Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto or their characters. I do own this story, though.

Shout out: Happy belated Easter and...April Fools? /tilts head, amused/, As promised, I am delivering the next chapter of ATHD in all of it's bunny glory. It was supposed to be up some three days after this one, but thanks to mist_shadow, who beta-ed (more like powered through!) the current monster of a chapter here with blitzing speed, it's here, bright, ready, willing and able to be read by y'all. Seventh chapter is still in beta reading and will be switched some days later. The updating for all of the stories will be slower for a time because things at work had picked up the pace, but rest assured - updates may be slow, but they will be coming.

Warnings: AU-verse, multiple POV's, Harry will be tripping over his beast in one manner or another.

Dictionary:

Juban - A thin garment similar to an undershirt. It is worn under the nagajuban.

Nagajuban - A kimono-shaped robe, similar to Western undershirt, but it's used both as a shirt and undershirt, parting kimono from the body of its' wearer. Usually differently colored to offset the outfit.

Shoji (doors) - s a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo.

Kotatsu - a low, wooden table frame covered by a futon, or heavy blanket, upon which a table top sits. Underneath is a heat source, often built into the table itself.

Dattebayo! – Believe it! (Naruto's catchprase)

leveret - baby rabbit

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road,
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why,
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.

("Time Of Your Life," by Green Day)

Naruto could be described as many things; a boy, a pariah of the village he lived in for to him unknown reasons; a pranking menace who had a very loud voice; a friendly, dumb and overall, not a very bright kid. Well, not counting his hair and… certain wardrobe choices.

When Zombie-san gave him that jacket, Naruto had immediately fallen in love with the color orange. And no amount of Zombie-san's efforts in getting him to wear some other - sensible - color convinced him otherwise. Zombie-san's eyebrows twitched every time he had looked at that thrice-cursed jacket, but the man let it be – it was Naruto's problem now, not his.

Although, it did make the job of finding the kid easier… and harder at the same time. Easier because no one in this God-forsaken village would willingly wear such a blinding shade of orange; and harder, because it made Zombie-san's eyes involuntarily water if he looked at the terrible monstrosity for too long. Naruto was appropriately contrite at finding out about that little tidbit, but not enough to relinquish the damned orange-colored thing - no matter how many times Zombie-san offered or downright threatened to just change the darned thing's color. On the other hand, it was an excellent way for the kid to train his stealth. Not that he had to do much - shed the jacket, turn it inside out, and voila, seamless blending with the other civilians…. At least, it worked on the civvies, but shinobi were a little harder to confuse that way. Naruto managed anyway, but only on those who didn't have enhanced senses, like Inuzukas and Zombie-san himself had. Aburames didn't care either way, as the boy didn't prank them. However, the others were a fair game, much to the Zombie-san's amusement and dismay.

As always, Naruto was skipping on his way to the school, happily chatting with his guardian who was trudging behind and indulgently listening to the boy's mooning over his chosen love's looks. It seemed that the ball of sunshine was quite smitten with the pink-haired little girl with green eyes, who was listening to the Yamanaka heiress talking about a new book she had read while they were walking ahead of Naruto and Zombie-san.

Th-thud! Naruto's heartbeat skipped as he listened to her laughter and his cheeks became a little more flushed. She was so cute! She was clothed in dark red skirt and jacket with black winter shoes, green eyes sparkling in the gloomy morning as she was enthusiastically describing something about Shodaime to her indulgent blonde-haired friend.

He gulped as he mentally prepared to introduce himself to the green-eyed beauty.

Th-Thud! Th-Thud! His heart was hammering beneath his rib cage like a relentless drum, pounding and filling his ears with blood, making him unable to comprehend Zombie-san's question.

Harry looked on in amusement as the blonde-haired boy stopped his jumping around as he stared at the pink-haired girl, blushing wildly, his cerulean eyes wide with admiration of the little cherry blossom in human guise. Even his question regarding what the boy would like to have for lunch was left unanswered.

"Ah, young love," he muttered to himself sardonically, fondly remembering the better times until everything went up the creek, so to speak.

It had been a source of endless amusement, for Harry, watching his young ward falling for the little sakura blossom; although the girl didn't exactly reciprocate Naruto's feelings, while the boy was clearly besotted with her. He watched Naruto slowly approach the two girls, his cheeks turning a deeper shade of red even as he stammered out something that should have been a cordial greeting. Harry huffed when the little blonde girl beside the little blossom scowled at Naruto instead and then pushed the blushing pinkette behind her back protectively, all the while glaring at the foxy intruder.

It was a par for the course, really. Naruto tried to get the little girl to like him, only for him to be stopped by one ferocious blonde whirlwind of her best friend, Ino Yamanaka. Harry had resigned himself in his role of the bewildered spectator slash amused caretaker pretty early in the game, though that didn't stop one Inoichi Yamanaka from sending him warning glares of 'if-your-spawn-defiles-my-precious-princess-you-are-a-dead-meat' variety. Well, maybe Harry shouldn't have told him about the Potters' little mating habit problem. But it wasn't his fault that Potter men were apparently gluttons for punishment in one way or another with choosing their better halves - some of the stories Harry had heard about his mum painted one Lily Evans before she reluctantly consented to being the newest Mrs. Potter in a very scary light.

