Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: AU for parts of both worlds (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), mild character bashing, mild to moderate violence (there are shinobi involved after all), and a few others that will be announced as they crop up.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

Chapter 15: Running the Gauntlet

Tuesday, September 25, 2001, Late Afternoon/Evening
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni

Harry dropped down into the nearest chair in the lobby just outside of the Hokage's office and stared at the thick stack of forms he'd been handed by the Hokage with distaste. He was at least thankful that the application he was required to fill out was no where near as thick as the one Dudley had been given. With a small sigh of resignation, Harry dug into his cloak pocket to grab a quill and a bottle of ink (just two of the mundane items he kept in the magically expanded pockets of the cloak – a habit picked up from his year on the run during the war) and began the tedious task of filling out the numerous forms; starting with the rather short one that he'd been given to fill out for Teddy.

Just a few feet away, Dudley and Eloise were similarly occupied.

It only took Harry about fifteen minutes to fill out the supplemental citizenship application as all it had asked for was Teddy's basic information; such as name, age, gender, birthdate, current level of education, and next of kin. There was also a medical release form that required his signature authorizing the release of Teddy's medical information. He then filled out a similar form for himself that was a total of three pages and asked for the same information as Teddy's form in addition to; his martial status, his current financial situation, a list of his assets, a list of past and current employment, and a list of his job skills (not including his shinobi skills). He was also required to answer close to fifty questions about his reasons for moving to Konoha and whether or not he'd ever been convicted of a crime.

The next section of his application was another medical release form followed by a trio of medical form packets that would need to be filled out by the medic that performed his, his son's, and his cousin's medical evaluation; Harry just had to fill in his, Naruto's, and Teddy's personal information at the top of each page on both sides (one packet for each of them). When he picked up the next section of his application, he briefly thought he'd been given an extra medical evaluation packet by mistake until he realized that the packet was actually for a mental evaluation. He grimaced distastefully over the need for his mental health to be assessed by perfect strangers but diligently added his personal information to the spaces provided at the top of all four pages on both sides.

That brought him to the last and largest section of the application; a twenty page questionnaire about his shinobi skills and knowledge. The first page focused on general information; such as the age at which he began his shinobi training, how many years he'd been training, if he'd been an official shinobi of another village, the name (or names) of any shinobi that he'd been apprenticed to, what level he estimated his skills to be at, which branches of the shinobi arts he had training in, and which branches of the shinobi arts he was interested in training in. He was also asked several questions about the level of his chakra control, the size of his reserves (if known), and whether or not he had a Kekkei Genkai.

After that there were nine pages that each focused on one of the nine main branches of shinobi arts; taijutsu, ninjutsu, shurikenjutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, iryojutsu, fuuinjutsu, kinjutsu, and senjutsu. Harry would only fill out the questionnaires for five of the different branches; taijutsu, ninjutsu, shurikenjutsu, kenjutsu, and fuuinjutsu. He had no talent for genjutsu or iryojutsu (not to mention a lack of the fine control required for both branches) and he had not received any training in kinjutsu or senjutsu. The nine pages following those were the evaluation forms for the nine branches and all Harry had to do was fill in his personal information eighteen more times for those. The final page was yet another evaluation form; this one intended to record his current force, speed, and stamina ratings and predict his latent potential and luck.

Finished, Harry flicked the quill clear of ink before he set it aside and shook out his aching hand. He then took a moment to shuffle through his and Teddy's application to double check all of his answers (mostly to make certain he hadn't used his or Teddy's birth names at any point). He put the applications back into order at that point and rose to his feet to approach the masked shinobi that was currently doubling as the Hokage's secretary in order to make it known that he'd finished filling out his application. While he waited for instructions on what he was supposed to do next, Harry checked with his cousin and his cousin-in-law to see if they were finished (Eloise had finished hers but was currently helping Dudley fill out his application).

"Namikaze-san, the Hokage will see you now; please make certain to bring your completed application and pertinent legal documents and records with you," the bird masked AnBu guard that had escorted him to the Tower alongside Inu stated a moment later.

