Stunned, and gasping for breath Harper sits up, only to be smacked in the face with greenery not native to The Great Lakes.
"Huh?" she says elegantly. The book slides down into her lap as she coughs lightly to clear out the puffs of summoning smoke.
Still, even if this forest isn't like the ones back home, something is familiar about it and as she moves to clear a view into the clearing she freezes.
She blinks.
Shakes her head.
Pinches her arm, but what she is seeing stays the same.
It's herself, in the miniature, riding on top of Pakkun's small pug body like a cowboy in a western. She watched with bated breath as Pakkun raised his muzzle and sniffed the air. She sees a small Haruhi whisper a question.
"Hang on."
Frantically Harper flips the book open to a random page and slams her palm down on it.
It felt like slipping through a door, if you were going at 60 mph. With a choked gasp and a shudder as chakra sluggishly moved through her body now that she was in the Shinobi world again, she nearly screamed and ducked, barely avoiding senbon thrown by-
-By Haku!
She was wearing her hunter nin mask, the one from before Zabuza had died. Haku hissed a question to Harper but she flipped open her book, palm striking down on another page as Zabuza called for backup.
The sound of clashing kunai and baying dogs sent shivers up her spine along with the thick, heavy mist coating the bridge. Frantically trying to get her bearings, Harper scanned the area. She was kneeling next to heavy machinery, and Sakura and Haku were fighting maybe 20 feet away, with Sakura losing.
Harper shouted over to Sakura, instructing her to use the machine against the otherwise insurmountable ice walls, and Sakura glided over, leaving Harper to yet again scramble for the book.
She flipped a lot father this time. Harper recognized the sight of the Uchiha training ground before Sasuke and her refurbished the district for habitation. This must be the day when Sasuke allowed them onto Uchiha land to use the fields for privacy.
Kabuto was sitting next to her.
She poofed away a split second before chakra scalpels split the tree behind her.
Kakashi squints up at the treeline suspiciously.
Gasping for breath as she holds the book in her trembling hands, Harper wryly thinks she should have checked out the book more thoroughly. It seems to be a gateway of some sort, allowing for free travel through the veil.
The next time she emerged after traveling through the fog of the In-between, it was in a dank, musty lair. Ah. Orochimaru. The first time she was kidnapped by him.
A rec room of all things was located on the way to her cell and she swiped some crackers and water for her past self.
"It's okay to cry, you know."
She gives herself a pep talk, and after making sure Haruhi makes it out of the cell she quietly flips the book open.
She makes it into the chakra world again by the chicken coup where the grumpy farmer is looking after his bedraggled chickens. She quietly leaves, going the other way as to not catch his attention, and as she walks to the more remote part of town, she sees Tsunade drunkenly stagger into a modest hotel.
She finds herself again, and explains where to go, laughing under her breath as she disappears as Kakashi and the other approaches. Soon.
She bounces around, appearing in Konoha's bustling crowds, putting the training Kakashi gave her to good use now that the slipping from her dimension to this one meant that her chakra didn't waver.
It's a fun game to play with them.
If Harper had a nickel for every time Orochimaru kidnapped her, she would have two nickels, which isn't much, but it's still weird that it happened twice.
A surprised Yamato takes Harper's appearance into stride as she leads him to the hideout, making sure she's concealed completely with the clothes from home. She sees Kakashi and Haruhi and a bittersweet smile crosses unseen on her face.
"Now, now, there's no need to cry."
This story has been told before, she thinks as she leads them out of the cave. It feels nostalgic, and it hurts. It's also pretty funny when you think about it. All this time her mysterious benefactor had been herself. But digging deeper it actually made sense. The existence of the strange book, All the smoke whenever there was someone following them and when the Mysterious benefactor appeared and disappeared, and it explained how they knew so much about Team seven.
She comforts herself, and seeing Haruhi sitting on the bench outside the hospital, weak and heartbroken, something inside her that had snapped so long ago finally heals. She would be okay.
Harper lets herself know this.
