Prompt Fill: Uzumaki Dangers

Happy New Year! I hope you've had a good, or at least an okay/ not so terrible, 2018 so far.

So this prompt came in during December/Advent Event: “Hi! Do you still take suggestions for the calendar? If so I would love to see Harry coming to Konoha much earlier, when Naruto had really been rather annoying, Sakura was an awful human being and Sasuke was... There. ;) I simply think the big-brother role Harry has would be even more pronounced and that could lead to all sorts of differences.”

With all the holiday shenanigans, I had to put a break on filling prompts.

I'm glad I did.

Anon, behold all of the differences of your prompt fill.

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Three weeks of rather benign imprisonment had taught Harry a few things.

One, the Uzumaki had a lot of valued secrets that people wanted.

Two, not knowing any of those secrets made Harry's life both easy and hard. Easy, because he couldn't give away any secrets under any circumstance. Hard, because after three weeks of magically maintained silence, his captors probably categorized him as a formidable secret keeper.

Three, his captors wanted him to like them. Or at least, not hate them completely. Instead of a prison cell, he was in a house. A secluded house in the middle of the forest, but still a house. And even with his 'stubborn' silence, they never resorted to violence. But Harry wasn't sure how long that patience would last.

The severe bands of black ink on Harry's hands itched all the way down to his bones. Ignoring the itch meant having to deal with the angry buzz of his still holstered wand instead. Both options made his current captivity even more annoying to deal with.

The smart thing to do was leave with the help of his magic. They hadn't been able to take away his wand holster and they couldn't even sense when he did magic to make his imprisonment easier.

But they had made a fleeting mention of another Uzumaki during one of their first 'conversations'. A calming spell had helped him not react back then, but the thought had stayed in his mind. What better way to get him to talk, than to have him talk to another Uzumaki? At least, Harry hoped that's what they thought. That's why he stayed.

That's why he willingly followed his masked guard out of his plain bedroom and down the wooden corridors to the meeting room where their 'conversations' occurred.

Though the Homenum Revelio spell warned Harry of new visitors, his first glimpse of one specific visitor irritated him.

A child. A blond child.

“Another mind reader?” Harry asked, his voice rough from being unused. But the calming spell kept his words steady. “Will a child have better luck entering my mind instead of a grown man?”

Before the old village leader could reply, the boy straightened with an indignant scrunch of his eyebrows. “I'm not from Ino's clan. I don't try to contro...”

“Naruto,” the village leader interrupted with a sigh. “Introduce yourself to our guest, Naruto.”

“Why?” the blond boy frowned deeper, his narrowed eyes demanding an explanation from the old man.

The old man sighed again, as though regretting everything. “Just do it.”

With a dramatic intake of breath, the boy said, “You pulled me away from training to meet some weirdo? How am I supposed to get strong enough to win the exams when...”

“Naruto!” the old man interrupted.

The boy scoffed at the tone, unrepentant as he said, “I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the next Hokage!”

A heavy but expectant silence filled the room.

“Uzumaki?” Harry scoffed. “Did they tell you to say that name?”

Outrage suffused the boy's unhappy features. “Why would they tell me to say my own name?” He demanded, no guile in his demeanour.

“To make me feel obligated to talk to another Uzumaki.”

It took a ridiculously long moment for the words to register and when it did, the blond looked at him with wide blue eyes. “You... are you?”

There was an honest emotion in that voice, a fear and genuine longing that tugged at Harry.

This had to be a trick to make Harry talk.

But Harry knelt in front of the boy, and looked. Really looked for any physical similarities between them.

With bright blond hair, the boy didn't have the traditional Uzumaki looks. But the fragile emotions in his blue eyes were easy to recognize.

Harry stretched his arm out and touched the whiskered cheek, ignoring the rise in tension from the others in the room. “Which one of your parents had red hair?”

The blond looked at Harry with wide blue eyes. “What?”

“My grandmother and mother had the Uzumaki red hair. I'd show you photos, but I don't have my things with me.”

“I don't....” The boy glanced at the old man as though for guidance but turned back to Harry with a lost expression. “I'm an orphan,” he whispered with reluctance.

“If they brought you here to meet me, then they know which of your parents was an Uzumaki. Maybe even have photos. Why didn't they tell you?”

“That's enough,” the old man interrupted, the air in the room growing heavy with intent.

Unconcerned, Harry patted the whiskered cheek with a wry smile. “You mother must have been the Uzumaki.”

A masked man materialized beside them.

Harry stood and turned away from the shocked boy.

“You shouldn't have brought him here,” Harry said, when they were back in his room. The masked man, with a familiar cat mask, painted new ink designs on Harry. “He'll want answers. He'll never stop wanting. That's the fate of orphans, you know. No matter how much time passes, we'll always want.” That want was what had led Harry to Konoha in the first place.

