily glaring down at him as if Harry was an insect. "That Dumbledore allowed Voldemort in willingly in order to have you confront him one on one? Don't be preposterous, you BARELY have any skill whatsoever in the wizarding arts let alone in Duel capabilities." Sneering at Harry," Stop trying to make yourself looking taller and mightier than rest of us. You aren't."
"I never implied anything, Professor Snape." Harry spoke up rather cheerfully at him. "In fact you just blurted it out right now and here." He grinned widely at Snape's furious look before fishing out his wand looking ready to strike Harry down.
At least that's what Snape planned on doing.
A sharp painful cry echoed through the room followed by Snape screaming in pain while the violent woman happily twisted his arms sadistically allowing the sounds of the man's bones breaking to play again and again for her. It was such a delicious tone for her ears!
"Now, now Snapie." Anko chirped happily. "Violence is a no-no here."
Iruka shot her a stern look. "Let him go Anko. Children like him are unusable at this age," His words cold and frigid like steel while the woman let Snape go wearing a look of displeasure. The man was little more then overgrown child that had been denied his favorite toy, a shame really. Iruka thought to himself ignoring the sputter of angers escaping the man's mouth, a poison maker would have come into much use. "Shall we begin discussions over teaching-"
"Are you certain that this what you want to do, my boy? Surely you believe that I know what's best don't you?" Dumbledore cut off Iruka and utterly ignored him while gazing at Harry with the facade of a grandfather. "Your parents would be so disappointed for to give up what they have planned for you and where they too had learned to control their powers." A benevolent smile seemed to slip upon his face. "C'mon now, I'm certain that you wouldn't wish to leave Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley behind, would you?" Shifting his glasses as he sent the boy a meaning full look one that the man was certain would make Harry reconsider his decision and return to being under his tutelage during his remaining time at Hogwarts. He agreed however, that Harry should not return to such a rough household, nodding mentally. Dumbledore was certain thought that Weasley would be more then happy to have Harry live with them.
"Are you my Guardian, sir?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore blinked in surprise, taken back. "Well, no my boy. However, I just wish that you would see reason and agree that I only have your best interest at heart." The man once again smiled as if he was taking to a four year old. "It is after all for the greater good."
"You are not my Guardian then." Harry said calmly staring at the man with apathetically. "Thus that means you are my Headmaster, only. You have no right to dictate or make decisions about my life, where I go or what I do. If it is a school related manner, then I will consider it other then that I'm afraid that I must decline. I'm grateful for everything, Professor Dumbledore, I really am. However..." His gaze fell over towards the Konoha Shinobi," I feel like I finally found where I'm supposed to belong to."
A haggard woman that Harry had never seen before muttered. "Be warned Harry Potter, my eye has told me if you continue your chosen path that death will follow and claim everything you care about!" The loud tone of hers seemed to catch everyone's attention.
Silence.
"... umm... Who are you?" Harry asked looking at this weird woman strangle as the suddenly need to get away from her began to stir from within him.
The woman blinked at him before smiling eerily. "I am Professor Trelawney, the Divination-"
"Can I drop Divination and take up Ancient Runes instead?" Harry requested dryly, utterly dismissing the woman on whim and leaving her speechless at his callous attitude and tone. He blinked. "I really don't want to have to deal with this on a daily bases."
It was only one Professor in particular the spoke up.
"...Finally someone managed to shut her up," Filtwick stated with relief.
Iruka
Thankfully, Iruka had discovered a room with in Hogwarts that could be utilized as a training ground for them while stilling having the option of using outside for drills and chakra control. Some of the Professor's, those whom were apart of "The Dumbledorean Cult" as Izumo had commented, seemed to do everything within their power in order to prevent and discourage Harry's decision at joining the Shinobi ranks. Though the attempts have been unfruitful and only served as mere annoyances and only helped to strengthen his resolve by putting every bit of energy and fibre of his being into his work. Being a rather fresh 'Academy student' as the Chuunin had put it the man had decided to forcefully push Harry into learning their language along with their history before starting off on Chakra Controls and the other fun stuff. In order to begin the basics one needed to learn the basics of the basics before being able to advance forward and attempting the more difficult training.
Hiragana had not been as hard as Harry had originally thought it would be and in fact was able to memorize and understand the entire table by the end of the lesson, not that Iruka was surprised by it. The boy was definitely talented and intelligent Harry simply needed a push.
Katakana and Kanji... weren't as easy.
The man had personally stood over him and gently corrected the mistakes that the younger boy had gotten wrong or misunderstood the meaning of the words. Iruka was a very kind teacher and didn't mind helping though he wouldn't give Harry any hints until he put in his entire being into the question.
Harry made certain to practice his Kanji and Katakana everyday in order to perfect it.
While learning how to speak, read and write in the native language Iruka had quickly moved on towards the history of the Shinobi world along with Konohagakure no Sato's history which enticed and captivated Harry. Never in his wildest dreams did the things Iruka had told him would actually transpire beneath everyone's noses, it was quite wondrous really. The history of the Shinobi world has started out from a myth of the Rikubo Sennin through him the rise and the flourishing of the Shinboi nations formed into the several Elemental countries.
Konoha, the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The home of the Team Iruka hailed from, and currently leader was the Sandaime Sarutobi Hiruzen also nicknamed the Professor by those from the Village which made sense as to why the man preferred to be called 'Iruka-sensei' rather then 'Professor Umino' in order to honor the leader. Before the Sandaime's rule, the village had been brought up from the ground by the Senju Clan and the Uchiha clan each lead by one leader; Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara followed by the tradgey that had befallen the two clans the ended with tragic deaths forcing Hashirama's younger brother, Tobirama to inherit the title of the Nidaime. However, the benevolant man's rule also came to a close several years forcing Sarutobi Hiruzen to replace him.
The region of the Sandaime's rule over Konoha had been long and prospers, however with peace also came the storm of war. The Third Shinobi War between Konoha and Iwa, a war that took too long to finish, it had started over a bringing of good faith until an assassination attempt upon the Sandaime's life had triggered the war and the world spiralling into hell. A man, a very well known man by the name of Namikaze Minato, a jounin at the time had brought utter devastation to the Iwa Army and brought them to their knees alone. Despite the ending of the war, the wounds of old still remained fresh and eventually filled with bitterness. The very concept of joining up with Iwa was unheard of let alone giving aid to Iwa. The same man who had defeated the Iwa Army eventually rose to the position of the Yondaime Hokage, the youngest and strongest Hokage that had ever lived.