Harry sighed and gathered up his application before he squared his shoulders and reentered the Hokage's office. The first thing he noted was the two intimidating gentlemen that now flanked the Hokage. The one on the left was a bear of a man standing at roughly six feet four inches with a pair of painful looking scars bisecting his face. The stony expression he wore did not inspire warm and fuzzy feelings in the wizard but it also didn't set him to shaking in his boots; Harry had seen more terrifying scowls on any number of older and stronger wizards. The second man had long blond hair, creepy pupil-less blue eyes, was only three inches taller than Harry, and his mere presence set Harry on edge for some reason.

"Allow me to introduce you to Morino Ibiki; head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department," the Hokage announced the moment Harry came to a stop in front of his desk as he gestured to the bearlike man on his left. "And Yamanaka Inoichi; one of our top interrogators and one of my trusted advisors. They are here to assess your current mental health and verify that you do not intend any harm towards Konoha or her people. If you will pass me your paperwork, Takeshi-san, I will begin reviewing your application while they evaluate your mental health."

Harry stiffly passed his application and his packet of legal documents over to the Hokage before he glanced to the man that had been introduced as Ibiki to wait for instructions. The bear-like man arched an eyebrow in surprise before he shot a questioning look at the blond man and Harry suspected that they'd expected him to shy away from the scarred man instead of ignoring the blond; the blond was far less intimidating in appearance, after all. It wasn't Inoichi's looks that bothered the wizard though, it was the uncomfortable feeling that the man could do him harm above and beyond physical pain that made him wish to avoid him.

"I suggest that you avoid attempting to enter my cousin's mind in order to view his memories, Inoichi; you will not like the results," Minato advised as he shimmered into view once more; his appearance startling both interrogators.

"Drop the genjutsu, Namikaze-san," Ibiki ordered tightly.

"I'm am not using a genjutsu, I am incapable of using genjutsu because I lack the control necessary and therefore never bothered to learn more beyond the basics of how to recognize when one was cast on me and how to break it."

"I can sense that you are channeling chakra right now; if you are not maintaining the illusion of the Yondaime Hokage, then what are you using the chakra for?" Inoichi countered as he scowled at Harry.

"Ah, that's easy to explain," Harry replied as he dug through his pockets for the empty pouch that was tied to the set of glass disks he was currently sticking to various parts of his body. "In order to maintain what little control I have over my chakra, I have to consistently work on my chakra control every day. I usually put my disks away when we make camp each evening but because we're no longer on the road, I forgot."

Harry then set the pouch in the palm of his left hand and placed his right index finger over the recall rune sewn on the pouch and activated the rune at the same time as he ceased channeling his chakra. The pouch in his hand abruptly filled up accompanied by the sound of clinking glass. Harry shook the pouch to make the disks rattled once more before he slipped the pouch back into his pocket.

"Problem solved, ne?"

"No, there is still the matter of the illusion of a dead man that is standing in the middle of the room," Ibiki countered in a low growl.

"Minato can be annoying at times but he's not a bad person and he is family. My maternal aunt, on the other hand, is a real piece of work and I think I'd seriously consider committing suicide if her ghost ever decided to haunt me. That woman was three pies short of a holiday feast, if you want my opinion."

"Ignore the ghost; he's not a figment of your imagination and he will not harm anyone," the Hokage stated as he glanced up from Harry's application to address the two shinobi. "His presence is tied to a Kekkei Genkai that Takeshi-san told me he possesses which allows him to communicate with the dead and I've already confirmed that it is not a trick."

"Why can't I view his memories?" Inoichi asked Minato's spirit after he digested the Hokage's remark. "Scanning his memories would be the fastest way for us to determine whether or not it would be a risk to allow this young man to remain in Konoha."

"Same reason why you'd be a fool to attempt to view my son's memories," Minato answered after he glanced at Harry for permission to reveal the presence of his passenger; Harry willing gave it because he knew that the Kyuubi's presence would have been noted during his medical exam anyway.

