Disclaimer: I own no things.

Warnings: None. Also, this isn't Harry/Naruto slash, which should be fairly obvious, but...thought I'd reiterate.

A/N: 'Lo! It's been a year since I updated, I'm trash! XD There's a few really minor crossovers, just mentions of people that he met in other worlds that may be recognizable to you. 'Cause Harry's been through quite a few worlds; it's inevitable that some he stumbled upon would be in my fandoms of choice, while others would be populated by OC's.

Also, because this is from Naruto's pov you guys don't get to understand things that he doesn't understand until Harry's pov. Specifically in the case of language stuff *wiggles eyebrows*. I mean...I just used google translate so if you want to look it up you can, but you won't hear it from me until it's Harry time XD. I started splitting things into months and years so that you guys could get some clear-cut dates, and so that I could use some holidays for stuff (yes, I'm so tauntingly vague muahaha). The founding of Konoha is considered to be the beginning of the calendar here, and ME stands for Modern Era, because that's the format of the timeline I'm drawing from.

And finally (god, what a long A/N), this chapter only has 3 meetings in it because it was getting too long and I'm lazy and I just wanted to get something out for you guys. So. Enjoy!

oOoooOoooOo

6. March, 62 ME

Naruto doesn't keep track of the amount of times they meet anymore, not because he doesn't want to (because every time he meets with Hari-san is important to him), but because he lost count some time around 6 months ago, and he's really not able to count it all out now.

This time though, is more significant. Today, Naruto is 11 (and a half) and has just failed the genin exam for the second time. He comes slinking into Hari-san's apartment (having waited for Hari-san to go home; he rarely visits Hari-san's restaurant, because he doesn't want anyone to associate him with that business, and for Hari-san to lose customers. He thinks Hari-san probably knows what he's doing, but the older man doesn't call him out on it), head low and eyes fixed on the floor.

Hari-san seems to sense that he doesn't want to talk about his troubles yet (the wide eyed, panicked look he gives the man as soon as Hari-san opens his mouth is probably a good clue), so the green-eyed man merely greets him with a warm hello, then begins to tell Naruto all about his day at the restaurant. Naruto is thankful for the distraction and the delay, and listens contently as Hari-san complains about his newest employee, and laughs gleefully when the older man tells a story involving ovens and a microwave and things getting set on fire.

Soon enough though, Hari-san pins him with one of his stern, concerned looks, and asks him what's wrong. He has to fight with himself for a moment. He wants to remain strong in the eyes of someone who actually respects him, but at the same time...it's Hari-san, how can he not tell the man what's bothering him?

(When he really thinks about it, he realizes that it boils down to his mistrust of adults versus his trust of Hari-san, and with that he realizes there's really no question, because he trusts Hari-san with his everything.)

Still...it takes him a moment before he finally manages to mumble, "I'm not sure what's wrong, dattebayo. I just can't get the stupid clone jutsu right. They always come out looking pale and mostly dead, then they explode in a poof of smoke." his face flushing lightly with embarrassment (even clones of himself don't want to be around him, he really is a failure).

Hari-san stares at him for a few moments, and just when it's starting to feel a tad bit awkward, the other man blinks and suggests, "Have you tried doing chakra control exercises? It seems to me that you may be putting too much chakra into your attempts."

"Of course!" He replies exuberantly, but there's a slight pause, and he shifts sheepishly in his seat. Hari-san raises an enquiring eyebrow, and Naruto caves immediately, mumbling, "Well, I've tried them, but normally I end up setting the leaves on fire, so I stopped." A hand raises to scratch at the back of his neck sheepishly. Hari-san merely raises his other eyebrow, and releases a friendly chuckle (and Naruto can tell he's not laughing at him. He should know the difference by now). Still, he crosses his arms and pouts, because that's what he saw Ino-chan do when her brother was teasing her.

(That's not to say that Hari-san is his brother or anything, he thinks hastily, just that that's what's probably appropriate here.)

Quietly, Hari-san explains, "When I was younger, I had a similar issue to you. Too much-" he pauses slightly, (almost too quickly to be noticed, but Naruto always hangs on his every word so he does notice, and files it away for later), then carries on, "Chakra for me to easily control." He stops, and Naruto waits (because surely the man has some good advice; he's obviously not overflowing with chakra right now, is he?), but Hari-san seems content to just sip his tea in silence.

"Well?" Naruto finally caves, about two seconds later. Hari-san merely glances up from his teacup, eyebrow raised. "How did you control your chakra, dattebayo?" He exclaims, arms waving above his head in frustration. Hari-san chuckles, and Naruto pouts, slumping in his seat. Hari-san is such a jerk sometimes.

"Well," Hari-san begins, and Naruto sits up in his seat, eyes trained on the man in front of him, because while Hari-san may be a jerk (a lot less of a jerk than that bastard Sasuke, but that's to be expected since Sasuke's a bastard, duh), he's a smart jerk. "I was taught a method of control by one of my mentors. It's a sort of moving meditation-" Aaaand, that's not good.

Naruto slumps dramatically in his seat again with a sigh, pressing his face to the table, because meditation is not one of his strong suits. It never works well for him in the academy (though that's certainly not helped by his classmates' excessively loud 'steady breathing', the pinches and elbows thrown his way, or his teacher coming over to reprimand him for disturbing his classmates even though he's not even moving for once) because, among other reasons, he can never seem to focus on the steady candle, or quiet water, or stable stone that they advise as an anchor.

He opens his eyes, and almost jolts as he finds Hari-sans eyes focused intently on him...but it's a glassy kind of focus, as though he's looking at him through a cloudy lense. Naruto tenses, opening his mouth to apologize (he's not sure what he did, or if he did anything, but apologies are usually a safe bet), but then Hari-san blinks and abruptly asks, "Do you want to learn?"

Naruto cocks his head, surprised. Hari-san replies as though he asked a question, muttering, "The moving meditation. Do you want to, uh...do you want to learn it?" Naruto sits up, confused, because...well, Hari-san isn't quite looking at him? He focuses first on his right ear, then skirts past his eyes to his nose, then glances up to the ceiling. Is Hari-san-is he embarrassed? "I can't guarantee that it'll help you, but it probably will." He mumbles, and green eyes make a subtle circuit from Naruto's whisker marks to his left ear, then back to the ceiling.

