The Pack's Luna 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights pertaining to Harry Potter or Naruto. Just the right to enjoy them.

This is another Kakashi/Fem!Harry fic. Not sure about giving it up for adoption, yet.

-1-

Suzume stared at the slightly dusty mirror above the sink in her bathroom, wondering if she was hallucinating. Her forest-green eyes traveled from the, for once, loose wild, raven locks over her oval-shaped face, to her slowly developing chest.

This recent development should not be shocking her so much, after living through a war and a devastating demon-attack, but it unsettled her quite a bit nonetheless. She was nearly fifteen years old, an orphan (again) and what her sensei politely called a 'late bloomer'.

In the field, she had always been mistaken for an especially effeminate boy, especially after turning twelve, which had brought its own advantages and disadvantages with it.

However, for once the young woman was grateful for her dreams of another life. The memories of receiving a lengthy explanation concerning what was changing in her body and why helped immensely. After all, her mother was dead and her sensei a male she would rather not ask such questions.

Those memories were Suzume's best kept secret.

Only her mother had suspected - and subsequently confronted her - about those strange dreams that had begun around the age of two or three. Kaa-san had taught her that in this life she was Hane Suzume, her little sparrow, and no one else. Not even the person she had been in another world. And what a strange world it had been!

Suzume thanked the Kami that in this one, her mother at least had lived long enough to tell her she loved her, wanted her and would do anything in her power to protect her from the darker side of life. Kaa-san told her stories about her Tou-san, a Jōnin of Konohagakure who had been good friends with the White Fang, and how they had met. She always encouraged Suzume to think for herself and treat her genin-teammates like extended family. ("Just like Kakashi, even if they might not view you the same way at the moment. That's no reason to give up, Zuzu-chan," Kaa-san used to say.)

So, Suzume tried to befriend her teammates, an Inuzuka and a Hyuuga from the Branch House, and slowly succeeded over time. Their sensei, Aburame Takeo, was just as taciturn, logic-driven and quiet as the rest of his clan, but he always had an open ear for their concerns. Which earned him Hane Yusa's warm respect.

Consequently, Suzume even baked him a butterfly-shaped cake for his birthday, encouraged by her mother. (Takeo-sensei appreciated it. Her other teammates did as well.)

Either way, puberty had managed to avoid her for so long, Suzume had nearly given up on ever throwing off her tomboy-image. She was a girl, so why couldn't she look like one?

Sighing, the ravenette used the recommended jutsu for cases like this and resigned herself to a boring day in the hospital. After slipping in some casual clothes, the teen penned a quick note to her sensei, explaining the situation as quickly as possible. Then, Suzume summoned a small messenger bird, a colorful sparrow she favored slightly over the rest of her summons because of their shared name, and asked her to deliver the note to her sensei.

While shoveling some leftover miso-soup into her mouth, the young kunoichi decided to visit her parents' graves later today. If she had to take a day off anyway, why not use it to its fullest extent?

A little while later, the kunoichi found herself in a waiting room in the shinobi part of the hospital, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming embarrassment. Suzume was just grateful no one she knew would know about it. In detail, at least.

Or so the teen thought.

Suddenly, the uncomfortable, nervous teen was confronted with the gravity-defying silver hair of her childhood friend. While inwardly chanting 'Kami above, why do you hate me so?', Suzume started in her seat, nearly jumping a foot in the air.

"Er, Kakashi...?" the poor girl stuttered out, completely out of her depth.

They hadn't really talked in years, unless one counted the exchange of birthday and New Years cards.

"Are you okay?" he asked out of the blue, mild concern underlining his bored voice.

In response, Suzume blushed brightly, unable to get a word out of her opened mouth. She definitely did not - absolutely not - want to tell him the reason for her visit today. Instead she tried to deflect his attention elsewhere. "I'm fine. Why are you here?"

Kakashi shrugged lazily. (Compared to her last memories of his uptight, by-the-rules behavior, she almost couldn't believe he was actually the real deal.) "Breaking out," he replied nonchalantly, as if that was an obvious, everyday thing.

To him, it probably was.

Thankfully, a nurse called her name just then, saving her from having to explain why exactly the silver-haired Jōnin had found her in the waiting room of a gynecologist. (Suzume was too experienced with her luck to believe he never noticed the large plague proclaiming the department's title right behind her.)

Thirty minutes of humiliation later, a beet-red Suzume rubbed her arm and tried not to think too hard about what Kaede-sensei's words. Or anything else that had transpired in That Room over the last half hour of her life.

Of course she would be accosted by a clearly worried Kakashi after receiving her medication.

"Suzume?" he asked when she just blushed even harder upon catching sight of him.

The teen tried to control her blush, but so far it wasn't working. "K-Kakashi? What can I do for you?"

He followed her home, apparently too worried about her to care at the moment. When she arrived at the comparatively small clan compound, the young woman politely invited him inside.

She quickly shoved her meds on a shelf with the dried herbs. Suzume considered that he would probably be able to draw his own conclusions from the names on their containers.
Instead of working herself about that though, the ravenette began to prepare lunch for two.

Kakashi pinked slightly, after predictably scrutinizing the labels. He didn't even protest too much when she ordered him to sit so he wouldn't get in her way.

"How are you?" the Hatake asked after a long pause.

Meanwhile, feeling back in control, Suzume smiled slightly over her shoulder. "Alright, I suppose. After my leave is over, I'll probably be assigned a new squad though..."

It was true too, considering that she had been offered a position with the Hunter-nin, a special decision of ANBU. She was a good, experienced tracker, capable of extracting information through various means and a skilled support fighter. Which meant Suzume could use a variety of genjutsu, some healing jutsu, her weaponry skills were above average for Jōnin and her summons were always a bonus. She had also been brushing up on her kenjutsu, having inherited a katana from her father which she used to be too small for.

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully, sending her an eye-smile. Complete with the waggled eyebrow. "That's nice. So, any other news?"

Suzume dished out the cooked rice, teriyaki salmon and a bunch of tempura vegetables. She rolled her eyes at him.

The familiarity between them was something she had sorely missed over the last years. Despite their distance, it slotted all back in place, warmth and banter and all.

"No, you perv! I think the boys scare everyone interested off like a pair of overprotective brothers. Not to mention Takeo-sensei! On that one date I actually managed to go on, he was constantly hovering in the background - the whole time. There were at least four kikai-bugs on me the entire evening. I'm also sure those persistent mosquitoes following my date around were called by him," she complained, gesticulating animatedly with her chopsticks to emphasize how embarrassed she had been by that particular incident.

Kakashi snorted amused, relaxing a minute amount. He would probably join her overprotective squad in 'safeguarding her virtue' as her uptight Hyuuga teammate probably put it.

Katsu (= victory), the earlier mentioned Inuzuka, would have snorted at that particular wording and said something along the lines of 'we have to remove that stick from your ass while we're at it, Hiro-kun', only showing off his sharp canines at the same time.

All in all, this proved to Suzume that her Kaa-san was always right, in this life and the last one. Because, despite everything, Kakashi had found his way back to his family. Even after 'getting lost on the road of life' for a while, there was nothing better than a recombining swarm (if you liked silly references to her bird summons. Apparently, her mother had always teased her father about them.).

Something warm settled in her stomach during their first shared lunch in an eternity, exchanging stories about ridiculous mishaps and generally reconnecting after the war and the Kyuubi-attack.