Unfortunately, as two of his predecessor before him the Yondaime had lost his life defending his village from one of the Bijuu; a tailed-demon called the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The strongest out of the tailed demons that roamed the Elemental countries.
The mere thought of demons attacking made Harry shiver in fear, though he felt sympathy for the Yondaime for having to sacrifice himself and never be able to have a family.
With the Yondaime dead Hiruzen had once again took the position of Hokage in order to keep the village running and prevent the enemies of Konoha from taking advantage of their weakness. A rather smart in Harry's opinion since it would allow the Sandaime to help organize reconstruction while taking the position away from greedy corrupted hands.
His mind lingered on two people in particular.
"Alright that you've got all of that down I'll start showing the basic seals-which are hand signs that are needed in order to utuilize Chakra." Iruka began watching the young student carefully. "Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy used together. Think it as your magic except rather then using wands, you're using the body as the outlet for it." Continuing on as Harry seemed to understand, if looking slightly lost. "Chakra can be used like Ninjutsu, similar to Charms and Transfiguration through Taijutsu which is physical combat or weapons and even used for Genjutsu which are illusions. Of course you won't be learning that from me the others will be teaching you the more advanced stuff."
"What about the basic fighting?" Harry felt his lips moved faster then his brain. He frozen in place as he met with the darkest smile that Harry had ever seen in his entire life, Iruka's dark aura seemed to have slipped out of him and stared not unkindly consequently the boy could tell that the man's eyes were not smiling innocently.
"That." The click of his tongue echoed. "Will be revealed in all good time." Turning swiftly away from the boy Iruka held his hands up in front of them. "There are twelve basic seals; Bird." Showing the boy the first seal," Boar." Turning his hands upside down and pushing them together. "Next one is DOG." The man's annoyed hiss caused Harry to be taken back a bit.
"I-Iruka s-sensei...?"
The man levelled a look at him. "What?"
"Are you okay... you don't seem to like that..." Harry hesitated as he bit his lip. "Word much."
Iruka didn't even wince, though his eyes flashed for a brief moment in time. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern." The man answered sincerely even though the two both knew that older man was lying through his teeth, and Harry let him. Everyone deserved to have a secret. The 'Dog' hand seal was a fist turned down with a hand on top of it. "And this one is..." Iruka's voice trailed off as Harry watched and copied slowly, eyeing each seal carefully so that he wouldn't confuse them and get mixed up. "Did you get all of that?"
Harry nodded sharply. "Yes, Sensei. Though why are all the seals zodiac related?"
"Hmmm?"
"Well... each Seal represents a chinese zodiac, so I was wondering if there was any significant reason for that..." Harry answered slowly not really certain of his words. It was actually quite weird and foreboding really, just why did the hand seals match up with the Chinese Zodiac anyway?
Iruka titled his head looking rather interested. "That's a very good question, and unfortunately I don't have answer for you."
"It's alright. Though why are Hand seals necessary for sp-I mean Jutsu's?" Harry's word slurred as he flustered in embarrassment.
"Hand Seals help regulate the Chakra through the body acting like a guide for it. It also helps recognize the nature of the Chakra that is being prepared by the user." Iruka answered. "There are the twelve regular seals that we use today, however there are still thousands of seals that have yet to be discovered."
"...Nature of the Chakra?"
Iruka grinned. "You'll learn that later, now let's move on Henge and Kawamari no Jutsu..."
Harry pouted.
Izumo & Kotetsu
Training with Kotetsu and Izumo was HELL.
Getting up at five-thirty in the morning was NOT something he was adjusted to yet, as the two men had forced Harry to not only walk straight towards the training area, but was now forced to wear weights underneath his clothing in order for him to develop muscle. While yes, Harry was lean and in shape for someone his age the fact was that he was no longer a civilian but rather, a Shinobi in training thus he needed to get into the body to fit the requirements needed to be a Shinobi.
Though he felt a lot lighter and a bit stronger the he was use to. However that didn't stop Harry from feeling a bit weird, his body just felt so weird... Izumo had noticed his anxiety one day and brought up over to the side when no one else was around.
"Your body is adapting through some... changes." Izumo had told him one day after finishing up a quick exercise," for boys it's usual around this time when your body starts to develop into a man's body, though you still have time left before that finally happens. What I'm saying is that your body is trying to adjust to your growing up while adapting to your new training regime, don't worry though it just takes time. There's also the fact that your not use to waking up this early, are you Harry?" The man smiled gently. "It's normal don't worry about it, alright?"
The Chakra Control exercise that the Chuunin Duo had placed Harry through was a normal one that would help determine how good he was with Chakra Control and what needed to be worked on the most; Medic-Nins from what Kotetsu told were people who had amazing Chakra Control, but had implied that not all of them had started out that way while others were simply naturals at it; an example had been Konoha's Legendary Slug Sennin, Senju Tsunade, a strong Medic-Nin in power, knowledge, and beauty. She had vanished from the village nearly eleven years ago and no one had heard from her since whispers and rumors of skills appeared every now and then which only served to motivate Harry more then it already had.
That led to the Leaf Control exercise.
Sitting still for hours on end hadn't been what Harry had expected when the two had given him four leaves each, telling him to either leviate them or make them spin. Together. By meditating Harry would be able to guide his chakra through his system together the destination of the leaves and use it in order to make the leaves spin, or levitate. Needless to say it had been a rather difficult to pull off while it took him nearly three hours to do Harry eventually was able to pull it off but it felt exhausting to do afterwards.
"The Leaf training is way to gauge a person's chakra and from the looks of it, you have at least average Chakra control at the very least," Kotetsu commented eyeing the leaves carefully as they rotated on Harry's forehead. His lips pressed together before grinning rather maliciously, rubbing his hands together similar to an evil doctor. "Alright this way please!"
"Why do I have the feeling I should start fearing for my life?" Harry question dryly as he reluctantly followed the other man outside with utterly ignoring the outburst of laughter from Izumo. His thoughts swarmed and mixed together trying to think of what exactly the older man had decided for him to do for training; it was Chakra training that much was certain. Reaching towards the outside of the castle the spiky haired Chuunin lead him straight over towards a rather big tree, making the young boy blinked in confusion.