The masked man didn't react to Harry's words. He never did. In a flash of light, ink covered Harry's fingertips, as though his mere touch was dangerous.

Three days later, after Harry have finally convinced himself that they'd never let him meet the kid again, they led him down to the meeting room once again.

“It was mom,” the blond said, the moment Harry stepped through the door. Ill-concealed pain suffused what should have been a happy subject. “With long red hair.”

Harry nodded at the information, surprised by the silence of the other visitors.

Naruto bit his lips at the silence and said, “Do you know any super cool jutsu?”

Harry shrugged. “Not really.”

“But we're part of the same clan,” Naruto said. “Don't clans have super awesome secrets techniques that only clan members can use? Stupid Sasuke has those freaky copy eyes of his which let him cheat a lot and...”

Harry had let the rush of words wash over him. Even though he didn't understand most of it, the chatter soothed him.

“Are you going to watch me during the exams?”

Harry shrugged. “I'm not sure I'm allowed to.”

“What?” Naruto yelled, at a pitch that made Harry's ears ache. He turned to the other people that Harry had ignored. “Old man, why can't nii-san come to watch me fight?”

The room spiked in tension.

“Why do you need to fight in an exam?” Harry asked, a frown breaking past his magic calm.

Distracted from his ire, Naruto said, “To become a Chūnin I need to show that I'm super strong by defeating everyone in the exam. A super awesome jutsu would make my victory look cool.”

“Sometimes it's the small things that can be the key to victory,” Harry said.

Naruto frowned. “What kind of small thing?”

Harry tilted his head, considering the best way to answer. Maybe a personal experience from when Harry was Naruto's age would help him connect. “Imagine, you have to fight a giant snake.” Everyone, including Naruto, reacted but Harry ignored them. “What's the smallest thing you could do against it?”

Naruto opened his mouth and then closed it with a frown. He did a few times before he looked at Harry with a waiting expression.

“The eyes. Doesn't matter how big something is, if it's got eyes, aim for them.”

Naruto nodded like he had been handed great wisdom.

“If that doesn't do anything,” Harry said, “you run.”

“Nii-san!” Naruto exclaimed, outraged at the words. “You should never run away.”

“You should if you have to,” Harry countered. “Surviving is more important than winning.”

Cat-mask materialized beside Harry, a sign that the meeting was over.

Naruto frowned, “It hasn't been than long!”

Over the next few days, without any visits to distract him, Harry reworked his escape plan.

He was contemplating one of his plans when the world shook.

A magical scan showed only one guard in the vicinity. His lone guard- Cat-mask - raced into the room, grabbed Harry's arm, and then they were outside racing through a myriad of chaos.

Harry had brief glimpses of battles before they stopped on a tiled roof, steps away from a hissing purple barrier that contained four people fighting.

Though Harry only recognized the old man in black armour, the two men in red and blue armour grabbed all of Harry's attention. Something about them chilled Harry to the bone.

“Are those two... what are they?” Harry asked before he could stop himself.

“They've been resurrected and controlled by Orochimaru,” one of the many masked men on the roof said with a cautious tone, motioning at a gloating pale man inside the barrier. “An impure resurrection.”

As opposed to a pure resurrection, Harry wanted to ask. Instead he said, “Why did you bring me here?”

“Any help now would look good when your... situation is assessed in the future. Another meeting with him. A long one.”

Harry snorted, unable to hide his scorn at the offer.

“Can you help?” Cat-mask asked.

Harry held up his hand until his sleeves fell back. The barrier's purple light illuminated the menacing ink designs on his skin.

Cat-mask's fingers glowed blue. In a rush of heat, ink oozed out from Harry's skin and splattered down onto the roof tiles before disappearing in another blaze of light.

Harry flexed his hands, relived at the lack of itch but searched his skin for any lingering traces of black ink.

“The barrier,” Cat-mask reminded Harry.

Harry ignored the distant sounds of battle and the impatience of his masked companion to concentrate on the barrier. The hisses resolved into words, too many to make any sense of. Surprised but at the same time, not surprised, Harry pictured a snake in front of him and hissed, “Let me through.”

The barrier actually fell silent for all of a secont before it hissed even louder with a cacophony of overlapping hisses.

Harry narrowed his eyes and hissed with more determination. “Let me through!”

Part of the barrier lightened to a hazy pink. Harry stepped through it, into the tree filled area beyond, ignoring the startled gasps behind him. Something smacked the barrier behind him with a sizzle and pained cursed.

Harry was glad that the barrier followed his request to the letter. He hadn't asked for anyone else to be let through. But he had no idea what to do next. Especially in the middle of a battle.

A blue and white blur landed in front of Harry.

An Immobulus spell froze his attacker, but the man's icy cold fingers still grazed Harry's neck.

Harry's skin blazed with magic that vanished at the point of contact.