Because of that, most of the folk back home had thought that one Ginny Weasley would become the next Mrs. Potter. However, much to their dismay, Harry and Ginny both agreed that they were more like unofficial siblings and stuck to that. It drove the few selected individuals - namely one Molly and Ronald Weasley - up their proverbial walls, while others got a fair bit of amusement out of the situation in question. It took a very heated snog with one Blaise Zabini after a successful raid, along with a resounding slap to Ron's face, to get some of the much-needed sense the two non-believers' thick skulls that no, Ginny had no intentions of playing one Harry Potter's better half. Instead, she had very serious designs to become the next Mrs. Zabini.

Harry smiled with repressed amusement when he reminisced on the time he had smugly collected his winnings from both Gred and Forge. The twins had been thoroughly dismayed that their own little sister had managed to dupe them so effectively - they seriously thought there was something between her and one Neville Longbottom, due to the fact Ginny had spent an inordinate amount of time around the shy Gryffindor in question. Of course, Harry had known otherwise, but chose to be mum on the issue just because he could. It wasn't always one had a chance to pull one over the Weasley terrible twosome, after all.

Currently, Harry's wild hair was now even messier as he didn't bother to cover his head with anything, despite the first snow fall of the season; and the cold wind had done its share of trying to mess the man's tresses further. He was clothed in black pants with his ever faithful boots and his upper body was being shielded by green Jounin armor, while his back was covered with a dark grey cloak. Wearing a cloak instead of a jacket or a coat, like many other people did, was an unusual choice of winter wear, however Konoha citizens attributed Harry's preferences to him being a foreigner. And if some well-meaning old grannies tried to persuade the young, handsome man to wear more…civilized clothes, they were politely rebuffed and offered an explanation that the cloak was a standard wear of the Koizumi's clan. Not that the explanation persuaded them to back down from their attempts any faster.

The tiny snowflakes were falling on the ground here and there, in small clusters riding on the wind currents. Thankfully the roads haven't iced over yet, but the weather was bound to get colder still.

"Koizumi-san?" Harry blinked at the call, his mind swiftly turning back to the present.

"Hyuuga-san," He acknowledged his caller. "What can I do for you today?"

An unnamed Hyuuga clan member bowed to him. "Hiashi-dono and Suzume-sama are inviting you to lunch today, if you are amenable," - the man droned out, his blank face and even paler eyes implacable, as if set in stone. He was clad in dark brown kimono with a beige edge, with dark brown hair gathered in a loose ponytail and a white bandanna covered his forehead, denoting him as a member of the Hyuuga Branch House.

Harry stifled a sigh. Another part of the routine. For some reason the Hyuugas were pretty insistent on getting him to dine with them. He suspected it was Suzume's fault, what with him helping her with the little leveret, but still. Until now, he was pretty successful in finding one excuse or another not to attend, but apparently that Hyuuga bunch were nothing if not persistent. And so it went, day in and day out, a different Hyuuga branch member delivering an invitation of the grateful parents and Harry politely but firmly declining the invitation..

This time, however, Harry had a sinking feeling that it would be easier - not to mention healthier for him - to move the entire Hogwarts castle, than to once again give a negative reply to the expectant human-shaped boulder of a Hyuuga in front of him.

He stifled another sigh. What was with the people of Konoha dragging him into their own business so readily? First that Ibiki fellow - Harry still hadn't forgiven him for that horse-piss excuse of a coffee; then Anko with her bloodthirsty ways. Itachi was more or less tolerable, even if the teenager in question had a mothering streak for some reason, what with him carrying a case of aspirins and offering them to Harry whenever he noticed that the white-haired man developed a particularly bad case of headache. And Inuzuka Tsume, while a tad wild and loud, was a genuinely straightforward person, who ruled her clan with stern, but fair hand.

Hyuuga clan, on the other side, was a whole different ball game. If the Inuzukas were wild, free and honest, then the Hyuugas were cold, stoic and closed-off, causing Harry to liken them to Malfoys, only with darker-shaded hair and creepy, off-white eyes that gave off an illusion of the whole clan being blind as bats. That creepiness was one of the main reasons Harry had been avoiding them. Along with the fact, that if he dipped his toe in that proverbial pond of politics, he would officially paint even bigger target on his back. Not exactly an encouraging incentive in his aim to have a nice, clean and peaceful life.

Reluctantly resigning himself to being a center of attention once again, Harry inclined a curt nod, "Thank you for the invitation. Tell them I will be there and will be bringing Naruto with me."

The Hyuuga clan member opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated and silently bowed instead. "Noted, Koizumi-san. You are expected at two in the afternoon at the gates of the Hyuuga clan compound. Do you need someone to accompany you there?"

Harry's eyebrow twitched at the man's dull voice. Was the drone having some personality too much to ask for?

"No, thank you," He replied curtly. "I am sure Naruto will be a capable guide."

This time, he had a small satisfaction of seeing the Hyuuga cutting him a small glare. It seemed that there was another very interesting back story behind that one… Mentally, Harry made a note to question his wayward charge just what had he done to Hyuugas to warrant such a reaction.

"As you wish." The Hyuuga man's voice was expressionless.

"I do." With that, Harry sketched a borderline rude bow and turned away his eyes already seeking out his errant charge to inform him of the change of plans.