The man grinned. "It's time for Tree Walking!"
"... Tree walking?" Harry repeated his voice laced with disbelief. "Like climbing?" Adding in after a short pause.
"Yep!" The cheerful reply came as the man blinked happily. "But you won't be using your arms to climb, nope! Instead you'll be using your legs watch." placing his hands together and closing his eyes Harry felt a strange and strong tinkle enter his body making him shudder at the feel of it, the feeling its self felt hard and strong, unbreakable even however only for that moment did that thought lingered as it disappeared while gazing up in awe at Kotetsu, who walked up the tree in utter ease. The man gazed down at him as he made his way straight over to the branch before sitting adding in a tiny wave.
Izumo looked over at Harry. "That is Tree Walking. By focusing your Chakra straight towards your feet you make it act like 'stick' and walk straight up without falling to the ground. Its a good exercise and Chakra reserve builder, as a Medic-Nin it will help service you in the future."
Harry's eyes narrowed at that blazing with fiery determination. "Alright, what do I have to do?"
Thwack!
A kunai reached towards the top of the three sticking out. "That's where you have to go," Izumo declared evil smugness as he gazed down at the boy. "And you'll keep doing this until your exhausted, understand? Iruka probably told you about wasting your Chakra and the consequents right?"
"Death." Was the flat tone.
Izumo happily patted him. "Good boy!"
"Yes master," Harry stated deadpanned staring at Izumo with a blank expression. "I'll make sure to go and retrieve the bone you just throw."
Izumo's lips widened. "Awww I've always wanted a dog!"
"I was being sarcastic!"
A chuckle. "I know!"
And so it had begun.
Again and again, and again.
Continously LANDING on your ass was VERY painful. The raven haired boy was certain that he'd eventually break his neck or his back before he'd be able to accomplish this Chakra Control exercise as the boy groaned from hitting the ground again all while staring up at the challenging grin that slipped upon Kotetsu's face and the glint! Snarling his nostrils Harry charged forward focusing his Chakra straight towards his feet struggling to keep himself from landing on the hard concrete ground again his eyes flashed dangerously as gravity began to push against his front and the weight that held him up was slowly beginning to vanish at a rapid rate. Harry could actually feel the gripping of his Chakra as well which by the way, wasn't sure if that was normal or not, as the boy felt his body turn sharply as the brown became green and tingly. It took him several minutes until he finally understood that once again he had fallen straight towards the ground with grass in his mouth.
"Having fun down there?" Kotetsu asked cheerfully while Izumo simply shook his head and watched with amusement as the young boy pushed himself off the ground once again charging forward towards the tree, rushing up before slipping down.
Izumo contemplated on giving the boy a hint, that was until he stared straight into Harry's eyes. The burning determination that refused to die down within Harry made the Chuunin's thoughts of helping to dissolve and made the reframed from giving aid. The kid had spunk, that much was certain remind him actually of a certain orange jumpsuit wearing kid really. The same eyes they both had. The wanting, the needing to get better and to get stronger not allowing themselves to give up and call it quits.
'That's right Harry, don't give up.' Izumo thought his eyes firmly set on the boy. Watching with parental pride as the young boy began to climb higher and higher towards to reaching his destination, biting upon his own lips as he finally made it straight towards the top before kicking backwards and landing upon his feet firmly. A pride he had felt grew as his eyes watched Harry make a normal Bushin beside himself, and actually didn't even look as exhausted as he had been before the Tree Walking exercise had begun. His eyes glanced straight over towards Kotetsu, receiving a titled nod in return. 'You just started training and you've already come so far Harry. Not many Shinobi, let alone civilians can do this. Is it because your a wizard?' His eyes narrowed at that thought. 'Or is it something else?'
"Yosh!" Kotetsu rang as he jumped straight towards the ground causing the ground to shake for a moment and snickered as Harry fell to the ground. "Have a nice fall?" His tone still cheerful and happy only to grin again as he found himself on the receiving end of the kid's death glare. "Now then, you have to keep on doing this training-"
"In order to strength my Chakra reserves and help build up my Chakra control." Harry added effectively cutting the man off with a firm nod. "I know," bending down so he could stretched his legs his emerald pools looked ups straight towards the two. "Is there anymore Chakra Control exercises I should be doing after Tree Walking?"
"Doing Chakra Control is something you should do daily, in order to get your keep on expanding your reserves." Izumo answered bluntly eyeing him. "Though, some Shinobi favor one exercise over the another either due to the Jutsu or simply because they favor it. It's like a one of your spells, you have a favorite right?"
Harry's cheeks tinkled. "Actually... no, I don't." he admitted softly looking at them. "It's odd I've been here for nearly three years and there isn't a spell that I truly enjoy indulging..."
Kotetsu closed his eyes. 'Maybe it's because being a Shinobi is what you were always meant to be...' "Eh, who cares!" Rubbing his hands together evilly. "Now hurry and get your lazy ass back up there, we want you to this every single day got it? With enough Chakra Control we'll be able to teach you a Jutsu!"
"Really?" The eager tone had not been lost on them as Harry's eyes shined brightly like a child in the candy store. The two looked at each other before realizing that the boy had gone-back to the Tree Walking exercise with more vigor and motivation then before.
A sigh reached Izumo's ears as his partner shook his head in amusement. 'Well...' The mature one of the two thought as he gazed at the boy. 'It may not exactly be the best type of motivation, but it works none the less.'
Genma
"Alright brat I'll be teaching ya Genjutsu. I'm not going to be liar and tell ya that Genjutsu's my specialty or anything so you'll have to bare with me ya hear?" The Senbon chewing man announced as walked down the halls lazily as his hands were stuffed straight into his pockets. Not even paying the slightest bit of attention to the young boy whom ran behind him diligently before suddenly halting in his stride. Genma looked at as the kid paused looking up at him curiously. "I found this place in order to help with your Genjutsu training, it was actual luck now that I think about it."
Harry slowly nodded. "What exactly is Genjutsu?"
