*A thank you to sydni for betaing this*
Chapter 3
'There's nothing interesting about him,' Sasuke thought to himself. His eyes narrowed when the blonde – that he totally was not stalking! – made another stupid joke, and was subsequently yelled at by the sensei. Sighing, Sasuke turned his attention to the window. It was a nice, normal day, with the sun shining, and only a couple of clouds floating in the sky— okay, he was almost bored to tears. Everything the sensei was talking about, he already learned from the scrolls that the clan had. Memorizing them was Harry's idea of a sick joke. Sasuke made a mental note to never make a bet with Harry ever again. It wasn't worth the torture.
The bell for lunch rang, and Sasuke, along with everyone else in the class, stood up, gathered his items, and headed out. Keeping an eye out for any insane fan girls, Sasuke set up his lunch in a hidden part of the roof, and started to eat. The peacefulness allowed him to let his thoughts wander, and wander it did. The current thing consuming his mind is why Harry is interested in Naruto.
Sasuke was not stupid. Admittedly, it took a few days, but he figured out why Harry kept questioning him on how his day at the academy went. The first time, Sasuke wasn't bothered by it; Harry always asks him about his day. But eventually, Harry kept questioning him; about his classes, his senseis, and in particularly, his classmates. After going into detail all the inane things his fellow classmates have done (one that's annoyingly always eating, one that's annoyingly always napping, the annoying creepy stalker girls, the one with the annoying dog, etc...) Harry had more interest in what Naruto had been doing (which, if he recalled accurately, involved lots and lots of paint). Subsequent questioning proved that that was indeed what Harry's interest was.
That pretty much leads to Sasuke's current situation: finding as much information on Naruto Uzumaki as possible. So far, the only things Sasuke had found were that he was an orphan (like himself), and that he was, to be blunt, a loser; the blonde was dead last in all his classes. Why in the world would anyone have any interest in him? Groaning at his possible headache, Sasuke started shoveling the rest of his lunch down his mouth. He could use the rest of the time to stalk— observe Naruto.
Slipping out of his hiding spot, Sasuke quickly climbed down the building, and headed towards the classroom. After placing his stuff away, he again headed back to the roof, barely dodging a couple of fan girls who were walking around with the intent on finding him. Sasuke felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew about the team selection that will be taking place when they graduated. Because of that, he was currently praying with all his might that he wasn't going to end up on the same team with any one of them. That would be a cruel and unusual punishment, and according to Harry, the Leaf Village isn't supposed to practice that. In the mean time, however, Sasuke decided to take Harry's advice and treat all his fan girls as enemy ninjas. As odd as it sounded, Sasuke was able to see where Harry was coming from. He already had been training for years to become a ninja. There was nothing wrong with adding training to avoid enemy ninjas to the list.
Glancing around, Sasuke swore quietly (Harry wasn't around to hear him). He managed to come across all of his classmates having lunch, but had yet to even get a glimpse of Naruto. Collapsing on a nearby bench (after making sure no enemies were around), Sasuke let out an audible sigh.
"Something wrong?" Sasuke blinked and turned around. Standing there looking bored was the laziest person in his class, Shikamaru Nara. Next to him, and currently gorging himself on a bag of chips, was Choji Akimichi. Sasuke briefly debated on whether or not to say anything to them, but break was almost done. He couldn't afford to waste anymore time.
"You haven't seen Uzumaki around, have you?" Sasuke asked, trying his hardest to seem as though he couldn't care less about their answers. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. Choji paused in his eating, and was giving him an odd look.
"What do you want with Naruto?" he asked suspiciously. Sasuke froze slightly, debating on how to respond.
"Are you looking to fight him?" Choji asked curiously. Mentally thanking him, Sasuke grasped his excuse.
"And if I am?" Shikamaru, oddly enough, relaxed marginally.
"He's in detention," Shikamaru answered after a pause. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"I saw him leave the classroom," he stated, crossing his arms. Choji laughed.
"You really think Naruto would willingly stay for detention?" Choji asked cheerfully, munching on his chips again.
"No…" Sasuke conceded. He should've known that the loser would do something like that; so much for gathering information during lunch. "Who is he serving detention with?" he asked them.
"Iruka-sensei," Shikamaru replied. Sasuke nodded to them and walked away. Behind him, Choji and Shikamaru exchanged a glance.
"Wonder what that was all about?" Choji muttered. Shikamaru shrugged.
"It's too troublesome for me to bother with it."
••••••
This time, Sasuke was prepared. As inconspicuously as he could, he kept an eye on Naruto. For the rest of the day, Sasuke made sure he knew exactly where he was, so when it came time to leave, Sasuke was able to follow Naruto out. Since Harry promised to let him do what he wanted for the day, Sasuke had the whole day available to observe Naruto.
Naruto started wandering around the village. For a good number of hours, Sasuke was forced to silently follow the blonde as he aimlessly walked around, pranked a few people, gorged himself on some ramen, and just sat on the grass and stared at the sky.
Feeling exhausted, Sasuke finally decided to relax. Making sure he was still out of view, he leaned back against the tree, and relaxed his body. Glancing at Naruto, he once again questioned what was so interesting about him. Besides his rather impressive ability at eluding the older shinobis, there really was nothing interesting about him. Clenching his fist, Sasuke frowned. He refused to give up. He may not have known Harry for a long time, but he had been around the older man long enough that only interesting things catch his eye. For him to be curious about Naruto meant that there was something interesting about him. Therefore, until he figures out what that is, Sasuke mentally promised himself to not give up.
