Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Running Home ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Still don't own them.

Thanks for all the wonderful and encouraging reviews.

Congratulations to SolitaryPoison, the only person to guess whom Harry is related to. And thanks for giving me names for various relatives who aren't named in cannon.

As for the pairing suggestions people have been giving, I did state that Harry is only 2 years older than Naruto. Therefore Kakashi is a bit too old for him in this one, plus I'm trying to pair him with a different person in each fic. I have received the suggestions of Sasuke, Neji, Kabuto and Temari., Comments?

Also, no other stories will be abandoned because of this one. No matter how long it takes I plan to eventually complete all of them.

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Harry lay still, unsure of where he was or what had woken him. All he knew was that he was outdoors and that he was not alone.

 

“Harry.” He relaxed and opened his eyes as he recognised Kakashi's voice, blinking sleepily at the older man. He was still tired but no longer exhausted, his magical core had recharged itself somewhat while he slept. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position and smiled at Kakashi.

 

“Where?”

 

“Only an hours run from Sound.” Kakashi informed him.

“Can you go on now?” Harry nodded and then tilted his head, thinking while studying his companion. The language barrier was dangerous in their current situation but would Kakashi let him?

 

“Try something? Need more language.” Harry stumbled for the right words, frustrated.

 

“You have a way to learn the language, from me?” Kakashi asked to clarify what he thought the teen had asked and Harry nodded.

“How?” Harry touched his own temple.

 

“From here. Only take language, no memories, thoughts. Promise. Not hurt.” Harry bit his lip nervously. He would be able to pick the language up fairly quickly on his own, because of his Parseltongue abilities he was able to learn languages a lot faster than normal, but they didn't have the time for that.

 

Kakashi stared at the obviously nervous teen. He could take knowledge from his mind? That made him nervous but was it all that different from what the Yamanaka clan could do? The main question was wether or not he could trust Harry. It was rather convenient that they had been placed in the same cell after all and he had only shown his skills when it had become utterly necessary. Then again Harry had no reason to trust him since it had been shinobi who had thrown him in a cell in the first place. Yes, the teen had saved his life but he knew nothing about him.

 

“How old are you?” Harry stared at him in surprise, obviously not expecting the question.

“If, if I let you do this then I need to know about you first.” Kakashi explained and the teen nodded.

 

“Sixteen. Orphan, run away. Looking…” Harry trailed off, obviously unsure as to wether or not he should tell Kakashi.

 

“Looking for?” He questioned and Harry swallowed before nodding to himself.

 

“Cousin. Grandmother from village, don't know which. Cousin somewhere.” Harry indicated the expanse around them and shrugged. It wasn't unheard of for people to travel Outside and settle but it was rare. It also explained why Harry was here, an orphan would risk a lot at the chance of finding a family.

 

“The clan name?” Kakashi asked. Sure he was curious but he also needed to know if he recognised the name. Last thing they needed was for the family to be one of the powerful clans from a village Konoha didn't have good relations with. That would make things more than a little awkward, even if the kid didn't realise it. Kakashi mentally berated himself, Harry was older than he'd originally assumed and obviously not a kid so he shouldn't call him one, even in his thoughts.

 

“Umino.” Kakashi stared in shock. What were the odds? How many Umino clans could there be?”

 

“Iruka?” He asked, just to be sure and it was Harry's turn to look shocked before the teenager nodded warily.

 

“You know?” Harry asked, suspicious but also hopeful.

 

“Yes, he's a teacher in my village. A good man.” He smiled behind his mask even though he was still unsure wether or not he should trust such apparent good fortune. Harry obviously felt the same because he still seemed wary and just as unsure as Kakashi felt. He studied the teen closely before deciding, the longer they stayed the more chance someone would find them.

“Do it, but take some geography as well if you can. In case we get separated.” Harry stared at him before he nodded and then moved to kneel on the ground, motioning for Kakashi to do the same. Once they were comfortable Harry smiled nervously.

 

“Try relax.” Harry suggested before locking their gazes.

 

Harry reached out for Kakashi's mind and soon found himself inside a traditional Japanese house. He looked around for a bit before finding what he needed. He picked up the scroll and closed his eyes, absorbing the knowledge. Once done he put it down and repeated the process with a nearby map. He was about to leave when a picture caught his attention. It was of a blond teenager and a dark haired man with a scar across his nose. But it was the memory `caption' that held his attention; Umino Iruka and Uzumaki Naruto. He blinked and pulled back, out of Kakashi's mind and into the real world.