"You're a Jinchuuriki? How is that possible? Are there bijuu running wild in the Outer Countries as well then?" the Hokage demanded in rapid fire as he slammed Harry's paperwork on the desk and half rose out of his chair.

Harry crossed his arms defensively as he answered the Hokage's questions in a clipped tone, "In order; yes, long story, and no. I don't trust you enough to say another word on the matter right now. The only reason I let you to know about my status now is because it would have become readily apparent the moment you sent me for my medical exam."

"Is it actually a bijuu that you are holding then?"

"Yes."

"Will you at least tell us which one of the nine bijuu you are holding?" Ibiki inquired as his scowl deepened slightly.

"No. I don't fancy having my personal secrets spread about the village. If it becomes necessary at some point in the future for you to know about the furball, then I will reveal that information to those that need to know."

"Will you allow me to bring in a seal master to inspect your seal?" the Hokage asked as he cleaned up the scattered forms he'd dropped.

"If you are referring to Yamaguchi Jiraiya, then yes. Anyone else can go hang themselves. Yamaguchi-san has at least been given ringing endorsements by two people that I trust as both Kushina and Minato have told me that the man knows what he is doing when it comes to fuuinjutsu."

"Yes, I was referring to my student; I will summon him back to the village so that he can inspect your seal and Naruto's seal to insure that neither seal suffered any negative side effects from passing through the portal."

The subject of Harry's burden was dropped at that point as Ibiki and Inoichi began interrogating him while the Hokage returned to his perusal of Harry's application. Most of the questions they asked seemed repetitious as they asked the same question at least ten different ways as if they were purposefully trying to trip him up. They started with his social development, moved onto his emotional development, and then switched to his moral beliefs. After that they asked him about his bad habits, his views on authority figures, and how old he had been when he first took a life.

They morbidly prompted him for a total number of kills he'd made and asked if he'd ever been tortured before inquiring whether or not he suffered from nightmares. They then switched tracks again and asked him what family meant to him, if he had any happy memories, and if he had any hobbies that helped him to relax. They even broached the topic of his sex life to his mortification and all three of the older men in the office had stared at him in shock when he admitted to still being a virgin (he'd never gone passed the kissing stage, after all). That had them questioning Teddy's parentage but Harry was quick to point out that he never hid the fact that his son was adopted.

The two men wrapped up the mentally and emotionally exhausting interrogation by readdressing his feelings regarding taking another's life in self defense versus assassination, if he had any reservations about stealing, and whether or not he had any anger management issues or self-destructive tendencies (such as drinking in excess, taking recreational drugs, experimenting with explosives, or inflicting bodily harm upon his person).

When it was over, Harry answered a couple of questions that the Hokage had in regards to his training before he collected his legal documents and stumbled from the room. He happily noted that the dog-masked Inu had returned with the children at some point while he'd been grilled over the past hour and felt a measure of tension he'd been feeling since the children had been escorted from his side disappear. The weary wizard then commandeered the only couch in the lobby and promptly made himself comfortable before he fell asleep with Teddy curled up on his chest and Naruto parked on the arm of the couch to stand guard over the two of them.

While he slept off his exhaustion, Dudley and Eloise were both subjected to mental assessments (though their interrogations were not quite as intensive as they weren't looking to become shinobi) both separately and individually (do to their marital status). Once the couple was finished, Naruto was called into the Hokage's office for an interview and Dudley didn't hesitate to insist on sticking to the kid's side while Harry was out of it. The Hokage was less than pleased not to be allowed to question Naruto alone but let the matter slide because the young blond was a minor and the man had no wish to incite Harry's anger a second time.