Naruto leans forward, curious, and their eyes meet, and that's not embarrassment, that's anxiety, and then Hari-san's eyes are a solemn green and he's rubbing his forehead, right over the weird lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and he's quietly saying, "You don't have to, I just thought-"

And he blurts out an eager, "No, I want to!" even though meditation is boring, because if it's that important to Hari-san it's really important to Naruto. And Hari-san smiles at him, all sunshine and joy and relief, and he's proud that he brought that expression to the man's face.

oOo

They're out behind Hari-san's building in the little grassy area that's encased by a fence. Shirata-san from upstairs is watching them through the windows in the building's communal laundry room, but not with the suspicion and coldcoldeyes she used to have. Now it's more of a neutral watchfulness, and Naruto finds that he much prefers that.

Hari-san's standing a few paces in front of him, eyes closed and breathing steady, and Naruto's Not Happy because Hari-san just told him to attack. And not just to attack, to hold nothing back! He can't do that! Hari-san is (cheerfulkindhomeprotecthim) a civilian! He's...he's fragile, and Naruto doesn't want to hurt the man. Despite his bravado he knows he's not quite an awesome ninja yet, but he's still more than an average civilian can handle.

Still, when Hari-san cracks open one eye to send him a reassuring grin and insistently says, "Come on kid, I'm just trying to test something," (and Naruto hopes he's not trying to test how quickly Naruto can accidentally break a bone, because that's Not Okay), Naruto reluctantly falls into his best taijutsu stance and lunges forward (gently). Only to stumble and nearly fall as he overbalances from hitting nothing but air. He looks up, confused.

Hari-san is a few feet from him, eyes tightly shut, a look of concentration on his face. He again opens one eye, raising an eyebrow and sending Naruto a challenging smile. And Naruto feels an answering grin alight on his face, because hell yes, it's on. Naruto dives forward again, faster this time, though no less carefully because he doesn't actually want to hurt the green-eyed man.

Only, his care goes out the window a few minutes in because Hari-san is good. Naruto doesn't exactly know how good (he's got little experience in measuring such things), but the man dodges all his hits with ease, not a motion wasted, and Naruto figures he should be frustrated, but all he can think of is the time he passed the Inuzuka compound one afternoon and Kiba was sparring with one of his older clansmen as they playfully danced around him, and is this what it's like to have a family-

In a moment of distraction he overreaches and trips, but suddenly Hari-san's in his space, an arm reaching out to halt his falling form and-well, he flinches away. He feels like he hits the ground harder than he should have, the thump strangely loud in the quiet area, but he can barely hear it over the pounding of his heart as he stares up at Hari-san, whose hand is still outstretched toward him.

The man's expression is still frozen in worry and surprise, but Naruto literally sees as he crumples in on himself, his eyes darkening with hurt and regret and something like self loathing and then those edges are tucked away behind placid green and he begins to retract his hand, and Naruto did thisbut he didn't mean to-He's frozen, blue eyes staring at green that won't quite meet his gaze, and then Hari-san is stepping back from him, carefully but quickly.

Shit.

Before he can think on it, he's diving forward, his head colliding with the other man's sternum even as he wraps his arms around him in a desperate hug, though it turns into more of a tackle than a conventional hug, the two of them toppling to the ground. He feels Hari-san stiffen beneath him, but he doesn't move because. Because he-

"It wasn't 'cause of you, you stupid jerk," he mumbles into the man's shirt. Hari-san stays motionless for a moment, then he breathes out slowly and arms come up to wrap around Naruto's shoulders. They lay there for a good few minutes, just breathing together, and Naruto really doesn't want to break this calm silence, but he needs to explain, so Hari-san never looks like that again. It was just-the situation had been so familiar, and not in a good way.

"At the academy," he begins quietly, "I get held back for detention sometimes by Batu-sensei, because my taijutsu isn't so good." He's a bit embarrassed to admit this, because if Hari-san finds out he's the stupididiotfooldeadlast then he might leave Naruto for someone useful, but Hari-san's not like that (of course), and just carefully begins rubbing his back. (Naruto still breathes a sigh of relief.)

"I skip those detentions now." he says quietly, carefully, because when he'd tried to tell both Iruka-sensei and Hokage-jiji about this, they'd interrupted before he could tell them why, and he hadn't had the desire (desire, courage, strength, because this was a sort of test that they both failed) to bring it up again. But Hari-san just hums, and Naruto feels himself relax.

"I skip those detentions," he says more strongly, "Because they're not…" he bites his lip. They're not helpful? What he expected? They scare him? "I don't think they're fair." He takes a breath and curses himself when his breath hitches, because he knows Hari-san notices, and the hand on his back stops moving and becomes a bracing weight (and he doesn't feel trapped, somehow, just...comfortable).

"I thought maybe the sparing would help me, but it...doesn't feel like proper sparring?" He says haltingly, and Hari-san doesn't feel like he's breathing. "It just-whenever I mess up and Batu-sensei gets past my defenses, he hits me hard." He pauses, "Or when I mess up a stance. Or when I set a leaf on fire."

Hari-san hasn't said anything, and Naruto's getting a little nervous, so he begins to babble. "I mean, I know I should go to detentions because it's the rules, and, uh-" A terrifying thought occurs to him. What if Hari-san thinks this makes him weak? Hastily, he says, "I know ninjas are supposed to hit each other, it's really not that big of a deal, but I just wanted to explain because you looked, uh…" Great, and now he's insulting the man. This is going terribly, and Hari-san is still silent, so Naruto allows his sentence to trail off awkwardly, and begins to pull himself out of the hug. Only, Hari-san's arms tighten around his shoulders.

He cranes his neck as far as he can, but all he can see is the underside of the man's jaw, which...looks a bit tense, from the very little he knows about the undersides of jaws. "Hari-san?" He prods, a little nervously. Hari-san huffs a breath out of his nose, and strangely heated air rushes over the back of Naruto's neck. "Hari-san?" he asks, a bit more insistently, struggling a bit.

