Yes, yet another Potterverse/Nasuverse crossover. Deal with it.

This one, I thought kind of nice. It's an unusual pairing in that the Nasuverse character in it, Kato Danzo (no relation to the Naruto one) was only relatively recently released in English, with the localised version of the Shimosa Pseudo-Singularity of Fate/Grand Order...I mean, Lostbelt. I'd actually published a challenge some time before then with Danzo being found and reactivated by Harry, but I decided to give that challenge a go myself.

TBH, it didn't end all that well, as far as I was concerned. It was nice, but Danzo was a bit too flat and submissive, a frequent danger when writing certain kuudere characters, and I had negated much of the conflict needed for the story with my plot choices. I decided to let it go for now, though Eeveefan13 is working on a story taking up the same challenge, but with Danzo raising Harry. I'm also still giving serious thought to doing another story that answers another Nasuverse challenge I used as the basis of this story, where Harry is raised by the Mackenzies, the Aussie (not Canadian as I originally thought!) couple whom Waver stays with in Fate/Zero.

The title of this story is a reference to both the song from the Pinocchio Disney film No Strings on Me (appropriate, given how Kato Danzo in the Nasuverse is an automaton) as well the eastern concept of the Red String of Fate.

On another note, as I publish this chapter, I am releasing two stories that have been languishing in these collections, albeit under new titles. King of His Heart will FINALLY be released as You're the King of My Heart, while Vanguard of Destruction/Yearning for Change, my remake of (with her permission) sakurademonalchemist's abortive fic Shatterglass, will be released as Obtaining Salvation.

ONLY RED STRINGS ON ME

CHAPTER 1:

AN ODD COUPLE

He hated it, the stares, the snide remarks, the sheer attitude he often copped from his fellow Mahoutokoro students. It wasn't enough that he was a gaijin, a foreigner. Oh no. Apparently, under his birth name, he was also famous back in Britain. Too many thought he was coasting on an overinflated reputation.

To be fair, they had a point. When the old man showed up at his great-uncle and aunt's home and told him…well, Harry Mackenzie, born as Harry Potter, knew that, while he may be famous, it was for no real reason other than his parents died, and he survived. At least Dumbledore allowed him to attend Mahoutokoro, though Harry was regretting it.

The teachers were, for the most part, all right. Strict and a little condescending at times, true, but they at least treated him like he was a student. But the other students either were too much in awe of him, or else treated him like he was shit. Hell, his best relationship wasn't even at the school. He was friends with an exuberant Muggle girl by the name of Taiga, and even then, they were just friends. He was a bit weirded out by her energy and loudness. There was also that nice lady Aoi and her daughters, when he walked to the park, and that old priest Kotomine that he occasionally visited, not because he believed in God, but because one of his teachers put Harry onto him. Risei Kotomine was a nice old man, and knowledgeable about not only wizards, but Magi. But that was about it. Being a foreigner in Japan, even in a place like Fuyuki, was…well, isolating.

It was why he looked forward to the holidays, when he could spend time with his family. And this time, he found something interesting, a little project. Something he was engaging with.

Glen Mackenzie, his great-uncle, used to run an import-export business. He'd moved initially from England to Australia, specifically Toronto, a part of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales(1), before moving to Japan to run said business. And once, he had been given something as a gift from a client who he had done a favour for.

It was a young woman. Or rather, it was a puppet of one. It was a scarily realistic form of what they called a karakuri, a puppet that was actually a (for the time) sophisticated automaton. Her dark hair framed beautiful features in serene repose, features that looked and felt like an actual human face. Her hands and legs were obviously mechanical, but scarily sophisticated. Most of her body, despite obvious joints, was covered in realistic skin, and even had some features of a real human. She was clad in a figure-hugging black leotard, one that had survived the test of time. She had been stored in the attic until now.

Harry, upon having her revealed to him last year by his great-uncle, decided to take it upon himself to repair her. While it wasn't as simple as using a Repair Charm, as much to his astonishment, there were many magical components to her body, he relished the challenge. He found out, through research, that this may be the creation of one Kashin Koji, a Japanese Magus of some renown from centuries ago. Magi and wizards had something of a rivalry, to say the least, but Harry was confident he could repair her.

So it was, he had removed the back of her leotard, and was currently repairing one last component. He'd had to get some made during his current semester at Mahoutokoro, and on the quiet. With a grunt of satisfaction, he slid the last component home. Something clicked, and then, he heard something begin to grind and whir within her body, before it became too quiet to hear.

He laid her down gently, only for her eyes to suddenly snap open. He'd slid the eyelids open before, and saw their colour, a dull amber, but not now. Now, they shone a golden colour, and they were scrutinising him, her pupils now diamond-shaped. "…Hello," Harry said, using Japanese, just in case. "How are you feeling?"

She blinked, before she sat upright, examining her arms. "Overall functionality, 47%. Capable of standard duties at reduced capacity. Acceptable for now. Further repairs and maintenance needed to function at optimal capacity." Her voice was flat, clipped, and rather lacking in emotion, and her accent was different to the Japanese he was used to. She then looked at him. "Kato Danzo is online. I request input, Master. Your orders?"