A sudden movement forced Sasuke to leave his thoughts and focus on Naruto again. Naruto stood up from where he was lounging for the past ten minutes. Sasuke looked at him curiously. Naruto turned to face the forest.
"What do you want with me?" he yelled out. Sasuke blinked and looked around. Who was he talking to? "Oi! You in the tree!" Sasuke jumped. How did he find out? He hesitated slightly to see if Naruto was referring to someone else. "Do you want me to come and drag you out?" Okay, so Naruto was referring to him. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke jumped out of the tree, and faced Naruto. Going by Naruto's widening eyes, Sasuke guessed that he didn't know who it was, and just knew that someone was there.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, trying to come across as though he wasn't just stalking the blond. Naruto snapped out of it.
"What do you mean what do I want? You were the one following me, bastard!" Naruto shouted at him.
"Was not," Sasuke defended, looking outraged.
"Was too," Naruto shot back.
"Was not."
"Was too."
Sasuke quickly stopped his response from coming out of his mouth. He mentally shook his head. He wasn't about to let Naruto drag him down to his own level. Sasuke was going to act like the shinobi that he was.
"I wasn't following you. Stop making assumptions about things. Just because I happened to be in a few locations that you were in, doesn't mean that I was following you," Sasuke said as smoothly as he could, with his nose up in the air. Naruto was giving him an odd look.
"If that were the case, which I know it isn't, then how come you were hidden the whole time?" Naruto asked skeptically, smirking lightly. Sasuke thought fast.
"I wasn't. You being blind doesn't prove that I'm following you." Sasuke mentally congratulated himself when he saw Naruto getting angry.
"You've been following me since we left the Academy!"Naruto shouted, pointing at him accusingly.
"For the last time, I'm not following you!" Sasuke shouted back. "Going by that logic, I should be accusing you of following me." Naruto smirked.
"Then why didn't you in the beginning?" Sasuke opened his mouth, but paused. Naruto started laughing. "Ha! Got you! Got you! Talk your way out of that!" Sasuke glared at him.
"I don't have to defend myself." Sasuke glanced at the sky. "Now if you don't mind, I'm leaving." With his nose in the air, Sasuke started walking away. Behind him, Naruto stopped laughing, and was glaring at him.
"You'd better run!"
"I'm not running!"
Seeing that he was gone, Naruto turned away, and started walking towards the opposite direction. He started grinning. As annoyed as he was, he enjoyed arguing with him, and was looking forward to their next confrontation, which will hopefully end in a fight. The grin on Naruto's face slipped. 'That bastard,' he thought. 'He never said why he was following me.' Fuming, Naruto headed back to his apartment. He was so going to punch that bastard tomorrow…
••••••
"So…" Sasuke gave Harry a blank look.
"What?" he asked. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You were out pretty late…" Harry said, his lips twitching slightly. Sasuke kept his face blank.
"I was… checking something out," Sasuke replied, avoiding eye contact.
"And…?" Sasuke frowned at him.
"And what?" Harry sighed.
"You're bad at this you know," he said. Sasuke looked at him startled. Did he know? Harry gave him a little smirk.
"At this point, you're supposed to come up with a detailed excuse of what you were doing. You know, in order to avoid getting into trouble," Harry said, placing an elbow on the table, and resting his chin on the palm of his hand. Sasuke mind was racing.
"Am I in trouble?" Sasuke asked, innocently. Harry gave him a look.
"At this rate, you're going to be horrible prankster," Harry said, pouting at him.
"And what gave you the idea that I'm going to be a prankster…?" Harry looked at him in shock. Whether or not he was faking it, Sasuke had no idea.
"I thought you were going to inherit my legacy," Harry pouted. 'Okay,' Sasuke thought, 'he's definitely faking it.'
"Pranking is your legacy?" Sasuke asked, skeptically. He decided to play along, for now. Harry looked thoughtful.
"Well, not just mine's, but my friends as well." Sasuke looked at him in disbelief.
"You and your friends were pranksters when you were… younger?" Sasuke honestly had no idea how to refer to the time before Harry had become a spirit. He looked at Harry to see if he was bothered by the wording.
"Yep!" Harry said cheerfully, showing no signs of discomfort from Sasuke's wording. "Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes," Sasuke said flatly. From what he saw of the members of the Uchiha Clan, almost none of them looked to be the type to laugh let alone play pranks. The thought of his relatives, cold as they have been, made his heart squeeze tightly. A pressure on his hand had him looking up. Harry, all traces of past humor gone, was squeezing his hand.
"Are you alright?" Sasuke nodded, embarrassed. Harry gave one last squeeze before withdrawing his hand. "Don't forget, I'm here for you." Harry smiled at him, and Sasuke couldn't help but smile as well. "So, dinner?"
"Aren't you going to finish your story?" Sasuke asked. Harry blinked.
"I don't think you'd be in the mood to hear the story." Sasuke understood what he was talking about. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't really be in the mood to hear stories, but this was different. He wanted the distraction from his thoughts, and he also wanted to hear more about Harry's life.
