Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: Don’t own HP or Naruto

So this is another re-write, sort of. It’s based off Running Home but will be a very different kind of fic.

Chapter 1

He leant back into the warm arms that wrapped around him, taking the chance to relax while he could. He was exhausted, but they all were now, there were so few chances to truly rest. They were an endangered species…all life was really. His lips twitched in a slight smile as lips pressed to the side of his jaw. He turned his head to meet green eyes, leaning in for a proper kiss. They stayed leaning against each other, surrounded by the sounds of the small camp.

He didn’t even flinch when the large snake slithered into their laps, hissing softly, Hiro answering. There was a slight bulge down her body so at least she’d found something to eat out there. She’d done better than their latest supply party then, which was not good for them. Part of him was waiting for the familiar alarm cry, the rush and panic as they were forced to run, but for now the phoenix remained quiet as he kept watch over the camp.

Hiro’s familiars had saved them many times, but Vespillo had been the hardest for him to accept once his head had gotten sorted out. She had been Orochimaru’s before she had nearly killed Hiro after all. It had nearly broken Hiro when Hedwig had died, killed to save her humans’ life. Having the other two had helped and he’d done what he could to help as well. Sure, he had his summons, but they were very different to having familiars, a different kind of bond and one that was not as deep.

Sometimes it felt like another life, his time in Oto and then his ‘kidnapping’ by Hiro back to Konoha. It was hard to believe how much he’d hated the older male then, for taking his place in the team, for kidnapping him…but the anger hadn’t been his. It had taken time, too much time, for him to heal, but Team 7 had refused to give up on him. Falling in love with Hiro definitely hadn’t been anything he would have even dreamed of, but it had happened. That had made things incredibly awkward, Sakura had loved him and had dated Hiro for a time only for both of them to end up rejecting her. Naruto had been stuck in the middle, trying to keep the team together, had refused to let Hiro leave when he offered to get moved to another one. In the end, it had taken the war for Sakura to get over the rejection, but it wasn’t their fault and he refused to apologise, not when he’d always made his lack of romantic feelings for her clear. He’d never expected to feel that way for anyone.

He began to drift, dozing, no one slept deeply anymore, feeling Hiro shift them a bit, supporting him. He wanted to argue but Hiro had those potion things that’d keep him going, they didn’t work so well for Shinobi other than Kakashi-sensei though. And he’d slept yesterday…

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He carefully ran his fingers through longish black hair, relieved to see him sleeping. Hiro looked around the camp, seeing Sakura huddled with Ino, the two talking quietly. Not too far away was Gabrielle and her daughter, Apolline, named for the girls’ grandmother. When he had run to the Elemental Nations, he’d never imagined that one day, the barriers between them and the rest of the world would fall, but then again, he’d never imagined there was a goddess sealed away inside the moon! He really hoped the moon missions had hurt.

She had been prepared for ninja, not so much magicals and the outside muggle tech, but the advantage hadn’t lasted for long. Very few civilians still lived, hidden away as best they could be, leaving only magicals and shinobi. Neither group had had a massive population to begin with and those numbers had slowly dwindled over the years. They couldn’t kill her, not even a Phoenix or bijū could slow her down for long. Naruto and Sasuke held their own the best, with Harry and Obito right on their heels, but it wasn’t enough. They had to Seal her away again but she knew of that plan, as did Zetsu, and they’d been very good at avoiding every attempt.

They were losing and everyone knew it, but the only options were to fight or lay down and die and none of them were to that point of exhaustion yet. Well…his eyes slid to where Obito sat alone. He stayed because of Sasuke and Naruto, because Kakashi had begged him to look after them as he bled out, injuries too much for even a werewolf’s increased healing. But for Kakashi, death had been peace. Iruka…Iruka had been over a year dead by then and every magical had been shocked Kakashi had lasted so long after his mates’ death.

Fawkes suddenly took to the air, sounding the alarm, and Sasuke snapped awake in his arms, moving smoothly to his feet, grabbing his sword. Harry was already up, magic surging to strengthen the wards, to buy them the most time possible. They couldn’t afford to leave anything behind, not with how few supplies they had these days.

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“NARUTO!!!” Many voices joined together, screaming, as the blond was impaled.

Seconds later he was sucked away, landing at Sakura’s feet as Obito got him away from Kaguya.

Sasuke glanced at Hiro who nodded and vanished, retreating to protect Sakura while she worked on Naruto. The two Uchiha then went on the attack to keep her away from the injured Jinchūriki.

Hiro stood over the kneeling Sakura, even as Fawkes swooped down, creating a circle of magical flames around them, letting him join her. He grimaced as he saw the gaping wound, the blood dripping from Naruto’s lips. He grabbed a flailing hand, squeezing, not reacting when Naruto gripped back tightly.

Hiro hissed as a familiar screech reached him, lunging to catch Fawkes as he was hit. The tiny newborn landed in his cupped hands and he slipped him into the special pouch even as the flames faded. Sasuke was scrambling up in the distance, right hand clasped to his left shoulder, and Hiro reacted, sending magic at both Uchiha, but where was Obito…. Hiro grimaced as the older Uchiha collapsed, his body turning to ash along with the piece of bone that had impaled him, Hiro’s magic returning to him with nothing left to protect. Hiro looked again to Sasuke in alarm, but he was on his feet, Rinnegan and Sharingan locked on her.

Hiro stood in front of Sakura and Naruto, weapons and magic ready. He let out a growling hiss at the approaching goddess, a mix of Parseltongue and caracal warning. His magic slammed into her, raw magic rather than a spell she could dodge of deflect. There was only one spell that seemed to worry her, others had cast it but he hadn’t. he was a Wizard and a Shinobi, he killed with weapons and jutsu, even magic, but that spell… no one had ever said anything, knowing his history, but at the moment he was all that was between her and his teammates.

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Sasuke couldn’t look as Obito turned to ash, hearing him whisper a familiar name as he died. He’d suspected as much, but he’d never stood a chance, and Obito had known it. Sasuke hoped he was at peace now, even as he forced his aching body to move. Hiro was all that was between Kaguya and where Naruto lay under Sakura’s healing hands.

His eyes widened in shock as a blast of green light, matching Hiro’s eyes, flew from him towards her. Surprisingly, it hit, and he clamped his hands over his ears and the noise, watching as black puddled on the ground. Zetsu had taken the hit for her…the Killing Curse ripped the soul from the body without needing the Shinigami. It was enough to deal with Zetsu, could it kill her? He felt sick for Hiro having to cast it but there was nothing he could at the moment, his lightning covered blade heading for her throat. He had to keep her away from them until Naruto was healed…why wasn’t he up yet?

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Sakura poured healing into Naruto, trying to ignore the sound of him choking on blood. She ignored the warmth of Hiro’s magic and chakra wrapping around them, protecting them even as he stood between them and Kaguya….forced herself to ignore the sudden absence of Obito’s presence, convincing herself he’d just retreated briefly to Kamui.

“Come on,” she hissed in frustration.

Blue eyes stared up at her, scared but…accepting and no, that was not happening! They could not lose Naruto, not now.

“HIRO!” Sasuke’s scream had her wrenching her gaze from Naruto’s, seeing the last Umino collapse against some rubble, blood pooling under his head.

She swore, she couldn’t get to him, even if she wasn’t trying to heal Naruto, she’d have to get passed Kaguya to reach Hiro. She looked down at the garbled attempt at her name, saw the paleness to usually tanned skin. Why wasn’t he healing? What was Kurama doing? Naruto weakly grabbed her hand, moving towards his seal, and she yanked his ruined shirt aside, swearing softly as she realised why he wasn’t healing. The seal…it was unravelling even further. It had been a loose thing, letting Kurama have freedom within Naruto’s mind, even letting them swap control, but it still existed, it had to in order to allow them both to exist within Naruto’s body. The wound was a distraction! Her real move had been to weaken the Seal.

Naruto was the last Jinchūriki, she needed Kurama. They needed Naruto alive to seal her, the sun emblazoned on his palm to match Sasuke’s moon.

“Stay with me,” she pleaded even as a witch…she didn’t pay enough attention to know who, joined her, murmuring in another language, pouring some kind of magic into Naruto.

“Sakura!” Sasuke yelled and she flattened herself over Naruto, hearing something hit the ground not far behind her.

She heard a shriek and then Kaguya was being pelted by fire, Gabrielle had transformed. She liked the spitfire Veela, they got along well, but the girl was no match for Kaguya.

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Hiro staggered to his feet, head pounding, but he ignored it, apparating to Gabrielle and then away, removing her from danger. He then reappeared beside Sakura and Annalise, seeing how pale Naruto was.

“She messed with the Seal,” Sakura told him without looking up, and he swore.

Naruto was their Sealing expert, there was no one else. Sealing and Runes were too different. They couldn’t let her get Kurama but they had no one who could fix the Seal or re-Seal him in someone new.

And then she was there and Harry blocked with his own sword, hitting her point blank with a Killing Curse. She staggered but that was it. That shouldn’t be possible! She staggered again as Sakura’s fist slammed into her, her seal spreading over her skin to allow her to heal any injuries the goddess may land. Sasuke appeared and the three of them worked to drive her back, all aware they had to be fast to save Naruto.

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Naruto lay on the ground, he was in agony, the Seal burning even as he could hear Kurama struggling to keep it intact enough. He’d died when Kurama was extracted the first time, knew he wouldn’t survive, especially with his injuries. Technically, Kurama could leave any time he wanted, but the Seal was necessary to let him exist within Naruto without destroying him and taking over his body. So… ‘do it,’ he sent to Kurama.

‘Do wha…no, there’s no way,’ Kurama growled in response.

‘She can’t get you, Kurama. I’m dead, the wound isn’t healing. Take my body and kick her ass.’

‘Naruto…’

‘I’ll always be with you,’ he promised. ‘Tell the others I’m sorry.’

He smiled slightly and let go.

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Everyone turned as power exploded from where Naruto was lying. Sasuke felt a surge of relief as the blond got to his feet but…something was wrong. The eyes that looked their way were red and slitted, not out of the ordinary in a fight but…his expression, Kurama was in control, why? And why couldn’t he feel the Sage’s power in Naruto anymore?

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Hiro leant into Sasuke’s side; the little Fawkes nestled by the fire. Sitting along in the darkness was Kurama. No one knew how to deal with him being the sole occupant of Naruto’s body, a body that was changing. Blond hair had begun to darken, his eyes now permanently red. It hurt, Naruto had been his friend since they met on the road back to Konoha, but Kurama was his friend too and he hated seeing him in pain.

He knew what it was like to be different, held apart because of something you couldn’t help. Even in Konoha it had happened a bit with those who found out the truth about him, that he wasn’t just Iruka’s cousin raised in a distant town…no, no thinking of Iruka. He missed his cousin so much, missed all the family he’d lost to this horrible war.

Even if they won…what would be left?

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Kurama snarled at her; she was why Naruto was gone! His first friend in so long was dead, gone somewhere he couldn’t follow. So she would pay, it was as simply as that, grandmother or not.

He felt the hot rush of Hiro’s magic swirl past, heard her shriek of fury, and laughed. The kid was almost as unpredictable as Naruto had been, it was part of why they’d gotten along so well. That, and Hiro had never looked down on him for having Kurama sealed within him. The snap and shriek of lightning passing nearby brought less laughter, he had never like the Uchiha, who could blame him, but this one had definitely grown in the last few years, he’d become…tolerable. All Hiro and Naruto’s work of course, the idiot ‘Avenger’ hadn’t been able to sort his own head out.

He missed fighting beside a Jinchūriki, like B,  or even a werewolf. The thrill of wild instincts, animal awareness…Hiro was the closest anymore thanks to being an Animagus.

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Sakura cradled the blond in her arms, but there was nothing anyone could do, Ino was dead. She ignored how light the body was, refused to look down as she held her best friend. Hiro would inscribe the runes himself and then they would burn her body, the best they could do to keep her from being brought back to fight against them. There’d been so much wasted time because of their stupid rivalry…why had they let Sasuke come between them?

She hoped Ino had been able to break the mental link with the other camp before she’d been killed, no one deserved to experience that or needed the distraction. She was the last Yamanaka; they were cut off from any other survivors now unless there were some magicals out there who could use a Patronus messenger. But Hiro hadn’t received one in months, even when he sent them out to search.

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder and then someone was prying Ino away from her. She turned and clung to Sasuke, crying silently, and he held her, one hand at the back of her head, stroking her hair.

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Sasuke watched as Ino’s body burned, Sakura pressed between him and Hiro, Kurama on Hiro’s other side. They were all that was left of their graduating class. All the other ‘Rookies’ were dead now. How many more funerals would he have to watch? The thought of having to burn Hiro’s body…he felt sick.

Their group had shrunk down to the four of them, one witch whose name he hadn’t bothered learning, and two shinobi who were a good three years younger than his class. He hoped Konohamaru’s group was still out there, it would have hurt Naruto to know the kid was dead, not really a kid anymore though. He’d lived up to the Sarutobi name, Asuma and the Sandaime would have been proud of him.

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“We aren’t winning this,” Kurama growled, and Hiro looked over at him.

“No, really?” he hissed as Sakura healed a nasty wound in his side that his drained magic was struggling with.

Kurama rolled crimson eyes at him.

“There’s nothing we can do about Kurama,” Sasuke pointed out, digging through his bag for one of the last potions they had, handing it to Hiro who grimaced but drank it.

