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Notes:

Look, a spooky Halloween update! Its no trick, I assure you. Just a fun little treat in the middle of the week.

Enjoy!

Chapter Four – Distance Traveled

Posted October 21, 2018 … Revised February 2, 2019

Harry jolted awake and was confronted with a jumbled mess of thoughts and ideas in his head.

Too many things would spring forth before falling to the back of his mind just to let the next thought take over. It took a few moments to sort through everything and Harry had not even gotten the chance to open his eyes.

Once he did, the first thing that Harry realized was what had caused to wake up in the first place.

There was an odd sensation deep in his chest that the teen could not properly describe. It was like a type of pressure that was pushing right down the center of his sternum. The muscles on his back in the same spot were also tensed up. The longer he laid there, thinking about the feeling, Harry noticed how it was beginning to become a bit painful as though he was being constantly pinched from the inside.

It was confusing and uncomfortable, but it was bearable for now.

Letting the ache fall to the back of his mind, Harry finally opened his eyes as he sat up. He gave a lazy stretch of his arms and back as he looked around to see his surroundings bathed in a beautiful, yellow morning light.

The sight of dense the trees, bushes, and wild life did not seem so intimidating now that it was not all covered in the darkness of night. Gazing upon all of it finally clued Harry in and reminded him of just where he was and how he got to be here.

After a deep yawn and ruffling his hair to wake up a bit, Harry then gave a weary sigh as he tried to mentally prepare himself for the day. There was so much that needed to get done and he had no idea where to even start.

The best bet, he supposed, would be to finally reach the nearest town. There were too many reasons why it would be a good idea to do that as fast as possible.

Hopefully Sasuke would be able to help guide him there. Or at least point him in a specific direction if he decided to not travel with Harry. The thought of the other male finally had Harry scrambling for his glasses near his pillow and putting them on before he looked around the small area, trying to spot him.

Sasuke was nowhere in sight and suddenly, Harry felt worried.

He was not sure if the feeling came from being alone or if he was concerned for the others safety.

Either way, Harry finally scrambled to stand up from the warm bedroll. He walked around the small clearing to see if there was a clue as to where Sasuke might have gone while he had been sleeping.

Finding no clue as to where he might have gone, Harry kicked a small rock in irritation as he turned to walked back to the campfire.

He was just about to sit upon the log when the strange sensation from before came back. It bloomed outward from the center of Harry's chest and became worse as it quickly spread throughout the rest of his torso from neck and belly.

It was such a startling feeling that Harry felt himself physically jerk at the sensation and he stumbled to a knee as he clutched the front of his over sized shirt. A gasp escaped from his mouth as well and Harry felt himself struggle to take in a breath to replace what he had just exhaled. His other knee came down then to meet the first and Harry bent over, trying to ease the pain as he let his forehead touch the dirt.

It was not that he could not take in any air – his throat felt fine – but it was the intense pain from his chest that had Harry subconsciously holding his breath as he tried to wait out the feeling. He rocked his head from side to side, digging into the ground as he let his eyes fall shut and teeth clench tight.

Not seeming to let up any time soon, all Harry was able to do to alleviate the pain somewhat was to finally fall onto his side and curl up as he let his back touch the bark of the log.

The pain was not so much like being scrapped or even being stabbed but was more like a burning feeling that lay just underneath his skin as though it was surrounding his heart. The organ seemed to be pumping even faster throughout it all as Harry continued to pant and suffer alone in the middle of the forest.

He had no idea where Sasuke had run off to, but the young raven almost felt like crying now.

Lost and alone in some place that he had never been to, Harry had no one to help him as he felt like he was about to die.

Suddenly, the pain lessened.

It was not by a whole lot, but it was enough to be noticed right away. Harry finally uncurled from his fetal position in the dirt and was able to sit up, leaning back against the log and letting his head fall back to rest on it as well.

He continued to pant as he tried to catch his breath and come to terms with what he just went through. Harry stared at nothing above him as he moved a hand up to touch his chest where the pain had been the greatest and left it there as he tried to calm down.

