*A thank you to the always amazing sydni for betaing this chapter for me*

I apologize beforehand for the long A/N at the end of the chapter

Chapter 9

Since they still had a few days to go till the deadline, Team 7 decided to do their best to recover their energy. Sakura recovered fine from her injuries, as well as Naruto (though he did complain about feeling weird), but Sasuke's arm had broken in two areas; his wrist and his forearm, as well as splintered in other areas. Though the medics that Iruka had called for from the tower treated his arm, the cast he needed prevented him from lifting his arm or really using his left arm, which meant that he couldn't perform any jutsu. Even worse, it would take at least a month for him to have full use of his arm again. Naruto kept on apologizing, but Sasuke waved it away. If it weren't for Naruto, who knows what would have happened.

They hoped that by staying in one area, they would avoid encountering other groups that had also made it to the tower. Their meeting with the group from Suna was still fresh in their mind. Sasuke couldn't recall the last time he felt that unnerved. Even meeting with Zabuza or Haku wasn't that bad. They all agreed that they should watch out for the red head.

The day after that, they had a surprise visit from Team 8, which consisted of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Both groups were clearly surprised to see the other there. Almost at once, Kiba and Naruto began bickering and trading insults back and forth. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke approached Hinata and Shino.

"Did you guys happen to encounter that group from Suna?" Both Hinata and Shino nodded.

"The red head looked pretty scary," Sakura muttered. Hinata and Shino exchanged a look.

"Did any of you get a chance to see him fight?" Shino asked. Both Sakura and Sasuke shook their heads. "He has sand in that gourd of his." Sasuke figured that out, seeing that they were from Suna. "He manipulates the sand to do what he wants."

"But it also seems to move automatically without him even lifting a finger," Hinata continued quietly. "Another group attacked him with his back turned, and the sand came and protected him. He then used that sand to... to crush and k-kill the other group. It actually r-rained their-" Hinata stopped, and shivered, a look of fear crossing her eyes.

"Shit." Sasuke blinked and looked at Naruto. He and Kiba had apparently stopped bickering some time ago, and had been listening to Hinata talk.

"What are the chances we're going to end up facing them?" Sakura asked. Sasuke turned to look at her. Her tone was light, but it was obvious that she was shaking.

"Our luck isn't exactly that good," Sasuke said. "At least we know now that they aren't exactly concerned with whether or not their opponents die."

"What's worse is that even his teammates are scared of him," Kiba said. "He threatened the two of them. If he wouldn't show them mercy, then we're definitely screwed."

"He's past chunin level," Hinata muttered.

"This is way over our heads," Sakura said, taking a seat on the ground before her legs gave way. Everyone there silently agreed.

••••••

By the time the deadline was up, only seven teams made it into the tower. They all were lined up in another room as the Hokage gave them a speech. Behind him stood the jonin in charge of each of the teams. To everyone's surprise, the Hokage declared that since so many people made it to the tower, they would hold preliminaries to see who should go to the third part. Sasuke was alarmed. There was no mention of this in the scrolls.

To Team 7's surprise, when the Hokage asked if there was anyone that wanted to, basically, quit, the guy who has shown them information about the other shinobi from his cards, Kabuto Yakushi, raised his hand. Both Sakura and Naruto stared at him, but Sasuke refused to raise his hand as well. He could get through this. They watched Kabuto leave, and Sasuke shook his head, when Naruto wanted to protest.

"Are you sure you don't want to leave?" Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru. Team 10 was staring at him as were others.

"No," Sasuke said firmly, holding his head high and looking straight ahead. The Hokage waited for another moment, before he gestured to another person, and a sickly looking man came forward and announced that he was to be the protector for the next part. They listened as he said that a computer would randomly select two of them to fight each other, and he would judge if a fight was over or not.

When he was done, each of the teams joined their jonin head on the catwalk that lined the area. Both Sakura and Naruto raced towards Kakashi.

"What should Sasuke do?" they both shouted at him. Sasuke groaned when the teams near them stared at him again. Kakashi looked at Sasuke.

"You really should have raised your hand when you had your chance," Kakashi said.