The arms around him loosen slightly, but the man says, "Hold on, Naruto," his voice a bland calm. "I'd appreciate it if you could stay there for just a moment longer, because otherwise I'm probably going to get up from here and set your sensei on fire."

Aaaand Naruto isn't sure how to feel about that bombshell, so he settles for feeling a bit touched on the inside, but gears himself up for a visible freak out (because otherwise, how will Hari-san know that this behavior isn't okay?). He attempts to sit up, and Hari-san's arms tighten for a moment before allowing it. At first he removes himself from the other man's legs, though he remains pressed against his side, but then, looking down into Hari-san's angry eyes, he decides to slump across the man's stomach instead. He hears a quiet, "Oof," and decides that that's sign enough that Hari-san is suitably restrained. Then he proceeds to have his freakout.

"What the hell, Hari-san!" He sputters, ignoring the quiet murmur of, 'Language,' beneath him. "You can't kill Batu-sensei!" There's a huff of laughter beneath him, and he sits up again to look Hari-san in the eye. The man doesn't seem to be taking this seriously enough, so he repeats himself, firmly stating, "You can't kill Batu-sensei."

Hari-san sighs and rolls onto his side, bring Naruto down with him, and Naruto squawks in indignant protest as he's clutched to the man's chest. "But Naruto, I was only going to set him on fire," the man honest to god whines like a child, and Naruto struggles and turns so that he's glaring up at the man, one cheek still pressed to his chest.

"No." He says firmly, wondering if he needs to get a newspaper to swat Hari-san's nose like he's seen Hana-san do for the Inuzuka dogs. That would be a little ridiculous, but Hari-san is being a little ridiculous, so he's sure he could make it work.

Hari-san laughs and buries his face in Naruto's hair and murmurs, "Okay," with a smile in his voice (even though Naruto can hear the anger tucked away behind it), and they remain there for a few minutes, Naruto listening to the soothing rumble in Hari-san's chest.

oOo

Eventually they get up, and Hari-san does teach him the moving meditation thing. Apparently it's less of an exercise for chakra control, and more of an exercise for syncing up physical and spiritual energies? Naruto doesn't really get it, but when he tries the leaf exercise again, it doesn't burst into flames (though it does get a little burnt looking around the edges), which is more progress than he's ever made. Like...ever.

He'll pass for sure this time, and he's sure to tell Hari-san this as he leaves, running out the door after eating dinner at the green-eyed man's place.

He doesn't know why Hari-san looks so sad when he turns around to wave.

7. April 63 ME

His face is blank with surprise, mouth hanging slightly open. His clones look similarly shocked, and pop as soon as he stops focusing on them. Mizuki has a strange expression on his face, an odd mixture of unpleasant surprise and bubbling fury (he may try to hide it, but Naruto's had his number ever since the man tried to unfix the taijutsu stances Hari-san had worked so hard to help him with), and Iruka-sensei looks prouder than Naruto's ever seen him.

"Can you repeat that, Iruka-sensei?" He says, a grin beginning to form on his face.

Iruka gives him a gentle smile, pride dimming to pure, simple joy, and says, "I said, you passed, Naruto. Congratulations."

Naruto's grin is so wide that it hurts his face. He jumps up, fist pumping in the air, and screeches, "Dattebayo!" Iruka's wincing at the volume, Mizuki looks like he's sucking on a lemon, and Naruto doesn't even care because he did it! He's finally done it! He accepts his hitai-ate with a solemn dignity and ties it around his forehead. He's ready to yell it out to the world (to let his village know that, despite their animosity, he's shown that he's skilled enough to become whatever he sets his mind to), but then he realizes, there's one person he wants to hear this first, from him.

He thanks Iruka, tackling the man with a hug, which he seems surprised by, but returns readily enough. Mizuki looks like he'd sooner stab himself with a kunai than sully himself with Naruto's brand of affection, so Naruto just sends the man a smug expression, one eye shut as he sticks out his tongue, then runs out of the room (he wouldn't wanna hug that mangy old fox anyway).

He is, for once, happy to have a name so low in the alphabet, because it means the room is practically clear when he comes charging out. The only ones there are Ino, who offers him a sincere congratulations and a sneer (he'll never understand girls), and a couple of other civilian-born kids he doesn't know, who just glare at him.

He quickly makes his way out of the academy (ignoring the pang in his heart as he sees other kids getting hugged by their parents, 'cause he's got places to be and someone to see) and sets out running down the street. He ignores the sneers, the glares, the hate, and the indifference pointed his way, 'cause they just bounce off his goddamn hitai-ate because he did it.

He's sweaty and panting by the time he reaches Hari-san's restaurant, and for once he doesn't even pause as he goes for the door. He bursts in, the bells above his head chiming merrily, and he ignores the stares he gets, because this is a good day.

"Hari-san," He bellows, nearly tripping over his own feet as he scrambles up to the man behind the bar. Hari-san turns to him with a smile. And Naruto pauses.

"Hello Naruto." He says warmly enough, but...something's wrong. His eyes are-they're dull, maybe? Naruto's used to them sparkling like gems, but this, this is strange. Hari-san doesn't look okay. Naruto's not completely sure how to describe it, (Hari-san looks like Naruto looks when he sits on his swing and watches other kids get picked up by their families. He looks like Naruto looks when he sits alone in his dark apartment because he hasn't eaten today and the electricity's out and no one cares) but he knows that Hari-san should never look like this, and he'll do his best to fix it. He's going to put his awesome news to the back of his mind, because Hari-san needs him.

So, Naruto clambers gracelessly up onto a barstool, lessens his smile from its blinding state to something a bit more manageable, and says snootily, "Bartender, I would like some of your finest-" He glances over the menu (like he doesn't know it like the back of his hand), "Macaroni and cheese." He twiddles an imaginary mustache, his most comical devious look on his face.

Hari-san's painfully brittle smile twitches into something slightly more real, and his eyes look a little more there than they did, and Naruto counts this as a partial success but he's not done yet. Hari-san hums, almost a quiet laugh, turns from him, and heads for the kitchen to get his food, so Naruto spins idly on the stool until the man returns with the materials.

