Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 10

Harry stared at his cousin's bowed head and stiff form; the pale fingers clenched hard into the couch. He felt sick. His head was spinning but…his own older cousin had been there to kill him? Had killed all the family but Sasuke? Why? And Sasuke…why had no one been there for him after? How could they let a traumatised child live alone? Was the cold arrogant boy he'd described himself as anything like how Dumbledore thought he'd turn out if raised with his fame? Orochimaru…good thing that bastard was dead because if he wasn't Harry had the feeling he'd be able to successfully cast an Unforgivable in order to destroy him.

He closed his eyes, he had to calm down, couldn't afford a magical accident, could feel it boiling under his skin in reaction to his anger. He opened his eyes to see Sasuke hunching in on himself and forced himself to move. He stood and took the two steps necessary to take him to his cousin before sinking to his knees. Harry slowly reached out and cupped Sasuke's cheek, urging his head up. He might not understand Seals and stuff, but he knew what mind control sounded like. Haunted dark eyes met his, wary, and Harry knew Sasuke was just waiting to be rejected.

He leant in and wrapped his arms arounds his cousin, feeling him sitting utterly still, barely breathing. "It's okay," he whispered.

Sasuke shuddered but Harry felt one hand tangle in the back of his shirt in return. "How… how can you… the things I've done."

"But it wasn't you if that thing was influencing, controlling, you," Harry answered. He'd seen what the Imperious could do after all.

"But I tried to…"

"Would you do that now?"

"NO!" Sasuke jerked back, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Then the controlled you is very different to the real you," Harry stated firmly, meeting his eyes, even though they were now red. He was not going to be scared of Sasuke, no matter the memories tied to that colour. "If you weren't freely deciding to do those things, then how can they be your fault?"

Sasuke just stared at hm, stunned?

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Sasuke had waited for his cousins' reaction in silence, heart in his throat. When the silence stretched on, he could feel his body curling in on itself, trying to protect himself from something. He heard movement, Harry getting up to leave obviously, so he was surprised to find Harry kneeling in front of him. He could have resisted his grip but didn't, letting Harry lift his head to make eye contact. He wasn't sure what he was seeing in green eyes but then Harry spoke and it made no sense. Where was the anger? Hatred? Disgust? He must not have understood…hugging, Harry was hugging him.

"It's okay," was whispered in his ear, and he couldn't help lifting one hand to grip the back of Harry's shirt, shuddering slightly at the words. It wasn't okay, he didn't understand.

"How… how can you… the things I've done," he stammered, he hated when that happened, but couldn't help it.

Harry needed to understand…but Sasuke didn't want Harry to hate him. had they met before those cursed chūnin exams, he wouldn't have really cared if Harry liked him, just that he stayed alive and safe because he was family. He hated to think what he might have done to his civilian cousin while under Orochimaru's control. What would the snake have done to Harry for their bloodline?

"But it wasn't you if that thing was influencing, controlling, you," Harry answered, sounding so firm in that belief.

"But I tried to…" he tried to argue, but unable to specify which crime he was speaking of, there were more than anyone knew. But he meant trying to kill Naruto, to him that was the worst thing he'd been made to do. He'd still had some idea back then that something was happening to him, but he hadn't been able to fight against the changes.

"Would you do that now?" Harry asked seriously, and Sasuke jerked back, hurt by the question.

"NO!" he denied immediately, able to feel the Sharingan react to his distress, but this time Harry didn't pull away at the sight.

"Then the controlled you is very different to the real you," Harry stated firmly. "If you weren't freely deciding to do those things, then how can they be your fault?"

Sasuke was stunned, was it really that simple for his cousin? How could he just ignore the years Sasuke had spent with Orochimaru? Was it willing blindness from a civilian who didn't understand chakra and seals or anything about their lives?

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Naruto wiped the sweat from his eyes, grinning as he examined his work. He was giving the cousins privacy for their talk but he hadn't wanted to go too far. So he was doing some work on the house next door. D-ranks could occasionally be useful. So far there'd been no yelling, no explosions, nothing and that had to be a good sign, right?

