Edit: Yes, this is late. It was supposed to be online on Christmas. Either ways, I hope you enjoy it.
Warnings: Plenty of plot-holes, not enough details and not part of actual AtO timeline.Just something for Christmas.
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Our Christmas tale begins in a far-away land. On this Christmas Eve night, two cousins sit in a warm kitchen, oblivious to the world outside. Let's have a look at what they're up to.
Naruto craned his head up impatiently as the mouth-watering scent- a mix of meat, sugary sweetness and something fruity maybe- filled the kitchen. But he forced himself to stay seated. Eager to keep himself distracted, he said, “But what's so important about tomorrow?”
Nii-san glanced over his shoulder in amusement. “It's just a holiday from back home.”
“What kind of holiday?” Naruto persisted and leaned forward to take a deeper sniff of the food in the oven. But he still couldn't tell what it was, even as he looked at all the dirty dishes in the sink.
“One I never celebrated until just a few years ago. When I was younger, years ago, the only thing I really bothered remembering about the holiday was...Santa.”
“Santa?” Naruto repeated carefully, trying to get a look of what was in the oven while still being seated at the dining table. “Is that what you're making?”
Nii-san chuckled loudly. “No, no. Santa was sort of a... magical figure of Christmas. Father Christmas. He brought gifts to all the good children.”
Ignoring the foreign sounding word, Naruto said, “Then you must have gotten tons of gifts.”
Nii-san snorted. “I never ever asked for gifts.”
“Then what did you ask for?”
“Something that was probably too hard for him to give. Something impossible,” Nii-san said softly.
Naruto bit his lip, wondering if he could ask what nii-san had asked for. Before he could say anything though, the oven bell tinged and he leaned forward in excitement as nii-san opened the oven.
Nii-san pulled out a large tray and placed it on the dining table carefully, looking highly pleased as he looked at everything on the tray.
Naruto glanced at the fat rough biscuit-looking pastry things on the tray curiously.
“Mince pies,” Nii-san said happily. “Not exactly a meal-time food, but I think we can make an exception for the season. I better put the second tray in.”
Naruto knew he should have waited. But the smell was so different and nice that he couldn't help picking a pastry from the tray. He yelped and blew at his slightly burnt fingertips.
“Honestly, are you a kid?” Nii-san huffed, turning back from the oven, and waved his hand in an odd motion.
Naruto grinned when the scorching heat from the pastry immediately lessened to a comfortable warmth. Even his fingertips felt cool and comfortable. “You're the best.” He took a big bite, chewed slowly and stilled as the food seemed to melt in his mouth with a burst of flavour. With another two large bites, he finished the pastry in his hand and reached out for another only to stop when he noticed nii-san's amused grin.
“Here,” Nii-san waved his hand and held up another delicious whatever-it-was-called.
Naruto took it carefully, but before he took a bite he said, “Tell me about Santa-san. How does he give gifts? How does he know what you want?”
“Hmm, well, Santa wears a red outfit and has flying rein...”
Let's leave those two, to finish their warm feast. Instead, let's go a little away from them. To a rooftop at the edge of the village where a single man stares up at the moon.
He adjusted his mask as he looked away from the moon and stared out at the familiar streets of his old village.
“Pathetic,” he scoffed. “Ignorant.”
He casually jumped onto another roof watching as an ANBU team rushed past him on some errand or the other, not even noticing his hidden presence. “So very ignorant.”
How had he considered them the epitome of strength before? Why had he wanted to be more like them?
He looked down at the quiet streets he passed, as he jumped forward, confident in his direction. It didn't take long for him to find his target. There on one of the rooftops, illuminated by the moonlight, was an unmistakable blond child wearing orange lying beside a black-haired boy.
“You're making this too easy.” He landed on the roof beside the two boys. He ignored the black-haired boy and moved to the blond, clenching his fists at the face that brought back so many unpleasant memories.
He knelt down slowly, amused that he was so close to his target without anyone knowing or even trying to stop him. It was just more proof that his old village had fallen.
Knowing that he couldn't push his luck in capturing the brat and getting the Kyuubi, he decided to cast a strong Genjutsu on the brat.
“Santa-san,” the kyuubi-brat muttered nonsensically in his sleep, drool dribbling the side of his face. “Nii-san wants to fly those...”
He snapped his fingers, pooled chakra to his fingertips and prodded a point on the brat's neck, allowing blue eyes to open even though the brat stayed asleep. For a moment he wanted to wake the brat to better enjoy his fear.
But he decided against it. Using something as new and untested as the Limited Tsukuyomi would have a better chance of success if there weren't too many unknown variables.
Thrilled at finally getting the Kyuubi, he moulded his chakra and activated the genjutsu.
For a moment things seemed all right. But a flash of bright red and the sound of bells disrupted his concentration and grabbed at his chakra, draining him completely.
Before he lost consciousness, he activated his fail-safe and entered the familiar world of jikukan.
Well, that was ...unexpected.
Harry woke up uncomfortably chilled to the sound of tinkling bells. He stared up at the starry sky in confusion for a few moments before he remembered that Naruto and he had been on the roof to watch for Santa.
Harry hadn't told Naruto that Santa was just a story, since Naruto had been excited about the whole thing.
He sat up when someone chuckled. He blinked a few times, thinking he was dreaming, and stared at the person standing on the roof. Clad in bright red ninja clothes- shirt, pants, sandals and even a long red overcoat- a man with long white hair stood and chuckled.
Naruto gasped, apparently awake. “Santa-san! You heard my wish.”
“Wish?” Harry turned to Naruto, glad not to look at the red-clad person.
Naruto nodded. “I wished that you'd be able to meet Santa-san at least once, even if he couldn't give you what you asked for. Because you really seemed to like him.”
“I could always use some helpers." The red-clad man grinned and snapped his fingers. The air around him shimmered and three large deer appeared on the rooftop. Three deer, that was at least twice the man's size, flexed their cream coloured wings as they stood beside the man.
Naruto eyed the deer in awe. “Nii-san, you didn't tell me that the flying deer were this huge.”
Harry pinched his arm and winced at the pain.
“But other than that, everything you said fits exactly like I imagined.”
“What?” Harry said. “How does any of this fit? He looks like a ninja.”
Naruto stared at Harry. “He wears red and enters people's houses without waking them up or getting caught. Obviously, he's a ninja with super pranking skills.”
Harry ignored that logic and said, “The deer have wings.”
“You said flying deer. They obviously need wings to fly, nii-san.”
Harry wondered if the mince pies had somehow messed with Naruto's head. “Obviously.”
“The only thing I don't really understand is how he knows what everyone wants, even if they don't ask him for things. I can't wait to get the secrets to his success.”
“Yo! It's rude to talk about me like I'm not here,” the red-clad man said with a laugh.
Harry turned and stared at the man's red coat. “Look, I don't know who you actually are, but there's no way...”
The man tilted his head and then, in perfectly fluent English, said, “Harry Potter, when you were five and first understood the concept of Santa, you asked me to make you more likeable. But from the next year onwards you asked me to give you a different family, one that actually liked you.”
Harry looked up into unnaturally bright golden eyes.
“The problem with your requests, Harry Potter,” the red-clad man said with a kind smile.“I couldn't give you things you already had. And i certainly couldn't give you things that you would get much later.”
“There's no way,” Harry said in disbelief.
“Well, the only way to really know if I'm the real deal, is to come along with me,” Ninja-Santa said. “I promise to bring you back by midnight if you want.”
Harry briefly why no one in the village had interrupted. Surely they'd find this man suspicious.
“Looks like your cousin has already made his choice.”
Harry turned and watched Naruto whisper and pat one of the large winged-deer. “When did he...”
“You won't let him go off on his own, will you?”
Obviously, Harry couldn't let Naruto go off with the suspicious person. He told himself that it was worry, not excitement that made him cling to the winged-deer's saddle and reins tightly.
“Ah, I suppose I should let time return to normal now,” ninja-Santa said and snapped his fingers.
There was a burst of something in the air, just before a large number of ninja- including some that Harry recognized- surrounded the three of them in an instant.
But ninja-Santa laughed and before any of the ninja could say or do anything, the deer lept up into the sky in a rush of air. When Harry looked down, he saw pinpricks of light from the village below disappear in a blur of speed. He laughed in delight at being high in the air.
“Nii-san, look how bright the stars are,” Naruto yelled.
From a little ahead of them, ninja-Santa yelled back, “Our first stop is Kumo.”
Kumo, it turned out, had a lot of mountains. It also turned out that ninja-Santa could just snap his fingers to deliver gifts in multiple houses but sometimes he liked sneaking in anyway. While he went off delivering gifts, he tasked Naruto and Harry with decorating the village. Harry practised his wandless magic by levitating and sticking long strings of red Christmas lights – that ninja-Santa had given him- while Naruto used his clones.
As they got back on the large flying deer, Harry felt proud that no one had bothered them during the entire escapade. That pride vanished when ninja-Santa mentioned something about putting time back to normal and snapped his fingers. Instantly a large group of black-clad ninja surrounded them, but again ninja-Santa just laughed as the deer leapt up into the air.
By the time they were back in Konoha, which buzzed with activity before ninja-Santa fiddled with time and froze everything, Harry felt like he could identify each village's ninja by their uniform correctly.
“Here,” ninja-Santa pushed two bottle into Harry's hands when they finished decorating Konoha and delivering gifts. “A little something extra for you both helping me out tonight.”
Harry looked down at the bottles and laughed in disbelief. He passed one bottle to Naruto and looked up into golden eyes. “Thank you... Santa.”
Ninja-Santa grinned with obvious delight. “I take you all over the elemental countries in one night, stop time while delivering gifts, even tell you your old wishes... and you only believe me when I give you two bottles of Butterbeer?”
Harry shrugged and opened his bottle.
“I suppose I better let these ninja stop worrying about you two,” Ninja-Santa said and snapped his fingers.
It didn't take for the ninja to gather around them, some even putting themselves in front of Harry and Naruto as though to protect them from ninja-Santa.
“Now, I totally understand why you like Santa-san and this whole holiday,” Naruto said, gulped down the Butterbeer and sighed in satisfaction. “Best night ever.”
Harry laughed and watched as ninja-Santa waved at everyone and then disappeared in the blink of an eye.
And so the legend of Santa-san was born in this vast and distant land. Some people, who'd been visited by Santa-san, even took pains to spread this happy legend to every corner of the land.
“You forgot to add his ability to bypass any type of barrier and enter forbidden areas,” Danzo said in irritation as he looked down at the newly created Bingo book page. He pushed away the book, irritated at the picture of the red-clad man posing with a large uncaring grin.
“My apologies, Danzo-sama.”
Danzo winced as he glanced at his subordinate. “Are they still unable to remove all the red dye from everyone's clothes and weapons?”
“The dye is very persistent, Danzo-sama.”
Danzo grimaced. “What about those hideous socks that were left in my bedroom?”
“The analysis showed no signs of poison on it, Danzo-sama. Only...”
“Only?” Danzo prompted.
“It had aloe vera inside it.”
Danzo sighed and rubbed his forehead in irritation.
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A/N: Harry would have actually called Santa “Father Christmas”. But for the sake of the story, I just preferred using Santa.
Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Best Wishes,
Polar
25 December 2012
12 December 2012
Holiday time news...
As you may have noticed, I haven't been updating this blog the past few weeks. It's mostly because I've been preparing for a rather long (travel and time-wise) holiday-ish trip.
And preparing for long distance travel is a serious hassle- visas and shopping and travel clinics and more shopping (the shopping just never seems to end). Somehow you're just never completely prepared/packed until it's time to leave.
I will be out of the country till the end of January- and I won't be taking my laptop with me- which means no updates on ffnet until the start of February at least. But I might schedule a post on this blog for Christmas day (I actually wrote a Christmas omake in November)
I can't put up chapter 14 of AtO before I leave- it's not quite done and I can't work on it till I get back. It's rather frustrating (and emabarressing) that I've only managed to update AtO once this year- I really wanted to have more than three chapters up this year but the time just seemed to slip away.
When I look at the fanfic folder on my laptop I see a lot of files in there- lots of them created this year- all stories that are waiting to be finished. I really hope that 2013 will be the year of "completing everything".
Polar
And preparing for long distance travel is a serious hassle- visas and shopping and travel clinics and more shopping (the shopping just never seems to end). Somehow you're just never completely prepared/packed until it's time to leave.
I will be out of the country till the end of January- and I won't be taking my laptop with me- which means no updates on ffnet until the start of February at least. But I might schedule a post on this blog for Christmas day (I actually wrote a Christmas omake in November)
I can't put up chapter 14 of AtO before I leave- it's not quite done and I can't work on it till I get back. It's rather frustrating (and emabarressing) that I've only managed to update AtO once this year- I really wanted to have more than three chapters up this year but the time just seemed to slip away.
When I look at the fanfic folder on my laptop I see a lot of files in there- lots of them created this year- all stories that are waiting to be finished. I really hope that 2013 will be the year of "completing everything".
Polar
16 October 2012
Why isn't this complete?
A question that I always ask myself when I find and read through yet another unfinished story of mine.
It's one of those maddening things about writing for me.
I have so many stories, but they don't have proper endings (some even have middles missing). And when I decide to read those stories in hopes of getting ideas to finish them... the only thing in my mind is "Why isn't this complete?"
So reading my incomplete stories= not helpful at all. Well that's not true. Sometimes reading those incomplete stories does put me in a creative mood for writing other stories. Sometimes.
Other times, I really wonder if they'll ever be finished so that I can upload them on ffnet.
And then there's Complicated Detour- which is finished and right there. And I still don't feel like uploading it. In this case my mind is going, "Why isn't this online?"
As for AtO chapter 14- I deleted a chunk of text (or rather I'm moving it to a future chapter) and the wordcount is in the 8200+ range. Not good but not bad. At least I'm not having problems with writing.
Out of curiosity- which Naruto character do you think plays a big role in chapter 14? I want to see if I've been too predictable.
Polar
It's one of those maddening things about writing for me.
I have so many stories, but they don't have proper endings (some even have middles missing). And when I decide to read those stories in hopes of getting ideas to finish them... the only thing in my mind is "Why isn't this complete?"
So reading my incomplete stories= not helpful at all. Well that's not true. Sometimes reading those incomplete stories does put me in a creative mood for writing other stories. Sometimes.
Other times, I really wonder if they'll ever be finished so that I can upload them on ffnet.
And then there's Complicated Detour- which is finished and right there. And I still don't feel like uploading it. In this case my mind is going, "Why isn't this online?"
As for AtO chapter 14- I deleted a chunk of text (or rather I'm moving it to a future chapter) and the wordcount is in the 8200+ range. Not good but not bad. At least I'm not having problems with writing.
Out of curiosity- which Naruto character do you think plays a big role in chapter 14? I want to see if I've been too predictable.
Polar
11 October 2012
A Change in Age (Part 2)
A continuation of this.
I decided to change the disconnected scenes into an actual story with plot. I'm actually surprised how well that worked out.
Warnings: Not part of the AtO storyline at all. Mostly an excuse to browse through the Naruto wikia and come up with random plots. Not edited thoroughly.
“It's best to be cautious with Naruto being so vulnerable.” Tsunade said, “We don't want people to know that he's been de-aged.”
“That's be difficult, since he looks so...” He paused when Tsunade grinned. “What?”
“Since you've noticed the obvious problem with keeping his current form a secret. I'm sure you'll agree when I say that we need to disguise him.” Tsunade grabbed the bag that was on her desk and pulled out a few bottles.
“Disguise him?” Harry asked.
Tsunade nodded and moved towards Naruto. “Hide everything that could make people connect him to Naruto by disguising him to look like you.”
“Like me? You think making him look like me will make it safer for him?”
