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 20: Buying Permanency

Monday, November 05, 2001, Morning
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni

Harry kept his face a blank mask as he eyed the terrible state of the apartment that Naruto had lived in prior to setting out from Konoha in order to track down their (Harry and Dudley's) grandfather. The place was a dump… and that was being generous. The three years' worth of dust that covered everything had actually improved the appearance of the cramped flat. By comparison, the rest of the occupied flats in the cake-shaped complex could be considered fit for a king; and Harry had checked their condition after he had cast a temporary x-ray spell on his glasses that would allow him to peer through walls (an ability inspired by the late Mad Eye Moody's magical eye).

The wizard sneezed as he inhaled another clump of dust and leveled a glare at the offensive apartment as if blaming the unlivable living space for its own inadequacy and deplorable condition. When he sneezed a second time just five seconds later, Harry was tempted to purchase the entire building and raze it to the ground just on general principle. He froze as he considered that idea (the purchasing part, not the razing; even if he still felt the building deserved it).

After a moment, he nodded to himself; the building sat right on the edge of the nearby commercial zone and with the help of his elves, he could easily gut the entire complex and convert the building into a restaurant with plenty of living space above. There was even room enough for him to have a carriage house built on the ground level so as to offer transportation to and from the restaurant for the customers; something that would help set the place apart from other restaurants and hopefully draw customers (and an idea that Dudley had mentioned a time or two in passing).

Relocating the handful of other tenants that lived in the building might be a hassle but so long as he gave them at least thirty days' notice to vacate the premises, he shouldn't have a problem getting them out. He could even sweeten the deal for them by offering to pay their moving expenses and allowing them to stay rent free for the full thirty-days so as not to inconvenience them. All he had to do was make certain that Naruto would be alright with what he planned; this had been his cousin's first home for at least three years, after all.

Glancing sideways at the eleven year old in question (and sneezing yet again), Harry figured it wouldn't be too hard to get the kid to agree to the changes that Harry was envisioning based upon the embarrassed glare the blond was giving the kitchen from where he was standing in the middle of the room. Another sneeze settled the matter in Harry's mind and he gathered his Gryffindor courage and Slytherin tact as he addressed the younger boy in English.

"Oi, squirt; just how attached are you to this dump?"

"I hate it… but it's the only place I ever lived when I still lived here in Konoha… well aside from the orphanage. It's never been home though, not like Grimmauld Place or the house we shared in the Elemental District was," Naruto replied slowly as he glanced about the room while Harry sneezed for what seemed the millionth time. "Part of me wishes I could tear it down just so I don't ever have to see it again."

"Yeah, I know that feeling and I've only been in here for twenty minutes," Harry dryly agreed around a series of sneezes that had him whipping out the Elder Wand and vanishing every last particle of dust within range of his spell. "Whaddya say we buy the building, kick the other tenants out, gut it like a fish, and use it for the Namikaze restaurant?"

"Nani…!?" Naruto exclaimed as he whipped his head around to stare at Harry in shock; the pre-teen falling back into Japanese out of habit.

"Well, think about it… this building sits right on the edge of the market district; which means that it is zoned for both commercial and residential use. The lot is also big enough to have the restaurant, a carriage house, and lots and lots of living space above both of the businesses. Hell, there's even enough room up on the roof to build a greenhouse. And while you'd technically still be living in the same building, it would be nothing like this poor excuse for a flat. The building probably should have been condemned long before you moved in."

"Do you think the Hokage would allow it?"

"I don't see why not. Even the displacement of the current tenants wouldn't cause that many problems since there are so few. Buying the entire building would also mean that we could all live together until you get sick of us, find yourself a cute little girlfriend to marry, and move into your parents' old home so we old folks don't get on your last nerve."

"There isn't enough room for all of the horses though," Naruto pointed out as he ignored the jib about getting a girlfriend and getting married; the boy still thought girls had cooties.

"So, we look for a large vacant lot we can buy and turn it into a proper pasture for the pony brigade and rotate the horses that haul the carriages on a weekly basis."

"Do you think Arata and Eri will agree to it?"

"We could ask them when we see them for lunch. I know Dudders has been disappointed and in some cases disgusted with each of the available buildings that the real estate agent has shown him. Most of them are far too small for our needs and sit on lots that are far too small for us to use to our advantage."

