Disclaimer: don't own them

My latest novella is ready for editing! The Kickstarter to help fund that starts on May 18 if you're interested. Look for The Girl Made of Stone – A Twist in the Tail 1 by Liza Clarke. Rewards are ebooks, paperbacks, hardcovers, and merchandise

Chapter 12

Sasuke nodded when Harry glanced at him, seeing the small smile cross his cousin's face. He'd spent his whole childhood trying to get his father to recognise his efforts, he wasn't going to do that to Harry. It was pretty obvious his relatives hadn't cared about him either, so it was up to Sasuke to assure him that he was doing well…not something he was good at but he was trying.

Thankfully, things had been quiet since the kidnapping attempt but they all knew it wouldn't last. Sooner or later someone else would try for him. Harry was getting good at throwing kunai at a target, but against an actual opponent who would be dodging? Every effort to activate his Sharingan again had failed too, but Sasuke would not give up there. He also didn't want to put too much pressure on him since that could cause him to form a mental block about activating it. He'd been digging through the records with Sakura and she'd pointed out the pressure that had been on a lot of the clan kids…including him. Had the pressure from his Dad been part of why he hadn't activated the Sharingan as a child?

"Hey guys!" Naruto called, and Harry waved absently before making another throw, the best yet. "He's getting good," Naruto grinned, and Sasuke nodded.

"He is."

He was proud of his cousin, he was adapting to life in Konoha, passing shinobi doing something a civilian would find crazy barely phased him at all anymore. His nightmares seemed to be settling a bit too which was a relief, he hated the fact his cousin had seen someone die. Harry was putting on weight, no longer so thin, he just looked overall healthier. And Sasuke found that the changes made him feel…content. He was doing a good job caring for his cousin, his clan.

Harry collected the weapons and then joined them. "Who's cooking tonight?"

Naruto ducked and hid behind Sasuke, getting a laugh from Harry even as Sasuke shook his head in exasperation.

"I'll cook," Harry offered, surprising Sasuke. "It won't be a recipe from here…"

"That's fine, if, you're sure?" he asked, and Harry nodded, heading inside.

"Well, that's handy," Naruto grinned.

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Sakura put her pack down in the bedroom, glancing around. It was strange to think she was now living in the same house as her team but it was a smart move. There'd been one attack already and it was likely that more would come as word of Harry spread. Not the way she'd once dreamed of moving into the Uchiha Compound. She unpacked easily and headed out to find the boys in the yard, Sasuke and Naruto demonstrating something to Harry. He looked even more like an Uchiha without those glasses.

Her parents weren't impressed with her living in a house with three teenage boys and no adult supervision but she'd pointed out the Compound was being guarded by the ANBU so technically they had supervision.

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Itachi watched, interested to see that Harry wasn't wearing glasses now, had they healed his eyes? That was good, glasses were a risk when under attack. Hearing of the Kumo-nin trying to take Harry, he'd had to come and check on them. He was glad the whole team, minus Kakashi, were staying in the house for added security. He didn't like how easily the Kumo team had breached the Village security and he suspected he knew how they'd done that.

Sneaking into T&I wasn't the easiest but he managed to get the report on the one survivor, interested about how he had reacted. Was it possible that Harry-kun had activated their bloodline even briefly? Or was it something to do with those stick wielding people and the protections on Harry's file? Either way, Harry was likely the cause of the man's scrambled memory.

And that would likely make him even more interested in his cousin, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to have to 'visit' and ensure he knew that Harry was protected, just like Sasuke.

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Harry slumped back in his chair. There was so much to learn! It was like first year all over again except this time he was being give the time to learn. The language was complicated, especially the written form. His handwriting in English was bad enough, in Japanese? Ugh. Pity there wasn't an easier way to learn, Naruto's seal was good but it wasn't failproof.