See, Hari-san has a kitchen in the back, but he also has a kitchen out here in the front where he sometimes makes food, and watches the bar. Naruto knows that, usually if he's here, Hari-san will cook out front. He also knows that he always sees Hari-san relax when the man cooks, and when Naruto talks to him (Hari-san's the only one he's ever met that actually enjoys his voice for long, and he's not quite sure why, but if it makes the man happy more power to him). Why not do both at the same time?

So, Naruto talks. He talks, and talks, and talks some more, chattering on and on about anything that comes to mind (though not his special news yet, because he has to wait until the perfect time to share that). He lets his mouth run, eyes focused on Hari-san, and watches as the man slowly relaxes, shoulders untensing, smile broadening, and eyes beginning to sparkle (just like they always should).

He has to stop once he gets his food, of course, because otherwise Hari-san will give him that stern look and say, "Don't talk with your mouth full," and then his eyes will go distant and sad (if only for a moment), and that's exactly the opposite of what Naruto wants. So. He talks between bites.

Hari-san is leaning on the bar in front of him, one elbow settled on wood as the other idly runs a dishrag along the bar. Green eyes are focused on him, on now, and a gentle smile is playing across his face, and this is what Naruto wanted. Hari-san, just as he always should be. He allows a large smile to stretch across his face, because his work here is done.

So he finishes off his mac n' cheese in a gigantic bite (his puffed out cheeks make Hari-san laugh), finishes off his story ("And Kiba nearly peed himself when his mom came up behind us."), gives Hari-san a hearty goodbye hug (and maybe holds on a bit tighter than he otherwise would), and strolls out the door.

He quickly scales the wall of a neighboring building, and ignores the door opening at Hari-san's building somewhere beneath him, as well as the drunken voices wondering where he's gone. He decides to take the scenic, rooftop route to his home this evening.

It's not till he gets there and realizes that he could give himself a high five if solid clones were a thing that he remembers he never told Hari-san about his successful graduation.

oOo

He doesn't sit in his house sulking for a couple of hours. Really, he doesn't! He just...contemplates life for a while. In a blanket cocoon. It's fine.

He's not thinking about Hari-san. He's not thinking about all those families he saw this afternoon. He's not thinking about how his classmates are probably celebrating with their families, how he wishes that that could be him-he scrubs a wrist angrily across his face, wiping the tears off onto his blanket. He'll just tell Hari-san tomorrow. It doesn't matter when he tells him, just that he's the first one to hear it come from Naruto's mouth. Though Naruto's not sure why it matters so much to him. It's not like Hari-san's his dad or anything. Though...if he were to have a dad, he wishes-

A knock on his door jerks him from this train of thought (thankfully), and he sticks his head out of his cocoon equally curious and terrified. No one comes here. No one other than the masks even knows he's here. Did they figure it out? Is his door about to be busted down (again)?

He leaps off his bed, stumbling on the dismount as he attempts to gather up his most important things. He frowns angrily, even as his breath quickens, because...this had become home to him. He'd settled, and he curses himself for it, because he should've know that nothing good in life ever lasts for him.

It's almost funny that a year ago he probably would've gathered a couple of containers of ramen and the clothes on his back and run, but now he finds himself spending precious seconds deliberating over small things that Hari-san has bought him, his favorite jacket, the warmest blanket he's ever owned, his headband-he's halfway out the window when he hears the voice through the door. "Naruto? It's me, are you in?"

And...oh. That's-it's just Hari-san. Naruto breathes out a sigh of relief, and allows the few things he's gathered to fall from his arms. He stumbles slightly, adrenaline leaving him light headed as he heads toward the door, calling a soft, "Be right there," though he's not sure Hari-san heard him.

He opens the door carefully, and he's met with Hari-san's grinning face, the man looking even more there than he'd been when when Naruto left. But then Hari-san's grin fades and his eyes harden. "Are you alright?" He asks, glancing sharply around at what little he can see of Naruto's apartment, and Naruto has...no idea why?

"Yes?" He answers cautiously, wondering why the man would think otherwise-oh shit, his eyes are probably red, aren't they? Well, the more he ignores it, the more it'll go away, so he does just that, plastering a small grin on his face. Hari-san gives him a thorough look over, even while the man continues to glance around, and Naruto is...sorta flattered that the man cares, honestly. "Really, I'm fine!" he insists, pulling on a larger grin to reassure the man, and after a moment, Hari-san's tense shoulders relax again and his smile returns.

He lifts a paper bag that Naruto didn't even notice from the ground, and holds it out like an offering. Naruto looks from it to the man in question, and Hari-san says, "Well, Mac n' Cheese isn't really a very filling meal, so I was wondering if you'd like to learn how to make your favorite food from scratch?" And hell yes, he's very much on board with that. Naruto's eyes fill with glee, and he yanks the black haired man into his apartment (carefully), to learn how to make the food of the gods.

It's not really that complex of a process (which is even better because now he can make ramen pretty easily?), but that's probably because Hari-san handles most of the actual cooking. Naruto only has to mince some green onions, cut the chicken, and then basically watch as Hari-san walks him through the rest of the recipe. At one point Naruto goes to toss a piece of boiled egg at Hari-san, then the man actually catches it in his mouth and that's probably the coolest thing Naruto's seen all day.

Upon completion of the food, the pair go out to Naruto's living room floor to eat (because although Naruto used to have a dining room table, it had 4 sides and with only 1 of him he felt the loneliness keenly). They eat until their bellies are full (a novel concept for Naruto, honestly), then lounge on Naruto's favorite rug, and Naruto basks in the comfort that he feels with Hari-san's presence, the feeling of not feeling like he needs to say anything.

Then Hari-san sits up and Naruto glances at the man, looking up at him curiously with eyes half lidded from a full stomach and contentment, and the man's giving him this oddly serious and sheepish look. "Hey," he says (and Naruto very carefully doesn't say 'Hay is for horses,' because this seems like it might be serious), "I'd like to apologize for earlier." Naruto tilts his head to the side in a wordless question, because he can't think of a single thing that Hari-san has done at any point that requires an apology (well, other than that time he tricked Naruto into eating vegetables, because Naruto has recently found out that despite their succulent flavor and beautiful orange color, carrots are in fact a vegetable).

