Naruto 1. Chapter 1

_Versus_

Chapter 1

* * *

Dust from the barren training field whipped in their faces from the wind. The sun beat down mercilessly like it was wont to do in Fire Country's terrible summers. Iruka and Mizuki stood at adjacent points to sparring square. Given who the fighters in the middle were it made sense to have both teachers for the class present. It was also not too surprising that the class was a good distance away from the fight. Sweat beaded on Iruka's brow and he shot Mizuki a look. His friend gave a minute shrug and nodded. Iruka got the message, it wasn't like they could avoid this fight. Everyone had to fight an open match with all ninja disciplines allowed. It was simply their bad luck that these two would be the ones tied for the top spot.

"Yamanaka Harry, no fatal attacks," Iruka said. The boy turned his furious green eyes to him once and nodded. "Nara Bella," he said to the black haired beauty of the shadow-user clan, "When I say the match is over, it is over!"

The girl gave him a sweet smile but it looked to him like a snake was bearing fangs. The girl had always had a frighteningly developed killing intent. "Of course, sensei. We wouldn't want Harry-chan to get hurt."

"Fuck you, bitch," Harry snapped back. "I'll beat you like I always have."

"Yamanaka Harry, Nara Bella!" Iruka snapped. It was best to head them off before they started ranting at each other. He never understood half the nonsense they spouted. "Begin!"

The ground around the two suddenly cracked, columns of earth rose and other fell. Nara Bella cursed and leapt from column to column, trying not to get crushed. Yamanaka Harry stood where he had at the beginning of the fight. One hand spread open above the ground and the other in a hand seal. He clenched his fingers in a fist and the rippling earth took that command to swallow the Nara beauty. Iruka was about to intervene when Mizuki signaled him to halt.

There was a crack of noise and the girl appeared behind the auburn haired prodigy of the Yamanaka clan. Her black and green yukata was covered in dust and blood streaked her face from wounds on her head. Harry leapt up and to the side as soon as he heard her appear but her shadow was faster. Defying anything Iruka had ever seen a Nara do, the shadow rose from the ground and tied itself around Harry's limbs. In one more heartbeat she had her hands wrapped around his throat.

Uzumaki Naruto started cheering for Nara Bella along with quite a few boys from the class. Iruka shifted his eyes to his favorite student for just a second and then back to the battling pair. He felt deeply troubled about Naruto's impressionable personality being around the ever nebulous Nara Bella. Mizuki called to him, "I think she's got it," he said, "Only a matter of time before he passes out or she crushes his windpipe."

"No!" the heiress of the Yamanaka clan shouted. "He isn't done for yet!" Ino, the only contender for Kunoichi of the year title against Nara Bella, was staring fixedly at her clansmen.

"Never mind," Mizuki said with a grin. "I think we're going to get to see one another Yamanaka Harry surprise."

Iruka grumbled, "Is teleportation not enough of a surprise for you?" In answer Mizuki simply cast his eyes to the rock outcropping far in the distance. The heads of several clans could be seen there. Words of the fight between the two prodigies of Iruka's class had gotten out. Everyone wanted to witness the never before seen techniques the two academy students were rumored to have created.

Nara Bella started screaming in outrage. An invisible force seemed to be making her hands unclench and her shadow release Yamanaka Harry. She fell to her knees while Harry stood above her and stared into her eyes with burning hate. Her hands bent upon themselves and grabbed her own throat. "It's over, you're going to die by your own hands, you evil bitch!"

Iruka frowned at the boy's words but he couldn't disagree. Nara Bella had been more of a ninja walking into class the first day than any of her peers graduating that week. She had the mentality of a veteran from the Bloody Mist. Iruka expected she would be picked up by a specialist branch very fast. But it had been his job to drill teamwork and care for her comrades. He wasn't sure he had succeeded, no matter Naruto's adoration of her.

"You self-righteous mudblood!" Nara Bella hissed. "You call me evil when your entire clan practices dark mind arts!"

A shiver went through Yamanaka Harry and whatever control he had over Nara Bella's body began to loosen. She was able to pull her clawing hands away from her throat. "Face it, Potter, this world is for people like me. What will you do when I'm dead? Be a light ninja?" She howled in laughter as Harry's face lost all color and his control over her broke. Lightning quick, she plunged a kunai in his gut.

This time Harry fell to his knees, holding the blade in his stomach. Iruka and Mizuki ran to stop the fight when Bella fell to the ground and began writhing in agony. Her screams curdled Iruka's blood, cuts appeared on her body, her skin began to melt as if she were on fire. Before the two chuunin could do anything the heads of both the Nara and Yamanaka clans appeared.

Yamanaka Inoichi stood between the two facing his clansmen. "That's enough, Harry. Let her go!"

Harry's green eyes met his clan head's in a contest for a fraction of a second and before he looked away Nara Bella's screams lost their desperation. She remained whimpering in pain. Her clan head, Shikaku, picked her up bodily and disappeared off to the hospital. Inoichi did the same for Harry.

"They're monsters," Kiba said out loud in obvious fear. "Did you see that? He tortured her with his mind! With his mind!"

"What'd you expect?" Uchiha Sasuke said. "He did what he was supposed to."

"Bastard," Naruto jumped against the last Uchiha as always. "He was killing her!"

"Only after she tried to kill him first, idiot," Sasuke snapped back. "Though…that technique, the teleportation, it was too fast to follow, and her shadow techniques are even better than the clan heir."

Naruto grinned. "You're damned right! She's the best."

Sasuke snorted. "It's obvious Harry was winning-"

"That's right, Harry-kun is the strongest!" Ino interjected.

Naruto flipped them both off. "Well what does that make you two? Second best shinobi and kunoichi of our class? You know second best is the same as the first loser, right?"

"You'd know all about being a loser wouldn't you, Naruto!" Ino reared back and put him on the ground with a haymaker.

The instructors decided to stop the brawl that was breaking out. Iruka worried for their future. Harry and Bella separately were very capable and Harry especially cared about his classmates. But with Bella on the opposing team he only saw blood. The fact that these two children had developed original techniques and taken their clan techniques to new levels was troubling.

He let Mizuki control the class as he walked to the gathering at the rock outcropping. He could make out the features of that year's jounin sensei and one of the elders. Undoubtedly the Sandaime was also somehow keeping watch. He hoped there wouldn't be any repercussions for either of his students. Sasuke only responded to Harry in class. It was as if they had an unspoken understanding of each other. The grieving and difficult boy would be worse off if Harry were to be released from the ninja program. For much the same reasons Naruto would be devastated if Bella came to a bad end.

xXx

Homura, elder of the council, sat at his desk in the Hokage tower. As usual his small office overflowed with scrolls, maps, and various books. In his old age he had taken to more scholarly pursuits of chakra manipulation when not attending to village duties. His latest interests were Yamanaka Ao and Nara Kumori. He was well aware of their preferred nicknames, Harry and Bella, but paid them no attention.

He unfurled a scroll he kept on the Nara girl. His pen flowed without hesitation over the end of the parchment, noting down new observations from the fight at the academy. The child had somehow created a space-time technique more advanced than that of the Yondaime and Nidaime. The only downside was the sound… but already she seemed to be reducing the noise. If she managed to increase the range and stealth of the technique she would have the potential to be Konoha's best assassin. The intellectual side of the elder noted various theories on how she had managed the technique.

Steam rose from a cup of green tea at his elbow. He paused to sip from it and stared out unseeingly from his square rimmed glasses. It was a foregone conclusion that Danzo would want the girl, but Homura wanted her for himself. On this he would not bend. Noting to himself to bring up her over-emotional personality to dissuade Danzo he put her name down for Hatake Kakashi's team. It was a precaution. Kakashi was too high-profile a ninja and his students were to be the same. It was already decided that the Jinchuriki and the Uchiha would be his students. Nara Kumori would be safest under his care until he could take her in himself for further training and study. Danzo or any other clandestine division would have find it impossible to poach her from under Kakashi.

The clock in his office rung noon. Homura sighed. He had only a handful of minutes before his meeting and he wanted to be done with his team recommendations for the Hokage. He moved over the scrolls for the Uchiha and the Jinchuriki, the decision for their placement had been made years ago. Only Kakashi could be trusted to keep both loyal, to train both, and if worst happened to subdue the beast with his eye. The only other person of interest was Yamanaka Ao.

The elder grimaced when he unfurled the boy's scroll. Sarutobi was inordinately fond of the boy. Unlike the Nara girl who only seemed to have consideration for Naruto, the Yamanaka prodigy helped everyone. If the Will of Fire was in anyone it was the boy. Homura expected that Kakashi would ask to train the boy, he was like him in many ways without the tragic life history. The boy was already known for his exceptional skill with earth manipulation. He had the ability to make the battlefield entirely his own like he had shown with his fight with Nara Bella. Homura scratched more lines under his skills for the advanced Yamanaka techniques. Somehow he had taken control of Nara Bella's body without sending his spirit out fully. To have discovered a way to cover the historic weakness of the body-switch technique was worthy of a commendation in his record. No doubt the clan's prestige and power would rise based on just that technique alone.

His pen stopped sharply on the scroll as he thought of the technique the boy had used to win the fight. The torture technique - was it an illusion made real like rare members of the Kurama clan had been capable of? Unlike those wretched creatures of the Kurama clan that had been cursed with that power, Ao did not seem to suffer. Homura frowned and put his pen down. He drank from his cup, the tea was rapidly cooling, a minor fire jutsu warmed the tea up again. Deciding on his placement was very difficult. He would flourish in a team where he didn't have to compensate for weaker members. That way he could pay attention to his own training. But teams were never created with that intention. All members compensated for others. Unfortunately, the tendency to help others was too strong in the boy and it often worked to his detriment. In that Nara Kumori was a superior ninja to him.

"But who to place you with…" Homura tapped his desk and went over the list of jounin. Hyuuga Hiashi would be an unrelenting taskmaster and his pride wouldn't allow anything but the impossible from the boy. Unfortunately, Hiashi was a political animal and handing him a possible future S-class shinobi like Yamanaka Harry may not be the best idea. Frankly, if he or Koharu were younger, it would be best if they took him on in a genin cell. Tentatively, he noted speaking to Koharu to take him on once he became a chunnin. Maybe a simply adequate jounin would be enough to get Yamanaka Harry to chunnin.

There was a knock on his door. Homura checked the time, it was his appointment. Aburame Shibi entered and gave the elder a short bow. Homura motioned the man to sit down and mused that he had known Shibi's grandfather when he was still a young man. "What can I do for you, Aburame-san?" It wouldn't do to be too familiar in an official meeting. The man adjusted his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. Homura had learned this to be a clan wide nervous gesture.

"As you know several clan heirs are graduating this year. I have come to speak about potential jounin-sensei for my son's team," the Aburame's clan head said in his traditional monotone.

"The teams have not been finalized nor the jounin-sensei," Homura said. "I was just working on my recommendations."

"Some teams are logical regardless of recommendations, Homura-sama. It's clear the heirs of the Yamanka, Nara, and Akimichi will be in one team under a Sarutobi sensei. Such an opportunity to exercise tradition will not be passed over," Shibi said. Homura simply nodded and indicated for the man to go on. "Going in length about other logical assignments is a waste of our time. I am certain you have come to the same conclusions."

Homura felt a little irritated with the young man. It certainly wasn't as simple as the Aburame made it sound. Otherwise he wouldn't be having such a difficult time placing the promising students from that year. "As you wish," he said, not giving away his annoyance. "Why don't we speak about your son, then? He did…well."

Shibi did not seem to notice the subtle insult. His son had been decidedly middling in the class rankings. "I have received word that a rookie jounin has been selected for my son's team. He is to be placed with the Hyuuga and Inuzuka heirs. That the Hyuuga do not care for their heir does not mean that the Aburame feel the same for their own. I wonder, Elder Homura, what message is being sent to us when other heirs will have jounin like Hatake Kakashi and the Hokage's son?" At the end the monotone had become a little more heated.

Homura had to entertain the thought that Shibi was actually upset and not simply angling for some political concession. "You're referring to Yuhi Kurenai, a gifted kunoichi. She has made quite a name for herself. We are proud of her achievements."

"Ah, yes, Konoha's Mistress of Illusion. The nom de guerre loses any prestige when we have no Uchiha left and the Kurama clan is defunct. In the absence of traditional specialists of illusion…" Shibi trailed off when he saw Homura's raised hand.

"Thank you, Aburame-san," Homura said with a smile. "You just solved a problem for me. Rest assured, I will do what I can to ensure your son's team has a different jounin." Homura watched for and found the subtle tells of surprise on the man's face. He had not expected to win so fast.

Aburame Shiba stood and bowed. "Thank you, Homura-sama."

Left alone again, Homura quickly penned in his recommendations. Now all he had to do was recruit Koharu for the little tableau he wanted played out.

xXx

The Association of Konoha's Kunoichi was just breaking up when Koharu signaled to Yūhi Kurenai. The young woman busied herself with her things as others left the changing rooms of the hot springs. Koharu made sure to take her sweet time getting dressed. Making the young kunoichi wait would be a good way to build the tension. The changing rooms were fairly spacious with lockers made of polished wood and comfortable benches conveniently placed.

"Lock the door," Koharu ordered. The kunoichi responded with quiet speed and locked both entrances. Koharu sat on a bench as if it were a throne and gazed at the newly minted jounin. There had been a dearth of outstanding kunoichi with the deaths of Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Kushina. Tsunade had long left the village and Inuzuka Tsume was the only visible kunoichi of significant reputation. The young kunoichi, Yuhi Kurenai, had potential to change that. Unfortunately her peers were such legends as Hatake Kakashi and Mito Gai. It would be nigh impossible for her to reach their infamy. But at times only the right sort of motivation was needed to grasp greatness. Homura had given the tools to manipulate Kurenai on that path.

"I am told you requested a genin team, specifically Hyuuga Hinata's team," Koharu began in a disapproving tone. The young woman before her didn't so much as fidget.

"Yes, elder, I have guarded Hinata for several years, I feel I can teach her best," Kurenai said confidently. Her red eyes were steady and didn't betray her thoughts.

"Walking the heir of perhaps the most powerful clan back and forth from school is not a qualification for the role of jounin-sensei," Koharu said caustically.

"With all due respect-" Kurenai began.

"Quiet. You are a rookie jounin. You are expected to take the long and broad view of issues at your rank," Koharu interrupted. "Reaching the rank of jounin is no mean feat, however, that does not mean you are truly the elite of our village. Your career and your rise to this rank has been average. Your peers achieved jounin status long before you-"

"Not all of them did, I am one of the few," Kurenai said and this time she was frowning. Her already pale skin had paled even further in anger.

Koharu locked gazes with her for a moment and then with the surety of plunging a knife in, she said, "All those who mattered did." She waited for another outburst from the young kunoichi but seeing only muscles tensing in her jaw, Koharu continued, "As I said, you are expected to take the broad view. So you will understand that handing clan heirs to an untested, rookie, jounin is not in the interest of the village." She stood and acted as if she were ready to leave. "Had you gained more strength and reached the same heights as your peers we would have trusted you with high profile students."