Suzume didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused at her savior's little evading tactics to her invitations to lunch. At first, she was surprised that Koizumi-san hadn't snapped up a chance to be invited to the Hyuuga compound - she knew many civilians would give their left arm and leg - sometimes quite literally - to be connected to one of the Noble Clans of Konoha, especially if they earned the favor of Clan Head and his spouse. But not Koizumi Akito. In fact, the Branch House members were divided between feeling miffed for being slighted by one lonesome man without any political clout aside from being the Jinchuuriki's caretaker, and feeling gleeful that someone had the balls to outright ignore Hiashi's summons. Suzume knew - a courtesy of Hitomi- that the Branch House had an unofficial betting ring on who would convince the stubborn man to finally cave in and give a positive answer. She was a witness to Hiashi's increasingly irritated, and resigned face with each rejection that came back. Koizumi was a strangely infuriating person - mingling with the Inuzukas and speaking to Inoichi cordially, while religiously avoiding anything dealing with shinobi side of business, aside from Naruto's teachers and Itachi Uchiha.

She suppressed a silent chuckle at Hiashi's pacing through the room. Usually, the Hyuuga Clan leader was much more composed than this, but it seemed that Koizumi had driven him around the bend hard enough for Suzumi to be ready for him to straight up and drag the man himself if. He. Heard. One. More. Rejection. Hiashi may not have looked like it, but he was a passionate man under all that icy Hyuuga veneer and it outright galled him that the Uchiha Heir had more contact with his daughter's savior than him.

It was simply unfair.

She cooed at the small bundle in her lap, fondly looking at her daughter's alert eyes that were now much more aware and focused. The babe was quiet at the moment, thank Kami, because little Hanabi had quite a pair of lungs on her - when she wanted for something, there was no doubt of her demands, a complete opposite to Hinata. Mamiya Ringo, the little firework's Healer, was a godsend in the first days after Hanabi's unexpected and quite troublesome arrival into the world. The old woman also took Hinata under her wing, teaching her the different types of flowers and their healing properties.

The shoji door opened, causing Hiashi to stop his mindless pacing and both he and Suzume looked at the servant kneeling on the floor.

"Satoshi-san?" Suzume inquired, mentally preparing herself for the possibility of Hiashi blowing a gasket.

"Koizumi-sama sends his regards – " Hiashi's face darkened at the quite often heard beginning and Suzume could almost see the vein popping at the side of his face." – and he graciously accepts your invitation."

Suzume blinked. Did she hear it right?

"Satoshi-san, what did you do?" She asked, glancing at Hiashi who was teetering between being smug, angry and just outright wanting to throttle the creator of that auspicious little message they just received.

The stone-faced Branch member was expressionless, but Suzume could read him well enough to see that he was just as bewildered as her beloved husband.

"Nothing different than usual, Suzume-sama. I just extended your gracious invitation."

Hanabi cooed, seemingly aware that something good had happened, prompting Suzume to give her a small, tender smile before she looked back at the uncomfortable servant that was also under Hiashi's extremely focused scrutiny. And really, Suzume had to pity the poor man, because Hiashi's glares were nothing to sneeze at.

"He also said he would come with his charge." Satoshi added carefully, as if he was handing over a stink bomb on the verge of exploding in a diplomatic meeting.

"Oh." Suzume managed to get out, as she blinked with mild surprise.

Yes, 'oh'. They knew Koizumi-san took care of the orange menace, but this cemented it.

The muscle in Hiashi's jaw twitched, clearly denoting that the man had some very unflattering words on the tip of his tongue, and only his training as a Clan Head and Hyuuga forbid him not to spit out some very colorful expletives.

"He did?" His voice was dangerously mild, causing the poor messenger to quickly nod his head. "And why, pray tell didn't you tell him that his charge wasn't invited along?"

"We were in public and it wouldn't say well of us if I refused him."

Translation: If we refused his charge coming along, we would've outright admitted that we fear Uzumaki's legendary pranking prowess (despite how fearsome it truly is, especially as we have fallen victims to it before). And Hyuugas don't fear anything.

Hiashi gave a sharp nod. "Alright. Get back to your duties," He commanded, causing the servant to slump with relief and close the shoji door.

Only then, did Hyuuga Hiashi, the badass leader of the esteemed Hyuuga Clan, allow himself to slump on the nearby pillow beside his wife who took entirely too much amusement out of witnessing his latest trial. Suzume patted her long-suffering husband on his shoulder comfortingly with her free hand.

"At least you've won our little bet on which day he would capitulate," She consoled him, her lips twitching with suppressed mirth as he sent her an annoyed glare.

Well, even the Main House wasn't completely free of the little sin called gambling.

He didn't want to go. He really didn't want to go. Heck, he would've loved to undergo one more of Anko's 'loving treatments' than going to that stuffy building and making nice with those… sticks in the mud, so to speak.

Inwardly, Harry made a face at the surprisingly apt description of the Hyuuga clan. He knew he was somewhat biased on the subject, especially because he hadn't met that many Hyuugas yet - aside from Ko, Suzume and the little leveret (that Hyuuga clan head didn't really count) - and wasn't that a depressing thought - so he shouldn't have been thinking ill of them, but they seemed just the kind of bunch that made the prejudices into fact.