Hari-san's expression becomes solemn, and Naruto almost raises an eyebrow. "I-" Hari-san begins, then takes a deep breath, and Naruto sits up and focuses his full attention on the man, because the deep furrow of his brow and the grim slash of his mouth are rueful and pained. "Today just isn't a good day for me," he says, then his eyes darken and he looks at Naruto apologetically, "But I shouldn't have taken that out on you."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Naruto almost snorts. "Hari-san, you didn't 'take anything out' on me." He says skeptically (because he knows what it's like to have people 'take things out' on him, and it usually involves a lot more broken bottles and sneers). Hari-san opens his mouth to speak, but Naruto interrupts him with an unimpressed brow. "Hari-san, you were hurting. The only one you took anything out on was yourself." He says with emphasis (then pauses to go back over that sentence, because...can you take things out on yourself? A strange thought to be sure).

"The worst thing you've done today is try to deal with that all by yourself." He crosses his arms over his chest as wide green eyes look at him like they've never seen him before, and he almost scoffs. "You know I'm here for you, as best as I can be. You're my-" he pauses slightly (because what is Hari-san to him?), but finishes without a hitch, "friend, so if I can help you I will." Blue eyes meet green and he adds a firm, "Dattebayo." Just on principle.

Hari-san's staring at him, and he's hoping that he hasn't overstepped any invisible boundaries, but this is something that he won't budge on. This is really important, and if Naruto's able to rely on Hari-san then Hari-san has to be able to rely on him. Then Hari-san's hugging him, whispering, "Thank you, Naruto," and Naruto murmurs, "You're welcome, Hari-san," and they stay like that for a while.

Eventually they part, and Hari-san turns to the side to wipe tears from his eyes while Naruto carefully looks away, and Hari-san stands and heads for the kitchen. Naruto follows him, and they clean up the little bit of mess that remains from their cooking dinner (because Hari-san subscribes to the 'clean as you go' school of thought, and there's little left by way of dishes or food to clean up).

Naruto sees Harry out sometime after midnight. They're on his doorstep, and Naruto offers to walk Harry home, but the older man just laughs him off. Then he hugs him one last time, whispers, "Congratulations on your graduation." And he's gone.

Naruto's grin stretches across his entire face as he falls asleep that night.

8. May 63 ME

Sasuke is such a bastard!" Naruto declares as he bursts through the apartment door, nearly barrelling over Poff in his indignity (though he shuts the door gently behind him, because Hari-san hates slamming doors). "I mean, really," he says loudly, "What crawled up his broody ass and died?" He scoops up Poff, petting her head gently even as he wanders into the kitchen to grab a cup of orange juice, and stomps over to throw himself onto Hari-san's ridiculously comfy couch.

He sits there for a moment, righteously indignant, and waits for Hari-san to ask him what Sasuke's done this time, just like he has when Naruto came home complaining about his teammates every day for the last 2 weeks, his smile indulgent and amused. But the inquiry doesn't come, and he pulls himself from his righteous rage, concerned. At first he's a little scared (has he complained too much? Is Hari-san finally sick and tired of his whining? He knew he should've toned it down, the man must hate him), but...Hari-san doesn't look angry, or even annoyed.

Hari-san hasn't turned from the window, staring out it as he rests his chin on his hands, legs tucked to his chest. "Hari-san?" Naruto asks quietly, and the man hums absently but says nothing more. His eyes are distant and unfocused, glazed green orbs idly watching the sun set over Konoha's red-tiled roofs, his mouth flicking into a small frown every few moments. Poff meows mournfully from Naruto's arms, and Naruto pats her gently, uneasy. "Hari-san, are you alright?" He asks, louder, and the man's head whips around, startled.

"Oh, Naruto! I-Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," he stutters, unwinding his legs and beginning to stand, but Poff leaps from Naruto's arms and settles herself on the man's lap with a quiet mew. Something...something is off, here. The man's eyes are still kind of glazed, as though he's looking at Naruto through a film of water, not sure whether he's really seeing him, or maybe a reflection of something else.

"Would you like something to eat, or uh, something to drink, maybe?" Naruto glances at the cup of orange juice in his hand, then back up to Hari-san, just in time to see the man make an odd sweeping motion with his hand. Poff reaches her paw up with a quiet meow, and gently pats the outstretched hand. He looks down at her and says, "No I wasn't, I-" then pauses to glance back up at Naruto, who is starting to get really concerned. Hari-san drops his hand awkwardly and pats at Poff's back blindly.

"Hari-san, seriously, are you okay?" Naruto says, leaning forward and setting his juice down on a coaster.

"Yeah, it's fine. I mean, I'm fine, I'm okay." The man fumbles, and Naruto cocks his head, perturbed, but Hari-san just gives him an unsteady smile and says, "Really, I'm alright." He runs a shaking hand through his hair and musters up a slightly better smile. "Did you come here just to hang out, or did you want to tell me something?"

Naruto looks the man up and down for a moment. He's pale and his fingers are twitching and his smile looks fixed on his face. Naruto's not completely sure what's caused this, but he figures that if he doesn't quite know what's wrong, the best thing to do may be to ignore the elephant in the room. If Hari-san gets any worse though, he's taking the man to the hospital, despite his fear of the place.

Thus determined, he slouches back into the plush couch in a carefully constructed show of care-free body language (Iruka-sensei was talking about infiltration in class the other day and this is the kind of thing he was showing them; it's actually pretty cool), and says, "Yeah, I wanted to talk about that bastard Sasuke!"

"Language," Hari-san says (though it seems more like habit than actual care), and Naruto's lower lip slips out in a slight pout. Hari-san raises an eyebrow. Naruto raises a brow of his own. Hari-san raises his other eyebrow as well and Naruto, unable to do the same despite literal weeks of practice, concedes defeat.

