Steve: And here we go! The final chapter of my update!
Yui: At last! Hopefully the next update won't be quite so large...though knowing you...
Pen-pen: Wark, war arr ark waa waark wa waaaarrrrkkk a warkk waarrk wa waaarkkk ar wark. (Yeah, you got the bad habit of downloading a large amount of chapters at once.)
Hinata: Unfortunitly I must agree with them.
Steve: Not you too! (A few seconds pass before Steve shrugs) Oh, well. What can I say? When you guys are right, your right. Anyways, disclaimer please?
Pen-Pen: (Wark Wa WAAK arrk waark)
Hinata: Translation is "The author doesn't own Harry Potter or Naruto". He just owns this story, the plot and his insane plot-bunnies.
Why me?Shinigami/Demon/Inner-Sakura
'Who?' Thoughts
-YO!- Animal speech
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
We open to the sight of Sakura groaning as she opens her eyes. Blinking at the light streaming through the window it takes her a moment before the events of the day before come rushing back. She straightens as her eyes pop open, only to shut them a moment later as what feels like thousands of burning needles stab into them. 'Ugh! Kami-sama, I hate this… my whole body aches and my head…' Inside her, Inner-Sakura nods before wincing herself.
'Yeah, tell me about it…'Both wince again as it seems that every sound is stabbing into their brain like a rusty kunai. 'I wonder… is this what a hangover feels like?'Sakura goes to shake her head, but at the last moment stops.
'I really don't know… But if it is, I'm NEVER going to drink.' Inner-Sakura nods before their attention is taken by the door to the room they're in opening. A moment later Naruto walks in with a tray full of food whose smell cause Sakura's mouth to water. "Naruto?" Blinking in shock for a moment, Naruto smiles, glad as he can see that she's awake.
"Good morning sleepy head. You've been asleep for a while." Setting it down, he can see the unasked question in her eyes. "You've been asleep for almost two days." Sakura's mouth drops at this.
"Two… Two days!" Naruto nods before pushing the food towards her. Looking at it, she notices that it has several of her favourite breakfast foods. Suddenly her stomach growls making her realize exactly how hungry she really is. "Is this all mine?" Naruto nods at her with a slight chuckle.
"Well, yeah. I figured that you could use something to eat seeing as you've been asleep all that time." She nods thankfully before digging in causing Naruto to chuckle before he continues. "I suppose you want to know how everyone's doing right?" He shakes his head in amusement as she nods while trying to eat several strips of bacon. "Well, Kakashi-sensei is suffering again from chakra exhaustion as is Zabuza…" He notices as her mouth drops spilling out some food.
"Za… Zabuza! What's he doing here!" Naruto shrugs in answer.
"Apparently nii-san made some kind of deal with Haku-nee-san and Zabuza's going through with it… Well, more like Haku-nee-san is forcing him to." Sakura giggles as Naruto comically shivers. "Trust me when I say that she can be really scary when she wants to be." A sly grin comes over his face as he chuckles. "Also trust me when I say that I think that nii-san has his hands full." Sakura just cocks her head to the side in askance.
"What are you talking about?" She suddenly realizes what Naruto's talking about causing her to burst out into giggles. "Oh! I bet Hana-san isn't happy." She blinks as Naruto snickers. "What?" Naruto's sly grin widens.
"That's why he has his hands full, Hana's helping her." He starts laughing as her eyes widen comically. "Yup! The two are double teaming him… though Zabuza and the Demon brothers keep trying to intimidate him… which usually ends with Haku-nee-san hitting them." Sakura giggles some more as she motions him to go on. "So yeah, they're here… Oh! And speaking of having hands full, Iruka-sensei is continually running around since Hisame has apparently decided he's boyfriend material… It's actually pretty funny to see." Noticing that she's finished, he goes to pick up the plates. "Anyways, I'll just drop these off in the kitchen and tell them that you're your awake." Opening the door, he gently shuts it, the sound of it still hurting Sakura's ears for some reason. Remembering that she has to talk to Naruto, she starts thinking.
'Hey, do you think that I should tell Naruto that I know some of his secrets?' Inner-Sakura nods to herself.
'I think you should. Better to do it now then later when he might get mad because we didn't tell him.' Sakura becomes slightly nervous.
'Really? I don't know… he be pissed that we now know-' She's cut off as her Inner cuts herself off.