“Finite,” Harry waved his wand in a panic to get away from the leeching sensation.

The white-haired man didn't attack. “Uzumaki chakra,” he said, his unnerving red irises gleaming against black sclera. Then he looked at the red-armoured man. “You need to free my brother as well.”

Harry rubbed at the cold spot on his neck, wand clutched tight in his other hand. “I wasn't trying to... I didn't free you.”

“You did because I'm not trying to kill you,” the man replied with an unsympathetic voice, red eyes on Harry's wand. “And you need to do it once more. With multiple opponents, Hashirama might switch to his more lethal arsenal. If I escalate in response, that wouldn't catastrophic.”

“I didn't do anything! You were the one stealing my,” Harry stopped himself from saying magic.

“I'll get your near Hashirama,” the white haired man said, his fingers curling with intent. Before Harry could argue, he grabbed Harry's arm just as an all consuming darkness erupted around them.

They landed with a jarring thud and Harry's hand slammed onto something solid but fleshy.

Another jolt of cold pulled right at Harry's insides.

“Finite,” Harry screeched. Some of the darkness around him vanished.

“Are you awake now, brother?” the white-haired man said with a wry tone as he steadied Harry.

In front of them, the red armoured man rubbed his cheek and stared at Harry. “What? Tobirama, what is going on?”

“The Edo Tensei, even one that has been modified from my original plans can be countered,” Tobirama said as though he was observing the weather. “Especially by an Uzumaki.”

Hashirama hummed in agreement as he flexed his fingers.

Hisses came out of the darkness. A pale body shot towards them, face twisted in a murderous anger.

“How dare you try and go against me? I brought you here and I control you,” the pale man said.

“You certainly don't lack in confidence,” Hashirama said.

“Only common sense,” Tobirama muttered. “Where has Saru gone off to?” He glanced down at Harry. “Let's not get in his way. Especially since you're still alive.”

When they landed a few feet away from Hashirama, Harry said, “How did you know I was an Uzumaki?”

“You have chakra similar to Mito,” Tobirama said.

“And Mito is?”

Tobirama frowned at him. “My sister-in-law. Hashirama's wife.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “And who are you two?”

Tobirama's frown deepened. “Aren't we in Konoha? Shouldn't you know who we are just by looking at us?”

Harry snorted. “I came to Konoha recently, but I've only seen the inside of my prison. A nice prison house, but it was still a prison.”

“You were captive?”

“Apparently being an Uzumaki is a crime in Konoha.” Harry said with a shake of his head. “So if you can tell I'm an Uzumaki just by my... chakra, can you find other Uzumaki?” When Tobirama just tilted his head instead of giving him an answer, Harry said, “Naruto is younger than me. I need to make sure he's all right.”

Red eyes turned to the barrier. “I can't sense anything clearly outside of this barrier.”

“Okay,” Harry holstered his wand and walked to the barrier.

Tobirama grabbed Harry's arm. “You don't just walk up to a barrier.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “The barrier let me in here. It will let me out.”

This time it only took one hiss for a portion of the barrier to lighten to a welcoming pink.

“Well?” Harry asked as they stepped out of the barrier.

Tobirama closed his eyes and said, “I can sense another person with Uzumaki chakra quite a distance away.”

“Only one other person?” Harry asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

“Were there supposed to be others?”

Harry shrugged. “I was a prisoner. I don't really know much about Konoha's Uzumaki.”

“Uzumaki,” Cat-mask said in a cautious tone. “And... Nidaime-sama?”

“Nidaime-sama?” Harry looked at Tobirama in confusion.

Cat-mask shot a quick glance behind Harry.

Turning, Harry saw a mountain with four faces carved on them. Three of those faces he recognized. “So you were both leaders of this place?” Harry said with a frown. “I suppose that explains why you two were brought back to fight the current leader.”

“Uzumaki, the barrier,” another masked man said with an impatient tone.

“There's no point in any of you going inside,” Harry turned to Tobirama. “Right?”

Tobirama nodded. “The barrier will soon break under Hashirama's strength. For now, let it contain his power.”

“Of course, Nidaime-sama,” the masked man bowed deferentially.

“Let's go see what your... Naruto is doing. His chakra is erratic,” Tobirama said, his red eyes gazing out into the distance.

“And you can sense it even though he's far away?”

“He's like Mito,” Tobirama said, energy gathering around his body. “There's no way I wouldn't sense that chakra. To cover that distance will be disorienting.”

“As long as I get to him,” Harry said.

“Wait,” Cat-mask said, but he disappeared in a blur.

The moment the landed in the middle of the forest, Tobirama flickered away from Harry. He returned to Harry with an unconscious blond and flickered up again.

When he landed in front of Harry, Tobirama held another boy in his arms.

“Red hair,” Harry said.

“He's not an Uzumaki.”

