"Catch it! Catch it! Don't let it get away!"
"The area to your left is open!"
"No! Don't let it get past you!"
"Screw you Kakashi! This is a horrible mission!"
Said sensei was currently leaning against a seemingly random tree, his Icha Icha pulled out as he read through it. To most, it was a common sight and ignored him. But the wire leading up to his ear told a different story. And if most people took a closer look, they would see that Kakashi wasn't really trying to read his book, more randomly flipping the pages when he felt enough time had passed by. But of course, most people wouldn't notice this miniscule details because Kakashi was surrounded by civilians as he listened to his cute little genin team attempt to catch the most dreaded mission of all: Tora.
The Daimyo's wife visited often; to 'check on the state of things'. No one knew if she really took these visits seriously, especially as the door remained closed to her and the Hokage's visits. And if the ANBU knew, they weren't telling. Rumors circulated often among the shinobi corps, but none had been proven or disproven. Kakashi's personal theory was that the Daimyo's wife purposely let her cat loose, and sometimes went the step further and figured that she trained the stupid cat. Enough genin had chased after it and yet the cat still continued to escape.
"Come on Kakashi-sensei! Work with us here!" that was Naruto, of course. He seemed especially frustrated because he was the one finding the cat the most, yet the cat seemed to loathe his very existence. And since Naruto wasn't the most patient of people anyway, he rarely waited for his teammates to catch up to help get the cat.
"Please Kakashi-sensei!" pleaded Sakura, "Can't you give us a hint?"
Kakashi thought about it a moment before replying, "Teamwork."
"We've been working as a team!" Sakura and Naruto both yelled over the comm link, making Kakashi sweat drop. Then, he heard murmuring from Naruto before the blond spoke again.
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei." he grumbled finally.
So. Sarutobi's observations weren't complete ramblings. Kakashi had certainly found the idea far-fetched. His cute little student had an invisible friend who had no chakra? Yeah right, sounded like a story. The Hokage's observations were also correct in that Naruto's invisible friend was becoming a sort of older-sister figure to him. That was good, Naruto needed some help who wouldn't get blocked by the council.
"Who are you talking to Naruto?" Sakura screeched over the link, "If we fail because of you...!"
"Calm down Sakura! I was talking to myself!" Naruto snapped back. Clearly his patience was gone if he was snapping at her. Kakashi felt worry go through him as the two started arguing with each other. If they kept this up, they would definitely fail the mission.
"Okay, re-group at the training ground." Kakashi finally interrupted the two, straightening up and putting his beloved book away. He could faintly hear Sasuke's sigh of relief and smiled faintly in response. At least the boy showed some sort of emotion.
As Kakashi took off for the roofs, he listened to his genins as they continued to argue faintly with each other. It sounded as though Sakura and Naruto had somehow managed to meet up. Great. At least over the past week, Naruto had started to spend less and less time following her. It seemed that he was finally realizing that although Sakura could be nice, to him she generally showed her bad side.
If they finished before their time was up today, Kakashi planned on working on chakra control. Heavens knows that the boys needed it. Sakura most likely didn't with her small reserves.
With a last bound, Kakashi landed in front of his bickering team, "Alright guys, cut it out. If we finish in time, I have something to teach you guys."
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but abruptly stilled, his eyes glancing towards his right before he closed his mouth with a quiet huff that escaped his two teammates notice. Interesting.
"What are we supposed to do though Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura whined, "We can't find the cat anywhere!"
"Well, Naruto found the cat the most." Kakashi pointed out. Naruto adopted a faintly guilty look on his face, but didn't speak up.
"But he isn't waiting for us! The stupid cat keeps getting away!" she continued.
"Well, the cat is currently in the woods behind us." Kakashi said pleasantly and ignoring his two louder students protests and shouting, "What do you think we should do?"
"Split up and approach from four different directions." Sasuke spoke up for the first time that day, effectively plowing over the argument that was starting behind him. A tick was starting to develop over his eye, so Kakashi resolved to have a talk with his other two students. Because in all honesty, this was ridiculous. Weren't Sasuke and Naruto the rivals?
"Good thinking Sasuke. Come on you two. Naruto, you head in from this direction straight ahead. Sakura, circle around to the rear and come that way. Sasuke, go to the West and approach from that direction. I'll approach from the East. Any questions?" Kakashi waited only a second before eye-smiling at the trio, "Good, head to your positions. And don't worry, the cat is loud enough on its own that you can't miss it."