"I can do this," Sasuke said stubbornly, already imagining the lecture Harry was going to give him. Sasuke swallowed his guilt, and stared at the computer screen located above on the wall at the front.

"Is there anything he can do?" Sakura asked again.

"Abysmal taijutsu," Kakashi said with a shrug. Sasuke's eye twitched. "You also have your sharingan, so take advantage of that. You haven't learned genjutsu yet, especially with your sharingan, so you just have taijutsu, but if Rock Lee can do it, I'm sure you'll be fine." Sasuke resisted the urge to puch the smile off of his face.

"Rock Lee?" Naruto asked. They turned to stare at the green jumpsuit clad boy who was a few teams away.

"He can't use genjutsu or ninjutsu so he relies on taijutsu alone," Kakashi explained.

"I didn't know that was possible," Sakura muttered.

"Gai somehow made it work," Kakashi said. They glanced at the also green jumpsuit clad jonin.

"You sure they aren't related?" Naruto muttered, eyeing their same bowl-cut hairstyle and bushy eyebrows.

"Positive. And if any of you even consider wearing anything close to that, I will pretend not to know you."

"Deal," the three of them echoed.

"Wait, you can do genjutsu with the sharingan?" Sakura asked. Sasuke glared at Kakashi, who just looked away, humming. "How do you even have the sharingan in the first pla-"

"Oh look, they're starting," Kakashi said. Sasuke reluctantly looked towards where he was pointing, vowing that this time, he would remember to question Kakashi about his sharingan. Everyone turned towards the screen, and watched as the computer began to run through all the names. The first name that appeared was Yoroi Akadou. Sasuke looked across towards the other catwalk, and saw that it was one of Kabuto's teammates. They looked back at the screen, and Sasuke groaned. Of course he had to be in the first battle. Ignoring Sakura's and Naruto's worried looks, Sasuke headed towards the end of the catwalk, and climbed down the stairs. Walking towards the middle, he stopped and faced his opponent.

Immediately after the proctor said to start, Yoroi ran towards Sasuke, and attempted to grab him. Sasuke was able to throw him off, but Yoroi was in contact with him enough for Sasuke to know what his ability was. Sasuke felt his chakra being drained out of his body, and it no doubt was going to him. There goes hand to hand combat. Yoroi ran towards him to attack again, and Sasuke was forced to dodge. This went on for a few minutes, and Sasuke realized that this couldn't go on. He couldn't stay on the defensive forever. Sasuke needed a plan.

After a few more minutes of dodging, he finally came up with a plan. Rather, he remembered a plan would be more accurate.

Sasuke began throwing kunais and shurikens at him to keep him away. Yoroi knocked them away from him, so that they ended up on the ground around him. Smirking inwardly, Sasuke grabbed the kunais and shurikens that still had wires attached to them, and began to throw them towards Yoroi, who, once again, kept blocking them so they ended up beneath and behind him. Sasuke used his sharingan to ensure that all the wires were in place. Seeing that everything was ready, Sasuke threw the last few kunais, but purposefully missed so that they ended up wrapped around the railing of the catwalk.

Now outwardly grinning, Sasuke ran towards Yoroi, and threw the last kunai so that they wrapped around Yoroi's legs, too low for him to block it quickly enough. Sasuke went behind him, and cut a specific wire, which triggered the trap. The wires all around Yoroi on the floor were pulled back by another, and soon were wrapped around his legs as well. Sasuke then cut another line of wire which then dragged him backwards by his legs until he was hanging upside down from the railings. Sasuke quickly threw two more kunais with wire around the upper part of his body, and attached a couple of paper bombs to them, so they were now attached to his body. If Yoroi made any move to remove the wires, they would explode.

Panting, Sasuke backed away from him to admire his work. He only snapped back to attention when Naruto started to cheer. Sasuke blinked and watched as the proctor, Hayato Gekko, approached them. He examined the struggling Yoroi, and then faced Sasuke.

"Since Yoroi Akadou would be unable to continue without greatly harming himself, the winner for this round is Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura joined Naruto in his cheering and Sasuke couldn't help but grin a little. As he walked back to his group, he noticed that the Hokage was staring at him with an odd expression. Sasuke was taken aback a little, but he still nodded to him as a greeting, and received a nod and a small smile in return. When he reached Naruto and the others, Naruto thumped him on the back.