He liked Harry, and he knew Sasuke wanted his cousin in his life. He just really hoped that Harry could accept Sasuke's past, and the fact his other cousin wanted him dead. Not that they'd let Itachi kill him. No way! Itachi had hurt Sasuke so much, never again. Jiraiya had begun training him to be able to fight a Sharingan user. Apparently his own unpredictability was a great first step in that, but he had to be able to fight and remember not to look at his opponents face, to watch their body instead. He figured Sasuke would be willing to help him with that, he knew Ero-Sennin had been partially training him to fight Sasuke originally, but now the training would be aimed solely at Itachi. Even without the threat he posed to Sasuke and now Harry, he'd come after Naruto once and might be sent again.

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Sakura leant over the diagrams, listening carefully as Shizune went over things slowly. She was the medic for Team 7, if something happened in the field then she needed to be able to at least assess and give beginning treatment should anyone be hurt but with the eyes it was really important to be precise. Naruto wasn't too much of a worry thanks to the Kyūbi, but Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei would be difficult. She figured their sensei would actually be the more difficult to treat since his Sharingan was transplanted. And now Harry was also partially in her care since he was attached to their team.

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Hermione sighed and pushed her book away, going to look out the window, absently petting Hedwig. There'd been no sign of Harry since the attack and she was terrified for him, even studying couldn't fully take her mind off of the problem. After hearing even a vague description second hand of the people he'd been seen with, none of them sounded familiar. But why would he go with strangers? Harry was smarter than that.

She was glad that Tonks was willing to keep her updated on the quiet or she'd be going crazy. But there was nothing she could do. Hermione had tried sending Hedwig to him, but even the smartest and most loyal owl had been unable to find him.

Hermione watched her parents car pull into the driveway, home from work. She was scared for them now that the Death Eaters could act openly. Muggleborn homes weren't allowed to be warded which meant the house was vulnerable, so was their practise. Plus, if they were attacked Hermione wasn't seventeen yet, wouldn't be till after the school year started. If she was forced to defend them she could end up in the same kind of mess Harry had last summer. She'd kept up with the news, Fudge was on the way out which was a relief, but who would replace him?

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Harry flopped back on the grass, hearing Kakashi chuckle, lifting his head enough to glare at the man. That was…ugh. This whole chakra thing was just plain weird. He didn't have to find his magic, it just came to him, why did chakra need finding? He'd thought he might have felt a flicker of something this time at least, which was a big improvement. Maybe if he was better at Occlumency he'd be better at figuring out if it was his magical core or something else that he'd felt.

"Alive down there?" the older man asked, and Harry pushed himself up, seeing the other three working on…something. "You're doing good for someone with no training," he offered.

"Really?" he didn't believe it.

"Really."

Well, Harry supposed a teacher would know. He got to his feet and staggered slightly, feeling a little lightheaded. He caught the snack bar that was tossed to him and opened it, they were really bland but they were handy as snacks and the whole team seemed to carry them. Not as sugary as a Wizarding snack but since he wasn't using his magic, it wasn't too bad. Thankfully, they all ate good sized meals so his restored appetite wasn't raising any eyebrows, magicals tended to eat more than muggles. Which made his lack of proper meals as a kid and during summers really bad for him but it wasn't like the Dursley's cared.

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Any normal civilian kid would surely be complaining about the bland flavour of ration bars but Harry never once complained. Kakashi had never been a very picky eater himself but he knew most kids were, but Harry never hesitated to eat what was given. Added in with how thin he'd been, that was not a good sign. But Sakura assured them that the teen was putting on weight, and other than something she wouldn't comment on, he was healthy. He'd had three eye treatments and apparently Shizune thought the next would be enough for him to be able to get by without any glasses at all.

Kakashi had heard the story spreading through the Village, had even been approached for confirmation. News was out that Sasuke had a cousin and so far they all seemed accepting of Harry's presence. One or two were wary of another Uchiha after Sasuke's 'defection', even after Tsunade explaining it hadn't been his fault. Still, most seemed pleased to have one of the founding clans grow in number again.

And it was likely that after almost a month in Konoha…news of Harry's existence had spread beyond Konoha. And that meant that sooner or later, someone would make a try for him. Would it be to kill him or take him though?

