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 15: Memory Lane…

"Nostalgia … brings to mind cherished experiences that assure us we are valued people who have meaningful lives"

Dr. Clay Routledge

"This is quite a nice inn." Harry looked at the building in awe. Although he still had a lot to learn about this world, the young wizard could tell that this was one of the high-end inns.

It was only the second evening of their travel but Harry could already feel the fatigue. First day had been a little short of exhausting as he did not enjoy being carried by children younger than him on their backs. It was better than being carried in a bridal style like he had been with ANBU but this experience with genin had been more degrading to his pride. Furthermore, Harry had yet to relax himself while riding on those small backs and so far, he got very tired by night. They had been telling him to relax and trust them as they had done this numerous times before. Well too bad that he had not done this too many times before.

"Here. This is for you." Jiraiya handed Harry two small scrolls, successfully stopping him in mid-stride while the rest of the group went ahead to a front desk. When Neji and his team stopped to look back, Jiraiya silently signalled them to go ahead. Only Kakashi lingered behind in guise of looking uninterested in favor of his precious book. Harry received the scrolls and unrolled one of them with care. The first scroll was written in a splendid yet a familiar handwriting.

Hari,

I wanted you to enjoy your first trip outside the village. Just because what's waiting for you at the end of your road may not be pleasant, it doesn't mean that your journey to that place should be as well. We'll be waiting for your safe return to home to tell us all about what you felt and saw on your way.

Sarutobi Hiruzen

Harry reread the scroll. He then reflected back to how he threw what could be considered as a temper tantrum at his guardian before the departure. It felt horrible especially when he figured out that Sarutobi probably told Jiraiya and perhaps other jonin to make a stop at this nice inn which also lead to another conclusion that his adoptive father was one who was paying for the bill. How he dearly wished to be back at the village and apologize to his guardian. With that regret, he opened the last scroll. The second one revealed another familiar but messy writing.

Uncle,

Have a good trip but come back as soon as possible. It had been such a long time since you were at home. When you finally came back, you had to leave again. I really miss having you at home. I promise when you come back, the house will be still clean and I'll even help you with all your chores! Please come back home in good health. I don't want to see you sick again.

Sarutobi Konohamaru

This time, Harry did not reread the letter. It made him feel guilty for even thinking about leaving or not coming back to the village. How would Konohamaru react if he never came back to the village after waiting so long for him to get discharged from the hospital? He did not want Konohamaru to feel abandoned. He knew the feeling too well himself. At the same time, it was nice feeling for once to have someone waiting for you back at the place you would call home.

"Regular inn would've been just fine too. He didn't have to do this for me."

Jiraiya smiled at the teen's comment. So the boy was smart enough to figure out who was behind all this.

"But he wanted to. Just like you didn't have to be a good uncle to that boy, but still did because you wanted to."

Harry did not know how he should respond to Jiraiya. It sounded like a compliment and the wizard was not used to getting them. When Harry started to become awkward at the silence, Kakashi finally looked up from his book.

"Kindness and modesty are invaluable traits. But it's just as important to know when to accept other's caring gestures."

Harry felt like a small child getting scolded and looked away from the jonin. Fortunately, he was soon freed from this uncomfortable situation.

"Hari-san did you see our room?! It's huge! They even have a hot spring in this inn and a small private one in our room!" Naruto came back running out from the inn.

"Really?" Harry pretended to take a great interested in the subject and Naruto became more excited.

"Yeah! Let's go exploring!"

"Sure but maybe we should drop our bags in our room first."

"Let's go!" Naruto took off towards where Harry guessed was where their room was located.

Only problem to the situation was, "Whoa! Slow down!" Naruto grabbed on to one of Harry's hand and dashed towards the direction. Still, Harry was amused to watch the blond boy full of excitement as though Christmas had come early. Too bad they didn't have that holiday here, but he could always celebrate it if he ever gets a chance. Once the two of them had unpacked their belongings, Harry and Naruto started to explore different places within the inn followed by rest of genin before finally arriving at the hot spring entrance.