"…Master?"

She looked about as bemused as he felt. "Yes. I am a shinobi. I will obey any command."

"…You're a shinobi," Harry said flatly. "A ninja. And a karakuri automaton."

"Correct."

Then, another thing occurred to Harry. He knew the name. "Wait…Kato Danzo? The Flying Kato? But…I thought he was a man. And that he died…well, over four centuries ago."

"…It has been over four centuries since I have become inactive?" the young woman asked. She then looked at him. "You appear to be a Westerner. Portuguese? Spanish? Italian?"

"English, actually, well, that's where I was born. England."

"England…I believe the Portuguese spoke of the English. It appears much has changed."

Harry nodded. For someone who grew up (or rather, was built, by the looks of things) during the Sengoku Period, much would have changed. He had the feeling, though, that this would make his life interesting, in the cursed sense of the word.

Then again, a few months later, when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire half a world away, he had to admit to being glad he repaired her…

The man hit the floor (in a way that most people didn't mean when they wanted to hit the dancefloor) with a satisfying grunt of pain. "Ugh…what the hell happened?" he muttered.

The dark-haired, golden-eyed young woman looked down at him, clapping her hands together as if to rid it of any filth they may have gathered by touching him. "You groped my rear shortly after I told you I was already taken, with you claiming you would show me 'a better time than with that gaijin wimp'. I asked you politely to cease and desist. You persisted. I asked you not so politely," the woman said in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. "You have clearly drunk too much alcohol before coming to this party, thus lowering your inhibitions, your critical thinking skills, and your all-round competence. I would suggest walking home, and drinking enough water to mitigate the inevitable hangover." As the idiot surged to his feet and lunged at her, she grabbed him and threw him to the ground, before knocking him out with a precise blow. Thankfully, the bouncers were approaching, and there were plenty of guests who witnessed it, and enough who would take her side.

As the man was taken away, the woman sighed. In truth, she didn't even need to sigh, given that she technically didn't have lungs. But there were moments in every sentient being's life where they would just need to sigh.

Then again, coming to this fairly lavish do was another irritating thing. It was true that, as a kunoichi, Kato Danzo would have been expected to infiltrate parties held by the upper echelons of Japanese society. But she never truly enjoyed them. The ideal Japanese woman was a demure and passive one, albeit one with a hidden core of strength. Danzo may have been passive, obeying orders, but she never thought of herself as demure, and even when she was still lacking in humanity, she despised how she was considered more as an object than as a person when she went to those functions.

The irony being, she technically was an object. A karakuri doll, an automaton. In modern terms, she supposed the words robot or gynoid were appropriate.

Even amongst the Fuma clan, there were too many who viewed her as an object, despite her skills. At the time, that didn't bother her. Being a shinobi involved a lot of self-abnegation. But in hindsight, it did.

She'd been standing to one side, observing the guests at the party, while her master…no, stop thinking like that, he'd made it very clear that they were friends. And she understood that. But it was hard to think of him as such, partly because she was programmed to think of him as her master. She was a shinobi, and an automaton programmed to obey the orders of, if there were no Fuma around, then the one who repaired and reactivated her.

In any case, Harry was currently talking rather animatedly with a friend of theirs, Taiga Fujimura, as she scarfed down some nibbles. This party was part of a fundraiser to raise funds for equipment for the emergency services of Fuyuki City. It had been, after all, ten years since a series of disastrous events. A serial killer who abducted and murdered families and children, especially the latter. A terrorist bombing of a hotel. Mysterious destructions of roads and properties. A massive monster that seemed to be consumed in light. And finally, the Fuyuki Fire, an event still left scars on the city.

Few within this building knew the truth. Kato was certain that the rather handsome if creepy priest, the son of Risei, knew the truth. So did she, and Harry, and Taiga knew a little thanks to Harry (and was one of those who knew Danzo's secrets). Danzo decided to go over to Harry and Taiga, fighting down a pang of what she believed to be mild jealousy. Taiga wasn't the type to muscle in on their relationship, and while Danzo wasn't sure what her relationship with Harry was precisely (somewhere between a client and kunoichi, and friends with benefits), she knew Taiga didn't want to come between them. Ditzy and impulsive the English teacher was, but she wasn't stupid.

"…Glad you invited me to this," Taiga said. "Don't get me wrong, Shirou and Sakura's food is way better than whoever you got to cater for this, or yours for that matter, but…"

"You're mooching here than mooching there," Harry said with a smirk.

Taiga pouted, and while Danzo's grasp on humour was admittedly shaky at times, she did have to keep a smile off her face at that. "That's not fair! Kat, tell him that's not fair!"

"Be thankful, Taiga," Danzo said, smiling slightly. "Many come to these parties to achieve advanced states of mental incompetence by repeated imbibing of fermented vegetable drinks."

Taiga stared at Danzo. "…What?"

