Disclaimer: Naruto is the work of mangaka Masashi Kishimoto, Harry Potter is the work of author J.K. Rowling. The author makes no claim to ownership of the aforementioned works and no profit from this fanfiction.

Uchiha Fukurou

Of Ninja Housewives, Sages and New Genin

Uchiha Sasuke left his home for another day of training. On his way out he passed Fukurou-nii at the end of the alley, "Are you looking for Mom? She's upstairs." He said helpfully.

"Thanks, I'm just dropping by," Fukurou told him with a smile, "Have fun playing."

"It's training!" Mikoto's son hollered back.

Five minutes later…

The Uchiha Sentō was closed for the day, so no one was there to see a disheveled Fukurou stumble hurriedly out the side entrance used by the upper floor's residents. He sighed deeply, frustrated in more ways than one. Frustrated with his clan for coming up with this ridiculous baby-making initiative, with Mikoto for going along with it, with himself for being sixteen…

He adjusted the fit of his pants and walked in a circle about the alley with his torso bent forward because of the tightness...there. Old Harry had been a sixteen year old as well once, so Fukurou knew twice over that his predicament was normal for a boy his age. It didn't help, the knowing, occlumency could only go so far. His past life's English prudishness was just that, the prudishness of a past life. He was Fukurou; and he had been trained to accept orders, to do things far less ethically dubious than bonking his hot teacher, distant cousin or not.

He found himself torn, "Lace, black silk lace!" between two worlds, "She's young enough to be my great-granddaughter, sort of; and I'm young enough to be her son!" It was all so confusing, "A thong! Her boobs! 36DD or I'll eat my shorts!" The fact was, having risen up against his will; there were some things, and not just his emotions, that simply refused to go back down. It was a normal response for a sixteen year old, perhaps the first natural response of his lifetime of occlumency. That wasn't healthy, all that repression. But, Mikoto… Part of him said ewww, but another part was beating those thirty-six double D's like a drum chanting, "OOGA-CHAKA-OOGA-OOGA-OOGA-CHAKA-OOGA-OOGA- I CAN'T STOP THIS FEELING… DEEP INSI~IDE OF ME!"

Fukurou sighed, "The hell," he thought, "Is this living?"

He turned around and went back inside.

On the roof kneeling at the edge, Tsuruko let out a breath, "Looks like we won't need to spike their tea with that aphrodisiac after all." She stated quietly. Miho, who was standing behind her laughed uneasily, "Yeah…" She said as she slid an empty vial into her jacket's breast pocket.

Present Day, Hidden Root Medical Complex

Fukurou rested comfortably in a hospital bed. He left arm had been severely burned before he'd managed to apparate back to a forward base. However his burns had been healed easily. It was instead the series of jumps and the chakra drain of the barrier used to block the Niibi's bijū ball that had conspired to leave him temporarily bedridden after the battle. Other than the late Murasaki, Fukurou was the most injured out of all involved.

He pulled out some of the documents that his subordinates had brought him. If the Niibi could shatter half of his ultimate defense in one attack, what hope did he have against someone like the Hachibi jinchūriki? It was an unsettling thought. He needed more power. He also needed to rethink the security measures on his men. Should he risk exposure of the port key seal just to get his people home safely every time? Could he even do it? The seals weren't a perfect recreation. Just remotely transferring people across the Elemental Countries as they currently did using multipurpose relays was taxing on his men.

One of the scrolls that he'd pulled out was the old Uzumaki technique scroll that his clan had double-crossed Danzo for, back before the massacre. In truth the majority of the scroll was simply a record of births and deaths interspersed with legends from the past of the ninja world. His clan and Danzo had deemed it trash and useless. Fukurou wasn't so sure. At the very least what little he'd seen of it made for interesting reading.

The scroll chronicled the history of the Senju, Uchiha and Uzumaki Clans back through the ages. He knew some of this already from reading the ancestral tablet with his sharingan and later the mangekyō. The point of view however was from the perspective of an outsider to the Uchiha. While certain stories were the same, some were different and others; detailing the powers of the Sage of Six Paths and his supposed journey to attain enlightenment, were completely new to Fukurou.

It was just a story but the Tales of Beedle the Bard had been a story as well. As Fukurou looked upon the ancient chronicles, it was for the first time in ages that someone did so without completely dismissing what they read as fantasy. He read of a priest, a chosen one; who lived then died, only to live and die again. Trapped in his hospital bed for the next the week, Fukurou had little to do but read and think about what the Founder was trying to accomplish by teaching humankind about the Chakras.