When it became a little bit more bearable but still uncomfortable, Harry gave one last deep sigh.

Waiting it out for a few more moments to be sure that it would not rush back, Harry took slower calming breaths as he looked around him at all the greenery. Once he felt that enough time had passed, and the pain would not return, Harry finally moved away from the support of the log to sit upright on his own.

He looked down at his hands to see that they were shaking a bit from the left over affects of whatever had just happened.

Harry was not sure if it was the adrenaline or something else. Either way, he frowned at the appendages as though he could blame them for what had just happened to him.

Leaves suddenly rusted nearby, jostling Harry out of his thoughts and forcing him to quickly stand and face the noise. A brief flash of lightheadedness passed through him from the fast movement, but it faded soon enough, letting Harry prepare for whatever danger might be near him.

Harry went to grab his wand from his back pocket before he could, the figure of Sasuke finally made his way through the foliage. He appeared to be lost in thought as he carried another few rabbits in hand.

When he finally spotted Harry standing there, swaying a bit, he quickly moved forward and grabbed ahold of Harry's upper arm, dropping the rabbits in the process.

About to tell him off for invading personal space, Harry stopped himself when he realized that he was tilting a bit and he was suddenly very thankful for the support as Sasuke then slowly lowered Harry onto the log. Sasuke followed the younger raven down and crouched just in front of the log so that they were at a similar eye level.

"What is wrong."

Harry tried his best to explain what he had just went through, seeing no reason to lie to the other male. It did not seem like something that he should keep to himself.

It was also something that should be shared with the other male in case it happened again and Sasuke was there to see if happen.

The more he talked about it however, Harry realized that he no longer felt any of the pain. It all had completely vanished and so had the dull ache that had felt constant even when there had been no searing pain. It was like the past few minutes since he woke up had not been complete hell for Harry.

Saying as much to Sasuke, the older raven gave a narrow eyed look as though he did not believe the other. Harry tried to argue that he was alright now and when he was able to stand on his own and walk around a bit, showing no signs of what he had just went through, Sasuke finally let it go.

Instead, he then gestured to the few rabbits that he caught, and they once again had them for breakfast. Not as starving as he had been the night before, Harry found himself not eating as much of the meat.

Sasuke noticed the lack of eating and gave a tilted eyebrow in question.

"I'm just not that hungry."

"You still hurt?"

"I thought I said that I'm not hurting anymore."

"You are not eating."

Harry pursed his lips in response and looked down as he clenched his hands atop his knees. Sasuke was wrong in thinking that Harry's lack of hunger was a physical after affect, but the episode still worried Harry. He had never felt anything like that before and as he sat there in front of the burning fire that had cooked their meal, his thoughts had him recalling the spell that had sent him here and to Sasuke in the first place.

It was the only thing that Harry could think of that was recent and could be connected to the pain he had felt.

Having no idea what spell those Death Eater's had uttered, Harry had no chance of figuring out what had been cast on him and what it was supposed to do.

Now that he thought about it, Harry realized that the spell had sent his aunt and cousin away and the three attackers had been surprised by that. They had not been confused, but more as though such a thing had been a burden that could have been avoided.

Those thoughts did nothing to help Harry understand his situation any better, but at least it was a start.

Being sent away like what had happened to him was a possibility of the spell. But what about when the victim landed. What then?

Sasuke suddenly stood up from his seat on the log next to Harry.

The teen jerked in surprise at the motion and let his stick of rabbit fall into the dirt as he looked up to the other raven. Sasuke was looking straight ahead, through the dense trees as he gripped his cloak, pulling it closer to himself.

"What, what's going on? What are you doing?" Harry asked as he tried to look through the trees where the other was staring.

"Shh. Wait here."

"What is going on." Harry demanded, wanting to know what caused the other to look alert and serious so quickly.

"Someone is out there. My trap went off." Sasuke then turned to Harry, showing off his red eye once again, "I will check and you stay."