Living here was so different to being back in Surrey or the Wizarding World. And honestly… he was liking it more. He'd been looking for a way out and this was his chance, yes, it was dangerous here too but he wasn't the Boy Who Lived here. But could he really walk away from the war? How many innocents would be killed if he didn't go back? The Ministry would fold the next time Riddle tried to take it and he didn't even need to do it in person. And Dumbledore? He might have led the last war but look what he'd left for their generation to deal with? He was ineffective but who else would they follow? Harry knew that with the press no longer trying to destroy his reputation that he'd be the one looked to, especially with them calling him the Chosen One. Mad Eye was too far on the other side of things to be a good leader, they needed a middle ground between him and Dumbledore. If the ninja knew about magic, they could probably handle the war, Harry would happily empty his inheritance and pay them to do it. But his magic had scrambled that guys memory so he wasn't sure about exposing the two worlds to each other.

"Harry," Naruto called, and Harry turned to find him in the doorway to his bedroom. "You done yet?" he asked.

"I suppose I can be?"

Naruto grinned and rushed in to grab his wrist, pulling him up. "Come on!"

Harry laughed but let Naruto pull him along. He liked Naruto, he was bright and bubbly but he was serious when needed, as shown during the attack. And there was a loneliness about him that reminded Harry of himself…Sasuke too. The two bickered a lot but there was no real heat behind it but Harry got the feeling there used to be, before Sasuke came back. They were re-learning their friendship after years apart and it seemed to be going really well. And it was a nice break from Hermione and Ron's version of bickering and forcing him into the middle.

"Where are we going?" he asked, finding Sasuke and Sakura slipping into their sandals, Sakura had a basket and Sasuke a backpack.

"Rookie Nine lunch!" Naruto announced, and Harry blinked.

"Um…"

Sakura sighed. "Naruto, he doesn't know what that is," she chided. "The Rookie nine are the three teams that graduated at the same time. Team 7, which is us, plus Team's 8 & 10. Team 9 graduated the year ahead of us and sometimes join in as well. We meet up when we can to eat or train together."

"Yep! And you're coming too."

"Don't worry, they know you're coming," Sakura assured him.

"Okay," he agreed nervously. And…Sasuke looked nervous too which he guessed made sense, had he seen them since coming back to Konoha?

So, the four of them set off to meet with the other Rookies.

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Hinata sat with her teammates, waiting eagerly for Team 7. She wasn't sure about Sasuke but she missed Naruto a lot. She was also curious about meeting the newest Uchiha. What was he like since he hadn't grown up in Konoha. She activated her Byakugan to see if they were in her range yet…and there they were. "Team 7 is almost here," she murmured.

Ino nodded and the two of them began setting out the food, Shino's bugs ensuring Akamaru didn't steal any. And the four figures appeared in the distance, Naruto and Sakura standing out easily with the two dark haired boys. As they got closer, she studied the two, Sasuke had grown since they had last seen him but it wasn't just that. He was…different…arrogance, that was it. He'd always been arrogant and yet now that seemed gone. He was protectively hovering over the other teen, his messy black hair making it obvious he was an Uchiha. But she didn't remember ever seeing an Uchiha with green eyes, and they were very green. She wondered what that meant for the possibility of his having the Sharingan. All her clan had the same eyes if they had the Byakugan after all.

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Sasuke stared at the two other teams, unsure what to do or say, keeping Harry at his side and grateful his cousin didn't argue. A glance at Harry proved he was just as or more nervous than he was. He hadn't mentioned many close friends so was he not used to larger groups? But he went to boarding school and slept in a dorm. The whole idea of that was just so strange to him but it seemed it had been a welcome escape for Harry.

"Uchiha," Shikamaru nodded at him, and Sasuke nodded back.

"And this is Harry!" Naruto patted Harry on the shoulder, his cousin ducking his head slightly.

"Hi?" Harry murmured.

Ino grinned at them and he had the urge to grab Harry and run.

TBC…

This has been sitting around for a while and I decided to post it. I might time skip or something to get passed this part.