"I want to know more about you, so can I hear the story?" Harry looked slightly taken aback, but nodded all the same. He got up and started to prepare dinner.
"Well, some time ago, when I was young, carefree, and innocent," Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I made friends with the last people I ever thought I'd get along with. With them and a few others, we…" Harry continued to talk while serving and eating dinner (with a few pauses to actually eat). As he continued his story, Sasuke eventually stopped eating and gaped at him. If what Harry was saying was true, then that would make him worse than Naruto Uzumaki.
"How in world were you not kicked out?" Sasuke asked in amazement, when Harry paused to take another bite of dinner. Harry motioned for him to eat as well.
"I had a very unique professor," he said, winking. Sasuke wondered how Harry's sensei got anything done if he was that carefree.
"He sounds insane."
"Not insane, but pretty crazy. That crackpot old fool," Harry said fondly. Sasuke frowned.
"Well, if your sensei didn't do anything about it, how about the…" Sasuke hesitated. Harry looked at him curiously. Their eyes met, and Sasuke knew Harry understood.
"Uh…" Sasuke watched as Harry thought quickly. Before Harry could say anything, he cut him off.
"Did th-they not know?" Harry nodded.
"They did not."
"I'm the first person you told this to?" Harry nodded.
"You're the first person here I told that to." Sasuke didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent and continued eating. After a moment, Harry copied him, and they finished dinner in silence. When he thought Harry wasn't looking, Sasuke tried to see if there was any difference in the way Harry was acting. The more Harry had talked about his past, the livelier he looked. It hadn't been until that moment that Sasuke realized that before, Harry seemed to look as though he was weighed down by something. 'He must miss the past,' Sasuke thought. Harry had spent so much time in the scroll. Sasuke recalled that Harry said that he was around when the village was being founded. If Sasuke remembered his history correctly, that was over 70 years ago. All the people he must have known had to be dead by now. Harry must be feeling very lonely now. He blinked as his empty plate. Since when did he finish?
"Done?" Sasuke nodded, and stood up.
"I'm going to go finish my homework now," Sasuke announced.
"Do you need help?" Harry asked, collecting his things. Sasuke slowly shook his head.
"I know everything on there… You made sure of that actually…" Harry grinned.
"I'm just offering. You look tired." Sasuke shook his head, mentally making his plan for tomorrow.
"I'm fine…"
••••••
Sasuke, for the fifth time, felt his cheeks heat up. When the sensei collected the assignment, Sasuke couldn't even look at the paper. He almost shoved the paper into the sensei's hand, and determinedly looked out the window, to the sensei's confusion. He still couldn't believe that he actually fell asleep, and Harry had to finish his homework for him. Sasuke really wanted to slam his head into his desk, but that would be counter effective to help his headache, as well as it wasn't worth the stares that he would no doubt be getting from his classmates.
Before his unfortunate passing out over his uncompleted homework, Sasuke had decided to get a gift for Harry. He remembered Harry mentioning something called 'treacle', and judging by his tone of voice when mentioning it, he must have really liked it (Sasuke assumed it was a sweet or something). As soon as the bell rang, Sasuke was the first to be out of the room. As quickly as he could, without looking suspicious, he headed towards the market place. He hoped that there was a sweet shop there that specialized in foreign foods and sweets. After reaching there, he began to look through the first shop he saw.
"I thought the word was that you hated sweets," a voice said behind him. Startled, Sasuke turned around and glared at Naruto who stood there, looking at him curiously, his arms resting behind his head.
"Why are you here—" Sasuke paused. "Who says that I hate sweets?" he asked.
"Your fan girls," Naruto replied bluntly. Sasuke blanched.
"Where did they get that idea from?" he questioned him. Sasuke was now very concerned that they were secretly following him everywhere.
"Does that mean that they're wrong?" Naruto asked, hiding a snigger as Sasuke glanced around the whole area.
"No, I do hate sweets, but how do they know that?" Sasuke was now gripping Naruto's shirt, and it took everything Naruto had not to burst out laughing at the paranoid expression on his face.
"Something about rejecting chocolates…" Sasuke made a face. Naruto, unable to hold it in any longer, started laughing. The villagers around them gave him disgusted looks, and hurried away from him. At that, Naruto immediately stopped laughing. Sasuke, not noticing the villagers, looked puzzled at the sudden change. "Uh, so anyway, if you hate sweets, why are you looking at them?" Naruto quickly asked, trying to cover up the awkward situation. Sasuke gave him a look.
"I'm buying it for someone who actually likes sweets." Sasuke glanced through the glass at the sweets. "Do you know if anyone sells any treacle?" Naruto looked at him.
"Any what?" Sasuke sighed.
"I'm guessing that's a no." Sasuke headed towards the next store with Naruto trailing after him.
"Is it a foreign sweet?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. Naruto hesitated slightly before grabbing his arm and dragging the protesting boy to the other side of the market. He pointed to one of the shops. "They sell a whole bunch of foods from the different hidden countries." Sasuke gaped at him. "What?" Naruto asked him curiously.
"You were actually helpful."
"Oi!" Sasuke ignored him and walked up to the lady who was watching them. After giving Naruto an odd glance, she turned towards Sasuke and smiled.
"May I help you?"
"Do you sell treacle tart?" The lady's smile disappeared.
