Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.
He left her.
Again.
She watched as he turned his back on her, walking through the village gates with easy familiarity. He said that he wanted to redeem himself, to travel the world, to protect Konoha from the shadows.
But, in reality, he's leaving her again.
It wasn't enough that he tore into her chest and left her for dead at the Valley. It wasn't enough that he scorned her when she only just found him at Orochimaru's base. It wasn't enough that he wanted to destroy Konoha, to destroy her, when he learnt the truth of his brother.
Even now, when he's supposedly redeemed, he chose to leave her.
Naruko's sapphire blue eyes dulled, and something in her broke when she would never be enough for Uchiha Sasuke.
...
Her friends could tell that something was wrong with her. Her smiles were stretched too tight, her eyes weren't bright, and she didn't even bother with harmless pranks, like she used to before.
They avoided mentioning the last Uchiha, and looked at her peculiarly, as if she was made of glass.
Naruko couldn't blame them. She felt like she could break apart any time now.
Funny how she could handle bijuus, the Akatsuki and Tsunade-baa-chan, but Sasuke always seemed to make her crack.
(She didn't want to think about how they were supposed to be teammates, partners, friends-
-family.)
...
She finally became a jounin.
She stared at her vest. The victory felt empty and hollow.
She wondered if she would feel the same after she became Hokage.
...
There was a new shop in town.
The man that owned was a potter. She heard that his creations were beautiful and durable, and that he can take requests. Not only that, but he also did a little bit of woodwork on the side. Picture frames, carvings, and she even saw a kid playing a little flute from the shop.
It was called 'The Marauders' Den".
...
Naruko didn't think much of the new guy… at first.
People always moved to Konoha to start a business. Not all of them stick around.
The civilians always gossiped about him. How handsome he was, how polite, how he had the most adorable accent, and Kami, those biceps! (The civilan's words, not hers).
Naruko ignored it as usual.
But when she heard that kunoichi like Mitarashi Anko (who cared little for men, except for sex), and even the ANBU Uzuki Yugao visit the shop because of the man, she had to investigate.
...
Her first impression of the store was 'cluttered'.
The outside of the store looked like a rustic cabin. Like one of those safe houses you'd stop at in an RPG game and wonder why you couldn't be part of that reality and next to the warm fireplace, instead of outside in an alleyway, shivering as you played on a stolen game console.
There was a huge sign on top of the door, hanging from the pointed roof and swaying slightly in the breeze. The gold words "The Marauder's Den" seemed to glow, beckoning ambling customers in.
...
The inside made Naruko's lips quirk up, slightly intrigued.
There seemed to be no order to how everything was set up. Even with the darkness of the wooden shelves, the place was bright enough with large windows and unusual candles that appeared to float near the ceiling. There were tall vases, short vases, plain vases, picturesque vases, dog carvings, stag carvings, doe carvings, wolf carvings, otter carvings, cat carvings and so much more. Beautiful frames without pictures were hung all over the wall, put wherever and whenever in a devil-may-care attitude. Walking near the front of the store, she saw the sectioned off area. There was a pottery wheel and there were some seats around it.
Naruko walked up to the desk, idly playing with a carving of a ferret with a strange look of fear on its face. She dropped it back on the desk, and turned around, leaning against it.
She sighed. Loudly.
There was a low, smooth voice from behind her. It sounded amused.
"Welcome to The Marauder's Den. How may I help you today?"
...
It was his eyes, Naruto thought faintly as she walked out. His eyes.
They were a beautiful emerald green. Dark, and burdened, and hiding secrets. The eyes of someone who was bogged down by the past, who couldn't escape no matter how hard they tried.
He knew pain. He knew loss. He knew betrayal.
His eyes were like hers.
(She wanted to squash the hope that someone might be able to understand.)
She was entranced, utterly spellbound by him. Not because of his smooth aricrostatic features. Not because of his charmingly spiky hair that seemed more gravity-defying than Kakashi's. Not because of his admittedly sculpted muscles as he casually stood there with a tank top that didn't leave much to the imagination. Naruko knew that beauty can be skin-deep.
Her breath caught, and she swallowed as her mouth suddenly became dry.
"What's your name?" she asked.
He smirked at her, not meanly, but not quite nicely either. "It's rather rude to demand someone's name before introducing your own, you know." he said, rather dryly.
Baa-chan did mention that. That she needed to work on her manners.
But didn't everyone already know her? She was pretty famous after that war.
Although, it's quite refreshing to introduce yourself to someone who didn't think that they know everything about you.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruko." She steeled herself for the inevitable gasp, shock, or shrieking.
His smirk just became wider. "My name's Hari."
Naruko tilted her head. "No last name?"
His smirk became a smile, and his eyes glazed with a wistful sort of longing. "No… It's just Hari." he affirmed.
Naruko stared at him.
He stared back.
"Let's be friends." Naruko suddenly blurted out. Her eyes widened and cheeks reddened as she realised what she just did.
Hari blinked. Then he gave her a slow smile, a little more genuine than the one she saw before.
"OK."