Tsunade gave Harry a look that he assumed said 'obviously, you fool, now shut up and let me work'.
Naruto shuffled away from Tsunade, looking at her distrustfully.
Tsunade turned back to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. “Naruto. We're going to play a game.”
Naruto looked up at him. “A game?”
“We're going to pretend to be undercover ninjas.”
“Ninjas,” Naruto said with wide eyes.
Harry nodded. “But to be an undercover ninja, you need to get a disguise. And Hokage-sama will help us with your disguise.”
“Really?” Naruto turned to Tsunade, who immediately nodded with a gentle smile. He thought for a moment, moved forward towards her cautiously but kept a tight hold of Harry's sleeve.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Harry said simply, even as he watched as the Hokage carefully applied a white paste over Naruto's cheeks. In seconds the white paste turned into Naruto's skin colour and covered the black lines there perfectly. He watched silently as she changed Naruto's blonde hair into a pitch black.
Naruto blinked up at him with his trusting blue eyes. “Nii-san? Am I like a ninja now?”
Harry ruffled the soft black hair gently. “Yeah. With your new disguise, you're...” He paused, acutely feeling like he'd just given up and lost the fifteen year old Naruto that he knew. “You're a completely different person.”
Naruto giggled in pleasure and pretended to fight an invisible opponent.
Harry looked up to push aside his turbulent emotions, but his eyes met Tsunade's understanding gaze. “If that's all Hokage-sama,” Harry said. “I'd like to get some grocery shopping done.”
Three hours after leaving the Hokage's office, Harry hadn't bought any groceries. Instead he just walked around with Naruto, who had gotten tired of walking and had to be carried, buying pastries and other snacks from various vendors they passed.
“Your Highness!” A voice yelled out desperately.
Bored out of his mind and curious about what royalty looked like, Harry looked around. Not finding anyone dressed in extravagant clothes and jewellery, Harry turned back to the stand and tightened his hold of a fidgeting Naruto.
Harry tensed and stepped back as a burst of wind brushed across his face and something landed at his feet. He looked down and took another step back as a tall but old man knelt on one knee and stared directly at him.
“Your Highness!” The man sobbed, his multi-layered green clothes shimmering in the sunlight. “Finally, I've found you two after all these years. It's good to see you two safe and alive.”
Harry blinked at the man, looked around warily and shuffled backwards again as silently as he could. Apparently picking up on Harry's tenseness, Naruto stopped fidgeting and leaned in closer, hiding his face in the crook of Harry's neck.
“Your Highness?”
Trying to remember where everyone would be at this time of the day, Harry stared at the man's deceptively sane-looking eyes for a moment before he remembered Cat-san was supposed to be watching him. Thankfully, Cat-san had been attentive and appeared in front of Harry and Naruto shielding them from the man.
Cat-san spoke to the man in short and clipped sentences.
After a few minutes, the man exclaimed. “Very well! Then, I will talk to the Hokage myself.”
When Cat-san shunshin-ed him to an empty room in the administrative building, Harry asked, “Why didn't you tell him that he was mistaken?”
Cat-san stayed silent for a moment. “It's best to let Hokage-sama deal with such matters.”
“But...”
“When I intervened, I made quite a scene.” Cat-san said, “I didn't want to create a bigger scene in such a public space by starting an argument with the man.”
“Well, even if you did make a big scene, thanks for helping, Cat-san,” Harry said.
Naruto, who had been quiet and content to keep still in Harry's protective hold, turned and stared at the masked-man curiously.
Harry knelt down, allowing Naruto to stand on the ground. “Aren't you going to thank the man who protected us, Naruto?”
Naruto hesitated slightly. “Thank you... Cat-san.”
“You're welcome.” Cat-san sighed. “And it's Raccoon.”
Fully expecting the matter to be settled soon, Harry couldn't help but feel disheartened as he entered the Hokage's office and found Kakashi, Sakura and Sai there. “Naruto, why don't you go play with Sai while I talk to Hokage-sama?”
“Sai?” Naruto frowned.
Remembering Naruto's unusual amnesia, Harry walked over to Sai and pushed Naruto forward. “Sai is our friend, so you can play with him.”
“Friend?” Naruto questioned again.
Sai stayed silent, looking slightly uneasy as having to deal with a younger Naruto.
Thankfully Sakura leaned closer to Sai and whispered something in his ear.
Sai nodded, knelt down in front of Naruto and unrolled a scroll. With a quick flick of his hand, he pulled out a brush and drew some animals. “Can... do you think you can catch my ink creatures?”
Naruto gasped as the ink animals jumped out of the page with another flick of Sai's hand. And then without any prompting he chased after the ink animals.
Harry gladly went back and stood in front of the Hokage. “What happened?”
“The man claimed that you were a prince...”
“Of course, I'm not a prince!” Harry said in annoyance. “From which angle do I look like royalty?”
Everyone in the room blinked and shuffled uneasily, but didn't say anything.
“I don't get why you're listening to this man,” Harry said in irritation, ignoring their silence.
Tsunade sighed. “Because he has very authentic papers that show that he is a Minister from the Land of Light.”
“Land of Light?” Harry repeated as he watched Naruto chase Sai's ink creations around the office with loud laughter.
“A very small Country in the South that's filled with bioluminescent plants. At night, everything glows. The grass beneath your feet, the trees, even the algae in their ponds.”
“They named their country after glowing plants?”
“Glowing plants that can't grow anywhere else. All attempts to make them grow outside of the Land of Light has been a complete failure,” Tsunade said.
“I'm guessing the plants do more than just glow at night?”
Tsunade nodded curtly. “There are certain drugs that can only be made from the plants that grow in the Land of Light.”
Harry slumped, knowing that he wasn't going to like the rest of what she had to say.
“About three years ago, when the prince and his younger brother went missing, the Land of Light closed it's borders to all outsiders. Since the king had died soon after the youngest prince was born, the eldest pince was set to be king when he turned eighteen. We lost a crucial source of medicinal ingredients.”
Harry didn't need to hear any more. “And now with this man thinking I'm the prince... It's your chance to get inside and restart the trade.”
Tsunade nodded. “We might even find out what happened to the real princes.”
“I can't just...” Harry glanced at Naruto.
“You obviously won't be going alone. Team Seven will be joining you two.” Tsunade also glanced at Naruto. “And getting him out of the village for a while can work in our favour. No chance for the nosy people to find out his current form.”
Even though he was wary about the whole thing, Harry said, “If it can keep Naruto safe, then I don't mind leaving Konoha.”
“Good. At least you won't have much trouble with the physical aspects of looking like a prince,” Tsunade said as she stared at his clothes. “The minister already confirmed your identical facial features. And your clothing habits work in our favour.”
Harry glanced down at his clothes. “What do you mean?”
“I haven't seen clothes that are as clean or well maintained as yours.”
Harry shrugged since he used magic to keep his clothes in good condition.
“But maybe we'll need to get traditional clothes that looks a little bit more expensive,” Tsunade said thoughtfully. “Something for both of you to wear.”
Cat-san tilted his masked face for an instant.
Tsunade grinned and nodded.
The masked-man bowed and disappeared from the room.
“Well that's another detail solved,” Tsunade said. She stared at Harry. “Now we just need to give you a crash course on Land of Light's history. Shizune, Kakashi, I'll leave that and his princely etiquette lessons to you two. You need to finish most of the things before you leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Harry yelped but then smiled reassuringly at Naruto who had stopped playing with Sai's ink creatures.
“You're lucky I convinced him that you couldn't have a celebratory reunion dinner with him tonight,” Tsunade said. “But he was insistent that you leave as soon as possible.”
“But...”
“We can't risk delaying your travel to your homeland,” she said. “It'll just create political problems that are best avoided.”
“I can't just leave. My owl just left for one of her long hunts the day before yesterday...” Harry paused, wincing at having to use Hedwig as a reason not to go through with their plan.
“Your owl seems able to find you anywhere.”
“She can.”
“Then there shouldn't be a problem. She'll come to you eventually,” Tsunade said in a no nonsense tone.
“She hasn't even seen Naruto like this...” Harry said, absently wondering how Hedwig would react to Naruto's new form. He also wondered if Naruto actually remembered her.
“I'm sure you'll handle things,” Tsunade said and pointed to a door at the side of the office. “That room is secure and big enough to have Naruto in there with you.”
“You promise that Naruto will be safe if we actually...”
It was Kakashi who answered. “We're his team, Harii. We'll definitely keep him safe.”
Sakura nodded.
“Fine,” Harry said.
Yay, forrandom browsing doing research on there.
Polar
I decided to change the disconnected scenes into an actual story with plot. I'm actually surprised how well that worked out.
Warnings: Not part of the AtO storyline at all. Mostly an excuse to browse through the Naruto wikia and come up with random plots. Not edited thoroughly.
========================================================================
Harry grimaced as he landed in the Hokage's office. “Is there a reason that I'm being shunshin-ed to and from my apartment?”“It's best to be cautious with Naruto being so vulnerable.” Tsunade said, “We don't want people to know that he's been de-aged.”
“That's be difficult, since he looks so...” He paused when Tsunade grinned. “What?”
“Since you've noticed the obvious problem with keeping his current form a secret. I'm sure you'll agree when I say that we need to disguise him.” Tsunade grabbed the bag that was on her desk and pulled out a few bottles.
“Disguise him?” Harry asked.
Tsunade nodded and moved towards Naruto. “Hide everything that could make people connect him to Naruto by disguising him to look like you.”
“Like me? You think making him look like me will make it safer for him?”
Tsunade gave Harry a look that he assumed said 'obviously, you fool, now shut up and let me work'.
Naruto shuffled away from Tsunade, looking at her distrustfully.
Tsunade turned back to Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. “Naruto. We're going to play a game.”
Naruto looked up at him. “A game?”
“We're going to pretend to be undercover ninjas.”
“Ninjas,” Naruto said with wide eyes.
Harry nodded. “But to be an undercover ninja, you need to get a disguise. And Hokage-sama will help us with your disguise.”
“Really?” Naruto turned to Tsunade, who immediately nodded with a gentle smile. He thought for a moment, moved forward towards her cautiously but kept a tight hold of Harry's sleeve.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Harry said simply, even as he watched as the Hokage carefully applied a white paste over Naruto's cheeks. In seconds the white paste turned into Naruto's skin colour and covered the black lines there perfectly. He watched silently as she changed Naruto's blonde hair into a pitch black.
Naruto blinked up at him with his trusting blue eyes. “Nii-san? Am I like a ninja now?”
Harry ruffled the soft black hair gently. “Yeah. With your new disguise, you're...” He paused, acutely feeling like he'd just given up and lost the fifteen year old Naruto that he knew. “You're a completely different person.”
Naruto giggled in pleasure and pretended to fight an invisible opponent.
Harry looked up to push aside his turbulent emotions, but his eyes met Tsunade's understanding gaze. “If that's all Hokage-sama,” Harry said. “I'd like to get some grocery shopping done.”
Three hours after leaving the Hokage's office, Harry hadn't bought any groceries. Instead he just walked around with Naruto, who had gotten tired of walking and had to be carried, buying pastries and other snacks from various vendors they passed.
“Your Highness!” A voice yelled out desperately.
Bored out of his mind and curious about what royalty looked like, Harry looked around. Not finding anyone dressed in extravagant clothes and jewellery, Harry turned back to the stand and tightened his hold of a fidgeting Naruto.
Harry tensed and stepped back as a burst of wind brushed across his face and something landed at his feet. He looked down and took another step back as a tall but old man knelt on one knee and stared directly at him.
“Your Highness!” The man sobbed, his multi-layered green clothes shimmering in the sunlight. “Finally, I've found you two after all these years. It's good to see you two safe and alive.”
Harry blinked at the man, looked around warily and shuffled backwards again as silently as he could. Apparently picking up on Harry's tenseness, Naruto stopped fidgeting and leaned in closer, hiding his face in the crook of Harry's neck.
“Your Highness?”
Trying to remember where everyone would be at this time of the day, Harry stared at the man's deceptively sane-looking eyes for a moment before he remembered Cat-san was supposed to be watching him. Thankfully, Cat-san had been attentive and appeared in front of Harry and Naruto shielding them from the man.
Cat-san spoke to the man in short and clipped sentences.
After a few minutes, the man exclaimed. “Very well! Then, I will talk to the Hokage myself.”
When Cat-san shunshin-ed him to an empty room in the administrative building, Harry asked, “Why didn't you tell him that he was mistaken?”
Cat-san stayed silent for a moment. “It's best to let Hokage-sama deal with such matters.”
“But...”
“When I intervened, I made quite a scene.” Cat-san said, “I didn't want to create a bigger scene in such a public space by starting an argument with the man.”
“Well, even if you did make a big scene, thanks for helping, Cat-san,” Harry said.
Naruto, who had been quiet and content to keep still in Harry's protective hold, turned and stared at the masked-man curiously.
Harry knelt down, allowing Naruto to stand on the ground. “Aren't you going to thank the man who protected us, Naruto?”
Naruto hesitated slightly. “Thank you... Cat-san.”
“You're welcome.” Cat-san sighed. “And it's Raccoon.”
Fully expecting the matter to be settled soon, Harry couldn't help but feel disheartened as he entered the Hokage's office and found Kakashi, Sakura and Sai there. “Naruto, why don't you go play with Sai while I talk to Hokage-sama?”
“Sai?” Naruto frowned.
Remembering Naruto's unusual amnesia, Harry walked over to Sai and pushed Naruto forward. “Sai is our friend, so you can play with him.”
“Friend?” Naruto questioned again.
Sai stayed silent, looking slightly uneasy as having to deal with a younger Naruto.
Thankfully Sakura leaned closer to Sai and whispered something in his ear.
Sai nodded, knelt down in front of Naruto and unrolled a scroll. With a quick flick of his hand, he pulled out a brush and drew some animals. “Can... do you think you can catch my ink creatures?”
Naruto gasped as the ink animals jumped out of the page with another flick of Sai's hand. And then without any prompting he chased after the ink animals.
Harry gladly went back and stood in front of the Hokage. “What happened?”
“The man claimed that you were a prince...”
“Of course, I'm not a prince!” Harry said in annoyance. “From which angle do I look like royalty?”
Everyone in the room blinked and shuffled uneasily, but didn't say anything.
“I don't get why you're listening to this man,” Harry said in irritation, ignoring their silence.
Tsunade sighed. “Because he has very authentic papers that show that he is a Minister from the Land of Light.”
“Land of Light?” Harry repeated as he watched Naruto chase Sai's ink creations around the office with loud laughter.
“A very small Country in the South that's filled with bioluminescent plants. At night, everything glows. The grass beneath your feet, the trees, even the algae in their ponds.”
“They named their country after glowing plants?”
“Glowing plants that can't grow anywhere else. All attempts to make them grow outside of the Land of Light has been a complete failure,” Tsunade said.
“I'm guessing the plants do more than just glow at night?”
Tsunade nodded curtly. “There are certain drugs that can only be made from the plants that grow in the Land of Light.”
Harry slumped, knowing that he wasn't going to like the rest of what she had to say.
“About three years ago, when the prince and his younger brother went missing, the Land of Light closed it's borders to all outsiders. Since the king had died soon after the youngest prince was born, the eldest pince was set to be king when he turned eighteen. We lost a crucial source of medicinal ingredients.”
Harry didn't need to hear any more. “And now with this man thinking I'm the prince... It's your chance to get inside and restart the trade.”
Tsunade nodded. “We might even find out what happened to the real princes.”
“I can't just...” Harry glanced at Naruto.
“You obviously won't be going alone. Team Seven will be joining you two.” Tsunade also glanced at Naruto. “And getting him out of the village for a while can work in our favour. No chance for the nosy people to find out his current form.”
