Beautiful Star (Or: Why Studying Equals Ramen)

Blanket Disclaimer for this fanfiction:
Nothing belongs to me, I don't profit from posting this (aside from practicing) and I don't claim any rights to anything portrayed in this story.

Warnings: AU, Fem!Harry, canon-typical violence and gore, mentions of torture, mentions of war, OOC-ness, mentions of starvation, Angst, language...

Full Summary: After an unfortunate incident with a compromised Portkey and some revenge-obsessed Death Munchers, a barely eighteen years old GWL must learn quickly to navigate the Elemental Countries, as well as to raise her baby godson, the only one who tagged along on her next great adventure. Heavily injured, starving herself to feed the little six-month-old and deathly afraid of the very real threat of death, Harry is ready to give up when an unexpected hand helped her out. Jiraiya - who only a few years prior suffered the loss of his most prized student - can't help himself when he finds the tiny girl trying to survive without a real understanding of the world around her. For her child. Somehow the Hokage thinks she's a perfect care-taker for her new neighbor, a five-year-old boy hated by nearly the whole village. Now what the hell did she get herself into this time?

~1~

Harry could feel the cool, calculating eyes of the deceptively old man seated behind the large desk roam over her weakened body, cataloging everything they saw. His unfathomable brown, almost black, eyes seemed to X-Ray her soul, down to the last little corner of her mind. She wasn't quite sure what he expected to see or if he approved of what he found, but honestly, she was too drained to care at the moment. Nevertheless, the young witch tried not to fidget or faint from sheer exhaustion, to force herself to meet his penetrating gaze that reminded her entirely too much of another old man sitting behind a desk across from herself, not too log ago. Only the vaguely reassuring presence of the strangely kind white-haired man who had rescued both of them from certain death soothed her overly strained nerves from snapping. (By this stage, Harry was afraid of what would happen to her once she had another bout of accidental magic. At the moment, she was seemingly only held upright by sheer willpower and magic.)

Apparently satisfied with what he had found, the old man leaned back in his seat, deceptively wrinkled fingers playing absentmindedly with an unlit pipe. Subconsciously, Harry allowed herself to relax the fraction of a degree, loosening her white-knuckled grip on her sleeping godson. Hopefully they would not die today, at the hands of this dangerous, old ninja-leader.

"Well, child, what am I supposed to call you," the wizened male in heavy ceremonial garb asked in a polite tone, voice a bit gravelly from his age.

Harry quickly flashed through the stolen, scrambled memories of one of her now deceased early attackers, trying to piece together a vaguely correct sentence. She considered her options, but wanted to leave her old life behind. For good. This time, there wouldn't be a convenient train to return with. "I not know," Harry stuttered out helplessly, frustrated close to tears by her less than satisfying eloquence. She was reduced to a toodler-like state whenever she opened her mouth to speak.

The Hokage contemplated her dilemma for a short moment. "Tell me about your family, child," he demanded.

However, this simple order nearly had the tears spilling over. Harry could barely breathe, due to the white hot pain washing over her. "Dead. All dead, but-," here she gestured to the blissfully sleeping baby in her arms, "- Father name of old lords, mother flower. Other father-and-uncle star and dog. Aunt flower. No brother, no sister. Uncle cousins all crazy or bad. Or both. Only Ted and mother not the same." The gruesome memories of the war rose behind her eyes unbidden, getting stuck in the raw, dry throat and nearly choking her. Harry missed them like a torn-off limp.
"Blood family dead. New family. War. Brother against brother. Lose new brother and much friends. Lose other uncle and aunt and uncle-father. Grandpa and senseis. Hurt. A lot. We win. High price. Now only Ted and me. All gone," she rambled on, on the verge of breaking down completely in the office of a foreign dictator who had been kind enough not to kill them instantly.

"Your village fought against itself?" The Hokage guessed slowly, focusing on her incoherent words.

Harry felt a tear escape involuntarily, running down her cheek. "Yes. Bad war. Lot of dead."

"Your mother's family had a tradition for flowers, and your uncle's to name their relatives after stars?" Sandaime-sama recalled perfectly. Apparently he had understood enough of her mad rambling to get the gist of it.

Harry nodded reluctantly. "Not want flower," she stated clearly. Too many bad memories were associated with her aunt for that. No, she did no wish for any kind of memento of her horrible childhood years.

"Hoshimi?" Jiraiya-sama suggested awkwardly from his perch on the window.

In response, Harry puckered her chapped pink lips thoughtfully. "What it mean?"

The Hokage smiled genially at the young woman. It did not fool her for a moment. "It means: 'beautiful star'. May I suggest Tadao for your son? It means noble man."