"If I'm not given a chance to prove myself, how can I earn your trust?" the young kunoichi snapped finally.

Koharu inwardly smiled. The girl had played into her hand. She still didn't have the confidence in her abilities to recognize something else than concern over her power was afoot. "Well, perhaps…we have some leftover students. One of them might even be gifted. If I were to speak on your behalf to the Hokage. But, Yuhi Kurenai," Koharu paused a let some of her killing intent flow in the room, "Should you fail to bring out the potential of your students and raise your threat level, I will personally bring an end to your career for disappointing me."

Kurenai bowed her head. "I swear you won't regret trusting me, Koharu-sama."

"Let's see what the Hokage thinks. I will do my best to champion you. Now let's get out of here." Koharu said and swept from the room. That had been entirely too easy.

xXx

Kurenai was in training ground 13. It was a place she was usually able to find peace. She stood outside a grotto on water that looked a milky green. Black porous rock formed little islands in the manmade lake. Tall trees ensconced the grotto to make it a secluded place. From experience Kurenai knew the rock surfaces to be slick with water and treacherous. The depth of the lake changed sharply, making falling in it a dangerous prospect too. But the small waterfalls and the quiet made it a good place to meditate.

No matter the conducive environment, Kurenai didn't feel peaceful at all. Her meditation was disturbed by her fury. To be dismissed like a child by the elders! To have all her efforts to earn the jounin rank be called average! Did they think it was easy? And, poor Hinata, the girl needed careful handling. To pawn her off to Inuzuka Tsume of all emotionally blind women was insanity. That is nothing to say of giving her a partial team.

That last thought gave her pause. It was strange. The elder had said she was to be given leftovers. That implied that the students would be unpromising. Yet, she had netted the rookie of the year and a girl who was solidly in the top ten percent. Why would they trust her with the Yamanaka prodigy and not the less stellar heirs in the original team she was supposed to get.

She heard the sounds of someone approaching the grotto. It must be my students. Originally she would've tested them but after her conversation with the elder she knew their failure was hers. There was no way she was letting that happen. So she planned on giving them some cake test for appearance's sake. She smirked to herself. She had no idea what game the elders were playing but with a student like Yamanaka Harry she pretty much had the sensei gig in the bag. Hinata often sung praises of the auburn haired boy. The girl, hopefully, wouldn't too much trouble. In fact the more she thought about it, the better the situation looked for her.

Her two students hopped over rocks, balancing well, and Harry even helped the pink haired girl a couple of times. Teamwork will be easy to instill, but the girl needs to stop acting like a damsel in distress. She didn't think they would've had time to synchronize their clothes but both had red gear on. The girl wore a red qi pao and Harry wore black pants and a red shirt.

"Good morning, Sensei-" the boy began when he was within speaking distance but suddenly froze. The girl hopped to a rock next to him and have Kurenai a short bow.

"Are you alright?" Kurenai asked her male student. His green eyes had gone wide and his mouth was slightly open. He seemed to be lost in some vision. If Kurenai didn't know any better she would've thought he was under a genjustu.

"Voldemort!" he shouted and killing intent roiled over him. Kurenai had only a moment before the boy launched himself at her. She slapped his kunai aside and followed up with a roundhouse kick. It hit him in the side hard and threw him into the grotto.

"Harry-kun!" Sakura shouted.

The rock Kurenai was standing on suddenly cracked open. She struggled for balance but gave it up when the rock parted and rows upon rows of teeth appeared in its stony maw. She leapt in the air. It was the opportunity the boy was looking for. He had come out of the grotto and was standing waist deep in the water. His hands were together in the seal for the Yamanaka body-switch technique.

Kurenai felt her arm move of its own volition and punch her in the gut. She fell out of the air and into the water. The muddy bed swirled around her, blanketing her, and sucking her deeper inside. The mud and silt poured into her mouth and nose. With instinctive ease she used the kwarimi to get herself out of the trap.

She appeared standing above the grotto, sopping wet with mud and water. Before Harry could attack her again she put him under the Hell viewing illusion. As a Yamanaka the boy should have training to resist illusions but she only needed a little breathing room. Killing intent starting spiking as soon as she cast the illusion. She looked for her other student and found Sakura had gotten out of the way and climbed a tree.

"No… Mum, Sirius! I won't let you kill them!" he roared and broke out of the illusion. He looked around in obvious confusion. "Um, what happened?" he said looking up at Sakura who he spotted before Kurenai.

Kurenai had had a very trying few days. She used all her jounin speed to appear next to him and slap him upside the head. He tumbled into the water and appeared a moment later spewing water and spluttering. "What was that for?"

"That was for attacking your superior officer!" Kurenai snapped, wringing her hair of mud.

"No one warned me you had red eyes. I thought you were…" he started then with an audible click shut his mouth. The boy's face lost color and he looked embarrassed.

"Yes?" Kurenai demanded furiously.

"Ah, sorry…the red eyes kinda set me off."

Kurenai rubbed the bridge of her nose. Of course, it all made sense now why Yamanaka Ao (Harry to his friends, and she felt she definitely wasn't in that category) was on the leftover team. He was a little psycho whose trigger happened to be red eyes. The elders hate me, Kurenai concluded. "Do you have issues with red eyes too?" Kurenai focused not a little killing intent on the pink haired girl.

Sakura had just managed to come down the tree and make it back to the rest of her team. "No, sensei!"

Kurenai glared at her. "Do you have any other mental issues that will surprise me?"

Sakura fidgeted and gave a very unconvincing, "No?"

Kurenai was usually a very composed woman. "Just out with it. I want to know if my other student is going to start attacking me too."

"No, sensei! I swear she wouldn't do that!" Sakura shook her head violently.

"She?" Yamanaka Ao entered the conversation again. "Who's she?"

Sakura fidgeted some more and gave them both a sheepish grin. "The… voice in my head?"

Kurenai started weeping inside but kept a tough exterior outside. There was nothing she could do. Koharu-sama had told her in just as many words that if she didn't realize the potential of her students her career would be dead. She couldn't tell anyone Harry had tried to kill her or that Sakura heard voices in her head. "That's okay," she said in a convincingly warm tone. "Some of the best ninja in Konoha are crazy. I'm sure if we work together you will be legends in no time."

"Um, Sensei, that isn't very nice," Sakura said a little sadly.

"Forget that. Isn't her smile looking a little manic?" Harry asked Sakura.

'Team 13.' Kurenai should've known nothing good would come of that unlucky number.

xXx

_12 years prior, Harry and Bella Age 1  
_

Nara Mei opened up the door to see her friend's smiling face. "Mio! Come in, come in! Oh, let me see little Ao, I can't get over these gorgeous green eyes!"

Yamanaka Mio smiled as she handed her son over to Mei. As she was taking off her sandals she replied, "They really are beautiful, aren't they? I think he'll be quite a lady killer when he grows up." The two woman giggled as they cooed at the infant.

Harry smiled up at his Aunt Mei and gurgled happily before looking around for his playmate. He was here for his weekly scheduled playdate with Kumori, which he looked forward to. She and Shika were the only ones his age that he could stand for more than a few minutes at a time. The rest of the babies were, well, they were babies. Kumori and Shika were much more collected than the rest of their peers. He heard his mom say something about the Nara clan always having immensely intelligent kids, he supposed that was why he could relate to them more - he was, after all, a teenager in a baby's body.

As Mei walked into the playroom he locked eyes with his playmate. Kumori gave him a nod as he was set down next to her. He nodded back and proceeded to crawl towards a mass of blocks near the door. He might've been seventeen, but building stuff out of blocks never got old. Kumori usually liked to draw things and color in some coloring book.

Their mothers walked to the kitchen. Mei asked, "Some tea, Mio?"

"Oh, yes, thank you, Mei. Ao is such a delight but can be so exhausting sometimes! We've spent the entire morning practicing names for different things around the house. He's getting so big now, it's getting hard to carry him everywhere!"

Mei laughed and said, "How cute! How many words can he say now?"

Mio's face lit up as she said, "He can say a couple dozen now, at least! He's also starting to speak in sentences now, too!"

"Wow! That's really impressive, Mio, babies don't start talking in simple sentences until they're two, Ao's only a bit more than one!"

"Ha! As if Kumori is any different, you know she's just as smart as my Ao."

"Ah, that's true! It's such a pleasure hearing her speak, she's even more advanced than little Skikamaru, Shikaku's kid," Mei laughed, "I think Yoshino is a bit upset at that, I've noticed her trying to get Shikamaru to talk to her more than a few times."

The two women chuckled to themselves and slipped into a comfortable silence as they sipped their tea. Mei suddenly laughed again and Mio looked at her inquisitively. "What's so funny, all of a sudden?"

"It's just Kumori, you better not let her hear you call her that!" laughed Mei.

"What, her name?"

"Mmhmm. She insists on being called…" Mei paused as she tried to recall the name.

"Well?"

"Hang on, it's a bit tough to say. She started getting angry when I couldn't pronounce it right."

Mio blinked at her friend. "She gets angry at you?"

"Beh-ra!" exclaimed Mei suddenly.

"Beh-ra?" asked Mio.

Mei nodded and replied, "Yes, or something simliar. I don't think I said it right though."

In the playroom Harry was busy with trying to build Gryffindor tower. He couldn't help but overhear his mum's conversation with his aunt as he was right next to the door. He glanced at Kumori with amusement when he heard she got annoyed when she wasn't called Beh-ra. That was just like the stubborn girl. She was very adamant and demanding when she wanted something.

_Wait, Beh-ra?_ Harry sat for a minute, staring at Kumori. Why did that name give him such a chill? _Beh-ra… Beh-wa?_

He scrunched his nose in confusion as he pondered the issue. His face slackened as a name popped into his head.

_Bella._

His eyes narrowed and his tiny fists clenched. Bellatrix Lestrange.

Bellatrix, meanwhile, had calmly been trying to draw, knowing that it would improve her dexterity. She felt eyes upon her and looked up, and saw her playmate, Ao, looking at her with a slackjawed expression. What in Merlin's name is wrong with him? He doesn't usually look so utterly stupid. She turned her attention back to her drawing.

"Oo. _Bish_."

Bella blinked and stared up at Ao. Bish? She did a double take as she saw the pure rage and hatred on Ao's face. Emotions like that didn't belong on a babies face.

Harry's face quickly morphed into one of annoyance as he tried to say it again.

"Bish!" he insisted.

_He's gone round the bend, I think, _Bella thought to herself as she stared in fascination at the crazy baby.

"Argh! Bish. Bith. Bith!" Harry was having trouble pronouncing the word bitch. For a moment he forgot how angry he was supposed to be and focused only on getting the word out correctly. His new mouth and tongue had never spoken English before, hell, they could barely speak the new language his parents spoke. The problem was that his brain knew what he wanted to say but he had no muscle memory to back it up.

"Bi. Ch," said Harry as he attempted to break the word apart. "Bitch!"

He grinned toothily and shouted, "Wah! Bitch!" He pointed towards Bella but grimaced as he couldn't correctly pronounce the word 'yeah'.

Bella just sat there flabbergasted as she witnessed a baby call her a bitch.

Wait. Bitch? Did he just speak in bloody English?

"Oo spee Eng… ait, PO-ER?!" exclaimed Bellatrix, giving a grimace of her own at her mutilated words.

Harry was glaring at Bellatrix with all the hate his cute little face could project. This little cunt had killed his godfather. She had tortured Neville's parents into insanity. She had gone through the veil with him. It had to be her. He had suspected for months that she had also been reborn in this world, but never knew for sure. Until now.

Bellatrix's astonishment faded and she grew amused at the sight of a baby staring at her with such venom. "Aww, icka 'awwy Po-er, oo eah too!"

Harry's rage just intensified as he translated her words. Mocking him, again! How fucking dare she! "Oo kiwoo Siw… Swi… Pafoo!"

Bellatrix just lost at it that and fell to the floor in peals of laughter. Harry screamed at her with all the force he could muster and tried to walk over to her so he could punch her, but only succeeded in falling flat on his face. Bellatrix saw and tears started leaking out of her eyes as she laughed even harder.

"Bish!" screamed Harry. _GODDAMNIT, WHY CAN'T I SAY BITCH!?_

He got up and started crawling towards Bellatrix, murder in his eyes. "Uck oo!"

"Uck _oo_!" cackled Bella as she started crawling towards Harry too.

Harry let out a childish yelp of anger as he reached Bella and reached out to punch her in the face. Bellatrix tried to do the same - both ended up on the floor, tangled in each others arms. They each shouted incoherently and tried to get the upper hand. Harry managed to get Bellatrix beneath him and put his hand on her neck to try and throttle her.

Bellatrix wheezed as she tried to push Harry off of her. When that didn't work she used her infant flexibility to bring her legs up and kick Harry off of her. She coughed as she attempted to get back upright and then suddenly grinned. She had forgotten about her drawing pencil. She giggled as she gripped it in her hand and crawled towards her opponent. She raised it high above her head and was about to bring it plunging down on his eye when she abruptly felt a sense of vertigo as she was lifted five feet into the air.

"_Kumori!_"

"_Ao!_"

As their mothers babbled apologies to each other, Harry and Bellatrix could only glare at each other balefully.

"M gon geh oo…" whispered Harry.

Bellatrix smiled sweetly at him and whispered back, "Jess ty it."

* * *

**Edit: July 7th, 2014 - some minor syntax fixes.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

_Versus_

Chapter 2

* * *

"Okay," Kurenai said. "Alright." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair which was finally clean. Harry sat on a rock across from her and Sakura on one of her own. "Let's talk about ourselves a bit, introduce ourselves. Hmmm?" She smiled warmly. She was going to make this team work, damn it.

"Mm, sensei, does Sakura do two introductions for her two personalities?" Harry asked with a glint in his eyes.

"Harry-kun!" Sakura screeched and blushed red.

"Ao-san, behave," Kurenai said, holding back the desire to smack him.

He smiled and said, "You can just call me Harry, sensei, all my friends do."

"Oh," she smiled, feeling a burst of happiness. Despite their rocky start he wanted her to call him what friends called him. "Alright, Harry. Why don't you go ahead. Tell us something about your goals, dreams, maybe a hobby."

"Well, my name is Harry -" Sakura snickered at his side, Harry dipped his hand in the water and splashed her. "I want to be strong enough to protect my family and my clan. And…" his eyes took on a wistful look.

"Yes," Kurenai said. "No one's going to judge you."

"Well," he smiled shyly. "I want to find a summon contract for a mystical beast."

"What, like a dragon?" Sakura frowned at him.

Harry shrugged. "Or a phoenix or a unicorn."

"What's a unicorn?" Kurenai asked, trying to stay true to what she'd said to the boy and not judge him.

"Ah, well, it's like a kirin." His voice lowered and he spoke as if it were from memory. "They are the purest creatures in the world. Even in the brightest sunlight they can outshine the sun...and when you see them, it's as if everything dark that ever happened to you is washed away…" he trailed off in a whisper.

Kurenai was spellbound. Everything she knew about analyzing people told her that he was speaking from experience, but it made no sense.

"Harry-kun!" Sakura suddenly jumped from her boulder in the water to Harry's. That boy was more than a bit startled as the girl took his hands in hers. "Let's find unicorns together!" Her green eyes were shining with excitement.