"Treacle tart?" she repeated uncertainly. Sasuke nodded. She shook her sadly. "I'm afraid we don't—"
"Hey lady, do you have something syrupy and lemony?" Naruto interrupted. The woman's smile stiffened.
"S-syrupy and lemony?" Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically. "A sweet, syrupy, lemony pastry," he clarified. The woman glanced at Sasuke, who automatically nodded. "A-alright." She headed towards the back of the shop. Sasuke turned towards Naruto.
"I thought you didn't know what it was?" he hissed at him. Naruto grinned.
"The guy told me," he said cheerfully. Sasuke looked surprised.
"What guy?" he asked, looking around. Naruto shrugged.
"Some guy who kinda sounded a bit creepy… anyway he was already gone when I turned around, but he said that it was a sweet, syrupy, lemony pastry." Sasuke looked at him skeptically, and looked around. The area wasn't that crowded.
"Will this be okay?" The woman returned. Sasuke glanced at the open box in her hand. He had no idea if it was good or not, but he nodded anyway. He'll let Harry judge it for himself. After it was packed away and paid for, Sasuke and Naruto left the market area.
"Thanks for your help," Sasuke said awkwardly, breaking the silence. Naruto grinned at him.
"No problem," he said cheerfully. "Who is that for anyway?" he added as an afterthought. Sasuke hesitated. Naruto shot him an inquisitive look.
"It's… for…" Naruto shook his head.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Naruto said. Sasuke shook his head.
"No, it's okay. It's for my…er… guardian spirit." Naruto froze.
"Sp-spirit?" Sasuke nodded.
"You might not believe me but—"
"That's an offering for a spirit?" Sasuke watched as Naruto started freaking out. "I-I should also give some sort of an offering, right?" Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto continued. "I-Is it going to haunt me if I don't." Again, Sasuke tried to cut in, but Naruto started running around in a circle. "Hang on, I'm going to go buy something as an offering—" At that point, Sasuke stuck out a leg and Naruto tripped, effectively shutting him up. "Oi! What the hell was that for?" Naruto yelled, wiping the dirt from his face.
"You were giving me a headache," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto grumbled as he got up.
"Anyway, I need to go and—"
"You don't need to go and get him an offering," Sasuke cut him off. Naruto frowned.
"Why not?" he asked. "I don't want to be haunted by a spirit." Sasuke shook his head.
"I told you, he's a guardian spirit. Guardian spirits don't haunt people, just looks out for them." Sasuke had no idea if he was correct or not, but it was what Harry was doing, and if it was going to make Naruto shut up, then he did his job. Naruto's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh, so he's a good spirit?" Sasuke nodded. "He watches over and guards people?" Another nod. "He's good at his job?" Nod. "And he doesn't require a human sacrifice?"
"…"
"What?" Naruto defended, as Sasuke gave him a stop-being-an-idiot look. Sasuke sighed.
"If you want, when I make this offering, I'll add your name to it as well." Naruto grinned widely.
"Would you?" he asked eagerly. Sasuke gave a tired nod. "Woo!" Naruto cheered. Sasuke started walking away. "Hey!" Naruto called out, catching up to him.
"Stop lagging behind," Sasuke said, shooting him an annoyed look. Naruto attempted to look apologetic, but the amusement was clearly seen in his eyes. Once again shaking his head (mentally), they continued silently. Throughout the rest of the trip, Naruto's face held an odd expression. Holding his tongue, Sasuke made no comment.
"I go this way from here," Naruto said, pointing towards a different direction. Sasuke nodded. Seeing that the odd expression was still on his face, Sasuke gave into curiosity and called back Naruto who was already turning away.
"What's with the look on your face?" Naruto looked surprised.
"What look?" he said, confused.
"The look you had since a while ago." Naruto blinked, before his eyes widened.
"It was nothing," he said quickly. Sasuke eyes narrowed. Now he was really curious.
"Tell me," he demanded. Naruto shook his head.
"It was nothing," he repeated. Sasuke glared at him before coming to a decision.
"Fine then," he said, turning away from Naruto. "If you don't say anything, I'll make sure not to include your name as part of the offering." Naruto's eyes widened comically.
"NO!" Naruto gripped the sleeve of Sasuke's shirt. "Anything but that!"
"Just tell me what it is then," Sasuke said quickly, hoping to protect his ear drums. Naruto nodded quickly, and took a few steps back.
"Promise me you won't forget," he demanded. Sasuke nodded trying to discreetly check to see if his ears were okay. Naruto cleared his throat. His expression became solemn. "It really was nothing, but talking about your guardian spirit made me remember that you were also an orphan, like me." Sasuke looked at him, surprised.
"What do you mean?" he asked. Naruto gave a forced laugh.
"The way you act gives the impression that you are not alone, when in fact, you are." The smile left his face. "That just shows how much stronger you are. Unlike me, you're not letting that hold you back…" Sasuke looked at him in shock. He had no idea what to say about that.
"Aren't you the one who is always cheerful and playing pranks on everyone?" he finally said.
"I have to," Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head again. "That's the only way anyone will ever notice me." Naruto started grinning again. "Anyway, see you around." Naruto started walking away. It was after Naruto was out of sight that Sasuke remembered to leave as well.