'I doubt it. This is Naruto we're talking about.' She shrugs. 'We've known him for a time and he's never shown that he can hold a grudge remember? Also… for some reason I can't help but think that he might be happy if we do tell him, because then he'd have someone other then Hinata to talk to.' Still nervous, Sakura nods.
'Yeah, maybe you're right… What was that?' Looking towards the door she can almost hear voices. Slightly curious, she closes her eyes and concentrates and is slightly surprised as the voices become clearer and she can actually recognize them. 'Hey! That's Naruto!' She concentrates farther.
"Hey guys, guess what! Sakura-chan's awake!" Several sighs of relief are heard before Harry's voice butts in.
"Any difference in her behaviour? Hopefully not, but you never know." Naruto's voice answers.
"Besides being really hungry? No. And the hungry bit is to be expected. And before you ask, no, I don't know what abilities she might have gotten but it seems that she's fully out of the danger zone." She can hear Sasuke snort and his next words cause her to become depressed.
"So? Who cares?" Kakashi's angry voice interrupts him before Naruto can say anything.
"Sasuke! That is enough! She is a team mate and should be cherished as such, is that understood? Is it?" Sasuke 'Hn's' before falling silent as his footsteps then fade away. Harry's slightly angry voice then makes itself known.
"And here I was thinking that he might have changed, and yet he's worse!" Kakashi sighs.
"He's suffering from the fact that he was defeated even with his Sharingan activated and that both you and Naruto defeated powerful opponents." Naruto snorts and his next words nearly vibrate with anger.
"I don't give a shit Kakashi-sensei! If he dares to talk about her like that I'll give him a beat down. Now either you take care of his fucking ego or I will. And trust me when I say that you do NOT want that." Kakashi sighs as Sakura's stops concentrating with tears running down her face.
"That… That teme! I can't believe he could be that cold!" Inner-Sakura shakes her head but doesn't say anything. 'I know… I'll admit it, you're right… maybe it is time that I look somewhere else?' Inner-Sakura blinks before smiling.
'That… That just might be the smartest thing you've said yet.'Hearing this, Sakura narrows her eyes but before she can say anything Naruto opens the door and walks in with a glass of orange juice.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! I got… you…" Trailing off as he notices the recent trail of tears, he frowns as he sets the glass down on a nearby table. "Are you okay?" He doesn't get an answer as she flings herself into his arms and starts to cry. "Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" She just buries her face into his shoulder.
"I heard." He blinks in confusion. Seeing this, she explains. "I heard what you said downstairs… as well as what Sasuke…" Naruto's eyebrows rise at that.
'She heard that…?' His face softens as he realizes what she heard. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that. But how did you hear that?" She blinks before pulling away slightly.
"I… I don't know." She scratches her head as she tries to figure it out. "I don't know how I did. I mean, I've never had that good of hearing before and… Oh Kami! Is it because…" Naruto gives her a nod before pulling out a notepad.
"Yeah, it's probably because of the bite… Now I know that this will be hard Sakura-chan, but… Have you noticed anything else that's odd?" He nods when she tells him about how when she woke up with a headache and also how the sunlight hurt her eyes. Getting up, he closes the curtains fully and, unknown to Sakura, casts a dimming spell to make the room just slightly lighter then within a forest during dusk. She sighs and gives him a thankful smile.
"Thanks Naruto, my eyes feel a lot better." She blinks before answering when Naruto asks how well she can see. "I can actually see pretty well. It's still pretty bright, but not so much it hurts…Why?" Naruto chuckles before putting away the notebook.
"Well I guess congratulations are in order." Seeing her blink, he chuckles again. "It seems that one of the effects of the bite is that you now have enhanced senses. Probably night vision as well now that I think of it. Now, these senses are probably close to those of an ANBU or Hunter-nin. As to others…" He shrugs before continuing. "We probably won't know until some time has passed." Suddenly, Sakura starts looking very nervous. "Sakura-chan… Is there something that you want to tell me?" Sighing she nods.
"Yes… Naruto? Do promise not be angry with me?" He blinks before nodding. Taking a deep, calming breath, she starts. "… Last night I saw… some of your memories after you left…" Naruto pales as he gulps.
"My… Memories…? What did you…" Her answer tells him everything as she looks away.
"I… I know about the Kyubi and your… relationship." Taking a deep breath, Naruto casts several spells to stop eavesdroppers . Getting up, he starts pacing before looking at her.