Even though he was wary about the whole thing, Harry said, “If it can keep Naruto safe, then I don't mind leaving Konoha.”
“Good. At least you won't have much trouble with the physical aspects of looking like a prince,” Tsunade said as she stared at his clothes. “The minister already confirmed your identical facial features. And your clothing habits work in our favour.”
Harry glanced down at his clothes. “What do you mean?”
“I haven't seen clothes that are as clean or well maintained as yours.”
Harry shrugged since he used magic to keep his clothes in good condition.
“But maybe we'll need to get traditional clothes that looks a little bit more expensive,” Tsunade said thoughtfully. “Something for both of you to wear.”
Cat-san tilted his masked face for an instant.
Tsunade grinned and nodded.
The masked-man bowed and disappeared from the room.
“Well that's another detail solved,” Tsunade said. She stared at Harry. “Now we just need to give you a crash course on Land of Light's history. Shizune, Kakashi, I'll leave that and his princely etiquette lessons to you two. You need to finish most of the things before you leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Harry yelped but then smiled reassuringly at Naruto who had stopped playing with Sai's ink creatures.
“You're lucky I convinced him that you couldn't have a celebratory reunion dinner with him tonight,” Tsunade said. “But he was insistent that you leave as soon as possible.”
“But...”
“We can't risk delaying your travel to your homeland,” she said. “It'll just create political problems that are best avoided.”
“I can't just leave. My owl just left for one of her long hunts the day before yesterday...” Harry paused, wincing at having to use Hedwig as a reason not to go through with their plan.
“Your owl seems able to find you anywhere.”
“She can.”
“Then there shouldn't be a problem. She'll come to you eventually,” Tsunade said in a no nonsense tone.
“She hasn't even seen Naruto like this...” Harry said, absently wondering how Hedwig would react to Naruto's new form. He also wondered if Naruto actually remembered her.
“I'm sure you'll handle things,” Tsunade said and pointed to a door at the side of the office. “That room is secure and big enough to have Naruto in there with you.”
“You promise that Naruto will be safe if we actually...”
It was Kakashi who answered. “We're his team, Harii. We'll definitely keep him safe.”
Sakura nodded.
“Fine,” Harry said.
=========================================================================
So, have you seen the design for Sakura's parents when they were introduced in the anime? Only found out about them through the wikia.Yay, for
Polar
10 October 2012
The Perfect Present
Warnings: Not part of AtO timeline at all. Un-edited and very much a drabble format.
"I just want you to be there, Nii-san."
Harry nodded. "He keeps saying that he doesn't want anything. But he must want something."
"I wish I could help you," Sakura said with a thoughtful frown. "But I really don't know what he'd want as a birthday present."
The teenager paused and turned to Harry. "So it's my turn to get questioned about Naruto's present?"
"Oh, you knew I was coming. That's good. So, can you help me?"
Shikamaru muttered irritably under his breath but eventually said, "Ninja supplies."
"Already gave him that before. I want to give him something better. Maybe something he wants not something he needs."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette.
Hedwig hooted.
Harry nodded, glad that at least Hedwig understood his concern about the whole thing. "I mean it's Naruto's birthday. I need to give him something so spectacular that... well, I mean I just need to."
Hedwig stared at him curiously and hooted in an almost questioning manner.
"No, I don't have any idea on what to get him," Harry said and slumped down in despair. "But I really want to get him something special. Maybe something that'll help him as a ninja."
Hedwig nipped on his sleeve, hooted, flapped her wings and looked up at him.
"Er?" Harry blinked at her in confusion. He ducked and rubbed his head when Hedwig flew up and clipped the side of his head with her wing. "What are you... do you have an idea for Naruto's present?"
Hedwig hooted and flapped her wings as she hovered in front of him.
Hedwig hooted and landed on his shoulder tiredly, apparently content that she'd managed to lead him to this location.
"You stay outside," Harry said and pulled out his wand. With a deep breath, he entered.
Hedwig hooted at him in concern.
"We can't stop now. We're late as it is." Harry grimaced as he looked up at the dark sky. "Stupid cursed castle. Making me late for Naruto's birthday!"
"Harii!"
Harry blinked and turned to the source of the voice. "Izumo? What are you doing here?"
"What am I... you idiot! I was searching for you. Do you know how worried everyone is? And Naruto was just depressed the whole day because you weren't here today, on his birthday."
Harry frowned. "But I had to get his gift. And it's not my fault that stupid ghost kept trying to kill me."
Izumo stared at him. His eyes widened as he noticed the large scroll and weapon on Harry's back. "Harii..."
Harry shushed him. "I need to get to Naruto before the day is actually over. Otherwise I can't give him his birthday present."
Izumo rolled his eyes but carefully grabbed a hold of Harry's arm. Harry wasn't sure how far they travelled but within minutes, they were in very familiar surroundings.
"Nii-san?"
"Naruto!" Harry grinned, wrapped Naruto in a brief tight hug and shoved the large weapon and scroll from his back into Naruto's hands. "Happy Birthday!"
Naruto stared at the elaborate staff and the old weathered scroll as Hedwig landed on his shoulder and nuzzled the side of his face. "What..."
"If I remember correctly, the ghost said that was a jutsu scroll or something," Harry said.
"Ghost!" Naruto yelped but thankfully didn't drop any of the items Harry had fought to obtain.
"Jutsu scroll?" A female voice said.
Harry turned to the newcomer. "Hokage-sama?"
"Izumo said you were injured," she said and assessed him with critical eyes.
Naruto gasped as looked back at Harry. "What happened to you?"
"The ghost really didn't want me to take the scroll." Harry shrugged. "But I got most of my injuries when I burnt the castle down."
"You burnt down a castle?" Tsunade asked.
Harry nodded. "I had to."
"Why?" Tsunade asked as she healed a burn on his arm.
"There were un-dead creatures that were trying to kill me because of the angry ghost. And fire seemed to be the only thing that worked against them."
"And how did you start the fire?"
Harry smiled. "Matches."
"Matches?"
"Matches," Harry repeated blandly. "Lots of matches."
Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious irritation.
Naruto gasped loudly interrupting their conversation.
Harry turned to him and grinned. "Well, do you like it?"
Naruto looked up at him. "It's a jutsu scroll. There's so many different jutsu in here."
"Yeah, that's what the ghost said. I figured it was really important if he was willing to kill me because of it."
Naruto stared at him for a long moment. "It's an Uchiha jutsu scroll."
"It's a what?" Tsunade yelled.
Harry grinned. "That's good, right?"
Oh, Harry. You should have just given him cake.
Polar
=============================================================================
"Are you sure you don't want anything for your birthday?" Harry asked yet again."I just want you to be there, Nii-san."
=x=x=x=x=
"Something he really wants?" Sakura repeated.Harry nodded. "He keeps saying that he doesn't want anything. But he must want something."
"I wish I could help you," Sakura said with a thoughtful frown. "But I really don't know what he'd want as a birthday present."
=x=x=x=x=
"Shikamaru!"The teenager paused and turned to Harry. "So it's my turn to get questioned about Naruto's present?"
"Oh, you knew I was coming. That's good. So, can you help me?"
Shikamaru muttered irritably under his breath but eventually said, "Ninja supplies."
"Already gave him that before. I want to give him something better. Maybe something he wants not something he needs."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette.
=x=x=x=x
"No one could help me," Harry said in exasperation. "Can you believe that?"Hedwig hooted.
Harry nodded, glad that at least Hedwig understood his concern about the whole thing. "I mean it's Naruto's birthday. I need to give him something so spectacular that... well, I mean I just need to."
Hedwig stared at him curiously and hooted in an almost questioning manner.
"No, I don't have any idea on what to get him," Harry said and slumped down in despair. "But I really want to get him something special. Maybe something that'll help him as a ninja."
Hedwig nipped on his sleeve, hooted, flapped her wings and looked up at him.
"Er?" Harry blinked at her in confusion. He ducked and rubbed his head when Hedwig flew up and clipped the side of his head with her wing. "What are you... do you have an idea for Naruto's present?"
Hedwig hooted and flapped her wings as she hovered in front of him.
=x=x=x=x=
Harry stared up at the run down looking castle-like structure that he'd travelled five days to find. "This looks rather ominous."Hedwig hooted and landed on his shoulder tiredly, apparently content that she'd managed to lead him to this location.
"You stay outside," Harry said and pulled out his wand. With a deep breath, he entered.
=x=x=x=x=
Harry stumbled forward wearily, grimacing as one of the burns on his leg stung painfully.Hedwig hooted at him in concern.
"We can't stop now. We're late as it is." Harry grimaced as he looked up at the dark sky. "Stupid cursed castle. Making me late for Naruto's birthday!"
"Harii!"
Harry blinked and turned to the source of the voice. "Izumo? What are you doing here?"
"What am I... you idiot! I was searching for you. Do you know how worried everyone is? And Naruto was just depressed the whole day because you weren't here today, on his birthday."
Harry frowned. "But I had to get his gift. And it's not my fault that stupid ghost kept trying to kill me."
Izumo stared at him. His eyes widened as he noticed the large scroll and weapon on Harry's back. "Harii..."
Harry shushed him. "I need to get to Naruto before the day is actually over. Otherwise I can't give him his birthday present."
Izumo rolled his eyes but carefully grabbed a hold of Harry's arm. Harry wasn't sure how far they travelled but within minutes, they were in very familiar surroundings.
"Nii-san?"
"Naruto!" Harry grinned, wrapped Naruto in a brief tight hug and shoved the large weapon and scroll from his back into Naruto's hands. "Happy Birthday!"
Naruto stared at the elaborate staff and the old weathered scroll as Hedwig landed on his shoulder and nuzzled the side of his face. "What..."
"If I remember correctly, the ghost said that was a jutsu scroll or something," Harry said.
"Ghost!" Naruto yelped but thankfully didn't drop any of the items Harry had fought to obtain.
"Jutsu scroll?" A female voice said.
Harry turned to the newcomer. "Hokage-sama?"
"Izumo said you were injured," she said and assessed him with critical eyes.
Naruto gasped as looked back at Harry. "What happened to you?"
"The ghost really didn't want me to take the scroll." Harry shrugged. "But I got most of my injuries when I burnt the castle down."
"You burnt down a castle?" Tsunade asked.
Harry nodded. "I had to."
"Why?" Tsunade asked as she healed a burn on his arm.
"There were un-dead creatures that were trying to kill me because of the angry ghost. And fire seemed to be the only thing that worked against them."
"And how did you start the fire?"
Harry smiled. "Matches."
"Matches?"
"Matches," Harry repeated blandly. "Lots of matches."
Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in obvious irritation.
Naruto gasped loudly interrupting their conversation.
Harry turned to him and grinned. "Well, do you like it?"
Naruto looked up at him. "It's a jutsu scroll. There's so many different jutsu in here."
"Yeah, that's what the ghost said. I figured it was really important if he was willing to kill me because of it."
Naruto stared at him for a long moment. "It's an Uchiha jutsu scroll."
"It's a what?" Tsunade yelled.
Harry grinned. "That's good, right?"
=============================================================================
Oh, Harry. You should have just given him cake.
Polar
27 September 2012
HPxSherlock: Unsettling Revelations
Thought I'd upload this- even though I don't feel it's complete at all. This started out as a fill for prompt no. 68 (Unsettling Revelations) of the original 100 prompt/theme challenge when I was bored.
Warnings: Dialogue-heavy. Only roughly edited.
“Mrs. Hudson?” Harry said as he entered the tiny kitchen.
The woman nodded with a polite smile.
“Born as Miss Sophia Lestrange?”
The woman, Mrs. Hudson gasped and her teacup shattered as it fell to the floor. "Oh!" She flinched as she looked down at the broken cup. "Forgive me. It's just been..."
"Mrs. Hudson?" The blond man who had opened the main door for him before rushed into the kitchen, eyes narrowed and shoulders tense as he looked between Mrs. Hudson and Harry.
"I just had a clumsy moment, John," Mrs. Hudson said and leaned down to grab that broken pieces.
"Why don't you let me clean that up for you?" John said and moved forward even as the black-haired man, who'd been on the staircase, entered the kitchen and sat at the small dining table.
Harry cleared his throat awkwardly. “If you want me to leave...”
“No,” Mrs. Hudson said immediately. “If you know my birth name then you must be here for something important. Now, what did you say your name was?”
“I'm Harry Potter and...”
"Oh my!" Mrs. Hudson raised a hand and covered her mouth
Harry glanced at her and noticed the look in her eyes as she stared at him. It was a familiar mix of awe, gratefulness and oddly enough some guilt and fear.
The black-haired man immediately narrowed his eyes and looked at Harry, his blue eyes scrutinizing every inch with an oddly concentrated look.
Mrs. Hudson placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Sherlock dear, why don't you have a biscuit?"
Sherlock, the black-haired man, frowned at the woman. But John pushed the man to stand and move towards the kitchen counter with a pointed look.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Potter.” Mrs. Hudson pointed to the chair that Sherlock had just vacated. "Never thought I'd hear anyone call me by that name again." Mrs. Hudson sat down opposite him. "And I never thought that I'd have you standing here in my kitchen."
"You know who I am," Harry said a bit unnecessarily.
Mrs. Hudson smiled at him. "I don't know all the details. But I know the jist of things."
Harry nodded in understanding. "I've come here to meet you because of your family. In particular your two younger Lestrange cousins...”
Mrs. Hudson snorted. “Mr. Potter, I was disowned when I turned eleven when I dashed all their hopes by not getting that ever so important letter.” Mrs. Hudson grinned but her eyes looked brittle and tired. “Best thing that ever happened to me.”
Harry smiled at her. “I don't doubt that.”
Mrs. Hudson fiddled with her sleeve for a moment. Then she took a deep breath. "Look at me. Interrupting you with my past instead of letting you explain why you've come here."
“I'm not sure if you knew what your cousins were involved in during...” He paused as John came forward and placed two cups of tea on the table.
“I had my suspicions.” Mrs. Hudson pulled her teacup with slightly shaky hands. “I moved to America for a while.”
“I've spent the past few years looking into the lives of your cousins and their... associates, connecting them to numerous unsolved crimes and cold cases. It was slow work. But the more I searched, the more victims I found. Even though I'm nowhere near done with my investigation, I felt like I enough pull to have the Lestrage property liquidated and distributed amongst the family of those victims.”
“As restitutionary damages or something like that?”
“Something like that.” Harry nodded. “And since the Lestranges were dead, it would have been a simple matter of filing appropriate paperwork and badgering a few officials.”
“There shouldn't be a problem. The Lestranges are dead! And I'm not a Lestrange, Mr. Potter.”
“Not by name. But according the archaic rules, you're the current owner of their property and wealth because you have Lestrange blood.”
“Give it away,” she interrupted him. “I don't want any of their horrid money.”
“If only things were that simple.” Harry glanced down at the untouched tea in his cup. “The Lestranges... people won't be willing to settle things quietly. Not with them. Not after they find out the number of crimes connected to them.”
“How bad is it?” She asked in almost a whisper.
Harry frowned and bit his lip. “People consider the name Lestrange as synonymous with inhumane monsters.”
One of the men by the kitchen counter -John, Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye- made an almost angered sound of protest.
Mrs. Hudson nodded and pushed her own untouched tea away.
“You're not surprised.”
“Mr. Potter, even though it's been years since I saw my… family. I'll never forget their disposition to cruelty and violence.” Mrs. Hudson said, “After all, they were disappointed in me being a failure. And they weren't shy in letting me know it.”
Harry glanced at her in horror as he understood the meaning behind her words.
“Think nothing of it.” She waved her hand through the air in fake nonchalance. “It's all in the past.”
