A New Ally

This can be considered a sort of indirect sequel for this old ridiculous omake. I just wanted to write/explore something about Manda and clear out some of the ideas cluttering head since I'm hammering out AtO's first draft at the moment.

When I say I'm writing AtO's first draft, I mean I'm trying to write all of AtO from chapter 16 onwards and reach the Epilogue chapter that I wrote ages ago.

As you can imagine, it's been crazy. Putting together everything I've kept as separate snippets, working out what-happens-when, seeing certain characters do things that I only vaguely planned about and watching the word-count grow is all kinds of scary. But it's also encouraging and productive.

Anyway, on to the story.

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The ship's sails flapped and rustled in the wind as the ship cut through the blue waves. 

Leaning over the railings, Harry reveled at the way his charmed glasses fended off the occasional spray of ocean water and allowed him a clear view of the ocean.

Beneath the blue waves, dark silhouettes of unknown fish both big and small kept Harry suitably entertained when everyone else on the ship was otherwise occupied.

The floorboards creaked as footsteps stopped beside him. 

“We're almost there,” Yamato said, his eyes fixed on the ocean as he mimicked Harry's pose against the railings. “The captain says we'll be able to see the black patch of ocean water soon.”

Harry nodded. “And he'll stop at the edge.”

Yamato nodded. “He doesn't want to be right on top of the deepest part of the ocean.”

“Can't blame him,” Harry said as he pushed his glasses up. “Especially since we know what it houses.” 

Yamato didn't reply.

“You still think I'm going on a fool's errand?” Harry said. 

“It's hard to accept,” Yamato said. “We would have known about it long before because people would have talked about it.Orochimaru's snake isn't... he's either delusional or luring you into a trap.”

Harry shook his head. “Manda seemed genuine about needing help with his love life. Anyway, I have to do this because he kept his side of the bargain and brought Sasuke back.” 

Yamato's lips pursed into a thin line.

“So,” Harry said after a moment of thought. “Do you dislike snakes or Sasuke more?”

“I don't dislike Sasuke,” Yamato said, his eyes scanning the ocean intently.

Harry hadn't been surprised when the rest of Team 7- even Sai- had opted to stick close to Sasuke in Konoha. But he had been surprised when Yamato had volunteered to accompany Harry on his quest to help Manda.

“I don't,” Yamato repeated firmly. “And I'm fine with snakes.”

Harry pulled up his sleeve, uncovering the small purple snake coiled around his wrist. 

The wood around them creaked, a little louder than normal, and Yamato pointed to the black stretch of ocean under the sunlight with something akin to relief. “There it is. What are you going to do now?”

 “I'm going to call his lady love.” Harry rustled around in his pockets and pulled out a small scroll. As it unfurled, he pushed a bit of his chakra into the scroll and chucked it into the ocean just as the seals lit up. The light from the seal lit up the blackness of the water.

“What was that?” Yamato asked warily, sounding like he didn't want to know. 

“Something that's bound to get some attention from the very depths of the ocean,” Harry said simply.

“Who gave you something like that?”

“Does it matter?” Harry asked, watching as the underwater light show fizzled back into blackness.

“I don't think it will wor....” Yamato's breath caught as the water in front of them churned and bubbled. 

With an explosion of water, a large serpentine head surged upward. With gleaming black scales, vivid blue eyes and large fangs, the creature looking down at them seemed ready to devour their entire boat.

“My lady,” Harry hissed. “Forgive me for the crude method I used to call you up to the surface but I had no other way to contact you.”

The sea serpent paused, retracted it's fangs and lowered it's head curiously. Then it hissed back, “How do you speak my kind's tongue so easily, human?”

Harry shrugged. “It's just something I can do. I can't give you a proper explanation of how it works, my lady.”

“At least you're polite,” she hissed. “I'll refrain from drowning you just yet. Why have you called upon me?”

“Thank you,” Harry said, deciding it was best to be as polite as possible. “I'm here to talk on behalf of a snake you know.”

The sea serpent’s menacing aura shifted into an annoyed resignation. “That fool Manda.”

Harry nodded. 

“How many more decades is he going to spend bothering me?” she hissed almost to herself. 

Seeing a chance to say something positive about Manda, Harry said, “He's very dedicated to you.”

“No boy,” the sea serpent hissed. “He's dedicated to the idea of starting a strong line. A line of snakes that could dominate a battle both on land and in water.”

“That bothers you?” Harry asked tentatively. 

“No. In the beginning, I too wanted that.”

Harry frowned in confusion. “But not anymore?”

“I do not want any of my offspring bound to Manda's summoner.” 

“Sasuke?” Harry blurted. 

“What about Sasuke?” Yamato asked, his eyes fixed on the sea serpent. 