Once the Hokage let Naruto go, Inu and Tori (the bird masked AnBu) were tasked with escorting the small family to the hotel suite that had been rented on their behalf; which would include guiding them to a vacant lot near the hotel where they could secure their wagons. Naruto was given the unenviable job of waking Harry up from his nap which saw the pre-teen being covered from head to toe in bright pink, pale purple, and eye blinding yellow paint courtesy of the paint filled balloon bombs that Harry had been carrying in his pockets for some reason. Naruto was not impressed with his new look and Harry was not happy to be awake which for some reason made both masked shinobi snicker each time they caught sight of a paint covered Naruto or the shuffling half asleep zombie that was Harry.

By the time they reached the wagons, Harry was wide awake (if still exhausted) and he spent a good twenty minutes inspecting all of the horses and wagons before he dispelled his shadow clone guards (to the surprise of their escort). He then tossed Teddy up on Felix's saddle before he smoothly mounted the gelding, gave Naruto a hand up onto the saddle behind him, and moved to the head of the caravan while Eloise climbed up onto the driver's seat of the last wagon (for appearance's sake) and Dudley took his usual seat on the driver's seat of the vardo. Harry then let the two AnBu guards know that they were ready to move out.

It would take them a half an hour to navigate the busy streets with the wagons in order to reach the vacant lot. Another hour was then spent setting up a temporary camp and unhitching the horses (the elves unable to help due to the number of people watching them). It would have taken even longer if Harry and Naruto hadn't supplied a handful of clones each to groom, feed, and picket the horses. The clones would then be left to watch over the camp and make certain that no one would bother the horses (a task made easy thanks to the pre-carved ward stones that Eloise had set up around the perimeter while the others had tended the horses).

The sun had set by the time they finished and the group quickly packed overnight bags with a couple changes of clothes, toiletries, and a few other odds and ends they thought they might need. Their next stop was the nearest restaurant to pick up a couple boxes of takeaway since they had no plans to leave their hotel room once they checked in for the night. Their escorts then took them to their temporary lodgings and Harry was pleased to note that the hotel was neither overly pretentious nor completely run down; meaning that he had not need to fear for his wallet being hit hard either due to extravagant costs or unscrupulous neighbors.

The group bid goodnight to their escort (both parties well aware of the fact that the two masked shinobi would watch over them until they were relieved by another pair of guards), took turns taking showers as they ate, and then promptly went to bed (Dudley and Eloise taking the bed while Harry and the two children camped out on the floor). Harry would sleep reasonably well that night considering that he slept on hard floor in a strange room that sat in the middle of an unfamiliar village; his nightmares held at bay by sheer exhaustion.

Harry was up with the rising sun the next morning (a longstanding habit since the day he began his shinobi training and education two years ago) and dressed for the day before he created a couple of clones to keep an eye on the others. He then slipped out of their suite, existed the hotel, and made his way to the wagons on foot. He was vaguely aware of the shadow he picked up the moment he left the hotel but paid the shinobi no mind as he ran through his morning exercises before he groomed Felix and Fidelis and saddled both geldings. Harry then mounted Fidelis for the first time since he'd been injured (after making certain the bruise was fully healed) and set off to explore the village while most of the residents were still in bed.

He eventually stumbled across a wide empty field lined with trees (not unexpected considering what he knew of the village) and spent another half an hour putting Fidelis through his paces while keeping a close eye on the dark gelding to make certain the workout didn't do him any harm. Once the half hour was up, Harry took the horse through a cool down before he spent a half hour working Felix after which he made his way back to the wagons. He found the rest of the family there tending to the rest of the horses (bar the two stallions, whom Harry would deal with once he'd finished with the geldings).

The five of them had time for a light breakfast before a messenger arrived from the Hokage informing them that he'd made arrangements for them to be given their medical assessments that morning. Inu arrived twenty minutes later in order to escort them to their appointments (the gray haired shinobi running late as usual – though none of the travelers were bothered by that). It wasn't until they arrived at what looked like a newly built school that Harry realized something was up as he'd expected to be led to the hospital for their appointments.

His apprehension was laid to rest just five minutes later when Harry learned that their medical assessments were going to be handled by Senju Tsunade and her apprentice, Kato Shizune. Harry knew who Tsunade was thanks to Minato's lessons and he knew that her medical skills were as legendary as her temper. Three and a half hours later, Harry was not nearly as pleased to have such a renowned medic administering his exam after he had been subjected to a full battery of tests and a second interrogation (this one revolving entirely around his medical history).