Huffing, he shifted the gift basket in his arms grumpily while he followed his little guide through the streets of Konoha, carefully disregarding the eyes that followed their movements. It seemed that his acceptance of Hyuuga's invitation had spread through the masses like a wildfire, and now he was the unlucky recipient of both questioning and envious stares. At least they didn't know just why the Hyuugas had such a sudden interest in him; it was a small mercy, but at this point, Harry would take whatever he could, before shit hit the fan.

Because it was just his kind of luck.

"Do we really have to?" Naruto's whine came to his ears, prompting Harry to look at his charge. The fox-boy was clad in black trousers with his beloved blindingly orange and blue jacket, but at least Harry had convinced him to don a dark blue sweater underneath, citing that they had to be polite toward their hosts and outright blinding them with the attack of orange was not polite; no matter how many times Naruto affirmed that orange color was super-duper awesome. Naruto's feet were clad in a pair of black, ankle-high boots and he looked positively adorable with that huffy look on his face and the cold-red nose digging into the gray scarf he had managed to liberate from Harry. Naruto may be a ball of sunshine and almost endless energy, but if anything, the whisker-cheeked boy hated cold with a passion.

"Yes, we have to." Harry patiently replied back for what seemed the twentieth time in a row. His own ensemble consisted of black boots, same colored trousers and deep brown turtleneck, everything covered with his dark grey cloak. The snowflakes were melding with the white and grey of his hair seamlessly, and partially peppering the shoulders of his cloak. If it weren't for one amused green eye looking out of the pale face, Harry could've been a study on how to wear the blandest colors in existence. The moderately sized gift basket in his hands was full of carefully selected fruits, their vivid colors almost gleaming against the drab background of his cloak.

Huffing, Naruto kicked a pebble. "But it will be long and boring and full of boring stuff!" He complained, pouting further. - "Can't we ditch it and go for ramen?" Big puppy-dog eyes looked at Harry, glistening with hope. Harry could almost see the fox ears on the kit's head, half-folded against Naruto's head at just the cutest angle imaginable. He resisted the urge to ruffle the kid's hair, while his inner beast cooed unashamedly at the kit's attempts to waylay them off their planned course. If fact, Harry's tongue was tingling with the need to give Naruto a tongue-bath, slicking those unruly strands back and clean out the overly sized fox ears of his.

Then, he blinked and the image disappeared, but those big, pleading eyes were still there. Harry had to bite his tongue not to do something monumentally stupid in the middle of the street, like licking the kid's nose in an attempt to soothe him.

Damn animal instincts.

"Want to be a Hokage, then suck it up." He replied shortly. Blue eyes narrowed at him petulantly.

"What does that hafta do with being a Hokage?" Naruto quipped back, peeved.

Harry sighed. For a kid who had such a lofty goal, Naruto was surprisingly clueless just what that kind of position of power entailed in real life.

"Brat, who do you think Hokage is?" He instead asked the kid, who immediately brightened.

"He is the strongest and coolest person in the whole village! And they respect and acknowledge him!" Naruto beamed as he used wild arm gestures to illustrate his point.

"Right, right," Harry nodded with a long-suffering sigh, barely avoiding one of Naruto's more enthusiastic 'air strikes'. "And what do you think a Hokage does?"

Naruto scrunched his nose with confusion. "Protects people and sits at those boring meetings!" He replied, confused. - "And wears that cool awesome hat!" His disposition brightened as he remembered the aforementioned hat, and Harry could practically see the sparkles around the kid. He coughed to cover his laugh. Oh, the innocence of youth.

"Right you are." He instead nodded at his charge who beamed at him, grinning proudly like fox that successfully stole a hen out of the trap-covered house. "But that is just a part of his duties. Think of Hokage like a giant umbrella. To protect everyone, he also has to reach out to everyone. Those 'boring meetings' are one way to reaching out for them. Another way is to visit them – "

"Like he does with me?" Naruto interrupted him. Harry glared at the kid half-heartedly.

"Close, but not quite. The clans are the spokes that help the Hokage's mantle of protection to reach over the entire village. Every once in a while, the Hokage has to visit the clans to check how they are doing, if they are strong enough to uphold their piece of protection."

Naruto tilted his head. "So he checks if they are strong? Like fighting with them and stuff?" He blinked. Harry paused. 'How to explain that one…' Mentally, he shook his head.

The gravel was crunching underneath their feet as they walked.

"Not in that way. If he had to fight with everyone to personally check how strong they are, it would be a waste of his time." Harry paused as he gathered his thoughts. "If the clans are the spokes, then the Clan Heads are the tips of those spokes, the ones that enforce Hokage's rules in the clans and take care of protecting the village in his stead. But for that, they have to have a connection to Hokage, and those meetings are that connection. Good connections make for good communication and consequently, relations, thus ensuring the smooth running of the village. If there's no such connection, the Hokage's protection over the village is lacking in some aspect or another."

"But you are not a Hokage." - Naruto pointed out with all the maturity of a six-year old. -"Why do you need to visit those poop-heads?" -Harry coughed with surprise at Naruto's little description of the Hyuuga clan.

"Naruto!" Harry berated the brat. "That was not polite!"

-"But you didn't say it wasn't true," Naruto slyly pointed out, grinning at his guardian's half-mortified, half aggravated face. He skipped forward before turning around and beginning to walk backward.