"Kat means too many people come to these things to get drunk," Harry said. "What was that one? Red Dwarf, wasn't it?"

Danzo nodded. "Kryten is an interesting role model in some respects. I thought using one of his jokes would be interesting(2)."

"Pfft, I've seen Red Dwarf. Kryten doesn't hold a candle to you," Taiga said, thankfully keeping her voice quiet enough. The young teacher then sighed. "…Ten years since that mess…and five years since Kiritsugu died. Still can't believe who he was to those people. I mean, I knew he moved in shady circles, but…well, Shirou can't believe it either."

"We did not meet the man until the Fuyuki Fire," Danzo said. "I did spot him a few times during that mess, but…"

"I was just a kid back then anyway," Harry said. "Just graduated from school, and not willing to get caught up in that little stoush. I know Kiritsugu claimed it wouldn't happen again, but hundreds died in the Fuyuki Fire alone. I was lucky to help Rin get away from that psycho, and Aoi the help she needed. If she wasn't there for Rin afterwards…"

"Yeah, that reminds me, Aoi was coming here tonight, right?" Taiga asked. "I haven't seen hide or hair of her."

"Her parents are ill," Harry said. "But she sent a donation. I'll go and see her later. I'm more worried about what Risei's son is doing here. I don't remember inviting him."

"The organisers did," Danzo said. "Father Kirei Kotomine is a pillar of the community in general, and the Christian community in particular. I believe that is what they think."

"He's not a patch on Risei. I wasn't really much of a believer, but Risei was one of the best people I ever knew. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Kirei was telling the truth when Waver's old teacher murdered him, but still…"

"Well, don't get so maudlin about it, okay?" Taiga asked. "Come on, cheer up. I know you two do a lot of pretty dark stuff, but try to relax and enjoy yourselves…"

Easier said than done, Harry Mackenzie reflected as he and Kato 'Kat' Danzo walked home after the event ended. It was hard to enjoy one's self at a party where one had to put on a mask. Plus, any occasion that put him into proximity with Kirei Kotomine put him on edge. Harry had met the young priest a few times before the Fourth Holy Grail War, and while something about him disturbed him, and they weren't friends, Harry felt sorry for him, as he seemed to have a conflicted air to him. These days, the man seemed to have a more smug and sardonic attitude that rubbed Harry the wrong way.

And to be frank, while Fuyuki itself was a nice city, Harry often felt a little ill at ease here. It wasn't just being an English-born boy in Japan. Many of the normal inhabitants actually made him feel welcome, and certainly, his great-uncle and great-aunt raised him with love and care. But given how he witnessed the Holy Grail War, even from the sidelines and protected by Kat, he still felt uneasy.

He remembered rescuing Rin Tohsaka and other children from a man later identified (from his near-headless corpse) as Ryuunosuke Uryu, a bit of a nobody who turned out to be a serial killer and the Master of Caster. He witnessed the likes of Alexander the Great, King Arthur (who was actually a woman), and a haughty king in tacky gold armour, argue over the definition of kingship. He remembered going to try and pay his respects to Risei after hearing of his death, only to stumble across Kariya Matou attacking Aoi Tohsaka. And he still had nightmares of a burning black mud vomiting out of a black hole hanging in the sky, charring the city below. Kiritsugu Emiya may have reassured him that he had put precautions into place that would prevent another Grail War, even if he was loath to even discuss what he saw or knew, but Harry had to wonder.

He thought the Tri-Wizard Tournament was one of the most dangerous things people could voluntarily participate in, even if he was shanghaied into it. The Fourth Holy Grail War and its aftermath proved him wrong. And even now, this city was picking up the pieces.

Suddenly, his phone trilled. He groaned in annoyance, knowing that whoever was calling this late at night had a job for him. He opened it up, and said, irritably, "Hello?"

"Harry…this is Waver. I'm sorry to ring this late, but I heard about the charity do you were attending, so I figured you would still be awake."

Harry was instantly more alter. Waver Velvet, currently Lord El-Melloi II, was someone he had made the acquaintance of, even a friendship of, during his time at the Mackenzies. "Yeah, but I want to get some sleep, Waver. What's so urgent that it can't wait until it's a decent time for both of us?"

"Well, I doubt you'll get any sleep after what I am about to tell you," Waver said, his tone, while calm, betraying a tension he clearly felt. "Clock Tower has authorised me to tell you that we have received some disturbing news, news I have only just confirmed. The Fifth Holy Grail War is not taking place in fifty years' time, as one would assume. It will be taking place in a few months…"

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. Harry and Danzo are going to be living in interesting times…

1. When I heard that the Mackenzies came from Toronto, I immediately assumed Canada. In fact, they come from New South Wales in Australia, as there is a town called Toronto, part of the City of Lake Macquarrie. Embarrassing, considering I'm an Aussie myself…

2. Danzo cribbed her joke from Kryten's line about a pub from the Red Dwarf episode Timeslides. Interestingly, Japan has actually dubbed episodes of the series, with the Japanese dub of the first episode being a special feature on the first season DVD…