Dudley had taken one look at the property right after lunch and immediately grasped the potential that Harry had seen for the lot and the building. Eloise had been thrilled with the fact that there more than enough space for both the restaurant and their family; since it meant that there would be plenty of room for the little one they had on the way. Convincing the Hokage to sell the property to the small family had been fairly easy since the influx of ready cash would greatly boost Konoha's floundering economy when combined with the future jobs that opening their restaurant would provide.

It also helped that all five current tenants were quite willing to take Harry's offer of a month free of rent and fully paid moving expenses (in the form of five D Ranked missions for five Genin teams). That was on top of the week long D Ranked mission that would be filed to have a Genin team (or two) help haul out the trash from the vacant apartments. The four C Ranked missions to hire some help to completely gut the building one floor at a time from the ground up. And the assortment of D and C Ranked delivery missions that would be placed for any out of town supply purchases (for those items they hadn't brought with them) since the three Namikaze adults wouldn't be allowed out of the village for the remainder of their probation.

While Dudley was handling the details of the new purchase and hiring contractors to help them renovate the building, Harry spent his free time cantering through the village looking for a potential lot to buy for the horses. The current lot where their wagons were parked was for sale but it was just far too small and because it sat right smack dab in the middle of the village far too impractical to use for the horses on a long-term basis. There were more than enough lots and parks scattered through the village that would have made perfect pastures. The problem was that each one of those particular places were already designated as shinobi training grounds or actual parks and therefore not for sale (at any price).

It wouldn't be until around the middle of the month that Harry stumbled across the ruins of two large estates that were situated near the wall in the north-western part of the village and fairly close to one another. The northern most estate sat at the southern edge of a group of streets that formed a diamond, was close enough to the river that fresh water wouldn't be an issue (not that it would have been anyway with his magic), and there were no village owned training grounds or occupied homes within ten miles of the estate.

The second estate sat just a few miles south and slightly to the west of the first one, was on the very edge of the closest residential area, and ran almost right next to the fifteen foot clear zone where Harry continued to exercise the horses at least twice a week. With both estates being on the edge of the village, it meant that the horses' presence wouldn't cause a problem with any neighbors. There was also more than enough room to pasture the two breeds of horses he'd brought with him separately in addition to setting up a small farm to grow fresh produce for the restaurant and a small crop or two of alfalfa to help offset the cost of feeding the horses.

And with the roads surrounding the upper estate being unused (and therefore unmaintained by the village) and nothing but forest land separating the two estates, Harry could probably talk the Hokage to letting him extend the property lines of both properties to make one large estate. That would allow him to claim the neglected roads so he could clean them up to create a private training track or a riding track. All he had to do was figure out what angle he needed to use to get the stubborn old man to agree to let him purchase such a large tract of land in addition to the two estates.

He then thought about the information that the Sandaime, Ibiki, and Yamato had been attempting to get out of him in regards to his Kekkei Genkai, the Kyuubi, and his past and wondered if he could barter some of that information alongside of his vast fortune (the full extent of which he'd never disclosed).

On November twentieth, when the first of the tenants moved out of the old apartment complex, Harry finally approached the Hokage in regards to the two estates and the track of land he wished to purchase. He had with him copies of the old public survey reports of the land in question (the two estates and the land that separated them), a description and photos of the current condition of both estates, an itemized list of the work he intended to do to the land and how he intended to use it once he finished cleaning up the properties, and a very specific list of what assets and which information he was willing to depart with in order to purchase said land. Dudley had helped him write everything up in proper legalese so that it looked and sounded professional.

Harry ended up spending five hours sequestered with the Hokage negotiating for the purchase of the land he needed to keep, breed, and raise his horses as well as grow an assortment of produce for their restaurant.

In the end, it cost him five million ryō (one half paid up front – a quarter of which was paid in ready cash and the other quarter paid in precious metals and gemstones – and the other half covered by a twenty year mortgage loan purchased through the Bank of Konoha with a fixed interest rate of ten percent), a demonstration of three skills/abilities he had not previously revealed, and twenty questions worth of personal information from him (five regarding the bijuu he carried, five regarding his Kekkei Genkai, and ten regarding his past). The only conditions he had given them regarding that information were; that he would not reveal the name of his Kekkei Genkai, that he would not answer any general or open ended questions (meaning the questions had to be very specific), and that he would not answer any questions until he held the deeds to his new property in his hands.