"That was amazing!"

"Where did that come from?" Kakashi asked, looking at Yoroi. "Did you give him ideas?" he asked, looking at Naruto. Sakura also looked at Naruto. "This looked like something you would do."

"Well, I would, but I didn't."

"Either way," Kakashi said, looking at Sasuke now, "that was both humiliating and effective." Sasuke shrugged.

"It just came to me." Naruto thumped him on the back again.

"I now consider you an official prankster," Naruto said, draping his arm around his shoulder.

"I'll pass," Sasuke deadpanned.

"It would've been better if you did that teleportation thing again," Naruto said. Kakashi looked between them.

"What teleportation thing?" he asked.

"That's how he got away from that creepy snake guy," Naruto said, ignoring the look from Sasuke. Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, who just shrugged.

"I have no idea how I did it," he said, turning away from them, and looking back towards the screen where the next two names came up.

••••••

"How are you?" Harry asked. In the circular fog that hovered over the Deathly Hallows, Hermione was wiping her own tears.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, but oh Harry, I should be the one asking you that question," Hermione said.

"Same old," Harry replied. His smile slowly left his face. "How long has it been on your end?" Hermione's smile turned saddened.

"It's only been about four months here since you last called... and for you?" Harry looked away.

"30 years." He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the expression on her face, but he could still hear her gasp.

"Harry..." Harry knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help the guilt that welled up.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't you dare apologize Harry James Potter!" Hermione said sternly. "None of this was your fault!" Harry laughed dryly.

"You guys keep saying that," he muttered. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at Hermione again. She had new trails of tears down her face, and from the messiness of her hair, she must have been especially frazzled today. "Have you been resting properly?"

"Of course!" Harry raised an eyebrow and Hermione blushed.

"I still can't believe the time difference between there and here," Harry said. "It's been almost 80 years since I got here, and for you-"

"Only a year," Hermione muttered. Harry closed his eyes again. He ignored the stabbing in his chest, and focused on the Hallows to make sure the connection was stable.

"Harry?" Harry's eyes snapped open and he couldn't stop the grin that made its way on his face. "How are you mate?"

"I've been worse," Harry said. Ron looked the same as ever, though Harry also noticed that he had bags under his eyes as well. "Is anyone else there?" They both shook their heads.

"Just us two," Ron said. "The kids are all back at school, and-"

"You guys can't keep spending all your time in that room. You need to rest-"

"Getting you out is more important," Ron said heatedly. Harry shook his head.

"What will that accomplish if you guys hurt yourselves-"

"We'll worry about that," Hermione said, cutting him off.

"Besides, at least we convinced Ginny to go back to work." Harry's head snapped up.

"What was she doing before?" Harry asked quickly.

"She was basically camped out in this room."

"And the Ministry allowed it?" Harry asked. Ron shrugged.

"It involved you. What else would the Ministry do?" Harry bit his lip.

"How much do they know?" he asked.

"Just that you fell into the Veil, and we're trying to get you back," Hermione said. Harry sighed. He didn't want to know what the wizarding world would think if they found out Harry Potter was trapped in a place like this. Harry looked around and realized how late it was. "Did something happen, Harry?" Harry looked back at Hermione. He could almost feel the worry through the fog.

"What do you mean?" Harry said.

"You wouldn't waste your energy like this for no reason," Hermione said.

"Come on mate, you can tell us," Ron encouraged.

"Was I a good father?" Ron and Hermione blinked.

"What?"

"Why are you using past tense?"

"To James, Al, and Lily, was I good father?" Harry repeated.

"You are a good father, Harry," Hermione said firmly. "James, Al, and Lily absolutely adore you."

"What brought this up?" Ron asked. "Are you taking care of-"

"I am," Harry said. "He's 12 right now, and..."

"And?" Hermione prompted. Both of their faces seemed to come in closer. Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times. He cleared his throat. "Harry, tell us." After taking a deep breath, Harry launched into the story of what happened four years ago; the massacre. Predictably, Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, while Ron looked horrified.

"That kid would do something like that?!"