"Hari-san, let's use the hot spring before our dinner." Naruto had been expecting a positive answer that the older teen has always given him whenever he had asked for something, but for the first time since he had met Harry, the genin saw him looking troubled and hesitant. "Hari-san?" Naruto called out carefully, worried if he had made a wrong request.

"Um…" Harry didn't know how to respond. He wanted to say 'yes,' but not after what had happened last time when he went to a hot spring with Asuma and Konohamaru. Asuma didn't say anything although Harry could tell he was being discreet. Konohamaru on the other hand was a completely different story.

"Is something wrong?"

"What? No, no!" Harry waved his hands to emphasize his point when he noticed that Naruto was looking at him anxiously. "It's just that… Never mind. We'll go." He gave Naruto a reassuring smile. Harry wasn't comfortable at the idea, but if they were going to travel together for more than a week then they were bound to see it sooner or later.

When they were in the changing room, the reaction of his travel companions – namely genin as adults didn't seem surprised – was exactly what Harry had expected as he started to unclothe. The boys tried their best not to stare at Harry but that uncomfortable atmosphere was obvious.

"Hari-san…" Naruto didn't continue, but the wizard knew what the blond wanted to ask. He understood that children were just curious and concerned; with that in mind, Harry provided the explanation he gave to Knohamaru.

"I got hurt a few times before coming to the Leaf Village."

"How?" Naruto couldn't help but ask as he stared at the scars on the older teen. The scars were marring not only Hari's torso but also some parts of his limbs. Come to think of it, there was another scar on Hari's forehead that he usually kept it hidden with his messy black hair. The most disturbing fact for Naruto was that even he could tell that most of these scars had nothing to do with the teen's recent injury. Now Naruto wondered if Hari's consistent choice in style of clothes he wear - which often involved turtleneck, long sleeves and pants - were to hide these scars.

It was true that outside a shinobi village, it was common for injuries to leave a scar as there hardly was anyone who could use medical jutsu. Even with medical jutsu, it wasn't always possible to heal the tissues without leaving any scars if the case was severe. Also, as a genin, he himself had been hurt during missions but that was different because he was a ninja while the older teen in front of him wasn't. It wasn't right for someone like him to be ridded with more scars on his body than any other people in this change room who were mostly shinobi. However, the most disturbing detail was that these old scars on Harry were, for sure, intentional instead of accidental.

"Like I said before, the place I come from wasn't the most peaceful place to live."

"You mean by those bandits that attacked your home?" Naruto recalled stories Hari had told him during their encounters. It was bits and pieces as whenever Naruto asked about Hari's past, he didn't provide too much details; yet Naruto managed to figure out certain things about the older teen with help of Sakura and Ino's love for gossips. "Why didn't you guys ask for help?"

Naruto was frustrated. He thought back to the incident in the Wave country. How an ordinary but brave man journeyed to the Leaf Village to save his home when the situation was beyond their capabilities to handle.

All the while Neji and Lee stayed silent; they weren't prepared for this. Even when Hari was hospitalized, they hadn't noticed anything as he was wrapped up in bandages. They only knew the teen's basic background from their own sources, which by the way did not reveal much. The Third Hokage wasn't too keen on providing the information either before their trip but it appeared that other adults were well aware of it.

"Help…" Harry repeated the word slowly. Something struck him with that word. However, Naruto interpreted this as a confusion that required further elaboration.

"Yeah! From the Leaf village! I'm sure Hokage gramp would have helped you!"

But, they did have help. Help from so many whom eventually died. He did not know full outcome of the battle, but it wouldn't have surprised him if most of those people didn't survive from what he had saw before he took off for final showdown with the Dark Lord. Harry wondered if that meant that they didn't have enough help regardless of Voldemort's demise. Did that mean they had failed? He had always believed failure meant Voldemort being alive while success was death of said Dark Lord. Yet why did it never felt like they all had succeeded? Also, where were those people from the Ministry while they were fighting and dying? Those people were the ones who were supposed to protect them. Oh, that's right. Some of those people were in denial or part of Death Eaters.

