Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Even though Harri had warned him, he hadn't really believed her. After all, Teuchi could see her, so naturally the Old Man should have been able to see her. He was the Hokage after all. Right?
"I'm sorry Naruto, could you repeat that? I could have sworn that you just said that someone else was in here with the two of us." Hiruzen said, blinking down at the now disappointed young boy. Just to make sure, he looked around his office again, this time with his sensor abilities. He could still only sense himself, Naruto, his ANBU guards, and the lone ROOT agent that Danzo thought he would miss.
Harri laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Sorry kid. They've got to believe in the lamp."
Naruto's shoulders slumped, but he brightened up instantly. Harri recognized the glint in his eyes and squeezed his shoulder, making him look back at her.
"Don't bother. He won't believe. He'd have to see some miraculous thing to believe and it's not worth it to waste one of your wishes on it. Don't worry too much, I'll be fine." She added in case that was what he was worrying about.
Naruto's hand passed by the pocket where the lamp was residing and Harri let out an internal sigh of relief. His hand instead went up to the back of his neck as he rubbed it, turning to look back at the Hokage.
"Heh, you caught on quick Old Man. Don't ruin my jokes so fast!" he proclaimed loudly, "Anyways, do you want to go get ramen? My treat!"
"We just had some." Harri remarked as she watched the old guy think.
"Unfortunately I can't Naruto. Paperwork is a Hokage's biggest enemy. Perhaps next time?" he questioned, already pulling a small stack of paper to him.
Naruto shrugged, "Your loss, ramen is the best thing in the entire world! I'm going to get some now Old Man and when I'm Hokage, I'm never going to do paperwork!" Naruto shouted, excited again. Both Harri and the old guy shook their heads in fondness at the small boy in front of them.
"Do you want an escort Naruto? It's getting pretty late." The old guy asked, looking at Naruto intently. Harri glanced out the window behind the old man to see that it was around dusk or so, but she couldn't quite see the issue. Just on the way to the ramen shop and then to this office she had seen plenty of kids, young kids at that, running around in the streets. Why should Naruto, who was definitely older than them have cause to be worried.
Naruto glanced back to Harri, and then answered, "Naw, I'll be okay, I'll go straight home, believe it!" he said enthusiastically, then left the office. Harri followed behind him at a more sedate pace with one last glance at the man behind the desk. He seemed so tired all of a sudden, and Harri could only wonder at the cause of it before the door was closed behind her.
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Hiruzen watched the door close with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Cat?" silently, said ANBU was standing in front of him at attention, "Was there another chakra signature in here?" just to justify his nerves.
When Cat shook her head and subsequently disappeared, Hiruzen sighed as he felt his age start to creep up on him. He truly was getting too old for this sort of thing.
That's what it was. His age. He ignored the lingering feeling that Naruto had been telling the truth before concentrating on his stack of paperwork. But even as he worked, he couldn't entirely dismiss the lingering feeling behind Naruto's visit.
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Harri caught up with Naruto outside and waited as Naruto obviously wanted to say something to her.
"Sorry." He finally muttered in her direction after a moment's silence.
"What for? You did nothing wrong. I was the one who warned you after all so I'm still the one who is used to it." Harri immediately remarked calmly, "Let's head back to your apartment. We can talk more freely there without you looking like a crazy person."
"They already hate me." Was Naruto's only muttered reply before he started off in his apartment's direction. Harri frowned at his back, not liking his mutter, but didn't say anything. It wasn't like she could judge either, most of the times people had a reason to hate something and she didn't know enough about this world to accurately guess yet.
"I always take the side streets. Less likely to encounter the meaner people." Naruto said under his breath as his eyes swiveled from side to side. Looking for any signs of danger Harri realized. She herself would do it when she was younger and still had to deal with Dudley and his stupid games.
Without warning, Naruto suddenly ducked into one of the side streets of the side street, holding his breath. Harri watched him curiously before turning around, looking for the people who had caused such a reaction. There, staggering ahead of her, were three drunk friends. They were somewhere in their mid-twenties, but they had a strange determination about them that made Harri worry for her young friend.