••••••
"What exactly is this?" Harry asked, staring at the pastry. Sasuke sighed.
"I'm guessing not a treacle tart," he answered. Harry looked at him, clearly amused.
"Is it by chance for me?" Sasuke flushed as Harry started smirking.
"M-maybe… you seemed like you missed eating the food you had in the past," Sasuke muttered. Harry's smirk softened in a smile.
"I do miss the food I had back then…" Harry went and grabbed a spoon.
"Isn't this a foreign food though?" Harry paused for a moment before giving a short nod. "You hate the Leaf Village sweets then?" Sasuke asked. Harry thought for a moment.
"It's not as though I hate it, it's just that I prefer things like this more," Harry said. Sasuke was still confused.
"Where exactly do they make treacle tarts?" Harry stared at him blankly.
"In another country," he answered evenly. Sasuke glared at him.
"I know it's another country. I meant which country as in a name of a country."
"Mmm! This is almost as good as treacle tart," Harry said, taking a bite. He took another bite, and a blissful expression appeared on his face. Sasuke glanced at the sweet. He went and grabbed a spoon for himself, and took a small bite of it.
"Eww! How does anyone eat this?" Sasuke said, making a face. Harry laughed and took another bite.
"It's pretty good for something that's not treacle tart." Sasuke slowly shook his head.
"You have a weird sense of taste." Harry gave him a look.
"I'm not obsessed with tomatoes," he told him. Sasuke stuck his tongue out.
"I'd better go and finish my work," Sasuke said, picking up his bag. He turned and headed towards his room.
"Last chance," Harry called out from behind. Sasuke shook his head.
"I'm not eating that." Harry watched as Sasuke left the room. Taking another spoonful, he contemplated whether or not to question Sasuke, or to let him bring up the issue himself. He glanced at the clock. Almost 6pm. He'll wait till bed time.
••••••
"So, do you want to talk about this now or later?" Sasuke jumped as Harry walked into his room. He watched as Harry made himself comfortable on his bed. "Well?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow.
"About what?" Sasuke asked quickly. He schooled his expression into a look of confusion. A quiet snort from Harry told him that it didn't work. He glanced down at his finished homework. Readying himself for the inevitable, Sasuke sighed, and packed away his things. He looked up to see Harry enter the room with a tray of food. He gaped as Harry placed some snacks in front of him. He hadn't seen Harry leave the room at all. At Harry's insistence, Sasuke started eating.
"So, how about now?" Harry asked, after Sasuke took a few bites. Sasuke shook his head.
"It's nothing," he mumbled, taking another bite. Harry sighed.
"You know, we could do this the easy way, or the hard way…" Sasuke looked at him in alarm.
"The hard way?" he choked out. Harry grinned.
"It's nothing much… just that I will bug you about it and annoy you until you tell me." At this point, Harry was smirking. "Keep in mind I tend to get very creative…" Sasuke was unable to keep down a shiver.
"It really is nothing," he mumbled. He took a final bite of his food before looking back at Harry. As much as he didn't want to tell Harry, he still had a thing called self-preservation.
"So…?"
"Uh," Sasuke quickly cleared his throat. "Earlier, when I was getting your treacle thing, I met up with Naruto Uzumaki." Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, go on."
"He helped me find the store that sold that pastry." Sasuke paused.
"You're bothered that he helped you with something?" Harry asked incredulously. Sasuke shook his head.
"No, not that," he said. "It was what he said afterwards."
"And that was?" Harry prompted.
"He said that he admired me for being strong despite being alone." Harry looked thoughtful.
"What did you say to him?" Harry asked.
"I said that he was the cheerful one that pranked people, and to that he said that he had to in order to be noticed," Sasuke finished. "He left after that," he added. Harry looked thoughtful.
"You didn't tell him that you had me with you, right?" Sasuke nodded, focusing his attention on randomly scribbling on a piece of paper.
"I really don't deserve a praise like that. He's the one being strong." Harry made a noncommittal sound.
"You don't feel that if I wasn't here, you would act like that?" Sasuke thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"To be honest, I don't know how I would act, but I know I wouldn't act like him." Sasuke focused his attention onto Harry. "If you weren't here, how do you think I would be right now?" Harry blinked, and looked thoughtful.
"Well…" he started. Sasuke looked at him expectantly. Harry sighed. "Truthfully…" Harry paused again. Sasuke frowned at him.
"Just tell me," Sasuke told him. Harry sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Fine, but don't be offended by what I say, okay?" Sasuke nodded hesitantly. "I sincerely believe that you'd be the angsty type," Harry said bluntly. Sasuke blinked.
"Me? Angsty?" Sasuke was looking outraged, and Harry held up his hands.
"Hey, I said don't be offended," Harry said. He pressed his fingers against his lips to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape. Sasuke was still frowning, so Harry got up and started patting his head. Sasuke looked at him confused at the gesture, and annoyed at having his hair messed up.
"What was that for?" Sasuke said, glaring at him. His hands reached up and tried to fix his hair. Harry laughed.
"You truly are the cute little brother I never had," Harry told him, smiling. "In fact, you do remind me of someone who is precious to me." Sasuke stiffened. "Sasuke, look at me," Harry said before Sasuke could even start to think about his brother. Sasuke took a few short breaths and looked back at Harry. He seemed apologetic for bringing up that he indeed was a younger brother to a—. Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts. Harry patiently waited until Sasuke was fully focused on him.