"I wonder how much difference it would have made."

"Of course it would have made a difference! Why would you think that?!"

Why indeed. And because Harry did not give much thought when he made the earlier statement, he wasn't sure how to answer the question. He thought about possibly making up another story. However, Naruto sounded truly upset. Not upset in particular at somone but rather at the frustration that this whole incident had happened to someone he cared.

Despite his own trust issues, even Harry was aware how genuine the blond was. The boy really cared about him and knowing how the child had grown up, Harry wanted to be there for him as well like he did with Konohamaru. He knew that refusing to answer could feel like a rejection for someone like Naruto, but he didn't want to lie either. So he pondered before finally opening his mouth.

"There were people who were supposed to make wise decisions and protect us… But not all of these people were against bandits… It was hard to come to an agreement to get something done because these people were often at odds with each other."

"Are you implying that some of these villagers were spying and sabotaging for the bandits as well as actually partaking in the activity?" Neji interjected the conversation after analyzing possible underlying details behind that information . And Harry quickly realized that this white eyed boy was quite the perceptive one among the genin.

"Some of what I just said is a speculations on my part."

"But something happened to make you form that conclusion." Although it was not a question, Harry could tell Neji was expecting a response from him.

"… Many things have happened."

"Like what?" Harry sighed when Naruto joined the conversation again. If it was Neji, it may have been easier to refuse the answer.

"… Some of your teachers try to kill you." Naruto's eyes widened at this as his own memory with Mizuki came back to him. "Some of your fellow schoolmates who you have been going to school with for years harm their fellow students… A person who you suspected was trying to kill you turns out to be someone who has been protecting you all these years."

"It sounds complicated." Lee commented.

"It sounds like a civil war, just smaller in size; a village version rather than country." Neji remarked.

"… I guess it was." Harry chuckled bitterly at the comparison. That Neji didn't know how right he was when he mentioned country. Come to think of it, was all that has transpired back in wizarding world nothing more than a civil war? No more than a dispute between two factions within Britain?

"Why would they do that?! It's their own village! Their own home and comrades!"

"I can think of few reasons but… why indeed." Harry shook his head tiredly and stood up to take rest of his clothes off. That signaled the end of their discussion as the rest of the group followed the suit.

The hot spring was relaxing. The tension they felt back in the change room seemed to melt away as Harry enjoyed the feeling of the water. Everything was perfect for him at the moment.

"Stop that, you pervy old man!"

"Naruto-kun is right! That is a despicable and wrong act, and also, Ten-Ten is in there!"

Almost perfect. Too bad, that Jiraiya was trying to peek into the women's bath while Naruto and Lee were making a bigger scene than it was necessary in their attempts to stop the said old pervert. Soon Harry heard a high-pitched screams behind his head followed by a loud smack of something hard hitting another hard surface. And Harry swore that he heard Ten-Ten's angry voice threatening something about castrating someone.

"This is embarrassing." Harry whispered the words out then dunked his face in the hot spring in hopes of hiding from the event. Or perhaps die of shame as other people who were using the hot spring looked at them with disapproval as well at Jiraiya's attempt. Oh, and also, Kakashi, who happen to be relaxing beside him, continuing to wear his mask only made the situation worse.

Thankfully, Harry lifted his face back up the surface when something lightly hit his head. Upon examination, Harry found that it was a toy boat and a small boy not far from him waved his hand playfully at him suggesting that he push it back at him. Harry chuckled and complied with the child's request.

"You know, it just reminded me of the boat ride I had." Neji who also had been sitting beside Harry welcomed the opportunity to get to know the teen. It was beneficial to gather as much information as you can about your client and Neji had a feeling that he and rest of the genin were being held from certain details on purpose.

"Boat ride?"

"It's just something silly and strange. When I was in a comatose, I dreamed that I was lost near a riverbank. Then a guy came with a small boat, and funny enough he even had a name, introducing himself as Shisui. He offered to take me home so I went on the boat and we travelled downstream." Harry stopped his tale when he felt he had everyone's attention on himself.

