Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Since When Are There Two Potters? ❯ Chapter 22 ( Chapter 22 )

Disclaimer: Not mine.

I hate writing fight scenes so we'll be skipping most of the prelims; just assume the fight goes the same as in the anime.

 

Chapter 22

 

 

Sasuke frowned as he spotted Harry and the expression on his brothers' face, something bad had happened since their brief contact in the forest. And where was Kakashi-sensei?

 

“Hey Harry-san!” Naruto called, waving at the oldest Potter. Harry mustered a smile for the teen and joined them on the floor, nodding to Gai and Anko in greeting since they were the only adults present he knew in any way excluding the Hokage.

 

“Hello Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura.”

 

“What happened nii-san?” Sasuke asked and Harry put an arm around his shoulders.

 

“Kakashi's been injured so I'll be standing in for him at the Hokage's request.” Harry's answer was loud enough for the other Konoha teams to hear as well.

 

“Will he be okay?” Sakura asked worriedly and Harry smiled at her.

 

“He'll be fine, he just needs time to recover.” Sasuke gave his brother a piercing look; he knew Harry was keeping something from them, something important. Harry caught the look and shook his head slightly.

“I better go stand with the others.” Harry left and Gai indicated he should stand next to him.

 

“How is my eternal rival?”

 

“Still unconscious but the doctor said he'll be fine once the wound heals fully.” Harry answered quietly. He shifted slightly, something in the room bothering him but unable to pinpoint what. He didn't bother listening to the reasoning behind the exams as he searched for the source of the feeling but he looked to the board with everyone else as the first combatants were chosen. His gaze flew to Sasuke as the boys name came up. Sasuke looked back at him and nodded. Harry smiled even as they were told to go to the upper level. As he walked past he placed a hand on his brothers' shoulder.

“Be careful, don't underestimate him.”

 

“I won't nii-san.” Harry herded the other two members of Team 7 up the stairs ands into a good spot against the rail.

 

“Anyone know anything about this Akadou Yoroi?” Harry asked but the two teens shook their heads. Gai too indicated he didn't know and Harry sighed. Sasuke knew not to use magic unless he had to but what if they were right about him being an Uchiha and he woke the Sharingan?

 

Harry watched closely as the match started and Sasuke did a good job of dodging, judging his opponents skills. He gripped the rail as Yoroi managed to grab Sasuke, his hand glowing. He frowned as Sasuke began to visibly weaken.

“What?” He whispered but was still heard. Kurenai turned to him.

 

“He's draining his chakra.” Harry winced; Sasuke may have no choice then.

 

“SASUKE!” Naruto screamed as the other boy's arms gave out. Harry put a hand on the blondes shoulder to hold him back even while he gripped the rail with his other.

 

“No choice Sasuke, do it.” Harry whispered and Sasuke turned his head towards him as if he'd heard. Sasuke's lips moved silently for a few seconds and then Yoroi went flying. Sasuke rolled up to his feet, a shimmer of energy surrounding his body.

 

“What?” Harry gasped. That was not Sasuke's usual shield.

“That's it I'm locking those books up unless I'm supervising.” He said loud enough for the rest of the rookie's and their sensei's to hear. Sasuke stopped dodging, letting Yoroi's hits connect and to everyone's surprise the blows did nothing.

 

“Why isn't it working? What are you saying?” Yoroi asked in frustration. Harry concentrated and sure enough Sasuke was saying something. Harry grinned, no wonder the other Konoha-nin had no clue, Sasuke was speaking Gaelic. Though Harry couldn't figure out what his brother was saying either, if it was Latin sure but his Gaelic was lousy. But he could pick up enough to get the general idea of what his brother was doing and he felt sorry for Yoroi because the little he could translate was not nice. Harry shivered slightly as he felt the magic gathering inside the arena.

 

“Harry-sensei?” Naruto looked at him in concern, already calling him teacher. Harry smiled and ruffled his hair.