They hadn’t heard from any other group in months and now it was just the four of them, Team 7 in a way. Not that anyone looking at Kurama would think he was Naruto, not when his hair was now a dark crimson to match his eyes, his features more fox-like than Naruto’s had ever been.

“There’s got to be something,” Sakura murmured, green eyes dull. The words might sound hopeful but ever since Ino’s death, she hadn’t smiled once. “otherwise we might as well lay down and die.”

Except they were all too stubborn to do that. Hiro missed the weight of Ves draped over him, hearing her comments on everything. Of his three familiars’, only Fawkes remained, not even Kaguya could permanently injure or kill a phoenix. Maybe it would be easier to just give into the inevitable, to use the contents of the sealed vial in his bag so the four of them could have a peaceful death, but he’d never been one to give up. She’d never stop coming for them, enraged at having everything taken from her with Kurama taking over Naruto’s body. His chakra had changed, twisted into something not human or bijū. But in return, they no longer had a way to re-seal her. And they’d run out of ideas on ways to kill her ages ago. So what was left?

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Sakura slammed her fist into Kaguya’s face, it wouldn’t do much but landing a hit made her feel better even if only briefly. Kurama’ claws were buried in her throat a second later even as a Killing Curse slammed into her back, some of Sasuke’s snakes entangling her limbs. Then she was part way back across the field, Sasuke where she’d been, Chidori buried in the bitch’s face.

She raised her hands, bones forming, aiming…

“Look out!” Sakura screamed, punching the ground, trying to throw her off balance, throw off her aim.

She watched Sasuke twist away, Hiro’s magic surging, wrapping visibly around them both even as Sasuke grabbed him, teleporting a short distance and off to the side to dodge the attack since there was nothing further away to switch places with. But as he did, Kaguya deflected a Bijūdama from Kurama, the attack colliding with Hiro’s shield and the chakra of Sasuke’s teleport…….

She staggered to her feet, holding her dislocated arm, feeling blood dripping down her face, only to stare in horror. Where Sasuke and Hiro had been…was a crater. Movement nearby had her tensing but it was Kurama digging himself free of a mound of dirt. Kaguya…where was she?

“Sasuke?” she yelled. “Hiro!” they had to be nearby, somewhere.

TBC….

So those who read the original know that Harry changed his name to fit in better in Konoha and became Umino Hiroshi. Which is why he’s referred to only as Hiro here, he’s been using that name now for a few years.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Chapter 2

He snapped back to awareness suddenly but didn’t move, chakra and magic still, feigning unconsciousness. The smells were familiar…but impossible. Hogwarts was long gone, destroyed despite the impressive wards, along with all those who had sought shelter within her walls. Genjutsu? He disrupted his chakra as carefully as possible but nothing changed so he risked opening his eyes the bare minimum. It looked like what he remembered of the Hogwarts hospital wing, he didn’t have Sasuke’s eyes and their perfect recall though and memories faded. His life had been pretty crazy since leaving the school after all, the war had made life before seem so long ago… he couldn’t sense any other chakra signatures but he could sense someone nearby…the office?

It was night, the candles providing soft light and he blinked, vision fuzzy….right, glasses. It had been so long since he’d needed them, he’d forgotten how bad his sight had been. He slowly lifted his hands, staring at the familiar scars from his life at the Dursley’s and Hogwarts…but nothing else. They were smaller too, not yet the hands of a man grown. What the hell?!

What had happened? He struggled to remember…the chaos of battle…Sakura yelling, punching the ground…Sasuke teleporting even as Hiro shielded with magic…a Bijūdama…well, that explained why he ached but nothing else. Where was Sasuke? Nothing made sense and he didn’t like it. He moved his arm, reaching for his glasses, and winced at the feel of something pulling. In the candlelight he could just make out a bandage…he knew that wound…Peter…but that wasn’t possible. He knew how time travel worked; he’d done it before after all.

It was impossible for him to have travelled back to the end of his Fourth Year. It had to be…but what if…?

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He blinked up at a familiar ceiling, immediately moving to dispel the genjutsu but nothing changed. His eyes burned as he activated his Sharingan, chakra draining, and he quickly deactivated it. What had…Hiro! He stretched out his senses, he wasn’t a sensor but he knew Hiro’s chakra as well as his own…nothing. He wasn’t anywhere within Sasuke’s range but…there were so many others! He sat up and stared in shock at his hands before scrambling up, nearly tripping, getting to the bathroom where he stared at his reflection in shock. Impossible…

But there was no genjutsu…he didn’t have the Rinnegan…he scrambled about the apartment, no hitai-ate either, but there were schoolbooks. A check of the calendar showed graduation to be tomorrow. But that meant…Hiro was still in England, had he come back too? Or would he show up in two years looking for family again and look at him as a stranger? No…how could he live through it all again alone?

He couldn’t let things play out the same way, not when he knew the cost. Would those changes affect Hiro’s arrival? Even if they did…as much as it would hurt…he had to do it, he couldn’t trade one person for the world. He’d still have Team 7, even if things would be different this time, he wasn’t really twelve after all.

He had to work on his chakra as soon as possible, he could activate the Eternal Mangekyō but he couldn’t keep it active due to the chakra drain. He tested it, and the normal Sharingan pulled at his chakra but didn’t drain it the same way. But how would he explain having a fully matured Sharingan?

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Sneaking out of the hospital wing and avoiding everyone was easy. His chakra stores were pathetic even when compared to when he first started training with Kakashi and then Team 9. The idea of preserving the timeline never crossed his mind as he snuck about, what was there to preserve when it would end in worldwide destruction? He hoped that Sasuke had come back too, but there was no way to know until he reached Konoha.

He wasn’t waiting around until he was sixteen, not this time, not with the hell that had been fifth year. He couldn’t beat Voldemort, not now, if he’d woken before the Graveyard, had been there when Riddle was weak from being reborn then he could have ended it there and then. No, he’d leave, go find Iruka and become part of Konoha, and come back when he was ready. And…he grimaced, Tsunade wasn’t Hokage yet, Sarutobi was still the Sandaime. All the stories he’d heard told him he didn’t want to be there while he was in charge but he couldn’t stay in Britain.

He doubted he could play civilian anymore though which would make things hard. Magical combat would be easy enough to explain away with stories of Riddle, but how to explain his shinobi skills? Well, that was for later. He had a lot to get done before they returned to London.

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Sasuke walked into the classroom and fought the urge to turn around and run. He’d forgotten just how…childish they’d all been when they graduated. It took the chūnin exams for most to begin to mature and even then, it hadn’t been enough for what was coming. The system was broken, it left them too green when they graduate but it also didn’t let enough of them pass. They needed more numbers in the shinobi forces, even if only in the chūnin corps.

He forced himself not to let his eyes linger on anyone, not wanting to remember how they’d died. So much death…no, not this time! He took his seat, feeling a pang as Naruto walked in, blue eyes so innocent compared to the boy who had died in giving his body to his bijū. It hurt when Naruto glared at him, to have to feign indifference, but he couldn’t just change overnight. Getting hauled into T&I would not help at all.

Unlike last time, he could see the slightly pained movements Iruka made, the wound on his back still healing from the confrontation with their other teacher. What had his name been? He dismissed it, unimportant. He could also see that his hitai-ate was brand new, the old one now around Naruto’s head. He managed to avoid the rather embarrassing ‘first kiss’ with Naruto at least, sparing Naruto the beating by his fangirls.

Sasuke tuned out as the team assignments were read out, only paying attention when his name was called, hearing Naruto groan but then cheer as Sakura’s name was called as well. It was done, Team 7 was once again formed. Listening to Iruka hurt, the memory of his death, of Kakashi’s howl of grief, the way his visible eyes had never gone back to its natural colour after that, instead remaining wolf yellow…well, he couldn’t afford to be distracted. Iruka and Kakashi had been family because of Hiro and their deaths had hurt so much.

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This was impossible. He was dead, he knew he was dead. He remembered the pain of the bone impaling him, feeling his body turning to ash even as Hiro’s magic tried to protect him. but…after that were shadowy sensations, not true awareness but something. He hadn’t gone to the Pure Lands, not a surprise given all he’d done, but he didn’t know what it had been. Sometimes he could almost hear familiar voices, mostly Naruto and Sasuke.

So how was he suddenly in a place he knew hadn’t existed for years? They’d taken shelter in the cave early in the year and it’d been obliterated. But there…the outfit he used in Kirigakure when controlling Yagura. But Yagura was long dead, his Edo Tensei had been broken as well, returning his soul to the Pure Lands. No…there was no way…that was something that could only happen to Naruto or Hiro…

He slipped into Kamui and sure enough, Yagura sat at his desk, his eyes having the distant look that spoke of the genjutsu he was under. So…time travel. Wonderful.

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Hiro barely listened to the whispers in the Great Hall, watching Dumbledore and the other ‘adults’. He knew what was coming after all, he just wouldn’t be there for the fallout. No, he was not sticking around to be maligned by a bunch of idiots with their heads stuck too far up Malfoy’s arse to see the truth. He didn’t care about the magical world, not when the fate of the entire planet was at stake.

He’d handle Riddle once sure he could take him on and not beforehand. Not like it would make any difference since Riddle would spend the year rebuilding his forces. Though…leaving the school to be terrorised by Umbridge…no, he’d deal with the toad before leaving. It was amazing how much war could change a person, the boy he’d been would have never considered assassinating someone.

He hadn’t gone to see Hedwig yet, not able to face his first familiar just yet. And he knew Fawkes was still bonded to Dumbledore. Was Ves alive yet? He didn’t know since he couldn’t judge by her size when they met with chakra and Orochimaru involved.

“Harry?” a voice hissed, jolting him out of his thoughts, and he glanced at Ron. Ron then looked over at the Slytherin table and Hiro followed his gaze, seeing the smirks and pride…because they knew Riddle was back.

He just shrugged slightly at Ron. “Ignore them,” he knew it wasn’t what he would have said, but he wasn’t the same person, he’d seen far worse than a couple of idiot kids raised to think they were better than everyone else.

He knew the Malfoy line had ended in the final fights against Riddle, would his leaving earlier change anything about their fate? He’d never learnt what had happened to Ron and Hermione, hadn’t wanted to know even when Gabrielle offered to tell what she knew since Bill had married her sister. Knowing when they were already dead would have been pointless.

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Hermione watched Harry, worried. He was…different. It wasn’t like he’d never seen someone die before; he’d been there when Quirrell died. Maybe…because Cedric was just a student, like them? He’d seen Vo…Voldemort brought back to life. The idea of that terrified her, she’d read all about the first war, knew what the Death Eaters did to people like her and her parents.

Ron wasn’t the only one watching the other students and she wasn’t liking what she was seeing or hearing, yes, they held a silence for Cedric but…they weren’t listening to the Headmasters calls for unity. The Minister didn’t believe Harry, how many would listen to him instead during the summer? How many people would die because the Minister didn’t want to believe? Surely Dumbledore would manage to convince him soon. Then again…Sirius was still on the run despite Dumbledore’s government positions…no, he’d fix it.

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It was hard to not react when Kakashi slouched into the room, seemingly disinterested in them. There were no scars from his torture, no feeling of barely contained animal strength. He was the Kakashi he’d been before Sasuke defected, not the physically and mentally scarred one he’d found when he was released from T&I eventually.

He made his way to the roof, fighting the urge to grab Sakura and Naruto up and never let them out of his sight again. They wouldn’t understand and it’d bring attention he couldn’t afford. Danzō…he was alive again. And Sarutobi watched him closely too, looking for signs of who knew what, but Sasuke couldn’t risk it.

Time to start changing things. He listened to Naruto and then Sakura introduce themselves wondering what to change first. “Uchiha Sasuke,” he gave his name. “I like tomatoes and I hate pathetic fangirls who don’t take being a ninja seriously,” Sasuke stated, hey, he was opening up about his likes at least. And hopefully Sakura would realise he meant her too with his comment on fangirls. “My dreams for the future…to avenge my clan,” just not in the manner Kakashi assumed.

At the moment he wanted to bash his head on the railing though as Sakura looked at him with hearts in her eyes. Ugh. Okay, so it’d take time to get her over him. If only Hiro was there…

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Kakashi sighed as he watched the kids leave. They were going to fail, which was good for him, he was not cut out to be a teacher. And especially for two of those kids. Still, Sasuke’s introduction had been a surprise, he hadn’t expected the boy to open up at all and yet he’d admitted to a food he liked. Was that a sign of positive progress? He’d have to ask Iruka later.

He also knew he would have to put some effort into actually testing them properly, otherwise Iruka’s reaction would not be pretty. Unlike Kakashi, no one had cared if the teacher got close to Naruto, if he’d treat him to ramen occasionally and talk to him like a person. If Kakashi had tried to, he would have been in trouble, the Sandaime had forbidden anyone connected to Minato-sensei and Kushina from interacting with the blond to help hide his identity. Iruka had just snorted when he found out and Kakashi’d had to stop him marching into the Sandaime’s office. After all, Naruto looked like his parents and carried his Mother’s name! And Kakashi had to admit, he was right. It was only the Villages blind rage at the Kyūbi that kept them from seeing it too. But would it keep others from realising should Naruto become a ninja and take missions outside the Village?