"What did this man, Shisui look like?" Neji appeared calm now. Or at least calmer than he normally was in Harry's opinion.

"He seemed to be in his 20s. Black messy hair, black clothes, and I'm sure that I saw his eyes turn from black to red at some point." The adults narrowed their eyes at the last description. They all knew someone named Shisui who fit that description and happened to be dead. Oblivious to this, Harry continued on his conversation with Neji.

"And you rode on his boat?"

"Yeah."

"And you crossed the river?"

"No. When I asked he said that it wasn't my time yet. Can I ask you guys something?" Harry fidgeted when he noticed that his travel companions were now closely listening in to his conversation with Neji. "Why are you all staring at me like that? It's getting uncomfortable." Especially when I am naked. But Harry did not say the last part out loud.

"You could have wasted your entire youth in that one boat ride!" Gai suddenly spoke up as he lunged at Harry.

"I could?" Harry got startled at the man's reaction. And as usual, most of what Gai said about youth didn't make much sense.

"It sounds like River of Three Crossings." Neji supplied more information which he soon discovered didn't help the older teen much from his confused expression.

"It also has some resemblance with the river you cross after climbing Mount Beimang in afterlife since there was a boat." Jiraiya added his thought as well.

"They do?" Harry was lost. He didn't know much about afterlife but was there anyone alive who truly understood the subject? Plus, all his life, he was too busy with schoolwork, training, and fighting Voldemort so he can stay alive. He didn't have time for joy reading. Everything he read and studied were out of necessity and requirement; all of which did not include afterlife.

"What do you think happens after death?" The question was more out of curiosity than anything on Jiraiya's part.

"Umm..." Honestly, Harry did not know. First thing that came to his mind was silvery light figure of Remus the wolf he saw a few weeks ago. "I don't know. Good people go to heaven; bad people go to hell?"

"Any special place they need to get through to reach that place?"

"Special place that you need to get through? I don't know. I didn't pay too much attention to this subject before or even now." Harry really wasn't sure what Jiraiya was trying to ask him. Hermione may have had a better answer if she was alive. She always did when it came to knowledge. "So what about this river?"

"You cross the river to reach the afterlife or start the new cycle of reincarnation." Jiraiya inwardly frowned. He was certain that the boy had some, if not, extensive knowledge regarding souls and soul transfer yet, his knowledge of afterlife seemed almost none.

"So, basically crossing the river kills you?"

"You can say that." Jiraiya watched Harry who appeared to be deep in thought. After a few minutes something seemed to click with him.

"Ahh. That's why he was so freaked out."

"Who was freaked out?" Naruto who also had been listening in asked when Harry finally broke recalling the events.

"Well... I guess you can say he was a guardian… dog… spirit…" Harry noticed some perplexed look he was receiving. But hey, that was as close he can describe about Sirius at moment. Even he himself wasn't sure what that was. "Anyway, he was going to show me the way back home after I fell from the boat. He told me to never go on a boat ride with a stranger on a strange river."

"You fell off the boat? You should have been careful! You could have drunk the water!" Harry wished that Gai was a little quieter as he cringed at the voice. He really was attracting unnecessary attention of people around them. But then again, every single member of this group attracted some form of attention either from their looks or actions.

"The man on a boat suddenly pushed me off the boat. … Come to think about it, he also said not to come back for a long time. Oh! Now I understand what he meant." Everyone by now looked at Harry incredulously while Harry grinned back, seeming happy that he had finally solved the great mystery.

Rest of time spent at the hot spring was uneventful. Well, kind of if you exclude the incident where the old white haired pervert tried to peek at the women's bath again, this time using his ninja skill. Right now, it was past midnight and Harry couldn't fall asleep. He cracked open his eyes and scanned the dark room. Everyone was in their futon but Harry was certain at least one of them would be awake watching over them. With a sigh, Harry quietly reached into his bag to grab a medication that helped him when he occasionally experienced insomnia. He quickly chucked the medication in his mouth and swallowed it; he didn't feel like going for a glass of water.