Harry opened his mouth to say something but there was a scream from the distance that made them all snap toward it.

Sakura shook her fist and yelled back, "SHUT UP, NARUTOOOO!"

"Damn, he sounded like he was really in pain," Harry said.

Kurenai wondered what Kakashi was doing to his students that she could hear them all the way from training ground 7 to 13.

xXx

**Several Hours Previously**

It was 5:00am and in the long days of summer the sun had already started peaking over the horizon. On a bridge over a small stream in training ground 7 Nara "Bella" Kumori was waiting for her test. She wore a sleeveless kimono style black blouse held close by a green obi. Instead of shorts or pants like most girls prefered in her class she wore a loose black skirt. The headband with Konoha's symbol was tied around the green obi.

She sat perched on the red bridge with a drawing pad open on her knees. A piece of charcoal scratched the paper guided by her deft hand. She had picked up drawing as a way to improve her dexterity as a baby and kept up with it over the years. Under her fingers the image of a sunrise appeared in bold strokes. It developed until it showed what one might see as they entered the training ground at early dawn: The bridge, betraying its color slowly as tendrils of light reached over tall swaying trees, water bubbling away in the stream, and a dark-haired girl sitting on the bridge.

"Good morning, Naruto," Bella whispered, having sensed her minion.

"G'morning, Bella-chan. Sorry, I thought I was very quiet. I didn't mess up your painting, did I?" Naruto asked. He looked more disheveled than usual. One end of his yellow jacket was tucked inside his pants, the other was outside. His Konoha headband couldn't hide his bed hair.

"No, you were very good, this time, Naruto - and it's a drawing, not a painting." Bella smudged out the charcoal marks next to where she had drawn the girl and started adding Naruto into the picture.

Naruto kicked his feet like a child and hummed while resisting looking over Bella's shoulder at the drawing. She would kill him if he did. Bella's beatings hurt worse than Sakura's punches. "Are you having fun drawing, Bella-chan?" he asked inanely.

She hummed agreeably while frowning in concentration at the drawing. "It's strange… Sometimes I lose myself drawing as if I am back in battle with tortured screams and the smell of blood in the air."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously at Bella's words. "Y-you don't mean that, Bella-chan."

Bella's hand whipped out and grabbed Naruto by the jaw. For the first time since he had met her that morning she looked up from her drawing. "Hold right there, don't move." Her eyes went from his face back to her paper where she was drawing him. "You have such a weak chin, Naruto."

Tears were stinging in Naruto's eyes from the pain of having his jaw crushed between Bella's fingers. "I dun haff a-" Bella's squeezed harder making him stop talking. He suffered quietly. It wasn't the first time she had used him as a model. It was nearly always a painful experience.

In another five minutes she was done with him and let go. Naruto rubbed his jaw but made no complaint. She was his only friend his age. So what if she was a little abusive, she always stood up for him.

"Why aren't you wearing the green jacket I bought you?" Bella asked.

_Oh shit!_ Naruto thought. "Err, I dropped ramen on it, it's drying, I washed it."

"Go put it on. You're not going to start our first day as Team 7 without our colors. What have I told you about our colors, Naruto?" Bella asked.

Naruto looked at the charcoal pencil in Bella's hand being held like a knife and gulped. "Green and silver are nobility's colors. I'm lucky that you're letting me wear them," he rattled off quickly.

Bella smiled thinly. "Go on, go get the jacket and get me something to eat."

"But Kakashi-sensei said we couldn't eat!"

Bella stared at him silently. He threw up his hands and ran off to do as she said. It was no use arguing with her when she gave that look.

Bella returned to her drawings. She turned the page over to start on a new one when Uchiha Sasuke shuffled onto the bridge. He stood as far away from her as he could. She arched a brow and started drawing him. She smirked when he started looking nervous. He had caught her looking at him from the corner of his eye. Given Uchiha's paranoia he was probably thinking she was up to something. Bella didn't mind his fear. It was good that even when she was doing something as innocuous as sketching that Sasuke thought she was out to kill him.

"So Sasu-chan," she said in that baby tone she used to drive Harry crazy. "What are you going to do now that Harry isn't around to protect you from me?" Sasuke's hand fell to the weapon's bag strapped to his leg. Bella openly laughed at his actions. Sasuke clenched his fist and turned his face away from her.

In half an hour Naruto was back, this time wearing a green jacket with black shorts. In his hands were two large bowls of ramen, still steaming. Bella smiled and took a bowl from him. After years of hanging out with the boy she had developed an appreciation for the simple food.

"Yo, bastard! Wanna share some of mine?" Naruto called out to Sasuke. Sasuke shot him a loathsome look, grunted, and then walked off the bridge. Naruto grumbled under his breath but didn't really mind. "Wow glad Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet. I don't want to throw up all this sweet sweet ramen."

Bella sighed. "Don't talk about disgusting things when we're eating, Naruto. We'll deal with him when he gets here. Just be ready to put your life on the line for the test. We have to make it. I'm _not_ going to be held back again by Sarutobi!" She spat.

"I wish you didn't get so angry at jiji," Naruto said morosely.

"Jiji," Bella scoffed. "He has you totally fooled."

Naruto didn't say anything. After the last few days he had no argument against Bella. It was Bella who used to hold his hand when the villagers ignored him and broke their bones when they called him names. It was her who taught him outside of school when teachers wouldn't pay him attention. It was her who had been there for him when he had found out about the secret of what was inside him. It was she who reminded him Jiji could have protected him from all that.

So he drowned his troubled thoughts in ramen and decided to be happy he was sitting next to the girl he had a crush on, who was also his best friend. Now if only Sakura-chan came around too his life would be perfect. For a brief moment he fantasized about sitting between a doting Sakura-chan and Bella-chan.

"Why are you blushing?" Bella asked with suspicion.

"No reason!" Naruto lost the color in his face in terror of what his best friend might do to him if she could figure out his thoughts.

xXx

Five hours later found Naruto sprawled on the bridge fast asleep. Bella was sitting in a meditative pose next to him. The blank expression on her face hid the fury inside her at being kept waiting. Sasuke had chosen to sit by a tree in the field instead of wait on the bridge with his teammates. The farther he was from Nara Bella the better he felt.

It was on this scene Kakashi arrived. He appeared with lunches and a clock. At Nara Kumori's glare he gave a closed eye smile. Killing intent sparked from the girl forcing him to take an instinctive step back. His one visible eye narrowed - that KI was nothing a fresh academy brat should've been able to manifest. The girl in question was waking up Naruto with a kick and shouting for Sasuke to come.

Genius and prodigy were words that civilians threw around easily these days. The last Uchiha, Sasuke, was sometimes called that as well. By Kakashi's measure that wasn't true. The boy was talented and driven but he hadn't done anything to make him stand out. Not like his brother, not like Kakashi himself. Konoha had gone through terrible tragedies in recent years. People wanted to believe in the future. So they stamped the title of genius on kids to make themselves feel better. After the devastation of the Kyuubi's attack, the shame of Hyuga Hizashi's death, and the horror of the Uchiha massacre they wanted heroes.

So when he had heard of the the prodigy of the Nara clan, from a branch family no less, he wasn't impressed. It sounded like the deluded talk he was only too used to. But the girl's KI...it had made him wonder if he had been wrong.

"Oi! Pervert, stop staring at us!" Naruto shouted and broke Kakashi out of his musings.

"Hmm? Right, so, the test. See this alarm clock? I'm going to set it for one hour. You have that long to take these two bells from me. Those who get the bell pass." After explaining Kakashi shuffled off to a training post in the field and set the clock on top of it. He heard three pairs of feet following him.

"But you only have two bells, it's three of us," Naruto said with obvious confusion.

Kakashi turned to them and shrugged laconically. "Noticed that finally? Well the two who get the bells get to each lunch, and the third goes home." He stretched his back and yawned. "Anyway, come at me with intent to kill or you won't make it."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Naruto shouted. "This is bullshit, you can't just have two bells!"

Kakashi sighed. "You know, in my experience the one who barks the loudest has the weakest bite. We both know you're not going to make it."

Naruto couldn't take the insult and rushed Kakashi only to have the collar of his shirt jerk back and stop him. "Bella-chan, let me go! I'll show him I can bite too."

"He's getting you to lose your temper, idiot. What have I taught you about that?" Bella snapped. She dragged Naruto back. "Sasu-chan, come with me."

Sasuke grunted. "I'm ok by myself. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Bella laughed nastily. "Like mass murderer brother like brother. I shouldn't have expected you to help out your team."

Sasuke's face reddened and he almost lunged for the girl but caught sight of Kakashi watching them all silently. He didn't want to do anything that would prove Bella's words right in front of his possible new sensei. "Fine, I'll come with you."

"Aww, sho shweet, Sasu-chan. Oh and if you're confused, the sharp end of the kunai goes into our sensei, not your teammates' backs, ok?" She patted him on the shoulder when he was close enough. "We do things differently than the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke kept his lips sealed and his desire to kill the foul Nara bitch bottled. Once he was through the test, he resolved, he was putting in for a transfer to Harry's team. There was a spot open and he was going to use all his political capital to get himself away from Nara Bella.

"Ma, you kids are so dramatic. I don't think my old bones can take it," Kakashi said and took out an orange book from his breast pocket to read. "Well, come at me when you're ready."

While his eyes moved over the words his thoughts were turned to what he had heard Nara Kumori had said to Sasuke. She had thrown out a serious accusation but the boy hadn't reacted much - so he was used to such taunts. Kakashi didn't like that. It reminded him too much of his own past with what had driven his father to suicide.

Farther into a copse of trees the three candidates for Team 7 met. Sasuke made sure to have the sun behind him and Bella opposite. She didn't just rely on her clan techniques but when she did they were painful. Even with that precaution he couldn't help keep an eye on all the shadows around and Bella at the same time. Her dark eyes gleamed knowingly and the corner of her lips was pulled in a half smile.

"Alright, what's the plan, Bella-chan? I can't wait to kick his ass." Naruto was looking toward the empty field where they'd left Kakashi.

"Plan is simple," Bella said, her smile stretching. "You and Sasu-chan will be bait and I will get the bells."

"Hell no," Sasuke growled.

"What? Bait?" Naruto squeaked.

Bella rolled her eyes at her minion. "Yes, bait, distraction, diversion, remember those things we learned in tactics class, Naruto? With that new clone technique you've got you can distract him with numbers." She turned to Sasuke. "And Sasu-chan is adequate with his taijutsu and kunai work to make up for your lack of skill."

"But there are only two bells…" Naruto said.

"Exactly," Sasuke muttered. "If you get both bells who'll get to pass other than you?"

"We can settle that amongst ourselves." Bella said airily. "Hatake is the bigger threat right now. We take him down, then we can fight each other for who gets the bells."

"I don't trust you," Sasuke said and crossed his arms. "Why don't you and Naruto be the distraction and I will be the one to get the bells."

Naruto started laughing. "You suck, Sasuke, Kakashi would beat you down harder than Bella-chan does. She's our only shot."

"Fuck you," Sasuke snapped. "You'll just use me and then hand the bell to Naruto. I know you." He glared at Bella who was smirking.

"Come now, Sasu-chan, we're a team. Are you going to let Harry's lies about me make us fail the test?"

"Yeah, bastard, don't be a bastard," Naruto added. "You and I can do this...and then I'll fight you for the second bell. That's fair, right?"

Sasuke let out an explosive breath and shook his head. "If it's you, Naruto, I could probably trust you, but everyone knows you'd do anything for Kumori-"

"My name is Bella, Sasu-chan. Call me that name again and I will slit your throat," Bella growled.

Sasuke just pointed at Bella's hand holding a kunai and shrugged at Naruto. "See what I mean? Sorry, I'm going to get the bells on my own." He stepped away and was soon lost from sight in the underbrush.

Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Bella. "You scared him away."

In answer Bella walked close to Naruto, so that he could feel her breath on his face. She caressed his hair with her fingers. "He's right, you know," she said in a low voice. "You would do anything for me, won't you?"

Naruto blushed hard and choked on his spit. After clearing his throat he said, "O-of course, Bella-chan."

"Then we don't need him, Naruto. You are I are strong together. We can beat Kakashi. Who needs that pussy?" She smiled at him gently.

"You're right!" Naruto yelled. "So what do I do?"

Bella took out something from her weapon's pouch and handed to Naruto. "Die for me, Naruto."

Naruto blinked. "Err…"

xXx

The kids had been gone for a good fifteen minutes. Kakashi snapped his book shut and mosied off into the woods. He didn't want to hang about all day waiting for them.

"Stop stomping this way, _idiot_, you're going to lead him right to me," he heard Sasuke's angry whisper in the distance. Kakashi made a sharp turn and headed in the direction. Soon he saw ruffled leaves, snapped branches, as if someone had run through in a hurry. He frowned at the utter lack of stealth.

"Sorry, Sasuke, Bella said you were going to help us whether you like it or not," Naruto's voice, a little louder, floated to him. Kakashi took to the trees and jumped from branch to branch hearing Sasuke cursing out Naruto.

In a few heartbeats he was where Sasuke had hidden himself in a tree. The boy was scaling down, knowing his cover was blown. Kakashi wondered what was happening between the kids. It sounded like Naruto wanted Sasuke's help and was coming to get him but by the time Kakashi arrived Naruto was no where.

"Ah, there you are. Got separated from the herd, little lamb?" Kakashi said. In the blink of an eye three kunai came flying at his face. Kakashi leaned his head to the side to avoid the kunai. Sasuke was running fast away from him. So Kakashi gave chase. Since Sasuke had opened with weapons, Kakashi decided to oblige and keep himself limited to kunai as well.

He threw one aiming for the boy's calf. Sasuke jumped at the right time to dodge it and spun to launch a shuriken at Kakashi. The jounin smacked it aside but was surprised by the second shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first one. He jerked out of its path but the weapon managed to slice his shirt. "Not bad, but running won't help you. How will you get the bells if you keep running away." Kakashi sighed. "Typically running away from the objective is counterproductive...kids these days."

"YAAAAA!" Naruto screamed a war cry and came hurtling from a tree at Kakashi. Kakashi lazily raised a hand and grabbed Naruto by the face.

"You really are a loudmouth with no tactical sense." Kakashi couldn't help but be disappointed in his dead sensei's son. Naruto smirked and blew up. Kakashi had no time to react. The cloud of red fire and concussive blast threw him back hard. He only stopped after bouncing off three tree trunks.

Even in his dazed state he sensed four chakra signatures practically blaring their presence. He got up drunkenly and body flickered blindly to the side. He needed to get out of the woods fast. Unfortunately he body flickered right into a thick of Naruto clones which blew up as soon as they laid sight of him.

As Kakashi's world turned white, black, and red he wondered what imbecile had taught the boy the exploding clone technique. Instincts developed in the bloodiest and most desperate battles warned him of the next attack. He raised his kunai and parried the kunai coming at his throat. He rolled and stood up to find his body frozen. His eyes weren't swimming from the blast any longer and he saw he was facing Nara Kumori. The girl didn't wait and stabbed at his heart. Kakashi overwhelmed the shadow-hold technique with his chakra and let the kunai glance off his protective vest.