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It was a relief to undo the subtle seal he’d inscribed on the bedpost and change out of his uniform for the last time. One train ride to go and then he would disappear into London to get everything ready. His trunk was already packed and Hedwig had been told to meet him in London later. The Dursley’s would be waiting for him but he had no intention of meeting them or anyone else.

He did wonder if his leaving would extend their lives…or would the Dementor get Dudley later in the summer? That was if he hadn’t managed to handle Umbridge before that date. The idea of Dudley having his soul sucked out him…it didn’t make him feel anything, he had long since moved passed his horrible family. He didn’t hate them or love them, he supposed he’d become totally indifferent since they were completely irrelevant after they died. Was that a healthy way to deal with his childhood? Maybe not, but it’d been the best he could do under the circumstances.

He slipped out of the tower and down to breakfast, avoiding the chaos of the others rushing about with last minute packing, his trunk already shrunk and in his pocket. It was harder, but he could still manage a little wandless magic. It was strange, once he had dreaded leaving the castle and now he couldn’t wait. He knew he should feel bad, he was leaving Ron and Hermione, but they were childhood friends, nothing but memories to Hiro. He couldn’t be who they expected, the friend they depended on to save them. He held no loyalty to the magical world after everything, he was loyal to his precious people only, and…they didn’t count anymore.

He’d leave word with Gringotts for Sirius and Remus and hopefully they’d listen, get out of Britain and Europe entirely. In somewhere like America, Sirius might be able to get a trial, the Americans were big on those and justice after all. But even if he stayed in hiding, it’d be easier there. If possible, he’d be sneaking into the Ministry to destroy the Prophecy, the stupid thing had caused too much heartache. Too many people had bene hurt or killed and for what? Something anyone with a brain who knew there was a prophecy could guess.

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There were…gaps in his memory. Things he knew he should remember from the future but couldn’t. Was it the way he’d died and then kind of somehow hung around? There was no way to know but he thought he remembered most of the important things. He knew the future couldn’t be allowed to come to pass, but he wasn’t sure how to change it.

He wasn’t exactly reliable considering everything he remembered doing and who knew how much he’d really forgotten? It’d be better if someone else was in charge of it…was that possible? Was he the only one to come back? If he wasn’t…who were the most likely candidates? His mind immediately went to Naruto and Sasuke, they made the most sense. He…he wanted it to be Kakashi and it was possible considering the link between their eyes. Hiro was possible but he’d have no way of finding the kid…teen?...unless he’d already come to Konoha.

Konoha was his best bet for finding out if anyone was else remembered the future but he was hesitant to return to the Village. The last time he’d seen it…he grimaced, he had to do it. But first….Yagura. Hopefully once free the man would work to fix his village. He’d targeted Kiri because of Yagura and because of Rin but…he couldn’t keep punishing a village for the actions of the dead. Yagura hadn’t been a Jinchūriki or Mizukage until years after her death. If he freed the man, that would be one less easy to collect bijū since the man had excellent control. Without Obito controlling him, it’d take more than a pair of Akatsuki to capture him.

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Sasuke warmed up and then ate a very light breakfast, ignoring Kakashi’s instructions. He made sure he had all his equipment and then left his drab little apartment, being in the Village made him miss the place he and Hiro had shared for all of eight months until Nagato had levelled the Village. Maybe he should at least buy a plant or two to make it feel warmer?

He headed to the once familiar training ground, skirting the memorial to lean against a tree while waiting for the others. Sakura arrived first and immediately began ‘flirting’, so his words definitely hadn’t sunk in.

“Sakura, shut up,” he snapped at her, and she froze. “If we are to be a team then you need to grow up,” he hated being so cold to the girl he had called his sister, but it had to be done. She had to see reality sooner, she’d been such a liability and it’d be a lot harder to change things if he had to protect her. “I will never date you. I will never date any girl,” he spoke slowly and clearly to make sure she heard him. “Even if I would date a girl, you would be at the bottom of the list due to your dismal physical ability as a ninja. You are smart so use your brain, if you continue like this, you will die.”

“But…Sasuke-kun…” green eyes were wide with hurt and he fought the urge to comfort her.

“I’ve never given any of you any hint that your attention is welcome. You are all stalkers with no respect for me. I will work with you as a ninja and maybe one day, there will be friendship, but it will never be more.”

He grimaced slightly as she burst into tears, rushing away, but hopefully she’d listened.

“Oi!”

And Naruto had seen or heard at least some of that, great. Naruto had his own issue but mostly they were the fault of the village and how everyone treated him. but he behaved towards Sakura very similarly to how she treated Sasuke, so he’d need a similar reality check. Naruto had dated a few people but as far as Sasuke knew, none of them had lasted thanks to a lot of factors. He wanted Naruto and Sakura to both find the kind of relationship that he’d had with Hiro but he didn’t know how to help them with that.

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Iruka leant back in his chair, unable to keep his mind from wandering. Kakashi would be testing them today and he really wanted them all to pass. Naruto had tried so hard for so long…but could Kakashi see passed his own trauma to give them a chance? With Naruto and Sasuke on the team, it would be all too easy for Kakashi to see them as his own genin team. Iruka had heard stories of Uchiha Obito and Kakashi when they were on the Yondaime’s team and there were some similarities, yes, but there were also a lot of differences.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

He left Gringotts and slipped through the Alley, keeping out of sight. The goblins had not been happy but there was nothing they could do to stop him emptying his accounts. Thanks the Tournament, he’d been declared of age and he had left the account fee behind. He had a lot of shopping to do, he’d thought he’d been prepared last time he left for the Elemental Nations but there’d been so much he’d ended up needing. This time he’d truly be prepared. And he had a few deaths to plan as well. He wasn’t ready to go up against Riddle but Death Eaters like Lucius were public figures and he’d learnt a lot from people like Sakura and Kankurō about poisons.

He'd only planned on handling Umbridge at first but the more Death Eaters he took out, the longer it would take Riddle to gain the power he’d had last time.

No one noticed when he slipped out into London via the Leaky Cauldron.

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He carefully opened a portal from his Kamui dimension into Konoha, looking for Team 7 since they were his best bet for potential time travellers. It didn’t take long for him to find them…the bell test, wonderful. He’d heard about that from Naruto once, with Sasuke overriding him a few times. And what he was seeing…wasn’t what they’d told him. So that was a good sign, right?

He winced in sympathy as Naruto was tied to the pole and Kakashi vanished. Sasuke immediately offered the blond some of his lunch, stating they would need him strong to take on Kakashi again. He was surprised when Naruto glared at him, but then Sakura offered Naruto some and he accepted. Something about it seemed off to him, but what?

Then his eyes widened, they were both snubbing Sasuke! But Sakura was meant to have been obsessed with him at this point…he watched his clansman closer, seeing the slight tightening to his mouth…resignation.

And then Kakashi appeared and it felt like he’d been kicked in the chest. This wasn’t the Kakashi he’d fought against and then beside in the war, no…this Kakashi was still a normal human, or as normal as a ninja could really be. Sharingan covered and his visible eye was dark grey, not shading in any way towards yellow. The scars from his time as a prisoner were gone as well and Obito closed his eyes, relieved that this Kakashi hadn’t gone through all of that. He hadn’t learnt half of it until after Kakashi had died, he’d begged Hiro for the full story and the young man had reluctantly given it to him.

It made sense that this was this times Kakashi, he had been years dead before whatever had happened to send Obito and possibly Sasuke back. He’d long ago let go of his anger at Kakashi, especially once the other had been able to explain what had really happened that day with Rin. And…it had hurt to realise, but it wasn’t Rin he wanted to spend his life with. It just wasn’t possible, Kakashi had chosen another, had never known there was a choice because he believed Obito long dead. But Kakashi was still human, which meant he wasn’t mated to Iruka…no, he would not start down that path. Getting his sanity back had been hard and had involved having a Chidori to the heart and then Hiro in his head, he was not going through that again. Although…he pressed a hand to his heart, was the Seal still there?

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Sasuke fought the urge to slam the door. It hurt. He hadn’t expected it to, hadn’t realised just how badly they’d take his words but they’d shunned him. Had even left the training ground together in order to leave him behind. He leant against his door, eyes closed, fighting the feeling of tears gathering. He wanted his friends back, his family, but…had he done the wrong thing? He’d just wanted them to see what they were doing.

His eyes snapped open, Sharingan spinning to life, kunai in hand, and then he watched in shock as the air warped to reveal…

“Hiro,” the other said, and the kunai dropped from Sasuke’s hand in shock.

“Obito,” he whispered, but how? Obito had been long dead before that fight. “How are you…” he motioned at him, and Obito shrugged slightly.

“Was hoping you’d know, once I realised it was you. I caught the end of the test, what happened?”

Sasuke broke eye contact, looking away, and Obito sighed. “I just…it took so long for Sakura to stop; I thought if I made things clear now then she could get over it.”

“Yeah…not that easy,” Obito scoffed, and Sasuke glared at him. “Is it just you?”

“Here. Hiro…might be back too, I’d grabbed onto him to dodge an attack.”

“The others?”

“It was just us, Sakura, and…Kurama.”

“Kurama?” Obito eyed him, and Sasuke nodded. He knew Obito wasn’t going to be happy, after he’d joined them he’d become protective of Naruto, blaming himself for his status as not just a Jinchūriki but an orphan, which was technically true.

“The fight you died in…Naruto died too, she did something to the Seal. He gave up his body to Kurama to give us a chance and keep Kurama safe from Kaguya. We hadn’t heard from any other survivors in almost a year,” he admitted.

“Right…” Obito ran a hand through his head. “Well, Yagura’s free so that should change something, at least in Kiri. What else do we need to do?”

Wait, Obito was asking him?

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Hiro opened the window and let Hedwig into the hotel room. He was glad she’d found him so quickly, not that he had any letters for her to carry. He couldn’t risk contacting anyone in case he was found. Though…could he send her to Konoha? A two-way portkey might work, then he’d know for sure if Sasuke had come back too. Was it worth the risk when he was planning to be there before summer was over?

TBC…

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 3

Hiro sat on the floor of his hotel room, meditating. His Occlumency was basically back at the basics, protections shredded, he was lucky he hadn’t had to be around Snape or Dumbledore alone since coming back or they could have seen everything. Considering he was planning a few murders; he needed his protections to be strong. He also had another appointment with Gringotts and would have to control his temper should they prove reluctant to believe him. The goblins had made strong allies last time…until Zetsu had destroyed their caverns. He and Sasuke had honed their sword skills with their battlemasters and had come to respect them. But now he was a scrawny fourteen-year-old whom the Ministry had already begun a smear campaign against, they could work fast when it suited them.

He longed to head for Konoha, but he couldn’t, not yet. He missed Sasuke so much but at their current ages dating could be problematic, at least until Sasuke graduated…or had he already done that? It had been so long since there’d been a graduating class that it was hard to remember the dates. When the whole world is ending, remembering if it’s November or April isn’t important.

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Obito was…concerned about Sasuke. In trying to fix things with his team from the start, he may have actually made them worse, isolating himself further which was not good. it didn’t take a genius to realise that for all Sasuke had held himself apart since the massacre, he needed people around him. Hiro had helped heal that, helped him relearn to let people in so the sooner he got there the better. Hopefully, he could help pull Team 7 together again. His link to Umino would help with Kakashi and Naruto, Sakura would be the difficulty. They needed Team 7 at their best and the sooner the better.

He wasn’t sure what to think of the idea that Naruto had died in the same fight he had, but that his body had continued on with Kurama in control. It’s what Naruto had wanted and it made sense but it must have been hard for all of them to deal with. Naruto had been Sasuke’s best friend and now to be so distant from his younger self. Ugh, he was not a therapist!

“Think you can manage a Chidori?” he asked, and Sasuke blinked, frowning before his eyes widened slightly.

“The seal?”

Obito nodded. The sooner that was dealt with the better and since his body was the one from this time, it should be there.

“I’ll try,” Sasuke promised. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to help him focus.

Obito braced himself, fighting the urge to move as flickers of electricity sparked over Sasuke’s hand.  It faded and then came back, then faded again, Sasuke obviously struggling. It made sense, by the time he trained for the Chidori the first time, he’d been a genin for months, his chakra stores were lower at the moment, but they only needed one good hit and he didn’t have to have the Sharingan active at the same time since Obito would stay still…he would! Was it the seal trying to make him move or just human instinct to not take what should be a fatal blow?

He closed his eyes, considering, and then choked back a cry of pain, nerves screaming as they were hit by lightning, choking briefly on blood. Huh…guess he managed. He felt his legs buckle, Sasuke try to brace him, coughing even as he felt his healing kick in. Sasuke couldn’t hold him but he slowed his fall, getting him sitting against something as he struggled to breath.

“Obito. Come on, answer me,” Sasuke’s voice faded in and he blinked, looking up at the boy. When had he laid down? “Back with me?” Sasuke asked, concern visible in his eyes….

“Turn off,” he mumbled, and Sasuke sat back in relief, Sharingan fading.

“I thought…” Sasuke took a shaky breath even as Obito pushed himself back up into a sitting position. His mind might be an adults…but his body was still a child, that would change his reactions some.

“Thanks kid,” he smirked, and Sasuke shot him a glare.

“I don’t have the Rinnegan anymore, or if I do, I can’t activate it.”