"Can't sleep?" The soft hiss was heard from a white snake coiled next to his head.

"No." Harry hissed back quietly not wanting to disturb the others.

"There's a lot on your mind. That's what's disturbing your sleep." The snake spoke worriedly. This snake was a lot smaller, but nicer and polite than the last snake that came to visit him. The creature said she was the youngest among her siblings. The one that came before her apparently was her oldest sister. Harry reached out and touched the smooth cool scales and the snake seemed elated at the touch.

"It's still hard to believe you're physically no different than normal human."

"What made you think that I had a physical capacity of a ninja?"

"I guess I imagined this picture of super human when I heard these tales and history of your kind as I was growing up. The stories of your kind were quite magical. And since most who have a bloodlimit here are shinobi, I just assumed that you would be physically capable like them."

"What about this Great Slytherin you speak of? Can he do it?" That worried Harry. He himself may have been considered powerful wizard back home. But here in this new world, things were different. He may be stronger than normal civilians but he was a lot weaker than shinobi. Unless he had that element of surprise, he had no doubt that most of experienced ninja would be able to dodge his spells especially in one to one fight. Whoever this wizard claiming to be the Salazar Slytherin was, Harry was certain the man had few tricks up his sleeves to have lived among these ninja.

"I don't know. I've never met him. Like I said, I'm the youngest so I don't get included in many things. I always thought he could but after meeting you, I'm not so sure now."

"Do you know how long he's been living in this world?"

"I've been told that he's been here for a thousand years now though only select few from our clan can meet him and is aware of any information regarding him."

A thousand years. Was this snake telling the truth? Or were other snakes feeding this snake with wrong information to be passed on to him? There was no way that someone can live for that long unless philosopher's stone was involved. Could it be? Harry decided to ask.

"What has he been doing all those years?"

"I don't know. I think that's the reason they sent me to guide you. I'm one of the inner members of our kind yet barely know anything to help you due to my age."

Harry patted the snake one last time before settling back in his futon. At least he felt that this snake was not trying to deceive him although it was frustrating not to know anything regarding the situation.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow". Harry sighed.

It had been decided that each of four genin would take three hour shift in carrying Harry throughout their journey. They would stop one hour for a meal break and travel until dark. Harry couldn't find anything to look forward to when he was going to be carried around for minimum of 12 hours for the next three days. Naruto tried to cheer him up earlier today again while Harry grumbled. It certainly was faster but it was physically uncomfortable and mentally undignifying.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Well, it depends on what you're asking." The wizard did not want to make promises he could not keep. At the same time, he was a bit surprised and wondered what this small creature could possibly want from him.

"Can you give me a name?"

"A name?" Then Harry remembered their earlier meeting and about how she mentioned that she didn't have a name. She said that others just called her Death because she was the fourth hatchling.

Harry didn't understand what the snake had meant at first but Neji helpfully supplied that it was a pun. Number four had a same pronunciation as death which allowed Harry to understand the reason why some people in the village avoided number four and why some restaurants lacked number four booth and so on. Number four was symbolic of death.

"If you don't mind." The snake spoke in a pleading manner.

"I don't, but why me?" He was suspicious and at the same time wasn't sure if he could decide such an important matter for her. She had explained it to him that her family had tradition of getting named by someone outside their own clan; this typically was the member of the Yamata clan, which sadly died out quite some time ago.

"I don't think I'll ever get a chance to be named again after this ordeal is over. Also, I don't plan on getting named by some stranger of a low life. I would be honoured to be named by a speaker. Oh! And it's not like you'll be bound to me or anything like that so you rest your worries."

"What about this Great Slytherin? Can't he name you?"

"He doesn't get involved with us hatchlings but only with the elders. Though I doubt he'll name me since my parents are both nameless. My grandfather also died with no name." The snake hissed depressed.

"That's quite sad." Harry knew what it was like to live without a proper name. He thought his name was 'freak' until the day he entered a school."Is there any particular name you want?"