But Harry couldn't ignore that. “Mrs. Hudson, if they tortured you...”
“Tortured?” John yelped out.
Harry turned and found both men staring at Mrs. Hudson with a variety of emotions- confusion, shock, horror, disbelief and some slight rage.
Mrs. Hudson shrugged. “It was years ago. Just before I was disowned.”
“Did you at least get proper treatment?” Harry asked. “Damage at such a young age would have left a lot of damage.”
Before Mrs. Hudson could reply, Sherlock said, “I highly doubt she did. She has a lot of stiffness when she moves. She complains about joint pain and muscle twitches. And I know that she keeps a bottle of pain killers with her at all times. Before now, I always assumed it was just ageing. But from the look on your face, Mr. Potter, I'd say those are possible symptoms from whatever torture techniques her... family used.”
“Yes, there's no doubt,” Harry said, pulled a notebook from inside his jacket and scribbled in it. “I'll have a specialist visit you for a proper check-up.”
“That's not necessary. I don't have the money for...”
“I can pay,” Sherlock said firmly.
John nodded beside him. “I have some money saved up too.”
Harry smiled softly. “That won't be necessary. I'll make sure it won't be necessary for you to pay for treatment you deserve.”
“Mr. Potter, you can't... I don't...”
“You'll find Mrs. Hudson, that I can,” Harry said simply. “This is something that I can actually do without being hindered by red-tape.”
“Then,” she said after a few minutes, “can you tell me when they did?”
Harry glanced at the other two men in the tiny kitchen.
“It's all right. No point in hiding things from them if I'm going to be dragged into the thick of things from what you said earlier.”
Harry took a deep breath, debating if he should tell her the true list of the Lestranges' crimes he'd work out. It was her terrified but determined eyes that made the decision for him. “Rabastan Lestrange. Twenty seven known counts of...”
Random note: Chose the name Sophia based on this.
I sort of love and hate this piece.
Hate that it's so dialogue heavy! And hate the potential for angst about Mrs. Hudson's past. Hate Sherlock's silence too.
But I love the potential for drama and danger in this. Like when the wizards/victim's families find out that there is a living Lestrange- who's a squib, they'd consider her an easy target for revenge. So yeah...
Seriously though, the dialogue is just crazy... and weird to me because Sherlock isn't dominating the conversation here. I suppose if I ever managed to expand this- then he'd definitely do that.
Polar
Warnings: Dialogue-heavy. Only roughly edited.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Mrs. Hudson?” Harry said as he entered the tiny kitchen.
The woman nodded with a polite smile.
“Born as Miss Sophia Lestrange?”
The woman, Mrs. Hudson gasped and her teacup shattered as it fell to the floor. "Oh!" She flinched as she looked down at the broken cup. "Forgive me. It's just been..."
"Mrs. Hudson?" The blond man who had opened the main door for him before rushed into the kitchen, eyes narrowed and shoulders tense as he looked between Mrs. Hudson and Harry.
"I just had a clumsy moment, John," Mrs. Hudson said and leaned down to grab that broken pieces.
"Why don't you let me clean that up for you?" John said and moved forward even as the black-haired man, who'd been on the staircase, entered the kitchen and sat at the small dining table.
Harry cleared his throat awkwardly. “If you want me to leave...”
“No,” Mrs. Hudson said immediately. “If you know my birth name then you must be here for something important. Now, what did you say your name was?”
“I'm Harry Potter and...”
"Oh my!" Mrs. Hudson raised a hand and covered her mouth
Harry glanced at her and noticed the look in her eyes as she stared at him. It was a familiar mix of awe, gratefulness and oddly enough some guilt and fear.
The black-haired man immediately narrowed his eyes and looked at Harry, his blue eyes scrutinizing every inch with an oddly concentrated look.
Mrs. Hudson placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Sherlock dear, why don't you have a biscuit?"
Sherlock, the black-haired man, frowned at the woman. But John pushed the man to stand and move towards the kitchen counter with a pointed look.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Potter.” Mrs. Hudson pointed to the chair that Sherlock had just vacated. "Never thought I'd hear anyone call me by that name again." Mrs. Hudson sat down opposite him. "And I never thought that I'd have you standing here in my kitchen."
"You know who I am," Harry said a bit unnecessarily.
Mrs. Hudson smiled at him. "I don't know all the details. But I know the jist of things."
Harry nodded in understanding. "I've come here to meet you because of your family. In particular your two younger Lestrange cousins...”
Mrs. Hudson snorted. “Mr. Potter, I was disowned when I turned eleven when I dashed all their hopes by not getting that ever so important letter.” Mrs. Hudson grinned but her eyes looked brittle and tired. “Best thing that ever happened to me.”
Harry smiled at her. “I don't doubt that.”
Mrs. Hudson fiddled with her sleeve for a moment. Then she took a deep breath. "Look at me. Interrupting you with my past instead of letting you explain why you've come here."
“I'm not sure if you knew what your cousins were involved in during...” He paused as John came forward and placed two cups of tea on the table.
“I had my suspicions.” Mrs. Hudson pulled her teacup with slightly shaky hands. “I moved to America for a while.”
“I've spent the past few years looking into the lives of your cousins and their... associates, connecting them to numerous unsolved crimes and cold cases. It was slow work. But the more I searched, the more victims I found. Even though I'm nowhere near done with my investigation, I felt like I enough pull to have the Lestrage property liquidated and distributed amongst the family of those victims.”
“As restitutionary damages or something like that?”
“Something like that.” Harry nodded. “And since the Lestranges were dead, it would have been a simple matter of filing appropriate paperwork and badgering a few officials.”
“There shouldn't be a problem. The Lestranges are dead! And I'm not a Lestrange, Mr. Potter.”
“Not by name. But according the archaic rules, you're the current owner of their property and wealth because you have Lestrange blood.”
“Give it away,” she interrupted him. “I don't want any of their horrid money.”
“If only things were that simple.” Harry glanced down at the untouched tea in his cup. “The Lestranges... people won't be willing to settle things quietly. Not with them. Not after they find out the number of crimes connected to them.”
“How bad is it?” She asked in almost a whisper.
Harry frowned and bit his lip. “People consider the name Lestrange as synonymous with inhumane monsters.”
One of the men by the kitchen counter -John, Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye- made an almost angered sound of protest.
Mrs. Hudson nodded and pushed her own untouched tea away.
“You're not surprised.”
“Mr. Potter, even though it's been years since I saw my… family. I'll never forget their disposition to cruelty and violence.” Mrs. Hudson said, “After all, they were disappointed in me being a failure. And they weren't shy in letting me know it.”
Harry glanced at her in horror as he understood the meaning behind her words.
“Think nothing of it.” She waved her hand through the air in fake nonchalance. “It's all in the past.”
But Harry couldn't ignore that. “Mrs. Hudson, if they tortured you...”
“Tortured?” John yelped out.
Harry turned and found both men staring at Mrs. Hudson with a variety of emotions- confusion, shock, horror, disbelief and some slight rage.
Mrs. Hudson shrugged. “It was years ago. Just before I was disowned.”
“Did you at least get proper treatment?” Harry asked. “Damage at such a young age would have left a lot of damage.”
Before Mrs. Hudson could reply, Sherlock said, “I highly doubt she did. She has a lot of stiffness when she moves. She complains about joint pain and muscle twitches. And I know that she keeps a bottle of pain killers with her at all times. Before now, I always assumed it was just ageing. But from the look on your face, Mr. Potter, I'd say those are possible symptoms from whatever torture techniques her... family used.”
“Yes, there's no doubt,” Harry said, pulled a notebook from inside his jacket and scribbled in it. “I'll have a specialist visit you for a proper check-up.”
“That's not necessary. I don't have the money for...”
“I can pay,” Sherlock said firmly.
John nodded beside him. “I have some money saved up too.”
Harry smiled softly. “That won't be necessary. I'll make sure it won't be necessary for you to pay for treatment you deserve.”
“Mr. Potter, you can't... I don't...”
“You'll find Mrs. Hudson, that I can,” Harry said simply. “This is something that I can actually do without being hindered by red-tape.”
“Then,” she said after a few minutes, “can you tell me when they did?”
Harry glanced at the other two men in the tiny kitchen.
“It's all right. No point in hiding things from them if I'm going to be dragged into the thick of things from what you said earlier.”
Harry took a deep breath, debating if he should tell her the true list of the Lestranges' crimes he'd work out. It was her terrified but determined eyes that made the decision for him. “Rabastan Lestrange. Twenty seven known counts of...”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random note: Chose the name Sophia based on this.
I sort of love and hate this piece.
Hate that it's so dialogue heavy! And hate the potential for angst about Mrs. Hudson's past. Hate Sherlock's silence too.
But I love the potential for drama and danger in this. Like when the wizards/victim's families find out that there is a living Lestrange- who's a squib, they'd consider her an easy target for revenge. So yeah...
Seriously though, the dialogue is just crazy... and weird to me because Sherlock isn't dominating the conversation here. I suppose if I ever managed to expand this- then he'd definitely do that.
Polar
24 September 2012
AtO What If: A Change in Age.
Warnings: Not at all part of AtO-storyline. More like a what-if divergence. Probably has way too much potential fluffiness/sappiness. No proper transitions between scenes.
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"...there were some complications and you're the only thing he seems to remember clearly," Tsunade said.
She opened her mouth to say something else. Probably give him more details. But considering he had already missed most of what she had said before, Harry decided to save everyone's time. Harry walked past her, ignoring her calls and pushed the heavy door open only to flinch when a loud childish wail reached his ears. He'd barely taken a step inside the room when something hurtled towards him and slammed into him with a loud and terrified sob. "Nii-san."
It took a moment for Harry to catch his breath and look down. He was vaguely away of broken whispers of 'nii-san' and 'where were you' from the tiny body clinging to his leg. Harry pushed the little body away from him, knelt down carefully and looked at the teary eyes with wonder and horror. "Naruto?"
A tiny child, a perfect replica of Naruto with spiky blonde hair and the unmistakable whisker marks on his cheeks, sobbed as he clung to Harry's hands.
Even though he wanted to question what was going on, Harry pushed his thoughts away and gently rubbed the edge of his long sleeve across Naruto's tear-streaked face.
Little Naruto, clad in a white hospital gown, stood still and his sobs quietened down slightly but he kept his blue eyes fixed on Harry.
Harry smiled when Naruto's red face was relatively dry. "There. Much better, don't you think?"
Instead of replying, Naruto burrowed his face into Harry's chest with a tight and desperate hug.
Harry automatically wrapped his own arms around the tiny trembling body, feeling more than a little lost. His mind kept trying to figure out the hows and the whys behind the situation. He didn't know how long he was lost in his thoughts, but he tightened his hold in brief panic when Naruto's body slumped forward. He sighed in relief when Naruto made a sleepy protest and grimaced at the cold numbness of his legs.
Just as wondered how he'd stand up from his kneeling position hands grabbed onto his arm and a familiar voice said, "Need some help?"
"Thanks, Kakashi-san." Harry flinched as he forced himself up. He stumbled slightly and probably would have fallen if Kakashi's grip hadn't steadied him. "Son of a ..." Harry cut himself off from cursing out loud as the renewed blood flow through his legs left him with the horrid prickling sensation of pins and needles on his skin. He took a second to adjust and secure his cautious hold of Naruto.
Naruto sleepily shifted in his hold and grabbed a fistful of Harry's shirt.
"I'm glad he calmed down," Kakashi said as he stared down at Naruto.
"Glad he..." Harry twitched, glanced down at Naruto and lowered his voice. "How did this even happen?"
Kakashi chuckled uneasily and turned to Tsunade.
"Are you going to tell me how this happened?" Harry said, wondering how he hadn't noticed the two of them in the room before.
Tsunade looked down at Naruto and sighed. "All we know is he stumbled across some sort of seal and then changed... after being knocked unconscious. They brought him in and I had just started examining him. But he woke up and panicked when he didn't recognize any of us."
"But he recognized me," Harry said. "Will he change back on his own?"
"I can't say."
"So can you fix this?"
"Not right now," Tsunade said reluctantly.
"Is there anything you can tell me?" Harry said tiredly.
"Until we can figure out how to fix this, you'll have to take care of him."
I already knew that, Harry wanted to quip. But he just nodded. "Can I take him home now?"
"It's probably for the best," Tsunade said. "I'll assign guards for you two."
Kakashi came forward. "Why don't I..."
Harry flinched away from the outstretched hands and tightened his hold on Naruto. "I can carry him." An utter lie considering his arm felt slightly numb at the moment.
But Kakashi just nodded and pushed the door open for Harry.
When they walked out of the hospital, Naruto huddled closer to Harry as a slight night breeze greeted them.
Kakashi hmm-ed thoughtfully. "I could shunshin you two to the apartment. No need to spend extra time out in the chilly air."
Harry wondered what a 'shunshin' was but nodded in agreement when another cool breeze made Naruto shiver.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry woke up to the sound of muffled giggling and something moving around next to him. He opened an eye and even without his glasses, he could tell that a wide awake Naruto was staring up at him.
Harry moved his arm till it was on Naruto's head and then gently pushed it down. "Go back to sleep."
Naruto giggled, ducked away from Harry's hand and climbed up onto Harry's chest. "But nii-san, it's morning already..."
"Don't care. Go back to sleep," Harry said sleepily.
Naruto settled down.
Until someone knocked on the main door loudly.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"All right, time to go," Harry said and stood up.
Naruto blinked up at him and then glanced towards the kitchen.
"What is it? Do you want something else to eat?"
Naruto shook his head. "Have to say bye."
"Say bye?" Harry repeated in confusion.
Naruto nodded and walked back to the kitchen.
Harry followed Naruto till they both stood in front of the family photographs on the kitchen wall.
Naruto tugged on Harry's sleeve and lifted his arms.
It took a moment for Harry to realize what Naruto wanted. Thankfully Naruto seemed patient as Harry fumbled to get a good hold of Naruto and lift him up. Just when Harry thought he had a secure hold, Naruto leaned forward till his face was right in front of the photographs and started whispering.
A minute turned into more than ten minutes.
But Harry just shifted his hold, wondering what Naruto was whispering to photographs.
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There's more to this- all disconnected scenes like the ones above- but in order to keep this post short, I'll put the remaining bits in another blog post later.
Polar
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"...there were some complications and you're the only thing he seems to remember clearly," Tsunade said.
She opened her mouth to say something else. Probably give him more details. But considering he had already missed most of what she had said before, Harry decided to save everyone's time. Harry walked past her, ignoring her calls and pushed the heavy door open only to flinch when a loud childish wail reached his ears. He'd barely taken a step inside the room when something hurtled towards him and slammed into him with a loud and terrified sob. "Nii-san."
It took a moment for Harry to catch his breath and look down. He was vaguely away of broken whispers of 'nii-san' and 'where were you' from the tiny body clinging to his leg. Harry pushed the little body away from him, knelt down carefully and looked at the teary eyes with wonder and horror. "Naruto?"
A tiny child, a perfect replica of Naruto with spiky blonde hair and the unmistakable whisker marks on his cheeks, sobbed as he clung to Harry's hands.
Even though he wanted to question what was going on, Harry pushed his thoughts away and gently rubbed the edge of his long sleeve across Naruto's tear-streaked face.
Little Naruto, clad in a white hospital gown, stood still and his sobs quietened down slightly but he kept his blue eyes fixed on Harry.
Harry smiled when Naruto's red face was relatively dry. "There. Much better, don't you think?"
Instead of replying, Naruto burrowed his face into Harry's chest with a tight and desperate hug.
Harry automatically wrapped his own arms around the tiny trembling body, feeling more than a little lost. His mind kept trying to figure out the hows and the whys behind the situation. He didn't know how long he was lost in his thoughts, but he tightened his hold in brief panic when Naruto's body slumped forward. He sighed in relief when Naruto made a sleepy protest and grimaced at the cold numbness of his legs.