 

“Done. It didn't hurt did it? I'm still learning and mostly self-taught since the guy who was teaching me was actually only teaching me to shield my mind. I heard to learn this through observation.” Which was true. Harry had learnt a lot more from Snape's lessons than the man had ever realised. But childhood habits die hard and Harry had learnt young to never show exactly how smart he was. He knew that he could rival Hermione for grades if he ever tried but had always been content to let her have that spotlight, he had too many on him as it was.

 

Kakashi blinked, it must have worked seeing as the teen was now babbling but understandable, even his accent was convincing. He sounded like anyone who had lived in Konoha did and that was very strange considering a few minutes ago he had had trouble understanding the teen.

 

“Slow down Harry, I didn't feel a thing.”

 

“Good. When my teacher used to do that to me it hurt, a lot. But then again we didn't exactly get along so I figured he was doing it purposely. I got the map too; we're in Rice country. I…I saw a picture as well. I didn't go snooping or anything, it was right there with the map and language scroll so I couldn't help but see it.” Harry was still babbling but at least at a slower pace, making Kakashi fight a grin.

 

“It was of Iruka, wasn't it?” Kakashi asked and Harry nodded nervously.

 

“Sorry. I didn't see anything else, I swear. It must have been there because we'd just been talking about him so it was on the surface.” Kakashi nodded and moved to stretch, hiding a wince.

“Are you okay? I should check your injuries.” Okay, so maybe he hadn't hidden the wince very well.

 

“You did a pretty good job of patching them up considering where we were and the fact that you used your shirt.” He commented, earning a shy smile. He got the feeling Harry hadn't received many compliments or much praise before.

 

“Thanks. I end up in the school infirmary so often that the nurse figured it would be a good idea for me to have some basic healing skills.” Harry explained as he unwound the strips of his shirt form the various wounds.

 

“There should be bandages in your pouch.” Kakashi told him and Harry nodded, digging them out and re-bandaging the wounds that needed it. Kakashi let him work, watching him as he studied each wound carefully. His hands were gentle but calloused; he was no pampered child that was for sure.

“What's it like?” Harry looked up, puzzled.

“England.” Kakashi clarified and Harry shrugged, lowering his head.

 

“Okay I guess. Cold and wet a lot of the time. I won't miss it.” Kakashi could hear the pain in his voice so he decided to leave it for now.

 

“So Iruka's your only family?”

 

“As of a few days before I ended up in that cell. Got sent to the shops and came back to find a crater where the house used to be, no survivors. There's nothing for me there anymore, not that I have a clue how to get back. Transportation was kind of one way.” Harry shrugged. Not to mention the portkey and his wand had been taken from him, even the choker with his new trunk as part of it was still back in Sound.

“Finished. Nothing's infected, yet. You need to be careful. I don't recognise the plant life, which means if you do develop an infection I won't know which will heal and which will harm.”

 

“We can't wait here for me to heal, we're too close to Sound. If we're attacked can you do whatever it was you did in the cell?”

 

“I wouldn't count on it. I'm not entirely sure how I did it then considering what I did is meant to be impossible.” Harry shrugged again and stood, stretching out his aching muscles.

 

“Can you tell me the general direction of Konoha? If we get separated you need to head that way as fast as you can and not stop for anything. Tell them what has happened and they'll help you.” Kakashi explained. Harry looked up at the sun to judge the direction.

“That way.” He pointed and Kakashi nodded.

 

“Let's go. You set the pace, something you can maintain for as long as possible.” Harry nodded and took off. Kakashi was surprised at his speed, faster than a civilian but not quite as fast as a genin. Still, it was better than he'd hoped for.

 

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“Kakashi?” Harry stopped and looked back at the older man.

 

“Get out of sight.” Harry obeyed instantly, slipping into some bushes and keeping utterly still. Kakashi was glad the teen could follow orders like that. He'd replaced the sound hitai-ate a day ago with his own since they were getting close to the border and Harry had ditched his at the same time. Kakashi pulled out a kunai and hid himself, hoping the chakra signatures he could feel approaching were from fellow leaf-nin but he doubted it. The only good thing was that with Harry's low and untrained chakra he would hopefully be overlooked as an animal or something.

 

Kakashi leapt away and the branch he had been crouched on was riddled with kunai. Judging their trajectory he threw his own and one of the signatures blinked out.

