Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Since When Are There Two Potters? ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: Still don't own them.

Don't worry; Sasuke will not be a Cloud Shinobi.

 

Chapter 11

 

 

Maya carefully corrected Sasuke's stance and walked him through the movements again. She smiled as he moved away from her to try alone. The boy learnt quickly once shown something and had an amazing memory, as did his older brother. Maya shot a quick glace to the other side of the training area to where Harry was sitting and reading, a pure white owl of all things perched on his shoulder giving his ear an occasional nip. The owl, which Harry called Hedwig of all things, had shown up a few days after the Potter's had arrived and Maya still smiled at the memory. Said owl had not been happy with Harry and had made that very obvious. Her actions had earnt Harry many unsympathetic laughs from those who had seen.

 

The two brothers had been in Cloud for three months now and had settled in rather well. Harry had rented a two-bedroom apartment and was working part time at a restaurant while Maya was tutoring Sasuke until he was up to the level of his age mates. She figured he'd be ready to join them at the Academy in another month, a month and a half at the most. The boy was always eager to learn but wasn't obsessed with the training like many his age were. Maya figured that was because of Harry, he kept a close eye on his little brother and made sure he had a life outside of training. She agreed with what her friend was doing, Sasuke would be a lot more stable than a lot of shinobi she knew because of Harry's actions.

 

Harry himself was a mystery she wanted to solve badly. On the surface he seemed to be a normal if over protective civilian. It was once you looked past that that he became very interesting. Sometimes he would move like a seasoned warrior while at others he was utterly clumsy. His speed and reflexes were impressive too. His emerald eyes were kind and often sad but beneath that they held a core of steel. Maya had never seen him truly angry but she had the feeling it was a sight that she didn't want to see and would never forget if she ever did. Sasuke had admitted when she had asked that Harry mad was a very scary sight and it took a lot to make that kid admit to being scared. His dark eyes held the same sadness and steel, though rougher than Harry's. Maya had the feeling it came from more than their parent's death but respected Harry too much to probe. And then there were the half conversation the two often had, conversations that held either in a strange foreign language or were so odd that she had no clue what they were saying.

 

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Harry watched as Maya worked with Sasuke, teaching him things that frankly had Harry amazed. The whole concept of Chakra was new to him but Sasuke was taking to it like a duck to water. He was glad that Sasuke had something he excelled at like Harry had his magic. He knew that his little brother had been upset when he had told him what that illness had done to his magic. Of course it hadn't stopped him from learning the earth magics and Sasuke was becoming quite proficient in their use. Harry was not letting him stop studying them just because he was now learning about Chakra, he had learnt well from the war that having an ace up your sleeve was a very good thing. He laughed as Sasuke managed to knock Maya off her feet, even if the woman was fighting at only a small part of her ability it was still amusing to see. Hedwig hooted in agreement and began preening his hair. He smiled and stroked her feather gently. As his familiar she had bonded to his magic and so appeared far younger than she actually was, for which he was very grateful. Hedwig had been his first gift and friend and he never wanted to lose her. Still smiling he turned his attention back to his book, glad that the people still spoke and wrote in normal Japanese so he didn't have to try and learn another language.

 

Harry had decided to read everything he could find about the history of this place as well as all the information on shinobi. He was determined to find Sasuke's family, if they were still alive. Although neither of them had said anything both Potters knew there was no guarantee they were. If they were then why was Sasuke sent to him? So far he had learnt of all the different countries and hidden villages. All up he had the annoying feeling that he was looking for a very small needle in a rather large haystack, not an encouraging thought. He wished history had been this interesting at school; he'd have been able to stay awake if it had. Then again maybe not if Binns had been the teacher, that was one boring ghost. The book he was currently reading was fascinating. It talked about the various clans and their abilities. They were a lot more varied than the differences between various family specific magics, except maybe Parseltongue. That made him smile as he remembered the first time Sasuke met a snake after his adoption and the way the then four year old had panicked over the small serpent talking to him. Harry had drilled into his head to hide the ability, it had caused him grief and he didn't want Sasuke suffering from prejudice because of it. No one else knew that Sasuke had inherited his ability to talk to snakes, or that it was now a part of the Potter line. Voldemort had really screwed things up when he had tried to kill Harry as a baby, he doubted the man had meant to make Harry his magical heir but that was what had happened. When the goblins had decided to trace his ancestry the spell had revealed three parents, James, Lily and Tom. Needless to say Harry had not been happy with that revelation. On the up side it meant he know had two Founders in his family tree, not just one. Although he still hadn't worked out wether or not being descended from Slytherin was a good thing or not, sure it meant he had a fairly strong bond to the castle but would he have had that with only Gryffindor as a family member?

 

Harry sighed and pushed those thoughts away, it didn't matter anymore. Yes he was a wizard and would be one until the day he died but he had left that world and its ways behind him even before coming here. He missed Hermione, Ron, the twins, Severus but they were part of the past now, this was his future and he was going to make sure that Sasuke and he had a good one.