After leaving Haruhi to be carried by Kakashi, Harper takes the book and sees the many empty pages ahead swirl to life with ink and dialogue, and suddenly knowing what to do, she flips ahead, farther than she has ever gone before-years!-and she takes a deep breath as she lands upon a picture of Kakashi. An Image of him at their favorite bench, where he would take her after the training team even and they would talk. The trees would rustle gently, the view of the village gleaming beneath them and a sea of string lights light there way after the suns rays had faded.
She presses forward
Kakashi jumps forward at the mysterious appearance behind him before relaxing.
"Oh! You."
His gaze sweeps over the mystery person, and their hand reaches up as if to tug on a strand of hair, before it drops to their side. Something about that is so endearing and familiar he can feel his heart twist.
It's been awhile, but he still thinks of her. She would be happy with this. Konoha was better now. Sasuke's foray under Orochimaru had borne fruit, and after he had freed the experiments he had exposed Konoha's corruption through the Konoha Gazette.
Tsunade had allowed him to personally execute the council of elders. Tenten was distraught to see her sensei go, but Kakashi had a feeling the orphan girl born to nothing would get over it fine.
After Sasuke revealed everything, including the sabotage missions Konoha and Root had led against other countries, war had been declared on them by Kumo and Iwa. Since they already had connections to Sand with Temari being Kage, and with Haku serving as their main diplomat to Kiri, the war was quickly over, and amends and reparations were given out to everyone hurt.
The Akatsuki had been taken care of too. It was a huge fight, but after Nagato saw the progress they were making he backed off. Obito was hard to manage, and harder to get through. He fought ferociously and it was only after all of their combined efforts took him down and the therapy he was given by the Yamakan did he come around.
He lived with Shisui and Sasuke now in the new Uchiha main house. Shisui and Inari were on their third kid. Itachi was kept under permanent watch, as what he did could never be forgiven, and after he tried to argue that what he did was necessary again, Sasuke told him "Everything turned out well not because of what you did, but in spite of it."
Naruto and Karin gathered up surviving Uzumaki formerly scattered to the wind and restarted the clan. Sakura and her family were also doing well.
Literacy spread. Healthcare expanded. And a growing movement to hold an election for a new leader of fire country instead of the daimyo, and with all the ground support Konoha was getting from it's newly enriched citizens, they didn't have to march to the beat of the Daimyo's drum anymore.
Kiri had already elected a new leader in place of their Daimyo after he was assassinated during the revolution, and many minor countries followed. It was only a matter of time before the other 4 great nations followed.
She would have loved this.
The mystery person stepped forward and Kakashi couldn't resist.
"Who are you?" he asked, not actually expecting a response.
And to his surprise, they paused.
And took off their head coverings.
Kakashi felt his world tilt, he felt the blood rush to his head, and the pull of fabric as his mouth gaped open.
"Haruhi?!"
She smiled, that beaming, kind, charismatic thing he remembered so well, the white teeth against full lips and dark skin.
"Harper works too." She said shyly.
He took a shaky step forward.
"Now, I know you're probably confused, and maybe upset-"
He pulled her into a hug, and buried his face into her shoulder inhaling, and yep, that was Haruhi alright. FLowers, fresh laundry, ink, and smoke.
"You're here!" He croaked.
He felt her shuddering inhale as they both began crying in earnest.
"I don't care how, just that you are!"
"Yes." She whispered. "I came back, and I'll come back again."
And standing there, arms wrapped around each other, gently swaying in the cool breeze as the sunset cast everything pink, nothing else needed to be said.
I would like to dedicate this work to by Best Friend Mx S, who was a great help at the beginning all the way back in Middle school and was the only one to encourage me to post my works, they were always on my case whenever I came up with a great idea, and that was what started me with writing these down. Some of my fondest memories growing up was reading these chapters aloud to them. I believe chapter 6 is even in their honor as well. They were my original number one fan, and It is of the up most importance to me that I let them know that I'm theirs too.
An author and artist themself, we made fast friends and formed an enduring bond lasting till today and even during quarantine. It is a joy to know them and hear what they have to say. I'm always impressed by their skill and ingenuity.