"I would be that badly off," Sasuke muttered. Harry grimaced slightly.
"You would, but keep in mind, you are not." Harry lightly pinched Sasuke's cheek. "You have me now, so forget about what could have happened, and now focus on what will happen from now on." Sasuke gave a small smile.
"So you want me to think about the future?" Sasuke questioned. Harry nodded.
"That would be ideal," Harry said with an odd smile. Sasuke, though, was frowning.
"What about the past?" Sasuke asked, looking at Harry closely. Harry kept his face blank as he considered Sasuke.
"There's no point in beating around the bush," Harry said after a moment. Sasuke determinedly stared back at Harry. "I know, right now you want nothing more than to make your brother pay for his actions." Sasuke winced at the relation reminder. "But I don't want you to throw away your life just for the sake of revenge."
"So you want me to forget about what he's done to me?" Sasuke said angrily, standing up so that they were eye to eye.
"No," Harry replied calmly. "I want you to never forget that tragedy, and I want you to eventually learn from it, but as of right now, I just want you to live." Sasuke made to protest, but Harry held up a hand to stop him. "By that, I mean live not to kill him, but live for yourself. Live the life you wanted to live before all this happened." Sasuke fell silent. "I know it will be hard, but can you promise me to live for yourself and not solely for Itachi's death?" Sasuke hesitated and closed his eyes to consider Harry's words, and with a jolt of understanding and slight fear, he realized that he was right. Everything that he had done so far was so that he could get strong enough to kill Itachi. Any training, any knowledge, any new skill that he learned was all for that sake. If Harry didn't want him to live for the sake of killing Itachi, then what reason was Sasuke going to live for?
"What do you want me to─"
"That will be for you to decide," Harry gently interrupted. Sasuke blinked before ducking his head down. As much as he hated Itachi, he didn't want to disappoint Harry, the only person who truly cares about him now. Still staring into his lap, he nodded. He watched as Harry stood up and crouched next to him. A second later, his arms wrapped around him. Sasuke stiffened before relaxing his body. He buried his face into Harry's robe, and stayed that way for a few moments. "Time for bed, I think," Harry muttered. Sasuke slowly pulled away and glanced out the window and saw how late it got.
"I'll go change," he mumbled, making a grab for his pajamas. He paused when he remembered that Harry was still in the room. Humming, Harry stopped fiddling with a ring, and stood up to step outside. Sasuke quickly changed, and headed for bed just as Harry came in again. Sasuke didn't protest when Harry said that he was going to tuck him in for the night. As Harry turned to leave, he paused.
"Did you tell him who the pastry was for?" Harry questioned Sasuke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think I told him it was for someone else?" Sasuke asked. Harry let out a snort of laughter.
"You hate sweets. Everyone knows that." Sasuke groaned quietly.
"How annoying," Sasuke muttered. "I told Naruto that it was an offering for a guardian spirit." Harry looked dumbfounded before he burst out laughing. "What?" Sasuke defended himself. It took a few moments for Harry to stop laughing.
"N-Nothing. What was his reaction?" Sasuke gave him an odd look.
"He started freaking out, and was genuinely scared that he was going to be haunted if he didn't make an offering as well."
"And where exactly is my offering from him?" Harry asked. Sasuke stuck his tongue out at him.
"It's grouped together with mine." Harry pouted. "How about for your birthday?" Sasuke offered. Harry considered it before nodding.
"That will be fine." Sasuke smiled slightly, aware of what Harry was trying to do.
"When is your birthday?" Sasuke asked, trying to remember whether or not Harry ever mentioned his birthday.
"July 31st," Harry said off handedly. Sasuke stared at him.
"That's only eight days after mine," Sasuke said slowly. Harry shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it was that important, to be honest..." Sasuke glared at him.
"Next time, were going to celebrate your birthday as well." Harry pinched his cheek and dodged a swipe.
"Good night!" he called out before closing the door behind him.
"Good night..."
••••••
Over the next few days, Sasuke kept thinking about what Harry had said. If his goal is not to be the defeat of Itachi, then what was? Since Harry somehow always knew what he was thinking about, Sasuke considered throughout his day at the academy, and the trip to and from there. As per his request, Harry, reluctantly, agreed to stop babying Sasuke and allowed him travel by himself, though he was still accompanied when doing anything else, not that Sasuke actually minded.
Debating with himself, Sasuke finally decided that he would visit the market place again. Besides looking for possible gifts to give Harry (it was given that he would no doubt owe Harry again in the future) he also wanted more hints as to Harry's homeland. For some reason he kept forgetting to ask him about it ever since he evaded the first question.
Reaching the marketplace, Sasuke paused. He glanced around at all the busy stores, but for some reason, he couldn't remember the location of the pastry shop. He wandered and examined all the stores. The pastry was no longer here.
"It only stays for a week." Sasuke turned around. In the woods, he saw the familiar spiky blond hair.
"Naruto!" Naruto, from behind a tree, waved. "What do you mean they stay for a week?" he asked the blond.
"They come here every year for a week. Since they travel around, they can't stay at a place for long," Naruto answered from behind the tree. Sasuke nodded to himself about the information. It looked like he would have to wait another year to buy Harry a gift from there.