 

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Harry whistled to himself as he wandered around. It felt good to be out of the village, even if he had abandoned his brother to Maya's mercy for the next week. But he had needed to get out and Hedwig was with Sasuke, she would let him know if he was needed, if the bond between the two siblings didn't. He was running low on herbs and he preferred gathering his own to trying to buy what he needed, hence his little trip. He had never done well when confined, he needed freedom. At Hogwarts he had had the passageways, forest and even the chamber. At the Dursley's he had the park. Now he was stuck in a village, sure it was large and had open spaces but he still didn't feel completely comfortable with the people, even Maya though he hated to admit it. There was just something about Cloud that wouldn't let him completely relax and being on edge 24/7 was starting to get to him, he hadn't had to live like that since the war. He snorted, he had gotten too used to peace for his own good.

 

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Harry crawled out of his tent and stretched, breathing in the fresh air and then frowning. The wind had changed directions during the night and something was wrong. He packed quickly, slipping his pack over his shoulders and then fell back on his training, moving swiftly and silently across the ground. He crawled the last few metres to the top of the ridge and then stared down in shock at the devastation below. Obviously a battle had taken place recently, from the smell it had been no more than forty-eight hours. Spotting bodies, or at least what he thought were bodies he slowly slid down the side, crouching behind a boulder at the base. Nothing moved and he stretched out his senses. Needing more input he shifted forms and there was suddenly a pitch black wolf with green eyes crouched in his place. Seconds later he changed back, trying not to sneeze. For some reason the smell of death always made him sneeze in his wolf form, Hermione had found it cute while Severus had found it hilarious. Standing he cautiously made it way out onto what had been a battlefield, he had no real hopes of finding survivors but he figured he should at least report it when he returned. Kneeling beside one of the bodies he brushed debris from his hitai-ate revealing a very stylised leaf. Harry frowned as he recognised the symbol of Konoha, as far as he knew there were no hostilities between the two countries at the moment so why the fight? He gently closed the mans eyes and kept going, finding a few Cloud nin as well as the ones from Leaf. Something about this seemed off but he wasn't familiar enough with their ways yet to determine what. He looked around sadly, he had seen too much war to be shocked but it still saddened him to see the stupid waste of life. If this was the beginning of war then he would take Sasuke and go to one of the countries further from Lightning and Fire and start again, it was as simple as that in his mind. Cloud did not have his loyalty, no place did anymore, his only loyalty was to his family.

 

Harry sighed, suddenly tired and carefully made note of exactly where he was so that he could let someone know once he returned to the village. They'd have to send someone to investigate and remove the bodies. Then he frowned, remembering something he'd read, something about bodies. Harry's eyes widened as he remembered, no shinobi ever willingly allowed their body to fall into the hands of another village for fear of their secrets being discovered, even after death. But if he did anything about it questions would be asked. He scowled slightly and then moved back to the bodies. He wouldn't let them disrespect the dead just to learn some stupid secrets. Once he had the bodies of the Leaf nin together he cast the strongest incendio he could and then watched them burn, bowing his head in respect.

 

Once the fire had burnt down he set about scattering the ashes, making sure there was nothing left of the bodies. He looked around again to make sure he hadn't missed something and his eyes narrowed. Crossing the ground he knelt beside a slight mark. He touched it and raised his hand. Across his fingers was a fine smear of blood and it was still slightly wet. But there had been no body there. He shifted again to the wolf, utilising the canines more refined senses and soon picked up the trail. If there was any chance someone had survived he had to know. He followed the trail diligently, burying his nose in the soil to pick up even the tiniest amount of blood or scent when it vanished from sight. He was honestly surprised that whoever it was had gotten this far, but then again it was a shinobi not a wizard he was tracking. He finally slowed to a stop as he reached a grouping of boulders; the scent was fresh and far stronger than anywhere else. He instantly shifted back and began searching amongst the rocks, hoping he wasn't too late.

 

Harry would never remember what exactly it was that made him take another look but he was grateful he had. Dropping to his knees he carefully pushed aside the dirt and leaves the shinobi had used to conceal him or herself with and then reached into the hollow, trying to get a good enough grip to pull them out without aggravating any injuries. He eventually managed and then rolled him; he had quickly discovered it was a he, onto his back. The mans hitai-ate covered his left eye and was engraved with the Leaf symbol. Which left Harry with a rather annoying problem since he couldn't exactly take the man back to the village for help. He sighed, there was nothing to be done except care for the man himself. He opened his pack and pulled out his medical kit, he needed to make sure the man wouldn't die on him before he could move them somewhere safer. Once he'd bound his wounds he paused to think, brining up his memories of the maps he'd studied. There were some caves about four days hike from where they were and they were far enough from any borders that they weren't on the patrol routes, perfect. He gathered the masked man in his arms and apparated.

 

TBC…

Anyone guess whom Harry's found? And yes, once again I'm messing with things by having a nice fight between some Cloud and Leaf nins.