"Genjutsu are illusion. They are used to deceive, manipluate and take control. Unlike Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, Genjutsu is rather flexiable in terms of use unfortunately that acts as a double-edge sword that the enemy can take advantage if the weakness is exploited." Genma lectured heavily his expression serious and stone hard, the tone was firm like steel. "Genjutsu is not a tool that should be taken lightly, the illusions themselves can very well kill a person depending upon the strength and nature of the Jutsu it's self which is why it's split into categories; Multiple and Singular, which can already tell by the names of what they do."
"Multiple targets a greater mass of people while Singular targets one person. Got it," Harry stated grasping onto that part as he frowned rather thinly at the thought of using an Genjutsu, the mere idea of it made the boy ponder over the ability and purpose of the name. "Genjutsu..." His lips purred as the name rolled off his tongue strangely yet very appealing as his lips twitched into a smile until it faded just as quickly as it had appeared, to mess with the mind its self also meant that one had to defeat the body as well, taking control or preventing the body from becoming aware of the falsehood. Stronger mental capabilities would also have to be combatanted with either a stronger Genjutsu or a slip a weaker one once the opponent's guard had been cracked the probability of it working was rather staggering.
"What is it?" Genma's curt tone came.
Harry stared up at the Shinobi. "How do you combat Genjutsus anyway?"
"Hehe, good question kiddo." The honey-brown haired man looked up. "Oi, Elf boy get your ass down here!" A moment of waiting as Genma tapped his feet impatiently. "Harry's here!" The sing-song tone escaped as a soft pop rang through both of their ears.
"Dobby is here sir! Dobby apologizes for being late." The small elf apologized honestly bowing at Genma not even noticing ('or ignoring' Harry added to himself with an amusement snort, however he was insanely happy to see his friend being alright) the raised eyebrow.
"Dobby what are you doing here?" Harry questioned a bit hesitately. "I thought you went off to enjoy your freedom..." At seeing the eyes from his friend Harry develped the sudden urge to start face palming. That had been a rather stupid question to ask. He hadn't been able to study up on freed House-Elves and thus had not knowledge where elves like Dobby would go or do, it was times like these that made him feel rather insignificant. His eyes watched tentatively as his elf-friend began to twittle with his thumbs like a child.
"Great Harry Potter is worried for Dobby? Dobby is moved!" The House-Elf exclaimed rather happily though it had not reached his eyes. The elf seemed to grasp at that as his facade vanished with a tiny sheepish look appeared," Dobby is having to work at Hogwarts since I is unable to find any work..." Shaking his head. "Wizarding families don't like a House-Elf that is wishing to be paid, sir!"
Harry nearly growled. "Why not! You deserve to be with all the hard work that you do Dobby. It's not right!"
"That's the way things are sir, which is why Headmaster gave Dobby this job!" The House-Elf was now radaiting absolute excitment from the mere prospective of working at Hogwarts. "Dobby is getting to see the Great Harry Potter every day! When Dobby found out that Harry Potter's Lazy-"
Genma raised an eyebrow. "Harry Potter's 'lazy'?"
Dobby didn't even comment at that. "Dobby knew a place for Harry Potter to train! We calls it the Come and Go room!"
"The... Come and Go room?" Harry repeated while glancing at his teacher, whom responded with a shrug. Frowning," What exactly is this Come and Go room Dobby?"
The House-Elf seemed ecstatic to explain. "The Come and Go room appears to those whom needs it sir. Dobby remembers Miss Kitty using it for something, though Dobby is unsure of what it was used for sir. Sir, though its only there sometimes while other times is not there! It appears when the seeker is in great need of it." The giant smile that stretched ear to ear on Dobby's face was all the more reason to believe in his smaller friend as Harry nodded at him to continue. "It's always on this floor sir."
"So... if we needed a training room, it would provide it for us then?" Harry questioned curiously. Dobby had opened his mouth in order to reply as the wall behind them began to shake a bit causing his and Genma's attention to snap straight over towards the growing door that formed before them, leaving a stunned boy and teacher.
"Well..." Genma began slowly with a small grin. "Ask and you shall receive. Alright brat, let's go." Grabbing the kid by the shoulders and literally opening the door then throwing the kid inside without a care. Smirking in satisfaction as Harry's reflexs kicked in and landed on the floor.
The room wasn't that bad if Genma had to say so glancing around the wooden room that resembled that of a dojo. Shifting towards the many weapon that laid quietly upon the walls, several of them were different types of Katanas each placed from biggest to smallest. Beside them were the axed and polar arms not that Genma really cared since he honestly preferred long ranged weapons opposed to close combat; unless it was unavoidable. Expecting the unexpected was all apart of being a Shinobi anything and everything could happen if you weren't too careful about it. The floor was neat and several pads laying down all closely placed together in order to prevent any serious injures and cover the wall with two red cushions sitting by the wood table.
That was a good place to start if any.
"What the hell was that for?"
Genma shrugged. "Because I felt like it."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"A half-assed one that's what. Now getting your ass over so we can begin already!" The man called over already placing himself straight onto the red cushion, looking a pensive at the distrustful look that his student- 'God I don't think I'll ever be use to that!' was giving him. "C'mon, don't make me wait all day!"
Eyeing the man warily, Harry made his way over to the man and sat beside him.
"First off, kiddo I won't be teaching you any Genjutsus just yet we'll have to work your way up by starting with meditation and relaxing your body." Genma began with a stern look on his face. "Through that we'll have you start building you your mental shields and stability."
"Stronger minds have a less chance at being deceived and using stronger Genjutsu, right?" Harry asked while remebering his previous thoughts form before. "Though what does meditation and relaxing my body have to do with building up my shields?"
Genma grinned. "To learn to control the mind of another and detect Genjutsus of course. Mastering your own mind is essence for Genjutsu."
"I... It seems like..." Harry began as he looked away from the man, the boy being in deep thought. "In order to control the mind, we also gain control of the sense..."
The man grin turned into a smirk. "You got in one kid. Now, we'll start your off by clearing you mind and build up your mental shields through scratch. In order to do that you must clear your mind of everything, think of a black screen and push all other thoughts to the side..."
