Fandoms: Harry Potter / Naruto
Rating: Mature
Languages: English, Japanese, Latin, Greek
Genre: Adventure/Action
2nd Genre: Humour
Character A: Harry J. Potter
Character B: Uzumaki Naruto
Summary: (Based on esama's "Subject of Change", continued with her permission) When Harry Potter died, he didn't expect to end up meeting a giant fox, a pervert, get changed into a girl and end up with some kid who had was capable of giving Snape the warm and fuzzies.
WARNING: Genderbend, Gore, Character Death, Canon Divergence, Jiraiya.
"I don't understand it," the Wizard stated, scrubbing at his long hair in angry frustration. "I've never gone off on someone like that. I swore, I swore when I was younger that I would never raise my hand and physically attack someone out of anger. I didn't want to end up like my Uncle. I swore it but... but when she said those things, my body just moved." Green eyes peered up, "Kurama, what is going on?"
The Kitsune twitched an ear having patiently listened to the Little Shinigami, "EVERYTHING THAT YOU ARE, IS JUST A COLLECTION OF THOUGHTS, MEMORIES AND INSTINCTS. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS WHEN THEY ARE ALL REMOVED AND PUT SOMEWHERE ELSE?" the Bijuu rumbled.
"I would imagine nothing much. Voldemort didn't change over much when jumping from human to snake to human and then making his own body out of bone mould and blood," he explained, lifting a hand as if to weigh his argument. Currently the two of them were sat in Naruto's seal, the great fox spirit lying down with the Wizard sat cross-legged beside him. When Harry had dropped into his mind to better examine Kushina's offered memories to figure out how better to train Naruto he found a secret passage way that most certainly hadn't existed in Hogwarts for real. For one, there was no tapestry of a nine-tailed Fox outside the library, and no secret passageway behind it that led into the Seal.
Kyuubi huffed, spraying water everywhere, "FOOLISH YOUNGLING," he growled, using the very tip of one tail to smack Harry in the side of the head. It may have been light, but it was still enough to send the Wizard sprawling out and getting soaked from head to foot. "THE MIND IS COMPLEX AND INCREDIBLE. WE ARE ABLE TO SPEAK NOW BECAUSE OF THE WAY THESE MUD-MONKIES HAVE EVOLVED, ALLOWING MENTAL PLANES SUCH AS THIS FOR OUR MINDS TO BETTER ORGANISE AND RETAIN INFORMATION. SURELY YOU HAVE NOTICED?"
He had. Snape had told him quite blatantly during Occlumency practice that the mind was murky and complicated, making such mundane and incorrect statements such as 'mind reading' wholly inaccurate. The mind was hardly as simple as a bloody book. Breaking into Snape's mind, however accidental, had not involved endless corridors and dungeons that his mindscape would probably embody. No it was a jumbled heap of memories, pictures and impressions. Associative memories. A complicated web of memories and biases brought about by visual stimuli. Whenever Snape looked at Harry, he had associative memories of James and Lily Potter, background thoughts of the Dark Lord, of abysmal Potions classes, abuse from his father, his own years at Hogwarts. It all linked up but there was nothing like what he had found when he managed to Legilimence himself.
But after he'd organised everything Kushina had given him... he'd noticed a sudden increased ability to recall and understand information, past and new. His mind comprehended everything better and made connections easier. It wasn't until he was speaking with Jiraiya about Kurama's seal and Kushina that his memory of Naruto's state of mind actually clicked and made sense to him. He had seen the damage, not known what it was and merely assumed that was how it was supposed to be until he recalled the borrowed information given to him.
"Yeah," he admitted and Kurama blinked slowly in acknowledgement.
"MOVING YOUR MIND FROM BODY TO BODY FOR YOUR BREED OF MUD-MONKIES WOULD DETERIORIATE THEM RAPIDLY. DUE TO THE WAY YOUR MINDS HAVE EVOLVED INTO THOSE UNSIGHTLY TANGLES, YOUR MIND KNOTS AND DESTROYS PARTS OF ITSELF AS IT TRIES TO FORCE ITSELF INTO THE THOUGHT PATTERNS OF THE NEW HOST. EVERY MIND STORES AND ACCESSES MEMORIES IN DIFFERENT WAYS WITH VARYING DEGREES OF SUCCESS," the Kitsune explained, his tails waving idly in the gloom, his great red eyes watching in amusement as the Little Shinigami kept having to squint with every exhale he gave to prevent water from getting into her eyes.