 

Harry stayed still, senses straining to get an idea of what was going on. He bit back a scream when a dead body suddenly dropped down millimetres from his head. He was happy to note that it wasn't Kakashi but someone from Sound going by the headband. He moved his hand just enough to relieve the body of its kunai holster, pulling one out. If it came down to it he wasn't going out without a fight and Kakashi had all the weapons that had been with the stolen uniforms. He waited silently to the occasional noise and grunts as the fight continued before everything fell silent.

 

“Harry? Are you alright?” Harry relaxed as Kakashi called to him and stood slowly.

 

“Over here, I'm fine.” He called, not wanting to get killed because Kakashi thought he was one of the bad guys.

“Thanks for dropping a corpse on me by the way,” He shuddered slightly as he spoke, that had not been fun.

“Are you okay? You're bleeding again.” Harry stepped forward and Kakashi let him check the new wound before quickly bandaging it.

 

“We need to move quickly.” Kakashi said and Harry nodded, handing Kakashi the weapons he'd taken from the body.

 

Kakashi had to admit he was impressed with how Harry was handling things. Having a dead body drop on him had to have been disconcerting to say the least and yet he had stayed concealed, even managing to search the body for weapons and arming himself with them. He obviously wasn't used to death the way a ninja was but he had definitely seen it before, several times. As if sensing what he was thinking about Harry spoke.

 

“My parents were killed when I was one. At fourteen I watched a classmate killed, unable to do anything. A few months ago the closest person to a father I've ever known was killed rescuing me.” Harry kept his back to Kakashi as he spoke and Kakashi let him have his privacy. That explained why he was able to react the way he did.

 

“Lets go.” Once again he let Harry set the pace while he thought about what he had learnt. Sounded like Harry's life hadn't been easy up to now but it explained why he had accepted Kakashi's actions in the cell so easily. The teen was carrying around a lot of pain that, if he was allowed to stay in Konoha, Kakashi knew Iruka could help him with.

 

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Kakashi watched Harry as they ran through the brush. He would prefer to be in the trees but without chakra training he would have to carry Harry and he was still sore enough to want to avoid that unless necessary. Luckily the attack yesterday morning was the only one so far. He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when Harry slammed into him, knocking them to the ground. His first thoughts were of betrayal and that Harry was an excellent actor until he heard the teen's cry of pain. Kakashi rolled them, coming up in a protective stance over Harry. He swore as he got a look at the large snake, a snaked with fresh blood on its fangs. Harry had saved his life but without immediate medical aide he would lose his own. However if he moved it would leave Harry open to further attack but the boy was as good as dead and he couldn't fight a snake from his current position. He jerked back in shock, grip tightening on his kunai, as he heard low hissing coming not from the snake but from below him. He glanced down warily to see that Harry had managed to push himself up on one elbow and was hissing dangerously at the snake. Kakashi backed slowly away from both, not sure which was the greater threat. He stared in shock as the snake slowly backed off, seeming to bow to Harry.

 

“Harry? What?” Pain hazed eyes slowly focused on him and Harry smiled crookedly up at him before his arm crumpled under him and he lay on the ground. Kakashi slowly approached and rolled the teen onto his back.

 

“Someone set snakes to track us…she'll protect you now…get you home.” Harry swallowed and his eyes slid shut before he forced them open again.

“Forbidden to attack a speaker but no time…only heard her at the last.” Harry coughed and Kakashi pulled him up to sit against a tree, hopefully making it easier for him to breath. He pulled out their remaining bandages, hoping to slow the venoms progress to give Harry a chance but the teen weakly pushed his hand away.

“Too late.” He whispered and Kakashi nodded, he'd known that but he didn't want to have to sit and watch the boy die.

 

“Stay with me Harry. How do you think Iruka will feel if I show up with his dead cousin> he needs family just as much as you do.” Kakashi tried to convince Harry to fight, even though he knew it was useless. Harry was gasping for air and his eyes were unfocused.

 

“Sorry.” Harry gasped and then began hissing softly, holding a shaking hand out to the snake who slithered over and up his arm. He listened to the snake before hissing again and nodding weakly.

“When safe kill her…attacked a Speaker, punishment death. Wish I could meet Iruka.” Harry's voice had been gradually getting softer as he spoke and now his head fell forward even as his eyes slid shut and his body slumped limply against the tree. The snake flicked its tongue over his skin before butting his head with its own, as if trying to get him to wake up. When that didn't work the snake slowly slithered onto Kakashi's arm and wrapped herself around him gently, keeping her fans away from any vital points. Kakashi sat and stared at the teen, he was not moving until it was over and Harry was still breathing even if it was barely detectable. He would carry the teen's body back to Konoha where he would receive a proper burial.

 

TBC…arr