Konoha
Sarutobi Hiruzen placed the letter straight onto the table as approached towards the window staring up at the blazing sunset that befall over the beloved village. The Professor was not an idiotic man nor was he one that could predict the future that was reserved for those whom desired to become more then human. The man's lips curled at a certain someones as the thought vanished quickly, for the longest time since had come in contact with the magical world when he had been a young and wild man that one day... a wizard would stray from his or her path and take the route towards being a Shinobi and succeeding. The letter sent by Iruka had arrived a week later since deployment of their mission and needlessly to say his instincts seemed hint right on the nail.
The boy, Potter Harry had grown beyond belief even faster then most pre-Genin and Academy students then again Hiruzen had not been that surprised by it. After all the child was being taught by the best Academy teacher Umino Iruka along with the insane and strict Mitarashi Anko followed by the strict Shiranui Genma and his partner-in-crime, Namiashi Raidou. Hiruzen's lips twitched as his mind drifted straight towards the insane Chuunin Duo and the proud if quiet Gekkou Hayate with them as his teachers it was no wonder that the boy had gone from a weak wizard to a decent Shinobi in under short time, tilting his head in consideration on whether or not to expand the Shinobi regirstration form was idealy being played in his head until it was ultimate destroyied. Many civilians, even in Konoha, were wary and slightly distrustful of them not that he could blame them. It was human nature to fear what they could not understand.
Just like how Shinobi believed themselves to be above the rules, his eyes flashed darkly.
Hiruzen often wondered just why he had taken the position of the Hokage day and day out, despairing upon an empty answer. Until his eyes landed upon that rekindle the flame within him like the letter sent to him by that reminded the man of why he resumed in taking the role of the Hokage.
For the sake of the children and the people who had the Will of fire that burnt the brightest.
Speaking of the children... Hiruzen frowned as his eyes narrowed into cold slits his mind locking on to one child that had recently been on his mind: Uzumaki Naruto. It seemed that the boy still had some difficulty adjusting to his new status (and he wasn't just talking about becoming a Genin) along with the callous and frigid treatment that his team mates seemed to inflict upon him. Hiruzen grimaced, he had debated long and hard whether or not it would have been such a good idea to placed Haruno Sakura on the same team as Sasuke and Naruto mainly due to her blind crush on the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke and Naruto, the Rookie of the Year and Dead Last were always placed together in order to help balance each other out and usually ended up being good friends. Hiruzen would not deny the fact that over the years the stems of friendship and rivalry had begun to twist and turn into vile tainted desires causing the bonds of friendship to shatter.
Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.
Himself and Shimura Danzou.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Minato's generation seemed to have cleansed the cycle of hatred or at least that had been what Hiruzen had hoped anyhow. It seemed that the threads of hate and bitterness remained seeded into the soil of the two individuals in away it felt like history was repeating its self.
Uzumaki Naruto, the child of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. One whom held a distant blood relation to the Senju family, the creators of Konohagakure no Sato and the first two Hokages. The boy seemed to take straight after his mother despite having his father's appearance.
Uchiha Sasuke, the second child of Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku. Hiruzen's eyes flashed at the thought of that traitor. A boy whose appearence was that of his mother, but his heart and personality reflected that of the ruthless tyrant, Fugaku.
It was like fate for them to be together and to fight one another.
Hiruzen sighed heavily; it didn't help that Kakashi seemed to happily allow this 'rivalry' to escalate and even added to it in order to help his students (AKA Sasuke while leaving Sakura and Naruto behind), also the fact the mighty Copy-Nin barely trained them or forced them to do anything even close to the training that Kakashi himself had received wen he was a Genin.
Having a Hokage suddenly changing squads over a concern like that was not only showing his favourtisim towards the boy but also showing a sign of weakness, yes Hiruzen loved Naruto as if he was his own true grandson much like Konohamaru but unless Naruto himself presented the option to switch squads then there was nothing he could do.
A loud banging on the door interrupted his thoughts. Looking straight over he allowed the visitor in, revealing to be Aoba. The Tokubetsu Jounin was covering for Kotetsu and Izumo's absence at the post much to the man's dismay though it could have been helped however it seemed the man seemed a bit grim for his tastes his glasses gave off the darkest of expressions.
"Hokage, sir?" The man's voice was grim as he entered the room approaching the Hokage. "I have bad news to report." Continuing after the look given to him by the Hokage," Squad 12 has mission has been accomplished, however it seems that the danger rate for the mission was false."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Explain."
Aoba took a deep breath. "Squad 12, with only one sole survivor, has been killed."
Hayate
The sounds of metal clashing against one another could be heard from a distance followed by the splashing of water underneath.
"Your going to try harder if you think you can knock me down!" Hayate shouted whipping his blade to the side while holding a firm lock on the young boy. Harry had come far since he had begun his training, not to mention the boy seemed to grow faster and faster with each passing minute. His reflex and dodging were perfect and surprisingly acute for a former civilian mainly Pre-Genin and Genin still did not have the same level of reflex that Harry seemed to have developed. Could it have been from the abuse or was it something much more? He had nothing concrete to work with. The swordman tipped his blade over his shoulder and watched as the younger one began to quickly form hand seals.
His eyes narrowed. 'Those hand signs are...' Widening sharply. 'So quickly!'
"-BUSHIN!" Harry's voice growled out as a pop formed after a cloud of dust eventually disburst into a perfected clone of the boy, standing on the right side holding a blade. Both; the clone and the original shifted into offensive positions before flickering towards him.
Unfortunately Hayate's surprise at the boy's skill had vanished as quickly as it had appeared and took advantage of the flickering, dodging both of their attacks and grabbing their legs hurtling them to the opposite ends of the lake before rushing towards at an alarming rate and slashing it. Turning his attention towards his student a smile slide upon his face before lunging forward towards Harry fully intending to end this little sparing sessions as quickly as possible. Pushing some chakra straight into his blade the swordsman also used his free hand to summon another TWO clones be each side of himself before allowing himself to grin at seeing the rather taken back look on Harry's face before leaping straight into the air with his clones.
"Dance of the Typhoon!"
Harry's head snapped towards the sides as the clones seemed to have vanished from the sight only for water beneath him instantly shot up all around him, trapping him inside the cylinder-like vortex. For a moment the water that surrounded Harry stilled for a moment. Just a moment before the walls rushed towards each other as the water began to layer upon one another it pour down, wrapping around into a sharpened pointed spiral that was ready to crush him from within the tunnel.
A loud explosion formed as waves formed in it the wake of it.
