Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Since When Are There Two Potters? ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Any votes for which hidden village they should encounter first? Please supply info on said village since the only one I know about is Konoha.

This will now officially be HarryKakashi at some point.

 

Chapter 9

 

 

Harry blinked foggily up at the sun. He frowned as he tried to remember what had happened to have so seriously drained his magical reserves. He groaned and managed to push himself up into a sitting position and then scrambled to his feet as he caught sight of Sasuke lying crumpled nearby. He fell to his knees beside the boy and carefully checked him over, only relaxing slightly when he found no injuries. He lifted the boy into his arms and cradled him close knowing that he would wake better if Harry were holding him. Annoyed hooting made him look around and he smiled as Hedwig flew down to land on his shoulder.

 

“You okay girl?” He smiled as she hooted an affirmative.

“Good. Any idea where we are?” This time the response was negative. Harry sighed and mentally ran over everything he remembered. He suddenly smiled as the memories flooded back, so they had made it in one piece. He tightened his grip slightly as Sasuke groaned softly and his eyelids fluttered.

“Planning to wake up kid?” Dark eyes opened slowly and Harry smiled warmly at him. Sasuke smiled back and slowly sat up.

“Are you all right?”

 

“My head hurts.” Sasuke answered softly, looking around.

 

“It'll pass. We made it Sasuke.” Harry watched as Sasuke's smile widened slightly and he nodded.

“I can't sense anyone nearby, can you?” Harry knew Sasuke's senses would be better than his at the moment since Harry had been the main power behind their trip. Sasuke closed his eyes and opened his other senses before shaking his head.

“Guess that means we pick a direction and start walking. So, North, South, East or West?” Harry wouldn't make a decision without Sasuke's input since they had come here for him. He waited patiently as his brother thought about it.

 

“South.”

 

“South it is then.” Harry stood and then set Sasuke down on his feet.

“Hedwig you're our scout.” The owl bobbed her head and took off. The two began walking, Harry keeping an eye out for an actual path as the left the clearing they had woken in and headed into the forest itself.

 

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The two Potter's moved around with a quiet efficiency, setting up camp for the night. They didn't need to speak as they did, after a week of this they both knew exactly what to do. Hedwig was moving in lazy, wide circles above them, keeping watch over her humans. So far they hadn't run into anyone but the owl had reported signs of civilisation not that much further ahead. They didn't usually make camp this early but Harry wanted to have a full nights rest behind them before they ran into anyone. The plan was to observe a well maintained road for a few days if possible to get an idea of what a typical traveller looked like and carried with them so they could blend in. there was no guarantee that where they were headed would be friendly to complete strangers with no local identity papers or whatever they used and Harry was not putting his brother at risk.

 

Sasuke finished setting up their sleeping bags, it was warm enough that they didn't need the tent and Harry wanted to be able to leave in a hurry if they needed to so that meant no tent. He looked around and saw that Harry had just finished preparing the fish he had caught from the nearby stream. Harry felt him looking and looked up with a smile. Because of the war and then Sasuke's recovery they'd never done something like this together, he'd been to young before that plus Harry had still been in school.

 

“Finished?” Sasuke nodded and Harry stood to join him, putting the fish over the fire.

“We'll move at sunup so we can be hidden and comfortable before the road sees to much traffic. You are to stay hidden at all times unless I say otherwise, got it?”

 

“Yes Aniki.” From Harry's serious tone he knew that just nodding wouldn't be answer enough. Sasuke had rarely gotten a glimpse of his brother the warrior and protector but he was starting to see more of that side of him since they had arrived on the continent. He knew Harry would kill to protect him if necessary. Sasuke smiled slightly as Harry relaxed and ruffled his hair even as the younger tried to bat him aside. Harry chuckled and then served the fish. Once they'd eaten Sasuke curled up in his sleeping bag while Harry settled down in front of the fire to think.