"I didn't say anything, period." Harry volleyed back. "Next time, don't insult anyone if you don't have the skills to keep your ass outta the line of fire." 'Look who's talking,' His sub consciousness piped up, serving him the images from his younger and stupider years, which Harry swiftly chose to ignore with an ease of long practice. "But in my case, it's a courtesy visit because I did Suzume-san a favor and she wants to thank me."

"Oh. What kind of favor?" Naruto asked, curious. "Ne, ne, did you save her from bandits? Or found something precious to her? Tell me, tell me!" He began bouncing, grinning expectantly like a mischievous baby fox.

"Something like second one," Harry allowed, unwittingly smiling at his bouncing protégé who huffed at him when he found out that he won't find out anything more.

"Oh c'mooon. You can't be that mean!" Naruto whined, pouting.

"I am and I can." Harry volleyed back, his amusement rising. "It was a simple thing anyway, so there's no need to brag."

"Awww. But sush- sushi-pension is killing meeee –" Naruto pouted harder, unconsciously activating his puppy dog eyes.

"It's suspension, brat." Harry corrected him, chuckling. "Now shush, I think we're already here."

Blinking owlishly, Naruto turned around and gawked.

Zombie-san was right, they were ten meters away from Hyuuga compound.

"How did you know?" He asked dumbly.

Wordlessly, Harry tipped his head toward the guards in front of the gates. "I am sure if you look hard enough, you will figure it out yourself." He said to the dumbfounded fox kid wryly as he strode forward, the kid scrambling behind him.

The Hyuuga compound was exactly the way Harry expected it to be – reeking of age, history and stuffiness. It didn't have the air or riches of Malfoy Manor, but it still sprawled over the grounds like an aged beast assembled from wood, clay, paper and glass. It reminded Harry of those old buildings in Japan, only more modernized, but still retaining that unique scent of beeswax, wood and light incense along with fresh laundry and some kind of warmth.

"Hiashi-sama and Suzume-sama are expecting you in the dining room." An elderly Hyuuga woman murmured to him, bowing slightly. She was clad in light gray nagajuban with beige juban that complimented her aged, but still gentle face with a warm, welcoming smile on her lips.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Harry replied, inclining his head. Naruto, on the other hand, was mercifully quiet and sticking behind him like a good kid. Their newest guide nodded and flashed them another smile before proceeding to lead them down the hall to the aforementioned room.

The trek was mercifully devoid of any inhabitants of the house, though Harry's sensitive ears caught faint steps through the rooms and occasional word when they passed a door. He heard Naruto's stumbles behind him - soft and awkward, revealing his inexperience in such matters, while their guide's steps are prim and proper and almost noiseless if not for her hakama brushing against the polished floor.

"Here we are, Koizumi-san." The elderly woman finally stopped at a pair of shoji door. Bowing once again and prompting a bow in return - a composed one from Harry, and hurriedly awkward from Naruto, she slid the door open and stepped in, softly announcing their arrival, before retreating to allow them to step through.

Naruto's eyed were wide. While he had pranked the Hyuugas, he never had the chance to take in his surroundings aside for the bare necessities needed for the prank to be successfully done.

But now when he had time, he looked.

The house was a majestic creation that weathered through the first beginning of Konoha, with some new buildings added in at a later time. It was big, spacious even and more like a house of ghosts than anything else, what with no one getting in their way when the old lady that had greeted them led them to the dining room. Of course, they had seen a Hyuuga here and there before they entered the Main house, but it was from afar and none had ceased to do their job when the visitors passed them, as if they were unworthy to be talked to.

That kind of attitude kind of irked the young boy, but before they departed from their home, his guardian had sat him down and told him the do's and don'ts of the today's visit. The mere memory made Naruto pout, but with a month's worth of ramen, the food of gods at stake, there was no way for him to lose, believe it! But if there were ghosts, Naruto firmly claimed a right to hightail in outta the creepy house ASAP, without any penalty to his person for his self-preservation instincts. He awkwardly shuffled into the seiza, mimicking his much more graceful guardian.

The Hyuuga Clan Head was clad in his customary juban and haori, pale eyes drilling into the Koizumi with all the subtlety of an anvil falling from the sky. Naruto swallowed. The young boy had been a recipient of many glares through his short life, but Hiashi's was definitely one of the scariest ones, but Zombie-san acted as if he wasn't affected by the least. Instead, the green-eyed man looked into Hiashi's eyes as if he were his equal, not giving an inch of the metaphorical ground on which he stood.

"I am honored to be invited to your house, Hiashi-san, Suzume-san." Harry bowed to the two hosts that sat at the kotatsu. "Please accept this little token of gratitude from my humble person." He placed the gift basket in front of him, a single green eye already zeroing on the couple's reactions.

"We are grateful you could find time to accept our invitation." Hiashi's voice was bland and polite, but with a hidden biting edge that would make any lesser person wince with self-recrimination. Harry merely blinked at the soft rebuke and a query hidden in the statement. "And I extend a gratitude for saving my daughter's life." Hiashi ground out at Suzume's sharp glance at his person. Both of them were sitting at the kotatsu, with Suzume cradling a small pink bundle in her lap.

A tense silence pervaded the room and Naruto felt the bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face.