"Hey, I could help! You don't know what I can do."

Instead of verbally answering, Sasuke instead gave Harry a look over as he clearly said with his face that he saw no weapon on Harry and thus assumed that he could not, in fact, help. Harry's cheeks flushed a bit at that, knowing that he could not exactly say that he had a magic wand to help him and instead gave a huff as he folded his arms across his chest.

Then again, he could use his magic if he wanted. It's not like Sasuke is not familiar with the odd seeing as his eyes change to look like something that Harry had never seen in his life. He bit his lip in consideration but before he could even voice the option, he turned back to see Sasuke give a slight smirk at the sight of Harry accepting the situation and then dashed off into the forest.

Harry was surprised at the speed at which the other left the small clearing and he then he witnessed Sasuke leap from the ground onto a tree branch that had to at least be three times taller than the other male.

When Sasuke was no longer in sight, Harry was left sitting on the log, staring at the now dying fire pit.

There was definitely something strange about Sasuke and what he could do. Maybe it was magic in some way that was not familiar to Europe or at least Hogwarts. Maybe he should confront the other about it. Perhaps trying to be subtle would be the best approach at least to see if there is some kind of magical connection.

The stick of rabbit had been on the ground was now forgotten as the teen became lost in his thoughts as he waited for the other to return. Sasuke had not said when he would come back, and Harry had no idea what he should do in the meantime.

Deciding to take the moment to come up with a plan, Harry began forming a loose idea on what he should try to get done sometime soon.

He should ask Sasuke for directions to the nearest town or city. From there, hopefully he would be able to determine where he was and could try to find directions to the nearest magical community. It seemed like it would be his best bet to get back to England. Preferring not to but deciding to use it to his advantage if need be, Harry could try pulling the "Harry Potter" card and getting help from people who know him as the boy who lived.

Hopefully whoever was able to help him would not know too much about recent news with him saying that Voldemort had returned. Too many people still feared that monster and thought it best to believe he was and would always be dead.

Or better yet, perhaps Harry could find someone who did in fact believe Harry when he had said that Voldemort had returned. Then perhaps they would be even more willing to help Harry find his way back to England so that he could do something get rid of him once more.

Just when the raven haired teen was beginning to feel a bit optimistic, holding out hope for his luck turning for the better, the ache in his chest and back returned. Soon afterwards, it bled to irritation and then finally burning pain.

Building up quicker than previously, Harry was left gasping and choking as he clutched his chest once more. He slid off the log and wound up leaning against it as he tried to quell the agony of feeling his upper body twist and tense up from the abnormal sensations.

Hoping to distract himself a bit, Harry tried looking up at the canopy of leaves above.

Seeing the blue sky peeking out from between the green, swaying leaves, as well as the occasional bird, the young teen was left panting and sweating as the pain kept growing worse and worse. Tunnel vision even appeared more than once as he felt his eyes rapidly flutter and try to focus his sight.

Harry had no clue as to what was causing the torture he was feeling, and he did not like it one bit.

He truly felt like he was dying, the pain was too much. And even if he could not die from whatever he was undergoing, it was the second worse feeling he had ever experienced, right after being hit by the Cruciatus Curse from Voldemort himself.

Eyes squeezed shut at a particularly harsh wave of pain flared across his entire body and a few tears finally escaped from his eyes and slid down the sides of his eyes to his temples and eventually hiding away in his hair.

The young wizard had no idea what was happening to him and it was truly worrisome.

Finally, the agony seemed to disappear once more. It was far too slow in Harry's opinion as it seemed to decline at an unhurried pace as opposed to how sudden it had crashed upon Harry in the first place.

Either way, it was almost completely gone by the time Sasuke's form was recognizable from a few meters away. His presence was a bit hidden from the shade that the bunches of trees provided, but Harry could still spot the neutral look on his face. He lips seemed even more pursed than usual and once he finally got closer, Harry was greeted to Sasuke's normal eye narrowed almost to a slit as he looked over Harry from where he was a few paces away.