"No, I never expected I would be named as long as I lived so I never dared to think about it. Name me as freely as you like." At that response, Harry tried to think up some names. However, the task was getting difficult as the medication was starting to take effect making him drowsy.

"I'll think about it. Goodnight."

"Thank you and goodnight as well."

"It's hot!" Tenten groaned for what seemed like a third time since they arrived at the Forest of Nostalgia. Harry also noticed others were in no better shape. Their skins were flushed and their clothes were drenched in sweat. Naruto who came with his usual gear took off his jacket and this was same for Neji. Everyone had taken off their travel robes a long time ago.

"Aren't you hot Hari-san?" Naruto was already too hot to continue fanning himself with his hands. He panted while looking at the older teen who was mildly sweating but otherwise appeared to be taking a stroll in a mid day in spring. Jiraiya noticed this as well and continued study the teen with a suspicion. Even he was quite hot that he had to take off his outer clothes yet here was the teenager who hardly seemed to be affected by the weather.

"Yeah, it's hot around here. The sun is really intense, isn't it?" Despite Harry's gesture of wiping at his forehead of sweat, Naruto continued to stare at the older teen with envy. At the moment, Naruto was glad that they were taking a lunch break and he was done carrying Hari for the rest of the day. Training was great but right now, being close to another body heat was the least thing Naruto wanted to do.

"You don't look that hot." Naruto grumbled. Everyone inwardly agreed to that comment as they looked over the teen who was just mildly sweating on forehead.

"Well, you did all the work of carrying me until now while all I did was ride on your back." Harry patted Naruto's head in sympathy and winced at how hot it felt. The wizard felt pity for the others as he used magic to keep himself cool. Only thing that was making him hot here was the intense sunlight. He was certain that his appearance in this hot weather would raise a suspicion but he couldn't afford to lose his stamina over the heat.

"I can't take it any more!" With that Naruto unexpectedly started to unclothe. However, when he started to take off his pants as well, Ten Ten stopped him by giving a smack to his head.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled while nursing his new injury.

"That's my line!" But Ten Ten sounded more fierce.

"It's hot!"

"So am I!"

"Then take off your clothes too! You won't see me stopping you!" Harry face palmed at the statement and just as he expected, Ten Ten gave another angry outcry and soon Naruto was running for his life.

"I think the heat is getting to his head" Harry muttered. He then glimpsed at Kakashi and Gai who were also drenched in sweat like most others but were unable to take off their vests because it held vital supplies including their weapons. When they started this trip, everyone was aware that they were traveling to one of the hottest region in this land and yet despite their preparation of summer gears, it just didn't seem enough at the moment.

They have been wondering around the jungle like forest for almost an hour not knowing where to go. The problem started after arriving at the forest, when the snake, who was still nameless, said she was only given the instruction to take the speaker to the forest as he would be able to find his way from there.

"I would if I bloody knew where to go." Harry gritted the words out in irritation. There was no riddle, puzzles or any hint regarding finding his way. At the moment, Harry couldn't help but start to doubt the other snake's message where she said that the elders and the Great Slytherin were eager to meet him.

For the rest of the day, they had looked at many places but nothing was found. They questioned him about different things at the possibility of him knowing the answer to their current problem without realizing it. Well, that turned out to be a futile effort.

"Anything?"

"No." For the first time, Harry's patient was running very thin with Naruto as the boy continued to ask the question every five minutes.

"Naruto, you should stop asking him that question." Neji said as he watched the older teen making their supper with more force than it was necessary.

"But what if he remembered something?"

"I'm sure he'll tell us as soon as that happens." Then Neji returned to helping the older teen while Naruto returned to setting up their tents with Lee and Ten Ten.

After their meal, they started to discuss about possible plans for the next morning. It didn't seem so productive to aimlessly wonder the forest yet at the moment, that seemed to be their best option. At this rate, Harry was sure that they would all tire out before meeting anyone because the temperature remained high even in the evening.