"Oh, for Kami's sake, Hiashi, don't you even start!" Suzume finally exploded, causing Naruto to almost jump out of his skin. - "Koizumi-san has saved your daughter and the least you can do is to show some basic courtesy to him - if not as to someone who saved both me and our baby, then as our honorable guest!"

"Suzume – " Hiashi tried, but the Hyuuga matriarch glared at him, causing him to snap his mouth shut before she looked at Zombie-san and smiled at him a warm smile that made Naruto feel all fuzzy in his tummy.

"Don't mind my husband; he is an overprotective grump who can't express his gratitude in normal manner," She explained, smiling that sun-bright smile of hers at Naruto's guardian again and Naruto didn't know whether he should be grateful to be overlooked, because his cheeks felt suspiciously hot, or irked that this awesome smile was not directed at him.

Surprisingly, Zombie-san wasn't moved by that smile, and Naruto watched incredulously as his guardian only inclined his head, when he moved toward the kotatsu, a half-smirk on his lips. "Ah, of course. I hope you are feeling well?" Both he and Naruto settled themselves at the table, Zombie-san in the traditional seiza, while Naruto inconspicuously tried to get away with sitting on his backside and still looking like a proper young boy.

Suzume beamed at the question. "Of course! Although that forced bed rest wasn't the easiest to abide." A small twitch of her left eyebrow denoted her discomfort with that particular activity - "thanks to you, both I and the little one are owing you our lives, so thank you once again!" She beamed at the small pink bundle in her lap before looking back at Zombie-san.

"You saved the pretty lady's life?" Naruto heard himself blurt out, unintentionally zoning the attention of the people in the room onto his person, and he blushed under the scrutiny, but he stubbornly held his eyes on Zombie-san who was looking mighty uncomfortable at the moment.

"He saved both me and little Hanabi-chan." The pretty lady offered, causing his guardian to emit a small choking sound. Naruto felt his cheeks practically burn under her attention, but he stubbornly persisted. "If it weren't for his intervention we would've been dead."

"Oh…" Naruto trailed off. "Why didn't you say so?" He turned his accusing gaze to Zombie-san, huffing petulantly.

Zombie-san, much to Naruto's irritation, shrugged - and was it just Naruto's imagination, but did his eye gleam red for a moment? "I did what I could, and it was enough to pull them through."

Naruto glared. "But you are a hero!" He insisted, his lip jutting out petulantly as he crossed his arms on his chest sulkily while he huffed with irritation.

"Uzumaki is right." Naruto blinked at the scary Hyuuga man who joined the talk. "Why haven't you told that it was you who helped Suzume deliver Hanabi? Surely you know that people would respect you much more if you did?"

Naruto could feel Zombie-san stiffen beside him, causing him to reflexively tense himself. "Believe it or not, I didn't do that because I wanted to have some kind of a leverage over you." Zombie-san's voice was still polite, but Naruto hoped to any deity that was listening to him, that this sub-zero tone one Koizumi Akito was employing in this moment would never, ever be used against him.

"It's more of a hassle for me to be known for that particular feat than I would like. I am not in the business to pulling miracles out of my ass on command, after all." Naruto choked on at the crude refusal. And Zombie-san had the balls to lecture him about being proper! Cringing, he waited for the inevitable explosion, but to his surprise, there was none.

"But how did you know what to do?" Suzume inquired, trying to get off that particular mine-field of a topic.

Koizumi tilted his head. "I am not a healer, but I did my fair share of on-the-field medical interventions." He explained succinctly. "I've had the misfortune of witnessing one of my allies almost miscarry her child and only by a sheer dumb luck we've managed to keep both her and her child alive."

Gasping, Suzume put a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and regret. "Oh, my. I didn't know that. I apologize for evoking any bad memories."

Harry averted his eyes from the shaken woman to the child in her arms. "It's in the past." He replied gruffly. "And you couldn't have known."

"But still – " Suzume's protest was interrupted by a door opening.

"Excuse me, but the food is done." A nameless female servant said quietly, carrying a pot of soup in the room, with her two helpers behind her.

The lunch passed in stilted conversations and uncomfortable silence. Harry could see that Naruto dearly wished to hightail out of the room as soon as possible, if his little pouts and grimaces were anything to go by. The food was delicious, even if sometimes a little strange tasting for Harry's tastes, and he mentally sighed with relief when he could place down the chopsticks at the end of the meal. At least he didn't make a fool of himself with handling those infernal contraptions of torture… this time. Naruto had tried to teach him, and the activity was both the boy's source of amusement and Harry's irritation as he awkwardly tried to get used to handling two wooden sticks to pick the small clumps of food with. He still had an occasional accident, but those occasions were mercifully few and far between, even if they could happen at the most random of times, much to his irritation.

Now, they were sitting around the kotatsu, Naruto finally giving up on propriety and sitting with his legs crossed and watching Suzume in a fascinated daze as she cradled the baby in her arms, while both Hiashi and Harry were still in a seiza, much to Harry's silent dismay. However, he didn't let it show - showing a weakness to enemy was a pinnacle of foolishness, like Lucius once said, not useful if you can't get something out of it. Harry wasn't very enthused at the time, but the blond Slytherin's advice had been sound and proved invaluable in numerous scenarios. 'If Lucius ever saw me like this, he would've laughed himself sick.' Harry thought sourly.