Sasuke and Sakura took off, circling around where they assumed the cat would be to get to their positions. Kakashi also took off, but hid nearby to observe his sensei's son.
And after a moment, Naruto turned seemingly to nothing before saying, "Sakura's starting to really piss me off."
A moment of silence.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. No need to shove it in my face." then Naruto grinned and Kakashi was surprised by how different this grin was to the ones he usually flashed. Kakashi hadn't realized how fake his other ones were until he saw this one.
Kakashi tried to use his sharingan to see Naruto's friend, but the space around him remained clear of any other signs of chakra. And that was odd, because everyone had chakra, and no seals existed where they could completely cover a persons chakra to the point where they didn't show up. At least, not when used in conjunction with a complete invisibility seal as well. Kakashi didn't think that even Minato could do it.
But it wasn't possible for her to be from another world. No such thing existed. Kakashi had asked Pakkun when he had first heard the Third's story, and his ninken had said that he had never heard of such a thing, and none of the others had ever heard of it. Not event the idea had occurred to them.
So somehow, this person was using chakra. It was the only explanation that Kakashi could think of. A little voice in his head suggested otherwise, but Kakashi had stopped listening to that voice a long time ago.
"Kakashi-sensei? We're in position." Sakura came over the comm link. Kakashi saw Naruto start before he fiddled with his comm.
"Wait! I'm not ready!" he sounded a bit panicked before racing off to the woods. Kakashi took Naruto's haste to cover his own movement as he used his jonin speed to arrive at his own spot before Naruto arrived at his.
"Okay now I am." he said after taking a deep breath.
"Good. When I say go, Naruto, you grab hold of the cat and don't let go. Sakura you're the next catcher if it escapes from Naruto. Sasuke, you'll be the last resort. If you don't catch the cat, it'll only run off again and you'll have to chase after it." Kakashi instructed.
"But why can't you also catch it?" Sakura seemed to be doing a lot of complaining today and internally Kakashi promised to make her pay for it tomorrow.
"Because I'm the sensei. Ready? Go!"
There was a flash as three genin launched themselves at the unsuspecting cat. Naruto did manage to grab hold of the cat, mainly because Kakashi showed up on the opposite side of the clearing where she was aiming to run, smelling like dogs. Tora was not going to be coming his way.
The cat scored a particularly deep scratch on Naruto's face, making him yelp and let go of the cat. Kakashi understood that, the scratch looked painful. Sakura attempted to catch it, but the cat easily dodged around her. Sakura was kind of pathetic sometimes.
Thankfully, Sasuke managed to snag the cat. He had a death grip on it as he stared into it's eyes. It was almost fascinating to watch the two have their staring match.
Then Sasuke actually growled at the cat. Tora shrunk into herself and Sakura took the opportunity to shove the cat into a bag they had brought with them but hadn't had the chance to use yet.
Both Sakura and Naruto let out a sigh of relief and even Sasuke' shoulders relaxed a bit once the bag was finally secured. Naruto raised a hand to his cheek to check out the damage that the cat had managed to do and winced a little at feeling the scratch. Kakashi was tempted to offer some chakra to help it heal faster, but he could almost see the edges start to disappear. At least the fox was good for something.
Naruto still held a hand to his face as Sakura whirled to him, "Why didn't you catch it?" she accused, "You had the stupid cat!"
Naruto's hand tightened on his face as Sakura yelled at him, oblivious to his discomfort. Sasuke noticed though and scowled at the pinkette.
"Sakura. That's enough." Kakashi finally interrupted, "Let's go."
She scowled at him, but quickly erased it when Kakashi leveled one of his looks at her.
"Sasuke, keep a hold of that cat." Kakashi ordered before leading the way out of the forest to the Hokage's tower for the debriefing to happen. And then Kakashi was going to be having words with his female student.
{{LINE BREAK}}
"I could hex her for you." Harri offered when she saw that Naruto was still scowling at Sakura's back. She really had pissed him off today, and her as well. Naruto looked at her with his eyes, but shook his head no. Even if his crush was almost gone, there was still a little bit left, besides, Naruto wasn't the type of guy to deliberately hurt others.