"So when you created this body and slipped my mind into it, everything got jumbled around trying to find a place to fit?" he summed up.
"YES, AMONGST OTHER THINGS." He rumbled thoughtfully, staring down at the female in front of him. "THE MINDS OF FEMALES ARE DIFFERENT FROM MALES, IT IS MORE CONVOLUTED. HENCE WHY I ENSURED YOUR NEW FORM WAS FEMALE, THE WAY IT IS WIRED IS CLOSER TO YOUR OWN. YOUR MINDSCAPE REFLECTS THIS COMPLEXITY IN COMPARISON TO MY IDIOT JAILOR'S."
Harry hated it when the demon called Naruto an idiot, but he could see his point. Harry's mind worked exactly like Hogwarts herself once had. Trick steps, moving staircases, secret passageways and doors that were really walls and paintings you had to tickle or ask the right questions to get past. Naruto's mind was set out in straight forward grids, every grid had four doors leading into four rooms, each room was full of memories that had either been broken or put into the wrong place. He and Kushina had spent all of last night and earlier that morning just fixing every broken object and putting it back where it belonged, even sorting them into the rooms where they belonged. All the things learned in the Academy were back in Iruka's classroom for instance.
"But I was never this smart or violent before," he protested.
The demon gave him a look, "IS THAT SO?" he asked sceptically. Harry winced a little as he remembered the way he'd cast Crucio on Bellatrix Lestrange and Amycus Carrow, then there was the whole Imperius Curse and attacking Umbridge and... Kurama laughed at the sour expression that painted itself across the female's whiskered face, "I SAW ENOUGH OF YOUR MEMORIES WHEN PRESSING YOUR MIND INTO THAT BODY, AND I HAVE TO ADMIT," he said, looming in closer eye to face with the girl who flushed unhappily at his explanation, "YOU GAINED MY INTEREST, LITTLE SHINIGAMI."
Harry pulled a face, "I'm still deciding if that's a good thing," he muttered and the demon laughed in response, knocking him over with the force of his exhale.
"YOUR MIND WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE AS IT SETTLES INTO THE INBORN REFLEXES OF YOUR BODY. I CAN TELL YOU THIS NOW, DUE TO YOUR FORMER GENDER YOU WILL BE TAKING AFTER THE YONDAIME MORE THAN MY FORMER HOST." He bared a fanged grin as he got to his feet and plucked the female out of the water by the scruff of her clothing, "WITH MY IDIOT JAILOR BEING HOW HE IS, HE NEEDS ALL THE PROTECTION HE CAN GET. I REFUSE TO BE A PAWN OF THAT SHARINGAN WIELDING WRETCH SO GET STRONG LITTLE SHINIGAMI, MY JAILOR HAS POTENTIAL, I EXPECT YOU TO MATCH IT."
Harry smirked at the demon as he was set down just in front of the narrow passage that would lead back into his own mind, "I intend to. And Kurama... thank you," he added before turning and running back to his own mind. The sound of the demon's rumbling laughter chasing him as he went.
000
A week to help Naruto master a Jutsu his father developed in three years, what had he been thinking when he accepted that challenge from the drunk woman? It had already been three days with next to no progress. Had it just been arrogance speaking? Naruto didn't know any better but he should have, he did but he still let her get under his skin. Hearing her insult Jiraiya who, by all rights was still Naruto's Godfather despite his absences, was like hearing her insult Sirius, and Naruto... it felt like she was calling him, Harry, all those things as well. The slap was impacting against the woman's cheek before he was even aware of having moved.
Kurama said that as his mind began to adapt to his new body that he would start to show more personality traits of his 'parents', hence his sudden rather frightening memory retention and observation abilities. That must have been Minato's influences but... that must mean that his temper was taking after his mother, after Kushina. Huh... Harry blinked as he sipped at his drink, that actually made a fair bit of sense. He had Lily's temper too.