It would take the Hokage six days to procure the deeds to the Hattori and Shizen Estates and the tract of land that sat between both estates, ran from the western most edges of the two estates to the edge of the forest that bordered the fifteen foot buffer that hugged the village's wall, and extended no further than the northern most point of the Shizen Estate (which ended at the top of the diamond formed by two of the roads that bordered the Estate) and no lower than the southern most edge of the Hattori Estate that ended at the start of a public road.

The purchase included the rights to all of the forest contained within the new boundaries of what would become the new Namikaze Estate and the roads that ran around the Shizen Estate (providing he followed the village's laws regarding all forestry within the village). That was also the earliest day his war council (Jiraiya, Tsunade, Ibiki, Shikaku, and the current AnBu Commander – code name Kasai), his advisory council (Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura), Yamato (as Harry's mentor and minder), and Kakashi (because he interacted with the family regularly) were all available to meet.

Harry walked into the Hokage's office on the heels of Yamato and Kakashi and nearly tripped over his feet when he saw just how many people were standing around in the office and he would have scowled if hadn't already suspected that the Hokage would have a number of his best shinobi present at this meeting in order to get the most out of the small interrogation he'd agreed to take part in. He closed his eyes briefly and sent up a prayer for patience and strength before he wiped his face clear of all emotions and positioned himself in the center of the room where he could see everyone clearly.

"Konbanwa, Hokage-sama and company," Harry greeted with a respectful bow before he nodded to the others present.

"Good evening, Takeshi-san," the Hokage replied in return with a small nod of acknowledgement as he activated the privacy barrier to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their meeting. "I have the deeds to your new property here along with an official copy of the property assessment and property line survey that was taken within the last twenty-four hours; the original assessment and survey have been filed with the records office along with official copies of the deeds to the three properties. Please take a moment to make certain everything is in order before we discuss the agreed upon information payment that was part of the deal."

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama," Harry murmured as he stepped forward to collect scroll containing the official documents that the Sandaime held out for him to take. He took a brief moment to confirm that everything was in order (it was) before he tucked the documents back into the scroll and slipped the scroll into one of the hidden inner pockets of his cloak. "Where did you wish me to start, Hokage-sama?"

"With a demonstration of three skills that you have previously not disclosed… providing that they are not destructive in nature as I'd prefer that you didn't destroy my office," the Sandaime replied as he removed his hat and sat back to study Harry.

"Wakarimasu," Harry replied as he drew his holly wand and considered what he could show them that wouldn't create a mess. After a moment he decided on the Stunning Spell, the Disarming Spell, and a conjuration spell. "The first skill is an ability to knock a person unconscious without touching them." Harry flicked his wand at Kakashi and fired a silent Stunning Spell that caught the Jounin completely off guard as the red light washed over the man.

"There are only two ways to recover from this method of attack; I can wake him up with the counter or I can leave him to wake up on his own in five to ten hours from now; the length of time a victim is out depends upon the amount of power I use in conjunction with the victim's age, body mass, and current physical, mental, and emotional health."

"Please wake him up now," the Sandaime requested after Tsunade had confirmed that the man was just unconscious and that she couldn't wake him with a jutsu.

Harry flicked his wand at the unconscious Jounin a second time and the man woke up with a slight headache and a dry mouth; he gave Harry a dirty look the moment he realized that he'd just been used as the wizard's guinea pig. The young mage just smirked at the silver haired man while Tsunade scanned him a second time. Harry would wait another minute before he continued with his demonstration.

"The second ability is closely related to the ability to knock an individual unconscious and it is the ability to completely disarm an opponent without needing to physically touch them or even know where they have hidden all of their weapons on their person," Harry continued as he flicked his wand at Ibiki and cast a silent Disarming Spell at him followed by a silent Summoning Charm that piled the man's many weapons at Harry's feet. "I can also return the weapons in a similar manner." A Banishing Charm shoved the pile of sharp and pointy objects back over to the now glowering interrogator.

