Healing Touch (Part 3)

Another part for this AU (Here's Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed it). Yeah, I just can't help myself.

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“So you've finally come to check on your team-mate,” Jiraiya said, giving her a strong disappointed look. 

At his bedside, Orochimaru rolled his eyes. “He's been like this ever since he regained consciousness. You did the smart thing by staying away, Tsunade.”

As the persistent knot of worry about his condition faded into a relieved ease, Tsunade said, “I knew you weren't dying, so there as nothing to worry about. Besides I had family matters to deal with.”

Jiraiya gasped, looking betrayed. “I could have died.”

“Fools don't die so easily,” Orochimaru said. 

Tsunade nodded solemnly. “And you are a super fool.”

“You're both horrible. No one else has to suffer with such horrible unfeeling team-mates,” Jiraiya bemoaned. 

Ignoring his dramatics, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. “Your family?”

It took a moment for Tsunade to follow his line of thought and understand what he was asking, “Oh, no no. Everyone is fine and their usual selves. Nawaki made a fool of himself in front of Reina again.”

Orochimaru smirked in amusement.

“Poor boy,” Jiraiya said, sounding more amused than consoling. 

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?”

Healing Touch (Part 2)

A second part to that Tsunade and Harry AU bit that I wrote in December. I've named it 'Healing touch' for now but I might change the name later if I come up with something better.

Warnings: Not too edited.

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“Did you enjoy your outdoor survival training?” Tsunade asked in lieu of a greeting as a short brown haired boy, her six year old brother, trudged up to her.

With dirt in his hair and a scowl, Nawaki said, “Why didn't you tell it was going to be so horrible?”

Tsunade snorted and combed through his hair, shaking away the dirt. “I told you a week survival training was nothing to be excited about. But you just kept thinking it was a camping trip.”

“It was a camping trip from hell!” Nawaki said, “A giant leech fell on me. I thought I was going to die.”

Tsunade couldn't stop her lips from twitching as she guided her brother out of the newly built academy grounds. “You screamed, didn't you?” 

Nawaki held up a strong front for all of 30 seconds before he slumped in despair. “Reina laughed when she picked it off me and killed it.”

“That girl is going to be a formidable ninja when she graduates,” Tsunade said, stifling her laughter at Nawaki's continued bad luck with his crush.

AC_D21: Crossover Senju Romance

But not really romance right now.

This is a continuation of this post. So there are some common points between the story bits because I did write them within minutes of each other.

Warnings: Plotholes. And still not really romance. The only connection to AtO is that Harry is an Uzumaki.
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Tsunade
"Grandma." Tsuande kicked off her sandals and rushed in through the open door. "I'm back and..." she paused as she entered the living room and found her grandmother seated opposite a guest- a pale, black-haired youth with bright green eyes who seemed a few years older than her.

"Tsunade-chan, welcome back. How was your mission?"

"It was good," Tsuande said even though it wasn't. She wasn't going to talk about the end of mission. Especially not in front of a guest.

"I'm glad. You're just in time to meet my cousin who's come here from Uzushiogakure for a visit."

Tsunade started and took a closer look at the guest. It had been a long time since any Uzumaki had come to visit Konoha. There certainly hadn't been any visits in the fifteen years since she'd been born.

AC_D19: Crossover Romance (Senju Edition)

It's been a while since I've done one of these. And I thought it's about time to give it another go- but maybe try to be a bit more serious about them. Here's the previous not-so-serious attempts at writing romance: Crossover Romance Drabbles, (Part 2)

I tried to stick with a theme of 'First meetings' for both these story bits. So already you can tell these are more of pre-romance than actual romance.

Maybe some day I will actually write a proper romance.

Warnings: Plotholes. And still not really romance. The only connection to AtO is that Harry is an Uzumaki.
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Tobirama
"He doesn't look like an Uzumaki at all," Tobirama hissed to his brother. "What kind of Uzumaki has Uchiha features? We shouldn't have let them wander around on their own."