"Thanks then," Sasuke said. He frowned when Naruto started walking through the trees, away from him. The trees obscured his sight of him, but the blond hair was bright enough to still be seen. Confused, Sasuke hesitated briefly before taking off after him. It was only when he looked around that he noticed something that made him pale. Small amounts of blood were scattered around the area. Sasuke's mind immediately began to race. Did he injure himself while training? Was he attacked? Either way, Sasuke was determined to try and help Naruto at the very least for helping him. Seeing blond hair getting closer, Sasuke, with a burst of energy, managed to finally catch up to Naruto.
"You're injured! Why the hell are you running—" Sasuke froze, taking in the scene before him. Naruto was breathless and in obvious pain. A small glance was enough to see the various cuts and bruises that were on his body. "What happened?" Naruto struggled to his feet.
"It's nothing," he mumbled. Sasuke stared at him in disbelief.
"Nothing?" Sasuke echoed. Naruto shrugged before wincing. Sasuke looked at his wounds again, and came to a decision. "Where do you live?" he asked. Naruto looked at him in surprise.
"Why do want to know—"
"You need to clean your wounds," Sasuke snapped at him. Naruto stared at him. Slowly, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of his apartment. Sasuke nodded, and carefully took a hold of Naruto's arm and pulled him towards the direction that Naruto indicated. Minutes passed before Sasuke got a glimpse of the building. His nose wrinkled at the state of the place. Naruto pulled his arm out of his grip and lead the rest of the way. Climbing a few stairways, Naruto stopped in front of a door and opened it. They both entered the small apartment, and Sasuke, spotting the first aid kit on a shelf, grabbed it and brought it to Naruto.
"I can help myself now," Naruto said. Sasuke hesitated. He had a feeling that helping him would be something that Harry would do. That thought spurred him into action. He indicated to Naruto to hold out his arms and started to clean the wounds. To his surprise, a majority of the cuts were almost healed, and his bruises were starting to fade away. It looked as though he had the wounds for weeks rather than hours.
"They're almost gone," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto quizzically. Naruto shrugged.
"I heal fast." Sasuke concentrated on wrapping his arms before he was stopped. "Maybe I should do the rest by myself," Naruto said, giving a pointed look at Sasuke's 'work'. The ointment was messily applied and the bandages were already starting to come off. Sasuke frowned. He could have sworn that he had done it the way Harry had shown him; maybe he needed more training? He stepped away, and Naruto fixed the ointment, and bandaged both of his arms again. Naruto picked up the kit and headed towards another room, most likely the bathroom, Sasuke assumed, to check the wounds on the rest of his body.
Now alone, Sasuke took a better look at where Naruto lives. His already less than desirable mood plummeted even more when he took in the small space and the mess. As much as he wanted the place clean, Sasuke had no idea how to actually do so, since back at home, Harry insisted on doing the cleaning himself. He sighed at the fact that he now had to ask Harry to teach him how to do the simple things such as cooking and cleaning and treating wounds. Passing the kitchen, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the numerous empty ramen containers that littered the kitchen area. Hearing the door open behind him, Sasuke turned to face Naruto.
"How did you get your wounds?" Sasuke said without warning. "If you don't answer truthfully," Sasuke added, guessing that Naruto might lie, "I will withdraw your name from the offering." It was amusing to see the look of horror on his face.
"You wouldn't?" he gasped.
"I would," Sasuke said solemnly. The look of horror on Naruto's face faded away, and was then replaced by anxiousness, surprising Sasuke.
"Well," he started, "you know that owner of the pastry store?" Sasuke nodded. "Well, that lady's husband got angry at me, and..." Sasuke stared at him, horrified. Some adult willingly beat a kid up?
"W-Why?" Naruto shrugged.
"It's not just him. A lot of the adults here don't like me." Sasuke blinked in confusion.
"Why?" he asked. Despite being dead last, Sasuke didn't see anything wrong with Naruto that deserved for him to be treated like that.
"I-I honestly don't know," Naruto confessed. Sasuke couldn't help but feel pity for him.
"Don't listen to those idiots," he blurted out without thinking. Naruto focused on him.
"Huh?"
"Those people are idiots and arseholes," Sasuke said, before blushing furiously, realizing that he accidently used the cuss word Harry sometimes used (though he didn't know that Sasuke could hear him). Naruto gasped and gave him an awed look.
"You just used the—"
"Don't tell anyone that I ever used that," Sasuke said quickly. He knew that Harry wouldn't hesitate to wash his mouth with soap if he ever caught him cussing. "Anyway," Sasuke started before they could get off topic, "you don't know why they would treat you like that?" Naruto shook his head.
"I don't really know. The only thing is that the adults always whisper to themselves whenever I'm around."
"In other words, you have no one?" Sasuke said softly, but Naruto still heard him. He shook his head furiously.
"That's not true. I still have Iruka-sensei and the old man." Sasuke looked at him, confused. He knew Iruka-sensei, but who was the old man?
"Who is the old man?" he asked.
"The Third," Naruto answered cheerfully. Sasuke's jaw dropped.
"You call the Hokage, 'the old man'?" he asked in disbelief. Naruto shrugged, unconcerned.
"He is old," he said simply.
"But he's the strongest shinobi in the village…" Naruto suddenly grinned.