“Makes sense, this body hasn’t died and received the Sage’s power. And even if you’ve kept the eye, you’re chakra levels are too low,” Obito had never seen his ‘cousin’ so weak. He hadn’t been around Konoha at this point in the original time…had he? No, he was pretty sure he hadn’t. He’d known Sasuke after his time with Orochimaru…and how to get him to those levels without the curse seal? “We’ve got planning to do and fast,” he grimaced, and Sasuke nodded.

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Kakashi slouched in front of the memorial. Well, he had a team now and he just knew Obito was laughing at him somewhere. The dynamic though was not what he’d been expecting. What the hell had Sasuke said or done before he got there that had alienated the other two so badly? He’d give them time to sort it out themselves during training since he’d be working on teamwork. If they didn’t work things out though, he’d have to do something. Wonderful.

He didn’t want to involve Iruka but he might have to. Iruka was the closest person to Naruto outside the Hokage, maybe he could find out what had happened. Speaking of, he should be going unless he wanted to be really late and make Iruka mad. He was hot when he was mad but get him too angry and Kakashi would be sleeping alone at home for a week, that would not be fun.

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Sakura curled up on her bed feeling utterly miserable. How…how could Sasuke-kun say those horrible things? Didn’t he understand, she loved him, of course she was grown up! And she didn’t have to train, not like how the boys did, it was their job to protect their female teammate on missions. She’d never get a good husband if she trained like they did, that’s why they had separate classes for some things too.

But…what did he mean he’d never date a girl? Well, Mum said boys matured slower so maybe he was still at the point of thinking girls had germs and he just needed some more time to start feeling that way? Yes, that made sense. She’d just have to wait a while for him to start realising that girls were more than teammates who had germs. And he hadn’t meant to be mean, he just wasn’t good at expressing himself yet.

It had been wrong of her to treat him like that, to actually side with Naruto. Ugh. Why had she ever thought that was a good idea. No, she’d back off a little with Sasuke-kun, until he was ready to start noticing girls, and she’d stay away from Naruto.

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Naruto glared at his noodles, not even being treated by Iruka-sensei cheering him up.

“It can’t be that bad Naruto, your team passed.”

“No thanks to that bastard,” he growled.

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Iruka blinked, staring at Naruto in surprise. Yeah, he wasn’t always very polite in describing people but that was hardly his fault. But bastard… “Sasuke?” he asked carefully, and Naruto stabbed his Ramen with his chopsticks. Definitely Sasuke then. “Come on, tell me what happened,” he coaxed, and then it all spilled out.

Iruka listened quietly, letting Naruto vent. He was actually surprised by Sasuke’s words, if Naruto was reporting them correctly and he had the feeling he was. “Naruto…I know you don’t want to hear it, and the way he said it was wrong…but Sasuke does have some good points.”

“What?!” Naruto shot him a betrayed look.

“It is a failing of the Academy system unfortunately,” he admitted softly. “We simply don’t have the time or staff to truly expose you to the truth of shinobi life and many, especially the girls, go into it with very wrong ideas. I know a lot of the girls in your class were there solely looking for a husband among the clan heirs. Shinobi work isn’t saving princesses Naruto. It’s a very hard and dangerous life. Sakura is very smart and those marks gave her top Kunoichi but her physical skills are severely lacking, partially because she diets like a civilian to watch her weight when she should actually be eating more. That should have been brought up in Kunoichi class though. Honestly, if Hinata wasn’t so shy, she would be the best Kunoichi in your class.”

“Hinata?” he scrunched his nose up and Iruka wondered if he even knew who she was.

“And Naruto, he was right about the way you treat Sakura, it is very similar to how she treats him. And both are wrong.”

“But…”

“You haven’t had a father or brother to teach you how to approach a girl, it’s not your fault. You’ve seen the girls in class and how they try to get Sasuke’s attention and you’ve mimicked them.” And he should have seen it before. He was going to have to talk to Kakashi about the team dynamic, despite their agreement to not discuss Team 7. They were Kakashi’s students now, not his, but none of this was in their files and he needed to know.

“Iruka-sensei’s right, Naruto-kun,” Ayame spoke up kindly from behind the counter where she was washing dishes. “Girls don’t want boys yelling about dates and asking them over and over. It is polite to ask once and then if the girl says no, to stop.”

“But…” Naruto looked so bewildered.

“And that is where Sakura and the other girls are wrong in how they treat Sasuke too. He has shown no interest in their attempts to get him to date them, so they should have backed off,” Iruka explained, shooting her a thankful look, it was going to be a long night. He hoped Kakashi would forgive him for missing their da…ah, there he was, checking up on him.

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“There’s no sign of Potter anywhere,” Alastor growled, arms crossed as his fake eye continually scanned their surroundings. The House of Black was in major need of renovations and a battalion of curse breakers. He didn’t trust the place or the creepy house elf. “According to the family he never appeared on the platform but he was seen going through the barrier by the Weasley’s and Granger. If he’s been in the Alley then it was before we realised he was missing or he’s been using the Floo and his Cloak.”

“I see…” Albus stared into the distance. “It is imperative he is found and returned to his relatives for the wards, he knows this too. Has Hedwig been seen?”

“No, and I sent a letter headmaster but it was returned,” Lupin offered. He was a good, steady wizard, despite his affliction. A pity he’d come under suspicion last time when it hadn’t been him at all but Pettigrew who was the spy. Just went to prove how prejudiced even their side could be.

“He’ll reach out to his friends or Sirius if given the chance. He knows where the Burrow is too.”

“Is it possible he’s run away? He was under tremendous pressure this year, then the Minister refused to believe him and frankly, those relatives,” Kingsley shook his head. “Many teenagers would need a break from less.”

He was with Kingsley there; something was very off in that house. He didn’t like it at all. But there was nothing obvious for them to bring to someone’s attention and with the smear campaign Fudge had started it might actually make things worse.

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Hiro stood and bowed politely, recognising two of the goblins who had entered the room. He’d trained and fought beside them once after all, and now they were strangers. He was really getting tired of that. But of all those within the Wizarding Worlds, the goblins, centaurs, and house elves were the only ones who still remembered her in their oldest stories and knew she could return one day. He wasn’t going to admit to time travel, but he knew enough of the plans that should currently be in the works and being assumed as a seer wouldn’t be too bad. Technically, he’d had visions at this age…would he still get those? He hadn’t thought of that.

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Sirius wasn’t as worried as the others. Of course he was worried, Harry was his godson, but the kid had proven to have a good head on his shoulders and the way he’d jumped at living with a stranger he’d spent a year thinking wanted him dead…well, he could read between the lines. And he had his suspicions on Harry being forced to compete, if he was right and Harry had worked it out, things were likely to get very interesting.

Hogwarts had been an escape for him but for Harry it was turning into something worse. If he packed up and left England to finish his schooling elsewhere, Sirius wouldn’t blame him at all. If he’d gone straight to Gringotts from the station then no one would have caught him. he’d send a letter to his account manager, see if there’d been any movement of the Potter accounts. Maybe he’d find out where Harry was and join him.

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Sasuke collapsed in bed, exhausted. He definitely had nowhere near the stamina he was used to. Obito had warned him against overdoing it, and he was right, ending up in the hospital would slow his growth more than being careful. They had some basic, flexible, plans in place at least.

They’d agreed for him to avoid Orochimaru if at all possible, yes the Seal and his training had given him a boost. But there were other ways that weren’t so dangerous or that would separate him from his team. Obito was also going to begin attempting to steer Nagato away from the Moon plan, though Sasuke doubted how much luck he’d have. Madara was currently dead so the biggest threat was Zetsu and other than the Killing Curse, they had no idea how to deal with him so they may have to wait for Hiro…of course if he was Harry then they’d have to fight to convince him to cast that particular spell on anything.

He was not looking forward to training in the morning - teamwork, and D Ranks, wonderful. He would have to remind himself that killing or using the Sharingan on clients was wrong. He couldn’t do anything to bring suspicion on himself from the Sandaime or worse, Danzō.

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Harry fingered the vial in his pocket as he spotted his target. It was time to end Lucius’ influence over the Ministry. Draco was underaged which would leave Narcissa in control, she might be a Blood Purist but she had more sense than her husband and son combined. A weak henge was more than enough to hide his identity and then he just bumped into the man in passing. Within seconds the screaming began, but there was no cure for Basilisk venom unless a phoenix happened to be passing by.

One target down, one step closer to leaving.

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Kakashi really didn’t know what to think of his team. He knew Iruka had explained some things to Naruto which explained why he was a bit more subdued. Sakura had apparently forgiven Sasuke and backed off a bit on the whole throwing herself at him which was nice. And Sasuke seemed a little thrown by their change in attitude, but he was reaching out to them. That was good, he hadn’t learnt that lesson until it was too late and he didn’t want Sasuke to learn the same way.

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Hermione stared at the headline in shock. Lucious Malfoy was dead. And not just dead…killed by basilisk venom. That sent her thoughts immediately to second year, but that was crazy, Harry was the only one who could open the way down and it’d been two years since he killed the one there so the body would have decomposed by now. But…no, Harry would never.

And then another known Death Eater and another died in the same way.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 4

Severus frowned as he read the article, another dead Death Eater. Basilisk venom…the only current source was locked away beneath the castle, inaccessible since the Potter brat had killed the snake. Albus had tried to get Fawkes to take them down so they could claim it for the school but the bird either couldn’t or wouldn’t. The assassin had to have a supply from out of the country, but where? The things he could do…

But he was also wary, his trial was no secret and outside of the castle Albus would be unable to protect him. Whoever was behind the deaths had been unseen so far, despite the locations of the attacks. The idea of it being Potter never crossed his mind.

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Sirius read Harry’s message again. The kid had run, had emptied the Potter accounts! But he had left a message for Sirius and Remus, to leave Britain for less bigoted and corrupt shores. He…could see the sense in that yes, but he had hoped for information on where Harry would be. Was he worried they’d be too easy to track as a group of three?

Something had the goblins on edge too, more than just losing one of their biggest clients, but they weren’t saying either. Were they actually going to get involved against Voldemort this time? Or were they simply preparing to defend their neutrality?

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Delores smiled as she walked down the street, nodding to those of importance she passed. The deaths had everyone on edge and once they caught the assassin then it would be the Veil for them! How dare the kill such upstanding and wealthy citizens?! The deaths had pushed attention off the slander of the Potter brat which was bad, they needed him and Dumbledore discredited and silenced.

She’d suggested charging Potter with the Diggory boys’ death but Amelia had cancelled that immediately. He’d died due to the Killing Curse and an examination had been able to tell the killer was well versed in such magics apparently. What did that matter? Who knew what dark magics Potter could have learnt?

Delores sneered as she was bumped into, not even feeling the prick of the needle. She kept walking but then the burning pain seized her body and she collapsed, screaming as it felt like her blood was boiling. No….not….

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Hiro watched from a distance as the woman who had caused so many problems writhed on the ground briefly before dying. The only target left was Snape and he seemed to be playing it safe, remaining at Hogwarts. As a potions master he’d be a lot harder to poison, likely able to detect the venom even if Hiro sent him something laced. Severus Snape was not a good man, really he was evil with the way he treated children and the potions and spells that he had created for the Death Eaters.

Hiro had been told he loved his mother, but Hiro didn’t believe it. He could believe Snape thought he loved her, but it sounded more like obsession and possession than love to him. He had only turned spy to save her – not James, not Harry, just Lily. Had he really thought she’d turn to him with her family dead? Just the idea made Hiro feel sick. How many people had died in the war and it had been a threat to Lily that had made him agree to spy, nothing else. So was he really reformed? Hiro didn’t believe it, especially after what had happened at the end of his fifth year originally. They had made it from Scotland to London via Thestrals, had infiltrated the DoM and fought Death Eaters for some time before the Order finally showed up. There was no way it could take the man that long to warn them and for the Order to get to the Ministry. Which meant Snape hadn’t told them immediately, had he hoped they would die?

Either way, he’d given Gringotts everything he could think of on the man so they could keep an eye on him. They agreed, the world was doomed should Riddle win and then Kaguya return. They were giving up their neutrality, to a point, to ensure that did not happen.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Obito sighed, lying down on one of the towering rectangular blocks. They’d been back in the past for almost two months now and he’d been making sure to check in with Sasuke regularly, for the sake of both of their sanity. Kakashi was beating teamwork into them and obviously enjoying it, driving Sasuke to the brink of exhaustion many times but the kids were getting stronger, even if they weren’t learning flashy jutsu.

He’d thought Naruto had been loud when they first met but the older version had nothing on his younger self! He really pitied Sasuke. He hadn’t been that bad at that age…had he? He’d been loud, clumsy, always late…but he’d also been involved in the war. And there was so much orange! He’d worn orange when he was in Konoha, but it hadn’t been that bright or that much…but it also did explain why Kakashi had seen Obito in Naruto.

Part of him wanted badly to reveal himself to Kakashi but that wouldn’t end well. There’d be so many questions, accusations…and he was with the elder Umino already. He’d missed his chance with him by years, again. Would they be able to rebuild their wartime camaraderie if they met again now?

Sasuke had suggested a plan that might allow that, but it would rely on him intercepting Hiro upon his arrival in the Elemental nations. That was a long shot.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Iruka smiled sleepily and curled closer as Kakashi joined him in the bed, a soft kiss being pressed to the side of his throat. He was exhausted from one of his rare out of village missions and very happy to be home again.

“Any injuries?” Kakashi murmured, a hand very gently running down Iruka’s side.

Iruka made a negative noise, feeling and hearing Kakashi chuckle.