"Maybe we should find a stream to replenish our water supply. Also it will help us cool down." Jiraiya directed his gaze at Neji. "We don't know how long this will take so we'll search for water tomorrow."

Neji answered. However, Harry found that Neji's voice was overshadowed by a loud screech. Startled, Harry jumped away and whipped himself toward the direction he heard the sound. It was a familiar sound he had heard before and could never forget.

"What was that?" Naruto sounded surprised as well.

"What was what?" Neji asked calmly, followed by confused Ten Ten.

"What's wrong with you guys?"

At a quick glance, Harry found that only Naruto and himself had moved out from their sitting circle facing the direction of the sound. The rest of the group seemed confused whereas adults seemed to tense, readying themselves to a possible threat.

"You guys didn't hear that just now?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "A loud sound came from that direction!" Then he turned to the dark haired teen who had reacted similarly. "Hari-san, you heard it too, right?"

"I did." Naruto eyes brightened at the fact that he wasn't the only one who heard the mysterious sound.

"I did too." The white snake around Harry's neck pitched in. "And that's not the only thing. I can taste that air is getting quite thick."

"It is humid here." Kakashi added knowing that wasn't what the snake was referring to. But he also didn't know what the snake was referring to either. He didn't feel any difference in the atmosphere or chakra fluctuation. But there was this strange, unfamiliar feeling in the atmosphere.

"That's not what I'm referring to. It's something else. You should be able to feel it though." Indeed Harry knew what the snake was referring to. The atmosphere around the area was getting saturated with magic rapidly.

"I do too!" Both Harry and the snake stared at Naruto disbelievingly at that admission while the boy continued without noticing their expressions. "It's weird. It's so… thick. Getting thicker as I speak. Yet it feels so light. I mean… it doesn't feel suffocating at all! It feels so raw. More so than the stupid fo…" Naruto suddenly stopped himself at his slip but adults knew what he was referring to. "Anyway, it still has comforting feeling! Right, Hari…san?" Naruto did not know how to interpret the expression the older teen was making.

"You can feel that?" Harry's face portrayed disbelief, surprise and one that struck Naruto the most – fear.

Naruto felt himself getting nervous. Those were similar to the expressions he got from the villagers who were scared of him. And usually, that fear came along with hate. Although the teen did not show any signs of hate Naruto could tell Hari was scared. Why was Hari looking at him like that?

"You can feel that too? And you heard that as well." After looking over Naruto head to toe again, the snake finally announced her conclusion. "You must be a jinchuriki."

"Jinchuriki?" Harry asked the snaked.

"People who got a tailed beast sealed inside them."

"A tailed beast?" While Harry was focused on the snake, he was unaware of the impact of this conversation was having on Naruto.

"Oh dear, you're quite ignorant in this subject, aren't you?"

Naruto was nervous. He was afraid. Afraid that Hari would start to hate him as well like other villagers. He didn't want to lose Hari. He didn't want to see Hari's smiling face turn full of hate and fear directed at him.

On the other hand, Jiraiya and other adults were at first shocked. Quickly, they tried to interfere before the conversation regarding jinchuriki got out of hand. Thankfully, they did not have try as Harry and Naruto soon focused their attention back to the direction of the 'sound' again.

"Whoa! What is that?" Others except Harry watched Naruto pointing his index finger at one of the empty tree branches. "I have never seen that bird before."

Harry held his breath and stared at the same place not believing his eyes. On the branch that Naruto was pointing at sat someone he dearly missed. There was no mistaking it.

"Fawkes?"

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry about late update. It took longer than I thought. But here is chapter 15. I don't think this chapter is in its best quality but I have been quite busy with school because this is my final year (I take summer semesters as well).

I know... It's another cliffy... I will try my best to work on the next chapter quicker than last time. I will also see if I can work on Dream of Gumiho this year.

Thanks you for all those who have been waiting and left reviews!

I also greatly appreciate those who have taken their precious time to give me reviews.

Also I thank my beta IYN!

I welcome anyone interested in beta'ing for me. If interested, PM me and we can discuss.

Thank you everyone!