Bella used the replacement technique, throwing another Naruto clone in front of Kakashi. He exploded right where Kakashi was standing a moment before but missed the man.

Kakashi had jumped up and into a tree to give himself space. He put his hand to his headband intending on revealing the sharingan hidden underneath. Then he remembered he was facing academy students and he would never be able to live it down if he used the eye to beat them.

His momentary indecision cost him. All around him clones appeared. His one eye widened at the two dozen clones. They simultaneously exploded but Kakashi was using all his speed to escape. He was at the edge of the blast radius but two dozen exploding clones was no small matter. He was launched hard and crashed to the ground.

Kakashi was a veteran and a true monster amongst the ninja elite of the world. He was no longer out of step from the rhythm of the battle. He knew Kumori would be next, so he backflipped and was standing by the time the girl reached him.

The girl opened with a spinning kick at his face. Kakashi spun where he stood, bringing up his leg to drop kick the girl down. Bella was slammed into the ground and screamed. Kakashi followed with a kunai, intending to pin the girls hands down. Naruto replaced Bella with himself. Kakashi jerked back mid motion a second before Naruto exploded.

He felt something pierce his chest. He hadn't seen the attack. A gasp of pain escaped him involuntarily and his hand went to two wounds on his chest. There was another sharp pain and blood bloomed from the wounds. He heard a low laugh behind him and turned to see Nara Kumori with her shadow's kunai planted in his shadow.

"Hmm, that's a new technique. Using your shadow to attack my shadow. I thought you shadow users had to take control of the body first...well it's time to end this," Kakashi said, deciding to knock the girl out. She had impressed him but that wasn't enough.

"I agree, sensei," Bella said and smirked. "NOW, NARUTO!"

All the fallen leaves and rocks on the ground dropped the henge technique and an army of Narutos appeared. In another moment they blew up.

Kakashi's world turned white. His head was ringing and when his vision cleared he saw something that made him think he was hallucinating. He had no idea how long he had been passed out.

Sasuke Uchiha was standing over him. Someone had propped him against a tree. Sasuke was engaged in a fierce battle with Naruto and Kumori. The Uchiha's back was to Kakashi. _Is the moron protecting me?_ Kakashi wondered. He made to stand up but realized his legs were bloody and burned. He could fight through it or simply use ninjutsu or genjutsu to put down the kids. Except he couldn't make head or tails of what was happening.

"Traitor!" Kumori hissed, stabbing Sasuke in the shoulder with a kunai.

"You're the traitors! Killing a jounin of Konoha is treason." Sasuke grunted through the pain and broke Naruto's jaw with a powerful hook. Naruto fell to the ground swearing. Sasuke ripped out the kunai Kumori had stabbed him with and threw it at the girl. She slapped it aside with a kunai of her own. Sasuke cradled his wounded arm close to his body but stood his ground.

Bella put her weapons away. "I'm warning you, Sasu-chan. If you don't get out of my way, I'm going to end you like your traitorous clan should've been from the start."

Sasuke spat. "Do your worst, bitch. I'm an Uchiha, I will never run."

"Sasgei - fugging bassard," Naruto swore, holding his rapidly swelling jaw in his hands.

"He said come at him with intent to kill. He was playing around with us. He didn't use a single offensive ninjutsu, _you prissy little bitch_. If we don't put him down now he might get over his arrogance and put _us_ down instead!" Kumori snapped.

Suddenly Sasuke made a strangled noise. The kunai in his hand fell from his hands and he fell to his knees with his hands going around his neck.

Kakashi saw Kumori's shadow attached to Sasuke. Oddly she wasn't making a choking motion, her shadow seemed to be acting on its own. Kakashi got up and dashed to Kumori faster than her eyes could follow. He barely held himself back when he punched her across the face and knocked her out. Naruto was next with a chop on his neck. He left Sasuke alone, the boy looked like he was ready to pass out anyway.

"Get up, Sasuke. Time to get you all to the hospital." His hand went to his waist and found the bells missing. "Hmm, who got the bells?"

"Kumori," Sasuke spat. "When she fought you the first time. You blocked her kunai and her shadow grabbed both bells...you didn't notice."

That she could split her attention like that was very impressive. Kakashi was willing to call her a genius. Demented genius. But then again, that wasn't a crime in Konoha.

"Are they going to be court martialed?" Sasuke asked watching Kakashi put Kumori over one shoulder and Naruto over the other.

Kakashi thought about telling the Hokage that Naruto needed to be court martialed and getting his head caved in for the suggestion. "No, technically, I gave you all permission to kill me. Ah, grab the lunches I brought and my clock."

"What?! They're going to get away with it?" Sasuke was beside himself.

"Maa, Sasuke, if we start pointing fingers, you turned on your teammates," Kakashi said and start walking off.

Sasuke stared after him in unhidden disgust. He was so putting in a request to be on Harry's team. At least Harry's sensei was hot.

"Did we pass?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi paused in his stride for a second. Shrugged as if he didn't have a body on each shoulder and kept walking. "I better have passed for stopping them from killing you," he muttered and followed the jounin. Although at this point he'd rather fail and redo a year than be with Kumori and Naruto.

xXx

_10 years prior, Harry and Bella age 3_

Harry glanced curiously around the office as his mother spoke to a stern looking woman. He imagined she looked somewhat like McGonagall as her black hair was drawn up into a tight bun. The office itself was very Spartan with the only furniture being three chairs, a desk, and a bookshelf. No pictures adorned the walls. He kicked his dangling legs idly as he turned his attention back towards the conversation.

The instructor peered over her glasses and asked his mother skeptically, "You say he already knows how to read and write, Yamanaka-san?"

Mio's hand tightened on the arm of her chair but otherwise showed no reaction to the slight against her son. Her face remained serene as she coolly replied, "That is precisely what I am saying, Hara-san. He is a Yamanaka, is it really that surprising? We are masters of the mind, after all."

The other woman's eyes narrowed briefly at the casual dropping of the Yamanaka name. "Of course… but you are no Nara, Yamanaka-san," she said stiffly, "Even so, I am surprised as to why you wish to enroll him here. He will have nothing to learn within his age-group."

Harry grinned at that and looked excitedly up at mother. "Mom?"

"No, Harry-chan," his mother replied with exasperation, "You're still being enrolled here."

Harry pouted and crossed his arms, acting like the three year old boy he looked like. He didn't want to enroll in a school with children, he was 19 years old, no matter what he looked like! His mother, obviously, didn't agree with him.

The school administrator watched all this with a raised eyebrow. She asked, "Yamanaka-san, if the child does not wish to enroll, why are you forcing the issue?"

Mio folded her hands primly on her lap and replied, "Because I do not want Harry to go through his childhood never having friends his own age. All his friends are at least ten years older!"

"He's friends with teenagers?"

"That snake bitch," whispered Mio. Harry rolled his eyes when he heard that.

"I'm sorry?"

Mio blushed and said, "Sorry, I said yes. And that can't be good for Harry-chan!"

Hara hummed her agreement and took a few seconds to look through some papers before looking inquisitively at Mio. "What exactly is the boy's name? It says here his name is Ao yet you call him… Harry?"

Mio smiled and said, "Yes. It is a name he chose for himself and that he insists we call him."

Hara nodded as her gaze fell upon Harry. He fidgeted as she stared at him for several moments. She arched an eyebrow before turning back to his mother and asking, "Is he antisocial?"

"I'm not antisocial!" exclaimed Harry, unable to control himself.

"Harry-chan!" scolded his mother, "Be silent!"

"Bu-" Harry fell silent and looked away as his mother glared at him sternly.

Satisfied, Mio looked back to Hara and said, "His high intelligence makes him bored around children his age, he seems to prefer being around his older teenage cousins. My hope is that this environment will help foster relationships with other children."

"I see," nodded Hara, turning to look at Harry again. "Then there shall be no issue with his enrollment here, Yamanaka-san."

Harry stared in horror at the administrator. Mio smiled brightly and said, "Excellent! Thank you, Hara-san."

"But…" started Harry.

Hara rifled through a drawer on her desk. She took out a bundle of paper and gave it to his mother. "These are the standard forms for enrollment. Please read them over and sign them and hand them to my secretary."

Harry twitched and tried to say something again, "Can't I-"

"I will make sure to do so right away, Hara-san. The first day of school is in two weeks, is it not?" said Mio, briefly glancing at each page of the stack of papers.

"I don't-"

"Indeed it is. Class begins at 9 A.M. promptly, please be on time."

Harry grit his teeth as he was constantly rebuffed. He let his mother take him by the hand and lead him out of the office.

"Harry-chan, go to the playground while I finish these papers, ok?" Mio distractedly said as she obtained a pen from the secretary.

The green eyed boy glared sullenly at his mother before sulking off towards the playground.

"Mio!"

Mio heard someone say her name and looked up from the papers. She turned her head and saw her old friend Mei. Her eyes widened and she smiled, "Mei! Oh my, it's been so long!"

Mei rushed to her friend and they gave each other a hug. She pulled back and said, "I know! It's been almost a year, hasn't it?"

"Time seems to fly faster these days," said Mio ruefully as she shook her head. "I am so sorry that my boy seems to always attack your girl when they see each other."

Mei smiled wryly at the Yamanaka and said, "Bella-chan attacked him just as much."

"They used to get along so well, too!" Mio sadly said.

Mei sighed despondently and said, "They did, didn't they? Ao was her only friend too, she hates every other child that comes near her."

They fell silent, reminiscing on their children. Mio looked at her papers and went back to reading them while asking, "Is that why you're here, to enroll Kumori-chan?"

Mei nodded and held up her own pile of papers. "Yes, I sent her out to the playground while I finish signing these forms."

Mio nodded absently as she signed another sheet. "I sent-" She froze, suddenly, her hand in stopping in the middle of her signature.

The Nara looked curiously at her friend, not understanding her frozen state. Suddenly, Mio paled. "Mio!" exclaimed Mei, "Are you all right? You've turned so pale!"

Mio whispered something softly that Mei couldn't hear. "I'm sorry, say that again?"

"I said: I sent Harry to the playground just a few minutes ago," said Mio as she turned her pale face towards her friend.

"Oh dear."

xXx

Harry exited the building and made it a few steps into the playground before he felt something shift. He felt slightly anxious suddenly, like he didn't belong on the playground.

A rock hit the side of his head.

"OW! WHAT THE FUCK!" Harry instinctively fell into English as he cursed and rubbed his head. He looked wildly around for the source of his pain and stilled as he caught sight of a small girl with hair the color of the blackest night. She stood next to the monkey bars, smirking at him. He hissed in anger, his earlier pain already forgotten.

"Bellatrix," he whispered to himself. His tiny hands formed tiny fists as he glared at his psychotic nemesis. He stiffened as he heard her trademark cackle.

"Aww, aren't you glad to see me, Hawwy?"

Harry smiled slowly and jeered, "Oh, I'm bloody _ecstatic,_LeStrange. That's a cute dress you have on there!" She had on a pretty yellow dress with a dainty pink bow in her hair.

Bellatrix flicked her hair back and said, "Till death do us part, Potter. The name is Black again, you best remember that, boy."

"How dare you take HIS name. I remember you killing the last remaining Black," he hissed, "I remember you LAUGHING as you killed him!"

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and spat, "That filthy blood-traitor was no Black, I was doing the world a favor by ridding it of his presence!"

Harry roared and launched himself at Bellatrix. Her eyes lit up with a childish glee as he neared her. She reared back and launched the sand in her hands at Harry. Harry cried out as it hit him right in the face and fell to the ground rubbing his eyes. Bellatrix shouted in victory and rushed to him. Harry curled up into a ball, protecting himself as she started kicking him in the ribs. She cackled, relishing in the feeling of causing pain. Her eyes opened wide when she felt her leg get grabbed. Harry smirked up at her through teary eyes and _yanked_. Bellatrix yelped as she fell to the ground. Tears rushed unbidden to her eyes as her young body couldn't handle the pain.

She wheezed as Harry jumped on top of her. Harry grinned at her maliciously and started pummeling her with his tiny fists. "How's it feel to have a mudblood beat you, bitch!?" he whooped with boyish joy. She howled in anger and Harry was abruptly thrown off her as a burst of flame erupted between them.

Harry groaned as he propped himself up on his arms. "What the bloody hell was that?"

Bellatrix was just as shocked as Harry. She grinned slowly and looked at Harry. "That was magic, you ignorant whelp," she said victoriously. She started giggling uncontrollably as she relished in knowing she still had magic. Harry could only gape at her.

The little girl shot to her feet and shot Harry a malicious look. "Now, it finally ends, Harry, dear," she said, "You have no chance!"

Harry growled and got to his feet. No matter what she did, he wasn't going to die here. He saw Bellatrix scrunch her face in deep concentration. He wasn't about to let her attack him again with fire. He looked around and picked up a nearby rock "Feeling constipated, Bella, dear?" he called out mockingly to grab her attention. He hurled the rock straight at her head.

She glared at him and shrieked. The air in front of her warped and a burst of flame shot out towards Harry. The rock he had thrown disintegrated in mid-air and he yelled in dismay. He fell into a crouch and covered his head with his hands. Suddenly, the earth in front of him seemed to boil before shooting up and forming a wall. The wall shook as the blast of fire hit it, but easily withstood the flames. Harry peeked out from beneath his hands when he didn't feel himself being burned. He saw the earth wall and grinned. "Ha! Now look who has magic, Black!" he crowed, jumping to his feet. He walked out from behind the wall and laughed at Bella's expression, a combination of disbelief and anger.

She clenched her fists and shouted back, "No matter, mudblood, my magic is still superior!"

Harry responded by giving her the one-finger salute. She hissed at him and he was forced to dodge back behind his wall as a wave of fire was directed at him. He tried to peek out after the fire had subsided but was forced to quickly duck back as a fireball was launched at his face. He scowled, he didn't know what to do to go on the offensive and Bellatrix wouldn't let him stay behind his wall forever. He punched the wall in frustration.

He blinked in surprise as he felt something give way and then heard a cry of pain from beyond the wall. He hesitantly extended his head to see what was happening and gaped when he saw Bellatrix groaning on the ground, a hard piece of earth sitting innocently next to her. _I must have shot that out from the wall when I punched it,_ he thought. He grinned and jumped back behind his wall and started enthusiastically punching it. He heard Bella yelp and his grin grew wider.

"You. Little. _Shit_."

Harry paled as he heard those words spoken from his side. He turned and saw a bruised and dirty Bellatrix, her hair in disarray, glaring venomously at him.

"Oh, bloody hell." He only had time to get out those three words before being forced to dodge and run away.

The next minute was spent with Harry erecting walls and pummeling Bella with solid earth, and Bella throwing fireballs with great abandon.

The fight screeched to a sudden halt as they both heard their names shouted.

"_Harry!"_

"_Bella!"_

Their mothers squealed and rushed through the destroyed playground. Harry and Bella glanced at each other and with a silent look, agreed to stop so they wouldn't harm their mothers.