"Come," he finally said in a finality type of tone as he moved forward towards Harry, "we are leaving now." Harry allowed a moment of shock to fill his head as he realized that Sasuke did not sound out of breath even though he had clearly been running for a good few minutes both to and back from wherever he had gone.

"And where is that?" Harry asked as he lightly panted a bit as he tried to gather back his strength from what he had just gone through.

"To the nearest village. You are seeing a healer."

"What? Why? I'm perfectly fine," Harry said through the last few gasps of breath as he tried to regain his sight and wobbly legs.

"Do not lie. I can see you are in pain. So, we are seeing healer and other person for your, um, you say problem."

"Problem?"

"To go home. I take you to the village and you find a way back. But after healer."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said as he looked down at his feet and bit his lip. Of course, that was what he wanted but for some reason, Harry did not want to leave the other man just yet. Harry was definitely crazy for even letting the thought stay in his head, but he could not help it.

There were plenty of reasons why he should not stay with a man like Sasuke and yet, something in the back of his mind kept telling him to stay close. Just for a little bit longer at least.

Such a thought was hard to ignore, but Harry was good at that kind of thing. Knowing that the other man was correct, Harry then gave a sigh of acceptance and he nodded his head.

It was time that Harry start trying to find a way back home.

But like Sasuke said, healer first.

.

.

Not long after Sasuke's announcement and Harry's reluctant agreement, the two quickly took care of the small camp sight.

Packing the bedroll, dousing the fire and scattering the rocks, and finally sweeping a bit of forest debris back to cover where the bed had previously been, the two made the clearing look as though two people had not been eating rabbit even a few moments ago.

Sasuke was adamant about such a thing and though Harry had been confused and tried to ask for a reasoning, Sasuke just said that it was a common thing to do for those who lived around here.

Harry was not sure if he believed those words, but he let it slide knowing that they both had their own secrets and odd reasons for the things they did.

Once the job was taken care of, the two were easily able to leave and head off seeing as they had very little supplies to carry. Harry himself simply had the clothes on his back, his glasses, and his precious wand. Sasuke appeared to have nothing as well but seeing as he was able to pack up an entire bedroll and store it somewhere within his cloak, Harry assumed that he had quite a bit of equipment.

Harry even tried to offer to carry some of the weight once that thought had sprung forth but Sasuke quite eagerly said that he did not need nor want any help with what he had.

Backing off a bit after such a brief and stinging conversation, the two of them fell into silence not too long into their trek.

It was a bit of an uncomfortable time as the silence stretched between them but after a while, Harry began to appreciate it. It was nice to not have to worry about keeping conversation going as well as not having to constantly lie to hide magic.

With the opportunity available to him now, Harry took the time to sink into his thoughts once more.

The most important thing that he felt needed to be addressed so far was to find another witch or wizard. Their population was significantly smaller than the muggle population, but Harry knew that he needed to hold out hope that there would be at least one magical person once they reached whatever town they were heading for.

Even if it would turn out to not be the case, Harry was still eager to reach their destination to get a better idea of where he exactly where he was relative to England. Sasuke had not been very helpful in that regard even though Harry knew he had tried his best to explain the general layout of where they were.

Another idea that kept creeping forth was just how and why he had wound up there in the middle of the woods, so close to Sasuke. There was the chance of it being a coincidence, but in Harry's personal experience, that word held no meaning.

If the older man had not been there, then Harry would have truly been lost and alone. He would have had no help at all and might have come across the 'enemy' that Sasuke had went out to confront earlier. It could have definitely turned out to be a different situation, and possibly a more dangerous one at that.

The reminder of the something or someone that had triggered one of Sasuke's traps had him pausing in his walking.

Sasuke had gone out and had come back not even a few minutes later, looking the same and not even out of breath. He never once spoke about what he had done and if there had been any danger or problem.