"You said you hailed from a clan." He blinked at Hiashi's question. It was rather direct for someone as involved in games of politics as Hiashi was, but Harry wasn't fool.

"I did." He volleyed back, his lone eye staring into the pale ones of the Hyuuga leader as he lifted a cup of tea toward his lips. Taking a small sip he swallowed the aromatic liquid and allowed it's warmth to seep down his body before he continued. "The Koizumi clan isn't exactly known because we hold ourselves in the secession from people because of our abilities. We rarely venture out of our lands for the fear of being persecuted or experimented on." Hiashi blinked at the explanation.

"But you came here." Suzume prodded gently, her attention seemingly on the baby.

Harry nodded. "It was … pure dumb luck. I was coming back, having successfully completing the mission for my clan when I was ambushed by some of our enemies. Long story short, I was caught in a backlash of some Fuuinjutsu techniques that had the effect of transporting me to the edge of Forbidden Forest. I somehow managed to get into Konoha and treat my wounds, but luckily, Uzumaki here found me, brought me to his home where he finished treating them." He gave a brief smile to the blushing blonde boy at his side.

It was both a truth and a lie. Harry sighed as he looked at the cup in his hand. Mentally, he reinforced the blocks, much to the disgruntlement of his beast - it didn't like to be caged, and he suppressed a wince at the feeling of claws skating across his brain in retaliation to his actions.

/Fool./ The beast growled in the back of his head, baring all of its teeth at its human consciousness, prompting him to blink as he sent back a reprimanding thwack on its nose in response.

'Hush, the adults are talking.'

/They prey. You predator./ The beast growl-purred, a sinful, beckoning sound rattling the walls Harry has hastily erected.

'Omnivores.' Harry agreed.

/Herbivores./ The beast insisted. Harry really ought to think up a name for it, because it was becoming tiresome to call it 'it' or 'he' or 'beast'. /Baby herbivores./

Harry resolved to ignore that comment.

"I've never heard of Koizumi clan, though." Hiashi interrupted Harry's mental dialogue with his beast with all the subtlety of letting an anvil fall on someone's head.

"Well. We are a secretive bunch." Harry offered back a bland smile. "I suppose many of other people hadn't either." He drank another mouthful of tea, appreciating the mildly bitter taste on his tongue. He ignored Hiashi's glare, sending a mild smile in retaliation.

"But if you don't mind me asking, what are your abilities?" Suzume queried, shifting the small infant in his arm as the baby began to wake up and whimper with discontent.

Harry studiously ignored the small squirming bundle in the woman's arms. Actually, he avoided staring at that particular bundle as much as he dared without being too rude in process. Much to his dismay, the ears of his inner beast perked with attention.

'Oh shit.' Harry swallowed. This was so not good. Slowly, he inhaled, and at once, knew he had made a mistake. The scents shouldn't have bothered him – Naruto's overly loud one, with ramen and dirt with fresh grass, Hiashi's paper and sandalwood mixed with oolong tea, while Suzume smelled of violets, sushi and baby milk.

And then, there it was. The small bundle struggled, and its scent wafted up to Harry's nose, causing it to twitch imperceptibly. It smelled of baby milk, baby powder and both Suzume and Hiashi, but still had its own scent – a scent of innocence, if there existed anything that could be described as such. Harry wanted to press his nose into it, revel within it -

What a freaking good time for his olfactory senses to go into overdrive.

He licked his lips. "The abilities of our from one person to another. Mainly, we are similar to Inuzukas, what with us having our animal partners, but the partners in question are unique to each person. The partners also lend their strength to us when we are in fight."

Lie. And truth.

The beast within him butted its massive head against the barrier that separated it from the outside world, fascinated with the little one in Suzume's lap.

"What kind of animal partners do you have, then?" Hiashi prompted, pale eyes trained on Harry's face without blinking once. Lone green eye swiveled up to the Hyuuga clan leader's face.

"It's generally impolite to ask Koizumi clan members about their animal partners." He rebuked the man, his voice still calm.

"But why?" Naruto butted in, blue eyes confused. Harry smiled at his protégé.

"Because they are reflection of our true selves. They show both our good and bad points, at least to a degree. For example, my father's was a buck. As such, he could be characterized as a leader of the pack so to speak, ferocious in protection of our family, while my godfather, as a dog, could be termed very playful and loyal."

"Wow!" Naruto's eyes practically sparkled at the newly gained knowledge, and Harry could almost see the imaginary fox ears perked on his head. "Can you teach me? Pretty please?" The boy pouted for good measure. Absentmindedly, Harry noted that both of the adult Hyuugas were also very interested in his answer.

Smiling regretfully, Harry shook his head. "As much as I would've liked to, no. It's a clan-exclusive skill so it can't be copied." Naruto's mood drooped at hearing that.

"Aww. That sucks." He sulked, only to perk back when he thought of something else. "Ne, ne. What is yours then? You haven't shown it to me yet!"

Harry experienced both of his inner beast's offended bristle and happy preen at the same time. It was a strange sensation that almost threw him off kilter, causing him to hurriedly suppress the growling purr in the back of his throat.