Old Harry was not particularly religious but as Fukurou read the chronicles of the sage, he imagined that it was as close to a religious experience that he had ever come to having. It resonated deeply with him, those words, for what the scroll imparted was not a weapon technique or a new power but a dream of a dead man ahead of his time. A dream of Old Harry's past as it should have been and of Fukurou's future if he had anything to say about it.

The Sage's teachings spoke of a world that truly lived. He described a world where everything had a spirit, from every pebble underfoot to every river stone to even the mountains themselves. Fukurou read of the will of the rain drop, falling into the river, flowing into the sea. He read of the sun giving life and warmth, the life and warmth within living beings that raged to conflagrations worthy of volcanoes. He dreamed of the tornado and the monsoon, of the cooling touch of a gentle summer's breeze. He lived in the flashing of lightning that sundered the earth, destroying yet creating. He read of Yin and Yang, the formless thought and the thought given form.

The Sage taught that just as living men changed the world around them so too did the living world react to and alter men. In an era of war, he taught that the passions of men were sent into the world and and that these passions caused the world to give birth to twin spirits that answered to the will of humans. Love was answered with an even greater love and Hate was answered with an even greater hate. It was slightly reminiscent of some Zoroastrian texts Old Harry had once read.

Calamity was then thought to befall humans because they did not understand the world and could not accept the world's hate as they did the bounty of love. The theory of chakra was explained to be a way to understand the passions of the world. A means intended to ultimately allow human's to become a part of the pulse of the world without being swept along with it as happens in death. The Sage's hope was that in understanding their world and its passions people would no longer make war.

The seed of basic chakra theory was all there, as was the foundations of ninjutsu. Knowledge of oneself and the world, strength of body and mind, understanding one's will, the will of nature and the will of others, Fukuoru understood only with the power of hindsight how people could twist these teachings into the arts of war. It was a belief that was intended to become a part every facet of life. War was a fact of life. The Sage's own teachings created a world he would have deplored.

Later, even after recovering fully, Fukurou kept that scroll with him. He intended to eventually give it to Uzumaki Naruto but until then it burned a hole in his pocket, figuratively, he thought of one line constantly. "To become one with the pulse of the world, without being swept away by it," He wondered what those words meant.

Three recent graduates, two boys and a girl, sat together before their sensei on the shinobi academy's roof. The man's features were obscured by a blue half-mask that covered his face up to his cheek bones and a forehead protector that was tilted slightly to serve as a makeshift eye patch for the left side of his face. The man hummed slightly, tapping his chin in mock thoughtfulness as he introduced himself.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi," He began, "Hmmm… Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… I'll tell you when you're older… As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies…" He finished with a wry chuckle, his thoughts on chapter twenty-two of Icha Icha Battle, the one with the milf foursome.

"Erm, blondie, your turn…" He said motioning to one of the two boys sitting before him.

The said blond perked up and fiddled with his new forehead protector as he spoke, "Call me Uzumaki Naruto," He told them clearly. He wore well made clothes in with lots of orange in them and spoke with restrained excitement, "My hobbies are training and eating over at Sasuke's place," At this, Sasuke who was sitting to the far left grumbled. 'You try to be nice to someone just one time for hurting them by accident and they turn out to be a leech with a bottomless stomach.'

"I like ramen, rice crackers with green tea and fried tofu. I don't like the three minute wait for instant ramen to get ready and people that say mean things behind my back. My dream is to be Hokage!" He stated with a grin.

Kakashi nodded, "I guess he didn't turn out so bad at all…"

The jounin turned to the girl sitting between the two boys, "You're up." He said pointing at her.

Haltingly, she began to speak, "Ano… My name is Hyūga Hinata, my hobbies are pressing flowers… my favorite foods are zenzai and cinnamon rolls. I like…" She blushed lightly, changing her words mid-sentence, "...Training. My dream is prove myself to my family and earn the respect of two very important people." She said, nodding her head affirmatively.

Kakashi nodded slowly, "As expected of a Hyūga Shinobi, restrained and dedicated to the ninja arts, though, I wonder?" He'd noticed of course her faint blush, "Young girls these days are more concerned with romance, I suppose it could be worse…"

"You, the broody looking one with the scowl," Kakashi drawled lazily, "Your turn."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke stated brusquely, "I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything...other than my mother's onigiri. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, kill a certain someone and ensure that that Man never again lays his hands on Her."