"And the final ability," Shikaku asked lazily as he turned to watch Ibiki irritably gather up the confiscated weapons and return them to their proper places.

"Is a little bit harder to define since it involves the ability to conjure any non-living object," Harry replied as he tucked his holly wand away, pulled out the Elder Wand, and swept his arm wide as he conjured enough chairs for everyone that was currently standing. "I suppose you could say that I am my own personal supply warehouse; though the ability does have limits. The things I create are not permanent, I can not create edible food, and I can not create actual life even if I can animate any object that I conjure."

Harry demonstrated this by animating one of the chairs and having it gallop around the room before he canceled the animation charm after its second circuit. The wizard then tucked the wand away and turned his attention back to the Hokage as he asked, "I trust my demonstration was satisfactory, Hokage-sama?"

"Hai; though it did bring to mind at least another dozen questions I'd love to ask you about your abilities and makes me wonder what else you are hiding from us."

Harry said nothing as he smiled at the man to whom he'd sworn his oath of loyalty and waited for the inquisition to begin as he mentally prepared himself for the questions he knew they would ask. Questions to which they'd been seeking the answers to since the day they'd first arrived in Konoha close to two months earlier.

"In order to make things easier for everyone to follow and for you to keep track of the questions you are asked, I've asked Shikaku to be our spokesman," the Sandaime finally stated after he'd watched Jiraiya tentatively seat himself in one of the conjured chairs that were still scattered about the room.

"Wakarimasu," Harry murmured before he turned to give his complete attention to the misleadingly lazy man.

"You have, on more than one occasion, made references to war in which you fought," Shikaku stated in a measured tone as he crossed his arms over his chest and studied Harry from beneath hooded eyes. "What was the rationale behind the war, has the war actually ended or has it just been shelved for the time being, and on which side of the conflict did you fight (the winning side or the losing side)?"

"One; the war was fought over blood heritage. To put it in terms that you can relate to; a group of Kekkei Genkai holders that believed they were superior because they had an unbroken line of Kekkei Genkai users in their family tree for at least three generations (the longer that line remained unbroken, the more esteemed their family was considered) sought to eradicate all of those who they saw as inferior – basically anyone who did not have a Kekkei Genkai, anyone who was a first generation Kekkei Genkai user or the only Kekkei Genkai holder in their family, and anyone who didn't agree with their beliefs."

"Two; I do not know if the war is over for good or not. The prejudices in the society into which I was born run rampant and similar wars have visited our world many times over the past eleven hundred years and there always seem to be enough discontent individuals to pick up the torch every twenty to thirty years. The most recent continuation of the war actually started in the mid to late nineteen sixties, experienced a brief period of peace from October thirty-first nineteen eighty-one until June of ninety-five, and picked up steam in June of ninety-six before I defeated the leader of the Blood Purists in May of nineteen ninety-eight."

"Right now, the number of Blood Purists that remain are currently at an all time low due to a number of families dying out or ending up in prison. Additionally, there are a number of influential individuals that are working to change the laws and traditions that propagated the seeds of discontent. However, it is still far too soon to tell whether or not they will be successful in bridging the gap between the purebloods (those from families with three or more unbroken generations of Kekkei Genkai users) and the newborns (those who are the first Kekkei Genkai user within their families)."

"Three; I was on the winning side… the side that fought for equality amongst all and to protect the innocents from the deprivations of those who sought to crush those they considered beneath them."

Shikaku's eyes sharpened as he stood up just a little straighter before he asked, "You said that you defeated the leader of the opposition; was your personal victory just happenstance or was that your goal? What exactly was the part you played in the war? How many of your enemies still live? And what are the chances that your enemies will seek out you or your family here in Konoha?"

"Four; defeating the leader of the opposition was my end goal. I faced him personally no less than six times over the course of my first seventeen years and fought his followers on more than one occasion. Five; is a bit more complicated to explain or define… my parents and I were semi-responsible for the fourteen years of peace that disrupted the most recent two halves of the on-going war; or more specifically, my parents' deaths and my inexplicable survival was the catalyst for the fourteen years of peace. I was also both the rallying point and the de facto leader for the second half of the most recent war after the previous leader was killed. I was also meant to die a martyr's death."