"Where'd the demon brat go? I just saw him." One said loudly with a slur in his voice. He seemed to be acting as the leader even though he was the most drunk. He took several more staggering steps forward, towards the alley in which Naruto had decided to hide in.
"Naruto, what are you doing? Get moving!" Harri said, grabbing onto Naruto's shoulder.
He gave her a terrified look, "But what about you? You'll be stuck." He whispered fiercely back.
"No, I won't, don't worry about me." Harri said harshly, moving to physically shove him somewhere safer, probably the roofs, when the loudest drunk appeared.
"Hey! I found the demon!" he slurred out to his companions. The two also stumbled to the alley way, their eyes completely bypassing Harri in favor of the small shaking form. The leader took a swig from the bottle that he held before he spoke, "Should have killed you off years ago. You little demon!" he said before viciously bringing his bottle down on Naruto's head.
Instantly, Harri reacted, her hand flying forward as she banished the man into the building side. With a flick of her wrist, the leader was subjected to Levicorpus, leaving him shouting and freaking out as he found he couldn't get down. She turned to the other two and was glad to see the fear in their eyes. She stunned the one that seemed the most hesitant, his thoughts more turning to what would happen if the ANBU found out that he and his buddies had attacked the brat. Harri made a mental note to find out who this ANBU group was before turning her attention to the remaining one. This one had managed to make it past her to Naruto and had started kicking the boy in the gut after shoving him to the ground. Idiot number three seemed to believe that Naruto was the cause of his buddies being taken out and that going after Naruto would somehow solve it. Something that angered Harri to now end.
Scowling, Harri resorted to muggle measures and simply punched the guy in the jaw. She cracked her neck in satisfaction at the sight of the unconscious man on the ground before turning her attention to her Summoner.
He seemed to be staring at her with equal parts curiosity and hero-worship. Something which Harri hated and would have to fix quickly before he descended into one of the fans she had always hated.
"Don't give me any of that hero worship kid. I hate that." Harri snapped at him irritably, "Let's go. Before any more idiots decided to mess around with you. Let me out once you get back to your apartment." Then Harri returned to her lamp, ignoring the sensations coming from outside in favor of firing blasting curses at the side of the lamp in an effort to work off her temper. The sides of the lamp showed no signs of damage, even after all these years and eventually, Harri felt her ire drain away.
With a small scream, Harri fell to the floor of the lamp. As she lay there muttering, she couldn't help but recall that annoying little Gryffindor who would always follow her around for a picture. He had had the same eyes as Naruto had just shown. Then Harri winced as the sight of him laying lifeless on the ground with his neck torn open came up next. The war had cost so many lives. So many innocent lives. If only the ministry had had competent people running it. Perhaps more people would have survived.
Soon enough Harri felt the tug of her being summoned and reluctantly she got up to face Naruto. As the smoke pulled her out and deposited her on her feet in front of Naruto, she folded her arms and gave him a questioning look.
In turn, he scuffed at the ground with his foot, "Sorry." He finally muttered.
That caused Harri to stop before she even started and tilt her head at the kid, "Whatever for?" she asked sincerely.
He shrugged, "Getting you into trouble. People hate me; it's why no one wants to hang out with me."
Harri let out a tired sigh, running a hand through her hair before grabbing Naruto by the shoulder and forcing him to sit down on the couch, "Come on, let me see it." When he did nothing but look at the ground uncomfortably, Harri gave an exasperated sigh before shoving Naruto onto his side and pulling his shirt up so she could take a look at his bruises. Ignoring his protests, Harri waved a hand over his stomach to check for any signs of injuries, both internal and external. That was what she had wanted to do after the stupid war was over, be a Healer in another country.
"Do you always heal this quickly?" Harri murmured after a moment, her eyes still slightly unfocused as she searched for, apparently, nonexistent injuries.