Harry nodded. “I know that. The red is the wrong shade for that. But it's still nice to see red hair.”

The red head looked between them with a mixture of confusion and anger.

“Put him down,” Harry said with a sigh. “You're probably making his injuries worse.”

“If he was fighting your... Naruto, then he is the enemy.”

“He's a kid,” Harry said, “Put him down.”

“You're planning to leave,” Tobirama said as he put the redhead down and motioned to Naruto. “With him.”

“I can't let him stay here,” Harry wiped the blood off Naruto's forehead. “They didn't even tell him about his parents. They didn't tell him his mother was an Uzumaki until I... he deserves better.”

“A life on the run?” Tobirama asked. “Konoha won't let him go so easily. I'm sure there are others here who will be able to track him to wherever you try to take him.”

Harry shook his head. “There is a place where they can't reach.”

Tobirama's hand moved, stopping a weapon inches from Harry's face.

“Let him go,” a black-haired boy snarled at Harry, red eyes spinning with murderous intent.

“Uchiha,” Tobirama sighed as he twirled the weapon.

“Are you Naruto's friend?” Harry asked the boy.

“Let him go,” the boy repeated, a new weapon gleaming in his hand as fiery marks inched across one cheek.

“I won't!” Harry said, spells coming to the forefront of his mind.

“Nii-san,” Naruto said, blinking dazed blue eyes up at Harry. “You came?”

The black-haired boy, the Uchiha, stilled but the wild look in his eyes didn't dissipate.

Naruto blinked, turned and struggled when he saw the redhead. “You!”

Harry tightened his hold on Naruto.

The redhead gulped. “How are you still able to move?”

“Nothing will stop me from protecting my important people,” Naruto gasped out. “If you try, I'll stop you.”

“Why? Why are you going so far for other people?” There was a desperate edge in the redhead's voice that made Harry uncomfortable.

“Because,” Naruto breathed in and blinked. “They saved me from the hell of being alone.”

Harry tightened his grip around Naruto.

The boys stared at each other for a long while before the redhead sighed and looked up at the sky.

Naruto wasn't ready to give up.

Not until the black-haired boy landed in Naruto's line of sight. “That's enough Naruto. He's out of chakra. His sand fell apart and Sakura is safe.”

Naruto sighed and relaxed into Harry's grip, once again unconscious.

“He's used up a lot of his chakra,” Tobirama said, his eyes fixed on Harry. “Rest is the best cure for that.” He turned to the side with a curious tilt of his head.

“Gaara!” Two grim-faced teenagers landed in the clearing. A blonde girl with a large fan drawn and a battered boy with a black cowl whose fingers twitched.

“Don't!” the redhead said, the warning in his voice clear.

The two older teens hesitated, torn between emotions that Harry couldn't read.

“Siblings.” Tobirama said with a nod as though he actually understood what was going on.

“They're from Suna,” the Uchiha said, his tone bitter but his expression cautious as he looked at Tobirama. “Related to the Kazekage, I think.”

Tobirama glanced at him, “Suna sided against Konoha. So, prisoners.”

The blonde girl stepped in front of the other boy as though to shield him.

“No,” Harry said.

Tobirama glanced at him.

“No more prisoners.”

The Uchiha frowned at Harry with his spinning red eyes and turned to Tobirama as though waiting for his final verdict.

“Take your brother,” Tobirama said, his red eyes never leaving Harry.

Grateful but wary teal eyes glanced at Harry as the blonde girl stepped forward and grabbed the redhead with ease. All three siblings vanished in a rush of dry wind.

“Heading away from Konoha,” Tobirama informed them.

“What now?” Harry asked.

“I thought you had a plan? Or at least a back up plan?”

Harry scoffed. “Plans never work. And anyway... why are you still here? Your summoner must have been defeated by now.”

Tobirama tilted his head. “You broke his hold over us. And I have been following your... suggestions ever since.”

“I didn't take control of you.”

“Someone brought back through Edo Tensei cannot exist by themselves,” Tobirama said. “Whatever you did to break his hold on us, bound us to you.”

“Then go back to being dead,” Harry said.

“Uchiha,” Tobirama said, glancing at the silent black-haired boy who was watching them with cautious red eyes. “Can you see any chakra connection between the two of us?”

Red eyes spun between Harry and Tobirama. “Nothing, Nidaime-sama.”

Tobirama nodded as though he had expected that. “You've mutated my old technique into something different. So you'll need to be the one who undoes this resurrection.”

Harry frowned at the undead man and raised his right hand. “Finite Incantatum.”

Tobirama's body twitched as magic visibly crackled across the undead skin and sunk down like water into day sand.

“Well, shit,” Harry said.

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Let's just say, entering Konoha after the second stage of the Chuunin exams was terrible timing. Or maybe I was just in a strange mood when I wrote this.

Polar