"He has a mother complex." Naruto blithely explained to the other two, who looked vaguely disturbed and puzzled in turn. Turning to Sasuke he said, "Give it up man, Mikoto-nee jumps your stepdad in the backroom all the time…"

Hinata blushed, Kakashi just seemed interested. Sasuke scowled, "Fukurou is not my stepfather! They're not even married!" The raven haired boy exclaimed.

Hinata seemed to perk up at hearing Fukurou's name as did Kakashi.

"But they had a baby together didn't they?" Naruto continued puzzled, "I don't see why you'd want to kill hi-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke's voice changed from annoyed to openly aggressive in tone with those words. An awkward silence descended on the group until Kakashi sighed and said, "Well that's enough for now, we have a mission tomorrow."

"A mission! What kind? Are we gonna rescue a princess?" Team seven's blond member asked elatedly.

Kakashi just chuckled darkly…

It was late evening when team seven met again for dinner on Sasuke's invitation.

"Ah… didn't Kakashi-sensei say not to eat anything?" Hinata asked gently.

"He said, huhuhu," Naruto mimicked Kakashi's creepy laughter, "Don't eat breakfast, or you'll puke. This is dinner not breakfast."

"Right," Sasuke said, "And if we're going to be exercised to the point that we vomit, then I at least want to get some fluids in me so that I don't collapse from dehydration."

The three were at something of an open air food court that had sprung up in the commercial area between the Uchiha Sentō and the apartment complexes as a natural course of events. Patrons of the sentō usually walked there from the cheap dormitory housing that the Uchiha rented out to genin and down on their luck chunin. As a result, a small food industry had sprung out of supplying affordable, quick and easy meals to the couples, kids and bachelors that wandered between the two locations. With permission from the Uchiha clan several food store owners had set up shop around the square pavilion at the foot of the staircase leading up to the Naka Shrine.

Hinata shivered slightly, drawing closer to her bowl of red bean soup. She was wearing a mandarin style top over black pants with a wide sleeved beige overcoat. The night air was growing cooler and she daintily sipped her meal so as not to show her discomfort. She could have been warm at home with her family but the informal nature of this dinner that she'd been invited to was such a relaxing contrast to the stiff formal meals at her home, she did not much mind being a little cold.

There was also the matter of why she had come. Hinata was not a girl given to fainting and blushing. She was a proud Hyūga shinobi. Still, her cheeks were tinged pink as her eyes took in every detail of Uzumaki Naruto. She liked the way that his spiky blond hair bobbed as he spoke. She followed shape of his body, under the orange hoodie and black pants he wore, with her eyes. The black stripes down each sleeve complimented the tan skin of his biceps. She was Hyūga Hinata and if there was one thing that her early life had taught her, it was to grasp her fate with both hands and work for what she wanted or risk having what she desired out of life snatched away from her. What she wanted most was the acknowledgement of the two people that she admired the most. One was so distant, so far above her, that she never even gained the chance to thank him properly and the other was Naruto who sat easily within her reach.

Sasuke sighed over yet another stupid comment from Naruto. He was a loner at heart but somehow along the way this troublesome blond had latched onto him and didn't want to let go. His mother was no help, he wouldn't ask that Man for advice so the only other option was to just hope he went away… like a rash. They were only eating together because Aunt Tsuruko had invited Sasuke and told him to bring his genin teammates. She usually had a good reason for the things that she did so he didn't question her, he wouldn't have even if it were those harpies Ino and Sakura coming along for the ride. He'd learnt early on that one didn't say no to Tsuruko-dono without having a really good reason to do so.

Naruto simply scarfed down a bowl of ramen, his sixth since getting a free bowl of beef katsudon from the cute nee-chan with the yellow bird. Ichiraku Ramen had a cart here and Naruto was doing his level best to 'show loyalty' for the old man. All was well in his world. He had good food and after taking squint-eyed look at a scowling Sasuke in his blue high collar shirt and Hinata blushing red from the cold, he decided that he was well on his way to having good friends as well.

Together Team Seven ate and rested under the light of paper lanterns. Serenaded by crickets from the nearby river. For the moment they were at peace and forming the beginnings of a powerful bond. It would be tested from that day onward.

AN: Not much action in this chapter, just setting up for future events and introducing the consequences of change.