Naruto lowered his hand from his cheek to reveal it was nearly gone. Harri poked at the skin where the scratch had been, but Naruto showed no sign of pain. Perhaps just annoyance, as Harri continued to poke at it as they walked, but otherwise seemed completely fine.
"Now that's amazing. It's nearly gone already. I haven't had a chance to use any healing magic since I got here because you heal so quickly." Harri complained vaguely. She wasn't really upset, but she wanted to be a healer for a reason. But it was good that Naruto healed quickly.
Naruto finally had enough and pushed her hand away when it drew near his face again. It was a good thing he was the last in the line because it would have definitely look funny when he pushed her hand away and then turned to scowl at her.
Harri held up her hands and backed away from the smaller boy in amusement. His scowls were just too cute. Maybe one day they would be scary, but right now? They were just cute.
As they walked, Harri amused herself by tripping up Sakura every once in a while, conveniently when she was stepping over a branch or something similar. Naruto didn't say anything, so Harri just kept on continuing. Messing with people was fun. And it wasn't even Naruto's fault so she didn't have anyone to rant at either. Harri thought about doing a cliché evil villain laugh, but figured Naruto would probably try to hit her instead. He didn't seem to be in the laughing mood today.
"So what do you plan on doing next? Kakashi's probably aiming for another D-rank tomorrow, are you prepared for that?" Harri asked Naruto. At her question, Naruto scowled and resolutely shook his head. Harri raised an eyebrow at that, mainly because while Naruto had complained about the missions, he hadn't really protested them yet. Today seemed to be the day though. Harri was surprised he had lasted as long as he did though.
Harri dropped to walk behind Naruto as they came to a particularly thin part of the walking path and couldn't help but look at his team. If she tilted her head a little bit and squinted, and maybe used a little magic, she could just see why this team was put together. At least until she shot another tripping jinx at Sakura and the girl righted herself with a glare over her shoulder at Naruto as though he somehow caused her to trip. Which, Harri supposed, was sort of true. After all, Naruto was the one who brought her on this mission.
"Come on team, let's head to the roofs." Kakashi instructed when the village finally came into view. Harri wondered why he hadn't done it earlier, but shrugged it off quickly. Kakashi was weird enough.
Harri latched onto Naruto's back as he shot up to the roof. It wasn't quite the same as a broom, but it was decent. Harri loved to just tilt her head back and let the wind flow over her as they sped towards the Hokage tower.
{{LINE BREAK}}
"Team Seven reporting mission success." Kakashi stated as Sasuke held the bag containing the cat as far away from his body as was polite. Iruka took the bag from Sasuke and opened it to reveal the ribbon on the cats ear.
"Excellent job, the Hokage is ready to assign your next mission. Just wait a moment while he finishes up with another team." he said, an easy smile on his face. At least he wasn't laughing in their faces about their mission.
"Hello Iruka-sensei." Sakura greeted her academy teacher politely. It was always amazing how nice she could be in comparison to her harpy part.
"Hello Sakura, how have you been doing?" Iruka replied politely. Even as the cat started to protest over its treatment again, Iruka kept a tight grip on the bag, obviously he wasn't one who felt pity for the cat. But then again, very few did. Most had chased after the cat and hated its very existence.
"Fine."
Yeesh, they were the perfect teacher-student. Utterly boring.
"Hi Iruka-sensei!" Naruto greeted enthusiastically as he bounced up to Iruka. Turning to him, Iruka smiled brightly at seeing the bright blond.
"Hi Naruto, how was the mission?" Iruka clearly knew Naruto very well and just watched amused as the blond scowled at the bag.
"That stupid cat! Why'd we have to catch it! I want a real mission!" Naruto complained. Iruka just chuckled and put his hand on Naruto's head. The blond froze, but Iruka just ruffled his hair.
"You'll get there one day, don't you worry." he said with a reassuring smile.
Naruto pouted, but ended up just grinning up at his favorite teacher.
"Speaking of the mission, how did you manage to find the cat so often? Were you cheating?" Sakura suddenly spoke up, leveling an accusing finger at Naruto.
Naruto didn't react at first as his eyes glanced to Harri. The witch tilted her head before replying with a shrug, "You could say you just sensed the cat or something like that. Aren't their people who can do that sort of thing?"