"Tell me what you know…" At the end of her telling he practically collapses, almost seeming to fold in half before he looks at her with fear in his eyes. "Sakura-chan… I can understand if you no longer want to be friends…" Seeing her shocked expression, he hangs his head and gets up before heading to the door. But before he can reach it, Sakura leaps up and grabs him in a hug.
"Baka!" Seeing the confused expression on his face she brings up her hand and places it on his cheek as they stare into each others eyes. "Baka. Do you really think that that would make me stop being your friend? HA! Think again! And here I thought that you knew me better then that!" Naruto just stares at her uncomprehending.
"Sakura-cha-" She cuts him off by the expedient method of placing her finger on his lips.
"That's enough. I don't care if you have the Kyubi no Kitsune in your stomach. To me you are Uzumaki-Potter Naruto, my best friend. Nothing else, understood." She's shocked as Naruto allows some tears to escape his eyes, but then watches as he lights up the room with a smile. Wiping his eyes on a sleeve, he gives her a truly thankful look.
"Thank you Sakura-chan, I…" He starts choking up. "I really appreciate it." She chuckles.
"You don't have to thank me Naruto, rather I should thank you for saving my life." She winks at him. "Besides, I be a supremely lousy friend if I didn't support you after everything you've done for me over the years." She continues to stare at him with a smile as he does the same for several minutes until a knocking on the other side of the door shocks them out of the state they were in. Springing apart, Sakura looks at the door. "Yes?" On the other side, Kakashi's voice comes through.
"I don't know what you two are doing, but I think your both still a little too young for that yet." Both Sakura and Naruto go red in the face at the insinuation. As shown a moment later as both of them shout at the door.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" He just chuckles, his mission of embarrassing them completed. Noticed by Naruto is the fact that Sakura's eyes flash purple for a moment in her anger, but he files it away for later. Calming down as their sensei's foot steps fade away, Sakura looks at Naruto and starts moving the tip of her foot back and forth across the floor while blushing.
"Baka hentai-sensei thinking that we were doing THAT in here." Naruto starts nodding empathically, a similar blush on his face.
"Yeah! He's a real pervert!" He looks at Sakura. "Like we would be doing that! We're just friends after all." Sakura nods before looking down.
"That's right! We're only friends. We would never do anything like that." Sakura's surprised to find that she's almost disappointed by that. Shaking her head, she turns to see Naruto looking at her with an almost thoughtful look before he blushes and looks away. 'You know… he does look cute… GAH! I BLAME YOU INNER-ME!' She just snorts.
'Sure… Blame the other personality.' She shakes her head chuckling. 'Just admit it, you wouldn't mind it.'Sakura just blushes, which is enough an answer as it is. Shaking her head, she notices Naruto looking at her with an amused expression.
"Inner-Sakura again?" Sakura just sighs and nods before smiling.
"Yes…" She chuckles almost ruefully. "It actually feels nice that I can now talk to someone about this." Naruto shrugs with a smile. Looking her self over Sakura starts scowling. "I need a bath." She sniffs herself and jerks away making Naruto burst out laughing. "Scratch that, I REALLYneed a shower." Naruto shakes his head still laughing.
"Don't worry, there's plenty of hot water left for you." She nods and walks over and grabs a change of clothes. Before heading out the door, she turns to kiss Naruto's cheek. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately depending on how you look at it, Naruto was turning at that exact moment and thus their lips meet. Standing stock still for a moment, they're eyes drift close as they enjoy the kiss. A cough causes them to jump apart. Looking for the source, they find Kakashi there giving them an eye-smile.
"Well now, I thought that nothing was going on?" Blushing so hard that she resembles a tomato, Sakura stomps off but not before punching Kakashi's head into the floor. "Itai…" Naruto simply sighs.
"You really have bad timing Kakashi-sensei…" This fact is punctuated by a door slamming.
00000000 Later 0000000
Having finished her shower, Sakura reaches from behind the curtain and grabs a towel. A few moments later she steps out with a sigh. "Ahhh! I feel somewhat human now." Curious, she walks over to the mirror and wipes the fog off of it. "Now let's see…" She starts listing any differences. Looking closer, she notices something about her lips. 'Huh. That's odd. They seem… redder, and plumper then before.' Sighing, she lightly touches her lips, which brings back the memory of the kiss she had recently shared with Naruto. Inner-Sakura starts smirking.