 

“It's nothing kid.” His smile changed to a grin as Naruto growled and tried to fix his hair, a pointless exercise considering its wildness. Harry turned his attention back to the arena floor and the magic that was rising in it. Just what was Sasuke doing and what was Luna thinking letting him learn it? He knew it wasn't something the boy had learnt since he'd taken over supervising his training as much as he was able to, he didn't have any books in the necessary language but Luna had. Obviously Sasuke hadn't had the ability necessary to pull it off when Luna was killed or maybe she would still be alive. He blinked as the floor below them suddenly became dark.

 

“Huh? What did he do? Where did they go?” Naruto looked at Harry for answers, as did the others but he just shook his head.

 

“I didn't teach him that.” He admitted. A bloodcurdling scream came from the darkness and Sakura flinched. Harry smiled at her.

“That wasn't Sasuke.” He assured her. Looking into the darkness below he heightened his senses as much as he could without transforming into his wolf form, so far he couldn't smell any blood but there was a lot of fear. Another scream sounded and then the darkness vanished. Sasuke was standing over Yoroi, breathing heavily but unharmed. Yoroi however was unconscious, a look of terror still evident on his face. Hayate shook his head, not sure what had just happened but then moved to check on the downed ninja. After a few seconds he stood.

 

“Winner Potter Sasuke.”

 

“Yay! Go Sasuke!” Naruto yelled, jumping up and down. To the surprise of most Sasuke knelt over Yoroi and chanted softly before placing his hand over the unconscious mans eyes. With a start his eyes opened and he sat up shakily. Sasuke extended his hand to help him up and Yoroi stared at him in shock.

 

“Good fight.” Sasuke commented and Yoroi slowly took the younger males hand, letting him help him up. With that Sasuke headed up the stairs to join his teammates. Naruto jumped on him as soon as he was on the balcony, laughing and praising him. Sasuke smiled before disentangling himself from the blonde and moving to stand in front of Harry.

 

“Nii-san?” Harry grinned and pulled him into a hug.

 

“Well done. But I think we'll be having a talk later about unsupervised study.” He gave Sasuke a stern look and the teen nodded.

“Good work with the shield.”

 

“That was great Sasuke.”

 

“Thanks Sakura.”

 

----------------------------------

“Is Kakashi-sensei really okay Harry-sensei?” Sakura asked hesitantly as they left the forest. Sasuke and Naruto gave Harry their full attention and he sighed.

 

“We'll stop by the hospital and you can all see for yourselves, okay? I won't lie, he was hurt badly but he will make a full recovery. Hopefully in time to watch you two boys in the finals.” Harry explained, turning towards the hospital.

 

“This has something to do with why you had me change our course in the forest, doesn't it? You were too close to be anywhere but the forest yourself when you contacted me.” Sasuke said in English. The other two teens looked between the two brothers, having no clue what Sasuke was saying although they had heard them use the language before.

 

“Yes.” Harry led them towards Kakashi's room.

“He wasn't conscious last time I was hear and doesn't look the best but don't let that get to you. His wound was poisoned so there are a few machines in there.” Harry opened the door and ushered them quietly into the room. Kakashi lay exactly as he had been the last time Harry had seen him. Sakura gasped and even Naruto was silent at the sight of their sensei looking so pale and still. Sasuke just walked over to the bed and rested his hand against Kakashi's chest, more used to things of this nature than the other two due to the war.

 

“You helped heal him?” The boy asked with a slight smile.

 

“The medics wouldn't have made it in time. It was a very fast acting poison. Be on your guard Sasuke. The ninja version of Riddle is here.”

 

“That's who did this?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Hey! What are you two saying?” Naruto demanded.

 

“Nothing important Naruto.”

 

“Then speak a language everyone understands!”

 

“As you wish. We should go, Kakashi needs undisturbed rest and you only have a month until the finals. Don't think you're getting out of this either Sakura. You need to train too, even if you aren't participating.” Sasuke groaned and his teammates just looked at him.

 

“You've never trained with aniki.” He told them, looking equally scared and excited.