"Fine," Naruto mumbles, "I wanted to talk to you about that jerk Sasuke." Hari-san nods, a slight, distracted smile on his lips as he sips his tea...that Naruto was certain he didn't have a moment ago?

"So, what did he do this time?" The man asks, and Hari-san's mysterious tea is momentarily forgotten as Naruto swells up again in indignant anger.

"So the bas-" Hari-san blinks at him, "Jerk and I were sparring, and I got a hit on him, and I was all, 'Oh, I think you might have a bit of a weakness on your left side,' like, trying to be helpful, right? And you know what he said?" Hari-san blinks mildly at him over his tea and shakes his head. "He said, 'Hn. Dobe.'" Naruto deepens his voice slightly and turns his nose up in the air to properly demonstrate. "Like, what a jerk, right?" He declares.

Hari-san blinks at him again, a distant smile curling the edges of his lips as he sips his tea. "Of course," he murmurs.

Naruto frowns. "Hari-san, are you...are you even listening to me?" He asks, because he's gotten that same kind of answer from Hokage-jiji and Iruka-sensei all the time when he starts ranting about ramen or becoming the Hokage or his favorite shade of orange, and neither of them ever were, but Hari-san is usually different. This must be one of his "bad days" as the man had called them once when Naruto came upon him shivering alone in his kitchen.

Hari-san blinks at him again, his expression sort of pole-axed, like he's deep underwater and he doesn't quite know up from down, then stares down into his cup, like it holds the secrets of the universe. "I'm listening, really." Hari-san then says, surprisingly. "Just...remembering my own team."

"You were a ninja, Hari-san?" Naruto inquires, excited despite himself.

"No, not quite." The man answers absently, turning the tea cup this way and that, "But I did have a team, much like yours." For a moment he wants to ask what happened to them, where they are now, but then Naruto sees the sad set of his mouth and his slumped shoulders, and decides against it. "They were my family." He adds, probably aiming for nonchalance, but shuttered eyes say differently.

"We were, well...we didn't start out that way, of course. In the beginning she was too bossy, he was too blind, I was too naive, and we were all too young. We didn't get along all the time, and the two of them argued almost constantly." He smiles fondly, a small, broken thing, "But they were my brother and sister, treasures of my heart, and I grew to love them dearly."

The man doesn't have tears in his eyes, but something about him is...fractured. It's like Naruto's seeing him for the first time again, maybe seeing pieces missing where he thought there was a whole. "I hope you find something like that in your team." the man abruptly says (Naruto almost wrinkles his nose because brothers? With Sasuke the bastard? Gross), narrowed eyes staring down into his teacup. "You'll need-you'll need loyalty. People who will stay by your side, through everything. People you can rely on."

One of his hands raises to rub at the bridge of his nose, eyes still focused intently on the inside of the teacup, and Naruto wonders whether or not he should do something, because Hari-san seems kind of sick. Maybe he's feverish, delusional?

"Because, fireling," Hari-san continues, listing slightly sideways (alarmed, Naruto reaches out to catch him, but he rights himself), "You're going to need that in your future."

"I, uh, I am?" Naruto says as he stands, honestly more focused on how Hari-san's hands have become shaky, and his forehead sweaty than on what the man's saying.

"Ar bith, éisteacht, lasair beag!" Hari-san says insistently, and Naruto tips his head to the side, even as he rounds the table, because...was that a different language? "Please," Harry says, suddenly desperate, hunching his shoulders, and even though his eyes are literally unfocused, looking at something that Naruto can't see, and Naruto is really fucking worried about him right now, he listens, because something is telling him that this is important, "Fireling, you must get on with your team. You must find your weyr."

"My-my way?" Naruto stutters distractedly, his hand fluttering uselessly before he eventually settles one on Hari-san's forehead. The man is clammy and his forehead is too warm, and Naruto doesn't know what to do. The teacup drops from Hari-san's hands as a violent tremor shakes them, and Naruto only manages to catch it before it hits the coffee table because he's standing right next to the man.

"Y-your," Hari-san begins, then unfocused eyes glance around the room blindly, "Do theaghlach," he says, then shakes his head in frustration, and says, "Your family."

Naruto pauses (and doesn't tell Hari-san that he's his family, the only family he's ever had and more than he ever thought he'd get), then murmurs, "Hari-san, I'm gonna get you a blanket and head out, okay? I think maybe you should get some sleep." And as soon he's out the door, Naruto's going straight to Jiji for help.

"No, no, táim ceart go leor." The man pauses, then growls in frustration and says, "I mean, I'm fine. Please stay, I really wanted you here today." Hari-san says as Naruto grabs the blanket that hangs off the back of the couch. When Naruto doesn't respond, focused on retrieving the blanket without moving Hari-san or Poff, the man says, "I mean, if you're busy that's okay too, I just-" And Naruto can't have that, so he cuts the man off by tossing a blanket onto his head, then settling on the floor next to the couch as Hari-san removes it.

"I'm happy to stay, Hari-san," Naruto says with forced cheer as the man uncovers both himself and a melancholy Poff, startled green eyes finally really focusing on blue for the first time today, "But I think you should get some sleep all the same. Don't worry," he adds as Poff hops up from Hari-san's lap to sit on the back of the couch, "Poff and I'll both be here when you wake up, kay?" Hari-san gives him a look that's somewhere between blank and pleased, and he doesn't protest as he turns and stretches himself along the couch. Poff migrates to curl up on his back, and soon his breathing steadies out.

And now Naruto has a moment to think.

He sits silently in a sort of shock. What the hell just happened? Hari-san is obviously sick, has a fever and everything (and Naruto's happy that he's never gotten sick like this before). But, even while delirious, the man had seemed really concerned, about Naruto of all things (Hari-san has this weird thing where he just...never worries about himself, and that makes Naruto Very Concerned).

For a moment, Naruto is overcome with the certainty that he caused this sickness, that he and his selfish, constant complaining about his team had literally caused Hari-san's illness.

Then he realizes that that's not physically possible, and forces himself to calm down before he wakes Hari-san up, because the man has a sort of 6th sense for figuring out when something's wrong with him. Proving his point, Hari-san shuffles a bit, huffing in his sleep, and a hand reaches down to settle comfortingly in Naruto's hair. Naruto's tense shoulders relax slightly, and he sighs and leans back.