Mio gasped as she looked at her son, his eyebrows seemed to be singed and soot covered his face. His clothes were also blackened and had patches where it looked like fire had eaten through them. He grimaced irritably as she tried to rub the soot off his face. Mei was in a similar situation with her daughter, except that Bella was covered from head to toe in dirt and had numerous bruises all over her body. She looked in dismay at the new dress her daughter was wearing and said, "Oh, Bella-chan, you ruined your new dress."

"Why do you always have to fight your friend, Harry-chan?" said Mio as she tried in vain to clean Harry up.

"Oh…"

Mio looked at her friend as Mei put a hand to her mouth and slowly stood up. She looked curiously at where Mei was staring and gasped. There was an earthen wall bisecting the monkey bars. The plastic slide seemed to be melted to slag. She turned around and reviewed the entire playground. It was entirely ruined, no piece of equipment was left unscathed. Earth walls were everywhere, and she saw some patches of grass where fire was still burning. They were shocked out of their reverie by a shout.

"There! That's them! Those are the two hooligans who destroyed my school!" shouted Hara, her once immaculate bun now coming apart. Her face was red with anger and her finger shook as she pointed to the two children.

The Uchiha police followed her finger and gave each other a confused glance. "Er, do you mean those two civilian women caused all this, Hara-san?" one of them asked.

"No, this was done by those two children!" she yelled.

The Uchiha looked at each other again in confusion and then looked back at the kids. The children looked back at them innocently with wide eyes. "Umm…" one of them began.

"I'm telling you, these two thugs destroyed my playground! Ask their mothers, they saw what happened!" shouted Hara in frustration.

Mio and Mei looked at each other and then looked back at the officers. "We have no idea what happened, Uchiha-san, we came rushing out at the commotion and saw our two children looking like this," said Mei, picking up Bella. "Do you honestly believe these two angels could have caused this?"

"Well, no, er…"

"Nara, Uchiha-san," she replied to his unspoken question.

The Uchiha officer nodded and said, "No, Nara-san, but then how do you explain this?"

"Genin training gone wrong, perhaps?" piped up Mio. "I think I did see some kids running off, but I didn't think anything of it."

"That does seem more likely," said the officer. He turned to Hara and said, "Hara-san, did you see these kids as well?"

Hara narrowed her eyes in anger at the lies and said, "No! There were no children! I saw these two attack each other and cause all of this!"

The other officer finally spoke up and asked Harry and Bella, "Kids, did you do this?"

Bellatrix smiled sweetly as she grasped her mother's shirt and said, "No, Officer-san, how could we have done this?"

Harry nodded in agreement and moved closer to his mother and grabbed her leg and pretended to be shy. He softly said, "No, sir. Me and Bella were just play-fighting when some kids came through here and started fighting with each other!"

Mio subtly did a few handseals behind her back and used the tiniest bit of chakra to nudge the officers into believing the children. She smiled prettily when her Yamanaka technique worked as both officers looked at each other and nodded. "Hara-san, it looks like these two didn't do it. Excuse us, we need to see if we can find these genin who starting throwing jutsu around children." They both vanished in a burst of speed.

Hara-san stood for a moment, not believing that she had just been rebuffed. She looked at the two women and turned purple, "You… you…" she was so angry that she was at a loss for words.

Mio and Mei looked at each other and shrugged. Mei said, "Hara-san, I don't think that this school is right for our children. We'll be taking our leave now." She nudged Mio and the Yamanaka took Harry in her arms and walked away with her friend. Hara spluttered and started shaking at the indignity of it all.

Mio whispered to her friend as they exited the front gate, "It's a good thing they thought we were civilians, huh?" Mei simply grinned at her conspiratorially and winked.


	3. Chapter 3

_Versus_

Chapter 3

* * *

Kakashi sent Sasuke ahead to get help at the bridge. Sasuke grumbled wondering who could possible be there. His shoulder throbbed and was still trickling blood. To his shock he saw someone lying on the bridge railing as he came out of the tree cover. The man had an orange book held up to read as he lounged. Sasuke couldn't see his from his angle but once he stepped on the bridge it was clear. "Kakashi-sensei?" he asked in confusion. He had just left the man behind him loaded up with Bella and Naruto.

"Hmmm? Oh, you're done then?" Kakashi answered and slipped off the railing. He walked up to Sasuke and looked him over. "Got a little rough?"

"What? Are you a clone?" Sasuke asked.

"Nope," Kakashi answered. He made a few hand seals which lit up his hand in green. He set his palm on Sasuke's wounded shoulder. The boy hissed at the sudden contact but relaxed when he felt the pain being numbed. Kakashi took out a roll of gauze from his equipment pouch and dressed Sasuke's shoulder. "So, did anyone get the bells?"

"Bella did… I already told you, or your clone. Whatever," Sasuke bit off at the end, not wanting to show how confused he was. He didn't know what clone could stand up to the sort of punishment Kakashi's had. And he was beginning to feel irritated that he had apparently been defending Kakashi's clone from being killed.

"Ma, don't worry about it. I'll let him explain." Kakashi gestured with his chin behind Sasuke. Sasuke turned to find the person he thought was the real Kakashi bringing Naruto and Bella. "Looks like we'll be heading to the hospital. Go on ahead while I get my clone's report on how you did."

xXx

When Naruto woke up he saw his possible future sensei staring down at him. The man was dirty, bloody, and smelled of something burnt. Naruto started laughing nervously. "Kakashi-sensei… h-how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm alright. You didn't do anything a good amputation won't fix," he said in his bored voice and smiled so that his one visible eye closed.

Naruto repeated the words in his head and paled. He looked around wildly for an escape. He saw Bella-chan awake and also staring at Kakashi. For some reason she didn't look as confident as usual. Naruto raised his hand to wave at her. That is, he tried, but his hand met resistance. He looked toward his hand and found it handcuffed to the hospital bed he was lying on. "Oh, no, no, no. I told you it was a bad idea to kill him, Bella-chan!" he yelled.

"We were only following orders. It's in the top ten rules of the Konoha ninja code of conduct to follow your commanding officer's orders to the letter. In fact," here she tossed her hair back and adopted the superior look Naruto knew and loved, "We even dealt with treason from within the ranks."

"And we got the bells!" Naruto added in a hurry, pleading with his eyes at Kakashi. The man seemed unmoved.

"Ma, I seem to remember something about not killing your comrades in the Konoha ninja code." Kakashi stared at Bella and Naruto, letting out his considerable killing intent. Naruto felt something crawling towards his neck and beginning to slowly strangle him. He was terrified. He looked to Bella for help but the girl was thrashing in her bed, trapped by the handcuffs. She was growling something in that language only she and Harry knew. "But," Kakashi said and the killing intent disappeared. Bella and Naruto breathed in relief. "But that might be the bleeding in my brain talking, I will have to check with Hokage-sama."

Naruto stiffened in terror again. "We got the bells, we did exactly what you wanted! You ordered us to come at you with intent to kill!"

"Ah." Kakashi shook his finger at Naruto. "With _intent_ to kill, not to actually kill. Naughty." Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto smiled, it didn't look like Kakashi-sensei was too upset if he was ruffling his hair. He smiled up at the man who returned his smile with a closed-eye one. Then Kakashi pulled back but the hand on Naruto's head stayed there along with the arm it was attached to. There was a sick squelching sound as Kakashi's arm came off at the shoulder and fell on Naruto.

"AGHHHH!" Naruto started screaming at the hand still ruffling his hair and the rest of the arm limply falling across his face and his chest. He jerked this way and that in his bed until the arm rolled off his face and laid at his side. Naruto started hyperventilating. "What the fuck! _What the fuck!_"

"Oh, that's...not...good," Kakashi said faintly and then fell heavily to the side right on top of Bella. She kicked in the bed trying to get away from the body. But she was tied down and Kakashi was too big.

Kakashi's body crumbled in chunks of flesh, blood, and gore when it hit Bella. "_Ugh_! Get it off, _get it off_!" Bella screamed. A flash of light burst from her and the handcuffs came off. She jumped off the bed with the blood and flesh sliding off her. "Wait… that doesn't smell like blood. What?" she brought up her hand covered in Kakashi's innards to her face. "It smells like dirt."

"Ah, glad you finally noticed," Kakashi's voice interrupted their fright.

Naruto saw the man sitting crosslegged on a chair against the wall between his and Bella's bed. He had his book up to his face and wasn't even looking at them. "Wha-, how! You're on me!" Naruto yelled. "How can you be there with both arms?"

Kakashi snapped his fingers and the bones, flesh, blood on Naruto and Bella turned to mud and muddy water. "My mud clone wanted to have a few last words with you."

"You bastard!" Bella snapped. She had her feet apart and her hands clenched in fists as if she were about to launch herself at the man. "You had us fighting your clone?!"

"Hmm, did you say something, Kumori-chan?" Kakashi said while turning a page in his book.

Naruto saw Bella-chan about to roast Kakashi. He couldn't go through a repeat of what had just happened. He was still terrified from the mud clone's arm flopping on his face. "No, Bella-chan! It was a test!"

"Fine. So we passed. I got the bells off your clone and I gave one to Naruto. We worked together and tried to get Uchiha to work with us despite your test forcing us to fight each other. We also followed your orders to the letter," Bella finished smugly. "Even after Uchiha betrayed us we stayed true to you."

Hearing that explanation, Kakashi couldn't help but fix the girl with a searching look. Was she really convinced of what she was saying or was she just trying to bullshit him? He stood up to give her a piece of his mind regardless of her twisted sense of loyalty.

The door opened behind him and a nurse entered. The clipboard in her hand fell when she saw the condition of the room. Mud was everywhere. It was covering her two patients, on the floor, and slowly dripping from the edges of the bed. "What the Hell is going on here?!" she demanded, glaring at Kakashi.

"Ah! I just remembered," he said in an upbeat tone. "My little lambs, your first mission is to clean your hospital room. Oh? Is that the Hokage calling me, I think it is." In a swirl of leaves caused by his body-flicker, Kakashi disappeared from the room.

The nurse saw the leaves sticking to the mud on the floor and turned her glare on the two genin. "Fix this or it comes out of your pay."

"Who's going to let me out of the handcuffs now?" Naruto whined.

"You're a ninja, figure it out," Bella snapped.

xXx

_10 years prior, Harry and Bella age 3_

"Hurry up now, Anko," Inoichi said.

Anko glared at him through the precariously balanced boxes of files she was holding. "Screw you, Inoichi," she muttered under her breath. She was being punished for knocking out a fellow Chuunin in the Torture and Interrogation department, and being treated as no more than a lowly genin. She was forced into menial tasks such as follow Inoichi home and carry all his case files for him. It wasn't even her fault, that bastard had it coming after he felt up her ass on "accident".

Inoichi didn't pause in his stride but turned his head sideways and asked, "What was that?"

Anko gritted her teeth and replied, "Yes, Inoichi-senpai."

Inoichi smiled a bit and returned his attention to the road.

"He felt me up, ya know!" Anko said grouchily.

The Yamanaka clan head just snorted and said, "Yeah, but you knocked out a tooth and broke his nose."

"... and?"

"It's called excessive force," Inoichi said, rolling his eyes. "As an interrogation specialist you need to learn to control yourself, otherwise you may kill a prisoner without getting information from them."

Anko growled but didn't offer an objection.

"Next time, just report him, hmm?"

Anko started to reply but a shout interrupted her.

"Hey, look out!"

The warning came too late however. She stepped on a rock that hadn't been there previously and stumbled. She quickly regained her footing, but the boxes in her hand fell and file folders scattered everywhere. She looked angrily around for the voice and saw a young woman and her child walking quickly towards them.

"Oh no, I am _so_ sorry. Harry-chan wasn't looking where he was kicking that rock!" apologized the woman when she reached her. Anko twitched and was about to snap at the brat but Inoichi interrupted her.

"Mio-chan?"

"Inoichi-kun!" Mio exclaimed, "I didn't see you there! How are you?" She gave him a quick hug and peck on the cheek.

"Fine, fine," grinned Inoichi, "This is a chuunin I work with, Mitarashi Anko. Anko, this is a clan member, Yamanaka Mio." He gestured towards the ticked off chuunin lazily.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Anko-san." said Mio, giving her a smile.

Anko saw the look Inoichi shot her and sighed, taking control of her anger. "Likewise, Yamanaka-san." She gave the red-haired woman a short nod.

"Anko, be a dear and pick these files up, would you?" Inoichi said, shooting her a smirk. She gave him a deadpan stare and muttered obscenities under her breath and bent down to pick them up.

"Harry, go help her," ordered Mio. Her son shrugged and went to work as Mio started up a conversation with her clan head.

Anko glared at him and muttered softly, "Fucking stupid kid, giving me more work to do." She saw him wince. He wasn't supposed to have heard that, but she was too irritated to care.

He shyly said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Next time," she replied growling, "Look where you're kicking the damn rock!"

He stiffened and flicked a file at her. "Aren't you supposed to be a ninja? Is a little rock that much trouble for you?"

She scowled at him. "Well aren't you a little cocksure little brat," she said, "Since when can a baby speak in full sentences, anyways?"

Harry scowled right back at her and said testily, "I'm not a baby, Clumsy, I'm already 3!"

"Like I said, baby," stated Anko, waving her hand flippantly, stacking more files into a box. The wind picked up suddenly and a stray paper from a file flew away. Anko spat out a curse as more papers flew in every direction.

"Those are confidential documents, Anko, don't lose any!" Inoichi called out, not looking away from his conversation with Mio.

Anko growled and kicked up dust as she put on speed to catch every last loose paper. She skidded to a halt next to the kid who had jogged a little ways away to get the last piece.

"Boy, you really aren't that good of a ninja are ya?" mocked Harry, handing over the file to her, "My mom would never lose important files like these!"

Anko twisted her mouth in disdain and replied, "Yeah, if some stupid fucking _baby_ didn't kick a rock under my foot, I wouldn't have dropped anything!"

"A _real_ ninja would have noticed the rock and stepped out of the way," sneered Harry, glaring up at her. "You must be some stupid administrative ninja, you probably don't even know any techniques!"

_The brat wants some fucking jutsu? I'll show him some fucking jutsu,_ she angrily thought, furiously biting her thumb and slamming her hand on the ground.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!_" hissed Anko. Seals spread out from her fingers and in a burst of smoke, two small snakes appeared. She saw the brat freeze up and grinned. She whispered so only her summons could hear her, "Go towards the boy and scare him, don't harm him."

The snakes nodded, being too young to be able to speak to her. They slithered towards the gaping boy slowly, hissing menacingly. To Anko's surprise the boy dropped to the ground, not in fear, but in excitement. Her eyebrows rose as he started hissing back at her summons.

The summons paused and then reared their heads back in surprise. One of them hissed back at the boy. The boy grinned and nodded and hissed again.

"What the hell?!" Anko exclaimed, interrupting their conversation Her earlier irritation with the kid was replaced with complete befuddlement. "You can talk to snakes?"

The brat looked up at her and said, "Yeah! You can create snakes?!"

"Er, no, I summon them," answered Anko.

The brat looked at her confused.