He was also less than pleased to discover that Tsunade got a kick out of embarrassing the hell out of him as she asked far too many pointed questions in an effort to determine if his sexual inexperience was the result of a social issue or a medical issue. Harry retaliated when it was all over by hitting the woman with a slow acting balding jinx; she would go bald over the course of a week and then stay bald for another week before her hair grew back. The only thing that had stopped him from using a faster form of retribution was his need for her to fill out his medical evaluation (hopefully with positive results).

Teddy and Naruto's exams were nowhere near as intensive as they were too young yet to worry about needing to go through half of the exams and therefore Tsunade finished with them rather quickly (with Teddy being required to revert to his base form in order to get accurate results). Shizune, on the other hand, had handled Dudley and Eloise's exams; both of which had been nearly as thorough as Harry's (the only reason they didn't receive quite the same battery of tests as Harry was again due to his decision to apply for entrance into the shinobi forces).

Ordeal over, Harry happily hightailed it out of Tsunade's domain and vowed to avoid getting injured at all costs least he be forced to endure Tsunade's brand of coarse humor in larger doses. An elf made lunch consisting of his favorite dishes and the afternoon split between playing with Teddy and Naruto and sparring with Naruto and Dudley went a long ways towards restoring his mood. After supper, he spent the rest of the evening lounging about their hotel suite while watching Naruto and Teddy play around with blocks.

The next morning, an unfamiliar man wearing the standard uniform of a Konoha shinobi (a dark blue long sleeved shirt, dark blue pants, open toed boots – also blue, green flack jacket, hitai-ate – with dark blue bandana, and a weapon holster strapped to the middle of the right thigh) turned up at the vacant lot. The man's dark brown hair was secured in a messy ponytail at the back of his head, his eyes were a dark brown bordering on black, had a long scar that ran across the bridge of his nose, and wore a friendly smile as he greeted Harry and stated that he was there to collect Naruto for his scheduled assessment tests.

Naruto recognized the man as Umino Iruka and greeted him with cautious enthusiasm (an indication that the man hadn't treated Naruto too terribly before but that Naruto still felt unsure about the man). Wary of just letting his cousin wander off with a stranger (even if Naruto did know the man), Harry determinedly tagged along while leading a saddled Teneo (the Andalusian stallion). As they walked, Harry grilled Iruka about how long he anticipated Naruto's assessments to take (between six and eight hours).

When they arrived at the Academy, Harry passed Naruto money for lunch, bid him good luck, and promised to return later to collect him (waiting until Naruto vanished into the building before he created a single clone to monitor the area and keep watch for the blond). Harry then wandered off to the same clearing he'd used the day before in order to train Teneo for a couple of hours under the eyes of yet another masked shinobi.

He started by warming the stallion up using the lunge line before he created a Kage Bunshin and cast a featherweight charm on the clone. The clone quickly mounted the stallion in order to teach the horse to respond to hand and knee signals without the fear of getting bucked off or hurting the young stallion. Harry continued to keep hold of the lunge line as the clone worked the horse; just in case the clone fell off or the horse was spooked as he had no desire to chase a runaway stallion on foot through the streets of the village.

After a full two hours of training, Harry led the horse back to the vacant lot where he rubbed him down before returning him to his picket line (which was on the opposite side of the camp as the shire stallion). He would pass another three hours of time working with Teddy on his lessons and eating lunch at a rather popular dango stand. He then took Teddy window shopping and people watching (two of Teddy's favorite pastimes; right after flying, horseback riding, and playing with Naruto, of course). After Teddy grew bored of that, Harry wandered in the direction of the Shinobi Academy and killed time by pushing Teddy on the rope swing that had been tied to the tree that sat directly across from the Academy building after dispelling his clone.