"Well?" Sakura demanded. Harri noticed how Sasuke was also watching closely too. Then she looked over at Kakashi to see him not even trying to hide his interest. Harri groaned at all the interest, but could do nothing about it.
Naruto finally replied with a shrug, "I just knew."
Sakura and Sasuke both scoffed at that, but Iruka and Kakashi had a pensive look on their face as they examined the nervous boy in front of them. Naruto wasn't used to this much attention ever. Besides, it wasn't that much of a lie. He could sense the general area of the stupid cat, but Harri had been the one to really find the cat. Her awesome spell could apparently find anything! Or at least, that's what he figured, Harri hadn't explained it too much. He wished that he could show off her skills to everyone, but he figured he would just do it later with the people who could see her.
"The Hokage is ready for you." it was the Hokage's secretary and the genin and Harri jumped because they hadn't heard her approach. Sometimes it really was scary how quiet the shinobi got. Harri kept an eye on the seemingly innocent secretary as they walked past her, but she stayed uninteresting even as everyone walked in.
"Ah, Team Seven, do come in." the Hokage was sitting at his desk as he looked through a pile of scrolls. He barely glanced up as a rather busty woman burst in, already speaking loudly about her 'poor, terrified, kitty'.
Iruka solemnly handed over the cat and the kids all watched with pity and horror as the cat was unceremoniously squished to her chest as she cooed to it.
"No wonder it runs away." Harri murmured to Naruto. He gave a small nod even as he watched with wide eyes as the cat was practically choked to death in the woman's grasp.
"Thank you so much!" then she handed a small pouch to someone who looked like a chunin before flouncing out of the room, still strangling the cat.
"Alright, good work Team Seven. Now, for your mission tomorrow, well, lets see. There's weeding Madam Mimi, or Mr. Furosake needs his barn repaired, or, how about..."
"No! I want a real mission Jiji!" Naruto complained loudly, "I want a real mission to prove I'm capable of being a ninja! Of being a shinobi!"
"Naruto! You can't just ask for a higher mission of the Hokage!" while Iruka knew of Naruto's informality with the Hokage, that didn't mean he would let his old student get away with disrespect like that.
In response, Naruto sat on the floor. Harri let out a sigh at his childish actions before gently kicking him in the side with her foot.
"I'm pretty sure you're supposed to ask nicely kid." she said exasperated. But Naruto ignored her too.
"Do you know the rankings of missions Naruto? They exist for a reason. Newly made genin take care of D-ranks, the mission requests in village. Older genin and low chunin take C-ranked as well as D-ranked. High chunin and low-jonin take B-ranked. Jonin take care of A-ranked missions. Do you understand why Naruto?" the Hokage asked the pouting kid on the floor in front of him.
"Yeah, so everyone's safe." he finally muttered. Of course, after Harri dug her foot in his side, more of a tickle than a kick. Unknown to both of them, Hiruzen watched the invisible, now visible to him, girl with curiosity. She clearly wasn't a ninja, her physique wasn't as good as his shinobi. But she did have some muscle mass. So she had seen some sort of action at least.
"But still Jiji! How are we supposed to learn if we're stuck working on chores?" his whining actually did have a point there. If he had asked just a bit later, Hiruzen would have gladly let them go on a very easy C-rank. The problem was that they had been genin only for a week.
Naruto hadn't learned nothing from all his time with the Hokage, he could see that his points were starting to win him over, "We'll have Kakashi with us to, so it's not like we'll be in any danger! We can handle ourselves! Please Jiji!" he pleaded.
Iruka opened his mouth to tell his pseudo-little brother absolutely not when another voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Alright Naruto. You can have your chance. There's a nice, easy C-rank here. It's escorting a bridge builder back to his home. You all should be just fine."he couldn't believe he was actually letting them go. Naruto's puppy-eyes were dangerous.
"Wha...? But, Hokage...!" Iruka started to protest, but was instead drowned out by Naruto, and surprisingly, Sakura's cheering. Even Sasuke looked pleased by the unexpected turn of events. Neither of them had actually expected Naruto to succeed. Kakashi turned his lone visible eye to the ceiling, but made no move to disagree.
Harri just shook her head at his silliness.
"Bring in the bridge builder Tazuna!" Hiruzen called to the jonin manning the door. He nodded, then walked off.