“Sleep,” Kakashi whispered.

What did he think he was trying to do?

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Kakashi held Iruka close, feeling his body relax as he fell asleep. He hated it when Iruka took missions but they were necessary for him to keep his rank. No ninja was really exempt from missions, though teachers were only called on during the school year if they were needed desperately for a specialty. Iruka was a trap specialist but there were a few in their forces so he’d only ever had to miss class once for a mission. But once the Academy was done for the year… Iruka worked the missions desk too which also excused him to a point.

And he had missed Iruka’s input on the interpersonal relationship side of his new team. He was very glad Iruka had spoken with Naruto back then, the kid had stopped yelling at Sakura for dates which was helping to calm things down. Now that he knew what had caused two of his team to snub the third though, he was proud oof Sasuke. He might not have said it the right way, but he’d stood up for himself against a fangirl and had even tried to help Naruto with his own behaviour. Kakashi never would have tried that as a kid, he’d just pushed the rules at his teammates. But Sasuke…it seemed he’d been trying to help them in a rather brusque manner. But it was more than his files indicated he’d done since the massacre.

He'd managed to keep the kids alive and they were working better together, maybe he could do this? Iruka seemed to think he could, though he had threatened to burn his beloved books if Kakashi let the kids get so much as a peak at their contents. He was taking that threat very seriously.

Kakashi shifted slightly, feeling the temperature beginning to drop, pulling up the cover more. Looked like it’d be raining overnight, good thing Iruka had made it home early, then again, Iruka didn’t mind the rain as much as even most shinobi. That had been the perfect ammunition for teasing with his name and had ended with him almost needing a haircut thanks to a very well-aimed shuriken. And depending on how heavy it was…there could be some very interesting training opportunities for the kids.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Albus stared at the paper, frowning. There had been no further deaths since Delores Umbridge…was their killer done or simply biding their time? Unable to reach their next target? Many of the remaining Death Eaters had gone to ground behind family wards, though…they weren’t publicly known. All of those killed had been known and let go with the Imperious defence. Only Delores broke that trend, her body had been thoroughly examined and unless she’d been an unmarked supporter, she was not a Death Eater.

He knew Severus was concerned, but Albus wasn’t, not with the potion master having been outed as his spy during the Death Eater trials. The assassin had only targeted true Death Eaters and Severus had not been one for over a decade.

Sadly, with the deaths having stopped, Cornelius had gone back to smearing his and young Harry’s reputations as thoroughly as possible. It was another reason he could not inform the Ministry of his disappearance. If he was not found before term began, Albus would need something to explain his absence that the Ministry would not be able to argue against.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sasuke leant against the bridge, enjoying the cool breeze even as he felt the need for a shower, the sweat drying in his hair. He thought they were getting better faster than last time around which was good. And Sakura had gotten over what he’d said pretty fast…though he suspected she hadn’t taken his words to heart. Naruto though was really trying and Sasuke was doing what he could to slowly return that effort, not willing to show too fast a change in how they reacted to each other.

“Hey,” Naruto slumped beside him, seeming more bothered by the humidity than actually tired from training.

“Hn,” he replied, but he kept the tone light. “Come on.” He pushed away from the bridge.

“Huh?”

“We’re a mess, you need a long shower after being dumped in that swamp.” And Naruto’s apartment had lousy water.

Naruto stared at him, shocked but then wary. Sasuke just slouched, hands in his pockets, no pity or scorn, and finally Naruto took a step towards him. He started walking back to his own apartment and Naruto cautiously followed him. The differences in their apartments were very obvious, not that Sasuke had been to Naruto’s yet in this timeline and he could tell Naruto wasn’t sure about being in the nicer section of the village.

Sasuke unlocked his door and undid the traps, both of them removing their sandals. “I’ll get you a towel.” He went to the closet and got a spare out, glad he’d begun shopping for his apartment since arriving. He looked over to see Naruto checking out the plants he’d bought, they were hardy so should survive when he was away on missions. “Here,” he held the towel out and Naruto took it hesitantly. “Bathroom’s through the bedroom,” he pointed at the door. “I’ll lend you something to wear and we can wash our gear.”

Naruto’d had to borrow his clothes and vice versa a few times over the years and…it was nice to see Naruto in the Uchiha clan symbol. He knew now that his Naruto was the boy his mother had been denied the right to adopt or even foster, that she’d been Kushina’s best friend. In the end, it’d been for the best, but he thought it would have made his mother happy for Naruto to be dressed as one of them, Naruto was his brother as much as Itachi.

“Why?” Naruto asked him.

“We’re a team, teams help each other,” Sasuke gave the only answer he could for the moment.

Finally, Naruto headed for the bathroom and Sasuke relaxed.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Naruto didn’t get Sasuke. He’d been so cold and mean at the Academy, and then he’d made Sakura-chan cry…but Iruka-sensei had stuck up for him, mostly. He was acting different, he still didn’t talk a lot, but he talked more and…he’d even let Naruto use his really, really nice shower the other week. He didn’t taunt Naruto anymore, when he pushed at him it was weirdly like he was trying to help him?

Iruka-sensei had been right, being a ninja wasn’t what he’d imagined. So maybe the Academy did need to be fixed for more than just how he’d been treated? Should he say something to Jiji? He always listened…but nothing changed. He’d forced himself to stop asking Sakura-chan to do stuff with him and she seemed to like that. It hurt but she’d also stopped asking Sasuke and he’d relaxed so maybe they were right that it was the wrong thing to do. That was what a date was, right? Doing stuff together like training or having lunch.

Training was okay but D ranked missions, especially with that horrible cat, were not what he’d imagined at all. They were basically chores and he still got glared at by the clients. Though…he kind of didn’t blame Tora for running for it after seeing the poor thing practically strangled by the Daimyō’s wife. He just wished they could get a mission out of the Village soon, where people wouldn’t know about him.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hiro read the note several times before nodding. He changed clothing and applied a glamour before very carefully picking up the small needle. He stroked over Hedwig’s head and then left the hotel for Diagon Alley. He moved through it easily, pulling up his hood as he entered Knockturn. He headed for the shop listed, glad there was a stall next to it with various wares for sale, looking them over while keeping an eye on those who entered and exited the store.

Hiro purchased a nice men’s’ bracelet with some handy protections on it as a man left the shop, turning so that they bumped into each other. By the time the screams began he was long gone.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sasuke watched as it happened almost exactly as last time. Somehow, even with the small changes he’d managed, they had still ended up with the Wave mission…then again maybe they needed it. Even with the talk Iruka had given Naruto and the one he had given Sakura, the two were way too innocent, especially with the invasion approaching. Though, if things went to plan, that wouldn’t be happening. He might be no match for Orochimaru but his cousin?

Once dismissed he headed home to empty his fridge and pack for the mission. New genin often over or under packed for their first mission outside the Village so no one would look twice at the extra supplies he planned on taking. He got everything ready and then hesitated but left, heading for Naruto’s.

“Sasuke?” the blond asked in confusion when he cautiously opened his door.

“Checking you’re packing more than instant ramen,” he answered, getting a glare but Naruto let him in, that was a definite improvement from how things had once been. He checked Naruto’s pack, better than last time but still a bit too much ramen. Sure it was easy to cook and lasted ages, but it also took up a lot of room.

Once he’d gotten Naruto to pack smaller rations and more changes of clothing he headed back to his apartment to get some sleep. He was up early, cooking a good breakfast, before he locked up and headed for the meeting point. Sakura looked exhausted and he frowned, was she still dieting? Or had nerves for the mission kept her up? Then again, she hadn’t physically changed and if she was eating better she should be putting on at least some muscle by now. Great.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Albus stared at the body in the morgue, grieving. Severus may not have been the most pleasant man to most, but he had been a good man at his core, and now he was dead. With no family left, Albus would claim his body and see to his funeral arrangements. Outside of the staff and perhaps the Widow Malfoy, was there anyone who would come?

“Are there any leads on this assassin?” he asked, looking up at Amelia.

“Nothing. We can’t find the source for the venom anywhere. We’ve even looked into overseas sources but all basilisk venom is accounted for.”

All known venom…had someone somehow gained access to the Chamber? But how without using Harry? Barty under Tom’s orders perhaps? But he was no Parselmouth. Unless Tom had supplied him a recording perhaps?

Cornelius hadn’t been shaken from his path by the deaths, even Delores’, he was still doing his best to undermine Albus and Harry. Did the man really think he could take Albus down? Yes, he had been removed from the Wizengamot, but the ICW had rebuffed his attempts to remove Albus from his positions there. As Supreme Mugwump it was not as easy to remove him as it would be if he was simply the representative of Great Britain. Albus may not want the position of Minister, but he had been in politics longer than Cornelius had been alive and had weathered far worse than his attempts at discrediting him.

With war coming, he had considering sounding Amelia out as Cornelius’ replacement, but she was far too much attached to the law. While she would keep the Aurors from running amok in war unlike others who might give them the freedom to do as they pleased to stop the Death Eaters, she might be willing to allow lethal force. They could not afford to lose any of their ancient families, they had lost too many already. Once Riddle was dealt with permanently, they could be helped to see that the Muggleborns were necessary to their society.

“Thank you Amelia. I’m afraid I must leave; I have a funeral to arrange.” And a potions master to recruit, Horace perhaps could be enticed back via offering access to Harry?

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hiro looked around the now barren hotel room. His things were all packed, Hiro was very grateful that runes did not need the kind of training and control that seals did. He couldn’t manage a storage seal at the moment, it’d either not work or probably blow up in his face. Runes could be used by anyone who knew how to draw them and had even a drop of magic. The runic arrays he had used hadn’t been invented yet and the Goblins had been quite happy to patent them in the name of Hiroshi Umino, setting up a new account under the name for the money they would earn him once they went public.

He'd done everything he could at the moment to slow Riddle’s takeover, had warned those he could of what would happen if he was allowed to, now it was time to go home.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sasuke ducked under the swing of Kubikiribōchō even as three Naruto clones lunged in to attack Zabuza’s water clone. They were actually doing better against it then last time which was nice, their teamwork smother. He glared as Naruto hit the ground and didn’t dispel, proving he was the real one, lunging to block Zabuza, his eyes bleeding to red, tomoe spinning. He had no choice, even with the better training, they weren’t good enough to stop him, not without an edge.

He'd talked to Obito about it and they’d decided that if at all possible, it would be best for Zabuza and Haku to live, especially Haku with his speed and bloodline. If the Fourth War came, both of them would be very useful.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Obito straightened and then smirked. He’d focused on his Mokuton in those years after he had joined the right side, honing it with Tenzō’s help at first, at least until the younger man had been killed. He had always used it more as a blunt instrument, not always fully in control of it. And since waking in the past he’d kept working on it when he could. He’d left pieces of wood he’d created scattered throughout the Elemental Nations, all tuned in to a specific chakra signature. He vanished into Kamui and then re-emerged at the border between Wind and Fire, spotting a small form ahead. A dark head lifted, watching him warily and he grinned in response. It was him.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 5

Hiro landed shakily, forcing down the urge to be sick. With the barriers back up it was not a pleasant trip…and he’d landed nowhere near Konoha, wonderful. Going by the heat and sand he was somewhere in the Land of Wind. It could be worse, a lot worse. Suna and Konoha were allies…although at this point Gaara was a psychopath and his father was Kazekage so that alliance wasn’t incredibly strong. It still beat landing near Otogakure.

He was too shaky to attempt apparating at the moment, and he knew he couldn’t make it all the way to Konoha either. Which left walking. He transfigured a head scarf to keep the sun at bay, applying cooling and sunscreen charms as well. He then lay his wand across his palm.

“Point me Konohagakure,” he murmured, watching as his wand spun before finally settling to point towards the Village.

He returned his wand to the holster and began walking, he’d travel at night o avoid the heat except it got too cold in the desert, he’d be safer just keeping hydrated as he walked then trying to make his way at night especially since the animals including predators would be out at night. Sadly, he couldn’t manage the animagus transformation at the moment, he’d have to re-train his body and magic to do so. The same with so many skills he’d taken for granted as an adult.

That night he slept in a magical tent, hidden behind a notice-me-not ward to be safe. He slept well and got an early start the next day, the sun barely peeking over the horizon as he checked the direction and started walking again. He was about to stop for lunch, when he felt…something. He turned, hand going to his sword only to feel the blood drain from his face. Shit! This was not happening, how? Why? He’d never met Obito the first time till the war and he’d been playing Tobi then so what were the odds of running into the currently controlled and partially insane Uchiha in the middle of nowhere? At the moment, he was no match for the older man! He gathered magic, ready to risk apparating, to go as far as he could.

He watched warily as the man raised his hands and then realised, he could see his face when Obito had always worn a mask before the big reveal. Why…no, it wasn’t possible, he’d been long dead…

“Easy Hiro,” Obito called, and he froze, there were only two ways he could know that name. Either Sasuke had come back and Obito had tortured it out of him or…

“Obito?” He asked warily, and the older man smirked.

“Even had Sasuke shove a chidori through my heart to deal with the seal.”

“Sasuke,” Hiro whispered. For him to know that jutsu…he’d come back too, he wasn’t alone. The idea that Sasuke might remember too had kept him going while he hunted down the Death Eaters but to have confirmation… “He’s okay? You’re okay?”

“He’s frustrated at the limitations of a twelve year old body,” Obito chuckled.