Just as wondered how he'd stand up from his kneeling position hands grabbed onto his arm and a familiar voice said, "Need some help?"
"Thanks, Kakashi-san." Harry flinched as he forced himself up. He stumbled slightly and probably would have fallen if Kakashi's grip hadn't steadied him. "Son of a ..." Harry cut himself off from cursing out loud as the renewed blood flow through his legs left him with the horrid prickling sensation of pins and needles on his skin. He took a second to adjust and secure his cautious hold of Naruto.
Naruto sleepily shifted in his hold and grabbed a fistful of Harry's shirt.
"I'm glad he calmed down," Kakashi said as he stared down at Naruto.
"Glad he..." Harry twitched, glanced down at Naruto and lowered his voice. "How did this even happen?"
Kakashi chuckled uneasily and turned to Tsunade.
"Are you going to tell me how this happened?" Harry said, wondering how he hadn't noticed the two of them in the room before.
Tsunade looked down at Naruto and sighed. "All we know is he stumbled across some sort of seal and then changed... after being knocked unconscious. They brought him in and I had just started examining him. But he woke up and panicked when he didn't recognize any of us."
"But he recognized me," Harry said. "Will he change back on his own?"
"I can't say."
"So can you fix this?"
"Not right now," Tsunade said reluctantly.
"Is there anything you can tell me?" Harry said tiredly.
"Until we can figure out how to fix this, you'll have to take care of him."
I already knew that, Harry wanted to quip. But he just nodded. "Can I take him home now?"
"It's probably for the best," Tsunade said. "I'll assign guards for you two."
Kakashi came forward. "Why don't I..."
Harry flinched away from the outstretched hands and tightened his hold on Naruto. "I can carry him." An utter lie considering his arm felt slightly numb at the moment.
But Kakashi just nodded and pushed the door open for Harry.
When they walked out of the hospital, Naruto huddled closer to Harry as a slight night breeze greeted them.
Kakashi hmm-ed thoughtfully. "I could shunshin you two to the apartment. No need to spend extra time out in the chilly air."
Harry wondered what a 'shunshin' was but nodded in agreement when another cool breeze made Naruto shiver.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry woke up to the sound of muffled giggling and something moving around next to him. He opened an eye and even without his glasses, he could tell that a wide awake Naruto was staring up at him.
Harry moved his arm till it was on Naruto's head and then gently pushed it down. "Go back to sleep."
Naruto giggled, ducked away from Harry's hand and climbed up onto Harry's chest. "But nii-san, it's morning already..."
"Don't care. Go back to sleep," Harry said sleepily.
Naruto settled down.
Until someone knocked on the main door loudly.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"All right, time to go," Harry said and stood up.
Naruto blinked up at him and then glanced towards the kitchen.
"What is it? Do you want something else to eat?"
Naruto shook his head. "Have to say bye."
"Say bye?" Harry repeated in confusion.
Naruto nodded and walked back to the kitchen.
Harry followed Naruto till they both stood in front of the family photographs on the kitchen wall.
Naruto tugged on Harry's sleeve and lifted his arms.
It took a moment for Harry to realize what Naruto wanted. Thankfully Naruto seemed patient as Harry fumbled to get a good hold of Naruto and lift him up. Just when Harry thought he had a secure hold, Naruto leaned forward till his face was right in front of the photographs and started whispering.
A minute turned into more than ten minutes.
But Harry just shifted his hold, wondering what Naruto was whispering to photographs.
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There's more to this- all disconnected scenes like the ones above- but in order to keep this post short, I'll put the remaining bits in another blog post later.
Polar
17 September 2012
Uploading dislike
A very annoying thing I've noticed about myself recently. I have a serious dislike of uploading my fanfiction story chapters. Or more specifically, my DtE story chapters.
I mean there are only three chapters left in that story, and they're all complete (re-written and edited). But I don't want to upload any of them.
And I can't understand why. They're just there on my laptop- along with other things that can be uploaded.
Just to prevent any anger- no, AtO's chapter 14 is not finished/waiting to be uploaded. But I've been adding to it constantly.
So yeah, an allergy to uploading fanfic chapters.
Thankfully, I haven't had any trouble with my writing. I've been trying out OmmWriter and compared to WriteMonkey (the program I used before), I think I prefer OmmWriter a whole lot more. It does a better job of putting me in a writing mood and cutting off any distractions.
Speaking of distractions, all the manga I'm following at the moment are so cliffhanger-y and omg-what's-going-to-happen-next. But the Naruto chapters are just adding to my head-canon of my Uchiha's Gods AU- which is becoming crazier with every drabble scene I imagine/write for it. For some reason (but most probably cos of DtE), I added tigers to that AU. And while Madara gets crazier, obviously Itachi steals the spotlight like so...
Itachi wanted to argue with his ancestor. But he held his tongue and peeled the orange in his hand with a sigh. He popped a slice in his mouth and chewed slowly. As always, the one of a kind taste was unique and foreign but enjoyable.
Tsukuyomi seemed ridiculously thrilled and somehow got another orange in his hand, looking ready to stuff it in Itachi's hand.
Itachi snorted and opened his hand to take the newly appeared orange as well.
All three beings smiled at him, seeming oddly happy by his gluttony, and moved closer to him.
He suffered through the usual concerned and healing prods from Amaterasu, politely took yet another orange from Tsukuyomi and huffed at Susanoo's gentle pats on the top of his head.
An orange, Itachi? You've managed to turn the HP godly-ish trio from this AU into goo by eating an orange? I always know you were the most dangerous Uchiha.
Well, that's all for now,
Polar.
I mean there are only three chapters left in that story, and they're all complete (re-written and edited). But I don't want to upload any of them.
And I can't understand why. They're just there on my laptop- along with other things that can be uploaded.
Just to prevent any anger- no, AtO's chapter 14 is not finished/waiting to be uploaded. But I've been adding to it constantly.
So yeah, an allergy to uploading fanfic chapters.
Thankfully, I haven't had any trouble with my writing. I've been trying out OmmWriter and compared to WriteMonkey (the program I used before), I think I prefer OmmWriter a whole lot more. It does a better job of putting me in a writing mood and cutting off any distractions.
Speaking of distractions, all the manga I'm following at the moment are so cliffhanger-y and omg-what's-going-to-happen-next. But the Naruto chapters are just adding to my head-canon of my Uchiha's Gods AU- which is becoming crazier with every drabble scene I imagine/write for it. For some reason (but most probably cos of DtE), I added tigers to that AU. And while Madara gets crazier, obviously Itachi steals the spotlight like so...
Itachi wanted to argue with his ancestor. But he held his tongue and peeled the orange in his hand with a sigh. He popped a slice in his mouth and chewed slowly. As always, the one of a kind taste was unique and foreign but enjoyable.
Tsukuyomi seemed ridiculously thrilled and somehow got another orange in his hand, looking ready to stuff it in Itachi's hand.
Itachi snorted and opened his hand to take the newly appeared orange as well.
All three beings smiled at him, seeming oddly happy by his gluttony, and moved closer to him.
He suffered through the usual concerned and healing prods from Amaterasu, politely took yet another orange from Tsukuyomi and huffed at Susanoo's gentle pats on the top of his head.
An orange, Itachi? You've managed to turn the HP godly-ish trio from this AU into goo by eating an orange? I always know you were the most dangerous Uchiha.
Well, that's all for now,
Polar.
31 August 2012
Movies are fun...
... until you start thinking of crazy fanfiction plot ideas in the middle of the movie.
For instance, I was watching 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. Nice movie, good special fx at least. But there's this one scene where they show a large white deer thing and, I kid you not, my mind is going "Oh! Patronus-Prongs. That reminds me about that patronus scene I put in AtO. I should definitely make..."
Needless to say, when I actually went back the paying attention to the movie, the deer was nowhere in sight and people were fighting... and I was like, noooo I have to remember my plot ideas. I honestly couldn't care less about the movie at that point-I actually giggled at some of the 'serious' parts of the movie and for some reason I imagined writing a story for the BBC Merlin fandom that included crows and a creepy mirror.
Even so, it was a nice movie. A predictable and interesting-looking distraction.
Thankfully, I sort of remember the plot ideas I thought of during the movie.
Something sort of similar happened when I watched 'Brave'. Except during that movie, I was sort of like "Oh, I read about these things in those mythology books... I really need to work on that HPxSpn story." But after that I was completely focused on the film.
So yeah, the point of all this rambling? Err, videos/movies are very inspiring? Snow White would have been even more attention grabbing if the Evil Queen won? I'm apparently more attentive to cartoons than movies? You pick one you like.
Actually there's another reason I mentioned the movies.
Both movies had female leads. And that got me thinking a lot about likeable female characters? What made them likeable- their attitude, strength, looks, circumstances?
I looked at my own favourite female characters. I have loads of them but I've never written a complete story with them as the main focus- being strong and doing heroic deeds. Even the one story with Orihime (What if?) that I wrote- I felt like it was more about Harry who was also a lead character.
So then I was like- am I allergic to writing female lead characters?
And apparently I sort of am. Out of all the fanfic ideas on my laptop, I only have two stories where a female is the main character. One is Lucy Heartphilia from the Fairy Tail manga and another story has Bayonetta as the lead. But even with those two stories, I have character voice and plot writing difficulties.
If I look at the fanfiction I follow/read... well, the leads are all male too.
So I've decided to look for stories with female lead characters. Suggestions are welcome.
Wish me luck,
Polar.
Also just wanted to give a huge Thank You to raisuke143 for her fanart- which is a comic panel of a scene from Chapter 9 of AtO. Here's the link to the dA art page if you want to leave comments, etc.
I personally love the eyes in this picture- they convey a lot. And also the fact that they are portrayed looking young actually makes me imagine all these fluffy/angst/emotional baggage scenes for the future. So once again, thanks Raisuke!
This is the second fanart from this chapter- well, second fanart from this story itself- but from the trend, it feels like chapter 9 is a huge favourite with people. Or maybe it's the most inspiring one when it comes to fanart. Either way it's awesome.
If I had to name my favourite AtO chapter... hmmm, can you guess? Hint: I haven't actually published the chapter online and it's really just an overly optimistic draft. If you guessed my epilogue chapter- then you're right.
It's my favourite because it's a hope-filled chapter... as in, I really hope I'll put it online. I want to say with that it'll definitely be online one day- but that would be a stupid guarantee to make. So let's just hope it'll come online eventually.
For instance, I was watching 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. Nice movie, good special fx at least. But there's this one scene where they show a large white deer thing and, I kid you not, my mind is going "Oh! Patronus-Prongs. That reminds me about that patronus scene I put in AtO. I should definitely make..."
Needless to say, when I actually went back the paying attention to the movie, the deer was nowhere in sight and people were fighting... and I was like, noooo I have to remember my plot ideas. I honestly couldn't care less about the movie at that point-I actually giggled at some of the 'serious' parts of the movie and for some reason I imagined writing a story for the BBC Merlin fandom that included crows and a creepy mirror.
Even so, it was a nice movie. A predictable and interesting-looking distraction.
Thankfully, I sort of remember the plot ideas I thought of during the movie.
Something sort of similar happened when I watched 'Brave'. Except during that movie, I was sort of like "Oh, I read about these things in those mythology books... I really need to work on that HPxSpn story." But after that I was completely focused on the film.
So yeah, the point of all this rambling? Err, videos/movies are very inspiring? Snow White would have been even more attention grabbing if the Evil Queen won? I'm apparently more attentive to cartoons than movies? You pick one you like.
Actually there's another reason I mentioned the movies.
Both movies had female leads. And that got me thinking a lot about likeable female characters? What made them likeable- their attitude, strength, looks, circumstances?
I looked at my own favourite female characters. I have loads of them but I've never written a complete story with them as the main focus- being strong and doing heroic deeds. Even the one story with Orihime (What if?) that I wrote- I felt like it was more about Harry who was also a lead character.
So then I was like- am I allergic to writing female lead characters?
And apparently I sort of am. Out of all the fanfic ideas on my laptop, I only have two stories where a female is the main character. One is Lucy Heartphilia from the Fairy Tail manga and another story has Bayonetta as the lead. But even with those two stories, I have character voice and plot writing difficulties.
If I look at the fanfiction I follow/read... well, the leads are all male too.
So I've decided to look for stories with female lead characters. Suggestions are welcome.
Wish me luck,
Polar.
I personally love the eyes in this picture- they convey a lot. And also the fact that they are portrayed looking young actually makes me imagine all these fluffy/angst/emotional baggage scenes for the future. So once again, thanks Raisuke!
This is the second fanart from this chapter- well, second fanart from this story itself- but from the trend, it feels like chapter 9 is a huge favourite with people. Or maybe it's the most inspiring one when it comes to fanart. Either way it's awesome.
If I had to name my favourite AtO chapter... hmmm, can you guess? Hint: I haven't actually published the chapter online and it's really just an overly optimistic draft. If you guessed my epilogue chapter- then you're right.
It's my favourite because it's a hope-filled chapter... as in, I really hope I'll put it online. I want to say with that it'll definitely be online one day- but that would be a stupid guarantee to make. So let's just hope it'll come online eventually.
06 August 2012
Summertime Productivity
It's August! And you know what that means, don't you?
Well for me it means getting even more exhausted in the heat over here. Not a bad thing. In fact it's one of those awesome things I love about summer.
Yeah, I'm weird like that.
Anyway you're probably thinking that I'm going to use the excuse of summer activities not to write fanfiction.
You'd be half-right.
I've actually got a good amount of writing done. The only thing is that I've written a lot more non-fanfiction over the past month.
Wait!
Let me finish.... geez, you guys always assume the worst (something I noticed from AtO's reviews that talk about future plot).
So, I wrote a lot of non-fanfiction. But I also wrote a lot of fanfiction. just that it's a whole lot less compared to my other writing.
Here's the list of how much fanfiction draftiness I wrote. Seriously though, remember the wordcounts are for the drafts, so don't get excited.
I wanted to share the numbers with you cos they make me (a super-lazy procrastinator) feel rather accomplished.
1- Against the Odds-since you're probably only interested in news about that anyway. (Chapter 14 current word-count: 4,369. Future chapter scene: 1837.)
2- Detour to Evolution (Removed all traces of Itachi* from the final chapters I'd written- which meant editing 8327 words of story. Re-did most of the chapters= rewriting at least 4500+words. And also managed to write up an omake for the story.)
3- My still-nameless HpxFairyTail story (which was 9900+ words but I decided to re-write it to see why the story didn't feel ready to be uploaded. And my re-write of the story so far has 1624 words)
And there were loads of plot-bunnies/ideas for other fanfiction too. I wrote a few of the saner ones but don't want to include them in my list cos they're not as important at the moment.
Hmm, how about some teasers from what I've written? Not AtO obviously, cos I have a feeling putting teasers from that story will just be... a bad idea**. So I'll give you snippets from two other fanfics-in progress that are kind of interesting (at least to me).
So here's a little something from my HpxSupernatural story (that's currently 7794 words long and won't get finished anytime soon)
“Do you even know how this apocalypse got started?”
“Does it matter?” Harry said, “All I need to know is how I can help end it.”
“Even though you're not one of His children?
And this bit is from a Fairy Tail fanfic. (it's 8815 words and not to be confused with my HpxFairyTail story)
“I didn't think putting information together like this was illegal,” Lucy said.
Makarov nodded. “Good, remember to say the same thing if the council ever finds out and questions you.”
“Master!”
So yeah, loads of writing progress. The only sad thing is that I haven't read any of the fanfic updates that I've got on story alert. But I'm sure I'll get to them eventually.