Thinking on it, Lily and Kushina looked a lot alike. From what he remembered of Kushina's history it was a lot like Lily's as well. Brought to a far off place because she had an ability that wasn't very common, bullied for being foreign, hating the man she would eventually marry, dying for her son while protecting him from something she brought down upon him. Leaving a lingering protection in her son for when he would need it most. Heck, they even looked alike. Minato was possibly the complete opposite of James though, he had been serious and determined, a good guy from the get go who did what had to be done whether he liked it or not, even their appearances were the complete opposite. Almost Yin and Yang. Huh... same with him and Naruto really.
Harry lowered his bottle, watching the twelve year old focus on the palm of his hand. The oppositions and the similarities were... actually quite shocking now that he thought about it.
Their appearances and personalities were polar opposites, Naruto struck first and vented second, Harry vented and when pushed struck, Naruto gladly accepted help from his friends, Harry tried to push them away and take on the burden alone. Both lost their parents at a young age from a mixture of them being a target of something their parents brought down upon them, both grew up alone and hated for various reasons, Naruto because of Kurama and Harry because he had magic. Both of them entered into a new world when they reached eleven and ended up facing life or death circumstances at the command of a kindly old man who played the Grandfather card, befriending a booksmart young woman with confidence issues and a boy with jealousy issues and a tendency to take everything you said far too personally. All you needed now was an immortality seeking old-geezer with a snake fetish and obsession with dark haired pre-teen boys. Harry shuddered a little when he realised just what his brain had come up with.
Still, the similarities were quite shocking. Even their respective Godfather's had been absent for the same length of time. Twelve years, though for different reasons. He didn't know what Jiraiya's was (and he sincerely hoped it was a damn good one or he was getting kerb stomped) but Sirius ended up in prison until he broke out. From the sound of it though, both he and Naruto took the backseat in priorities when it came down to it.
He shook his head, screwing the cap back on his water bottle before getting to his feet. "Thoughts?" he asked his 'younger brother' as he approached.
Naruto huffed, "My control is crap. I have to make it a perfect sphere with what basically is a typhoon inside!" he exclaimed, clenching and unclenching his fist unhappily. Harry caught his wrist and gently massaged his fingers, patiently waiting. "Its not a Super A-ranked Jutsu for nothing. I've got the power and the rotation but... I just can't seem to focus it into a shape," he told her, grunting a little in relief as his finger joints popped and his knuckles cracked under her ministrations.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm trying to make it into a sphere," the blond pre-teen told her, sounding irritated that she hadn't been listening.
"How?" He pressed and Naruto opened his mouth to answer only... His teeth clacked shut. He wasn't even sure. Harry smiled as he released the smaller male's hand, "I think that's where you're finding it the most difficult. You don't even know where to begin with this final step, huh?"
Naruto hung his head, "No," he admitted miserably.
"We'll just have to figure it out then," Harry declared, tugging on a blond spike. "What have you been trying so far?" he asked.
"Mostly just making it smaller by making the swirling tighter," he admitted, folding his arms. "It works for all of a second but then it gets all loose and explodes on me."
Harry nodded, "Have you tried making a shell? Like a snow-globe, and forming the swirl inside?"
Naruto shook his head, "No, but I don't think that's how Ero Sennin's worked," he admitted, "It really was just very, very tight swirling."
Humming, Harry picked up a near-by stick and began to sketch in the dirt, Naruto watching with curious eyes that steadily got wider as the image unfurled in front of him in tight hypnotic swirls. Scratched out in the dirt was a large Celtic knot, the same one Seamus had on his trunk. "Something like this?" Harry asked, prodding it with his stick.
"Yeah! Yeah, 'ttebayo!" he exclaimed excitedly. "What is it?"
"A Celtic Knot, they were used a long, long time ago as Clan symbols and even had pictures in them telling the history of the clan," he explained, repeating what Hermione told them when Ron made some off handed comment about the funky doodle. "If they were tied tight enough they were even used as tools on ships and I think as a weapon at one point," he added, scratching his chin thoughtfully, uncertain.