'I told you that he was a good kisser.'Sakura merely huffs before blushing with a sigh.
'Yeah? And so what? We're friends.' Inner-Sakura just sighs as Sakura continues her observations. She sighs a little at her now longer canines and lifting up her hand she looks closely at her finger nails. 'Hmm. They're a little longer then they were.' She's pulled from her fingers when she spots something. Twisting her neck, she brings up her finger to two small, almost unnoticeable black spots. Touching them, she shivers. 'That's where…' Inner-Sakura nods.
'Yeah… that's where we were bitten…'Bringing her hand down, Sakura takes a deep, shuddering breath. As she's reaches for her clothes, Inner-Sakura wonders something that causes her to stop. 'You know what? I wonder if Naruto-kun has a mark where we bit him…?'
00000000 A few minutes later in the kitchen 00000000
Naruto's helping Tsunami wash several dishes when all of a sudden he finds his neck being twisted by Sakura's grip. Blinking, he raises an eyebrow. "Yes? May I help you?" She keeps twisting his neck this way and that.
"Yeah I'm looking for the bite mark if you have… Ah ha! Got it!" She brings her face close to examine the two small white spots on his neck. Of course, Kakashi's amused by this and doesn't keep his mouth shut.
"Wow! You bit him Sakura? Man! I didn't know that you were into that!" Feeling the KI being produced, he decides that discretion is the better part of valour and starts looking for a way out. "Er… Do you hear that?! Sasuke's calling me for some help, see you later!" And with that he leaves the room in a hurry causing Sakura to snort. Naruto looks at her in amusement before shaking his head.
"Anyways Sakura-chan, want to help?" Thinking it over, she nods and pulls up her sleeves before taking a dish from the rack and putting it away. Naruto notices her looking at him as if she wants to ask him something. "Yes Sakura-chan? What is it?" She looks nervous for a moment.
"I was wondering… Well, I was wondering about this CRA you and Harry are under." Blinking at the question, Naruto takes a moment.
"Well… What do you know about it?" Sakura shrugs before answering.
"Not to much, only what Harry told me… which isn't much." Naruto motions her to go on. "All I really know about it is that it's for bloodline clans that have low numbers and that it allows the person who's under it to marry multiple women… and that's about it." Naruto nods at this, neither noticing Tsunami listening in.
"Well, the history about it is complicated. The law itself goes back to the Shodaime Hokage's time. As you may remember from our history lessons back that then there was both the First and Second Great Ninja Wars, right?" She nods at this as he continues. "Back then kunoichi weren't on the front lines as often as shinobi were so a lot of the casualties were among the males of various clans. This would reduce the available pool of men for the various clans. And if you remember back then women didn't have as many rights as men so it was more important to have a male heir then a female one since only a male could carry on the name at that time." She nods at this in understanding.
"Yeah, thankfully times have changed as have attitudes… why? What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto sighs before he resumes his explanation.
"It actually has everything to do with it. Remember, male heirs were far more preferable to female ones, right?" He wait's a moment as she nods. "Anyways, it was decided that in the case of a clan that had less then three male members as well as a bloodline they would have the need of having more children born into the clan in order to increase the possibility of male's carrying the bloodline. Thus, the CRA or Clan Revival/Resurrection Act was created since it was possible for a man to create more offspring in a shorter period of time then a woman could by simply impregnating multiple women." Sakura's face twists into a mask of distaste.
"That's… That's so wrong! It's sexist!" Naruto nods in agreement with a sigh.
"You got no argument from me Sakura-chan. In fact the Shodaime was against this as was the Nidaime. But both had to bow to various factions including the Fire daimiyo." Sakura's eyes pop open at this in shock as Naruto nods. "Yes, it was one of the few time they interfered in how the village was run. So they bowed to pressure and instituted it with the requirement that it would be used on a case by case basis and be agreed to by the Hokage, the Council and, if they were old enough or were at least chuninin rank, the person it was being used for. If the person was younger then the age of consent or not of chunin rank then the council could decide for them." Sakura starts shaking her head in exasperation.
"I still can't believe that is an actual law." A thought suddenly occurs to her. "Are there any clans around that it was enacted for?" Naruto nods at this.
