Warnings: Obviously doesn't take part in AtO timeline.Not edited, has the potential for deep and dangerous plot-holes.
10- Harry meets Anko (from mer)
“Ssshe’s at it again, that crazy woman.”
Harry paused and tilted his head to the side. Hissing? A snake? I havn’t seen any snakes since I came to Konoha.
“I wish I’d had more time to sssleep, but nooo, that hag keeps dragging us out for stupid reassonss”
Two different snakes? Harry listened carefully, trying to find the direction the hisses were coming from.
“Did you ssmell the rancid alcohol on her breath?”
Rancid? Since when do snakes sound so intelligent? Unless it's a person … another parseltongue? Harry frowned slightly but stood in his spot when the he noticed the voices coming closer.
“I can't believe she sssummoned usss like thiss again. Last time, I got cut open and we weren't even in a battle...”
There was a loud hiss that didn't get translated but Harry felt it was the equivalent of an agreeing shout.
“Ssshe never even bothered to check if I'd healed properly.”
A bush at his side shifted and two large greyish-green snakes slithered out. They paused abruptly and stared in Harry's direction.
One of the snakes, with a distinctive patch of black on it's head hissed, "Sssince when was there a human here?"
"We must have been too distracted getting away from her." The other snake hissed back.
Harry noticed a long jagged scar on the second snake's body and winced slightly.
"We sshould leave. It doesn't look like he likesss ssnakess."
Harry tilted his head to the side in surprise. They're rather considerate. That's a refreshing change. As they turned to leave he hissed, "Is your wound really all right? It looks unhealed."
The snakes paused and turned to him in tandem.
"Did you hear him?" The first snake hissed softly to the other.
The snake with the jagged scar hissed back equally softly. "Maybe we're caught in a genjutsu trap. I wouldn't put it past her to torture uss like thiss..."
Harry knelt down, concern overriding any sense of caution at the term 'torture' and hissed, "Do you want me to heal that wound for you?"
The scarred snake came closer and flicked it's tongue rapidly. "You're real. And you want to heal me? Aren't we sstill in Konoha?"
Harry frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Little boy, you shouldn't be playing with other people's summons!" A lady's voice rang through the clearing.
Harry turned and found a purple haired woman on a tree branch above him. Her outfit distracted him for a minute but he concentrated on to her eyes as the snakes hisses replayed in his mind as he stood up. "I'm not playing. I was wondering if I should heal the injured one since it's obvious that the human in charge of it couldn't be bothered about it's well-being."
"What do you just sa..."
Harry interrupted her rudely. “Do you even bother to figure out when they usually sleep during the day? Or when they'd be willing to help you so that it doesn't conflict with their lives. Or just even if they've healed from their previous injuries?”
One of the snakes beside him hissed, "He'ss sstanding up for uss. Who iss he?"
"How would I know?" The other hissed back.
The lady snorted and leaned forward with a mocking smile on her face. “What of it, little boy?”
Harry said, “You’re abusing them and treating them like they're nothing more than disposable pawns to you.”
Another hiss from the side. "Oh no! Sshe might attack him... what do we do?"
The smiled vanished abruptly. The lady in front of him narrowed her eyes and suddenly the air became uncomfortably heavy.
Harry stared back defiantly at the ninja, ignoring the cold shudder that ran down his spine and said, "They deserve better if they're willing to fight alongside you."
The lady stared at him for a few more minutes before she turned to the snakes who had been hissing nervously. "You two, go back."
Harry turned to the two snakes.
"Nice human, thank you," the scarred snake hissed. The other nodded and they both vanished in a puff of smoke.
Harry stayed very still as something sharp dug in to the side of his throat.
"And you, stay out of my way. The next time I see you, there will be blood."
There was a rush of air, and the weapon disappeared from his throat. Harry turned around but the lady was already gone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Parseltongue fail! So hard to write all the sss- I didn't know where to add them without making everything sound stupid. Either way, I think the snakes stole the show here, right?
Anko on the other hand, well, maybe I made her a bit crazy here? But that's totally expected, right? After Orochimaru, people tend to go a little off. *cough*Sasuke*cough*
Of course, I don't know actually how Anko treats her snake summons... I just needed a situation for Harry here.
I finished this drabble ages ago but didn't get around to putting it online as usual. Anyway, finally done with those requested drabbles- only took me … 8-ish months? Pft, yes I know- my writing/update speed is very mock worthy.
But the main point is- I finished the requested drabbles- so that's a cause of celebration.
With the amount of writing I do on here, I wonder if I should have opened a Livejournal account instead of using Blogger- the interface there seems a bit more suited to long chunks of text.
Chapter 13- is being written slowly but surely. 4810 words! Obviously, don't rejoice- you should know how things go with me- none of those 4000 words make any sense yet... too many broken scenes that need to be connected properly.
Polar
P.S. Two years since I published AtO online? Wow! It completely slipped my mind cos I was working on other stories.