 

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Sasuke hid a yawn as best as he could. The two had been sitting in the one spot for the last day and a half and he was past bored. Harry had disillusioned, silenced and a hundred other things the two of them and so far no one who had passed had suspected anything. He knew his Aniki was learning something from everybody who had walked past them, even if it didn't look like it. Harry was observant by nature due to his life with their Aunt, he'd had to been to avoid Dudley and his gang plus their Uncle's punishments as much as possible. Sasuke was very glad he had never met those relatives; he knew they would never have accepted him since his adoption had been magical. But that natural skill had been honed to an art during the war. Not to say that Sasuke himself wasn't observant, he was very much so although not in Harry's league yet. He was just tired of sitting that was all. He couldn't see his brother but he could feel his amused gaze for a few seconds before a hand touched his shoulder briefly signalling him to fall back to camp. They didn't speak until thewy got there and Harry removed the charms.

 

“I'm sorry.” Sasuke stared at the ground in shame and heard his nii-san sigh.

 

“No Sasuke, I'm sorry. You're not used to this and I'm expecting too much.” Harry squeezed his shoulder and Sasuke looked up. Harry gave him a warm understanding smile and Sasuke smiled weakly back.

“Stay here for the afternoon with Hedwig, just don't leave the camp. I'll put a few extra wards up.” Sasuke nodded and they moved to get lunch ready.

 

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Harry watched the approaching group with interest. There were three kids maybe a year or two older than Sasuke with a man a few years older than Harry himself and they seemed to be guarding a merchant and his cart. He studied them closely. The kids and man all wore some sort of headband with a metal plate that had some sort of weird symbol on it. He stayed completely motionless as they passed, the man reminded him of some of his co-workers and himself while on duty and he didn't want to get caught watching them. They didn't even glance his way as the walked passed though. They weren't the first people he'd seen wearing the headbands, even though not all wore them around their head. He figured they were the Shinobi Sasuke had mentioned and that the wizarding books had warned against. Had it been so long that they no longer knew how or bothered to detect magic? Harry frowned slightly at that thought even as he scanned the merchants mind lightly as he got a look at his eyes. Yep, the guards were Shinobi, three gennin and their jounin instructor. So far he'd avoided trying to scan any of the actual Shinobi who had passed, he knew nothing of their mental skills and didn't want to be detected. He smiled, as finally he was able to pry the name of the country they were in from someone before disappearing from the road and back into the trees.

 

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The jounin looked up as he spotted two figures on the road ahead but relaxed slightly as he saw that it was a young man and a boy dressed in the clothes common to travellers. Both were dark haired and walked with the easy stride of people used to walking long distances. They both carried travel packs and the older had a walking stick but no obvious weapons. His hand slipped to his weapons pouch as a precaution as they drew level with the two. The elder who he could now see had eyes of the deepest green he'd ever seen waved happily and called out a cheerful greeting which their merchant returned. The boy at his side looked their way and smiled shyly in greeting, dark eyes almost hidden by his hair. The older looked down at the boy, presumably his younger brother and put an encouraging hand on his shoulder, earning a wider smile. The two were dirty and tired from the road but obviously in good spirits. The group soon passed them and kept on their way, soon forgetting about the two.

 

Harry grinned as the group disappeared from sight and senses. He felt Sasuke relax under his hand, the boy had remained tense the whole time they had been near the Shinobi and their client.

 

“That went well.” Harry commented and Sasuke nodded. It had been a test to see if they could pass as common travellers and they had. Harry had felt the jounin's suspicion but that was only natural when protecting someone. He had been tense the entire himself although he hadn't let it show, he hadn't liked risking Sasuke like that but he knew that his presence would be less threatening than if Harry had been alone.

“We should be at the village by tomorrow evening since we're moving slower than them, I don't want to speed up and pass them in case it arouses suspicion.”

 

“Yes nii-san.” Sasuke answered as they continued to walk, Hedwig occasionally swooping down to relay information. They set up camp to the side of the road shortly before nightfall and settled down for what was hopefully their last night sleeping on the ground for a while.

 

TBC…