"That's what I need to do!" the blond exclaimed already beginning to focus his Chakra into his hand, sweat beading his temples as his eyes squeezed shut in an expression of deep concentration.
Harry could see the energy concentrating in his hand but it was still too loose, "Picture it, Naruto. Don't just force it, you have to imagine it. You know what to do, you know what you want to happen, you just need to give yourself some guidance," the Wizard told him, memories of Sirius giving him Transfiguration pointers. "'You're limited only by your imagination. A man with no imagination has no wings'," he quoted, watching as Naruto's scowl deepened and the Chakra in his hand became faster and faster, compressing into the palm of his hand.
Blue eyes snapped open and he drew a fist back, turning to the near-by carved up tree.
"Not yet!" Harry barked, "Tighter!" he commanded, voice lashing out like a whip. "It is a drill! It goes in sharp and explodes out! Tighter! Use your fingers, they're there for a reason!"
Naruto grunted and strained, teeth grinding as his drawn back hand clenched down on the turbulent Chakra as if to crush it down even smaller. A high-pitched whine escaped his lips and the ball shrank, even his fingertips were glowing and...
"DATTEBAYO!" the boy roared, thrusting his hand forward, the perfect sphere holding up until his hand moved and it imploded, throwing him aside like a rag doll.
He coughed, skidding and rolling in the dirt.
"You did it!" Harry yelled, running after him, a grin splitting his face. "You did it! It was for a tiny split second, but you did it! A perfect sphere!" he told the pre-teen his smile softening as he bounced up onto his feet and began to cheer, jumping up and down and screaming about how awesome he was. "Now all you have to do is practice."
"Eeeeh?" Naruto groaned in dismay, "But why? I did it right?" he exclaimed.
"Think you can use it in a fight?" Harry asked and the smaller blond rubbed his head with a sheepish grin. "C'mon, again. You know what you're doing now, you just have to make it last longer."
"What'll you be doing, Neechan?" he asked, peering up at the girl who shrugged a shoulder.
"Well, I'm going to see if I can make any sense of the memories Kushina gave me," she said, Naruto's grin fell a little as he lowered his arms watching as she cracked her knuckles and moved away.
"You can call her Kaachan, y'know..." he muttered softly, but she didn't hear him.
Dropping into his mindscape was getting easier with every fall, he no longer felt the same disorientation upon opening his eyes to the Entrance Hall. Making his way to the Library Harry found himself staring at new moving portraits of memories, Naruto, Kushina, Kurama, the drunk woman, Jiraiya. A suit of armour Harry remembered having a peculiar quirk of heckling couples out after curfew had a different helmet, one that looked rather a lot like Jiraiya's headband, complete with Kanji for Oil engraved upon it. He touched the yellow ribbon filled with red hairs as he walked through the Third Floor and felt Kushina's memory play out in his mind like a dream.
The day she was abducted by Kumo-nin for her special Chakra and then rescued by Minato who followed the trail of red hairs she left behind. At least, that was how it was perceived, Harry couldn't help but be amused by how the red headed girl went off on the men kidnapping her the split-second Minato's kunai severed her ropes. It was actually rather frightening to see those white Chakra chains in action. All in all, she probably would have been in trouble if he hadn't come along, but all Minato had done was help her rescue herself. Until he swept her up and out of the way of a suicide Jutsu she hadn't seen coming.
Chuckling at their clumsy beginnings, Harry continued to the library, now with a viable idea of what he wanted to try first – those Chakra chains. He should probably look at the Academy scrolls on Chakra manipulation and shape manipulation first though, he told Naruto that he had to practice his Control, to walk before he could run. He'd best use his own advice.
The library had grown vastly and no longer looked dusty and dark as Madam Pince used to keep it, it was less claustrophobic and brighter with light pine coloured woods instead of dark mahoganies. Shinobi disciplines were on one side of the room and Magic was on the other side. Moving through the shelves he eventually found his way to the beginner section and the Academy Scrolls, it was just basic Jutsu scrolls and a touch of history, mostly theory based.
