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“Harii,” Danzo greeted from his
spot beside the metal gate. “Shikaku.”
Walking beside the tall and white
specked Rikumaru, Harii waved back a greeting. “Hope you don't mind
Nara-san tagging along. He was worried about Rikumaru.”
“It would be good to have the Nara
clan head along,” Danzo said. “I'm sure it will be educational to
see the deer be more than just a grazing animal.”
Though Shikaku didn't say anything and
didn't even look at the older man, the already uncomfortable air
between them turned ever more sour.
With an enthusiasm that he didn't
actually feel, Harry ignored their silent exchange and looked into
the sinister forest beyond the chain-linked fence . “Shall we go
in, then?”
Past the gates, the sticky humidity
under the trees coupled with the tense silence between the older men
made Harry regret ever agreeing to the trip.
“Are we in the right place?” Harry
asked, more than an hour later, breaking their long silence for the
first time. “This forest doesn't seem dangerous. In fact, it's the
most peaceful stroll I've ever been on.”
“It is strange,” Danzo said with a
careful tone.
“Don't jinx us,” Shikaku muttered,
low but pointed at Harry.
“Nothing is happening,” Harry
pointed out as he glanced at the Nara.
The foliage to the right rustled.
Shikaku pursed his lips as though he
was barely holding in a long suffering sigh.
Harry would have been amused if he
wasn't worried about what was in the grass.
Rikumaru went towards the rustling
before anyone could do anything. In the next instant, his head
disappeared into the long and thick grass and he huffed and snorted.
Harry ignored Shikaku's warning look
and knelt beside Rikumaru. With a blink, he leaned forward and pulled
out a small shivering form. “A tiger cub.”
Shikaku sighed.
A quick glance showed that Danzo had
raised his walking stick like it was a weapon.
“It's a tiger cub,” Harry told them
with a pointed look as he used a simple warming spell on the cub.
“The tigers of this forest are
vicious,” Danzo said.
“Especially mothers searching for
their lost cubs,” Shikaku pointed out with urgency.
Rikumaru licked the small cub's fur
with short soothing strokes.
“I'm not leaving it here alone,”
Harry said, using a spell to check it for injuries. “It's obviously
lost.”
“It's mother will track it down,”
Danzo said. “They have a superior sense of smell.”
Before Harry could give into common
sense, the tiny cub mewled and curled tighter in his hands. “I
can't leave it alone,” Harry decided as he pulled the cub close to
his chest. “I'm going to find it's mother.”
“No!” Shikaku said.
“I did the same for Trouble,” Harry
argued as the cub purred against his chest.
“Deer don't eat people,” Shikaku
narrowed his eyes. “The mother will find...”
Danzo interrupted, “She's already
here.”
Shikaku tensed and turned to the
direction that Danzo was watching.
As though realizing there was no need
to stay hidden, a tiger that was twice as tall as a grown man,
emerged from the forest on silent steps. Gleaming yellow eyes focused
on Harry as it growled.
A sound that made his bones shudder and
his heart thud with primal fear.
Rikumaru straightened and moved closer
to Harry, not a tremor in his body as he stared back at the much
larger tiger.
Not completely reassured, Harry still
knelt down and placed the cub on the ground.
The cub protested the change quite
loudly and scrambled to get back to the comfortable warmth.
Harry patted it's head and fought
against his unhelpful urge to keep the squirming cub close.
Before he could do anything else, the
tiger's head appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the cub by the
scruff of it's neck with a gentleness that belied it's many sharp
teeth.
As Harry looked into the yellow eyes,
the tiger snorted at him with what he hoped was thanks and jumped
back into the forest's foliage.
“Well, that went well,” Harry said,
the tiger's breath on his face still warm. He put a hand on
Rikumaru's neck and stood, trying to get his thudding heart to calm
down. “Maybe we should go back.”
Shikaku looked like that was the best
thing he had heard all day.
“Quite,” Danzo said, his cane back
on the ground.
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This AU is just Harry becoming a Disney
princess. Also maybe he mutates some animals or something, I dunno.
Also Danzo is super jealous, deep down.
Polar
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