The swordsman slid his sword back into the sheath, staring at the boy amused. "Have fun?"
"T... that was cruel sensei..." Harry coughed out, his clothes tore and slightly bruised while holding on to the two shurikens that acted as his shields against in order to lessen the damage being dealt to him. The raven haired boy struggled to keep himself on his feet, the flickering of the chakra began to fade a bit as Harry glared at him. "Was the really necessary?"
Hayate beamed happily. "Of course it was my cute little student. I had to show just how lethal a weapon cominbed with the Kage Bushin and Ninjutsu could be when facing off a high-leveled shinobi, I'll admit using the shuriken as shields and charging them with electricty was a good idea. Food for though; try next time to counter the opposing jutsu. Not blow it up."
Harry grinned sheepishly at that.
"I'm impressed on how far you've come, Harry-kun. Learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu within two days is quite a feat you should be proud of yourself." Hayate praised warmly and watched bemused as the boy's face instantly turned pure red from it. Harry still seemed to adjusting to kind words a bit. "Can you tell me what you did wrong?"
Harry frowned. "I... didn't create enough Shadow clones and allowed my moves to be read visibly to the enemy... and overcharged my Lightning Jutsu."
"Shadow Clones is demanding when it comes to using Chakra, I will not fault fault you for only creating one. Reserving one's chakra is a smart idea." 'And can save your life in the long run' Hayate added mentally while gazing down at the young boy. "You have Shuriken and Kunai on you correct?" At the boy's nod the older man continued. "Devoting yourself to one weapon and one style can very well get you killed, but at the same time it provides you with an edge in battle and improving your style. A man in my village by the name of Gai is a pure Taijutsu specialist, his entire body is entirely of physical power and has been deemed a 'Demon of Strength' and has not survived a lost in battle." Holding out his blade towards the young boy. "I come from a sword-based Shinobi family thus I train myself diligently day in and out in order to prefect it. That is not to say that I don't devote myself to taking the time to master my other abilities, the sword is simply apart of me and always will be. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"I... think so. Having one speciality is difficult using on a battle field but at the same time it can help throw off the enemy by constantly use it being revealing another 'speciality'. A track of all trades, but a master of nothing." Harry stated hesitatly unsure if he was right or not.
Hayate raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps." Not indicating if the boy was right or wrong. "Well be sparing again but this time we'll be sparing with weapons only instead of a mix of what you have learned thus far." The man's tired smile become vicious and cold. "I sincerely hope you brought even kunai today."
Harry resisted the urge to whimper.
Raidou
Working with this man was... refreshing for Harry. The man was that of few words and kept mostly to himself, but when Raidou spoke it was usually informative and kind. The man always seemed to explain things to Harry calmly and in away that made sense to him; not that any of the others had been difficult. He did not damned as much as the others did and preferred it for Harry to take things slowly, not wanting either of them to rush ahead without understanding the basic of the basics. Taijutsu was the power of the body that could stretch the limits of a normal human person in all aspects. Just watching a spar between Genma and Raidou nearly made Harry's eyes bug straight out of his skull watching as the two fought against each other in alarming speed and strength.
It amazed him, the mere sight of the two fighting made nearly made him chock in excitement and thrill.
The man had begun teaching Harry various exercises and movements so that his body could flow better and smoother; the difference between him and Raidou was not simply age. No, but also the structure of their bodies; Harry was short (due to negelection unfortunately) and skinny those types of bodies were difficult to form muscles which was why Harry had started to wear weights. The older man's body was built strong and rigid, plus the man had been trained since he was child to be Shinobi, the fact that Harry had been wearing weights had hadn't been a good idea in his opinion anyway but promised to help Harry if need be by sending letters to the man called 'Gai'. The strangest part about that conversation had been this:
"Harry if you ever receive ANYTHING by someone called 'The Green Beast of Konoha' I want you to burn it. Understand?" Raidou told him one day, absolutely randomly with the strangest look in his eyes. As his hands firmly placed upon the boy's shoulders.
"Err... why?"
Raidou's eyes twitched. "Don't. ASK."
After that Harry never brought it up again. Or anything about Gai, unless one of the Shinobi brought it up first.
The main things that Raidou had covered was probably the most important things he had learned: Patience. In order to be a Shinobi patience was required in order to get from point A to point B, it took time and effort to grow as a person and to get good understand with control.
The man had smiled down at him very fatherly. "I'm not expecting you to memorize or even perfect these techniques quickly as possible. It took me years in order get where I am today." His eyes shined with sincerity and honesty. "But that doesn't mean I can't help lend you a hand."
Sparing with Raidou as far different from sparing with Hayate or even Anko. It was quick and decisive before Harry had even realized what had happened, while the man had praised his skills in dodging and reaction it seemed he had lacked the intuition and knowledge how dealing with physical assaults. Raidou had proved it over and over again usually having Harry end up straight on his ass until they resumed again, every time improving with results though still lacking in some areas. While strength was important it wasn't the most important thing when it came to a fight, being able to defend and counter the attack were vital in a fight.
Morning exercises consisted in running around the castle and the Quidditch field before pushing up sit ups and push ups. Then came dodging practice with dulled kunai and finally moving straight towards sparring, Raidou had also taught Harry the Shunshin Jutsu in order to make the fighting a bit more... interesting.
After being beaten again, Harry rubbed his back as Raidou chuckled softly. "You still have a lot to learn, but you've certainly improved." Helping the boy up as gave a good slap on the back. "Ready to try this again?" Not even waiting for answer the silent man walked back over to his side where he stood patiently waiting for Harry to resume position.
Harry was starting to get a bit agitated at getting his ass kicked repeatedly there just had to be away for him to beat or at least stand his ground against the other. He was fully aware of the fact that in terms of strength Harry was at least Pre-Genin to Genin level when it came to Taijutsu while Raidou was a Tokubetsu Jounin, far superior in strength and mobility. It was rather difficult combating the man on an even level playing field plus while Harry had the advantage of height it still seemed like a disadvantage. Could he his Chakra somehow...
Use his Chakra.
Harry felt his body still for a moment, glancing at his hands. 'Could I really...?'