"Blue... it should be... here!" he exclaimed happily as he slapped a palm down on the 'Chakra Manipulation for Beginners' Scroll that was standard for all first years.
Inside it explained what Chakra was, a combination of physical energy brought about by health of the body and experience through training, and mental energy brought about by knowledge and wisdom that comes from experience of what works and what doesn't. The larger your Chakra source the more difficulty you would have training it as a child as it continues to grow at the same rate you do, as you get older, Chakra control training becomes less important because your Chakra pool doesn't change and simply by performing Jutsus you become more familiar with regulating it. Harry's body was different, this concept would probably be superfluous for him given how his mind and body were still trying to sync up.
Harry took a deep breath and lifted a hand from the scroll with a nod, alright, that's the basics. He moved further down the shelf and placed a hand over a somewhat larger red scroll with the Uzumaki swirl on it. Shape Manipulation Theory. Raw Chakra manipulated in much the same way that Naruto's Rasengan was only without the same constant maelstrom of power knotted into one chaotic orb.
Pulling a hand away, he moved to the display table where Madam Pince usually kept rare manuscripts hidden under protective glass and enchantments. He'd taken the glass off and filled it with weapons instead, the glowing white chain was flickering brightly in the middle and it made his fingernails ache a little when he put his hand near it. Like he was doing the washing up and the water was hot enough not to burn but to hurt in a way that felt good, felt clean.
Laying a hand on it flooded her mind.
Her metaphorical body tensed up as memories and impressions whirled around with a vengeance, Kushina had neglected to mention that she had included memories of endless hours training to try and not only summon up her unique Chakras but to shape them and then use when as a viable form of combat. Harry found himself back in his body and staggering backwards, hitting the ground on his ass, panting as his vision span and swum with dark spots. Oh man! Too much, way too much, he groaned and rubbed at his eyes.
"Neechan?"
"I'm okay, some of those memories were a little intense," he admitted, breath leaving in a great whoosh.
"No, Neechan, something's wrong." The whimper in the blond's voice immediately had the blonde looking over his shoulder and blanching. Naruto was sitting on the floor, ashen faced with blood dribbling down his nose, his eyes were out of focus and he was sweating and shaking. "Muh-my nose, i-it won't stop blee-eeding," he slurred, blinking disjointedly as he lifted a jerking and spasming arm, already stained red, to try and stem the flow.
"Oh my god, why didn't you shake me, Naruto? This is serious!" Harry exclaimed, rushing forward.
Naruto grinned wobbly at him, "You we-ere train'in'," he pointed out, "An' s'only a little bloo-od."
Even his pupils were different sizes. Green eyes widened as the Gryffindor brushed aside the Jinchuuriki's hair and saw blood leaking out of his ears as well. Panic turned his veins to ice. He didn't know how to heal this! What had even happened? "What happened? How, why are you bleeding?" he demanded. No-no-no-no, he couldn't lose his head, not here, Naruto needed him to keep calm and figure this out, not panic. Not overlay his face with that of Dumbledore's suffering under that horrid poison Riddle used to hide his Horcrux!
"Headache," the pre-teen explained thickly. "Muh-my brain... snapped. Tried to-to hard."
Something wrong with his brain! But if it was physical, he didn't have the slightest idea of what to do! Was this an aneurysm?
Jiraiya!
"Hold on Naruto, hold on tight and keep your eyes shut. It'll feel weird but we're going to Ero Sennin, he'll help," she told him, gathering the twelve year old up, cradling him protectively against her, completely heedless of the blood that was beginning to decorate her clothing as she climbed to her feet and cast around desperately.
And vanished with a crack.
000
CRACK – town centre.
"Jiraiya?" Harry called, popping into view in the middle of a crowd, Naruto whimpering against his chest making his insides tighten and turn colder as with a flex of powerful legs she jumped onto the nearest street-lamp to look around. "Jiraiya!" she called, casting around desperately for the white haired pervert.
Not there.
CRACK – gone.
000
CRACK – a bar she passed on the way out of the village.
The bouncer looked at her in shock and then the kid against her chest, "Miss, what's -
"Is there a white haired old man in there, tall, six foot, built like a brick shit house, mole on the left side of his nose, red streaks on his face, disgusting little girl giggle?" she demanded rapidly.