“And you?” Hiro pressed, just what wasn’t Obito saying? He looked healthy enough, better than he had during the war but he was in his younger body. And he’d said Sasuke had already dealt with the seal that Zetsu and Madara had put on him which was very good. But there as definitely something off…

“We should get out of here, we’re too close to one of Suna’s outposts,” Obito said instead and the world twisted around them.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Kakashi was stuck in the water prison, cursing himself for falling for the trap, unable to do anything but watch as his team fought Zabuza. Seeing Sasuke and Naruto working so well together made him proud even as he was terrified for them. They weren’t ready to go against a jōnin, wouldn’t be for years! Even with Naruto’s ‘prisoner’ and Sasuke’s blo…his eye widened as Sasuke suddenly began moving more fluidly, dodging and attacking much better…like he could tell what Zabuza could do before he did. Sasuke ducked and twisted, his face visible to Kakashi and he saw it, the Sharingan.

The Council would be pleased, unless they could keep it quiet, just between the team? Sakura would be easy enough to convince to keep quiet, but could Naruto keep quiet even if he agreed to? Many were desperate to have the Sharingan back in the ranks, without considering the boy behind the eyes. Kakashi himself would never be as good as someone born with the bloodline, couldn’t pass it on. He’d have to find a way to warn Sasuke without actually saying anything concrete. The boy had to stay in the public eye as much as possible, it’d make it harder for him to be disappeared into something like Root. Of course, all of that depended on them making it back to Konoha alive. He shouldn’t have let the kids talk him into continuing the mission…even though he’d agreed due to his own suspicions about things in Wave.

And then twenty Naruto’s dog piled Zabuza’s clone, burying kunai in it until it burst apart, leaving Naruto’s clones damp but grinning as they and Sasuke turned to face the real thing. Twenty became something like a hundred, a war cry sounding, and then they launched at Zabuza who sneered, swiping through them one handed with his sword…only for the Fūma Shuriken hidden behind them to fly through the smoke and slam into Zabuza, driving him back, breaking the technique holding Kakashi, dropping him into the lake.

Kakashi quickly stood on the surface and then leapt back to solid ground to find Naruto grinning at him and even Sasuke had a small smile on his lips for a second. He was proud of them as he watched Zabuza stumble from the water, obviously injured from the force of the blow not to mention the sharpness of the blades. He was bleeding and some impressive bruising would be coming up if he survived, not that Kakashi planned to allow him to get away. If he did, he would be prepared to face them next time and that wouldn’t be good.

He stepped forward, making sure the boys were behind him, checking that Sakura was still guarding their client and thankfully she was, though she looked pale and the bridge builder seemed frozen in terror, wonderful.

“Round two?” He asked cheerfully, to ensure Zabuza focused on him. He didn’t doubt the missing-nin was the kind to want revenge on the kids for the humiliation of taking a hit.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Obito took a seat and Hiro sat opposite him, watching him. He couldn’t keep avoiding the teen’s question on how he was. He didn’t want Hiro to blame himself for his issues.

“Obito?” He may be years younger than when they’d met the first time, but the glare was the same.

“I have…gaps in my memory,” he admitted. “Anything from the time period post waking up here, I remember everything before that, I suppose because it isn’t influence by the future.”

“How can you even remember at all? You, well, you were very much dead when we were sent back.”

“Sasuke figures it’s because of you, he said you were trying to protect both of us.”

His frowned, thinking, and Obito let him. He might have gotten used to being around magic in the war but he didn’t know much about it. And then Hiro swore softly, grimacing.

“Hey, whatever you did, it means we’ve got an advantage. If not for it, you’d be facing my younger self,” he reminded the now teenager.

“Intent is important in magic,” Hiro murmured, “and my intent was to save you and Sasuke. Your body was dying so my magic saved what it could I guess.” Hiro moved closer and then reached out to touch his chest, and Obito stayed still, he trusted him. Green eyes closed in concentration and then Hiro sat back. “Your soul is the you from this time,” he explained, “your memories seem to be no more than an imprint from the future, which explains the gaps.”

“So if something damaged my memory…”

“You’d be back to the you that existed here, minus the seal and that did influence you. I’m still getting my mental protections back to normal but once I do, I can see what I can do to make sure your memories can’t be erased.”

Yeah…that wasn’t exactly good news. There were far too many ways of messing with memories, even outside the Yamanaka clan. The idea that Hiro could tell the age of his soul, that still freaked him out a little. That had actually been harder to accept than the magic, there’d been other magical who’d joined in the war after all. Then again, even Hiro had seemed uncomfortable with his own powers, and Sasuke had explained that they’d been more recently gained and that was why. Something about gaining some items that gave him a connection to death. It had come in handy, allowing him to know the runes to protect their dead from being brought back to fight against them. He’d even managed to undo the Edo Tensei a few times as he got better control of those powers. Did he still have them?

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Naruto stretched out on the bedding, staring at the ceiling. He was just glad they didn’t have to camp again and the old mans’ daughter was nice. He was still buzzing from the fight, even hours later. That…had been scarier than fighting Mizuki or even finding out about the fox. But fighting beside Sasuke…it had just worked, it felt right. Almost like he’d done it before which was really weird.

He glanced over at where Sasuke was curled on his side, asleep. Sakura was sharing Tsunami’s room with her, apparently it was okay to share a tent with them but not a bedroom? Girls were kind of weird. Kakashi-sensei was in the room next to them, he hadn’t woken up yet since he’d collapsed beside the lake. Hopefully he’d wake up in the morning and tell them what to do.  If Zabuza came back before he did…it’d be up to Naruto and Sasuke to defend the house. Maybe it was time to dig out some of his meaner pranks again? They might not stop Zabuza, but he had caught the occasional Anbu in some of his better traps and pranks.

He’d seen Sasuke’s eyes, they’d been red and spinning, and he’d suddenly been fighting even better than normal. Naruto wasn’t dumb, no matter what his Academy scores said, he knew about the clans and bloodlines, knew about the Uchiha massacre when they were little. And he was a bit scared, would the guy who killed them all come back now to kill Sasuke? He knew the other Villages would be after Sasuke because of his eyes too.

How could he just sleep like that after everything that happened. Naruto wanted to sleep but he couldn’t, his mind wouldn’t stop spinning, adrenaline still going through him. He shifted restlessly, rolling onto his side to face the small window, and then nearly jumped when a hand gripped his shoulder.

“It’s me,” Sasuke murmured, and Naruto swallowed. “It’s okay, we’re safe.”

“Are we?” He couldn’t help asking, then he heard Sasuke shifting, tensing as he felt the other teen lying right against his back, almost touching.

Which put Sasuke’s back to the door and anyone else in the house, something he never did. “Breath with me,” Sasuke whispered, his breathing slow but loud in the small room, and Naruto was soon following the pattern. “That’s it.” A warm hand moved firmly up and down his back and Naruto realised he was shaking. It was so stupid! What was wrong with him. “We’ve got traps and your pranks all around the house. And Zabuza is hurt, he’s going to take at least a few days to recover. It’s left over adrenaline and fear, it’s normal.”

“Not scared,” he tried to deny. He wasn’t a scaredy cat, he was going to be Hokage!

“I was,” Sasuke admitted, shocking Naruto. “Kakashi-sensei was too, he was terrified Zabuza was going to kill us. But we did it, we beat him bad enough to force him to retreat.”

Sasuke talked more since graduating but never this much. So…maybe he was rattled and just better at hiding it. The talking was helping, so was the hand, he wasn’t shaking so much now, be he was still cold.

“That’s it, you’re okay,” Sasuke told him, and Naruto managed to nod. They were okay, they were safe for now, his body was just being stupid. And then Sasuke tugged him back, wrapping an arm around him, their bodies pressed together with only the then blankets between them. Naruto tensed, not used to that much contact outside of a fight. No one but Iruka-sensei ever really touched him. “I won’t hurt you,” Sasuke whispered. “I’ll protect you,” he promised.

He didn’t want to be protected…did he? But it seemed his body disagreed, relaxing. He realised his face was wet, he was crying and it was stupid. It’d been hours since the fight, he should be over it, but it was hard. He hated admitting it, but he did feel better with Sasuke holding onto him, he was really warm.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sasuke was relieved as he felt Naruto go limp, falling asleep. He had been surprised by Naruto’s reaction to the fight, he hadn’t reacted like that last time…but Kakashi had passed out quicker last time so they’d had that time of thinking Zabuza was dead, had it made that much of a difference? During the war, there hadn’t really been physical barriers, it had been normal to share sleeping spaced and bedding even with strangers. It was why Sasuke had had issues sleeping since arriving in the past, he wasn’t used to sleeping in an apartment alone.

After a while he got up carefully and left the room, moving silently down the hall, checking into the other rooms. Thankfully, Sakura was sleeping seemingly peacefully. She’d only really been in danger for that first bit of the battle, hadn’t had to fight, so it made sense that she’d not be reacting as strongly. He moved on to see Kakashi lying still on the futon he’d been given since he was ‘injured’, his chest was moving steadily with every breath so Sasuke retreated to re-check the traps, smirking as he realised what some of Naruto’s would do to anyone who triggered them.  

Satisfied, he slipped back into their room to find Naruto had curled up a bit, hugging himself in his sleep. He winced at the sight and slipped back in behind him, holding him, feeling him slowly relax again. He’d kind of forgotten how bad Naruto had been at this age, unused to anyone wanting to be near him. They’d spoken a few times of their childhoods in Konoha, and while there’d never been mob beatings or anything, there had also been little kindness. He knew how Naruto saw the Sandaime at the moment, and how crushing it had been to find much of that relationship was one-sided. It was another reason to hope Hiro would show up soon, to get another positive influence in Naruto’s life. Team 7 could only do so much, especially when Sakura still didn’t really like Naruto all that much.

In some ways, his own childhood had been just as bad as Naruto’s after the massacre except the cause was the opposite. He’d been given far too much attention, too much praise, and it had done its own damage to him. He’d become arrogant, sure that he deserved the attention because he was better than others. He’d pulled away from others to keep himself safe and because they had overwhelmed him, but he’d still thought he deserved the praise. That on top of Itachi’s torture that night and then again after the chūnin exams had really messed him up when it came to human contact and interactions.

Hiro too had a similar background to both of them, it was why they had gotten on so well after Sasuke’d been healed from Orochimaru’s seal and two exposures to Tsukuyomi. But Hiro had made two good friends younger than they had and that had helped him with his healing, even if he had been sent back to his abusive relatives every summer and been attacked by a mad man or his flu kids every year. The three of them would likely be able to keep a whole company of trauma therapists in business for years.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hiro leant back on his arms, staring out into the creepy world of Kamui. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant place to stay but it was great for hiding and planning. The only other person with access didn’t know he did at the moment, making the security excellent. Thankfully, Obito and Sasuke had been working on a plan since they had met up just after the bell test. The plan wasn’t a bad one, but if they didn’t believe them then they’d be forced to run from Konoha, not something they wanted to do.

Knowing Sasuke was on the Wave mission again had him a bit worried, but they’d done it the first time so they should be fine, right? Obito had mentioned Sasuke’s mess up during the exam but had promised things had improved between the team since then. Still, he wanted to see it for himself.

It was risky, tying Obito back to Konoha so soon, it would cut him off a lot from Akatsuki. Sure, he could use kamui to get to them, but he’d be under high surveillance for a while surely. And it would make Zetsu question his actions if the plant creep could sneak into Konoha to speak with him. Though they would kill Zetsu first chance they got, even if it was only by sending him into kamui until the three of them could get together to end him. And what would Nagato do without Obito pulling the strings into the background?

But it wasn’t fair to Obito to make him remain in the shadows and mostly alone. Hiro could tell it would be dangerous too, his mental health had never been good, even years after the seal had been removed. Holes in his memory were not going to make that any better, he’d need to be around allies to help him heal and stay stable. It was why Harry’s feet were over Obito’s legs, proving he wasn’t alone or imagining things.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Kakashi groggily stared up at a ceiling, struggling to remember what had happened. He recognised the symptoms of chakra exhaustion, though not an extreme case which was good, especially since he didn’t recognise where he was. Though he wasn’t restrained and didn’t appear to be under guard…and then a door opened and Sasuke stepped into view, shoulders slumping slightly, in relief?

“You’ve slept for three days,” the young Uchiha told him, turning to call out something outside of the room. He then moved to kneel beside Kakashi. “Any injuries? We could only check for obvious signs.”

Kakashi checked out how he felt, carefully testing his body without moving too much. “Everything seems fine,” after three days he’d be In trouble if he had had internal injuries the kids couldn’t find.

And even if they had, they would have had no way of treating him or contacting Konoha for aide without one of them risking the run back. Huh, how did other genin teams deal with that?

“There’s been no sign of Zabuza, we’ve set up traps around the house and they are undisturbed but he is a jōnin.”

Kakashi was pleased that Sasuke had understood the circumstances, that traps set by genin, even ones like him and Naruto, might not stop someone like Zabuza. He struggled to remember exactly what had happened before he succumbed to chakra exhaustion, it always made the last minute or two hard to recall. They’d gotten the man good with the hidden Fūma Shuriken but it wasn’t a debilitating injury, depending on what support he had Zabuza could be back on his feet in another day or two…Kakashi would take longer. No…he’d clashed with the other man again, that was why he’d collapsed. Add those injuries in and they had a week, maybe two if he had little medical help. Those were much better odds.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

A few people in a distant village stared in fear as smoke rose in the distance, hearing what sounded like an explosion. A few hours later, a farmer saw two people moving at the edge of his field one leaning heavily on the other as they vanished into the jungle. When he looked later, he found a few drops of blood, smelt lingering smoke. But who would they tell?