"Here I come!" Raidou announced charging straight towards the boy swiftly pulling his arms behind him, before sharply snapping his leg across the air aiming for the boy's head. Smirking as the boy was able to dodge the kick before lunging his arm forward. Watching as Harry used his elbows to block the attack before gripping Raidou's left wrist, smiling as the boy threw him against the nearest wall and began to pull back an army. Which didn't really concern him all that much really since the boy did lack the stren-
"HYA!"
The sounds of the wall shattering behind him sent a shock straight towards his system, his eyes bugged out completely. Slowly... very slowly Raidou turned before finding himself gapping in near horror the crater that had been formed from the punch's wake.
'T... this shouldn't be even remotely possible...' Raidou tried to rationalize. There was simply NO way Harry could have been able to that at THIS age turning back slowly to the arrogant smirk on the boy's face as he began to prepare another punch. "I-I think that's enough for now, Harry."
The boy frowned. "Why?"
"J... just because. I think it's good time to stop and get something to eat. That's all." Seeing the disbeliving look Raidou quickly followed up with. "Really I forgot to eat this morning so I'm extremely hungry." It was damn right lie, thankfully the boy didn't call him out on it as they made their way to the door with him flickering back to the wall.
'... I REALLY hope that Dumbledore-sensei has large budget... and insurance.'
Anko
"YOU CRAZY FUCKING BITCH!"
Anko's insane glee seemed to have echoed through out the entire castle while she happily threw poison-laced shuriken towards her young student and watched with amusement as Harry narrowly dodged newly sharpened needles that skimmed across the back of his neck causing the boy's hair to stand on end.
The woman was crazy, insane, absolutely demanding and took glee in seeing Harry suffer from her training. Which is probably why Harry seemed to enjoy his training sessions with her the most as he dodged another swarm of kunai as he leaped straight into the air before throwing his own set of kunai towards the older woman. Anko wasn't the type of person who would allow Harry to even get a moments rest or recover. No, she could attack him relentlessly like a raging storm and do everything to see horrorfying reality within the bleak cruel world. The way he had come to see the world had all but been replaced by Anko's words and vision. At first, it had frightened him beyond recongition to what the woman had been teaching him. It really had. But he had glad that he was frightened.
Her gaze had been soft that day, Harry remembered it clearly after sparring with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.
"Good kiddo," Anko began sitting beside him." Fearing is a human emotion, one that should not be disregarded or seen as weakness. Without fear, it means you've overcome the bounds of the world and tried to ascend into something that's barely human. In way you'd have to stop calling yourself a human." She gazed at him deeply. "Never stop fearing, never consider it a weakness. It's nothing to be ashamed of." The woman had flashed him a motherly smile before it turned feral again. "Now let's get back to work!"
Shuddering as the miasma that came from in front of him, Harry covered his mouth in order to prevent it from entering his system and suffocating him. He had enough experinece with poisons for a lifetime! recalling the incident from last year.
"Hurry it up brat or else I'll have to make this course even more difficult!" Anko's voice shrilled into his head mockingly.
There was already a Genjutsu that prevented Harry from utulizing his Chakra AND caused the oxygen in the room to become dense, which meant it was rather difficult to move and breath. In general his body felt heavier then ever and his lungs seemed to have become restricted in a sense, Harry gripped his chest while feeling a strange burn through his body-
"GOTCHYA!" The sinister laughter of Anko snapped Harry out of his thoughts as the woman appeared above him with a rather sharp blade, looking ready to strike him across the face. The blade it's self looked sharp enough to leave a badly wounded scar if Harry wasn't careful.
Harry's used his free hand to make a seal. "Suiton: Sharp Turtle Barrier!"
A giant bubble of water formed around his body forming into a similar shape of a turtle's shell. Right at the centre of the water-shell, the mere spots of water began to twist and turn to form sharp pointed edges acting as it's offensive outlet.
Anko smirked. The bladed wielding hand fell straight towards the side, tilting her head before vanishing.
"A clone!" Harry realized only to feel the sharp pointed blade resting against his flesh. His body shivered as his glanced towards the side and saw the woman standing behind him, her free arm wrapped around his body thus holding him into place. The disturbance of his focus began to effect the Ninjutsu which lead the water that encased him to burst open, the water splashing everywhere. The woman's arm still held him as they fell straight back to the bottom of the room as it reverted into a simply brick one with nothing in it. "Damn it..."
Anko shrugged if a bit giddy. "Nothing to worry about kiddo, you've gotten a bit faster and resourceful. Didn't know the you learned a defensive Suiton Jutsu though, who taught you that?"
"Hayate-sensei." Harry answered while scratching his cheek sheepishly. "He wanted me to prepare in case I was attacked by a certain 'Psychotic-man eating woman' his words not mine." He watched curiously as Anko raised an eyebrow at that before grinning evily. He shuddered, glad that it was Hayate rather then him. "I also know Raiton: Shuriken Static Runner-"
"Yeah, yeah. That Jutsu you used during your Water-Walking spar, Haya-chan told me about that one." Waving her hand in dismissal as she grinned widely at him. "You learn quickly for a Pre-Genin, kiddo. I'm proud of yeah, you got more then half-way through my course today too!"
Harry face faulted. Not certain if he should be that happy or not. The course was the entire castle plus the lake and the forest, usually set with deadly traps and poison-laced weapons that could either have him ended paralyzed or killed on sight.
Anko strerched her arms outward. "Anyway I think that's enough for today," Yawning loudly as she tried to whip the sleep from her eyes. "I'm dead on my feet. Dealing with that obnxious asshole really took all of my energy out of me today."
"Obnixious asshole?" Lockhart came to Harry's mind.
"Yeah that Snape guy." Shuddering," Give me the creeps, makes me wonder if he ever showers in the morning or not. Hmmm..." Sly grin began to form on her face while her eyes glinted maliciously. "Maybe I should introduce him to shampoo and conditioner!"
Harry chocked.
T... that wasn't going to turn out well.
Konoha
Nearly an entire month had passed since sending Team Iruka to England, much had happened since then.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was ecstatic to hear of the young boy's training and how far he had come in his studies, Iruka had been kind enough to send a photo of the boy. The old man couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu when looking at this boy, he seemed very familiar to him. It wasn't a bad feeling at all either, rather it was calming and serene. However that wasn't why he was at the mission room today, no. Hiruzen's eyes gazed over the team that had been assembled together for the mission that was about to be unfold. His eyes landed on two people in particular.