"As a matter of fact yes. Unfortunately a number have perished over the years even with the law, a large number during the Kyubi attack." Both him and Sakura share a look at this. "Anyways, the Kurama clan is one from the First Great Ninja War as well as, strangely enough, the Inuzuka." Sakura blinks at this to which Naruto shrugs before handing her a plate. "I know, odd right? But as it turned out the Inuzuka clan was actually reduced down to six members near the middle of the Second Great Ninja War about sixty-five years ago, only one of which was a boy of about thirteen." At this point Tsunami (who's been listening in with interest) pipes up.
"That's… very interesting. I never thought about what would happen inside a ninja village during a war… These ninja wars aren't really taught in schools that I know of. So what are the requirements?" Naruto looks at her with a smile before continuing his little lesson.
"I'm not surprised that you don't know much about them since most civilians wouldn't notice them unless it involved them." Taking a dish from Tsunami, he starts drying it. "Anyways, there's actually a few requirements for it. The first is that it's active until the clan reaches at least fifteen members, if not twenty, who have the bloodline. Another is at least one of the women would have to be of child bearing age." Tsunami blinks at this.
"Well, that can't be that big of a problem since a woman could give birth at fourteen." Naruto sighs, but is beaten to the answer by Sakura.
"While that is true for civilian women, it's not for kunoichi." Tsunami starts at this. "It's true that a kunoichi can give birth at fourteen with out much danger, but doing so carries the danger that they might no longer be able to continue as a ninja. So it's considered better to wait till at least seventeen when the chakra system can deal with the strain." Tsunami dries her hands as she thinks it over.
"I never knew that. I thought that it would be the same with a normal woman." Naruto shrugs.
"It should be, but for some odd reason it seems that carrying a child puts an active kunoichi's coils under a large amount of strain. Anyways, a problem with this is that if the person hasn't found a person of proper age then the Village council can pick one. This part is often used to cement alliances between clans and even countries." He shrugs. "That's one of the parts that I don't like since you might be shoving together people who want nothing to do with each other." All of them nod at this as they continue their talk, the two ninja not knowing about the germ of an idea forming in Tsunami's mind.
0000000000000000 With Harry 000000000000
Harry is walking through the forest close to Tazuna's house with a relaxed look on his face as he enjoys the amount of quiet time available to him. Taking a deep, relaxing breath, he has to fight the urge to scratch at the large bandage around his shoulder. 'This is what I hate about getting so hurt. The itchiness always gets to me no matter how much I try to ignore it.' Hearing a sound, he walks towards it to find Haku gathering herbs while humming with little snitches of song thrown in every once in a while. He softly smiles at the totally relaxed look on her face. 'Man. She's truly as beautiful as a goddess.' Unknowing of her audience, Haku continues picking herbs.
"… Fly me to the moon…" Noticing a shadow, she tenses before rapidly turning . Seeing Harry, she relaxes before looking at him with a spot of humour. "And how long have you been there?" Harry shrugs with a lop-sided smile.
"Long enough." Spotting a white flower, he bends down and picks it before heading over and placing it behind Haku's ear. "There. Now you truly look picture perfect." Haku blushes at that as she looks at him demurely.
"Thank you." Looking at his bandage her face becomes saddened as she reaches out and lightly touches it. "And how's you arm? Any better?" Harry nods before inclining his head towards her basket.
"Thanks to you and your herbs I'll be better in a matter of days." Giving her a cheeky grin, he continues. "Thankfully, my after battle injuries healed ALOT faster." Haku's blush deepens at this as she remembers what injuries he's talking about.
000000000000 Flashback: Two days ago 000000000
Stumbling back to the house while being supported by Haku, Harry looks at her with a thankful smile. "Thanks Haku-chan. I re-" The resounding slap echoes through out the area. "Owww. What the bloody hell was that for?!" Reaching up to rub the hand print, Harry goes to glare at the girl beside him only to stop at the sight of tears in her eyes. "Haku-chan? What's the matter-" This turns out to be the wrong thing to say as she slaps him again ad starts glaring at him before lunching into a rant.
"What's the matter? WHAT'S THE MATTER!? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S THE MATTER!" Calming down, some anyways, she continues. "What the hell were you thinking!? HUH!?" Harry goes to open his mouth to say something when she cuts him off again. "I TELL YOU WHAT YOU WERE THINKING! YOU WEREN'T THINKING AT ALL YOU BAKA! You… you could have…(sob) died…" Taking her into a one armed hug (and wincing just the same) he feels her hitting his chest with her fists. "Why?! WHY!? It doesn't matter if I died, I'm just a tool-" This time she's the one interrupted as Harry starts shaking her.