They knew of some kind of Shinobi base, had seen ninja on occasion, but those who grew too curious tended to vanish and so they remained silent, happy when no one disappeared again and there were no more ninja sighted. No one was brave enough to head to where they thought the base was though.

TBC….

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 6

Naruto tried to brace as he slipped, knowing it was going to hurt, but then he jerked to a stop, a hand gripped tight in his jacket. He twisted in the hold to grab the branch and once he had a grip on it, the hand released him. He looked up to find Sasuke braced on another branch above him, frowning. Naruto sat up carefully and nodded to his teammate. It wouldn’t have been so bad to fall a few days ago, but they were really high up in the trees now. They all knew how to fall and land properly but he’d fallen in a bad position. The fox would have healed him but it would have hurt.

“Alright?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah…thanks.”

“Is something wrong?” Sakura called from another tree, watching them carefully. Somehow, she’d been the first one to the top, but now Kakashi-sensei had her going up and down over and over.

“We’re fine,” Sasuke answered her.

Naruto got up and dropped down several feet, grabbing another branch, working his way down, knowing Sasuke was right behind him. They reached the ground and then ran at the tree, racing up it.

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Hiro flopped down on his back, breathing heavily. Obito chuckled and sat nearby, tossing him a water bottle. “Hey, this body only has a few months of physical training beyond running from my cousin, the stairs at school, and Quidditch.”

He’d been training as best he could since waking in the past, but it hadn’t been easy. At least he knew all the necessary lessons from the first time around, to train both his body and his chakra.

“Should we have a few more sightings?” he asked after a while, sitting up to begin prepping their meal.

Would it be suspicious to anyone who might be sent to investigate if they weren’t spotted between the base and Konoha? Or would they expect the two of them to remain out of sight, living off the land as they travelled. For as long as he’d been part of the Shinobi world, he’d never fully understood the mindset, though he had definitely adapted and accepted it.

“Other than running into Team 7 on their way home from Wave?” Obito asked, taking the plate Hiro offered him. “I’ll check on them tonight and then we can decide.” He took a bite and paused. “You’re a good cook.”

“Thanks,” Hiro grinned at him. Sure, he’d taken his turn at camp to cook but there wasn’t a lot you could do with the supplies they’d had.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“So, what have you been doing since waking up back here?” Obito asked, genuinely curious. He’d known Hiro as Sasuke’s partner and a powerful fighter, had heard the whispers from the magicals who had joined them, of their saviour.

“Nothing much,” Hiro smirked lazily, “just assassinating a bunch of Death Eaters.”

Obito blinked, he hadn’t expected that. Sure, Hiro had gotten more ruthless during the war, but assassination? Death Eaters…that was the name of the enemy in Hiro’s first war.

“At this point, last time around, they spent the summer lying low so Voldemort could build up his supporters. I’ve cut off his main money source in Britain as well as his potions master, and every known Death Eater I could get to. Umbridge…that was more personal, even with my vanishing I couldn’t be certain she wouldn’t be sent to the school and what she did…” Hiro rubbed the back of his hand, and Obito remembered the scars that had been there. Well, it sounded like she deserved her fate then.

Still, the willingness and ability to assassinate people would make it harder to pass the younger male off as a civilian. Hiro was right, his magical combat skills could be explained, but his knowledge of shinobi skills? Their plan could account for a lot of it, the rest they’d be left hoping Hiro was either good enough to lie about or he’d be fast enough to erase the memory of anyone who saw something too advanced. After years in captivity and then time on the run, not to mention the fact Obito had only made it to chūnin before his ‘capture’, his ability to train someone would not be great. There would be a lot of lying in their futures but to stop the time they came from it was more than worth it. Even with his patchy memories he knew it had been bad.

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Sasuke didn’t let Haku trap him, not this time. He’d been working hard since coming back, to get his younger body into the best condition possible. He’d known if they received the Wave mission then it’d mean facing Haku and with the plan to keep the pair alive, Sasuke couldn’t afford to get trapped. He moved fast, not letting up, trying to land a hit strong enough to take the other teen down without doing permanent damage. Haku didn’t want to kill him, he knew that, Zabuza had criticised him for that the first time.

He could vaguely hear Kakashi and Zabuza across the bridge, not sure how to stop their fight becoming deadly. Gatō wouldn’t show up soon enough based on what he remembered from last time and he didn’t want the townsfolk showing up any sooner than they had, they’d just be more bodies to protect from Zabuza. They needed Naruto and fast with his way of making friends from enemies. Why had he slept in this time?

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Kakashi glanced through the mist, relieved to see Sasuke holding his own against the older boy, for the moment at least. Sasuke was the most talented of the team and with the Sharingan that would only increase. But would it be enough against the other? Sakura was keeping Tazuna back, ready to defend him but she was no match for either opponent. What was keeping Naruto? Between the two of them they could surely take the older teen.

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Hiro wrapped his arm around Obito’s waist as the two of them stumbled along, mostly hidden by trees and shadows as they crossed the border into Hi no Kuni, avoiding patrols but allowing a trading outpost to get some idea of their passage. They needed to be trackable to a point when the Sandaime looked into their story after all.

After a while, they vanished back to the Kamui dimension and Hiro began cooking their dinner. He couldn’t wait to have access to a proper kitchen again or a restaurant, technically they could go but they’d have to go under henge to keep from being seen that publicly or healthy looking. Hiro was using a very complicated Rune scheme to make them appear like escaped prisoners when they went out and thanks to magic any medical check-up would go along with their appearance. Hiro would just adjust the runes every so often to show changes, especially once they got to Konoha and would have access to good food and stuff.

He served up the simple meal, opening a book to continue his studies. Technically, he’d now dropped out of Hogwarts twice and while he’d received training after that when he’d gone back to find Kakashi when Tsunade sent him on that insane intelligence mission and then even more when the war started, there were a lot of areas that they just hadn’t had time for. There was so much more that runes could do, his potions knowledge could use a lot of work too and that was just scratching the surface.

It was strange, and he was mostly ignoring it, but he could still sense them. Yes, they’d come in handy over the years, the Cloak for the longest, but he had never been comfortable with what they meant. He knew Dumbledore still had the Wand which meant Riddle had the Stone. He hadn’t even known about the Hallows or Horcruxes when he’d killed Voldemort last time thanks to Dumbledore’s idiotic habit of keeping everything to himself. Thankfully, Horcruxes hadn’t worked the way either of the older Wizards had believed, when Hiro had killed him again, they had simply faded away over time. Hiro had stumbled over both Hallows when he’d returned to Britain looking for help in the Fourth War. They had let him know how to protect the dead from being brought back which was a plus and honestly…odd were that they were why they had come back in time rather than blowing up or something, not to mention Obito’s memories returning with them and spontaneously going into his body rather than remain with Hiro. So, they were very useful, but also very creepy.

He blinked as a sock hit him in the face, looking over at a smirking Obito.

“Time to sleep.”

Hiro shook his head but put the book away and rolled himself into his sleeping bag, lying beside Obito. They both slept better close, even with no threats able to reach them unless Kakashi started experimenting and dropped a tree on them or something. After so long living in camps, it was just easier to sleep close.

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Naruto helped Sasuke stay on his feet, both of them in pain from those crazy needles Haku had pelted them with. The people were cheering still and the creepy business guy was definitely dead…the missing head made it really obvious. At least Zabuza had cleaned the blood off his sword before everyone else arrived? All of them were hurt but at least they weren’t fighting each other anymore. Kakashi-sensei was watching them closely sure, but he’d covered his eye and didn’t have any weapons in hand.

He was just glad it was over and that now the people would be okay. It might take a while but surely Wave would recover, right?

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Sakura smiled as she spun around the circle with the kids. It was amazing the changes already visible within hours of Gatō’s death. Sure, everyone was still poor but the despair and fear were gone now. She heard Naruto laughing nearby and glanced over to see him playing around with another group and Sasuke…there, perched on a crate with a few bandages visible under his shirt. Somehow, Naruto’s injuries had already healed but Sasuke was going to be sore for a while.

Seeing them fight like that, unable to back them up, had been scary. It hurt, for all that she’d gotten tree climbing the fastest she’d been useless in the fights. But that was how it was meant to be, right? The boys protected their female teammate.

“Deep thoughts?”

She nearly jumped at the sound of Kakashi-sensei’s voice, turning to find he was behind her, of course. “Sasuke-kun will be alright, won’t he?”

“His injuries aren’t that bad, more annoying than anything, and definitely not life threatening,” he promised. He loved messing with them but not when it came to their health thankfully, so she could trust him to be honest there. “When we get back, we’ll be changing the training regime.”

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Kakashi looked down at her, seeing the curiosity in her eyes. He’d been hoping she’d work it out for herself, she was smart after all, but no, she seemed perfectly fine relying on the boys for protection. And she wasn’t putting on the muscle she should be given the training they did, which was concerning. But she had passed her last physical so it wasn’t due to injury or illness. No…he had the feeling it was something very simple and frustrating. He might need to hand her over to Kurenai for a day or two for a woman to woman talk about being a shinobi. He could ask Anko but he didn’t want to completely torture the poor girl.

“Sensei?”

“Physically, you are too far behind both Sasuke and Naruto. Book knowledge won’t get you very far in the field Sakura.”

“But…it’s the boy’s job to protect the female team member. It’s not right for a girl to have muscle like that, it lowers the chances of making a good marriage.”

Okay…. definitely handing her off to some proper kunoichi for at least a few days, maybe even longer. And he’d have to talk to Iruka about what the hell they were teaching in the girl’s extra lessons!

“No, on a team all members are expected to pull their weight. In a fight you have to play your part or else you are a liability. I’ll be talking to some of the kunoichi once we get back, see about sending you to their teams for a while. Maybe do a swap of members or something.” He looked her over again and sighed. “And we need to go over your food requirements as well. Your chakra control is excellent, if you don’t want to put the work in to be a field shinobi then I can recommend you for training at the hospital. Chakra control just isn’t enough in the field.”

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Sasuke was relieved to hear Kakashi talking with Sakura about her lack of effort in training and her diet. Swapping teams in training could actually be a good idea, help broaden their skills. He knew Sakura wasn’t going to like the coming hard lesson, but the other sensei would likely be kinder than Tsunade had been.

“You okay?” Naruto asked as he moved to stand beside the crate Sasuke was sitting on.

“Fine,” he promised, reaching out to tap Naruto’s shoulder. They weren’t to the point they had been in the future, probably wouldn’t be for years, but things were so much better than the first time around. “You?” he asked, because he wasn’t meant to know about Kurama yet.

And wasn’t that going to be fun, trying to get Naruto to open up about the biju and also subtly push him to befriend him earlier. If they got to the point of Nagato attacking the Village then Naruto being able to enter Kurama mode would be needed to beat him quickly and hopefully make him see there was another way to peace.

“All good,” Naruto grinned.

Sasuke nodded; he’d assumed so but he also knew that at this age Naruto hadn’t healed as fast as he would in even a few months after he started accessing Kurama’s chakra more often. Having to let himself be hurt enough to push Naruto to do so during the fight had not been something he liked doing but it was necessary. He needed to know he could draw on that power before the exams and it was safest for Naruto to do so the first time away from the Village.

Just like it would be for the best if they could keep his Sharingan quiet for now. There’d never been obvious pressure once he activated it last time, but it had been there, just nothing he could report. The Council wanted him under their control and they wanted Uchiha babies. They were not going to be happy with him and Hiro but Sasuke didn’t care and he wasn’t worried about Hiro’s safety either. The older teen could handle himself, especially as the only magic user in the Village. It would probably be more accepted if the Umino were a clan but despite the respect Iruka had from the Sandaime and others for his administrative and teaching skills, he had neither high rank nor the prestige of a clan.

If the war didn’t happen…would they want children one day? There were ways with magic to adopt a child and make it theirs as well as the original parents, Hiro had mentioned it once years ago but Sasuke had always remembered it, held that hope close to his heart till the end. Either way, he wouldn’t let the Village pressure him or Itachi into continuing the clan.

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Naruto listened as Kakashi-sensei talked to them, a little confused. When the man left, he looked to the other two to explain, shocked that it meant he wanted them to hide Sasuke’s eyes. Sakura promised and then left the room so they could sleep since they were leaving in the morning. “Sasuke?”

“He was saying we need to keep my Sharingan quiet for as long as possible. There are political implications as well as external threats that will become worse once it is known.”

“You’ll be in danger?” Naruto demanded; he’d known other Villages might be interested as well as whoever killed the rest of the clan. But politics? That didn’t sound good at all.

Sasuke shrugged slightly. Well, then Team 7 would just have to protect him from anyone who would hurt or use him.

They were quiet as they packed their things and then got into their bedrolls, Sasuke with his back to the door and Naruto facing the window. They’d left the traps up around the house but they’d have to take them down before leaving in the morning otherwise someone innocent might get caught and hurt. If there was one thing he’d miss about Wave, it’d be not being alone all the time. It’d been strange on the road and then in the house to sleep around others but now he was kind of used to it, to hearing Sasuke breathing softly in his sleep and feeling the warmth he radiated as they slept close. He wished they could stay longer to help Wave get back to normal, but they had to go back now the bridge was done. There was no more danger either, Zabuza and Haku wouldn’t come back since they’d just been looking for work. Naruto was glad they were okay and had gone home to try and help fix things, their Village sounded very messed up.