Naruto was getting more and more excited as he came up with grander and grander people who they would be escorting. It seemed he had missed the title 'Bridge Builder'. Or was deliberately ignoring it in the hopes it would turn out false and the person they were escorting was really a famous princess or whoever.
Harri smelled the guy before she saw him, before she even heard him. She wrinkled her nose at the thick smell of alcohol coming off of the man.
"Those guys? They're a bunch of brats!" he slurred a bit, before taking another swig of whatever he was drinking.
"This is the guy we have to escort? He doesn't look like much!" Naruto complained.
Hearing this comment, the man pointed his bottle at Naruto, "Well, none of you look like much, especially the small, annoying one."
It took Naruto a moment before he realized that he was the shortest of the team and threw a mini-fit. At least, until Harri came over and smacked the boy on the back of the head. Naruto wrinkled his nose at her, but didn't continue.
"You aren't allowed to kill the customer Naruto." Kakashi said calmly as his hand descended onto Naruto's collar, pulling him back away from the drunk man.
"Hm, meet me at the gate tomorrow at 9. I want to get home soon." the man, Tazuna, told the group before he shambled away to... somewhere. Harri wasn't too concerned over him.
"Alright, you heard the man. Tomorrow at 9." Kakashi informed his team, "Pack light, I don't expect us to take too long. Perhaps two weeks at most."
"Are you going to be on time sensei?" Sakura asked, her voice letting her doubt creep through. Kakashi just gave an eye-smile before pulling out his book and disappearing. The genin heard sighing from behind them, but they just ignored Kakashi's leaves as they walked out. He did it to them all the time anyway.
"See you tomorrow!" Naruto called before he turned towards Ichiraku's. Neither answered, but behind him, he heard Sakura predictably call after Sasuke which he, also predictably, ignored. Naruto rolled his eyes at their behaviour and stuck his hands in his pockets. Harri strolled next to him, looking relaxed as most people ignored Naruto.
"To ramen?" Harri asked eagerly. She enjoyed chatting with Teuchi, he had some interesting stories and treated everyone the same. He almost reminded her of Mr. Weasley with his acceptance of everything. They were similar after all, Teuchi took care of Naruto while everyone else didn't, and Mr. Weasley had always accepted her bringing her friends to his house as well. Even if not everyone had been happy about the decision.
Naruto nodded in response to her question eagerly and was about to let Harri on and take for the roofs when Iruka's voice stopped them.
"Naruto! Wait up!" he called as he spotted the boy a bit of the ways off. He paused at seeing the boy a bit bent over, but shook it off as Naruto stood back up with a sheepish expression on his face. One hand went up to rub the back of his head.
"You aren't mad at me Iruka-sensei are you? Because I really do think I'm ready. Me and the Teme." Naruto informed his teacher seriously.
"The correct version of what you just said is 'Teme and I.'" Harri muttered quietly under her breath.
Iruka just sighed before slinging an arm over his shoulder, "Come on, let me take you out for ramen before you leave tomorrow."
"So you aren't mad at me?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he looked up at Iruka, the worry evident in his eyes. As the two started walking, Naruto shot a glance over his shoulder to see Harri's shoulder slump slightly before she caught up to the two of them.
Iruka sighed, "How can I get mad at you? Perhaps a bit disappointed, disappointed that you're growing up faster than I expected. Next you'll be saying you want to take the Chunin exams. Of course, with Kakashi as your sensei, you might end up being signed up." he muttered the last part to himself, but refused to explain more when Naruto bugged him about it.
Harri walked ahead of them, making careful sure to stay within the bond limits. She shoved her hands into her pockets as she watched some birds fly from one building to another. She was getting too used to being acknowledged. That was the problem.
As they drew close to Ichiraku's, Harri glanced behind her to see the laughing forms of Iruka and Naruto. At least Naruto had somebody for him. That was good. It was good to see him acting like a normal kid.
She ducked into the shop and greeted Teuchi with a bright grin. Harri had heard he had a daughter, but she hadn't been around a lot. Harri wasn't sure if the girl was visiting a relative or what, but she hadn't been around lately.
"Hey Teuchi! How are you?" Harri greeted as she slid onto a stool, a bowl of ramen being deposited in front of her automatically with her favorite already ready. Her lit up at the sit and she threw a thank you in his direction as he headed back to the stove for Naruto's.
"Good, good. You?" he responded.