"That bloody tosser-"

"Ron!" Harry said sharply. "Don't you dare call him that!" They both were taken aback by the tone of his voice. "Don't you dare say anything when you don't even know what the situation was."

"Calm down mate," Ron said slowly, exchanging a look with Hermione. Harry noticed this and frowned.

"What?" Harry asked. Hermione exchanged another look with Ron, before she turned towards Harry and smiled hesitantly.

"It's nothing, it's just that... you're getting really angry and defensive about him, almost vehemently, and maybe you're-"

"Are you trying to say that the seal that is keeping me stuck to that scroll is affecting my mind?" Harry asked slowly.

"You said last time that you are unable to think about them negatively," Hermione said.

"That is true," Harry said slowly. "Anytime I think of that guy negatively, my head starts hurting, and I feel physically ill, but it's always obvious when I start feeling that way, and believe me, that isn't the case here." Ron and Hermione were still frowning, and Harry sighed. "He was forced to do what he did," Harry said softly. "The others eventually learned about what was about to happen, and they decided to sacrifice themselves instead, so in the end, they died on their own terms. At that point, I truly admired each and every one of them." Hermione had tears in her eyes again, and Ron swallowed and blinked a few times.

"I'm sorry, mate," he said. Harry nodded.

"Any anger I have is only to that man, not to the others. They never intentionally did anything to harm me, and some even tried to help me."

"That guy was the only one who knew how to release you, right?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.

"He sealed me in the first place, so I guess he should know how to release me, but..."

"He's dead." Harry nodded, and Ron snorted.

"Of course," Ron muttered darkly under his breath.

"Harry, why were you asking if you are a good father or not?" Hermione asked. Harry blinked. He almost forgot why he had initially called them.

"About Sasuke," he started. He paused to organize his thoughts. "When I first started taking care of him, he was, of course, closed off and confused, and angry, especially after Itachi told him to get stronger and go after him, that prat."

"Why the hell would he say something like that?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

"Unless he thought, for some reason, that Sasuke was at suicide risk..."

"It's something that would anchor him," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"I guess that makes sense," Ron said. They were silent for a minute, before Hermione snapped out of her thoughts.

"As you were saying earlier, Harry?" Hermione prompted.

"Right... As I was saying, I tried to help him as much as I could-"

"Which I'm sure helped him a lot-" Ron blushed when Harry and Hermione glared at him. "Right, sorry, do continue."

"Anyway, after some time, he started to act more like any other kid. Hell, after he became friends with Naruto, he almost became a male version of Lily-"

"I hope you never mentioned that to him," Hermione said sternly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Hermione, I'm positive I know how jealousy in kids work. Me and Ginny did raise three in case you forgot." Hermione blushed.

"I'm just saying..." she mumbled. Ron coughed. Harry shook his head. He couldn't keep wasting time like this.

"So for a few years, he acted like a normal kid. He played, did his school work-"

"Mate, willingly doing school work isn't normal-"

"Ron! Stop interrupting!" Harry grinned a little at seeing Ron's incredulous expression. "So what happened after that, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry's grin faded away.

"I think I must have done something," Harry muttered. "He still acted the same after he graduated, but then he went on his first 'actual' mission, and when he got back, he had told me how he almost died, and I may have snapped at him about being careless..." Both Hermione's and Ron's eyes widened, but Harry continued talking before they could say anything. "After a certain incident, he was himself again, but since then, he seemed to go back and forth between his old self and this new personality..." Harry trailed off. He looked up helplessly at Ron and Hermione. "Was this because I yelled at him or-"

"Harry, calm down," Ron said.

"If he was being reckless, then you did have a reason to lecture him," Hermione said.

"Recklessness is kind of in the job description," Harry muttered. Hermione closed her eyes. She had made it clear last time how she felt about the whole feudal system and how the hidden villages worked.

"Even yelling at him wouldn't make him act bi-polar like that... unless..." Ron brightened up. "What are the chances that-"

"No," Harry stated. Ron frowned.

"You wouldn't know unless-" Harry stood up.

"I'm pretty sure I would have recognized him if that were the case!" Harry said harshly. Harry groaned and massaged his head. "Sorry Ron, it's just that, I don't think he's here. It's pointless to keep looking for him."