The bouncer shook his head dumbly and watched with wide eyes as the pretty thing swore up a blue streak and vanished with another loud CRACK.
000
CRACK – the Inn.
"Jiraiya?" No.
Naruto groaned, a high pitched sound of pain.
"Hang on, hang on please!" the Gryffindor begged, eyes beginning to prickle in a mixture of terror and frustration.
000
CRACK - "Hime?"
"Jiraiya!" Harry called in relief, darting over. "I don't know what happened, I was meditating, I came out of it and there was blood everywhere! He's slurring his speech, can't focus his eyes, he said he felt something snap in his head! I can't heal this, I never learned how to do organs, only knit bones back together and deal with minor bruising!" he ranted as the old pervert immediately jumped off his seat and met him half way, listening as the Gryffindor's voice got higher and higher with panic and fear as she desperately hugged the tiny form of his student against her. Damn, blood was seeping out of Naruto's nose and ears!
"We need to get him to Tsunade and Shizune!" he grunted.
"Where are they?" Harry demanded sharply.
"Back at the Inn."
The Gryffindor nodded and reached out with one hand, grabbing Jiraiya's wrist and Apparating away with a CRACK!
000
CRACK – "Jiraiya what – " Tsunade demanded, jumping to her feet as soon as she registered the great hulking man appearing in her room before her eyes landed on the spit streak wench, her front drenched red and the blond boy in her arms, his face streaming with scarlet.
"No time, hime!" the old pervert barked, tearing her eyes away from the red nightmare before it really sank in what she was seeing. "Get Shizune if you can't help!" he snapped at her, already ransacking their backpacks for medical scrolls as the blonde girl crouched down, cradling the tiny form of her brother protectively. Tsunade found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the two as she left the room, her heart in her throat.
"Shizune!" the older woman called, her voice shaking as she ran for the bathhall, "Shizune, emergency! Don't bother with clothes, just wrap up and get your ass back to the room!" she commanded as she burst into the steam filled room. Several other patrons of the Inn gasped and squealed in alarm at the sudden appearance of the brusque woman. Her apprentice however knew better than to argue and was already up, out of the water and whipping a towel around her naked form. Most of the women weren't able to follow the Jounin level Medic Nin's movement, all they saw was the two running out of the room, the dark haired woman not even pausing to put on shoes.
"What's the problem?" Shizune asked. If Tsunade-sama had fetched her then it would probably be a bloody one.
"I don't know. Jiraiya suddenly appeared with the two brats, the boy's bleeding out of both ears and nostrils, he's gushing in there," the Sannin explained, her voice hitching as she explained the details, her hands already beginning to shake.
"You did well, Tsunade-sama," Shizune told her, gently pushing on her shoulder. "Wait out here, I'll take it now."
Tsunade nodded, still trembling, as her student pushed her way into their room as if she owned it, caring not a single whit about being only in a bath towel as she assessed the situation and took charge. Having Jiraiya fetch her supplies, the girl, Harii, cleaning up the boy and stripping him while she scanned him to find out the problem and would someone please explain to her what happened?
Harry explained, never once taking his eyes off the pale blond lying out in front of him, the rag in his hand stained crimson with all the blood he had been cleaning up. He felt sick, the smell was thick and violent in his nose. No human, no little boy, should have that much blood in them!
Shizune bit her lip and began to work, "His mind has been severely strained, its ruptured several blood-vessels. I'm healing them now, but we'll have to keep him sedated until we fix the cause of the strain, its not natural!" she explained, "Jiraiya, I'm going to need a Chakra infusion, ink the seal on my back."
"Got it," the pervert agreed, all business as he dragged a thumb over the inside of his jacket and withdrew an ink bottle and brush with a puff of smoke. Not even ten seconds later the Seal was complete and glowing on Shizune's back as the Sannin placed a palm over it and began to feed Chakra through to her.
Harry watched, biting his lips as a soft green glow engulfed Naruto's head, sinking into his skin and getting to work.
000
Chapter Fin...
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