A young man with blue hair, whose gaze was well composed and stoic regarding the man with respect and silence awaiting the orders he was about to receive. No longer was the boy, whom Hiruzen had recalled, usually lacked a shirt now was decked from head to toe with clothing. After what had happened the Hokage could not fault him or criticize the boy for his decision. In time he would learn from it. The semi-oldest member of the Genins that had been brought to his office, he was the most experienced which would be needed for the up coming trials ahead.
Beside him was a quite, but determined girl that Sarutobi felt that he had damned far long ago. To see her blazing will that echoed a bell, the man sincerely hoped that he man the right decision for the young child. Maybe... just maybe the power of magic could save her...
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"Your mission is an C-Rank Mission to Hogwarts via ferry. Please bring Kurama Yakumo and Tsukikaiyou Yuushi to the school and deliver this scroll to Team Iruka." Sarutobi's voice was hard as steel and gaze firm as ice. "This mission will be a duration of week to two weeks. I will expect you to report to my office once completed. Asuma, you will be leading the Team."
"Yatta! Another C-Rank Mission! Thanks Jiji-san!" The blonde hyperactive Shinobi, called Naruto sang happily while jumping straight into the air. Behind the mask he was far more then thankful then what those around him could see, he needed this. The boy told himself silently, he needed away from Konoha. Away from his team. If only for a week or so. Then he'd bounce back. Just like he always did.
A snort was heard. "Naruto, your troublesome." Nara Shikamaru thought this entire thing was troublesome, though it was the Hokage's orders so he really couldn't say anything. He didn't personally mind Naruto all that much however he was glad to have Shino and Asuma with him. It make the trip far more tolerable. Ino was busy helping out with her mother's Flower Shop due to her being ill and Chouji was training with his family in order to learn some new family Jutsus thus he was stuck with the team at that moment.
Shino well... he was Shino. He simply nodded.
"Alright, Team Asuma move!"
I am SO sorry that this chapter is late! I finished it several weeks ago, but school got in the way! As you all know RL and school come first. Also I want thank my wonderful beta; PyromaniacBlackWings for the lovely job that she has done editing this chapter and I thank all of you for reading and reviewing.
*Yuushi Tsukikaiyou is an original character developed for the purpose of building Harry's team. i HAVE looked at other fandoms in order to use a character, unfortunately I couldn't find a character that could suit my purpose. So PLEASE bare with the OC, that's all I ask.
Kazukimi: I'm glad to see that you approved, honesty I was a bit surprised that Rowling didn't bring in (other then the Weasleys) to become Harry's rescuers from the Durlsyes, his condition should have at least caught the attention of the staff or another adult. Awesome Clone! Tsunade is definitely Awesome!
Dark Neko 4000: Your just going to have to read to find out.
twilightserius: That would be a very interesting idea, but since Harry is a beginner at using Chakra it would probably take a long while before getting it done.
DrgnMstr: I'm honestly tired and perplexed by the whole 'Konoha cast go to Hogwarts to protect' said person, at 'this many years' or 'ANBU Career' it's quite annoying and irritating since it's the same rehashed plot over and over, with canon pairings. Urgh.
webpixie: yeah... for some reason some of my paragraphs and lines end up getting cut off and I can't find the reason why, by any chance do you know? Also for that I have an explanation for Dumbledore casting the spell over Kotetsu; he never heard him speak so naturally Dumbledore thought that he was unable to speak english. Kotetsu has bigger issues to deal with then talking. For the bones, the stinging of the pain as in the pain began to dull so Harry felt it. I hope I cleared that up a bit.
Painted-Purple: Thanks! Well there's a severe difference between 'Escort' and 'Guard Missions' as you can see at the end of the chapter. Team Asuma is 'escorting to Hogwarts' rather then going Iruka's Team on their mission, for me that make a lot more sense then having the Rookie 9 actually go and defend Harry themselves. Let's just say there's going to be subplot building up, that's all I'm going to say about Hayate's love problems. As for Team Seven, I'm trying to keep as close as in character for them as possible by still making it hilarous, Kakashi was a failure as teacher; a great Shinobi but a horrible teacher. As for Sasuke... yeah. I NEVER saw the point to his character other then him being Naruto's rival and all-around tough guy. As you can see in this chapter *points* that's exactly what I did.
Silvermane1: Thanks!
kirallie: Thanks! I don't honestly see Dumbledore as an evil person, simply blinded and misguided over the years. After all, he is a human. All humans make mistakes.
jgood27: Thanks!
Aurora Leon DelLuna: The words Mukuro Rokudo comes to mind. *muses and looks thoughtful* hmmm...
Exodiano: Lol, thank you for voting I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
917brat: Hehehehe... I have several ideas with Magic Healing and Chakra Heal don't you worry about that *cackles*
mishap: Why thank you, I'm glad that my fic has caught your interest. I'll admit it's actually very difficult with writing lesser known characters Ex: ike Izumo and Kotetsu, I'm happy to hear that you think I'm doing them justice. There will be several scenes that will be kept canon mainly because I actually have some ideas that I use and sculpt to my needs. I plan on divulging deeper into Harry's and Anko's relationship, though I'm going to make this statement: SNAKES will NOT be Harry's summon. And don't worry, your not being bossy I like it when reviews bounce some ideas in their reviews I think it helps the writer in a lot of ways. You'll definitely be seeing what Harry has grown into in the next chapter *grins*
izzywizzyme: Thanks! And nice idea to consider, thank you.
Cosmos Angel and Yami Chaos: Thanks I will thank you!
Harry's POSSIBLE pairings: Pein, Yuushi (Maybe), Utakata, Shi, *T, *M.
Naruto's POSSIBLE pairings: Pein, Kiba, Shikamaru, Itachi, *S, *M.
Please note that this is NOT a poll; merely ideas; also T, M and S are CANON characters.
Male Tsunade: 11
Clone! Minato: zero.
Other details-
Medic-Nin with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu: 1
Tsunade Route with Seals: 3
Tsunade Route with Runes and seals: 4
Tsunade Route with Mediwizard and Ninjutsu: 1
Genjutsu Master: 1
Remember: If you've voted ALREADY you CANNOT vote again for Harry's Path.
Once again, please leave constructive criticism in your reviews!