Hopefully this post stops you guys from thinking that I've dropped off the internet again,
Polar.
* You're probably wondering about the whole removing Itachi from the Detour to Evolution story. Hmm, how do I say this? You know how all the Uchiha are sort of attention hoggers? Yeah in what I had written during November of last year, Itachi's role was just... anyway, I just wanted Grimmjow and Team Seven to remain in the spotlight. So the re-write was necessary.
**Bad idea to put AtO teasers? Yes, especially since I can't tell you when chapter 14 will be complete and uploaded online.
Well for me it means getting even more exhausted in the heat over here. Not a bad thing. In fact it's one of those awesome things I love about summer.
Yeah, I'm weird like that.
Anyway you're probably thinking that I'm going to use the excuse of summer activities not to write fanfiction.
You'd be half-right.
I've actually got a good amount of writing done. The only thing is that I've written a lot more non-fanfiction over the past month.
Wait!
Let me finish.... geez, you guys always assume the worst (something I noticed from AtO's reviews that talk about future plot).
So, I wrote a lot of non-fanfiction. But I also wrote a lot of fanfiction. just that it's a whole lot less compared to my other writing.
Here's the list of how much fanfiction draftiness I wrote. Seriously though, remember the wordcounts are for the drafts, so don't get excited.
I wanted to share the numbers with you cos they make me (a super-lazy procrastinator) feel rather accomplished.
1- Against the Odds-
2- Detour to Evolution (Removed all traces of Itachi* from the final chapters I'd written- which meant editing 8327 words of story. Re-did most of the chapters= rewriting at least 4500+words. And also managed to write up an omake for the story.)
3- My still-nameless HpxFairyTail story (which was 9900+ words but I decided to re-write it to see why the story didn't feel ready to be uploaded. And my re-write of the story so far has 1624 words)
And there were loads of plot-bunnies/ideas for other fanfiction too. I wrote a few of the saner ones but don't want to include them in my list cos they're not as important at the moment.
Hmm, how about some teasers from what I've written? Not AtO obviously, cos I have a feeling putting teasers from that story will just be... a bad idea**. So I'll give you snippets from two other fanfics-in progress that are kind of interesting (at least to me).
So here's a little something from my HpxSupernatural story (that's currently 7794 words long and won't get finished anytime soon)
“Do you even know how this apocalypse got started?”
“Does it matter?” Harry said, “All I need to know is how I can help end it.”
“Even though you're not one of His children?
And this bit is from a Fairy Tail fanfic. (it's 8815 words and not to be confused with my HpxFairyTail story)
“I didn't think putting information together like this was illegal,” Lucy said.
Makarov nodded. “Good, remember to say the same thing if the council ever finds out and questions you.”
“Master!”
So yeah, loads of writing progress. The only sad thing is that I haven't read any of the fanfic updates that I've got on story alert. But I'm sure I'll get to them eventually.
Hopefully this post stops you guys from thinking that I've dropped off the internet again,
Polar.
* You're probably wondering about the whole removing Itachi from the Detour to Evolution story. Hmm, how do I say this? You know how all the Uchiha are sort of attention hoggers? Yeah in what I had written during November of last year, Itachi's role was just... anyway, I just wanted Grimmjow and Team Seven to remain in the spotlight. So the re-write was necessary.
**Bad idea to put AtO teasers? Yes, especially since I can't tell you when chapter 14 will be complete and uploaded online.
13 July 2012
A HpxNaruto crossover starring...
Manda!
You know the large purple snake? Orochimaru's moody summon boss? Yeah, that Manda.
No, really, I'm serious.
Warnings: Crack-some-ness, Crack-in-a-hat and more crack than you know what to do with. Unedited. Short- so very short.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Manda!"
Manda groaned and coiled his body tighter, trying not to lose the comfortable heat that he'd managed to absorb.
"Manda!"
Manda groaned, opened an eye and stared up at the large silvery-grey snake. "What?"
"Don't use that tone with me!"
Manda sighed and raised his head slightly so that it seemed slightly more respectful. "What is it, mother?"
The large silvery-grey snake, his very old but still very deadly mother, hissed in exasperation. "Don't forget who laid the large egg you came out of! Show some respect, you hatchling."
Manda didn't twitch. Because the leader of the snake summons had a reputation to keep. Instead, he slowly uncoiled his body and raised his body so that he was staring down slightly at his mother. But he politely asked, "What's wrong?"
"Your brother."
Manda stifled a groan. There could only one brother his mother would actually bother him -from a nice restful nap- about. The youngest of their clutch, who was also their mother's favourite. Had been their mother's favourite for a very long time.
You know the large purple snake? Orochimaru's moody summon boss? Yeah, that Manda.
No, really, I'm serious.
Warnings: Crack-some-ness, Crack-in-a-hat and more crack than you know what to do with. Unedited. Short- so very short.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Manda!"
Manda groaned and coiled his body tighter, trying not to lose the comfortable heat that he'd managed to absorb.
"Manda!"
Manda groaned, opened an eye and stared up at the large silvery-grey snake. "What?"
"Don't use that tone with me!"
Manda sighed and raised his head slightly so that it seemed slightly more respectful. "What is it, mother?"
The large silvery-grey snake, his very old but still very deadly mother, hissed in exasperation. "Don't forget who laid the large egg you came out of! Show some respect, you hatchling."
Manda didn't twitch. Because the leader of the snake summons had a reputation to keep. Instead, he slowly uncoiled his body and raised his body so that he was staring down slightly at his mother. But he politely asked, "What's wrong?"
"Your brother."
Manda stifled a groan. There could only one brother his mother would actually bother him -from a nice restful nap- about. The youngest of their clutch, who was also their mother's favourite. Had been their mother's favourite for a very long time.
04 July 2012
Some RP-ing instead of Story-writing
So... if you've been visiting the blog since I first started it, you would have noticed my occasional experiments with widgets.
If you're sort of new to this blog- just know that sometimes I'm really curious about experimenting with things on here. I had a chat-thing on here, a poll thing, picture gallery thing, a formspring question thing... so a lot of random things that never really stuck around because I got too annoyed at having to log in everywhere and stuff...
Anyway, why am I talking about this?
All that probably doesn't have a direct connection to what I'm about to talk about. No, wait. The moral of all the above is that I'm crazy curious about things.
All right, continuing to the important part.
I heard about omegle (which is an online chat website where you can randomly talk to strangers without having to register or whatever). Even though it's been around for a while, I just recently heard of it and thought to myself...I must try it.
So I did.
I put in a whole lot of interests- ranging from writing to various shows/books/anime I love- and clicked text.
And omegle gave me a stranger who shared the common interest 'sherlock'.
I, being a naive omegle newbie, thought we were going to discuss crazy outlandish Reichenbach survival theories. Instead stranger typed out a line- which was supposed to be a text from Sherlock- an obvious start to some sort of RP.
I stared at stupidly at the screen for a bit too long because I've never really participated in an RP before and so the stranger disconnected on me.
But I wasn't deterred. Though I'd never really participated in an actual RP before, I was... curious. And I didn't want to to any serious work/writing.
So I connected again. Oddly enough, I connected with another person who had 'sherlock' as a common interest and they immediately started typing something furiously. I waited, preparing myself to be in John's mindset in case it was an RP. If it wasn't an RP, then I had enough to talk about easily.
It was an RP that started with a text message.
Except it wasn't a text from Sherlock. It was a text from SM (Sebastian Moran- who isn't actually seen in the BBC series, I think. Thankfully I'm very familiar with the original stories) to Moriarty.
I was supposed to RP as Moriarty. Obviously, a shock since I had expected to be John. (gosh, I just realised how odd this all must sound.)
But I typed out a response.
And by the end of our super long chat session- when the other person had to leave- I got told that I played the 'perfect' Moriarty.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Pride that I aced my first try at an RP? Horrified that I played an unhinged creepy psycho perfectly?
I think it was mostly shock of some sort, because when the other person asked for some means of contact so that we could RP again, I accidentally closed the tab.
And even though I can't remember how or why our RP had a crazy twitchy doctor to whom I, as Moriarty, gave permission to experiment on our captured prisoners or something like that... I can't help but think it was fun.
So fun that I think I might give RP-ing another go in the future... though maybe not in the Sherlock fandom.
Polar.
P.S. I hope all you Canadian readers had a fun Canada day long weekend.
P.P.S. To all my American readers, Happy 4th of July to you.
If you're sort of new to this blog- just know that sometimes I'm really curious about experimenting with things on here. I had a chat-thing on here, a poll thing, picture gallery thing, a formspring question thing... so a lot of random things that never really stuck around because I got too annoyed at having to log in everywhere and stuff...
Anyway, why am I talking about this?
All that probably doesn't have a direct connection to what I'm about to talk about. No, wait. The moral of all the above is that I'm crazy curious about things.
All right, continuing to the important part.
I heard about omegle (which is an online chat website where you can randomly talk to strangers without having to register or whatever). Even though it's been around for a while, I just recently heard of it and thought to myself...I must try it.
So I did.
I put in a whole lot of interests- ranging from writing to various shows/books/anime I love- and clicked text.
And omegle gave me a stranger who shared the common interest 'sherlock'.
I, being a naive omegle newbie, thought we were going to discuss crazy outlandish Reichenbach survival theories. Instead stranger typed out a line- which was supposed to be a text from Sherlock- an obvious start to some sort of RP.
I stared at stupidly at the screen for a bit too long because I've never really participated in an RP before and so the stranger disconnected on me.
But I wasn't deterred. Though I'd never really participated in an actual RP before, I was... curious. And I didn't want to to any serious work/writing.
So I connected again. Oddly enough, I connected with another person who had 'sherlock' as a common interest and they immediately started typing something furiously. I waited, preparing myself to be in John's mindset in case it was an RP. If it wasn't an RP, then I had enough to talk about easily.
It was an RP that started with a text message.
Except it wasn't a text from Sherlock. It was a text from SM (Sebastian Moran- who isn't actually seen in the BBC series, I think. Thankfully I'm very familiar with the original stories) to Moriarty.
I was supposed to RP as Moriarty. Obviously, a shock since I had expected to be John. (gosh, I just realised how odd this all must sound.)
But I typed out a response.
And by the end of our super long chat session- when the other person had to leave- I got told that I played the 'perfect' Moriarty.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Pride that I aced my first try at an RP? Horrified that I played an unhinged creepy psycho perfectly?
I think it was mostly shock of some sort, because when the other person asked for some means of contact so that we could RP again, I accidentally closed the tab.
And even though I can't remember how or why our RP had a crazy twitchy doctor to whom I, as Moriarty, gave permission to experiment on our captured prisoners or something like that... I can't help but think it was fun.
So fun that I think I might give RP-ing another go in the future... though maybe not in the Sherlock fandom.
Polar.
P.S. I hope all you Canadian readers had a fun Canada day long weekend.
P.P.S. To all my American readers, Happy 4th of July to you.
30 June 2012
A half-eaten plot-bunny...
I don't know if that's the correct way to describe what happened with this plot bunny... but uh, well it sure feels like it.
So as usual, I was doing my own thing, when suddenly I wasbothered inspired by a plot bunny.
Unfortunately I was nowhere near my computer and I didn't have a pen-paper-combo anywhere near. But I wasn't too bothered. I figured I'd just wait until I was at my computer to write out the plot bunny.
So then- hours later- I'm sitting at the computer. I write bits of dialogue and I stop.
Not because I'm tired, but because for the life of me, I couldn't remember what was supposed to happen.
I even tried staring at the dialogue I had so far-- to see if it brought up anything.
Nothing.
And now I'm stuck with odd bits of dialogue and stuff- and it feels interesting- but no idea what it was meant to actually be.
Here's what I managed to write...
So as usual, I was doing my own thing, when suddenly I was
Unfortunately I was nowhere near my computer and I didn't have a pen-paper-combo anywhere near. But I wasn't too bothered. I figured I'd just wait until I was at my computer to write out the plot bunny.
So then- hours later- I'm sitting at the computer. I write bits of dialogue and I stop.
Not because I'm tired, but because for the life of me, I couldn't remember what was supposed to happen.
I even tried staring at the dialogue I had so far-- to see if it brought up anything.
Nothing.
And now I'm stuck with odd bits of dialogue and stuff- and it feels interesting- but no idea what it was meant to actually be.
Here's what I managed to write...
=x=x=x=x=x=
Sirius huffed and followed the young men.
"It's still following."
"Just ignore him."
"We can't just ignore it. It saved our lives, Dean."
"And what do you want me to do Samantha? Give it a scooby snack for a job well done?"
Sirius felt helpless. In his current form, there was no way he could do anything to help the stupid boys.
"Idiots!" Sirius gasped out as he threw the shotgun down and fell to his knees as blood dripped down his knees. His body shuddered with pain and his muscles twitched. "Don't be so damn reckless. How am I supposed to help you all the time."
The brothers stared at him with wide eyes.
Sirius gasped for breath as his body forcefully shrunk down in height and
=x=x=x=x=x=
I'm guessing at the end Sirius turns back to his grim form- without actually wanting to. So Sirius is stuck in SPN world in his grim form- and probably has problems turning back into his human form or something like that?
Sam and Dean just think he's a dog until something where Sirius becomes human for a while?
Gah!
Anyway, thankfully my other writing is going smoother than this plot-bunny. I have my chapter 14 to-do-list and I've gotten some nice bits of dialogue already written up.
[“But you're
rich."
“That's only
because we're cost-effective.”
“So basically,
you're cheap and you want to be even cheaper.” ] Can you guess who's speaking? Obviously it's not stellar dialogue, because it's still a draft. Who knows how it'll turn out after editing.
Hope you guys are having a nice summer!
Polar
05 June 2012
Changes in FFnet's layout.
Intriguing.
No, really. I'm really intrigued by them.
For as long as I can remember I've always believed that the admins at ffnet were non-existent in the running/improvement of the site.
And then wham. Books covers and things... which like I said, is actually pretty intriguing.
So, as far as I have seen, there's two major additions this week.
1- Story summary at the top of each chapter
This actually seems handy to me.
I do have a habit of clicking story links from outside sources- where they don't list the author's summary. And I'm always obsessed
about reading a summary before reading a story- so I usually end up
having to go on the author's page and yeah... I actually like this in a way. No more extra clicking to know the story summary for me.
I tried to think of other possible benefits of this and came up with two
- Sometimes if an author takes ages to update (like me) and I tend to forget which story this is- the story summary at the top can refresh my memory a bit.
- I know that some people write their summaries on the top of their chapters- which is unnecessary- so this will help make word-counts more accurate? What? It sounds logical.
2- Book Covers.
Okay as soon as I saw this, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I immediately tried to picture what AtO's 'book cover' would look like. There was a lot of red(guess why?) and I imagined hiding bits and pieces of future plot points in there. So now in my mind AtO has a super complicated book cover- complete with "Da Vinci Code"-esque hidden clues.
Obviously, I managed to impress myself with my imaginary 'book cover'. Then I realised there was absolutely no way I'd be able to translate my mental image into an actual real-life 'book cover'.
As much as I love my avatar- and while Lily's Itachi would look good anywhere- I think I'll be changing the covers (even if it's just with an image that has my story title typed out in fancy font- actually that seems like a nice hassle-free idea.)
Now, you're probably going- gosh, this post is just way too positive.
You're right.
I'm purposely trying to not see the bad/annoying part in these changes.
Polar
P.S. Itachi seems to be way popular in AtO. He hasn't been around since chapter 6 but people keep waiting for him to come back (at least that's what I understand from the reviews). I feel amused guilty because I have no plans of bringing him back anytime soon.
30 May 2012
Uchihas' Gods: Additional scenes
So I was reading the
latest Naruto chapter and a part of me just wouldn't settle down until I sat down and added to the original Uchihas' Gods plot bunny somehow.