"Now that's a lie Haku-chan! You are not just a tool you hear me! YOU. ARE. NOT. A. TOOL. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Taking several deep breathes, he reaches up and cups her cheek. "If you had died and I could have saved you I would never have forgiven myself. Besides," here he looks at her with some humour. "I AM the Boy-who lived after all. I can't die that easily." His face becomes more serious as he continues. "Now, I don't want to hear such things from you again. Do you understand? I don't know how… or even when, but I somehow came to care very deeply for you Haku-chan. Understood? You are one of my precious people and nothing's ever going to change that." She blushes at that.
"You… consider me… a precious person." Harry looks very embarrassed before he replies with a small nod. He's about to say something when Haku glomps him and starts crying into his shirt. A tap on her shoulder brings her back to reality as Hana is standing there with a wry grin with a large amount of amusement.
"I'm thinking that we should have a… nice… long… talk." Haku gulps before being grabbed and dragged off by Hana. Harry's about to say something when he's hit with a massive burst of KI. Turning, he's greeted with the sight of a glaring Zabuza.
'Oh…crap.'
000000000000000 End flashback 00000000000
The two laugh a little bit, though Haku is still embarrassed at what Hana told her. Shaking her head at such thoughts she looks at Harry with a thoughtful look. '… Though I don't really know if I mind her idea…' She jerks as Harry reaches down to grab her basket, but she grabs it before he can and glares at him. "Mine." Harry just holds out his hands to ward her off.
"Okay, okay. I understand, I'm not allowed to hold or even touch your basket." Looking at the clear blue sky visible through the trees branches, an idea comes to his mind. "Hey Haku-chan? Do you know where Hana-chan is?" She shakes her head.
"No why?" Harry bites his lip, but Haku giggles at him. "What's wrong Harry-kun?" Harry starts rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry, it's just that Hana-chan can be a little…" Harry starts squeezing his hand as if to try and come up with a word to describe her as Haku gets a mischievous look.
"She's what? Pushy? Perverted? Annoying sometimes?" Harry points at her.
"Exactly!" Looking around, he leans towards her. "Anyways, I was wondering if you would like to go for a ride with me." Haku starts blushing at the possible insinuation.
"Er… Sure I guess?" Harry grabs her hand with his good one before pulling her back to the house.
"Great! Come on Haku-chan!" Laughing at the exuberant look on his face, Haku runs with him. Upon reaching the house she observes Naruto, Sakura, and Tsunami sitting at the table talking. Putting down her basket on a nearby table, she walks up to them.
"Hello Naruto-kun. Sakura-san. Tsunami-san." They say hello back to her and ask what she's doing back. "Oh! Well, Harry-kun brought me back and asked if I wanted to go for a ride of some sort." She observes both Sakura and Tsunami blush while Naruto looks excited before looking outside and rubbing his hands.
"Awesome! It's been awhile since I've done that! Good thing that I've brought along my broom!" And with that he takes off in the same direction that Harry disappeared in. Blinking, Haku looks in the direction they just took off in totally confused.
"Um… Did he just say broom? Why would I ride a broom with Harry? It's really quite odd, even for them." Sakura starts giggling causing one of Haku's eyebrows to raise. "You know something about this Sakura-san?" She nods with a grin.
"Yup!" She chirps enjoying the looks of confusion before wagging a finger in Haku's direction. "You how they are wizards right? And that a female wizard is referred to as a witch, correct." Haku nods at this.
"Well, yeah… Even if it took quite a bit to convince me. I mean wizards? Witches? Seems like something out of a fairy tale if you wouldn't mind me saying so. But what does that have to do with anything?" Sakura starts snickering.
"Think about it, what are witches supposed to ride in a fairy tale?" She giggles at the confused looks the other two women shoot her. 'Naruto's right, this is fun.' Inner-Sakura nods in agreement.
'Hell yeah! Now I can see why Naruto-kun enjoys this so much! Shannaro!'Instead of Haku, Tsunami answers Sakura.