Naruto doesn't know why Hari-san's sick, and he doesn't know how to fix it. He doesn't really have any experience with sickness, never having been sick himself, but he figures that, for now, he can just stay here and make sure Hari-san doesn't, like...smother in his sleep or something, and bring the man, uh...chicken noodle soup? ...he'll figure something out.

Still, he can't get Hari-san's words out of his head. Hari-san told him that he had to find his family, that he could find companionship in his team. He'd almost like to say that the man's being ridiculous, that he doesn't know what he's talking about, but...he can almost (almost) see it, okay?

Dogmask guy is back in his life, even if he's there as a perverted lazy sensei who never shows up to anything on time. He and Sasuke are both orphans, both lost, both searching. He and Sakura are both reaching for an unattainable goal. These things they share, these are the beginnings of bonds. He knows this already, even if Hari-san had said nothing.

But Kakashi isn't like dogmask guy at all, he laughs at Naruto's failures and doesn't help him when he asks for it and sometimes Naruto wonders if maybe they're not the same person at all. Sakura and he may be aiming for their goals, but she whinges and whines for what she wants while he's fighting with everything he has. And sure, Sasuke may be an orphan too, but he's had everything handed to him on a silver platter, and he still manages to come down on Naruto with the same animosity as everyone else.

And honestly, somewhere deep inside him, Naruto hates. He hates Kakashi for leaving him, then coming back as someone else. He hates Sakura for her disdain and abuses. He hates Sasuke for glaring down at him from his lofty pedestal. He hates and it burns him up inside.

And then Hari-san's hand is moving through his hair in a slow stroke. "Sin ceart go leor, fireling," The man says quietly, "mar is féidir liom a dhó do bheirt againn." And Naruto doesn't understand the words, but he feels himself calma bit at the reassuring tone all the same. He takes a deep breath and leans back into Hari-san's hand, and waits until the man's breathing is soft and Poff's quiet purrs are permeating the room again. Then he makes his decision.

Hari-san has never asked him for anything, not once, and even now that he has, it's only for Naruto's own good. Naruto would hang the moon and the stars for him, if he could, but all he's asked is that Naruto get along with his team, that Naruto try to be happy.

So yeah, he thinks as he yawns and leans into Hari-san's couch to wait until the man awakens, he'll work on it.

oOo

Next week after team training (after Sasuke has already stalked off and Sakura has trailed along after him like a lovestruck puppy), Naruto asks Kakashi if he can speak to him for a second. The man's one eye gives him an indeterminable look over the top of his pervy book, but he shrugs and puts it away in his flak jacket, giving Naruto his full attention for the first time in months, and Naruto's almost unhappy for it, because the book was sort of like a barrier between 'Kakashi' and 'Dogmask guy' and now he knows that they're one in the same.

"Look," he says, running a hand through his hair as he breathes out a gusty sigh, "Did I do something wrong?" He asks, unsure how to ask his real question (why is he acting this way, where's the man Naruto grew up with, why did he leave him behind). Kakashi cocks his head at him, eye glinting with amusement. Naruto can almost see him about to say something snarky, so he levels him with a serious look. Kakashi stares at him, seeming almost confused. Like he doesn't know what's going on.

Naruto almost rolls his eyes. "Inu," he whines plaintively (hopefully), just like he always did when the man would bring him vegetables instead of ramen (even though he was always thankful just to get something instead of nothing), but instead of the chuckle he's used to, Kakashi gives him a sharp, suspicious look. It feels like it spears him through.

Kakashi prowls forward, laziness forgotten, and crouches in front of him so that their eyes are level, and Naruto finds out that the man actually has two eyes, though one is red with black tomoe that spin slowly around his pupil. Something in him flinches at that, so he focuses solely on Kakashi's left eye. "Why do you call me that?" The man says lowly. And Naruto thinks, "Because you have the same voice and the same hair. Because you have the same body language. Because you both smell of dogs and lightning and regret and hurt and devotion, and because you're my family and you've forgotten me."

But instead of all that, he simply says (lies), "You have the same chakra."

Kakashi stares at him for a moment, and he begins to doubt himself. No doubt that the men are the same, of course, but maybe...well, Inu left. Kakashi came, but Inu left, and maybe he meant to keep it that way. Maybe-Naruto knows what the Anbu are, what they do. Maybe he was just a job for Inu. Maybe, even though Inu had been important to him, he hadn't been quite as important to Inu.

So, he raises an eyebrow at Kakashi and says in the most obnoxious voice that he can muster (in the most normal voice he can manage even though Inu doesn't like him anymore), "Unless you're just fucking him?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and smiles until he feels like his face might break. And Kakashi just stares for another moment. Then his eyes crinkle in a smile.

"Language," He says, (and Naruto's getting pretty sick of people trying to correct his fricking language) "I'm not fucking Inu." He says matter-of-factly, then stands, posture lazy once again. He pulls his book out of his flak jacket, and turns to walk away. And Naruto can't just let it go like that, not now, not when he's so close to-

"Why did you leave?" Naruto asks, so quietly that he's not sure whether he wants and answer or not.

Kakashi pauses, turns, and says just as quietly, "Because I couldn't stay."

And Naruto wants to complain, wants to rage about how unfair this is, wants to reach out to Inu and grab on and not let go so that the man can't leave him again, but he doesn't, because he can't risk it. "Inu-" he says, unsure of what he wants to say, but he has a feeling he has to say it now, or he's going to lose his chance, "Don't...don't forget about me, okay?" He finishes lamely. That...that's not exactly what he meant, but it's the best he can do.

The man looks at him, then crouches crouches again so they're level. "I'll make you a deal," the man says near-silently, "I promise I won't forget about you, and you'll do your best to become the Hokage." Naruto nods and acts like these words don't sting like nettles. "And, when you do become Hokage, you can be the one telling me where to go, alright?" the man finishes.

And Naruto understands, he thinks. The man didn't want to go, he had to go. Inu may have had to leave, but Kakashi is doing his best to stay. And that's all that Naruto can really ask for, at least until he's the one telling people what to do. He nods, and Kakashi stands, and pats him gently on the head.