 

-----------------------------

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” He blinked and the blurry figure slowly resolved itself into a smiling Harry. Kakashi looked at him, not sure what was going on or how he'd ended up in the hospital. Seeing his confusion Harry moved closer.

“You took a sword to the stomach in the forest, remember? We nearly lost you but the doctors say you'll make a full recovery.” Kakashi nodded as the memories flooded back. They'd fought Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and the sannin and taken him by surprise. He remembered the utter agony after the sword had been removed and Harry's comforting presence as the other man had done something to help him.

 

“You kept me alive?” Kakashi asked though it came out as more of a croak. Harry picked up a glass and moved his mask enough that Kakashi could use the straw.

 

“I used my abilities to slow and eventually stop the poisons spread. You've been out for over a week now. The Hokage has me filling in as your teams' sensei for the time being. They'll be glad to have you back, trust me. Doctors said you might be up in time to watch the finals. Both Sasuke and Naruto past their prelim matches, Sakura tied with Ino in a dual knock out so she's out.”

 

“Wish I'd been there.”

 

“I'll let you view my memories of the matches later if you'd like.” Harry offered and Kakashi nodded.

 

“Who will they be fighting?” Kakashi struggled to sit up and Harry helped him, holding him up with one arm while putting pillows behind him.

 

“Naruto drew Hyuuga Neji and Sasuke…Sasuke will be fighting Gaara from sand.” Harry said stiffly.

 

“Gaara?”

 

“Red head with the gourd. He fought Rock Lee and nearly killed him. If Gai hadn't stepped in he would have done it too. The boy's in bad shape. Neji's opponent was also nearly killed, Hyuuga Hinata. I'm putting our boys through the toughest things I can think of to give them a chance.”

 

“I can give you suggestions.” Kakashi said, accepting more water. Harry smiled.

 

“Later. The doctors will want to know you're awake and I can see you fighting to stay that way. I'll stop by again tomorrow, maybe I'll bring the kids with me.” He squeezed Kakashi's hand.

“I'm glad you're okay.” Harry told him softly and then he was gone.

 

--------------------------------

“You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?” Harry bowed politely to the old man and he smiled.

 

“Yes Harry-san. This is one of my old students Jiriaya. I was hoping you could give him your perspective of the fight against Orochimaru.” Harry looked at the Hokage, not sure what to do. Yes he had told Sarutobi and Kakashi of his abilities and used them in front of Gai and Anko but to tell another person?

“Also I'd like him to help in training Naruto. He has a certain condition that he may need some extra help with.”

 

“Condition?” Harry questioned, Naruto seemed in perfect health to him.

 

“It is forbidden to speak of it.”

 

“And enough people know of my abilities as it is.” Sarutobi blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that, Harry wanted to know of Naruto in exchange for telling Jiriaya of his abilities. He studied the younger man carefully. He doubted he would shun Naruto for what he held since Harry himself had suffered the same thing for things that were out of his control. And maybe he would have some fresh insight into the boys' situation. Could magic maybe remove the Kyuubi from Naruto without killing him or releasing the demon upon them?

 

“Very well.” He ignored the shock coming from his student and prepared himself to tell the wizard of what had happened twelve years ago.

 

---------------------------------

“Naruto think before you rush in! Control your emotions, don't let them control you!” Harry yelled as the blonde got angry and started getting sloppy.

“Stop for now. Naruto come here. Sasuke go practise from volume 5.” Sasuke nodded and grabbed the appropriate book from the pile Harry had brought with them today. Naruto approached Harry and glared stubbornly at the ground.

“Take a seat kid.” Harry sat on the ground and Naruto sat in front of him.

“Your emotions are one of your greatest strengths Naruto but they are also your greatest weakness. You need to learn how to control them. So I'm going to teach you how. Also as of tomorrow you'll be getting another sensei.” Harry paused and Naruto looked up at him sadly.

 

“I understand Harry-sensei.” The boy said and Harry could hear the pain of rejection in his voice.