Naruto burst out of the Academy an hour later, the blond eager to escape the stares (his peers hadn't seen him in three years, after all) and the mind numbing tests. He was ecstatic to find both Teddy and Harry waiting for him and he eagerly tackled Harry with one of his power hugs before he kidnapped Teddy from the swing, twirled him around a couple of times, and plopped the toddler on his shoulders. The three of them then ambled off in the direction of the wagons while a bemused and slightly regretful Umino Iruka trailed along behind them (to make certain they didn't get lost or ambushed).

The morning of the twenty-eighth would find the family of five once again standing in the Hokage's office as the Hokage went over the results of their medical and mental evaluations while Tsunade, Shizune, Ibiki, and Inoichi offered the occasional comment and Inu stood silently off to one side. The Sandaime started off reporting a positive confirmation from their blood tests; Dudley, Harry, and Naruto were all related (which they'd already known). Unsurprisingly, Harry was also distantly related to Teddy (his mother and grandmother had both been Blacks by blood as had Harry's paternal grandmother – meaning that he and his father had both been Blacks as well).

Next, the Hokage went over the results of Naruto's and Teddy's medical results which were all positive in nature; both boys exceedingly healthy. A vaccination schedule was then set up for Teddy as he'd need to be given the remainder of his childhood immunizations (those that differed from the ones he'd received on the Outside as well as his booster shots) over the next five or six years. Just before the Hokage moved onto the next set of results, he declared that Naruto was remarkably well adjusted despite his rather rough start in life; that was the closest the man would ever come to saying that Naruto's three year vacation from the village had been beneficial for the boy.

Dudley's assessments were covered next and while he'd passed their mental evaluation with no problems (something he would not have managed just four of five years earlier), there were a few medical concerns. His childhood had been very hard on his health; his parent's overindulgence and his unhealthy diet for the first fourteen years of his life had left a mark on his body. He was currently healthy (after spending roughly six years turning his lifestyle and diet around) but he had a mild case of diverticulitis that would grow worse with age, a strong likelihood of heart disease in his future, a high risk of developing type two diabetes, a guarantee that he would suffer from arthritis in the future, and a defective chakra network.

The good news was that most of the health risks he faced could be controlled and contained with regular medical check-ups, a closely monitored diet, and regular exercise. There wasn't much that could be done to correct the problems with his chakra network but since he intended to live the life of a civilian that wouldn't have that large of an impact on his life since he had no need to mold chakra. However, if he was willing to allow Tsunade and a couple of other medics to study his chakra network, there was a chance that they could develop treatments for children that suffered from the same or similar defects. One such child was an Academy student by the name of Rock Lee.

To Harry's everlasting surprise, Dudley readily agreed to allow the medics to study his chakra network; further proof that his cousin had truly changed his way of thinking.

Once Dudley finished making arrangements with Shizune (both for his next medical check-up and for a screening of his chakra network), the Hokage moved on to Eloise's results. Eloise had passed her medical evaluation with flying colors (thanks in part to her magical core) though she would need to visit a medic regularly for the next nine months; apparently the newlyweds hadn't quite been careful enough during their two week long honeymoon and Eloise was about six weeks pregnant. Neither Eloise nor Dudley were too sad about that (they both wanted at least two or three children), though they had originally intended to hold off on starting a family until after they were settled.

The results of her mental evaluation weren't quite as stellar, though they hadn't found anything that would prevent her from being granted citizenship in Konoha. It was more that she was suffering from a mild case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that had been caused by six years of bullying and the recent wizarding war. On top of that, she still had low self esteem (which was also partly due to the bullying along with her lack of confidence in her magical abilities due to being a low level witch – meaning that her magical core size and strength fell below average for her age group). Both issues were fairly easy to address with therapy though; which was why her results wouldn't see her application for citizenship denied.