Wondering why he had switched out of parseltongue, Harry said, “She said she doesn't want any of her offspring bound to Manda's summoner.”

“I think she means Orochimaru, not Sasuke.”

“I am talking about Orochimaru,” the sea serpent rasped out.

“He's dead,” Harry said. He turned to Yamato. “Sasuke killed him, right?”

“I highly doubt that.” She glanced at Harry and hissed. “That man won't die so easily.” 

“Is there any way to know if he's dead for sure?” Harry asked out loud, shooting Yamato a pointed glance. 

The sea serpent answered. “Manda will know.”

“Should I summon him, then?” Harry asked. 

“You can summon him?” Yamato asked in horror. 

At the same time, the sea serpent said, "You are his summoner?" She sounded disbelieving and added a hissed, "You seem much too sensible to be one of his summoners."

Harry snorted in amusement. "I'm not his summoner. He's given me a temporary means of contacting him while I talk to you."

"Very well," she said. "Summon the fool." 

Ignoring Yamato's sudden bout of coughing, Harry raised his sleeve and prodded the small purple snake that was still sleeping around his wrist.

A small golden eye peeked up at him, looking disgruntled at being disturbed. 

Before he could get a retaliatory bite, Harry hissed. "The Lady of the ocean will speak to Manda now."

The purple snake raised it's head and froze in disbelief as it caught side of the large sea serpent staring down at them.

“You heard the boy,” the sea serpent hissed impatiently.

The snake turned and bit it's tail. With a flash of chakra, ink appeared around Harry. 

Yamato tugged Harry aside just as the large purple body of Manda appeared. 

“I hope the boat doesn't sink,” Harry said as he clutched the railings.

“You think about that only after you summon the colossal snake?” Yamato yelled in disbelief. 

“Don't worry,” the sea serpent said. “The boat is safe until the end of our conversation.” As though to prove her words, the water around the boat glowed with chakra. 

"Eirin," Manda hissed in wonder. "You've agreed to..."

“Is he still alive?” Eirin interrupted. “Are you still bound to him?”

“Our contract remains active,” Manda said after a long moment of silence. 

For Yamato's benefit, Harry said, “Orochimaru is still alive.”

“Hokage-sama will need to know,” Yamato said with a tired sigh. “The logistics of restarting all the tracking missions and...” He paused as he noticed everyone's rapt attention on him. 

Seeing an opportunity, Harry said, “See, we already have a plan to deal with Orochimaru.”

Manda might have scoffed but Eirin looked interested. “A plan?”

Harry turned to Yamato with a pointed look. 

“Orochimaru is a wanted enemy of Konohagakure, we won't stop until he is dealt with.”

Harry nodded when Eirin turned to him for confirmation. 

Eirin turned to Manda, “And what are you doing?”

“Doing?” Manda asked. 

“About Orochimaru you fool,” Eirin said. “What are you doing to break the contract with him?”

“Our offspring will be strong enough to end our contract with humans as a whole.”

“Fool!”

“Looks like they're not going to make any progress,” Yamato whispered. “We'll have to increase security for Sasuke if Manda retaliates for this failure.”

Picturing Naruto's disappointed face, Harry took a deep breath and said, “I have a plan.”

x-x-x-x-x

“So instead of going with Manda, the sea serpent decided to come and stay in Konoha,” Tsunade said, her face devoid of any emotion.

Harry nodded. “That's the jist of it.”

Tsunade closed her eyes and took her deep breath. 

“So, are you okay with this?” Harry asked. 

“Okay?” Tsunade let out a hysterical little laugh. “Who would be okay with allowing a large animal like that to take up residence in the village?”

“She's only staying till Orochimaru dies. And then she'll go with Manda.” Wincing at Yamato's sharp jab to his side, Harry amended, “Probably. I'm sure he'll convince her to leave when he visits.”

“That bastard still causes outrageous problems,” Tsunade muttered as she ruffled though her desk drawers.

“She might even help kill Orochimaru,” Harry said, hoping that would smooth things over.

“Shizune!” Tsunade yelled. “Where's my sake?”

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I'm amused by the idea of Harry eventually impressing Eirin so much that she decides to create a contract. So Harry ends up being the first summoner of the sea serpents. And Manda gets all huffy but Eirin counters him easily. And somewhere along the way Harry and Sasuke have to negotiate with each other about the two snake clans joining together because they are the main/powerful summoners.

Yeah, okay, maybe that's a bit too much thinking about this. I'm going to stop there.

I don't think sea serpents will show up in AtO. As for Manda, well, I have conflicting ideas on how I want him to appear in AtO. I might just even kill him off-screen to spare myself the trouble of writing him in.

  

Polar