Hashirama shushed him with a quick glare laced with killing intent as Mito dragged her black haired companion forward. "I hope you two have been enjoying Konoha so far," Hashirama said.

The black haired man shrugged. "It's got potential. I think Mito will be happy here."

Tobirama tensed. Was there some hidden meaning in those words?

Mito huffed. "Don't act like a snob, Harii."

"You're one to talk. After all your commentary and zoning plans for the village... are you acting all demure for your future husband?" Harii said with a teasing smile that lit up his bright green eyes.

Mito gave him a long suffering look that made her aristocratic features look more human.

Hashirama grinned, apparently thrilled at their banter. "I'm glad to hear that. We're still building and planning. I'll be glad to hear any input to improve what we're set up so far."

Harii tilted his head. "If you need input, then you definitely need to talk to Nara-san. She has some interesting ideas."

AC_D18: Team 7 goes to Hogwarts

Or more specifically, Naruto, Sakura and Sai go to Hogwarts. Are they Team Yamato in that combination even when Yamato isn't there? Or are they just Team 7? I like them being Team 7.

Anyway, this isn't AtO related. Just another short attempt at putting a spin on an old crossover cliche.

Warnings: Plotholes
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Sakura rubbed at the newly inked seal on her arm as she followed Naruto through the stone corridors. The worn stone corridors felt old, much older than the abandoned temples scattered around Fire Country.

A few of Sai's ink insects returned from their scouting and passed through the layered genjutsu she was using to hide her team's presence. One insect landed on her wrist, splattered into ink which shifted on her skin to form the words, 'No fixed pattern for stairs. Need alternate route."

Naruto changed directions, showing that he too had gotten Sai's message. Or maybe his henge-ed clones had sent the information back to him already.

Sakura wished they had a usable map of the location. It would have helped them reach their destination faster instead of wasting time with scouting the location. But the only other team that had ventured here decades ago had been unable to produce a map of the castle.

Researchers suspected something had removed the useful information. Luckily, one of the previous team had remembered a distinct painting at their mission destination. So they weren't completely clueless about where they needed to go.

AC_D15: A wild Uchiha appears

And chaose ensues, as expected.

Writing an Uchiha seemed like a fun thing to do for today- the 15th day of the Advent calendar.

Warnings: Plot holes and a very impossible scenario. Not part of AtO
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Harry had never considered himself directionally challenged but after the strange thick fog had filled the forest around him, he had lost all bearings. Even Hedwig seemed bothered by the low hanging fog and stayed perched on his shoulder.

As he moved forward in the hopes of finding some shelter from the disorienting fog, a pained groan and a wet cough made Harry pause. Feeling an intense sense of deja vu, Harry called out, "Hello? Are you all right? Do you need help?"

Just like the last time Harry had been in this situation, the person refused to answer and tried to muffle their coughs.

"I can still hear you," Harry muttered as he followed the muffled sounds. In a matter of minutes, the sharp metallic stench of blood in the air guided Harry to find a person slumped by a tree a few feet away.

AC_D10: Magic and Manda (Part 2)

Day 10 of the Advent Calender calls for the continuation of my favourite crack HPxNaruto ideas.

Say hello to everyone's favourite snake... Manda. That's a lie. He's nobody's favourite. Not even his mother's. Poor guy.

Anyway if you're confused, here's the first part of Magic and Manda in case you haven't read it before.

Warnings: Crack so there are plotholes. And still very short.
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“You're the boy who killed my little brother,” Manda said, a little irritated that he needed to speak in this foreign human language. It had been a long time since he'd had to converse in one of the languages of the Western world.

The boy, a small tiny thing even by human standards with poisonous green eyes, kept his thin wooden stick pointed at Manda's head as he hissed back, “Do you mean the basilisk?”

Manda stilled in surprise. Because the hiss hadn't just been accents to the human language, it was the proper hissing of a snake.