The nervous witch considered their suggestions carefully, for a long moment. Giving her godson any kind of different name felt like a betrayal to his parents, to their sacrifice. On the other hand, she really wanted to protect him to the best of her abilities. Hesitatingly, the young civilian nodded. "Yes. Short Tedi. What else?"

At this, the two males exchanged a fast glance over her slightly bowed head. "Your last name, little hime," Jiraiya said almost apologetically.

"Aota should work. It means 'green rice paddy'," the Hokage offered kindly to the traumatized girl clutching a baby like a lifeline. Maybe it was a good thing he had kept Naruto away from Kakashi after the Kyuubi attack.

Harry just nodded when it appeared that they wanted a response of some kind. She didn't really care anymore. For a safe haven for Teddy, she would sign away her soul. Giving up the last shreds tying her to her family felt strangely disconcerting, yet at the same time also freeing. No longer did anyone expect her to be some sort of heroine, ready to save their day, or a talented, experienced fighter, or some sort of prodigy.
After this meeting, Harry could become whomever she wanted. Suddenly, she could feel a ginormous boulder fall from her shoulders. No longer did she have to impersonate some sort of community-wide heroine/princess! This time around Harry could be herself. Just Harry. Or Hoshi-chan, as the case may be.
For the first time since entering this confusing, unforgiving world, one of her rare, genuine smiles lit up the young witch's face, instantly erasing the bone-deep exhaustion and sharp angles from her self-imposed starvation.

In that brief moment, the Hokage and Jiraiya caught their first glance of the beautiful soul contained beneath her skin. They liked what they found.

"So what's the cover story?" Jiraiya-sama wondered, arms crossed casually over his chest.

Sandaime-sama stroked his goatee as he considered - and discarded - various scenarios. "Aota Hoshimi and Tadao are the only living descendants of one of your informants. They were chased out of her original village due to the activities of their grandfather," the Hokage finally decided. "Afterward they traveled for a long time until you coincidentally found and recognized them. Then you obviously convinced her to stay here, to ensure their continued safety." Jiraiya-sama nodded to show he understood his orders.
Therefore the old man turned to the young woman standing in front of him, protectively clutching a baby not her own, with more (an impressive amount of) willpower than physical strength. "Until your vocabulary expands, I suggest you pretend to be mute, Hoshi-chan. I will arrange for remedial classes in reading and writing with a suitable tutor for an hour each day. No one will find the need for them strange, especially if we say you were born in a rural region."

In turn, Ha- Hoshimi nodded confusedly. "But what you want for help?" Jiraiya-sama snorted quietly, but seemed to approve of her seemingly impudent question.

The Hokage smiled genially at her. Again. It didn't fool the witch for a second. Again. "Recently one of my grandsons has decided he was old enough to live on his own. In return for helping you and your nephew, I would like to offer you a job as a housekeeper for him. Coincidentally, the apartment next to his is still free, so you would be in a perfect position for your new job," Sandaime-sama explained happily.

Ha- Hoshimi didn't believe in coincidences, but also refrained from voicing her suspicions. Instead she frowned. "Where find book for cook? I not know much. Make do lots."

Jiraiya-sama chuckled at her enthusiastic concerns. "I don't think he would mind, Hoshi-chan. He hasn't ever had a homemade meal."

Again the young civilian frowned, anger flashing through her eyes for a brief moment, a mere second perhaps. Then she nodded resolutely. "I learn," she decided determinedly, straightening up quite a bit with the new-found resolve. No child should ever suffer from such neglect, not on her watch.

The Hokage smiled. "Very well. One of my trusted Chūnin will approach you for lessons tomorrow, Hoshimi-chan. Jiraiya will show you to your new apartment and buy the necessities for you. Is there anything specific you would like?"

The newly-named Hoshimi considered it for a moment, running through everything she needed for her godson. "A toy for Tedi. Bed for him. Bottle and food for baby. Clothes too. I not need much," she offered quietly, embarrassed to have to accept another person's money, after being financially independent for so long.

Jiraiya-sama clapped her shoulder lightly in commiseration or comfort, she was not sure. "Don't worry. The Hokage will pay for it. He has the money to spare."

This information didn't particularly help to relieve her tension and unease with the current situation, but she refused to complain because they needed the kindness of the old man to survive. Then the Hokage dismissed the unlikely trio, thoughtfully watching them leave through the door. For once.

Alright, this is a plot that has been floating around my head for a while. Please be prepared for long breaks between new updates because I am working on my main story Petal (a HP/Avengers Crossover) mostly and have not finished writing this one yet. Or the other one, for that matter. I hope you enjoy reading this fanfic anyway and remain patient with me.
Have a good day, W