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Two figures slowly made their way through the trees beside the road, the shorter supporting the taller as they went. As they approached the crossroads they slowed even more, checking for any other travellers. Sound reached them, an excited, childish voice approaching in the distance. They hid and waited until four figures came into view, brightly coloured and wearing Konoha hitai-ate. The tallest of the four looked their way, obviously sensing them, so the elder nudged the other into moving slowly from hiding and onto the road, revealing them to the four.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sasuke’s heart leapt into his throat as he felt the curl of magic wrap playfully around him, fighting the urge to look around, stopping as Kakashi did. Their sensei was looking towards the other road…the trees, and slowly two figures emerged. Obito…and Hiro.

TBC…

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 7

Kakashi eyed the two figures, more wary than usual after the mess of their mission. One looked around his own age maybe, the other was a teenager. Both looked a mess, the boy in better condition and neither in shinobi clothing. And…the older was staring at him, not too surprising given he was well known throughout the nations.

“Bakashi?” a shaky voice asked, and Kakashi took several seconds to realise what he’d just been called but…that wasn’t possible.

He stared at the man, scanning his body…a missing eye, black hair…it wasn’t possible. He was long dead, buried in the collapsing cave. And yet…he could see it, he could see Obito in this man.

“We…we made it?” the man whispered, swaying. The clothing was rough, torn and dirty, and…yeah, those were bandages.

The teen was watching them all with wide green eyes, letting the man lean on him. He was a little cleaner, his clothing too big but less damaged and only a visible bandage on his arm.

“Do you know them Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto called, drawing attention to him.

A dark eye widened as the man took Naruto in. “Minato-sensei?” the man whispered, looking utterly confused.

“Who’s that?” Naruto asked innocently.

“Team, keep going,” he ordered firmly.

“He’s an Uchiha,” Sasuke murmured.

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke who was staring at the Obito look-alike. And before he could say anything, Sasuke flashed through hand signs…but not for a jutsu or the standard signs used for silent communication. The man stared at Sasuke and then slowly he smiled, his hands moving in response. The two held a silent conversation and then he was shocked when Sasuke actually smiled.

“I’m not the last,” he whispered in shock.

“Sasuke…the boy who called me that died during the last war when we were children. He was crushed to death.”

In answer, the man turned his head, revealing the badly damaged skin, lifting his sleeve to show it went down his body. He staggered slightly and the teen adjusted his grip, wavering himself.

“The war…did we win?” the look-alike asked. “Is it over?”

“The war ended just over a year after Obito died,” Kakashi answered since that was general knowledge.

The boy appeared totally unarmed but the man had pouch strapped awkwardly to one leg. They looked like they’d been on the run for a while. Even if Obito had survived somehow, all surviving POW’s had been exchanged at the end of the war. And yet…he knew whatever Uchiha hand signs Sasuke had used and…even with the scars, he looked like Obito, just grown up. But it wasn’t possible. And he could have learnt those signs before the massacre from an Uchiha prisoner or even…Itachi, was he trying to get to Sasuke? That would suggest he was keeping very close watch on his brother somehow since the odds of them showing up on their first mission away from the Village?

“Can we sit please? He’s not exactly light,” the boy finally spoke up, his words heavily accented but not one Kakashi recognised.

Kakashi waved at them to sit, it’d be harder for them to attack from a seated position, not by much for a shinobi but even a split second could make a difference in a fight. The boy struggled to ease the larger man down without either of them falling and Kakashi gripped Sasuke’s shoulder to keep him from trying to help. Thankfully, Naruto and Sakura were remaining quiet, for the moment anyway.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hiro drank in the sight of a tiny Sasuke, tiny compared to his memories of him anyway. Straight from Fourth year of Hogwarts, Hiro wasn’t much bigger than the three twelve-year-olds. He hadn’t hit his growth spurt for a few more years last time but this time, he’d already started on the necessary potions to help undo the years of malnutrition. Who knew, maybe he’d be taller when he finished growing than he was last time.

It was hard to not just stare at him, but Kakashi was suspicious and on edge enough already. He wanted to be alone with Sasuke, to talk to him, hold him, but who knew when they’d get the chance. It would take time for Harry to be trusted, he knew that, also knew that showing up with Obito might mean it tool longer. And he’d never met the Sandaime, the man had been dead when he came to Konoha the first time, but he’d seen and heard enough to know he was not an effective Hokage anymore. He never should have taken the hat back after Minato’s death but there hadn’t really been any other candidates.

He could tell Sasuke wanted to come to him but with Kakashi’s hand on his shoulder that wasn’t possible. Even without his hand, Sasuke knew he had to remain with his team. They had a cover story and they all needed to stick to it, no matter how much it hurt to stay apart.

Being able to sit was a relief, Obito was a lot heavier than the runic array had him looking to others. As the one to create the arrays, they had no effect on Hiro so he was fully experiencing Obito’s full weight when letting him lean on him.

Hiro settled on the grass, legs crossed, leaning back against the tree. He was apparently unarmed and he wouldn’t seem like a threat with his current chakra levels. They’d decided to make him as civilian appearing as possible, so Obito had the only visible kunai pouch. Obito slouched beside him, leaning heavily on the tree, carefully stretching his legs out. Hiro had to bite back a smile when Sasuke slipped free of Kakashi to sit on the grass but out of reach to keep his sensei happier.

His two teammates were more hesitant but joined him, Kakashi hovering. Seeing them so young and innocent… seeing Naruto alive…his eyes bright and inquisitive…innocent… it hurt. There was no way he was dying this time around! Sakura still had her sights set on Sasuke, that was obvious, but this wasn’t the broken young woman he had last seen. He would definitely not be dating her this time around and hopefully she could find happiness with someone without all that trouble.

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Naruto stared at the two strangers, they looked bad. He wanted to shove all his ramen and rations at them plus whatever medical supplies they all had. And…the older one was an Uchiha, that meant he was Sasuke’s family! That…that was great! It was. It was good that Sasuke wouldn’t be alone anymore. Though, who was Minato and why had he called Naruto that? Maybe…maybe this guy had known one of Naruto’s relatives?

“Ask whatever you want, Kakashi,” the man told sensei, looking utterly worn out.

Naruto grabbed his canteen and held it out in offering. The Uchiha blinked at him and then smiled slightly at him so Naruto tossed it gently.

“Thanks kid.”

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto!” he introduced himself.

“Uzumaki huh? Why do you have Kushina’s name and not Minato-sensei’s?”

What? He looked over to see the grimace on Kakashi-sensei’s face. “Sensei?” he demanded.

“I can’t speak of it Naruto, I’m sorry. You’ll have to speak with the Sandaime. Who is your companion?”

“Potter Harry,” the teen introduced himself. “I’m looking for family. Obito said they’re from Konoha so I stuck with him after we got out. And he’d fall over without help.”

“Brat,” Obito grumbled, swiping a weak hand through messy black hair. They seemed close which was nice.

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Sasuke wanted to throw himself at Hiro, to hold him and have solid proof he was really there. No…Harry, he was Harry at the moment. That made sense, if they contacted the Outside, like Tsunade had, then they would quickly find out his birth name and that would raise questions. Still, it sounded strange since he’d been Hiro as long as Sasuke had known him. He’d been Umino Hiro for over a decade after all, so it had to be strange to have to be Harry again.

He wasn’t sure what Hiro had been through since their return but…he had to be fourteen which meant the Tournament and Riddle’s return. But when exactly had they returned, before or after the Graveyard? That would make a big difference to future events. He wished he could have spoken with them before this but it had been too risky for Obito to make contact once they left on the mission.

He didn’t really listen to Kakashi drill Obito, since he had his memories of the past it was fine. Not like Kakashi would ask about the timeline that would never exist again. And... oh! he was an idiot, between Hiro’s mental abilities and the Sharingan…he met his eyes and Hiro blinked before realising.

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Obito felt the flare of magic, saw the two boys staring into each other’s eyes, and mentally rolled his own. Well, that was them out of the conversation for at least a minute, good thing time could pass quicker in the mind. Which left him dealing with a suspicious and protective Kakashi.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hiro wrapped his arms around Sasuke, relieved that in their minds they looked their true ages. “Thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.

Sasuke chuckled. “Same here,” he admitted, leaning in for a soft kiss.

“You’re such a cute kid,” he teased, getting a mild glare.

“You’re not that much taller,” Sasuke grumbled.

“I was so scared you wouldn’t know me, then Obito showed up and freaked me out. Turns out my magic imprinted his memories when he died, and somehow the imprint went to the him in this time. The soul is all this period though, so if anything happens to affect his memories…”

“Great.”

“I’m working on it. Got some runes for you too, keep a certain snake off your neck.”

“Thanks,” Sasuke murmured before kissing him again, arms wrapped tightly around him.

The runes would ensure the curse mark couldn’t take and had a nasty surprise for Orochimaru embedded as well. He knew Sasuke would fight the effects of the mark if it was given this time around, but better he didn’t have to do it. It would take precious energy he could use to focus on his training. He trusted Sasuke to fight it but he would also do anything to protect him. He would protect all of Team 7, even if he never ended up a member of the team this time. He would keep his family safe, they all would.

“We should go, don’t want Kakashi to notice,” he finally said, staring at the familiar form, wondering how differently Sasuke would grow this time.

“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed.

They kissed one last time and then the connection broke.

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Kakashi didn’t know what to think. The man had answered every question about Obito’s life, there had been some hesitations…but that was to be expected after over twelve years of captivity. The boy with him was interesting, an Outsider who had come looking for family only to be captured. And despite everything…the kid had fallen asleep against Obito, showing he trusted him.

“He’s a good kid,” Obito, or the look-alike, looked down at the sleeping teen. “When they tossed him in the cell…I thought he was an Uchiha,” he admitted. “Till he woke up and I saw his eyes. He could speak our language but not as well as he does now. He was self-taught. I did what I could…to teach him to fight.” He drank from Sasuke’s canteen for a few moments.

“I…I’d given up,” he whispered, staring at the ground. “Don’t know how long they had me…but Harry…he’s a force of nature. And he refused to let them beat him down. I’d still be there if not for him.”

Kakashi forced his face to remain still as he took in the others’ words. The idea that Obito would ever give up but…over a decade in captivity would change a person, even a few months could. Even, even if the impossible were true and this really was Obito…he still couldn’t trust him. The odds of him not turning, willing or unwillingly after so long a captive…he could be a spy and not even know it.

“And you can’t trust me because I was there so long. I don’t even know who had me,” he admitted, offering the ghost of his old grin. “They never wore anything identifiable, kept their faces covered. I can point you in the direction we came from but that’s it. Little pyromaniac decided to blow the place up to make sure we weren’t followed. Smart but not sure how much is left. It was underground though,” he shrugged slightly.

The kid blew the place up? How? His chakra felt mostly untrained, reserves bigger than the average civilian, maybe on par with normal genin (he couldn’t really use his team as the standard given Naruto and Sasuke). “How’d he blow it?”

“They left some chemicals around; he had fun breaking everything and then lit it on fire. He’d fit right in with the clan even with the green eyes. When he said family, I was sure it would be us.”

“Did he tell you who?”

“Yeah, that’s part of why he’s with me. Unless they left…not sure if you know them, the Umino family?”

Kakashi froze. Umino? What were the odds? They were so careful. But either the real Obito or a look alike and a kid saying they were related to the Umino? You couldn’t get more perfect for finding their team. He went to speak but stayed silent as the kids returned, Sasuke hushing the other two when he saw Harry was asleep.

They quickly got to work preparing the food they had gathered and caught, not bad considering the disaster on the way to Wave. The mission had been a great learning experience for them…hopefully Iruka wouldn’t kill him for how wrong it had gone. They woke Harry once the food was ready, the two ex-prisoners being given the blandest of the food and small portions so as not to upset their stomachs. His eye narrowed when Harry leant forward, oversized shirt slipping to reveal old scars on his back. Those were not the kind of wounds gained in a fight, but they also looked years old.

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Sakura kept quiet and just listened to everything, not sure what she could do even if she did speak up. Obviously, the man was saying he was an old friend or comrade of Kakashi-sensei, one who died in the last war. And he’d given enough correct information to have sensei listening and not just…killing him as a spy or something. The other, the boy with the strange name, he didn’t seem like a shinobi but not a civilian either. She’d read about the Outside but there really wasn’t much information, just that there was more to the world than their nations and that they didn’t really interact. So, what was his life there like that he’d risk everything to come here to find family?

Of course, it could all be one big enemy trap but she hoped not. Sasuke looked so…happy, for him at least, at the idea of having family again. He deserved to have family. If this really was Uchiha Obito…did he even know about the massacre?

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He stirred in his cage, sensing…something…something new and yet old…strange…but he was tired from forcing the boy to use his power and not die in that fight. There was no threat at the moment, he would rest and recover till there was.

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They moved on in the morning, Sasuke and Naruto helping Harry along while Kakashi used a clone to help the possible Obito. Several of Naruto’s clones were spread out around them serving as lookouts. In another day, they’d reach Konoha and it would be up to the Hokage what happened to the two.

TBC…