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Sasuke lay on his side, staring at the closed window, all he had to do was shift a little and Naruto would be pressed up against him. Did he need it tonight? Did…did he want it? He knew Harry had thought they were a couple, and it was nice to know that wouldn't bother him like it would many civilians, but still…he'd always planned to bring the clan back…except now he wasn't the only option for that. But he couldn't just shove that kind of pressure onto Harry.

Rebuilding the clan would eventually require one or both of them to marry and have kids. Honestly, Sasuke knew he wasn't anywhere near ready to even think about marriage or girls…the only one he could stand being near was Sakura and he didn't feel like that about her, did he? It was all so confusing. He wished his mother was still alive, that he could talk to her about it. He was closest to Naruto out of everyone, did that mean he felt that way about him? Did Naruto see him that way?

"I can hear you over thinking stuff," Naruto grumbled, rolling so that his front was almost pressed to Sasuke's back, letting him decide whether or not they would touch. "Whatever it is, think about later," Naruto yawned.

Sasuke snorted softly but closed his eyes, and then he shifted back that tiny bit, feeling the heat of Naruto's body sink into his own. He was really warm for someone who wasn't a fire nature, then again, wasn't the Kyūbi? He remembered his own family being so warm, like their favoured fire jutsu's, but his own nature was mainly lightning.

"Sleep," Naruto mumbled, cutting off the memories.

He took a deep breath and slowly released it, body relaxing.

It felt like he'd barely closed his eyes when something snapped him back to full alert, feeling Naruto come awake as well even as they both remained still and breathing evenly. His first thought was another nightmare…but it was silent…too quiet. Without speaking they were both up and moving, grabbing weapons. Naruto signalled and Sasuke nodded so the blond left via the window, Sasuke feeling several Kage Bunshin form and spread out, searching the grounds. Sasuke took a steadying breath and then slipped from the bedroom to search the house.

He ducked, kunai coming up to block another weapon. The house had been breached! He hadn't brought his sword, the house was too confined, there was too much chance of getting the blade caught. But that was fine, he'd trained with kunai his whole life. The hall was too dark to see in, very little starlight filtering inside. He activated the Sharingan, his vision immediately improving as his eyes amplified what little light there was. He couldn't see in pitch blackness but there was just enough light to work with, and he could see his opponent's chakra, that was more than enough to even up the fight.

He ducked another attack completely, shifting closer to thrust his kunai into his attackers eye. He missed, the other dodging, but his follow up scored a hit, drawing blood. A soft thump from Harry's room had him tensing. Had the fight woken him…or was someone in there?

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Naruto summoned up some clones as soon as he was through the window, splitting up to cover the entire compound. They couldn't risk clearing the house and then being taken by surprise. Thankfully, the moon was close to full so he had a good amount of light to work with, tapping ever so lightly into the fox's chakra to enhance his senses further. No one was getting passed him and into the house!

Smelling blood he slipped deeper into the compound only to stare in shock at the body of an Anbu, that was not good. It looked like they'd been taken by surprise, unable to sound the alarm. Should he? Or hope the two of them could deal with the intruders without alarming everyone? He grimaced but then stopped trying to hide, flaring his chakra in a specific pattern.

He grimaced as one of his clones died but then he leapt onto the roof and ran for where it had been killed, spotting slight movement in the shadows.

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Sasuke couldn't help the slight hiss of pain as his original opponent scored a hit. Annoyingly, they'd been joined by another, though Sasuke had managed to force the fight out of the hall and back into the living room, giving him more room to manoeuvre. Whoever they were, they were good, and it was becoming very frustrating. He'd heard more noise from Harry's room, but no cries of pain, was that good or bad? His cousin hadn't learnt enough to handle enemies of this calibre.

He was going to have to start bugging Kakashi for more jutsu after this, he needed more that could be used safely indoors. Yes, the Uchiha compound houses were more fire resistant than others, but they would still burn. Pretty much his entire repertoire was too destructive to be used inside a building he didn't want to bring down on his head.

From the sounds filtering in from outside, Naruto was fighting too. Which meant there was no one free to deal with whoever was after Harry. Where was Anbu? There were meant to be patrols around the compound, partially because the council had wanted him watched for a while and partially due to Harry's presence and Itachi having tried to kill him once already.