"I have a contract with them," she tried to explain, "In return for chakra I can summon them for help." The kid still looked confused but he shrugged and nodded. He started hissing again at the snakes. They hissed back and slithered their way over to him. He extended his arms to them and let them crawl up to his shoulders. He giggled when they hissed into his ears. Anko could only scratch her head in disbelief.

"You are the freakiest three year old I know, brat," she said bemusedly, shaking her head. "But anyone who can talk to snakes is alright in my eyes." The Yamanaka shot her a grin and she gave him a little smirk.

"_Harry-chan!_"

Anko paled and thought, _Oh shit, he is going to kill me._

Harry's mother ran frantically towards him and cried, "Harry-chan! Don't play with those, get them off right now!"

The snakes hissed menacingly at her as she drew near, causing her to come to a stop a few feet away from Harry, not wanting to make them bite her child in agitation. Anko groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead when Inoichi also came running up and glared at her. "_Did you just sic snakes on a _child_, Anko?!"_ he seethed.

Anko laughed nervously and quickly ran through excuses in her head, trying to find one that wouldn't get her killed by an angry clan head. She dispelled the snakes to buy herself time, causing Harry to pout and his mother to cry out in relief. Mio ran to her child and looked him over for bite marks, crushing him in a hug when she couldn't find any.

"_Anko!_"

"Um…"

"Oji! Oji! Did you see the cool snakes!" Harry had escaped his mother's clutches and was bouncing excitedly in front of Inoichi.

Inoichi shot Anko one last glare before his expression softened as he looked at Harry. He knelt and put his hand on the boy's shoulders and said, "I sure did, Harry-chan. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Nope!" Harry replied cheerfully, "Anko-san summoned them for me to play with, she's really nice!" His mother gasped and narrowed her eyes at Anko, only now realizing what had happened.

Anko was gobsmacked. _The brat is saving my ass!_ She thought. She schooled her expression when she noticed Inoichi turning his attention to her. She shrugged at him, not wanting to speak in case she gave herself away.

He raised an eyebrow and turned towards Harry and said, "That she is, kid." Anko saw him glance at Mio, who was now glaring venomously at Anko. "Er, perhaps you better go home, Mio-chan. We can get the rest of the files."

Mio picked Harry up and said, "Of course, Inoichi-kun. I will see you at your home later." She walked away quickly. Harry waved and shouted, "Bye, Oji! Bye Anko-san!"

The two ninja watched them leave. Inoichi turned to Anko and said apologetically, "Sorry for jumping to conclusions there, Anko, I know you wouldn't have hurt a child."

Anko grinned nervously and scratched the back of her head.

"It's nice to see that he got along with you," Inoichi said thoughtfully, "His only real friend right now is Ino-chan. I'm touched that you took the time to reach out to him."

Anko groaned mentally but plastered a pleased smile on her face. _This is going to blow up in my face, I just know it._

"In fact, why don't you come over someday and babysit Harry and Ino? I'm sure they'd be thrilled."

_Fuck my life._

xXx

_A couple of days after the playground incident_

Harry sighed when he overheard his parents start arguing AGAIN about him. He silently walked to the kitchen door where he saw his father waving his arms in the air like a mad man at his mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Mio, he's a freakin' _prodigy_, he could be the next Hatake Kakashi!" his father exclaimed, "He _has_ to go to the Academy now!" His dad was a tall, muscular fellow who focused more on taijutsu than he did the Yamanaka mind-arts. His yellow hair was cut short

HIs mother growled and shoved a finger in her husband's chest. "My son is only going to be a ninja if he wants to be, and he won't make that decision until he's eight! I will not have him going on missions when the rest of his age-group is just starting the academy!"

Yamanaka Isshin threw his hands in the air in frustration and paced for a bit before saying, "Look, Mio, we talked about this when we realized he was incredibly smart, and I agreed with you then… but he just _destroyed_ a playground! He hasn't even learnt how to use chakra yet, he did it naturally! Don't you think he needs to learn how to control it? Look, I can talk to Inoichi, I'm sure Hokage-sama will give an exception and let Harry-chan enter early."

Harry watched his mother clench her fists and tightly say, "He hasn't shown signs of using chakra since then! We are both trained ninja, if he starts causing earthquakes we can teach him ourselves how to control it, we don't need the academy for that."

"You're holding him back!"

"I am NOT. You just want him to be better than Ino-chan!"

"Why are you so scared of greatness, Mio?!"

"My child is already great!"

"He's _my _son too, Mio, not just yours!" his father exploded and pointed a finger at his wife. "I have every right to make choices regarding him just as much as you do!"

"Screw you, if you loved him then you wouldn't even want him to be a ninja!" she snapped back. Her face paled, immediately regretting her words. Harry watched his father shake with a mix of emotions and felt a crushing guilt because he was the cause of the fight. Isshin snarled at his wife and swiftly walked out the kitchen, never noticing Harry standing at the other entrance.

Mio cried out for him and rose to follow before she heard someone knock on the door. She ran her hand through her auburn hair in frustration and went to get it. Harry, on the other hand, rushed to follow his father. He saw him sitting forward on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together. Harry padded over to him.

"Dad?" softly prodded Harry.

Isshin's eyes snapped towards Harry and softened. "Hey, kid. Sorry, did we bother you with our yelling?" He leaned forward and plucked his son off the ground, setting him in his lap.

Harry gave his dad a hug and said, "I know you love me, Dad, Mom didn't mean what she said." He felt his father stiffen.

"Oh, Harry-chan, you weren't supposed to hear that," sighed his father, "We didn't mean to start yelling."

Harry shrugged and said, "It's OK.." They sat in silence for a few moments before Harry spoke up again. "I'll be great, Dad, even if I start the Academy when I turn eight. You'll see, I'm going to make you real proud of me!"

He felt his father's arms tighten around his body before being lifted up and placed next to his father on the sofa. Isshin looked at him and said seriously, "Harry-chan, never think that I'm not proud of you. You are my blood and you are my son, there's not a day that goes by when I'm not proud to be your father."

Harry felt a rush of emotion and looked away, not knowing how to act in this intimate, family moment. His father gave him another hug but let go when Mio walked into the room, a young teenager following. For whatever reason, Mio's face was strangely closed off, hiding any emotion.

"What's up, brat?" waved Anko, giving Harry a smirk.

"Anko-chan! Hey!" Harry shot her a wide grin and ran up to her after getting out of his father's arms. He gave her hug around her waist, as that's as high as he could reach. She smiled down and ruffled his hair.

"And who might you be?" his father asked, rising from the sofa, towering over the teenager.

"Er, Mitarashi Anko, sir, I'm Inoichi-senpai's chuunin at T&I," replied Anko, craning her head to look him in the eye, not the slightest bit intimidated by the man's size.

Isshin narrowed his eyes, recognizing the name as the traitor's apprentice, but simply nodded and asked, "And how do you know my son?"

Anko answered, "I've babysat for Inoichi-senpai a few times when Harry was there, we met one day when I was helping carry some files to the Yamanaka compound."

"She came to see if Harry wanted to get Dango," said Mio, her face still expressionless. Harry rolled his eyes, his mother was still angry about the whole snake incident and hated that Inoichi had Anko babysit her kid and Ino. She couldn't do anything about it, though, Inoichi was her clan head and had taken a liking to Anko, she wasn't about to forbid Harry from ever playing with the only friend his age that he had.

Isshin shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? If Inoichi vouches for her, I'm fine with it. Go have fun with your friend, kid." Mio flexed her jaw, but otherwise did nothing.

Harry cheered and dragged Anko outside. After they closed the door behind them, Harry said, "Am I glad to get out of there, all they've been doing for the past few days is argue!"

Anko shoved her hands into her pockets and asked curiously, "Why're they fighting?"

"Dad wants me to go to the Academy now, but mom wants to wait," explained Harry, looking up at her as they walked.

The black haired girl scratched her head and said, "Why does he want you to go to the Academy now? You're smart and all, but Sandaime-sama made a law forbidding anyone under eight from entering, it's not like you could join anyways."

"Eh, I got into a fight the other day and kinda destroyed a playground," said Harry flippantly. "Ever since then it's been 'prodigy prodigy prodigy'."

"How the fuck does a three-year-old destroy a playground?" asked a very confused Anko.

"Oh I created a bunch of walls made out of earth and ruined some equipment."

This explanation did not help Anko's confusion. "Whaddya mean, like you ruined the sandbox?"

"No… uh, here, I'll show you!" Anko thought he was going to start building something by hand, she was surprised when he started to concentrate and she felt a small amount of chakra building up in his system. The ground under her started shifting and with a great rumble, shot out of the ground and formed a small wall. Anko did a backflip and gracefully arched in the air before landing on the ground a few feet away. She shook her fist at Harry and shouted, "You little ass! How do you already know _Doton_ manipulation!?"

Harry simply gave her a childish grin and scampered off to the dango shop before Anko could retaliate. Anko chuckled and moved to follow him. She'd get him back later.

* * *

**Thanks for all the kind words!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Versus**

**Chapter 4**

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Sasuke, interrupted the Hokage's assistant. The woman paused in her filing and looked over at him. She sat down primly and looked at him. She was an average looking kunoichi, wearing standard Konoha chuunin attire, a flak jacket and navy pants and jacket.

"Yes…?" she asked, looking inquisitively at him.

"Uchiha Sasuke, ma'am. I would like to request an audience with Hokage-sama," he answered, standing stiffly in front of the desk.

He saw that the woman recognized him when her eyebrows shot up when he said his name. He sighed when she asked, "I don't believe you have an appointment, Uchiha-san."

"No, ma'am, I need to talk to him about my assigned team, I did not have the time to make an appointment."

The administrative ninja clucked her tongue, straightened some files on her desk and replied, "Then I'm sorry, Uchiha-san, you cannot see Sandaime-sama." Before he could protest she flipped open a large binder and scanned it. "The next free time he has is in two months, would you like me to make an appointment for that time?"

"What?" Sasuke glared at the woman. "No! I need to speak with him as soon as possible. Is there no other time open this week?"

The chuunin's eye twitched as she replied, "Uchiha-san, this appointment log is made weeks in advance. The only reason I am even considering giving you an appointment is because you are the de facto head of the Uchiha clan at the moment. Even you can't just come in and demand an audience with Hokage-sama."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He tried to maintain a calm voice and responded, "Try and understand, this is a time sensitive issue. If anything is to be done, it has to be done right away."

"I am sorry, there is no possible way. Sandaime-sama's schedule is very tight-"

"Emiko-san, let him in," a voice called from behind the door to the Hokage's office. Sasuke smirked at Emiko, who in turn just closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. "This is going to mess up the entire schedule," she muttered as she waved Sasuke towards the door.

Sasuke opened the door with a little trepidation, he had only spoken to his leader a few times before, the last time was at his clan's mass funeral.

"Come in, Sasuke-kun," he heard. He opened the door wider and stepped in, closing it behind him. He stood at attention, not knowing how exactly to start the conversation.

He heard a chuckle and the Sandaime told him, "Sit down, Sasuke-kun, what can I do for you today?"

Sasuke sat down in front of the desk and got a good look at his leader. He had grown noticeably older since the last time he saw him. Liver spots had become more prominent, as had his wrinkles. His eyes still shone with warmth, however, calming Sasuke down. He smiled at Sasuke and motioned him to speak, taking his pipe out of a drawer in his desk. The teenager nodded respectfully at his commander and started, "Hokage-sama, I formally request a reassignment to Yūhi Kurenai's team."

"Oh?" asked the Hokage, pausing in filling up his pipe. "And why would you want to do that? You have an elite jounin as an instructor, do you not?"

Sasuke snorted but chose not to speak his mind on his crazy instructor. Instead, he replied, "Yes, sir, but I… I do not believe I am compatible with my teammates. Nara Kumori is… crazy, sir. She's crazy and bloodthirsty, and I don't think I can work with her!" He finished his little rant with some steam at the end.

He sighed internally when he saw the Sandaime give him a patient smile. "Sasuke-kun, I'm aware of Kumori's, er, tendencies. She has done nothing so far to warrant your accusations, however."

"She just tried to kill Kakashi-sensei!"

Sarutobi raised his eyebrows and asked, "In your exam?" He chuckled a bit when Sasuke nodded. "Kumori may be inordinately strong for her age, but she is years away from posing any kind of threat to one of the strongest ninja alive. Jounin-sensei usually give you the command to go all out in order to get a full measure of your capabilities."

"But-"

"Sasuke-kun, her methods are somewhat questionable, but she has never shown herself to be a murderer, you will be fine," interrupted the Hokage, with a note of finality.

"Tell that to Harry," sullenly said Sasuke.

"Ah. Those two do have an adversarial relationship, don't they? That seems to be personal, Sasuke-kun, it would not be fair to judge her solely based upon that."

Sasuke clenched his jaw but could think of no other rebuttal. He knew that he himself lost reason when it came to his brother, he wouldn't get what he wanted by exploiting Harry's relationship with the crazy bitch.

"Please, if the situation changes, inform me. I will talk to Kakashi, perhaps he can calm her down," said the Hokage, puffing on his pipe. "I will let Emiko-san know that you have permission to see me when it is feasible." He turned his attention back towards his paperwork, the dismissal clear.

Sasuke resisted the urge to punch something and said, "Thank you, Sandaime-sama, for your time." He bowed and left the room quickly, shutting the door quietly behind him. He nodded farewell to Emiko as he walked away. I should go talk to Harry, see how he did in his exam, he mused to himself, trying not to think of his insanely messed up team.

xXx

The sun shone brightly over Konohagakure. It was just after dawn and the morning hush still hadn't fully disappeared. Harry breathed in the fresh air deeply with a content smile, twirling a kunai around his finger absently as he walked towards Training Ground 13. He nodded pleasantly to the merchants who were setting up shop for the day. He grinned as he saw a flash of pink hair, and turned to follow. "Sakura-chan!" he called out, seeing her buying three apples from the fruit vendor.

Sakura turned and smiled at him. "Hello, Harry-kun," she greeted, "Here, I got this for you!" She handed him an apple and Harry smiled his thanks at her. He grabbed it and wordlessly gestured towards the road. She nodded at him and they both resumed their walk to their training ground, munching on their apples happily.

After a minute of walking, Sakura broke the silence by asking, "It's weird waking up so early, isn't it?"

Harry nodded and replied, "Yeah, I miss when we could wake up at seven instead of at five."

"But Ino tells me her team doesn't get together until ten!" complained Sakura. "Why do we have to start four hours earlier?"

"It's just the jounin-sensei's choice, I guess," said Harry, "Sasuke told me-"

"Ooo, you talked with Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura grabbed his arm and squealed. "How is he? I mean of course he passed, he's Sasuke-kun after all, but he has that dunce Naruto on his team!" She continued to prattle on and Harry groaned. He should've known better than to mention Sasuke in front of the love-struck girl.

He rolled his eyes and continued walking, gently dragging his teammate along with him.

"ANYWAYS, Sakura," said Harry, interrupting the girl, "He said that Kakashi-sensei was always late, and always scheduled their meetings early in the morning like ours."

"That's terrible!" She slammed her fist into her open palm. "Sasuke-kun already has Naruto on his team, he doesn't deserve a lazy sensei. He should be on Team 13!"