"I am Kakashi." He says, more loudly this time, a question in one dark gray eye. Naruto gives him a small smile, real and bright, and places his hand on the one in his hair for a brief moment, then pushes it away and pretends to meticulously fix any strands that may be out of place. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei, that was all I needed. You and your hair ruining hands can go away now." he says, mockingly snooty.

Kakashi raises a brow. Then he rolls his eyes, and in the same moment, ruffles Naruto's hair so hard his headband falls over his eyes. "Hey!" Naruto yelps, but when he fixes his hitai-ate, Kakashi's already gone. But that's alright, because this time, he's not gone forever.

oOo

A few days later, in the hours of silence before Kakashi arrives (because Sasuke had made it very clear, very quickly that Sakura should never bother him during allotted training time), Naruto takes a moment to have a bit of a talk with Sakura

"Ano...Sakura-san," He says, hoping that the different form of address will get her attention, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" She turns to him, suspicion in her green eyes (green eyes that will never be as bright as Hari-san's, Naruto idly notes), and even Sasuke pauses in his angst routine long enough to give him a skeptical glance.

"What?" She asks, rude but receptive enough.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm planning on changing my behavior." He says easily, as though his insides aren't squirming with anxiety.

"What do you mean?" She replies, eyes narrowing.

"I mean, I'm going to stop pursuing you in a romantic way." He clarifies cheerfully, and she begins to glare at him.

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for you now?" She snarls. Naruto actually catches a sympathetic glance from Sasuke, and he backs away slightly, palms raised in surrender because he will never understand girls (he's honestly not sure why he was fixated on her in the first place. It was probably because she's pretty, and there's something in his memories about a beautiful, angry woman with bright hair who would've hung the sun and the moon for him, so he sees Sakura and he yearns).

"I thought you'd prefer it if I didn't bug you anymore!" He says plaintively, now backpedalling in earnest as she stomps toward him, "Plus, it's not completely about you," Naruto says quickly, his mind flashing through solutions to get out of this without lumps on his head or a black eye.

She pauses in her pursuit. "Clarify." She demands angrily.

Taking the chance he's been given, Naruto quickly explains, "Well, we're real ninja now, right?" She nods, rolling her eyes. "We're genin and everything, so I just think it would be good to be more, y'know, professional." She nods again, more slowly this time, her brow furrowing thoughtfully, and he internally sighs with relief. "Also, Iruka-sensei says that romantic relationships in genin teams don't usually work out, or at least the one in his didn't. It apparently brought their team a lot of bad tension and stuff, so..." he trails off, hoping that she'll understand and not try to pummel him into the ground for a reason he doesn't understand.

Fortunately, Sakura nods again, as though she's actually contemplating his words. Then she glances in Sasuke's direction thoughtfully (not blushing when she finds him staring at the two of them, which is a first), and walks over to sit in front of one of the training posts. Naruto pretends he doesn't see the appreciative look the angst machine sends him.

And speaking of the broody bastard, Naruto should probably make his peace with him as well.

So he walks up to him and holds out a hand. Sasuke looks at his face, then his hand, then back again, and even though the expression is its usual broody blankness, Naruto can almost hear his question. "Look," he sighs, "I'm gonna level with you. You're an asshole." Sasuke frowns darkly and opens his mouth, but before he can speak Naruto cuts him off. "You ignore me and Sakura, you brood about 95% of the time, and your rays of dark emotion could probably block out the sun if you tried hard enough.

"Despite that," He says as Sasuke opens his mouth, once again before Sasuke can speak, "I honestly look forward to working with you." Sasuke's mouth just about clicks shut, brows furrowing in confusion. "I admire your skills in taijutsu and ninjutsu," he says, somehow managing to not make it sound like the words are being ripped out of him, "you're damn fun to work with when you're not being a jerk, you're strong in some areas that Sakura-san and I aren't, and I really think our team could be something great if we all manage to work together, like Kakashi-sensei's taught us."

Sasuke is unmoving in front of him, something vulnerable and raw in his eyes, and Naruto's hand is beginning to feel a little awkward, so he flexes his fingers and says, "So shake my hand, you bastard, and let's work more on killing the other guys than each other, okay?" Black eyes stare into determined blue, and slowly, Sasuke reaches out and shakes Naruto's hand, and Naruto thinks that maybe, just maybe, they can pull this off.

Then Sasuke begins to look smug and says, "Hn. I am stronger than you."

Naruto clenches his hand on reflex, and Sasuke clenches his as well. "I said in some areas, you ass. My chakra control is way better than yours is." (Because moving meditation was something that Hari-san gave him to improve his chakra control. There was no way he was gonna do any less than his very best.) Sasuke's smug look falls, blue eyes glare into black, and their handshake grips tighten to bruising force.

Then Sakura stomps over and, seemingly on autopilot, smacks Narutoon the back of the head, then smacks Sasuke on the back of the head. Both she and Sasuke look so surprised that Naruto just cracks up, falling to the ground with laughter, and he can feel Inu's chakra nearby so he looks up to see Kakashi in a tree with his book, his uncovered eye shining in amusement, and Naruto thinks that maybe this team will work out.

For Hari-san, he can make it work.

oOoooOoooOo

So that's that! Thanks for all the support I've gotten, I've appreciated each and every one of your lovely reviews. If I didn't respond to you, know that it was literally only because I thought I already responded to you, and I'm sorry if I didn't :((.

One more thing, if anyone wants to continue guessing Harry's animagus form, please do so XD, I promise a prize in the form of 1. A minor OC to be included in the fic, 2. A possible scenario of your choosing appearing in the fic (bc I'm literally making these up based on a vague plot and a word randomizer and whatever comes to mind), or 3. A brief oneshot. The oneshot doesn't even have to be in this fandom; we can talk about it if anyone guesses and wants ;D.

I'll see you all for the next chapter, it'll be another Harry pov one where we finally get to understand just what the fuck was hip happenin' this chapter!

(also does anyone wanna beta for me bc that would be fucking dope)