His fingers flashed through the signs as he locked onto one of the enemy nin, lightning shrouding his hand as he launched himself at the other. He felt it as his hand plunged through flesh and bone, pulling back quickly to block at attack from the other enemy.

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Harry stirred sleepily, blinking up at the ceiling. What had woken him? He didn't remember a nightmare…the hair on the back of his neck prickled and without thought he rolled to the side, hearing something thud where he'd been lying. His arm heated up as his wand reacted, magic rising. What? The room was dark, but not as dark as the forest at night. He made out a form near the window. He couldn't even duck behind the bed, one downside to having the native kind of bed. The figure was too tall for his cousin and he wouldn't attack him in bed. And it was too bulky for Kakashi…Harry lunged again, seeing something shiny out of the corner of his eye. His vision still wasn't great but at least he wasn't practically blind without his glasses.

He found himself gripping a kunai in one hand, didn't even remember grabbing the weapons pouch from beside the bed. There was no way he could fight a ninja with their own kind of weapon, he'd seen his cousin and the team train enough times to know he was way out matched…without magic. But that would break the Statute…except this was starting to look like a life-threatening situation. His wand dropped into his hand, and he threw a stunner, grimacing when the shadow dodged. Where were Sasuke and Naruto?

"Avis," he whispered, directing the birds towards the shadow as a distraction. They were ignored, until they dive bombed him or her. As they moved to shove them away Harry cast again. "Confundo," he hissed, but did it hit? He tapped himself on top of the head, casting the disillusionment charm on himself. "Homenum Revelio," he cast as well. Okay, only one opponent, three humans registering out…in the main room he thought. One ninja, he could manage that…hopefully.

Most of the combat capable spells he knew either needed precise aim or weren't smart to use in a wooden house, like incendio. He could hear the fighting now and hoped that was good and didn't mean his cousin was…nope, no thinking of that.

"Muffliato," he cast again, not to keep from being heard so much as to hopefully disorientate them further. He didn't know if ninja would be affected by magic the same as a muggle or magical, what if they were immune?

But the person did seem unable to find him, if he moved they might spot that though. They were moving around, sooner or later they'd walk into him if he didn't take them down or move. He needed a one hit knock out and for them to stand still long enough. Stupefy would be obvious, so could he temporarily blind them? An overpowered lumos might do it, but it'd also give his location away…and that point became moot as he was forced to throw himself across the bed to dodge haphazardly thrown weapons.

"Lumos!" he yelled, pouring power into the charm. He closed his eyes, hating to have to do it, but he rolled to keep moving. He opened his eyes to see his opponent with a hand over the face, the light not fully faded yet. "Petrificus Totalus, Petrificus Totalus, Petrificus Totalus." He cast it three times as fast as he could, spreading them out and the third one just clipped the persons shoulder, sending them falling to the floor.

Harry got up and cautiously approached, wand aimed. He nudged the person…man from the look of it, with his foot but he didn't stir. There was a cry of pain from elsewhere and then the shutters rattled and he spun, dropping into a crouch but it was a familiar figure who leapt through and he quickly holstered his wand.

"Harry," Naruto grinned in obvious relief.

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As extra Anbu appeared Naruto ran for Harry's window, knowing he would have been the target. He slammed into the shutters and they held for a second before bursting open, spilling him into the room and he took it in in a second. There was a black clad form on the floor, not moving but no blood. Crouched on the floor was harry, green eyes wide, but he relaxed at seeing Naruto.

"Harry." He couldn't help grinning in relief at the sight of the other teen seemingly unharmed. And he'd even taken out his attacker! He had been attacked, Naruto could see the weapons in the sheets and in the walls. But he was okay, that was the important thing.

The door slammed open and Naruto shoved Harry behind him, but it was Sasuke, a thin line of blood on his cheek and looking rather ruffled, smelling of ozone.

"Harry?!" And apparently panicking.

"He's here, he's okay," Naruto answered quickly, tugging him forward again so the cousins could see each other.

He couldn't wait to hear how Harry had taken out the enemy nin!

TBC…

I figured I'd hinted enough at people targeting Harry once they knew he existed, time to have it happen.