Harry snorted and wisely chose not to tell Sakura that Sasuke had tried to be reassigned to their team - he knew she would go crazy and start shouting about true love.

"You know, Naruto isn't _that_ bad. I might hate Bella but she's trained him a lot." Harry shrugged. Naruto's isolation from his peers meant that he relied more and more on Bella. If Harry could drive a wedge there he would take it. Convincing Naruto's crush, Sakura, to be a little nice to him would be a coup.

"He's loud and annoying," Sakura said with finality.

"I think, if you told him to quiet down nicely, he would listen to you."

"Hell no, do you know what happens to girls who are nice to Naruto?" Sakura arched a brow at Harry.

"There are girls who are nice to him?" He was surprised.

"Hinata," Sakura explained. "She wanted to play ninja with him a couple of years back. No one knows what Bella did to her but she won't even look in Naruto's direction anymore. The poor girl would hide whenever Bella came around for months after that."

Harry sighed. _It figures Bella is actively keeping others away._

As if the subject hadn't changed at all Sakura was back to her favorite topic, "We have the best sensei, don't we Harry-kun? Surely the last Uchiha deserves someone who's dedicated."

The red-headed boy shrugged noncommittally, not really having formed an opinion either way on Kurenai. She was certainly strong, that wasn't the issue, or at the least as a jounin he presumed she was capable. He just wasn't sure about the D-rank missions they had been getting. Painting fences, walking dogs, and acting as messengers were not his idea of being a ninja. He had tried his best to make the missions ninja-like by insisting that they do the shopping runs without being seen, canvas and infiltrate the places they were supposed to deliver messages to, turn walking dogs into a cardio exercise by racing them, and so forth. Despite her protests, Sakura seemed to enjoy 'playing' ninja during their 'missions.'

They had been Kurenai's genin for a few weeks now, and her training had only consisted of cardio and bodyweight exercises. He suspected that was for Sakura's sake, but Kurenai-sensei hadn't been obvious about it. He was bored, to be truthful, he had been able to train more when he was in the Academy. Not to say he wasn't getting a workout, but he had no time to practice any techniques between training, missions, and spending time with his parents and friends.

They reached the training area and saw Kurenai sitting cross-legged on the ground, seemingly meditating.

"Do you think we should bother her?" whispered Harry to Sakura. She shrugged and was about to say something before Kurenai beat her to the punch.

"It's alright, Harry-kun, I wasn't in deep meditation," she said, rising gracefully to her feet.

"Kurenai-sensei, I got you an apple," Sakura exclaimed enthusiastically. She walked over to her sensei and gave the apple to her.

Kurenai accepted the fruit and dipped her head towards Sakura in thanks. She took a dainty bite and said, "Mm, this is delicious Sakura-chan, thank you very much."

Sakura beamed and nodded to her.

"So should we start running our laps then, Kurenai-sensei?" asked Harry, ready to begin his day.

"Yes, but only run a few laps for now, I have something different planned for today," replied his sensei.

Harry and Sakura looked at each other and shrugged. They both started a jog around the training ground, which would seem like a sprint to a normal civilian. Harry was pleased to note that Sakura had gotten much faster and that she wasn't even slightly winded. Kurenai's training techniques may have been boring and tedious, but they did help.

They noticed their sensei motioning them to come back after only running four laps. As soon as they got back, Kurenai ordered, "Do some stretches please."

The two complied and started their normal routine for stretches. Kurenai finished her apple as they finished. "For the last week all we've been doing is increasing your strength and endurance," she said, wiping her hand on the dewy grass. "Today, I thought we might spice things up a bit and start training in taijutsu!"

Harry's fist rose in the air and he jubilantly shouted, "Yeah!"

He chuckled in embarrassment when he noticed the two females looking at him in amusement. "What? I just like taijutsu more than running laps…"

The other two rolled their eyes, and Harry could just imagine them thinking 'Boys!'

"Well then, Harry-kun, would you like to go first?" asked Kurenai, a teasing smile on her face.

"Hell yeah!" exclaimed Harry, getting to his feet in a rush.

His sensei motioned him to get into his stance as she slid into hers. He elected to use Yamanaka style taijutsu, getting into an aggressive stance his father had taught him. Kurenai's eyebrows rose. "Isn't Yamanaka taijutsu based around defense?"

Harry shrugged and said, "Yeah, but my dad isn't really much of a defensive type, so he taught me his own version of it. It's based around putting your opponent to the ground before hitting them with our mind techniques. That way, we don't need others around in order to successfully land them."

The red-eyed woman nodded in understanding and beckoned Harry to start the attack with a twitch of her fingers.

Harry's face grew serious and he shot forwards, intent on trying to land at least one hit against her. He jumped and arched his arm back, as if he was going to throw a punch. Instead, he twisted his body in mid-air and lashed out with a powerful kick with his right leg. Kurenai easily blocked his roundhouse kick with her left forearm. Harry groaned internally, knowing he made a mistake. She reached out with her right arm and grasped his ankle, effortlessly throwing his body behind her.

Harry somersaulted and landed on his feet, skidding backwards on the wet grass. He grinned at his jounin-sensei and rushed towards her again, kicking up his speed a notch. He tried to trip her up with a mixture of punches and kicks, but she avoided each blow or redirected it like he was just a child, not a trained shinobi who had been practicing taijutsu since he was a little kid. A scowl grew on his face, drops of sweat sliding down it, as he was rebuffed constantly. She seemed to be using very basic taijustu but her speed outpaced his.

He overextended his punch because of his frustration and his sensei capitalized on the mistake. She twisted, grabbing the arm and pulling him forward. She positioned herself behind him and twisted his arm, locking it behind his back. Harry winced and tried to attack her with his other hand, lashing out over his shoulder, but she had apparently anticipated that and grabbed that arm too. She brought it down roughly to his stomach and he grunted when she pulled him back against her.

He stiffened when she spoke, her breath tickling his ear, "Do you know why you lost, Harry-kun?"

Not for the first time Harry bemoaned his physical age not matching his mental age. His sensei and he were of similar mental age and if his body matched it, their current position could be considered intimate. Not giving any outward indication of his thoughts he simply nodded.

"I got frustrated when I couldn't even touch you." He sighed. "You're taller than me and have longer reach, so I tried to overcome the disadvantage by jumping and using acrobatic maneuvers. When that didn't work, I became sloppy because I was irritated with myself."

"That's fine, Harry-kun, you just have to learn to reign in your emotions at that time," his sensei replied, patting his shoulder. "I am a jounin, after all, no one would expect you to come close to hitting me on our first session."

Harry shrugged. "You never know if you'll get the chance to walk away from a loss. I hear what you're saying but I should know better…I think I'm too used to covering up my weaknesses with ninjutsu in fights."

Kurenai frowned at the boy beating himself up over a simple spar. His obsession with making the D-rank errands around town into mock B-class missions had already shown her he was too serious. "I'm glad you recognize that about yourself. Perhaps strengthening your body so you can fight without needing chakra is a worthy goal." She smirked at him, having seen his boredom with the exercises she had been making him and Sakura go through. "I'll be sure to continue with our calisthenics."

"Um…yeah…sure," Harry managed to get out as diplomatically as he could but then he saw his sensei's teasing smile and just groaned, knowing he had been had.

xXx

After the taijutsu practice, Kurenai announced that it was time for their regular missions. Harry resigned to another day of chores. Sakura seemed happy to putz around the village doing errands and chores but he wanted to get out there. Yet, there was hesitation at what could come. Having a loving mother and father, a supportive clan, made him willfully ignore the realities of being a ninja. Bellatrix had been too right about that. Even now when he became excited about taijutsu or managing the kunai trick his mother had shown him there was an underlying worry of one day having to use those tools to take a life.

Sakura hummed beside him and his worried thoughts turned to her. The children he had grown up with were like younger siblings to him. His stomach twisted in knots imagining any of them actually in a battle. They were all so small and vulnerable. He still remembered Ino and Sakura coming over to play 'house.' He adored them and wished none of them were ninjas. Maybe it was a good thing that Sakura was content with being an errand girl.

"Are you alright, Harry-kun?" Sakura asked, feeling self conscious. The boy had been looking at her and away and sighing for the last few minutes.

Harry was startled out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized he'd become so lost in his inner world. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I was just remembering how adorable you and Ino-chan were when you used to come over to play house."

"W-what?!" Sakura turned red in mortification. She was a kunoichi! What would her sensei think about her playing house!

"Really, Harry-kun? How adorable was she?" Kurenai prompted with a wicked smile.

Harry, oblivious to the teasing, went on, "Ino was over at my place or me at hers all the time. Then one day she brought a living cotton candy person home and announced Sakura was our daughter, she herself was the mommy, and I was the daddy."

Kurenai's laughter bubbled up and filled the quiet morning. Sakura walked woodenly, her head hung. She could not believe it was happening.

"Shut up or I'll tell her how much of a momma's boy you are, Harry-kun," Sakura threatened the smiling boy.

"Go ahead," he said. "I love her and I'm not ashamed about it. She's the most wonderful woman in the world. Her hugs are awesome and she kisses me goodbye in the morning…" he trailed off with a goofy smile.

"Ugh!" Sakura groaned. "What's wrong with you?"

Kurenai smiled at her two students. They were odd and had some mental issues, but more often than not she was glad to have them. They hadn't had a single failure. Between Harry and Sakura's ability to charm customers, their great teamwork, and Kurenai's easily accepted guidance they had finished the minimum number of D ranks. Now that Sakura was at a basic level of physical ability, Kurenai was planning on intensifying their training. She had been a little disappointed with the spar with Harry. The first day they had met when he had attacked her with intent to kill he had been far more skilled. She hoped shutting him down completely had made him realize he needed to pay more attention to her teachings.

The smell of cigarette smoke brought her out of her happy enjoyment of the morning. Ahead, walking toward her group, was Sarutobi Asuma with a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Yo, Kurenai," he called.

She stopped and her students flanked her. Asuma saw their unconscious protective stance and grinned in amusement. Kurenai bristled in annoyance on behalf of her students. She thought it was adorable and appropriate that they fell into a defensive formation. "Asuma, you're up early," she said, going for a passive aggressive dig.

The broad-shouldered jounin shrugged. "Had a little meeting with the Hokage. Heard your team's doing well."

Kurenai smiled. Finally, some recognition! "Yes. This is Yamanaka Harry and this is Haruno Sakura." Kurenai waved toward them respectively.

"Ah, the Yamanaka prodigy. Ino talks about you all the time," Asuma said but didn't wait for a response and turned his attention back to Kurenai. "I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight for drinks. We could share experiences being Jounin-sensei. Maybe we have advice for each other. I was surprised that you signed up for sensei duties so soon after becoming jounin."

Kurenai liked the idea of talking shop with her old classmate but she was also aware that he was one of those people who Koharu-sama had compared her to. Asuma hadn't made jounin as young as Kakashi, but then again, hardly anyone could match Kakashi's record. That aside, Asuma had made jounin many years before her and had a sizeable bounty on his head. He outclassed her as far as others were concerned. "Well, some people don't have the confidence to take up sensei duties early in their careers and wait till they want a break from real duties," she said still staying passive aggressive.

Asuma laughed. "Yeah, glad we're not like them. So what about tonight?"

Kurenai opened her mouth to say it was fine. If nothing else Asuma was an old classmate. But then the man suddenly stumbled while standing still. There was a very believable look of surprise on his face. Kurenai didn't get to think much after that because Asuma's hands landed on her breasts as he tried to steady himself. Kurenai's temper flared. "For fuck's sake, Asuma! You're still trying that trick you picked up when you were thirteen?" She shoved him off of herself.

"No, Kurenai, I swear," Asuma began with his hands splayed open. She punched him in the head. A hit he could've avoided but didn't, knowing it would only make his situation worse. As Kurenai stormed past him, he saw the Yamanaka boy bump fists with the pink-haired girl. He had a look of absolute glee on his face. Had he made him trip and fondle Kurenai? Asuma wondered. He had heard odd stories about the boy's skills. Especially ones he had displayed against Nara Kumori recently. Asuma cursed to himself and walked away thinking he would have to give Kurenai time to cool down before he tried asking her out again.

Kurenai had tamped on her indignation enough that it was a simmer in the back of her mind. First, the bastard implied she was too green to take on a genin team, then he had the gall to ask her out, and finally, felt her up! "Where does he get off criticizing me when my genin have a perfect record and have done twice as many missions as his have?" She cursed to herself.

"Ah, maybe my son was just nervous about asking you out and goofed," the Sandaime's voice made Kurenai realize she was standing in the mission office, almost right at his desk. The old man was grinning along with the Chunnin. Kurenai let loose her killing intent forcing the Chunnin to suddenly find somewhere else to be.

"Team 13 reporting for missions, Hokage-sama," Kurenai bit out and glared at the Sandaime's continuing grin.

"Of course, of course, now how are your students doing? Sakura-chan, I see you're not tired after your morning training." He looked at the genin.

Sakura bowed and said, "Good morning, Hokage-sama. I've been working hard."

Harry waved. "Sup, Professor."

The Hokage smiled at the boy, one who had inherited the Will of Fire strongest in his current generation. As long as one ignored his homicidal obsession with Nara Kumori. "Any new ninjutsu for my library, Harry-kun?"

"Working on a magnetic levitation thing, works well with Earth-style." Harry shrugged. "Not ready to be shown yet. I might need your advice."

Kurenai arched a brow at that exchange. "Hokage-sama, you have been training Harry-kun?"

"Ah, Harry likes to pick my brain time to time with ninjutsu ideas. That's why he calls me Professor." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry, I'm not stealing your student from you."

Kurenai nodded, feeling even more sure that her being given Harry had some other purpose behind it than him being slightly off. If he had caught the Hokage's interest there was something very special about him. "What do you have for us today?" she asked.

The Hokage motioned to the Chunnin sitting beside him who started flipping through scrolls. "You have your pick, Team 7 is off on a C-class mission, Team 10 hasn't shown up yet, so you can take whatever you want from the rookie pile."

"Wait," Kurenai said as her temper flared again. "Team 7 is on a C-class? How? Their total D ranks are under my team's."

The Chunnin looked nervously to the Hokage but seeing no help from the man answered Kurenai, "Well...it was a mission from the Nara clan and seeing as Nara Kumori is on the team-"

"Their success rate is below 50%," Kurenai bit out. "My team has a 100% success rate and has completed all of the required D-ranks. If _any_ rookie genin team was to be promoted for C-ranks it's Team 13." She wondered if she was being passed up again because of her rookie Jounin status. She had taken immense pleasure in watching poor performance from Team 7 and Team 10 over the last few weeks. No one had heard of Team 8. Apparently they hadn't taken any missions yet.

"Now, now, Kurenai-chan," the Hokage began in a patronizing tone. The killing intent from his Genjutsu Mistress made Sarutobi reconsider his tact.

"Professor, did you seriously give Bella a C-rank before me?" Another killing intent joined the pressure on the Hokage. He was surprised at the potency. He had long become accustomed to Nara Kumori's frighteningly developed KI but to find the same from Harry took him aback.