"But not for long," he said, still grinning. He pointed at himself. "I wasn't going to say anything, but I'm going to tell you a secret. You are right now looking at the next Hokage." There was silence at the end of his statement.
"You, the Fifth Hokage?" When Naruto continued to grin, Sasuke started laughing.
"What, you think I can't do it?" Naruto asked, frowning. Sasuke took a few deep breathes to calm himself down.
"No." At Naruto's enraged face, he quickly added, "At least not how you are right now anyway." Naruto blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke took a moment to think of the most tactfully way to tell him.
"Well, to be the Hokage, you have to be the strongest shinobi in the village," Sasuke explained.
"And I'm not strong?" Naruto, annoyed.
"You're dead last in the class," Sasuke said. "That pretty much means everyone thinks you're weak." Naruto's shoulders slumped.
"So the person who's at the top of our class is strong?"
"I hope so." Naruto straightened up, and focused his attention on Sasuke.
"Do you know who that is?" Sasuke flushed and determinedly looked anywhere but at Naruto. "Do you know?" he repeated.
"No, no idea at all," Sasuke denied. Naruto gave him a skeptical look.
"It's you isn't it." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah..." Sasuke eyed Naruto warily. Naruto was staring back with an odd look on his face. "So—"
"Can you tutor me?" Naruto blurted out. Sasuke looked at him shock.
"What?"
"Since you're at the top of the class, that means you're strong and smart and can help me." Naruto was now staring at him with puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeeease?" Sasuke sighed. He really didn't want to, but the longer he was in the apartment, and the longer he looked at Naruto, he could see the loneliness. He realized that if Harry had never showed up, then he would probably be in the same position, or even worse if what Harry said earlier was true. He looked at Naruto and saw the hopeful look in his face.
"Fine," he said, "but," he added when Naruto's face broke into a grin, "you have to do as I say." Naruto nodded eagerly.
"That's fine," he said, still grinning. Sasuke sighed when it looked like he wasn't going to be stopping anytime soon. He looked out the window, and to his surprise, it was already dark out. The sun had long since set, and the sky was not yet black.
"You don't by chance have an extra futon, do you?" he asked Naruto. Naruto stopped jumping around, and looked at him confused.
"I do, why?" Sasuke pointed outside.
"It's a bit too dark to walk home, so I was wondering if I could spend the night here?" He didn't think Harry would mind him staying over. Naruto was looking at him in disbelief.
"Really?" Sasuke nodded. Naruto's face broke into another grin. "Wait here." Naruto ran off to grab the extra futon. Sasuke, in the mean time, looked out the window again. Staring at the sky, he watched as the stars twinkled above him. Turning away, he missed the figure that was perched on top of the neighboring building.
••••••
The figure started absentmindedly humming as he watched Naruto Uzumaki carry back a rarely used futon. The two of them started discussing something, and then proceeded to start arguing about it. He was at first surprised that of all people Sasuke decided to be friends with, Naruto Uzumaki was the last person he would have thought of, or rather, Harry didn't think Sasuke would actually be willing to make a friend. He watched the two of them fondly. They were now looking over a sheet of paper. What was on there was anyone's guess. Harry briefly thought about going in closer, but decided that it wasn't worth the risk.
Watching how they reacted with each other brought a sense of nostalgia. It took a minute for Harry to realize that Naruto Uzumaki acted almost exactly like another red-headed Uzumaki. Almost immediately, he eyes sought out the Hokage Monument. He eyed the husband of the Uzumaki. Despite knowing that the reason of her suffering was not his fault, he couldn't help but blame him. He the felt the need to blame someone, and he couldn't very well blame his pseudo-little sister.
'This must have been what Snape felt like,' Harry thought, a bitter grin forming on his face. When the time came, he was unable to protect the person important to him. Harry looked back at the two. Seeing them made him smile as he remembered two people who acted almost exactly like they did. He really wanted to be with them again, but he couldn't. He felt a sudden rush of anger towards the person who had gotten in his way; the person who made him what he was. In no time though, did that feeling fade. Being who and what he was, he was physically unable to hold any negative feelings about that person. He groaned as annoyance came and then left, taking some of his energy with him. Feeling utterly exhausted, Harry decided to call it a night. Sighing for the umpteenth time, Harry gave Naruto and Sasuke one last glance before vanishing.
I have no excuses for not updating in over a year, so I'll just say I am so sorry. As an apology, I am working a bunch of oneshots (one of which is a HP/Naruto one), so please accept as an apology when I post them.
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I made a few changes to the story from when I first started it. The major one is that Sasuke has no idea that Harry can use magic, just chakra. If you see any references to Sasuke knowing that Harry can use magic, please let me know, and I will change that. Another thing, in case you missed it in the summary, for the Harry Potter side of the story, it is all canon through the epilogue (which includes the pairings). As for the Naruto side, it will obviously change, and as of now, there will be no pairings what so ever. I intend on keeping this story Gen, so please do not ask me to ship this person with this person.
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Also, if you want the status of the stories I'm working on, visit my Live Journal page (on my profile). Also I made a Tumblr, and since I'm on it every day, if you send me a message, I'll answer it there faster (link on profile). I'm also on AO3 (again, profile) if anyone is interested. That's the end of my PSA, so sorry again for the wait.