"Six; I don't have an exact number but I would estimate between twenty and thirty of Tom's followers still live. And seven…? The chances are actually fairly non-existent for several reasons. A; knowledge of the Elemental Nations is almost non-existent in the Outer Countries. B; less than five people living in the Outer Countries know I traveled through the portal with my family. C; with the exception of Naruto, all of us changed our names completely so as not to stand out on this side of the portal; none of us were born Namikazes, even if Arata and I have Namikaze blood running through our veins. And d; the number of people that live on the other side of the portal that are capable of opening the portal number less than a dozen according to what I was told."

"Who raised you after your parents died?" Shikaku asked after a long period of silence in which Harry suspected the more experienced shinobi in the office used coded hand signs to discuss his answers and the remaining three questions about his past that they wanted answered the most.

"Eight; my maternal aunt and her husband," Harry answered; the wizard numbering the answer out of habit in order to keep track of the number of questions he'd been asked.

"Were your aunt and uncle the ones that abused you during your childhood?"

Harry scowled and tensed his shoulders as he closed his eyes and fought the urge to tell the older man where to shove the highly invasive question. Once he was in control of his emotions, Harry answered in a clipped tone, "I was not abused. I was unwanted, unloved, and unhappy on top of being moderately neglected but they did not outright abuse me. Despite the many, many parallels between mine and Naruto's early life; I had a constant roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food in my stomach so long as I didn't cause trouble."

"Last question regarding your past; why did you willingly choose to travel to Konoha in the company of your older cousin when your cousin freely admitted to the fact that he had bullied you during most of your shared childhood?"

"When Tom, the much feared leader of the opposition, made his big return; those in charge of the government did not wish to believe the man still lived and so they sought to shut me up because I was the only one that had… witnessed the man's return aside from a small number of his followers. They sent a type of low-level demon to kill me. My cousin and I were both caught up in the attack and I used my Kekkei Genkai to save our lives; a Kekkei Genkai that my aunt, uncle, and cousin do not possess."

"Those demons have the ability to force a person to view their darkest memories and the attack shook my cousin up and woke him up. The person my cousin is now is a far different person than he was before that attack. He turned his life around and I had no right to hold the way he was raised against him when he was just as much a victim of my upbringing as I was; only he ended up on the other side of the coin. We both matured during the final two years of the war as we were forced to grow up."

"And in case you're wondering, no; I don't hate my cousin for what happened in the past because to hate him now would be to belittle his accomplishments," Harry finished with a crooked half smile that was part wistful, part bemused, and part wry. "After all, in the end; family is family and I never turn my back on family. Not even if they hate me. Otherwise I would have left my aunt and uncle to the likes of Tom and his little lapdogs and thanked him for saving me the trouble of disposing of them myself."

A small break was taken at that point as the Hokage asked his secretary to bring them a pot of tea and a light snack; the discussion about his past had taken close to an hour and a half because some of his replies had been rather long-winded. While he waited, Harry meditated in order to sooth his inner torment and lay the memories of the war and his childhood back to rest so that he would be clear headed for the second half of the interrogation. Tsunade actually stepped up behind him and soothed the mild headache he'd developed due to the stressful and unpleasant subject and Harry would have happily taken a nap when she finished if not for the arrival of the requested refreshments.

"The next topic we wish to cover is the bijuu you are carrying," Shikaku stated once everyone had had a chance to drink at least a single cup of tea and eat some of the anpan that had been provided with the beverage. "Through the process of elimination based upon the public knowledge of the Jinchuuriki and their burdens, we've determined that the bijuu that you are carrying has between four and seven tails. So, the first question we have is; which of the bijuu are you carrying?"

"The Kyuubi."

Translations: Japanese to English

Gaki – brat
Itoko – cousin
Kasai – flame
Konbanwa – good evening
Wakarimasu – I understand (formal – present tense)

Notes:

Newborn vs. Muggleborn – I went out on a limb and translated the term muggleborn into newborn as I did not see the term muggleborn being easily understood by those unfamiliar with the wizarding world. I've also pretty much set it up that the Elemental Nations do not speak English and that any western influences were minimized due to the rarity of travel between the Outer Countries and the Elemental Nations (with most travelers leaving the pocket dimension for one reason or another and rarely ever returning).

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