Haruhi/Harper is a collage character, with many traits taken from strong persons in my life I know. Mx S. Serves as one of the main inspirations for her. Haruhi's enduring strength, charisma, and eternal quest for justice and equity were all me channeling them. And just as I learned how to write Haruhi from the people in my life, I also hope the people in my life can learn a thing or two from Haruhi. Family can be found anywhere, You do matter, Justice is always worth it, bravery comes from overcoming fear(not the absence of it), you can make your life better, The hardest choices are the most rewarding, anyone can achieve happiness, compassion is the key to the future, question The Man(unjust authority), and there is always, always Hope.
Knowing you has made my life better, and I've always been proud of you, even when times were rough and progress stagnated or regressed. Your growth astounds me, is what I would say if I had doubted you could do this.
But you did! Happy Birthday! God smiled down on Earth when they saw you were on It!
This fic has it's happy ending, but your life is just beginning, and frankly, I know you'll do great things, and I can't wait to be there with you! ILYSM!
Wow. It's kinda hard to believe this is all over. I started writing the first few chapters in middle school before publishing them in highschool, and now I'm working through college.
With that in mind, it's so apparent the difference from where I began to this last chapter. Writing style, grammar, plot, tone, and characterization all changed. In many ways this story grew with me.
While not without it's flaws, this work is my magnus opus, bringing me great joy as I wrote it, and joy to others as well.
Shout out to the following:
Thomas Drovin
InoSaku
Empathos
Alexia Rivera R
Emma
Nyght elf
dianille
AmirreaTheArtist
Momochan77
ForestShadeau
Firemaster101
Ric Walker
KarmaAladdin
Natonatonii
Dark Rose Charm
LetTheWorldHonorTheFallen
devonm0
I ok2
Yasumin J
I Lost Civilization I
ZuuKiipper
BlueSeraphos
NatNicole
reebajee
Pika5490
AvidReader016
And a special thank you to donstehly2 for being this stories first ever review! Thank you to every single person who reviewed, including many more who I couldn't type because that list would have taken years to scroll down! I loved reading them, and I'd often go back to re-read them many times over later when I was feeling down. Your time and words were invaluable to me.
Especially now.
I know the world is looking rough right now. With the Alt right and fascism on the rise across the globe, increasing poverty even before the pandemic, and climate change, it can be scary. And that's where I need you to take inspiration from Haruhi, and Kasumi, and Kizashi, and Akira in this story. Organize. Lift your neighbors up. Run social programs. Help them learn life skills like how to cook, support them! SHOW COMPASSION.
*emperor palpatine voice* DEW IT!
*Shia Labeouf* JUST! DOOOO IT!
(also, some have commented that I've gotten to political in the past and that Naruto isn't meant for that. To which I say, Kishimoto laid the seeds, and I watered, weeded, and harvested the crops. He made a world centered around the political structures of the shinobi villages, and used genocide, child soldiers, blind loyalty to the state, and corrupt governments as centerpieces in his work, and I followed them to their logical conclusions.) ( He only walked back on those themes in shippuden when the cash rolled in and he realized he needed to tone the anti-establishment plotlines down to please the corporate overlords over at Shonen jump).( and To which I also say, the original 6 star wars movies are about rebel factions over coming a fascist empire and their Weapons of Mass Destruction through guerilla warfare and violent action, and the prequels are about how a democracy can be undermined and self destruct through fabricated wars and corruption. Politics is everywhere kiddo's, even in a stupid little magna called Naruto.)
I understand some of you may have questions. I will answer a few here.
1. This is really the last chapter.
2. Haruhi and Kakashi live happily ever after because I say so.
3. I won't be going back to edit out spelling and grammar errors, because this thing is massive and I am busy. I will not be taking up offers to help edit, simply because I do not have time, but thank you.
4. This fic spanned years and hundreds of thousands of words with many hiatuses. That means some continuity errors and is the reason why Haruhi "forgets" things sometimes lol.
5. I may or may not start another fic, but I do have others completed if you want to check those out.
And with that, if you have other questions, you can leave a comment, and I'll wait a few days after posting this to respond by reviewing this chapter myself. Can you review your own work? Guess I'll find out. You can send me a PM if you must but I would prefer a review in case someone else has the same question as you(so it's not asked twice) and so I can keep them all in line.
Once again, thank you all for following me through on this. I appreciate every single one of you, and am so glad to share this fandom with you! Great things await us all!