The Sandaime called for a break at that point so that everyone could grab something to eat for lunch. After the meal, Harry would return to the Hokage's office alone but for his masked escort to face the Hokage and his evaluation panel in order to hear his results. He actually passed both evaluations by the skin of his teeth (and that was mostly because of the figurative bombshell he'd dropped on them in the form of his status as a Jinchuuriki). Mentally, he had been diagnosed with a rather severe case of PTSD (due to his numerous adventures at Hogwarts and the large part he played in the recent war); something he'd already been aware of and had been in the process of dealing with during the year leading up to their departure from Japan.

That condition alone would not have been a problem, simply because there were very few shinobi who didn't suffer from some form of PTSD due to their rather violent profession. No, the reason he nearly failed the mental evaluation was because he was also suffering from a condition known as Magically Induced Soul Trauma (MIST) that was caused by excessive exposure to dark magic (specifically with the dark magic associated with the Unforgivable Curses). Of course, the shinobi were not aware of MIST and therefore had misdiagnosed the condition as a severe anger management issue coupled with extreme mood swings.

Treatment would involve monthly therapy sessions with Ibiki (since Harry wanted nothing to do with Inoichi) for at least two years (unless he showed marked improvement), intensive physical training (to allow him a release for his anger and frustration), and encouragement to indulge in those activities that he found soothing and relaxing. He would also be placed on the AnBu watch list for the foreseeable future (something Minato had warned him would probably happen even if he had passed his mental evaluation with flying colors). Harry's response to both his diagnosis and the proposed treatments was rather anticlimactic; he simply shrugged his shoulders and accepted that he was messed up in the head (something that he'd known for years).

The Hokage moved onto his medical results at that time and while he was clearly healthy (his magic made certain of that) there were several anomalies that concerned them. The first and most concerning was the current state of his chakra coils; the shinigami had done him no favors in turning him into a host and forcefully expanding his coils. The constant increasing influx of the Kyuubi's chakra wasn't exactly helping the situation either. The only reason he was still alive, still had a functioning chakra network, and wasn't in constant pain was because his magic was constantly working to repair the damage to his coils as they continued to expand to accommodate the Kyuubi's chakra.

The treatment they proposed to deal with it involved expending large amounts of chakra on a daily basis (in order to make room for the influx of chakra) and weekly appointments with Tsunade to have the stress damage healed (which would ease the strain on his magic – not that they were aware of that tidbit).

When they asked if he knew why his chakra coils were such a mess (since his coils should have had more than enough time to adjust to the bijuu's chakra during his childhood), Harry found himself reluctantly informing them that he'd only been a host for approximately two years. That had shocked them to the core, as had the information that he'd had no shinobi training (and therefore no chakra training) prior to becoming a host and that his coils had been forcefully expanded in order to accommodate the bijuu's chakra. When Tsunade had demanded to know how the hell he had survived the sealing, Harry had given her a pained smirk and told her that surviving was what he did best before using the Kekkei Genkai card to explain things.

The next issue addressed was the presence of a highly concentrated antivenin in his blood; one that they couldn't match to a corresponding venom. Harry couldn't exactly tell them about the basilisk without explaining about his magic (something that he was not ready to trust them with as of yet) and so instead simply claimed that the snake that had bit him had been a one of a kind creature that was the equivalent of a boss summons. When asked what happened to the creature, Harry truthfully told them that he'd killed it and that that was how he'd gotten bit.

The last anomaly had everything to do with Harry's magic. Unlike Eloise, who was on the low end of the spectrum, Harry was rather powerful magically speaking (a direct result of his difficult childhood, his numerous adventures at Hogwarts, and the war). He also had the potential to grow stronger during the last four years before he reached magical maturity at age twenty-five. On top of that, he had been a level five mage prior to the shinigami shoving the Kyuubi into his body and mages were actually fairly rare in this day and age since few magicals were actually faced with the trials necessary to open their magical cores.

The difference between a mage and a powerful wizard was that a mage's entire body was suffused with magic due to their magical cores being opened (meaning their cores allowed their magic to flow freely between their core and their body). That didn't mean that a mage could use wandless magic willy-nilly or that they were constantly walking around radiating wild magic, it just meant that the majority of their magic was not restricted to their core. Being a mage was a double edged sword as well, since the free flowing magic meant they healed faster and that their bodies received a boost that made them just a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, and a little bit harder to bruise. Unfortunately, that also meant that extreme magical exhaustion would affect them physically as well as magically – since their body would temporarily lose the extra boost that their magic gave them.

