Deleted Scene Episode 6

Warnings: Very un-edited and has bits missing. Takes place during chapter 13

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"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. 
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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.

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.

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"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."

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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-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

Chapter 13 A/N

There's so much to say about this chapter. Most of it is just random thoughts I had after reading it just before uploading it online. Most of the thoughts center around Harry being awesome in his own unique way.

So bear with me as I go through some of my favourite Harry skills/etc.

If you've read the chapter- you would have noticed an abundance of Harry sleeping in highly uncomfortable places and always waking up not feeling as grumpy as he ought to. I envy him. If I wake up with a stiff neck/back, I'm very inclined to beat someone up and then claim that was a stretching exercise.

Another awesome Harry skill from this chapter? The ability to bring out Naruto's emotions- good, bad and just adorable. But then I sort of go- Harry is way too awesome as an older sibling when he deals with Naruto! My older bro isn't as awesome. His idea of dealing with my bad moods was to hand me a glass of cola and leave me alone.

Hmm, now I wonder if I put too much awesomeness in Harry. I mean he is awesome to begin with- but maybe I've overdone it somehow by making him an idealized version of an older sibling?

Anyway some actual notes about things in chapter 13 

 Shikamaru still smoking- In the manga, they show Shikamaru smoking during the days after Asuma's death, before he meets Hidan and Kakuzu a few days later. It just seemed too easy for Shikamaru to just stop smoking after getting his revenge. Even with the whole symbolism of putting Asuma to rest with the cigarette motif- it was too easy. Letting go of the dead and anything connected to the dead is not supposed to be that easy. So Shikamaru is going to have a smoking problem- not to be considered cool or badass, but because he's a teenager who's dealing with the loss of a mentor as best as he can.

The memorial for the monks- I added that just to have some closure about what happened at the temple. The only real way for Harry to get information about the temple was to get it from a monk. Plus I remembered a reviewer asking me if Sentoki had died too- which I thought was hilarious because that was just such a large leap of logic there. (Also I find it so weird that readers want explanations for the smallest of things- even things that aren't important to the plot at all)

 Sake- I read up so much about it- trying to find out if you can actually get hungover from drinking too much. Of course, the more I read, the more I got distracted from my original search. Eventually I learnt about the different kinds of sake and the etiquette behind sake drinking. I think I spent a good part of Dec last year just reading more and more about it in my spare time (for no reason other than curiosity). Here's the interesting website for more info.

Jiraiya- He's one of my top ten favourite characters in Naruto. So I was very careful about how I wanted him to act. But he's complicated. I personally think he was the most broken of the three sannin. While both his team-mates lost themselves to their grief and ambitions, he pushed himself to not be like them. But that doesn't mean he wasn't jaded after living so long and losing so much along the way. I also wanted to capture just how much of a ninja he is- so I made him cool in some small unexpected ways. I don't know if that came across though.

Harry-decoy plan- Well, what were you expecting? I doubt they'd want to make Harry's trip/disappearance public knowledge in Britain. It works rather nicely for AtO's ending- what I have so far at least.

Harry and alcohol- Teenagers in dorms without adult supervision and friends with the Weasley twins- he must have tried some Firewhiskey. Well, in my head, I'm sure Harry must have at least sipped it out of curiosity.

Lapifors- Is a spell from the Harry Potter games (shows up earliest in the PoA game) Similarly, Avifors is another spell from the games and it shows up in the first game. Thank goodness for the wikia- otherwise I wouldn't have known these spells existed at all.

 Mom and Mum- Naruto uses 'mom' while Harry 'mum'. Yes, that is deliberate on my part. I suppose it's a way to keep Harry's Britishness even though he's not actually talking in English with all the Naruto characters. But using this might show that he has a foreign accent compared to the ninja.

 Sirius's quote from the movie- I liked it, so what?

 Tidbits of information about chapter 13 

1- The first time Harry creates his Patronus, the happy memory he's thinking about is actually a mix of memories- reading his grandmother's letter, hearing from Tsunade that Naruto is his cousin and having Naruto call him nii-san. It's the reason why his Patronus was slightly larger than usual and why he probably cast faster than usual.

2-Naruto could probably say Hermione's name. But in the end, he sort of realizes that if he messes it up too bad, he might upset her. And also he doesn't want to look too bad in front of Harry's important friends, also he might be a bit overwhelmed that Harry told other people about him and those people were excited to see him.

 3- A few of the toasts that Harry makes over the course of their drinking would have made if he had been truly drunk. "To old people who need more warm socks." "To monks who miss their hair." "To Nara-san's shogi BS-ing skills." "To cat-san and not-cat-san and all other cats." Side note: Jiraiya's drunk toast- if he ever managed to get really drunk: "To ****** who ****** and *******"

 4- When Naruto and Harry are using the two-way mirror- eventually, Hermione sees the frozen blue birds and ends up going into a lecture mode-which doesn't shock Naruto at all actually.

 5- Amount of words deleted/moved on to other chapters = Rounded up estimate is almost 3100+ words (about a 1000 of those words got removed just before I uploaded)

Some bits I removed from the chapter (they just didn't fit in) 
 Someone smacked the back of Harry's head.“What the...”
Sai looked at him unapologetically. “Sakura said this is what Naruto would do.”
“Right.” Harry rubbed the back of his head. “That makes perfect sense.”
“It does?" Sai said. "I don't understand the necessity. And it does seem rather harsh considering you are rather delicate...”

“Thank you for the flowers. I'll be sure to tell Naruto you dropped by. Oh! Would you like a moment alone? I can come back in a bit.”
The girl eeped slightly and shook her head vigorously. “You don't have to... I mean, uh... I have to get going.” She spared one last look at Naruto, blush becoming more vivid, and hurried out of the room.
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 I think that covers just about everything.

Happy reading.

Polar