Harri shrugged in response, and then asked, "Don't you have a daughter? Where's she been lately?"
"Visiting relatives in another village, she is actually coming home soon. I am very excited." Teuchi smiled at the thought of his daughter coming home and Harri smiled as well at seeing the love in his face for his daughter.
"Hey Teuchi! Can I have a miso?" Naruto asked as he slid into the seat next to Harri.
"Of course, here you go." Naruto's bowl was prepped and waiting for him, as well as at least 10, just in case.
Iruka then started going for Harri's chair and her eyes widened as she tried to scramble out of the way. Even if others never noticed, Iruka would definitely notice if he were to sit on her.
Naruto's eyes widened as well, "Wait Iruka-sensei! Not that seat!" his panicked tone made Iruka freeze.
Harri struggled to get out of the chair, and if it was any other circumstance, she would probably find this hilarious. Unfortunately, she didn't find it funny at all.
"Why? There's nothing wrong with this seat." Iruka turned to look at the seat and Harri ducked as his arm went over where her head had been a second ago.
Harri carefully inched over the side of the seat. Then Iruka's foot made a connection with her shin.
"Oh crud."
Iruka started as his foot encountered a resistance that wasn't there, he looked down thoughtfully and was fully prepared to just dismiss it when he caught sight of Naruto's face, "Alright Naruto, what's going on?"
Naruto floundered for a moment before finally blurting out, "I have an invisible friend who's trapped to a lamp."
Iruka stared at Naruto, "What?"
"It's true! It's why I've been improving so much! Her name's Harri and she thought I was a really nice person so she came out of her lamp and she can grant me wishes! She's really nice."
"Then how come I can't see her?" Iruka demanded, "There's no such jutsu that can do a thing that you are suggesting, it's impossible!"
"No it's not! She's not from this world! Harri doesn't even use chakra!" Naruto tried to argue. But it was a fantastical idea. There was a reason not many people believed in Harri.
"Umino-san, I would request that you allow Harri to stand up. I can't imagine that the position she's in is comfortable." Teuchi put in mildly as he put another bowl down, presumably for Iruka.
Now Iruka turned to gape at the ramen chef. But at an impatient suggestive look from Teuchi made Iruka scramble away from the chair. Harri let out a sigh of relief as she straightened up. Then she moved to the other side of Naruto.
"Thanks Teuchi."
"No problem." he said easily, switching the bowls in front of Harri and where Iruka would sit.
Hesitantly, Iruka sat and picked up his chopsticks, "Explain. In better detail." Naruto only hesitated a moment before launching into the story. It wasn't very long, as he left out Harri's back story. That was her story and only hers to tell.
After he was done, Iruka took a big bite of his ramen, chewed it, swallowed, and then cleared his throat, "Let me get this straight. You have a friend who is stuck to a magic lamp. She came from a different world with magic, and can grant wishes if she wants. No one can see her because of the magic on the lamp. And she's been helping you to the best of her abilities, even though she's not a shinobi at all. And she's the reason you kept finding the cat today."
"I wasn't really lying when I said I could sense it! I could sense the genera area it was in, I just convinced Harri to help. Her spell led us right to the stupid cat every time." Naruto defended his, and Harri's, decisions today.
"Does the Hokage know?" Iruka asked after a moment.
Naruto's shoulders slumped, "I tried to tell him, but he couldn't see her."
"You know, he is the Hokage, perhaps he found out a different way and just hasn't done anything about it yet. Harri doesn't look very formidable after all." Teuchi put in.
Iruka took another bite. Harri was currently downing the broth in her bowl and she slammed it down appreciatively. Teuchi was just the best ramen chef ever. In any world she had ever visited, Teuchi won as a ramen chef hands down. They should give him an official reward for his work.
"The bowl is empty." Iruka noticed, pointing towards the now empty bowl. When no one answered him, turning to look at the bowl as they thought, he instead asked, "How do I see your friend?"
"Believe in the lamp." Harri muttered as Teuchi placed another bowl in front of her. Eating again was so nice.
"You have to believe in the lamp." Naruto told him. Iruka made a face at his head when Naruto looked down and Harri couldn't help but agree with him. Seriously, what counted as belief? Belief that the lamp was real? Belief in magic? The instructions she had gathered over the years were frustratingly vague sometimes.