His younger sibling had said something about rare humans being able to speak their unique tongue. But Manda hadn't really believed him and dismissed it as delusional talk. Something that his brother said to get into their mother's good graces.

“Yes,” Manda lowered his head and hissed back. “He was a basilisk here.”

The boy paled. “I didn't have a choice. And it was really just luck that I...”

“Stabbed and killed him?” Manda hissed, helping the boy finish.

Alternate Jobs: Baker

Another possible job that Harry could have ended up with if he'd answered differently when getting his papers. You can find the previous jobs here: Gardener and Fortune Teller.

This idea sort of grew and grew and I had to stop it before it got too crazy.

Warnings: Un-editied, a what-if scenario, not part of AtO and probably full of plot holes.

“Not the right taste!” An angry man yelled as he slammed the door open and stormed out of the room. “You just don't want to hire someone that's better than you.”

Considering the person before the angry man had left in tears, Harry wondered if he'd be better off leaving before the interview itself.

“You're the last applicant,” A gentle voice said as the door slip open. Clad in large armour with purple markings on his cheeks, the red-haired man would have been intimidating if his eyes weren't so tired. He smiled and motioned for Harry to enter.

Keeping a careful grip on the box he'd brought along, Harry entered. Removing the cooling charms he'd put on the box, Harry placed it on the only table in the room and took a seat at the chair he was shown to.

“I'm Chōza Akimichi,” the man said, his voice still gentle as he took a seat opposite Harry.

“I'm Harii.” Harry hesitated before he added. “I just came to Konoha a few days ago. The gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu, were the ones who told me about this.”

“Ah, yes,” Chōza said, “The had mentioned sending someone over.”

After some more polite small talk, Harry opened the box.

Chōza stared at the cake inside for a long moment before he cut out a generous portion. With each scoop of cake, he chewed slowly with an unwavering expression.

When he finally emptied his plate, Chōza looked at Harry with a serious expression and said, “This is... perfect. Not too soft and not too dry.”

Remembering the long string of spells he had leaned and used on the batter and then on the baking cake itself, Harry couldn't help but congratulate himself at the end result.

“You're hired!”

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Chapter 14 A/N

First of all, cake for everyone- I actually put the chapter up when I said I would (a few hours off from the May 10th date because I got distracted by some LPs on YouTube after uploading DtE)

Anyway on to the notes.

As I mentioned before, I had two versions of this chapter- each with vastly different events and ideas. No, I'm not kidding. The only real common point was the basic premise of going to Suna.

The first version-which will never see the light of day except for want to read it due to boredom- had Danzo conning/pressuring/guilting Harry into taking the Suna job, a visit to the Nara labs, Kakashi going to Suna, Gaara and Harry have some sort of awkward conversation through metaphors (literal metaphors, for some reason. I don't understand what I was thinking when I wrote it).

In the end, I just disliked the feel of what I had. So the alternate chapter 14 came into being a few months back.

Wordcount
AtO14 Ver.1 (unpublished): 10, 969
AtO 14 Ver.2 (Draft): 16,633
  '' (final): 13,370        
I didn't even realize that I'd edited out 3000+ words. That's crazy. I wonder what I edited out over the months.

Danzo
I couldn't imagine him not being in this chapter. At this point in the timeline, he must be thinking of how useful Harry can be and he'll probably want to get a better feel of the poor guy.
So Danzo, with his favourite rice tea, tries to understand Harry's mentality with a surprisingly non-hostile conversation.
Was he ultimately disappointed or happy with what he gleaned off Harry?- that would be telling.


The Wandering Tiger
Some  imagery that inspired the creation of the teahouse.

There was another one- with a vivid blue pond in front of a house, but I can't seem to find it. 

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.

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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.

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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 random browsing doing research on there.

Polar

The Perfect Present

Warnings: Not part of AtO timeline at all. Un-edited and very much a drabble format.

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"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?"

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Oh, Harry. You should have just given him cake.

Polar

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

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.
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"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.