I admit I had too much fun
imagining the following scene(s) actually taking place.
Warnings: Un-edited, Crazy scene shifts, massive plot holes, etc. Super cool HP trio. Uchiha Madara.
Spoilers
from Naruto manga chapter 559 onwards.
==========================================================================
Harry stilled. “Did you
two feel that?”
Hermione had already gone
to the side of their cave.
Ron sat up and closed his
eyes in wonder. “What's going on?”
“The barrier,”
Hermione whispered in blatant disbelief. “It's gone. We can leave.”
Ron gulped. “That can't
be right. We were supposed to be in here till... don't tell me the
world is actually ending?” He turned to Harry. “What do we do?”
“Well, if the world is
ending, let's go see the outside world one last time,” Harry smiled
grimly as he stood up. “It's been a while since I've seen the real
sky with my own eyes.”
Ron huffed. “That would
be nice.”
“You two,” Hermione
said and glanced pointedly at their bare feet, “Aren't you
forgetting something?”
“But Hermione, the world
is ending,” Ron said, “We don't really need shoes.”
Harry nodded. “I second
that.”
Hermione rolled her eyes
and muttered underneath her breath.
“Hurry up,” Ron said
as he moved to the entrance. “The world's ending. We don't want to
miss it.”
Harry snorted but followed
after Ron with Hermione by his side.
-x-x-x-x-x-
“How will you deal with
the second one, Onoki?” Madara smirked, confident in his victory as
a second meteor raced down.
But just before it could
crash against the first, both meteors disintegrated into dust and
disappeared completely in the next instant.
Madara glanced down at the
battlefield, searching for the ninja who'd countered his technique.
He stilled as he caught sight of the ever so familiar figures
flitting about the battlefield below. Even though the clothes were
different colours, they way the material sparkled in the sunlight was
familiar to Madara. “No, it can't be!”
“What is it?” Kabuto's
voice asked.
Madara jumped back down
onto the battlefield before the cliff. He scoffed at the way the weak
ninja, who'd stilled on seeing the three deities, tensed into battle
ready positions and moved closer to those three shining forms.
“Who the heck are you
people? And what kind of weird clothes are you wearing to a battle?”
The blond kid, the one who'd brazenly attacked him before, glanced at
the three deities with disbelief. “You don't even have shoes on!”
“Disrespectful brat!”
Madara hissed in anger and sent out a wave of fire towards the boy.
“Know your place.”
But Susanoo, with his kind
green eyes, instantly appeared beside the boy. He held up a hand,
freezing the flames in mid-air and with a lazy snap of his fingers
vanished Madara's attack. With a soft chuckle, Susanoo turned to the
blond boy and patted his hair gently.
Madara stilled, feeling
acutely betrayed. He turned a little
to the side and noted the way Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi knelt by the
injured and healed them. The sense of betrayal grew deeper. Why
were the gods not siding with him? Why weren't they helping him?
Madara held his breath as
Susanoo appeared directly in front of him. After an odd searching
glance, Susanoo dragged his fingers through the air. A globe of water
poured itself into a metal cup that had appeared out of nowhere.
Madara stared at the cup,
slightly overwhelmed at being remembered and recognized after so many
years. He ignored the whispers of “Whose side are they on?”
“What's happening?” “Why isn't he attacking them? Do they know
each other?” around him and tentatively took the cup, feeling like
he was six all over again.
Susanoo grinned and looked
around with obvious curiosity.
“Susanoo,” Madara said
almost reverently as he tightened his fingers around the cup,
“Why...”
Susanoo turned to him, his
bright green eyes assessing as he stepped closer to Madara.
“Ah! Don't go so close
to him!” the blond boy shouted from his spot.
Madara snorted, eager to
send another flame attack at the impudent boy, but he stayed still
and kept his eyes on Susanoo.
Susanoo stopped a few
inches away, raised his hand and patted Madara's chest armour with a
thoughtful expression.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry sighed as he patted
the red chest armour and sorted through what his magic has sensed. He
glanced back at Ron and Hermione. “There's no doubt. This is the
kid who came broke through the barrier and entered our cave years
ago.”
“Well, he certainly
looks good for his age,” Ron said.
Hermione twitched and
smacked the back of his head. “He obviously not completely alive,
you idiot.”
Ron hummed thoughtfully as
he patted the leg he'd finished healing. With a sigh, he stood up and
looked around. “Since he's the one attacking these people... he's a part of this war.”
“He's one
side of this war,” Hermione said. “Considering we saved his life
all those years ago, doesn't that mean we've indirectly caused this? And since the barrier that was imprisoning us was supposed to disappear only when the world was ending, doesn't that mean..."
Harry stilled and said, "We've indirectly brought about the end of the world again!"
Ron groaned. "Why does this always happen to us? We were imprisoned and everything. How did we manage this?"
Ron groaned. "Why does this always happen to us? We were imprisoned and everything. How did we manage this?"
“Even if we save the
world now,” Hermione said, ignoring them easily, as she finished healing
another person. “We'll probably just be punished even more harshly.”
=========================================================================
Glad to get that craziness out of my system.
But hmm, I wonder why this persistent nagging to write things never happens with AtO. Why is it only the crazy plot bunnies that make me sit and write continuously without getting distracted?
Psh, at least I'm making my chapter 14 plot list even with all the distractions around me.
Polar
P.S. Reviews for chapter 13 are making me laugh in triumph. Because I know I'll be able to surprise you with certain things in the future.
24 May 2012
Deleted Scene Episode 6
Warnings: Very un-edited and has bits missing. Takes place during chapter 13
The black haired boy hummed in agreement. "I saw."
"And he always goes to the library late at night these days, so Sakura and me are never there to see what he's picking up," Naruto huffed sounding so indignant. "He's probably doing that on purpose."
"It can't be that bad," the other boy said, sounding almost amused.
"Sai alone in the library is very bad. Trust me, nii-san. It's like... it's just bad."
Jiraiya snorted, huffing when he realised that the boy had snorted at the same time.
"I don't know. It is funny to hear him talk about things he read sometimes. His interpretation is fun."
"Only sometimes!" Naruto said. "I think Sai needs a book specially written for him. That's it! That's what we should do. Write a book and put it in the library for him to get and read."
Jiraiya scoffed and glanced back. "The library attendants check the shelves regularly. If a book doesn't have the library's official seal on it, it'll obviously get removed."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Were you trying to put your porn books on the shelves?"
The black haired boy glanced between the both of them in wary amusement and imediately said, "Maybe you can give it to him as a gift. When is his birthday?"
Naruto frowned and stayed silent for a while.
"Naruto, you don't know Sai's birthday?"
"It's not like that, nii-san," Naruto said almost pleadingly. "It's just, it's odd to give someone a gift on their birthday if they're not family, right?"
"What...ah, right, no birthday parties every year. One-day-for-all festivals and special birthdays only," the boy said, almost to himself.
"Birthday parties every year?" Naruto asked curiously.
Birthday parties every year? Jiriaya repeated mentally and slowed his own steps till he lingered a little closer to the two of them. "
"Oh, um, we... every year, we sort of celebrate making it through to another year."
Jiraiya frowned. Making it through to another year? And who does 'we' refer to?
"So you've had birthday parties every year?" Naruto said, sounding almost awed.
The boy snorted. "No, it... I just got gifts. And cake."
"Is it a special cake?"
"It's just your favourite flavour with your name written on it."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya nodded. Exactly! Why?
"That's for the parties mostly, I think. You know you put candles on it and after everyone sings the song, you blow out the candles and... actually never mind that."
That's not the Why I want an answer to, Jiraiya frowned at how the conversation went further away from any useful explanations.
But Naruto said, "A song? There's a song?"
"Yes," the boy cleared his throat awkwardly. "But it's not all that important really. The cake is the important thing!"
Jiraiya glanced back, unsure of what to feel at the odd conversation about parties, cake and songs. Some part of him- the curious and inquisitive part- wanted to steer the conversation back into something useful.
"But I don't have a favourite flavour," Naruto said thoughtfully.
Jiraiya twitched in annoyance. What does that have to do with finding out more about...
"You have something against strawberry cake?"
"Nii-san!"
To Jiraiya's confusion, they both started laughing. They can't have known each other long enough to have inside jokes. That's not possible! He glanced back again curiously but frowned when he noticed the boy's slowed down pace. "Oi, you two, we're going to stop by a stream in a few minutes."
The boy didn't react to that. Didn't show any relief at getting a break. Didn't show any annoyance.
When they finally stopped by the stream, Jiriaya stretched. Remembering other potential stops on the way to Yugakure, he said, "I could use a snack. What do you you think about getting some dan..."
Naruto jumped towards him with a panicked expression. "Don't!" Naruto whispered frantically, his eyes wide and worried and his words too fast. "He's got... Dango...trigger word..."
Jiraiya winced after finally made sense of Naruto's whispers and noticing the boy's pale expression. Determined not to let the boy get lost in his memories, he said, "I was going to say Daifuku when we reached Yugakure."
He sighed in relief alongside Naruto, when the boy took a deep breath and spoke like nothing odd had occurred.
=================================================================
So I read somewhere that the whole concept of birthday parties is more of a western thing. And traditionally in Japan there were more celebrations for certain older ages (60, 80, etc.) - which was more of a celebration of longevity.
Otherwise birthdays weren't really given much importance. I thought that was rather interesting.
Interesting fanfic finds
1. The World on His Wrist by bendingsignpost (Sherlock BBC story)
Summary: First, he is shot in Afghanistan. Second, he wakes to a phone call in Chelmsford, Essex. Third is pain, fourth is normalcy, fifth is agony and sixth is confusion. By the eighth, he's lost track.
Brilliant story. Like really. The idea is really unique, at least to me and I read the whole story in one sitting and wanted more. It does have sort of Inception vibes- so a sci-fi genre plot- and a bit confusing at the start, but the more you read, the more it grows on you. Go read it and tell me you're not amazed by it.
2- Haunted by explosive_gnome (SupernaturalxHarry Potter)
Summary: Hogwarts gets an infusion of classic rock and the year isn't going well for Snape. He was no good at human company. It was ironic, he supposed, that he was now stuck with the inhuman kind.
With a summary like that, aren't you intrigued by the story? I was, and when I finally read the story I wasn't disappointed. It's rare to find a SPNxHP story that is likeable, but this one is really nice. Even the style of writing is likeable- fun and quirky- which makes the characters likeable too.
Anyway, that's all for now. Happy Thursday to you all,
Polar.
===========================================================================
"He just reads anything, even if it's stupid. But those library books he finds are so..."The black haired boy hummed in agreement. "I saw."
"And he always goes to the library late at night these days, so Sakura and me are never there to see what he's picking up," Naruto huffed sounding so indignant. "He's probably doing that on purpose."
"It can't be that bad," the other boy said, sounding almost amused.
"Sai alone in the library is very bad. Trust me, nii-san. It's like... it's just bad."
Jiraiya snorted, huffing when he realised that the boy had snorted at the same time.
"I don't know. It is funny to hear him talk about things he read sometimes. His interpretation is fun."
"Only sometimes!" Naruto said. "I think Sai needs a book specially written for him. That's it! That's what we should do. Write a book and put it in the library for him to get and read."
Jiraiya scoffed and glanced back. "The library attendants check the shelves regularly. If a book doesn't have the library's official seal on it, it'll obviously get removed."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Were you trying to put your porn books on the shelves?"
The black haired boy glanced between the both of them in wary amusement and imediately said, "Maybe you can give it to him as a gift. When is his birthday?"
Naruto frowned and stayed silent for a while.
"Naruto, you don't know Sai's birthday?"
"It's not like that, nii-san," Naruto said almost pleadingly. "It's just, it's odd to give someone a gift on their birthday if they're not family, right?"
"What...ah, right, no birthday parties every year. One-day-for-all festivals and special birthdays only," the boy said, almost to himself.
"Birthday parties every year?" Naruto asked curiously.
Birthday parties every year? Jiriaya repeated mentally and slowed his own steps till he lingered a little closer to the two of them. "
"Oh, um, we... every year, we sort of celebrate making it through to another year."
Jiraiya frowned. Making it through to another year? And who does 'we' refer to?
"So you've had birthday parties every year?" Naruto said, sounding almost awed.
The boy snorted. "No, it... I just got gifts. And cake."
"Is it a special cake?"
"It's just your favourite flavour with your name written on it."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya nodded. Exactly! Why?
"That's for the parties mostly, I think. You know you put candles on it and after everyone sings the song, you blow out the candles and... actually never mind that."
That's not the Why I want an answer to, Jiraiya frowned at how the conversation went further away from any useful explanations.
But Naruto said, "A song? There's a song?"
"Yes," the boy cleared his throat awkwardly. "But it's not all that important really. The cake is the important thing!"
Jiraiya glanced back, unsure of what to feel at the odd conversation about parties, cake and songs. Some part of him- the curious and inquisitive part- wanted to steer the conversation back into something useful.
"But I don't have a favourite flavour," Naruto said thoughtfully.
Jiraiya twitched in annoyance. What does that have to do with finding out more about...
"You have something against strawberry cake?"
"Nii-san!"
To Jiraiya's confusion, they both started laughing. They can't have known each other long enough to have inside jokes. That's not possible! He glanced back again curiously but frowned when he noticed the boy's slowed down pace. "Oi, you two, we're going to stop by a stream in a few minutes."
The boy didn't react to that. Didn't show any relief at getting a break. Didn't show any annoyance.
When they finally stopped by the stream, Jiriaya stretched. Remembering other potential stops on the way to Yugakure, he said, "I could use a snack. What do you you think about getting some dan..."
Naruto jumped towards him with a panicked expression. "Don't!" Naruto whispered frantically, his eyes wide and worried and his words too fast. "He's got... Dango...trigger word..."
Jiraiya winced after finally made sense of Naruto's whispers and noticing the boy's pale expression. Determined not to let the boy get lost in his memories, he said, "I was going to say Daifuku when we reached Yugakure."
He sighed in relief alongside Naruto, when the boy took a deep breath and spoke like nothing odd had occurred.
=================================================================
So I read somewhere that the whole concept of birthday parties is more of a western thing. And traditionally in Japan there were more celebrations for certain older ages (60, 80, etc.) - which was more of a celebration of longevity.
Otherwise birthdays weren't really given much importance. I thought that was rather interesting.
Interesting fanfic finds
1. The World on His Wrist by bendingsignpost (Sherlock BBC story)
Summary: First, he is shot in Afghanistan. Second, he wakes to a phone call in Chelmsford, Essex. Third is pain, fourth is normalcy, fifth is agony and sixth is confusion. By the eighth, he's lost track.
Brilliant story. Like really. The idea is really unique, at least to me and I read the whole story in one sitting and wanted more. It does have sort of Inception vibes- so a sci-fi genre plot- and a bit confusing at the start, but the more you read, the more it grows on you. Go read it and tell me you're not amazed by it.
2- Haunted by explosive_gnome (SupernaturalxHarry Potter)
Summary: Hogwarts gets an infusion of classic rock and the year isn't going well for Snape. He was no good at human company. It was ironic, he supposed, that he was now stuck with the inhuman kind.
With a summary like that, aren't you intrigued by the story? I was, and when I finally read the story I wasn't disappointed. It's rare to find a SPNxHP story that is likeable, but this one is really nice. Even the style of writing is likeable- fun and quirky- which makes the characters likeable too.
Anyway, that's all for now. Happy Thursday to you all,
Polar.
13 May 2012
Mother's Day
A little something for Mother's Day.
Warnings: Un-edited silliness. Not a part of AtO's established timeline, obviously. May make you feel slightly sappy.