"Well, in the stories that I remember witches rode on brooms. Why?" She takes a sip of her tea before her eyes widen and she sprays it across the table. She then looks at Sakura in disbelief as does Haku. "Please tell me your joking!?" Wiping off the tea, Sakura smiles while shaking her head.
"Nope! Trust me on this. I've actually not only seen them fly on a broom, but ridden one with them." A slight nostalgic look comes over her face as she remembers it. "Despite how it might sound, it actually is quite safe and comfortable to do." She sighs a little remembering. "There's something that's just so cool about flying…" Both of the kunoichi look at each other as Tsunami gives off a sad sigh. "Something wrong Tsunami-san?" Embarrassed at being caught, Tsunami rubs the back of her neck.
"It's nothing…" The two girls give her a look that tells her that they don't believe her causing her to hand her head and sigh. "Fine. When I was a little girl I used to dream about being able to fly." Sakura shakes her head.
"Is that what you're so embarrassed about? Tsunami-san, I know for a fact that I dreamed of the same thing." Haku nods in agreement making Tsunami sigh in relief that they're not going to make fun of her. At that moment Naruto and Harry enter the room. Seeing this, Sakura gains a mischievous look. "Hey, Naruto! I need you to do me a favour." Blinking, Naruto walks over.
"Sure. What is it?" Sakura points over to Tsunami.
"I want you to take Tsunami-san for a ride on your boom stick. Apparently she's always wanted to fly." Naruto shrugs in reply while Tsunami looks at Sakura in shock.
"Wha…! What! But… but I can't!" Sakura snorts at her excuses.
"Oh yes you can! Are you actually going to let this chance pass you by?" Tsunami looks down.
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just…" She looks over at Naruto before biting her lip. "It's not personal Naruto-kun and don't take this the wrong way but…" She looks him up and down before sighing. "I'm a bit scared." Naruto looks at her.
"Eh? But why? I'm not going to let you fall Tsunami-chan. You falling once from heaven is enough." She blushes at that before looking away.
"I know that you would do your very best so that I wouldn't but…" She looks him straight in the eye. "It's just that there's a big size difference between the two of us and I would be afraid of falling off, that's all." Naruto stares at her until he chuckles some and shakes his head before shrugging.
"So if we were closer in size, you would feel comfortable?" She nods sadly. "Tell me, would you rather that I was older, or that you were younger?" Tsunami blinks at this before replying in a hesitant voice.
"Younger I guess. I mean, I remember how much fun I had as a little girl and now that I'm a woman I have to act my age. Why?" Naruto grins while reaching into his coat.
"So you would rather be younger so that you could have the full experience?" She nods confused and is about to say something when Naruto tosses something into her mouth, which she swallows in shock only to vanish into a cloud of smoke a second later. Shortly coughs are heard from within the cloud before a more girlish version of Tsunami's voice drifts out.
"(Cough! Cough!) What was that for Na…ruto-kun? What happened to my voice!?" The smoke clears revealing a thirteen year old Tsunami staring in shock at her younger body. Sakura and Haku are themselves in a state of shock. After a second or two, Sakura finally articulates an response.
"Never mind your voice Tsunami-san! What happened to your body!?" Hearing a chuckle, she turns to Naruto. "Naruto? What did you do? How did you do this?!" Tsunami also looks at him as does Haku. In reply, Naruto pulls out a vial containing different coloured pills.
"Simple, I tossed one of the age reducing pills into her mouth. It'll temporarily reduce her to thirteen years old for about eight hours." Before they can say anything, Naruto waves them off. "And don't worry, as I said, it's only temporary." He gets a quizzical look as Tsunami looks sad about this for some reason. "Something wrong, Tsunami-chan? I would have thought that you would be happy." Startled, she starts waving her hands in a warding gesture.
"Oh no no no! I like it! I like it! I was just thinking of something else, that's all!" Sakura puts her face in her hands as she shakes her head having already guessed what Tsunami means. Haku just sighs at the display before her. Suddenly a smile breaks out on Tsunami's face before in a flash, she latches herself onto Naruto's arm. "So we're going flying now? Huh? Huh?" Chuckling at her, Naruto nods causing her to squeal.
"Sure. Now, where do you want to ride? In front of me? Or behind me? Your choice." It doesn't take her a second to choose the front.