"Um, Kurenai-sensei, Harry-kun, you're talking to the Hokage," Sakura interjected meekly, her hands pulling their arms to break them out of trying to stare down the Hokage.

"That's alright, Sakura-chan. I have a C-rank for your team as well. All you had to do was ask." the Sandaime smoothly picked up a scroll and chucked it at Kurenai.

She unfurled the scroll and nodded once. "Pack for a three-week long mission. We will be escorting a bridge builder to the Wave." She nodded to the Hokage and turned on her heel. Sakura followed dutifully but Harry hung back.

"Yes, Harry-kun?" the Hokage asked.

In answer the red-haired boy came around the desk and shocked the chunnin by hugging the Sandaime. "Thanks for giving me such a babe for a sensei. You're the best."

Sarutobi laughed deeply and patted him on the back. Then with a wink he whispered to him, "You will keep me apprised of any interesting details you may happen to see?"

Harry winked back. "Don't I always? Oh, Sasuke said you taught Naruto the exploding clone technique, is that true?"

The Sandaime sighed. "No, Naruto managed to learn the shadow clone technique but used exploding tags on his clones on his test with his jounin-sensei. Your friend, Bella, is becoming very proficient in destructive sealing."

Harry's face became stone like. "Don't worry, I have my own little sealing project."

"Good, now, get going. Your sensei forgot to tell you when to meet, so presume it's as soon as possible," the Hokage said and watched the boy leave the office. He mused on him for a moment. In some ways he reminded him of a younger Jiraiya, only far more tactful and circumspect.

In other ways he and Nara Bella were like Itachi. Much too talented for their age and with questionable emotional balance as in Bella's case. It was rare to find a prodigy like Harry, loyal and considerate. He didn't doubt Bella's loyalty but her consideration for her comrades was nil. If she ever became like Orochimaru, the Sandaime wanted Harry to have the skills to take her down. So he would encourage both of them. Kumori was to be his attack dog and Harry was to be the sword if Kumori ever turned on her master.

xXx

Harry and Bella, Age 4

Harry sat on his knees on a chair and peeked over the edge of the countertop in the kitchen. It was his fourth birthday (and Black's too, but he tried not to think about her that much) and his mother had baked a gloriously decadent chocolate cake for the occasion. He was extremely happy - this was the first year she had baked him a cake. Mio was very health conscious and tried not to give Harry a sweet tooth too early, to his frustration. Also, it was a birthday cake made by his own mother, something that was only a desperate dream in his last life. It was moments like these that made being turned into a child completely worthwhile.

The red haired boy tried to reach forward and try and grab a piece of frosting, but it was too far for his short arms. Harry scowled and decided to climb up onto the countertop. Just as he put his leg onto it, his mother walked in the room.

"Harry-chan! Get down from there!"

"Aww, Mom!"

Harry's mother smiled at him and picked him up. She placed him on the floor and said, "That cake is for your party tonight, Harry-chan, you can't eat it until then."

Harry tried pouting cutely and asked, "Can't I have just a little taste?"

"No!" Mio exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "But I promise you, you'll have the first bite, OK?"

"Fine…" Harry said in disappointment. "When is everyone coming?"

"Oh, I think they'll be here in a few hours. Aunt Mei and Bella-chan are coming a bit before, I think," she replied, bustling around the kitchen.

"What!?" Harry shouted, outraged. "Why is that -" He stopped when his mother swiftly turned around and gave him the stink-eye.

Mio put her hands on her hips and gave her son a stern look. "Aunt Mei is my best friend, and today is Bella-chan's birthday too. I want you to be on your best behavior, young man!"

"But she's a -"

"I don't care! You and she have been fighting for too long, Harry-chan! If you fight tonight… you won't get any cake at all!"

Harry crossed his arms and glared up at his mother. He knew he couldn't say what he really wanted to say about Bella, but he had to at least try to stop his mother from doing this! "She's stupid! And mean!"

Mio's lips twitched as she tried to contain her giggles at her son glaring adorably at her. "End of discussion. Go out and play, I'll call you in when it's time for you to get ready." She turned around and resumed cleaning up the kitchen.

Harry growled and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, but don't blame me when she ruins EVERYTHING!" He stomped outside and resolved to find Ino, she was always good for an amusing distraction.

xXx

"Hi, Mei!" exclaimed Mio cheerfully, opening up the door for her best friend. Harry stood sullenly behind her, glaring at Bellatrix. He repressed a growl when she giggled at him and shot him a saucy wink. His mother noticed the laugh and smiled down at the child. She was dressed in a pretty white dress with a bright red ribbon holding up her ponytail. "Hey there, Bella-chan, happy birthday! Has it been fun so far?

Bellatrix smiled sweetly up at Harry's mother and said, "It's been really fun so far, Auntie Mio, Mother took me to a sweet shop after lunch!"

The girl's mother smiled down at her and then smiled at Harry. "And how about you, Harry-kun? How's your birthday been so far?"

"Awesome, Aunt Mei! Ino-chan came over earlier, we've been playing in the backyard and having lots of fun!"

"Aww, Ino-chan is here? I can't wait to play with her too!" said Bellatrix in a sickeningly sweet voice, twirling a strand of hair with a finger.

Harry bared his teeth at her acting, knowing that she had all the adults convinced she was the sweetest little girl ever. He couldn't do anything about it though, or else he would end up looking like the bad guy.

"Why don't you and Harry go play with Ino-chan, Bella-chan?" said her mother, hefting up the cake she had made for her daughter. She said to Mio, "I made this vanilla cake for her, she's obsessed with it!"

"Sure, Mother," replied Bella, turning her attention back to Harry and grinning. Harry sneered and simply walked away, knowing his mother was dead serious when she said he wouldn't get his cake if he fought with her.

As they went into the backyard, Harry grunted and said in English, "No bullshit tonight, Lestrange, I don't want to deal with you."

"Aww, Hawwy-poo, I thought we were becoming friends!" giggled Bellatrix. Before Harry could say anything in response, she added, "And the name is Black, remember?"

The boy's emerald eyes twitched. "Just stay out of my way." He walked away to the sandbox, where Ino was still making sandcastles. Most teenagers wouldn't enjoy playing with four year olds, but Harry was determined to make the most of his childhood, something he was unable to do in his previous life.

"Isn't this a bit juvenile, even for you?" jeered Bellatrix, watching him help Ino in the sand.

"Says the one that always speaks like a baby," Harry shot back.

She rolled her eyes and walked away, taking out a folded piece of paper and pencil from a pocket in her dress and sitting down on the back porch. Harry suspected that she was told to behave herself too, otherwise she would have never stopped antagonizing him.

Harry turned his attention back to his cousin. She was his Uncle Inoichi's kid and he loved her to death. Her light orange dress was getting noticeably dirty because of the sand, but it didn't phase her even one bit. Harry sat down next to her in the sand and nudged her. "Whatcha making, Ino-chan?"

"I'm makin' a big castle!" exclaimed Ino, waving her hands excitedly. Her hand accidentally brushed the side of her sandcastle and it fell to pieces. She pouted and glared at the offending sand.

The boy chuckled and advised, "I think you may need more water." It was true, Ino had only brought a small pail of water, her sand was barely sticking together.

"OK, then you go gemme some then!" ordered Ino imperiously, handing Harry her blue bucket and pointing towards the house. Harry laughed at her bossiness but went to do her bidding anyways. He knew he probably shouldn't let her order him around like that, but he couldn't help but dote on the girl, she was like the little sister he never had.

He came back with a bucketful of water and sat down next to Ino in the sand. He noticed her digging a long trench and asked, "I thought you were making a castle, Ino-chan?"

"I am! This is foh the moat, silly!"

Harry looked at the amount of water he had in the pail and the big trench she was digging. He groaned. I'm going to need a lot more water.

xXx

The party was fully underway, most of the Yamanaka and Nara clan was accounted for, as well as a few Akimichi clan members. Harry was bouncing around trying to talk to everyone (avoiding Bellatrix, of course), extremely happy to have a large family that loved him unconditionally. He heard the door open and twisted his head to see who else had come, and was delighted to see that it was Anko.

"Hey, kid!" the snake mistress greeted, ruffling Harry's hair and giving him his present. "Happy birthday!"

"Anko! Wassup!" Harry cheered, gratefully taking the present from her hands. He shook it carefully, trying to get an idea of what was in it. He heard a slight metallic ping and looked up at his older friend in curiousity. "What'd you get me?!"

Anko grinned and leaned down to whisper in Harry's ear, "Keep that away from your mom, alright? I got you a set of kunai and shuriken, we can practice your weapon skills later on!"

"Whoa! Really? That's awesome, thanks, Anko-chan!" exclaimed Harry, giving Anko a big hug around the waist.

The teenager laughed and patted him on the head. "Take it to your room now, OK? Your mom is going to kill me if you open that up with the rest of your presents."

Harry smiled and said, "Kay!"

He sped out of the living room and weaved through his friends and relatives, trying to keep out of sight of his mother.

"Whatcha got there, pretty boy?"

Harry's mood instantly worsened when he heard Bella walk up from behind and speak to him. "Why do you care, Lestrange?"

"Aww, you still don't want to call me Black? It's fine, it'll come to you one day," leered Bellatrix, a strange look indeed on a four year old girl.

Harry rolled his eyes and continued through to the kitchen, Bella still following him and throwing taunts at his back. She must have been getting bored with the party to disobey her parents by trying to provoke a fight from him. As they stepped into the kitchen, Harry's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. Anko's present fell to the floor with a clatter. Akimichi Chouji, a kid he barely knew, was sitting at the countertop in all his blubbery glory, stuffing his face full of cake. Harry was horribly reminded of his cousin Dudley. _Wait, that's not chocolate, that's Lestrange's vanilla cake!_

Bellatrix noticed and looked at him strangely, until she too saw what Harry saw. She saw red when she noticed the fat kid eating HER cake which HER mother had made for her.

"Ha! Looks like you get no cake. Karma's a bitch, isn't it, Death Eater?"

The girl shot him a poisonous glare and pointed towards the boy. "Hey, idiot, look at that fatty's face, it's covered in chocolate," she replied in a scathing tone. "Where do you think that empty platter next to him came from, hmm?"

Harry's head whipped back to the table and saw that Bella was right - Chouji's lips were covered in chocolate frosting, and there was an empty cake platter next to him with some chocolate crumbs on it. Harry felt blood rush to his face and pound in his head. He had waited years for a birthday cake made by his mother's hands, he had laid in his cot under the stairs after being taunted by Dudley on his birthdays wondering why he never deserved what Dudley got.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" Harry's rage-filled shout caused even Bellatrix to yelp in surprise. He rushed towards the other boy and pulled him down off the counter roughly. The two boys and the chair fell to the floor with a loud bang, lessened a bit by the din outside the kitchen. Harry would later think that it was extraordinarily lucky that no one heard the fight starting.

"You-ate-my-cake!" Harry seethed, straddling Chouji's waist as he lay on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" blubbered Chouji, bits of cake spewing everywhere from his mouth. "I was hungry. Don't hurt me," he whimpered.

His plea for mercy was cut off by Harry shouting at him. He fell back into his native English unconsciously. "My mom made that cake for _me!_" Chouji tried to push Harry off, but Harry locked his heels under Chouji's back. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he wasn't done yelling at the boy. To have his dream come true and taken away because some greedy Dudley-like pig couldn't keep his hands to himself was infuriating.

Bellatrix came up from behind him and said, "If that little wanker wants some cake, let's give him some goddamned cake." She threw the platter and what was left of the cake down on the floor next to the two boys.

Harry who was still lost in a haze of his own disappointment and impotent anger didn't even react when Bellatrix kneeled by them. "He wants cake, so let's give him some cake. Here you go, piggy!" She grinned sadistically down at the pinned boy and stuffed the remains of her vanilla cake into his mouth.

"My mom worked real hard on this cake, piggy-chan, I hope you like it." Bellatrix pried open his mouth with her left hand. With her right she grabbed a chunk of the remains of the chocolate cake this time.

Chouji's appetite knew no bounds so he swallowed what Bella was forcing down his throat. He hoped doing what they wanted would get him away from them. He didn't like the look in Ao's eyes, they were terrifying. It was like Ao was thinking of horrible things to do to him but hadn't decided on what. Tears started leaking through the corners of Chouji's eyes.

"What?" Bella cursed in disgust. "Potter, he's eating it all."

"B-but you said to eat it," Chouji said, confused now.

"He's a pig, what did you expect, Bella? I'm through with this." He stood up and glared down at the round boy. "One day I will take away something you want the most." Harry wished the boy had been older so he could've beaten him up without feeling like a monster.

"What's all this commotion in here?" Harry and Bella froze, hearing Isshin's voice coming from the kitchen entrance. For now, they were shielded by the countertop, but they both knew that if he came any closer he would see what was going on. Harry paled. If his father found him and Bella picking on Chouji there would be hell to pay. At the least they hadn't done anything permanent to him.

He glared down at the other boy and put his finger to his lips. The other kitchen door was still free, and they were small enough to get out undetected. Harry motioned towards the door with his head, and Bellatrix nodded in understanding. They left the quietly sobbing boy on the kitchen floor, the remains of Harry's cake lying around him. They slipped quickly through the other door, and heard Isshin shout in surprise.

The rest of the adults heard the shout and rushed into the kitchen. They all gasped when they saw what had happened. Harry and Bella managed to come in behind them (Bella quickly wiping her hand on a hand towel handily hanging off the door) and tried to look innocent.

"Oh, no! Chouji!" Akimichi Choza, Chouji's large father, lumbered his way through the kitchen and picked up his son. "Did you eat both these cakes?!"

Chouji tearfully nodded and hid his face in his father's chest. "Oh, boy. I am so sorry, Mio, Isshin. I don't know what came over him."

Mio came over and fussed over Chouji, wiping his tears away with a napkin. "It's fine, really, Choza, he's just a child after all. We can get another cake. But is he feeling alright? Why is he crying?"

Choza raised his eyebrows and looked down at Chouji. "Why are you crying, kiddo? Is your stomach hurting?"

Chouji looked fearfully over at Ao and Kumori, both of whom glared at him and put a finger to their lips in unison. He got the message: Shut up or we hurt you even more. He wasn't the smartest boy around, not like the rest of the kids, but he understood danger when he saw it. And those two were definitely danger. He had never been so frightened in his young life when Ao started shouting at him in some sort of demonic language.

"Yeah, it's my stomach…" he said, trailing off and hanging his head in shame and in fear.

The adults continued to talk and apologize to each other, Choza excusing himself and his son from the party, and Bella and Harry turned their attention back towards the other.

"I never knew you had it in you, Potter," said Bellatrix, smirking at him. "You just tortured a little kid."

"Shut up, that wasn't torture, all you did was feed him cake," replied Harry, feeling incredibly guilty about what he had just done.

Bellatrix just laughed and walked away. "You're changing, Potter, you're becoming more like me." She suddenly turned at the end of the hallway and winked at him. "I liked the way you called me Bella. It was your first time, thanks for the birthday gift."

Harry glared at her back, refusing to believe what she had said. He would never become someone like her, like a Death Eater, no matter how the shinobi in this world were.


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Humor