Naruto bit his lip in confusion. "Motherly?"
Harry nodded. But realizing that Naruto still looked confused, he recalled Mrs. Weasley's usual behaviour and said, "Someone who tries to keep you out of danger becasue they're worried you'll get hurt."
Naruto scrunched his face up in thought. "There are lots of people like that. So then Kakashi-sensei is motherly?"
Harry snorted and bit back his chuckles. "No, there's a lot more to being motherly. Like…oh! someone who cooks a lot or tells you to eat properly because you're too skinny."
"Nii-san," Naruto blinked at Harry. "I think everyone who sees you would say that. So they're all being motherly to you?"
Harry twitched but continued. "Someone who fusses over you when your injured."
Naruto blinked. "Like a medic?"
Harry hmm-ed and recalled Mrs.Weasley's scolding the twins. "But they can be scary too. Because they always know if you're up to mischief."
"Aren't all women scary?" Naruto muttered. "Even girls are scary."
"And finally I guess someone who believes in you? Someone who'd sacrifice everything to see that you succeed."
"Ah!" Naruto clapped his hands. "There's only person I can think of who's all that."
Harry blinked in surprise. "Really? Who?"
"The old hag!"
"Naruto!" Harry scolded. "You can't call the only motherly figure you know an old hag."
"Why not? Tsunade ba-chan is old."
"Tsunade…you mean the Hokage? She's your motherly figure?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Naruto nodded absently. "Should I get her a case of sake?"
"You're not getting her alcohol as a mother's day gift."
"Why not?" Naruto seemed genuinely confused "She likes to drink. Aren't gifts supposed to be something you'll love?"
"Just no! Get her something nice. She must like other things too."
"But," Naruto said, "I don't know what she likes."
"Then ask someone who knows her better."
Naruto nodded.
"Tsunade-shishou?"
Naruto nodded again, shifting slightly so that he slouched in his cross-legged position.
Sakura shrugged and plucked some grass up from beside her and absently tossed them in the air. "Get her a case of sake."
Harry twitched.
"Nii-san said I shouldn't get her that. I should get her something nicer. Something else that she would like."
Sakura tapped her chin absently. "Well you can't get her any beauty products of spa treatments because she'll get insulted."
Harry frowned. "Why would she get insulted?"
"She'll think you're implying she's looking old."
Naruto nodded. "So no sake and no beauty products or spa treatments."
"Don't even bother buying clothes, because no one know her actual size. And trying to find that out..." Sakura shared a look with Naruto. And they both shuddered.
"Flowers?" Harry asked almost hesitantly.
Naruto frowned. "Isn't that too common? It won't be as special as a case of sake."
"Forget the sake!" Harry said. "What about jewellry?"
"She doesn't wear any," Sakura said as she leaned back and lay on the grass.
"Books?"
"She's the Hokage. She already has to read a lot of reports and treaties and things..." Sakura said. "Best not to get her a book."
Naruto jumped up. "All right. I've decided on what to get her…"
Naruto nodded. "I remembered ero-sennin talking about this stuff before. Plus I remember him saying that the old hag always wanted to try this."
Harry sighed. "Well, it seems like the best thing to get. No chance of her getting mad at you or anything. Do you have enough money for it?"
"I have half price," Naruto chuckled. "But no need to worry. I'll visit the lottery vendor in a few minutes."
Harry blinked. "Okay. So you didn't want my help to pay for this?"
Naruto shook his head. "No, I was wondering if you'll help me with something else."
Tsuande looked up from her scroll. "A gift?" She glanced at the orange box and twitched. "Is this a joke from the brat?"
"Tsunade-sama! Don't you know what day it is?"
Tsunade frowned. "It's not my birthday."
Shizune shoved the box onto the desk and said, "Just open it. I checked, it's not a gag gift of any kind."
"Fine!" Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I could do with a break anyway."
Shizune huffed but watched Tsunade's face carefully as she opened the box. She grinned when Tsunade's eyes widened and her mouth opened in obvious shock as she pulled up a large bottle.
"How..." Tsunade raised the bottle and pulled the paper card that hung from the strip aroung it's neck. "And it's the real thing too. How did that brat manage to buy a bottle of Hokage Sake. And why did he buy it, Shizune?"
Shizune smiled and pointedly glanced at the box.
Tsunade placed the bottle aside, glanced into the box again and pulled out an envelope. From it she pulled out a roughly made coupon book. "Mother's Day coupon book?"
Shizune stifled a chuckle as Tsuande flipped the pages.
"All these coupons are free repairs. Is that brat trying to imply something?" Tsuande said, even though there was a smile on his face.
"Naruto-kun made his cousin sign every coupon," Shizune said in amusement.
A knock interrupted them. "Tsunade-shishou?"
"Come in, Sakura!" Tsuande said as she looked through the coupons.
Sakura opened the door wide and held up a large bouquet of pink flowers. "You already got Naruto's gift then? Did he get you something other than sake?"
Tsuande quirked an eyebrow. "He told you he was getting me a gift?"
"He wanted to know what else you liked because he didn't want to get you anything too common." Sakura glanced back. "Lee, you can come in."
A large colourful bouquet filled up the doorway and Shizune smiled at the large banner within the bouquet that read 'Happy Mother's day'. Lee stumbled into the office and gingerly placed the large bouquet in front of the Hokage's desk.
"What..." Tsunade looked utterly surprised as she stared at the bouquet.
"After hearing about Naruto-kun's plan to give you a mother's day gift, I realized that I was an ungrateful person," Lee's eyes watered dramatically. "I should have done this after you healed me three years ago!"
Tsuande looked slightly uncomfortable. "There's no reason to feel bad..."
"And you are so merciful and understanding," Lee shouted. "As penance, I will run around Konoha the entire day telling everyone what a wonderful mother you are."
"What? That's not..." Tsunade twitched when Lee ran out of the room.
Sakura chuckled and placed her own bouquet on the table. "Happy Mother's day, shishou."
Before Tsunade could say anything there was another knock on the door.
Hours later, Shizune smiled with wide eyes as she looked around the entire room. "I've never seen the office this colourful. And so many flowers."
"Don't forget all the sake," Tsuande said with a slight roll of her eyes as she nodded to the small stick of sake cases on one side of the room. "I don't know who I should blame for all this."
Shizune grinned at Tsunade's attempts to hide her smile. "Probably Naruto-kun. And how many repair coupon books did you get?"
"I can't believe he signed all these." Tsunade chuckled at the small stack of coupon books on her desk. "That brat will go out of business with all the free repairs I can get from him." Tsuande grabbed the bottle of Hokage sake and smiled at it fondly.
"Are you going to start drinking now?"
Tsunade scoffed and made her way to the wall safe. With a drop of blood, she unsealed the safe and pushed the bottle in. "This is a special occasion sake. I better save it for when I select my successor," Tsunade said softly as she resealed the safe. "We better move these flowers to the hospital."
Harry groaned. "I don't care how much money they're offering, I'm not signing anything more. Leave me alone."
"Not that. Let's go get cake, my treat for all your hard work today."
Anyway to those of you who recognized the 'Hokage Sake'- yes, it's one of the more amusing things introduced in Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth manga.
Mother's Day fanart (or rather just normal mother-son fanart just to add to the whole sappiness of this post)
1. About mothers and sons by sanzo-sinclaire
I just love this pic as a what-if that could have happened. There's something nice about seeing Kushina and Naruto together like this and it seems like something that would have been a common sight.
2- Happiness by dissolvedoxygen
Another what-if picture, this time for Lily and Harry. This seems like a scene that would have been a common sight too.
Anyway, that's it for today.
Polar
Warnings: Un-edited silliness. Not a part of AtO's established timeline, obviously. May make you feel slightly sappy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well, you could just give a gift to someone you consider motherly," Harry said with a shrug.Naruto bit his lip in confusion. "Motherly?"
Harry nodded. But realizing that Naruto still looked confused, he recalled Mrs. Weasley's usual behaviour and said, "Someone who tries to keep you out of danger becasue they're worried you'll get hurt."
Naruto scrunched his face up in thought. "There are lots of people like that. So then Kakashi-sensei is motherly?"
Harry snorted and bit back his chuckles. "No, there's a lot more to being motherly. Like…oh! someone who cooks a lot or tells you to eat properly because you're too skinny."
"Nii-san," Naruto blinked at Harry. "I think everyone who sees you would say that. So they're all being motherly to you?"
Harry twitched but continued. "Someone who fusses over you when your injured."
Naruto blinked. "Like a medic?"
Harry hmm-ed and recalled Mrs.Weasley's scolding the twins. "But they can be scary too. Because they always know if you're up to mischief."
"Aren't all women scary?" Naruto muttered. "Even girls are scary."
"And finally I guess someone who believes in you? Someone who'd sacrifice everything to see that you succeed."
"Ah!" Naruto clapped his hands. "There's only person I can think of who's all that."
Harry blinked in surprise. "Really? Who?"
"The old hag!"
"Naruto!" Harry scolded. "You can't call the only motherly figure you know an old hag."
"Why not? Tsunade ba-chan is old."
"Tsunade…you mean the Hokage? She's your motherly figure?" Harry asked in disbelief.
Naruto nodded absently. "Should I get her a case of sake?"
"You're not getting her alcohol as a mother's day gift."
"Why not?" Naruto seemed genuinely confused "She likes to drink. Aren't gifts supposed to be something you'll love?"
"Just no! Get her something nice. She must like other things too."
"But," Naruto said, "I don't know what she likes."
"Then ask someone who knows her better."
x-x-x-x-x
Sakura quirked an eyebrow up and stared at Naruto in disbelief."You want to get Tsunade-shishou a gift for Mother's day?" Naruto nodded.
"Tsunade-shishou?"
Naruto nodded again, shifting slightly so that he slouched in his cross-legged position.
Sakura shrugged and plucked some grass up from beside her and absently tossed them in the air. "Get her a case of sake."
Harry twitched.
"Nii-san said I shouldn't get her that. I should get her something nicer. Something else that she would like."
Sakura tapped her chin absently. "Well you can't get her any beauty products of spa treatments because she'll get insulted."
Harry frowned. "Why would she get insulted?"
"She'll think you're implying she's looking old."
Naruto nodded. "So no sake and no beauty products or spa treatments."
"Don't even bother buying clothes, because no one know her actual size. And trying to find that out..." Sakura shared a look with Naruto. And they both shuddered.
"Flowers?" Harry asked almost hesitantly.
Naruto frowned. "Isn't that too common? It won't be as special as a case of sake."
"Forget the sake!" Harry said. "What about jewellry?"
"She doesn't wear any," Sakura said as she leaned back and lay on the grass.
"Books?"
"She's the Hokage. She already has to read a lot of reports and treaties and things..." Sakura said. "Best not to get her a book."
Naruto jumped up. "All right. I've decided on what to get her…"
x-x-x-x-x
Harry glanced into the store window. "That's really pricey."Naruto nodded. "I remembered ero-sennin talking about this stuff before. Plus I remember him saying that the old hag always wanted to try this."
Harry sighed. "Well, it seems like the best thing to get. No chance of her getting mad at you or anything. Do you have enough money for it?"
"I have half price," Naruto chuckled. "But no need to worry. I'll visit the lottery vendor in a few minutes."
Harry blinked. "Okay. So you didn't want my help to pay for this?"
Naruto shook his head. "No, I was wondering if you'll help me with something else."
x-x-x-x-x
Shizune glanced down at the bright orange box and hid her smile as she entered the Hokage's office. "Tsunade-sama, there's a gift for you."Tsuande looked up from her scroll. "A gift?" She glanced at the orange box and twitched. "Is this a joke from the brat?"
"Tsunade-sama! Don't you know what day it is?"
Tsunade frowned. "It's not my birthday."
Shizune shoved the box onto the desk and said, "Just open it. I checked, it's not a gag gift of any kind."
"Fine!" Tsunade rolled her eyes. "I could do with a break anyway."
Shizune huffed but watched Tsunade's face carefully as she opened the box. She grinned when Tsunade's eyes widened and her mouth opened in obvious shock as she pulled up a large bottle.
"How..." Tsunade raised the bottle and pulled the paper card that hung from the strip aroung it's neck. "And it's the real thing too. How did that brat manage to buy a bottle of Hokage Sake. And why did he buy it, Shizune?"
Shizune smiled and pointedly glanced at the box.
Tsunade placed the bottle aside, glanced into the box again and pulled out an envelope. From it she pulled out a roughly made coupon book. "Mother's Day coupon book?"
Shizune stifled a chuckle as Tsuande flipped the pages.
"All these coupons are free repairs. Is that brat trying to imply something?" Tsuande said, even though there was a smile on his face.
"Naruto-kun made his cousin sign every coupon," Shizune said in amusement.
A knock interrupted them. "Tsunade-shishou?"
"Come in, Sakura!" Tsuande said as she looked through the coupons.
Sakura opened the door wide and held up a large bouquet of pink flowers. "You already got Naruto's gift then? Did he get you something other than sake?"
Tsuande quirked an eyebrow. "He told you he was getting me a gift?"
"He wanted to know what else you liked because he didn't want to get you anything too common." Sakura glanced back. "Lee, you can come in."
A large colourful bouquet filled up the doorway and Shizune smiled at the large banner within the bouquet that read 'Happy Mother's day'. Lee stumbled into the office and gingerly placed the large bouquet in front of the Hokage's desk.
"What..." Tsunade looked utterly surprised as she stared at the bouquet.
"After hearing about Naruto-kun's plan to give you a mother's day gift, I realized that I was an ungrateful person," Lee's eyes watered dramatically. "I should have done this after you healed me three years ago!"
Tsuande looked slightly uncomfortable. "There's no reason to feel bad..."
"And you are so merciful and understanding," Lee shouted. "As penance, I will run around Konoha the entire day telling everyone what a wonderful mother you are."
"What? That's not..." Tsunade twitched when Lee ran out of the room.
Sakura chuckled and placed her own bouquet on the table. "Happy Mother's day, shishou."
Before Tsunade could say anything there was another knock on the door.
Hours later, Shizune smiled with wide eyes as she looked around the entire room. "I've never seen the office this colourful. And so many flowers."
"Don't forget all the sake," Tsuande said with a slight roll of her eyes as she nodded to the small stick of sake cases on one side of the room. "I don't know who I should blame for all this."
Shizune grinned at Tsunade's attempts to hide her smile. "Probably Naruto-kun. And how many repair coupon books did you get?"
"I can't believe he signed all these." Tsunade chuckled at the small stack of coupon books on her desk. "That brat will go out of business with all the free repairs I can get from him." Tsuande grabbed the bottle of Hokage sake and smiled at it fondly.
"Are you going to start drinking now?"
Tsunade scoffed and made her way to the wall safe. With a drop of blood, she unsealed the safe and pushed the bottle in. "This is a special occasion sake. I better save it for when I select my successor," Tsunade said softly as she resealed the safe. "We better move these flowers to the hospital."
x-x-x-x-x
"Nii-san?"Harry groaned. "I don't care how much money they're offering, I'm not signing anything more. Leave me alone."
"Not that. Let's go get cake, my treat for all your hard work today."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, I might have lied. There was nothing little about that.Anyway to those of you who recognized the 'Hokage Sake'- yes, it's one of the more amusing things introduced in Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth manga.
Mother's Day fanart (or rather just normal mother-son fanart just to add to the whole sappiness of this post)
1. About mothers and sons by sanzo-sinclaireI just love this pic as a what-if that could have happened. There's something nice about seeing Kushina and Naruto together like this and it seems like something that would have been a common sight.
2- Happiness by dissolvedoxygen
Another what-if picture, this time for Lily and Harry. This seems like a scene that would have been a common sight too.
Anyway, that's it for today.
Polar
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