"Harry," Hermione said quickly, "when he gets back, sit down with him and talk to him about your concerns. We can keep discussing this forever, but you won't get the correct answer until you ask him." Harry slowly nodded.

"I will," he mumbled. Ron and Hermione exchanged another glance. Harry blinked a few times to get them back into focus.

"I really wish I could just walk through and try to help you," Ron said softly. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare, Ron!" he shouted. "You'd just die, and Merlin knows where in the world you'd end up." Harry took a deep breath. "J-Just don't do that," Harry choked out. "Please don't."

"I won't," Ron said, looking guilty.

"Swear."

"I swear I won't," Ron promised. Harry smiled.

"Good... That's good..." Harry started to sway, and he could barely make out Ron and Hermione screaming his name as his vision turned black.

••••••

Ron and Hermione stared at the now darkened Veil.

"Is it possible to reconnect?" Ron asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be. Hermione slowly shook her head, and Ron wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders. The two of them backed away from the Veil, and Hermione reapplied the wards around it. Some were to prevent people from getting too close, while others where there to monitor it for any changes in, well, anything. The final ward was an alarm. It alerted Hermione to when Harry makes a connection to the Veil. They had initially thought that that could have been a way for Harry to come back, but after a few tests, it proved futile. Harry could only communicate with it, and only if he had enough energy to make the connection and then sustain it.

"What are we going to do, Ron?" Hermione said, burying her face into his chest. Ron patted her back and stroked her hair.

"We're not giving up," Ron said. "We will find a way to bring him back."

"Everything we found that could've worked failed though!"

"Then we'll find another way," Ron said. "We will bring Harry back." Hermione wiped her face.

"You're right. We should get going-"

"Harry's right. We need some rest first."

"But-"

"We'll be able to think better when we're rested," Ron said gently. Hermione looked like she might protest, but in the end, she nodded, and let Ron drag her away.

"He looked so drained," Hermione said softly. Ron tightened the grip on her hand. He also noticed that. The entire time, Harry had been trembling a little. Ron gritted his teeth. He was sincerely hoping that there wasn't a time limit. Harry had been stuck there for 80 years. They needed to get him back now.

As soon as they left the room, a figure dropped their Disillusionment Charm, and approached the Veil. They reached out, but the wards placed around it prevent them from getting any closer. Sighing, the figure dropped their hand, and turned away from the Veil.

Sorry for the late upload... school caught me by surprise

To address two specific reviews: Canisse: yes, they should have used the secret phrase considering what happened, but it totally slipped my mind when I was writing that last part (that chapter and this one was written over a span of a number of weeks) When I go back to edit, I'll be sure to add it in. Marina-Elise: Thank you for pointing that out and reminding me. I kept telling myself that there were a few plot-holes I have to fix (especially about Harry's powers), but since I've been so busy, I kept forgetting. In a few days, I'll be done with the semester, and I'll go and properly fix everything. Since the first chapter, I've changed the entire plot of the story at least 5 times, so the spots that reflected the old plot will be fixed soon hopefully. To everyone else: Thank you so much for your reviews and patience for when I go back to fix my previous chapters

So for the beginning, some details are probably inaccurate, like who actually witnessed Gaara killing those people; I'm not sure which team it was, so I just picked a group. If I'm wrong, please don't be too bothered by it...

So in case nobody got that last part of the chapter, Harry basically fell into the Veil, and got reborn as an Uchiha right before the village was founded. Since he has the Hallows (and is MOD), he kept his memories and magic (sort of...) There's no sign of Sirius, and yes, Harry is getting weaker.

As a few people pointed out, Sasuke did apparate. As to how, that'll be explained later... sorry

A lot of people questioned about, so I'll address it here (and I'll make sure to mention it when I edit the past chapters) Probably a spoiler, but oh well: Harry is not really dead; his soul was sealed inside the scroll, but he had never passed away as an Uchiha, so I would not consider him to be dead. I'll mention more about it later in the story (probably after Itachi shows up)

I think that's all, so thanks for reading the chapter and A/N, and thank you in advance for being patient while I edit my previous chapters. Thank you so much guys.