Noticing that Harry was no longer following behind him, Sasuke finally stopped as well to turn to face the younger raven.

Finally breaking the silence once he noticed that Sasuke certainly would not be, Harry spoke first. It was a bit startling to hear his own voice after they had been walking in silence for a while now but he wanted to say what was on his mind.

"What did you do back there?"

"Where?"

"Back in the clearing. You somehow knew people were around even though I didn't see or hear anything. You said a trap of yours went off and you left to check it out."

"Yes, I did."

"Well it doesn't make sense to me," Harry said in a bit of a forceful tone as he stubbornly crossed his arms. "You supposedly realize this when I didn't. You go off jumping onto a freaking tree that was just way too high, and then you come back not even five minutes later looking like you just took a stroll through a garden! What happened out there?"

"It does not matter. Took care of it."

"Yes, it does matter! I know we're still sort of strangers since it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since we met, but I'm still here. If my safety was at risk at some point, I would like to know. What if our places had been the other way around?"

"It is not the other way around."

"I know that! But just think about what if. Please."

Silence fell over them again. Harry was still feeling a bit of his anger at being kept in the dark but as a few moments went by, he felt himself cool down. He stared Sasuke in the eye the whole time and even though he always appeared to look indifferent to anything that was said, the other raven seemed to look a bit irritated as well.

"If you must know," Sasuke finally said in a clipped tone, "I checked a trap and saw a wild boar caught. I was waiting for other thing so I let it go."

"Will you say what you were expecting then?"

"Enemies."

"Yeah, about that. I think there's a translation error. I think you mean something like a dangerous animal or creature. When you say enemy like that, I assume you mean a human. You know, like a person that is trying to catch you or even kill you."

"Yes."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, person enemy. There is no 'translation error'. I making sure that there are no people following us."

"But, but who would be after me? I just got here. Are they're going after you? But what have you done?"

Sasuke finally glared outright at those words. It was quite intimidating though Harry felt as though Snape, and as much as he would hate to say it, Umbridge, held a stronger gaze whenever they gave such a look. Instead, Harry raised his arms in a casual surrender and even physically took a step back to show that he was not trying to pry too much.

Sasuke still seemed displeased with where the conversation had gone as he swiftly turned back around and began walking once more. He did not appear to hold back this time and as he began to briskly walk through the dense forest, Harry found himself jogging to keep up with Sasuke's large strides.

"Hey, wait up! Okay, I'm sorry. Jeeze, if you're angry at something I said, you can just say something, ya know. You don't have to be all moody. And use words once in a while for goodness sakes!"

Sasuke did not reply and simply continued to walk farther and farther into the wilderness.

Even with the other male trying to get away from him, Harry could reluctantly admit that it was impressive to see Sasuke move so easily across the uneven terrain. Harry had been struggling with almost every step he took to keep up. The two constantly moved up and down the shallow hills and valleys of the forest floor and Harry was left panting while Sasuke continued to step without a sound.

Harry found himself dodging the occasional low hanging branches in front of him, and even then, he would not spot some in time and would wind up getting quite the sting on his forehead. He would have to sidestep the large rocks and small bushes that were scattered all around and he would even have to waste a bit of time walking around large bushes if he could not simply walk over them.

Small tree saplings seemed to grow everywhere, and the teen was surprised to realize that those were the worst things because they were small enough to seem insignificant but if he tripped over one, his shins would tingle from the tough bark or the sharp little branches.

Having never had to travel on foot like this, let alone while in the middle of a forest like he currently was, Harry was a bit miserable already.

There was no way that he could have foreseen this in anyway. Yet, here he was now, having to walk like this in the least comforting clothes and shoes, in the company of someone who was practically a mute, and still having no clue as to where he was in the entire world.

Fate just loved to mess with Harry's life it would seem.

End Chapter Four

Notes:

This one was a bit shorter, but I felt that this was a good place to stop.

Let me know what you think and if you have questions let me know! But also know that I might not be able to answer some of them for spoiler reasons.