“You need to train Sasuke.”

 

“Naruto I'm not tossing you aside for my brother. Hokage-sama asked this man to help train you. I'm not a ninja and you can't learn everything from scrolls or books. Yes I can give you pointers on taijutsu when I see an obvious fault but I can't teach you ninjutsu since I have very little knowledge of chakra. I'll still be training you; I doubt he has the patients to help you with your temper. Jiriaya will be teaching you how to tap the kyuubi's chakra when needed and not just when you're about to die.” Naruto froze, eyes wide as Harry mentioned the fox.

 

“You know about…How?” Harry smiled and ruffled his hair.

 

“The Hokage told me when I refused to tell him something he wanted to know unless he told me why you needed special training. It's not your fault, you know that right? You are not the demon Naruto, no matter what anyone says. I know what it's like to be hated for something you have no control over. Frankly you're handling it better than I did at your age.” He had walked away or fought back verbally when people had accused him of attacking the other students but Naruto pushed himself to prove to them they were wrong about him. Hopefully Naruto wouldn't become the moody brat he'd been during his fifth year.

“Now, I'm going to show you how to meditate and then if we have time before the finals I'll try to teach you something called Occlumency.”

 

--------------------------

“How they doing?” Kakashi asked as Harry collapsed into the chair beside his bed.

 

“Not bad. I've got Naruto meditating to try and control his emotions and Jiriaya is teaching him how to use his, well…tenant I suppose.” Kakashi gave him a sharp look.

 

“You know about it?” He demanded and Harry nodded.

 

“Sandaime told me. Kind of an exchange of information. It explains some of the comments I've heard around. I know Naruto hears them too, poor kid.”

 

“So you aren't scared of him or anything?” Kakashi asked and Harry smiled.

 

“Hardly, he's Naruto. A goofball with a heart of gold and more determination than most armies. You should see the three way free for alls they have, Sakura's improving fast just to keep up.”

 

“You're training her too?”

 

“Yeah, she's part of the team too and the last thing she needs is to fall further behind the boys just because she didn't make it through to the finals. Sasuke's doing his usual sponge impersonation when it comes to knowledge and has been reading like crazy when not sparring with the others or practising water walking. With him facing Gaara I'm letting him look at theories and spells I wasn't planning to for at least another year but he'll need them to survive. Is it okay to admit I'm scared of him facing that boy?” Harry closed his eyes.

 

“Surely you knew when you allowed him to become a shinobi that he could be killed.”

 

“He could be killed just for being related to me back home and nearly was several times. But usually I don't have to just stand by and watch.” Harry opened his eyes in surprise as he felt a hand grab his. Kakashi smiled at him.

 

“He'll be fine. He's smart enough to know to forfeit if he needs to and a good enough fighter that I'd bet on him against any of the other rookies.” Kakashi reassured him and Harry smiled.

 

“Thanks.” He whispered, squeezing Kakashi's hand.

 

“You know, I had an interesting dream last night.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Hmm. Something about you saying I'm hot without the mask on?” Kakashi laughed as Harry went bright red.

 

“Um, well, hey you said I was cute first!” Harry countered.

 

“I did?” Kakashi swallowed.

 

“Yep, you said I was cute when I yelled at you.”

 

“Oh.” It was Kakashi's turn to blush although the mask hid most of it.

 

“It's okay, I figure you were pretty out of it and delirious by that point.”

 

“Doesn't stop what I said being true.” Kakashi said, staring at the wall past Harry's head.

 

“Oh…really?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Well, thanks. I meant it too.” They fell into an awkward silence until the door flew open.

 

“Kakashi my eternal rival!” Harry chuckled slightly at the look on Kakashi's face.

 

“I'll leave you two to talk or whatever. Better check on the kids before they manage to kill themselves or something. I'll stop by again tomorrow. Nice seeing you again Gai.” With that Harry left Kakashi to Gai's mercy, snickering all the way.

 

TBC…