Mages were measured, not by the size of their magical reserves (though they were always magically powerful), but by the degree to which their core had been opened. There are exactly nine levels with level one being the lowest and nine being the highest; formerly placing Harry right in the middle of the scale at five. His current level was a bit harder to determine because his magical core was still in a chaotic state due to the sealing of the Kyuubi; something that wouldn't have that much of a impact on his casting unless he drained his core completely but made it difficult to determine the amount of magic flowing between his body and his core.

An immature magical became a mage when they endured and survived a magically traumatic event that ripped open their magical cores while their cores were still flexible enough to recover from the damage done. A mature wizard in the same situation, if they lived, would end up losing their magic completely because their core could no longer adapt or heal the extensive damage. Harry's core had been opened on the night that Voldemort had first attempted to kill him with the Killing Curse.

Once a mage has been awakened (meaning his core has been opened), subsequent traumatic events would increase the mage's level; which meant that the size and or number of the tears in his core would increase to allow for a larger amount of magic to flow into the body. Unlike an awakening, it was not necessary for magic to be involved in obtaining the next level; physical or severe emotional trauma could see a mage jumping in levels. In Harry's case, he reached level two as a direct result of the malnutrition he suffered through his childhood due to an inadequate diet because his body had required more magic in order to compensate for a lack of proper vitamins and minerals. At the same time, his magical core expanded to increase his magical reserves and the amount of magic his core produced because his body was constantly drawing on his magic.

The rest of Harry's growth as a mage occurred during his years at Hogwarts; level three reached in his second year when the basilisk had bit him and Fawkes healed him with his tears, level four had been reached at the end of his fifth year when Voldemort had possessed him shortly after being emotionally traumatized by Sirius's death, and he reached level five when he'd been struck with a second Killing Curse at age seventeen (ridding himself of Riddle's horcrux at the same time). The other dangerous situations that he'd ended up in only saw his magical reserves being expanded further in order to accommodate the high volume of magic his body used to constantly heal itself.

Being turned into a host for half of the Kyuubi's soul will have undoubtedly increased his level yet again; the only question was whether he gained a single level (which was guaranteed because of the trauma involved) or if he gained multiple levels (simply because of the severity of the trauma involved; most of which had been directly to his magical core and chakra coils).

It was that free flowing magic spread throughout his body that Tsunade had noticed and because she had no knowledge or understanding of his magic, she had no idea what it was she was seeing. In the end, the anomaly was again attributed to his Kekkei Genkai (which is basically what his magic was). The Hokage and Tsunade both grumbled a bit when Harry refused to give a detailed explanation of exactly what his Kekkei Genkai entailed but they had pretty much expected the secrecy since few Kekkei Genkai carriers ever gave out secrets that could see them killed one day.

Harry was dismissed not long after that with instructions to be at the training field where he'd been exercising his horses at seven the following morning to meet with the panel of shinobi that would be assessing his shinobi skills.

Translations: Japanese to English

Yamaguchi – Japanese surname meaning mountain mouth (and while I doubt it means that one's mouth is as big as a mountain, I thought it a fitting last name for Jiraiya since he does have a rather big mouth that gets him in lots of trouble)

Translations: Latin to English

Teneo – to keep on, persist, persevere, endure

Techniques/Skills:

Fuuinjutsu – Sealing techniques
Genjutsu – Illusion techniques
Kenjutsu – Sword skills/techniques
Kinjutsu – Forbidden techniques
Iryojutsu – Healing techniques
Ninjutsu – Ninja art techniques
Senjutsu – Sage techniques (think sage mode)
Shurikenjutsu – thrown weapon techniques
Taijutsu – hand to hand techniques/martial arts

10-25-15: Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes.