Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Summary: On the brink of death, Harry is transported to Hidden Leaf Village. As he lives on reluctantly, he will soon discover he is fated to be drawn to another mass murderer – Uchiha Itachi. HP Naruto Crossover

Warning: This story will contain spoilers from Naruto and Harry Potter so if you don't like spoilers don't read this story. Also, some facts may be different from the original plot and characters might behave differently from their original natures but that is how I need them in order to write my fanfic so again if you don't like it refrain from reading it. The genre is Drama/Hurt/Comfort, Harry is emotionally hurt. In this fic, Harry may behave emotional and depressed (but not throughout entire storyline) so think carefully before you write something to you don't like my fic please read something else but if you have constructive criticism for me do go ahead and enlighten me. Lastly, there might be some future violence or coarse language. You have been warned!

Chapter 1: Through the Gates of Fire

"There were two prophesized lost souls coexisting in same world yet either must die at the hand of the other for neither could live while the other survived; one chose the path of destruction driven by madness, and the other chose the path of destruction driven by responsibility."

"Fawkes?"

Harry's voice was nothing but a mere whisper to the bird that just landed beside him.

"I… did it… ha… ha…"

Everything was so quiet around him as he lay beside a pile of smoking ashes. The only sound he was able to hear was the burning of the mentioned ashes; however, he was too tired to even care. Blood seeping from his torn robe indicated there were some hidden injuries Harry might had taken during the last battle and it could result in his death - but once more, Harry was too tired to even care.

Voldemort was dead but so was his spirit. Glory of this moment came with too great price; everyone he had cared for had died. With memories of the many faces of those that loved him, the temptation of death seemed irresistible, fading his will to survive. Fawkes could cure him but only physically. Deep inside Harry, his fire, his will to live - the main core of the life source - was dying out and Fawkes could not bring the fire back to life. The immortal bird was exhausted, and needed some time to regain his power in order to reach inside Harry to pull the child back from the deep despair. However, Harry did not have that time.

My dear child. Came a soft but strong voice through Harry's mind.

I did it… Harry chanted the sentence again like it was some kind of mantra using their link like a hypnotized person.

I can only heal you so much. I don't have enough power to reach out to you. Fawkes said regrettably.

No problem... I don't mind actually… Maybe it is for the best. Said Harry resignedly.

You must continue living. You must continue to survive Fawkes said as though he was scolding a child for his silliness.

… Why? Asked Harry defiantly after a small pause.

Because it is not your time yet Fawkes said in an all-knowing voice.

I don't care anymore. Voldemort is dead. I have done my job. Don't I deserve some peace with the people who care about me? Besides even if the Ministry finds me in time to treat my wounds, where is the guarantee that they won't kill me at this spot where I am injured and powerless? Or who knows? They might just chuck me into the deepest part of Azkaban for the rest of my life!! Said Harry spitefully.

Harry… Fawkes called his name as though pleading with him.

They are afraid of me Fawkes. I am not as naïve as they think me to be, believing that wizarding community only love and hail Harry Potter as Oh-the-great-boy-who-lived. With great power come many horrible things: fear, jealousy, betrayal, and above all, isolation. When people are afraid of something especially something that they don't understand, they will try to eliminate the source whenever they have the chance, and I would say right about now is that chance. Said Harry exasperatedly.

But even as Harry said this he really did not care. Some people might think the situation sorrowful but death meant he got to see everyone he missed dearly. He could not commit suicide. No, because so many have thrown away their lives to just to save him - he had to live. However, if the Ministry killed him that was good in a way – it wasn't suicide since that was out of his control, right?

Child…

It was the unspoken truth and Fawkes knew it as well.

He could not leave his dear child with those treacherous creatures, they would surely kill him; if not right now then later for sure. He could transport Harry to the muggle world, but he doubted Harry would like it; the muggle world held just as many bad memories as the wizarding world held.

He could transport Harry to the haven for phoenixes and maybe Harry might have a chance to live…. But eventually the wizarding world would find out; sooner or later they'd track Harry down, which could result in another war. In the worst-case scenario – a war between wizards and phoenixes - Fawkes doubted that Harry's mental stability could take on the toll of another war. Another war of wizarding kind would surely break Harry's mind and spirit by bringing back countless dreadful memories.

Then I shall see none of that! No one will harm my child of fire! Fawkes finally said in powerful roar as though defending Harry from an upcoming threat.

Don't. I don't want to see you hurt too. Came Harry's sad voice.

You won't. Fawkes said in so assured a voice that it started to scare Harry.

What do you mean? Harry asked, a small bit of fear heard in his voice.

I will send you to the land of fire and entrust you to my distant brothers and sisters. The land is far and completely unreachable by any creatures other than those marked by the spirit of fire…

With that thought, flames sparked around the immortal bird and soon it engulfed the helpless 17-year-old boy. The flame that engulfed Harry did not hurt him. The only thing that gave him pain of was the burning sensation of the wand in his hand as it was engulfed in the similar flame. Yet for some reason, Harry could not let go of the wand.

No!! With that last pitiful scream, Harry disappeared with the ferocious flame.

Let the guardian of fire nurture and protect you… my beloved child…

The only evidence that Harry Potter was once lying on the spot were the remaining ashes, which went flying away with wind.

"Hokage-sama!! The Southern Fire Shrine in Uchiha district is on fire!! And it seems as though it is chakra induced fire!"

The Cat masked ANBU who suddenly appeared in front of the 3rd Hokage stated in a such an urgent manner that he even forgot to pay proper respect before informing the great Shinobi leader of such news.

"What?!"

The old man was finishing his paperwork - the curse of the Hokage - was surprised to hear such news. The Uchiha district had been abandoned for about 5 years now and the sole survivor of Uchiha massacre was in the Land of Waves for a mission with Kakashi and his teammates, therefore any relation of this fire and Uchiha Sasuke seemed very slim. Did Uchiha Itachi come back to retrieve or destroy something in the Uchiha compound? Unlikely, though it was still a possibility.

Another plausible theory was an enemy infiltration to obtain secrets of Uchiha. Even after all these years since their massacre, the Uchiha clan still held many secrets hidden in their old buildings which were being uncovered and guarded heavily only by Hokage's most trusted ANBU teams. The theory of enemy infiltration was unlikely as well but not impossible; and with that thought, Sarutobi stood up from his seat and ordered ANBU, who were well hidden from sight to guard him, to gather more teams of ANBU and head for Uchiha district's Southern Fire Shrine.

"Tenzo you and your team follow me. Arashi, you assemble the other teams as fast as you can and meet us at the shrine. The rest prepare for possible enemy infiltration. Do not let this slip to the villagers for this could disturb the small peace we have obtained and bring back fear. Everyone move out!"

With that powerful command everyone in the small confined space of the Hokage's office dispersed within seconds. As Sarutobi led the way to the shrine, many thoughts of possible causes to current problem were crossing his mind, but nothing seemed to strike him as likely.

There were few shrines in old Uchiha district, but among them the Southern Fire Shrine was unique in its own way. The shrine's sole purpose was to house Suzaku, the legendary firebird said to guard the constellation of south but other than that this shrine held nothing special - no hidden secrets, histories, jutsus, treasures, or anything of value. The shrine was more of a symbol of the old belief that the presence of the shrine will protect the village. Not many people knew about this nowadays - thus destroying such a shrine would not bring any of the fear of a bad omen among the villagers that it once would have.

Sure there was also the possibility of natural causes - no matter how ridiculous chakra-induced natural fire sounded - but it was unlikely since for ANBU, who monitored Uchiha district, the job description of protecting the village included regular safety inspections for fire hazards as well.

But then who would want to set the shrine on fire? For what purpose? The old man decided that he would figure out eventually whether he liked the outcome or not. When he reached the burning shrine, he was greeted by one of his ANBU captains at the scene.

"Hokage-sama."

"Report."

"From our knowledge, the fire is at least 15 minutes old. The source of the fire is unknown. Although there is a slim chance of someone inside the building, we are not sure if anyone is in that shrine for we cannot put out the fire nor can we enter flames of such magnitude. By the characteristics of a fire such as this - way it is burning, the color and our inability to put it out - we suspect it is chakra-induced fire. Whoever is responsible used a powerful jutsu."

Indeed, when Sarutobi observed the fire, it was much redder and vibrant, as though it was alive, in colour. Also, there was this powerful aura radiating from the fire, indicating that the shrine's fire was no ordinary fire. But the most noticeable characteristic was that the fire wasn't spreading any farther from its spot; even the flame that was burning on the tree branch near the shrine was not getting any bigger or smaller; it just sat on the branch and burned still, as though it was just taking a break.

This is bizarre, Sarutobi thought. If this was truly – and currently it seemed to be- chakra-induced fire that meant someone had intentionally set the shrine on fire; but then why was the fire contained like this and not spreading all over the place?

"What the?!"

Suddenly, something screeched. Something that sounded like an eagle, though its voice carried more power and authority, screeched as though it was dying in the burning of fire. Everyone who was present near the shrine either covered their ears or winced from the high-pitched noise. And soon the sound subsided along with the flames. Among all that commotion, Sarutobi could have sworn that he saw the fire suddenly form the shape of a bird and move its wings as though it was taking off from the core of the fire into the sky before it dispersed back into the flames.

Soon after the seething screech, the flames died down and what was once believed to be Suzaku's nest was nothing but a pile of ashes. There weren't any burnt pieces of wood or charcoal left to indicate the arson; all that remained in the shrine's location were grey ashes, which started to fly away with the lift from the wind.

It must have been some powerful jutsu to instill a fire of such magnitude. Sarutobi thought.

The elderly man approached the ashes and started to examine the scene. Nothing caught his attention until he heard small weak cough coming from the pile of ashes. Did he hear it wrong? No he definitely wasn't since other ANBU around him tensed at the sound as well.

"Hokage-sama."

The referred Hokage gave a nod of permission to Tenzo, one of his most trusted ANBU, to move with caution. And with caution Tenzo did move with while he approached suspected location for the source of the cough.

Everyone around the shrine witnessing the scene held their breath and remained still, as if fearful that their slight movement will bring doom onto this world. A few more coughs came and a pile of ashes crumbled down more revealing a lump of black to the people around the ruin. When Tenzo finally reached the black lump in question, he stared at it for a moment then suddenly bent down next to it as though he was startled and cleared the rest of the ashes off to expose a body.

"He seems seriously injured and is barely breathing." Urgency was evident in Tenzo's voice.

At Tenzo's word, the Hokage and the others gathered around the new stranger to analyze the situation more closely. Sarutobi looked at the mysterious comer who seemed to be in his mid-teens. The young man had messy ebony hair that was hardly covering a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He was wearing a tattered black cloth that Sarutobi did not recognize seeing in all his life of wisdom and knowledge, despite his many travels.

However, the most alarming thing at the moment was that the young man seemed to have sustained some nasty cuts and bruises; he could also see through the tattered and torn cloth where the teenager was bleeding heavily. The boy's right hand, which was badly burned, was gripping what seemed to be a burnt stick. The whole situation did not make any sense to anyone at the scene. The teen was unconscious and breathing weakly so he was not in any condition to talk or explain himself anytime soon.

"What should we do Hokage-sama?" One of the ANBU who was also a trained medic nin asked the elderly man.

"Treat him as best as you can here and move him to the hospital to finish his treatment but keep it quiet. Only let Dr. Mihara or Dr. Sasaki and their staff know and treat him." The Hokage answered calmly and as soon as he had finished the sentence, the medic nin promptly went to do his work.

Dr. Mihara and Dr. Sasaki were one of few veteran doctors who were in charge of the Leaf Hospital and who had experience with injured enemies from the past wars; they knew how to treat the injury to the point of survival but not complete healing. They also knew how to keep information protected from the other staffs if the situation was called for.

Yes, the stranger would be treated no matter the possibility of being an enemy spy. They could not let the stranger succumb to his dying fate when they could save his life - and if the stranger died then they will never get a chance to hear his explanation of the situation. While the old man was justifying himself for his decision, the medic nin finished his first aid treatments on the boy and started to carry him toward the hospital.

Sarutobi made a long silent sigh. The Chuunin Exam would be coming up soon and there were so much to do in terms of the village's security, and this sudden appearance of a stranger in middle of the forbidden and heavily guarded district did not make his job any easier.

My power is at its limits. I am sorry that I cannot take you straight to my kin Harry. But my brothers and sisters will find you

No!! I am done!! I did my job!! I served my purpose!! I don't want to go to a different place to start this all over again!! Shouted Harry.

This is a different world, where the prophesy of a child who has the power to vanquish the dark lord does not exist. You will have a different purpose in life, which you will have to search for. Live a life you choose and decide your own destiny in this new world. Goodbye my child, may the spirit of fire give you the guidance to reach the right destination. Came a gentle voice of the firebird.

Fawkes!! Harry was screaming. He did not want this. No, He Did Not Want This.

The mysterious boy was having nightmares again. He was in the hospital, unconscious for the past 3 days, and from the reports Sarutobi had received, the boy seemed to have what looked to be a nightmare very frequently, but no one could wake him up. Sarutobi has been visiting the boy everyday ever since he found the boy, but this was the first time he actually saw the boy suffering from his night terrors. The teen was tossing and turning - hindering his healing of the injuries and moaning as though someone was suffocating him; whether the moaning came from the wounds he was reopening or from the nightmare was unknown.

Another mystery of this newcomer came from his burnt right hand. The boy was obviously in the shrine while it was consumed by that intense fire and yet the only burn injury was on his right hand, while the most devastating injuries came from some kind of weapon or physically inflicted injury. There were no other burn injuries on the exterior of his body, and from such an intense fire, it was not uncommon to burn one's airway or even some lung tissues but nothing!

Also, everyone at the hospital was sure that the boy suffered 3rd degree burns on his right hand thus announced it was not repairable, but the next day, when one of the nurses had checked his burned hand while changing the bandages, the poor nurse almost had a heart attack. The black charcoal coloured hand was almost healed to the healthy pinkish colour of new skin. The only thing indicating that the boy had burned his hand at all was a scar on his palm that looked like he had been holding a hot metal rod.

There was another concerning matter for Sarutobi. The boy reminded him of someone. During his visits to the hospital, the aura boy gave off while he remained unconscious reminded him of Uchiha Itachi. Why? He did not know at the moment; the teen's current immobile state did not offer a chance to talk.

Just then the stranger started to gasp for an air while mumbling something.

"No… No… No…" came a pleading weak voice.

Sarutobi felt something akin to guilt for a reason he could not comprehend. He walked up to where the teen was struggling then grabed the flinching right hand and stroked in a soothing manner. Soon an amazing thing happened: the boy stopped his tossing and turning. The child still moaned but in different manner as he stirred himself to wakefulness. The boy groggily half opened his eyes, which revealed beautiful yet haunted emerald shades. He seemed confused as well as barely holding onto his consciousness.

"Are you alright young man?" Hokage cautiously asked with a worry-filled voice.

One of ANBU who was behind Sarutobi left the room to alert the doctors but the boy did not seem to notice. Harry looked at Sarutobi with still half lidded eyes. To the old man, Harry seemed like a hypnotized person with his hazy hollow eyes.

"Professor?" said Harry in a weak but hopeful voice.

"Pardon?" Sarutobi was a bit startled. Is the boy from this village? No, they already checked this more than a dozen times and there was no record of this teen. Then why was the boy referring him by his nickname? Or was the boy just mistaking him for someone else?

'No, it wasn't one of the professors who found me.' Harry thought.

Even without the fact that all the professors who cared about him were dead, the magical aura this man had was too similar and powerful to be anyone else than Albus Dumbledore. Through the blurred vision caused by his lack of glasses and confused mind from fatigue Harry muttered one word before he could think twice.

"Headmaster?" Harry asked again, but this time more hopefully.

'Oh! Maybe I'm finally in heaven.' thought Harry.

"I… did it…" Harry sounded like a small child who was trying to earn a praise from his parents.

Sarutobi seemed a little worried at the state the boy was in but the curiosity got the better of him.

"Did what?" The Third was a bit ashamed for taking advantage of the situation but he justified it by having to know for the sake of the village's safety.

"I… killed him." Harry said proudly with a weak but innocent smile on his face.

Oh they will be so proud of him. After all, that is what everyone wanted out of him all his life wasn't it? Harry was so happy that he accomplished his duty.

However, in contrast to Harry, Sarutobi was surprised. He frowned a bit at the piece of the information that the boy had killed someone yet the teen seemed proud all the while giving him an innocent child like smile. The Third was not sure why he was upset, after all, there was a possibility that the boy was a spy, and in which case if that was true then of course the boy would have trained to kill people. Although Sarutobi was upset he pressed on for more information.

"Killed who?" Sarutobi asked again but this time with an emotionless voice.

And it seemed that however confused the boy looked, he sensed this as well because the teen suddenly looked very distressed.

"Are you upset? Wh… Why? You always told me… everyone always told me that I should kill him." Harry spoke in fear filled voice.

'Why is Dumbledore upset with me? Was it because…'

Something suddenly flashed through Harry's mind and the unshed tears of his past years started to well up in his eyes and soon started to make their way down the sad expression of the teen's face. Harry suddenly started to hyperventilate and spoke to the old man he believed to be his Headmaster as though accusing him of the heinous crimes he have committed.

"Why? Why did you… Why can't you love me?"

He finally asked the question he so dearly wished to be answered from the departed headmaster; the one to which he already knew the answer to but wanted to hear something different. But before he could repeat the question again, he was invited back into the sweet darkness of unconsciousness.