When all she got was vague mumblings Harri looked up sharply at the boy. She was surprised to see him bright red.
"Has anyone ever bothered to do a medical check-up? A full one?" Harri asked softly, pulling her hand away as she settled back on her knees.
Naruto sat up slowly and shook his head just as slowly. He looked down at his hands which were twisting around in his nervousness, "No one's ever bothered. I healed too quickly for anyone to notice in the first place."
"No one?" Harri questioned sharply, "Not even that old guy?"
"He's busy. He can't watch over me all the time. Plus, I'm old enough now to look after myself. He probably thinks that I'll go to the hospital if it's really bad. I just… heal quickly." He ended a bit lamely, ducking his head down to stare at his lap and not into the bright green eyes of his companion.
For a moment, Harri did nothing. Then surprising both herself and Naruto, but more herself, she reached up and grabbed Naruto in a hug. He stiffened at the contact and stayed as still as he could. He looked uncomfortably over her shoulder before he realized that she was whispering something, more to herself than him.
"I am so sorry. Why can't the adults ever do anything right? A child should never have to go through this."
Naruto was even more surprised when he felt some wetness on his shirt. Was she… crying? For him?
He started to wiggle in her grasp and she let go. He looked at her and was really surprised to in fact see tears glistening in her eyes and trailing down her cheeks. With a blubbery laugh Harri reached up and wiped some tears off her cheek.
"I'm sorry. Usually I don't get emotional, especially not with a Summoner I've only known for an afternoon." She explained as more tears continued to fall down her face, "I just… gosh I don't even know. You don't want to know."
"Why are you crying for me?" Naruto asked uncomfortably, looking away from her and her tears. He talked to three, four people on a regular basis: the Old Man, Teuchi, Ayame, and Iruka-sensei. Tears were something different. Plus, shinobi weren't supposed to be emotional.
"I suppose you could say I get your situation." Naruto looked at her with curiosity, and Harri elaborated a bit, "You know, when everyone is watching you, watching every little thing you do in hopes that you make a mistake. And for some reason, everyone hates you, but no one will tell you why." Aunt Petunia swinging a pan at her came to the front of her mind and Harri shivered lightly at the memory.
Then she smiled faintly at the boy, "I suppose you could say we're a bit of kindred souls."
For a moment, Naruto just stared at her. Then abruptly, he stood up and went to his kitchen. Harri sat there in shock that someone had blown her off. Then again, they all did. With a scowl, she angrily dashed the last of her tears away before she stood up, fully preparing to just give up and head back to her lamp, forget what the magic was saying! She'd just break the bond harshly. Again.
She turned, only to stop short at the sight of Naruto standing there holding out a cup of something steaming.
Naruto hesitated when Harri didn't move, but ended up pressing the cup into her hand, "Ramen. Ramen makes everything better." He declared solemnly before disregarding the couch entirely to sit in front of holding his cup in his hands. He waited patiently as she stared with confusion at the cup, and then at him.
Then Harri sat next to him.
"Thanks." She said after a moment. Naruto did something completely out of character and simply inclined his head in her direction.
As they ate their ramen, Harri felt the magic that bound her and her Summoner shiver for a moment before settling in finally. Now, she really was stuck with him and had to grant his wishes.
But perhaps, this wouldn't be so bad Harri thought as she ate her ramen. She glanced over at the small kid next to her and her expression softened slightly. Yeah, not bad at all.
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Plot twist! The old man can't see her? How many of you expected that? Don't get too mad. I never said he would be able to see her…So, I love all you guys! I've gotten tons of follows and favorites with only two chapters, so I hope that it continues to meet your standards! Speaking of standards, I should note that I don't have a Beta, it's all read over by myself, but I'm not perfect. If you spot something that could be a mistake, let me know! Also, I feel as though I suck at romance, so if I do create a pairing (which would be following the original prompt of Harry/Iruka or Harry/Kakashi or Harry/Itachi) it probably won't be a big thing. Because I suck at romance. But any thoughts would be appreciated! Until next time!