There was a choking sound from Iruka's direction and Harri glanced over halfheartedly to see him staring at her, noodles hanging from his mouth.
"Yay! Iruka-sensei can see you too!" Naruto had obviously figured it out, and Teuchi even gave the man a comforting pat on the shoulder. Harri tilted her head at the sight. Seriously, how did the kid do it? No one had ever just managed to convince people she was real. Maybe it was a superpower or something.
"But...but...but!" Iruka sputtered.
"Surprise?" Harri offered weakly. Instead, Iruka just slammed his head down on the counter. Naruto and Harri both jumped at the hard sound and then stared a little concerned as Iruka hit his head a few more times before sitting up.
"Alright. I'll take it." he announced to the general confusion of the stands occupants, ""I assume that you have your own version of offensive and defensive techniques?" he questioned. "Since you have magic or whatever it is?"
"Of course." Harri said with a bit of pride.
"Good, then I trust Naruto's safety on his mission tomorrow to you. Can you take care of him?" he questioned seriously.
"Yes indeed. Although he can handle himself."
"Good. That's all I ask. Well, now that that's all cleared up, I'm going to go home and drink some sake until I pass out probably. I think I'll call in sick tomorrow." he announced before getting up and tossing some bills on the table to cover his food, "Be safe." he instructed Naruto firmly, then disappeared before anyone could convince him otherwise.
"Well, that went well." Harri finally said after a moments silence, "Come on Naruto. If we have a mission tomorrow, then you need to head to bed. Good night Teuchi, we'll see you soon. Naruto managed to convince the Hokage to let them do an escort mission."
Teuchi raised an eyebrow, but waved them off, "Alright, be careful."
"We will be, don't worry!" Naruto said proudly before he downed his last bowl of ramen, "Come on Harri!"
"I'm coming, don't worry!" she replied, then turned to Teuchi, "Thank you. We'll see you soon."
Then she too waved good-bye and left. Tomorrow was a big day.
{{LINE BREAK}}
A/N:: Hello everybody! Sorry for the long wait, but I had stuff to do in real life! Which mainly included packing for college. I actually finished this chapter while in a car. Unfortunately, it's a 22 hour drive. Bleck. At least I got lots of writing in hopefully! I'm actually updating somewhere in the middle of Missouri I think. I'm not sure, I wasn't the one driving.
I got a review from a guest who asked me to 'write longer chapters'. You guys, I love people who write long chapters (specifically Tsume Yuki, her stories are amazing). However, I am not as awesome as her. I'm amazed that this chapter was 12 pages long. For me, that's amazing. My chapters used to be stupidly short. I'm improving, but please don't bug for longer chapters. I'm working on it.
This is semi-important:: So I've gotten several reviews from readers who aren't happy. Specifically with Harri and her lack of doing anything magical. Let me put it this way. Harri doesn't care. At all. She has no need to go around showing off her magic at every able opportunity. Harri doesn't know anything about Naruto's world (besides what she learned in the history books she read) and ultimately doesn't care. She likes Naruto, yes. But she doesn't care about his world. She never read a Naruto manga or watched an anime episode. She's been trapped in the lamp for ages. For who knows how long. Her being the Master of Death doesn't really do anything because she's only the Master of Death from her home dimensions. She's also not a ninja. She's a witch who misses the fact that she can't apparate. She hates running. She can dodge, yeah, fire off spells, yeah. But she's not a ninja. She can't use chakra, doesn't know how it works. I will be addressing this during the Wave Arc. I'm trying to make this believable. Akatsuki hasn't appeared yet, Harri has no reason to go about traipsing in minds or use her magic. As of where they are right now, there is no point. None. She's not interested. Naruto is using his superpower of getting everyone to turn good on her basically. And to help everyone see her. Naruto's the only person she cares about in this dimension/world. So just keep an open mind while reading, please.
Shout out to Allykrau who was the 100th reviewer! Yeah! 100 plus reviews! So last chapter we were at 87 reviews, 628 followers, and 397 favorites. At posting, there is 103 reviews, 700 followers, and 450 favorites. Yeah!
Thank you everyone!
Moving on from reviews, (mainly because I was depressing myself) next we move into the Wave Arc. Seeing as this is the first spot where people get stuck, I'm determined to not be stuck. I've got a plan, and hopefully Wave doesn't take more than 4 chapters. Crossing fingers!