Chapter Three Review Replies:

Creatus O' Spiritus – I'm glad you like the pacing! I hope to feel it like this for the rest of the story and not really jump from one scene to the next so quickly. As for their relationship that is another pacing thing that I hope I can pull off. Let me know what you think about chapter four and if it worked or not. Sasuke already has a bit of an idea that Harry's not from around here but it will be fully addressed at one point. As for you Sharingan question, I can't answer those yet. Spoilers! Thank you so much for your review, your questions, and just kind review!

Justanidiot213 – Thank you for liking it so far and thanks for understating that other things are a bit higher up on my list right now. I do plan to focus wholly on this someday so don't worry. I really don't plan on leaving this any time soon. But you're right, I will be taking my time and probably wont post chapter five for a while.

Thunder18 – Thanks!

Dark Neko 4000 – That's actually a fun idea that I had not thought of. Hmm, maybe they will!

Caliban Super Saiyan 0 – This is post chapter 699 of the Naruto manga. Definitely not during the Boruto series.

Epiphany – Well it makes my day that you're liking this more and more! And of course, I replied to you. You're a wonderful reviewer and I will always want to talk to you!

Ahb369 – No worries about not seeing the translations. :) And thank you for liking how I am pacing this and trying to keep it 'natural'. And the language thing took some time to think about but I kind of like it. There are totally some holes in the logic and it was a bit too easy, but I didn't want the barrier there for too long. Thank you again for the review and kind words.

Ms. meow1968 – Glad you like it so far! I really wanted the age dynamic to be close-ish and I really wanted Sasuke to be the older of the two. I agree that Harry will be an interesting development in this story. Well, at least I hope I can write it that way.

Dragonc825 – Lol, you got it! Harry came here with practically nothing. The invisibility cloak would have been nice to have and you're right, it's his family heirloom, but I didn't think it would be realistic for Harry to be carrying it around in his pocket while working at the Dursley's. I wanted him to be surprised what he got hit and sent away. Maybe he'll get it back later. ;) And you're thoughts about the Sharingan… spoilers!

Crystalinowl – Well thanks for thinking this story is interesting so far! And thank you for the alert and review.

Kat1316 – Thank you! And I'm not sure about the POV change. I did want this to be all from Harry, but I don't know. If I so use Sasuke however, it will be sporadic and not half and half between the two of them.

Milkazen – Well I'm happy that you like this so much and were excited for the update. And thank you for liking how I used the Sharingan.

TheBeauty – I completely agree with you. It was all very easy, and I realize this. There are so many holes in the choice and you're questions about concepts like figuring out the meaning of the word 'should'. But I thought that it would be a bit creative to have Sasuke use his ability and not have Harry know some type of translation spell when he is only 15 (almost 16) years old. It was a large stretch, but I went with it because I wanted to do something a bit different. I think I also sort of glossed over the whole thing a bit because I wanted the barrier to be a bit of a challenge, but I did not want to turn a few chapters or even the whole story into 'Harry teaches English so Sasuke while they figure each other out.' Still, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. If not, I understand completely. :)

Weasel-tan – Lol, you mean that I had Sasuke use the Sharingan to learn to talk to Harry in English? I suppose you're right though. The Uchiha's were geniuses.

Fangtasia – Well if you want to give an idea, I will gladly hear it out. Though I am still working out this story, somethings are set in stone. But a twist in the story sounds fun!

UseFistNotMouth – I agree with you on the character focused thing. I can enjoy a novelty story though if the plot or story is just pure fun. Thanks for saying that you see potential in this and I hope I can deliver! I have a few ideas for some scenarios and tropes, so I hope you'll like some of those as well. :)

Nagishino – You like the writing, the plot, and the pace? Wow, thanks for such nice words! I hope this can be an amazing story as well since I have an amazing reviewer like you!

Synchronicity911 – Lol, really? Maybe I need to go back and brush up on the story a bit. That's cool though if it's true and such a fun coincidence.