'Yes… I'm DEFINITELY going to enjoy this.' Shaking her head of various thoughts of different things she could do now since she's Naruto's age, she looks at him before pulling him outside laughing. She watches as he holds out the broom in front of her. "Er… What do I do now?" Naruto slaps his forehead having forgotten that she's never done this before.
"Just come here and I'll lift you on." Slightly nervous, Tsunami does so and true to his word Naruto lifts her on. As soon as she feels her feet leave the ground she closes her eyes until Naruto wraps his arms around her. Opening her eyes, she turns and sees him there giving her a comforting look. "Don't worry. I've flown hundreds of times. I know what I'm doing." He's still slightly surprised when she scoots back into him, but shrugs it off. Tsunami, on the other hand, has a slight blush on her face from their position, but also has a giddy smile.
'This so incredible! I'm actually going to go flying!' She leans back farther as Naruto prepares to lift off. A slightly perverted grin comes to her face as she can feel more of Naruto's body against her's. 'Oh yes. Being a shinobi definitely has benefits.' Naruto gives her a weird look as he could almost swear he heard her giggle perversely. He just becomes even more confused as he can hear Kyubi giggling as well.
'Eh? What's going on Kyubi-chan?' She just laughs at him.
'Oh… It's nothing you have to worry about Naruto-kun.' Naruto just shrugs as Kyubi adds something privately. 'Nothing to worry about… yet.' Having finally gotten her comfortable, Naruto turns to Harry, who's got Haku behind him with her arms wrapped around him. With a nod, both slowly leave the ground behind. Looking down, Tsunami gasps as she watches Sakura slowly shrink before looking around with a look of wonderment.
"I'm… I'm flying… I'M ACTUALLY FLYING! WHOOHO!" Naruto just shakes his head at her actions.
'Well looks like I don't have to ask if she's enjoying herself.' He nudges her slightly to get her attention. "So anywhere you want to go? We can go to about 5,000 meters if you want, or just drift with the wind. Once your used to it I'll even pull some acrobatic stunts. How does that sound?" She nods with a absolute joyful smile on her face as they just drift along for the next hour, Tsunami enjoying herself in his arms. Finally, she looks at Naruto with a begging look.
"Can we do some of those stunts now?" And without nodding, Naruto starts pulling figure eights and loop-de-loops. Enjoying himself, Naruto looks over to Harry with a question in his eyes. In answer, Harry gives a small nod. The first clue Tsunami has is when Naruto's arms tighten some more. "Naruto-kun?" Naruto gives her a small grin before leaning down next to her ear and whispering as he sees Harry leaning back towards Haku.
"Me and nii-san are going to have a race. If you want us to, I'll have to move right close to you so that I can pull high speed maneuvers without worrying about you. Do you want to do that?" Tsunami just grins.
"Do you even have to ask? Let's kick their butts." Naruto throws his head back and laughs before looking back at Harry who does the same thing. Slowly, the two point their brooms down until they dive towards the ground. Naruto starts rotating as they go faster and faster, a look of absolute joy on his face as Tsunami screams in excitement. Just before the two hit the water they level off, so close their toes nearly touch the tips of the waves. Doing an abrupt twist they aim themselves at the village they just left and, upon reaching it, they blow through the spaces between the buildings. Of course their actions don't go unnoticed as various people notice their passing as shown as Zabuza stares at the sight of Haku hanging off of Harry.
'Was that… Haku? Flying past just now…? Wait a moment! FLYING!' His eyes start narrowing and the air fills with KI as he realizes something else. 'That little teme had Haku hanging off of him… I'll kill him!' After the village they pass into the nearby forest and spend the next few hours weaving through the trees at breakneck speeds…
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Steve: And there we go! I can only hope that I can update soon... Anyways, I need the readers help.
Yui: Oh? With what this time? Another poll?
Steve: Nope! I need their help in getting Hedwig her place on the Harry Potter section of the site Character search. They have Fawkes, Mrs. Norris, and Nagini. Yet Hedwig, Pig, and Crookshanks don't appear on the Character list! Hedwig especially since she appeared in all seven books! I mean, Nagini first appeared in fourth year and she's got a spot yet Hedwig doesn't? COME ON! So to anyone who reads this, please help me get Hedwig her spot! Thank you.
Hinata: (Pouts) I wasn't with Naruto-kun in this chapter...
Steve: Don't worry, you'll get a chance Hinata... Anyways, See you guys around!
Everyone: Until next time!