/Impudent whelp./

"Currently out hunting in Forbidden Forest." He replied, placing the empty cup back on the table. "And no, you will not see him for a foreseeable time. We've only begun our training together, so it's not advisable to introduce you two so soon."

/'Never' would be a more apt time frame./ The beast commented, idly flicking its nonexistent tail. Harry held back an exasperated sigh. For some reason, Itachi was completely okay choice for it, but Naruto was a no-no.

"Boo. You're not fun." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest petulantly as he turned his face away from his increasingly amused guardian.

"There were some rumors about some kind of a beast massacring Iron Trees lately. So I assume your partner is the culprit?" Hiashi interjected.

Before Harry could answer, the little wriggling pink bundle decided that it had enough people ignoring it and announced its displeasure with a loud wail, prompting both Harry and Naruto to cringe, and Hiashi wince from the loud sound.

"Shh. Shh, Hanabi-chan, it's alright." Suzume hurried to console the little one, but the baby wailed even louder. Harry studiously avoided looking at the tiny bundle, and instead, he looked somewhere near Suzume's throat hollow, just out of the politeness sake. "Hiashi, dear, can you hold her a little?" Suzume looked at her husband, helplessly, making him blink like a deer in headlight.

"Now?" Hiashi balked. Suzume had none of it. "Yes, now. " She glared at her husband. "She usually calms down when you hold her." She held out her arms offering the baby to Hiashi, causing him to fumble a little. The baby's cries got louder in volume, if that was even possible.

/Hold the leveret!/ The beast's order thundered through Harry's skull, making him wince with the force of it.

'No!' Harry shot back. The still wailing baby was safely transferred to Hiashi's arms, and he had to force himself not to snatch it out of the man's arms.

/The leveret is ours!/ The beast still insisted.

'Are you trying to create a menagerie?' Harry snapped back. 'We already have a kit – '

/ - Is yours./ The beast volleyed back.

'-and a cub – ' Harry tried to keep his temper under lid . He really did.

/Is mine – / The beast's shameless claim of Itachi was the last straw -

'-and I have to take care of both of them and you want to add yet another herbivore!' Harry's inner explosion caused him to unconsciously pull his lips back and emit a very animal-like sound.

"Are you snarling?" Naruto's innocent question snapped Harry out of his little self-argument with the furry idiot with penchant of adopting baby animals in human guise.

Harry's jaw snapped shut. He flushed under Suzume's and Hiashi's stares. "It's a side effect from bonding with our animal partners?" He feebly tried.

He fidgeted under three stares.

"Hiashi." Suzume said, still staring at the enigma that was Koizumi Akito. The man in front of her furtively looked from one to another.

"Yes, dear?" Hiashi's answer was automatic as he cradled the still howling baby girl awkwardly.

"Hand Hanabi-chan to Koizumi-san, if you will." She commanded. Sole green eye snapped up, looking at her face.

"Are you crazy?" Koizumi-san snapped at her, his voice low and still sounding closer to an animal's growl than to what a human should sound like. If she had heard it in the dark, Suzume thought absently, she would have mistaken it for a voice of a beast. It was strange for that growly, guttural, almost violent sound to come out from the chest of such a slender, unassuming man.

"Humor me." Suzume's request wasn't so much a request but a demand, an iron clad in velveteen glove. Hiashi looked at Koizumi half-apologetically and half-distrustfully - since the debacle of Hanabi's arrival in the world he was not very keen with handing his little one to anyone outside his very limited circle of trusted people - and right now, Koizumi looked more likely to eat the baby than protect her. Hesistantly, he handed her over "Support her head because her neck is still wea – "

Koizumi shot his a glare for his efforts as he practically snatched the baby out of his arms and cuddled it to himself and…. Was he purring?

Hiashi blinked. He wished he could tell the propriety to take a hike and then pinch himself for all he was worth.

But no, as soon as the little one was in Koizumi's hands, the babe quietened down, looking at the strange face with tear-blurred eyes and the man purr-hummed to her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Wha – " The whisker-cheeked boy didn't have such concerns as he outright gawped at his guardian. "But Zombie-saaan!" He whined, pouting.

"Shush, you." Koizumi commanded gruffly, his eye still glued to the little bundle in his arms, before an odd grimace flashed across his face. Nobody knew for whom the command was intended, but both Naruto and Hanabi calmed down.

To hell with propriety. Hiashi reached to his left tight and pinched himself.

Painfully.

With chakra infused in his fingertips.

Jyuuken wasn't depending only on the finger pokes, but a Hyuuga could also direct chakra to fingertips and then use the said fingertips for the almighty Pinch Of Doom. It was not very well known outside Hyuuga compound because Hyuugas were of course not childish like that, but it was a good method to disrupt the illusions if the situation was a little too delicate for a hand sign. Of course, that kind of pinch hurt like nobody's business and left black - literally black - bruises that hurt a great deal after the pinch had been used. If he remembered right, the record holder for this pinch-bruise had been Hizashi after he found out that Hoshiko was pregnant with Neji.

Holding back an ungentlemanly curse, he looked back at the strange image before him, his tight unmercifully throbbing with pain from the pinch.

Nope. Still there.

Still purring and cuddling to his youngest like some kind of a humanized cat. A giant, humanized cat.

And then, his baby girl giggled.

Harry's inner beast was in the la-la land. And no matter what Harry had been trying, the beast was almost insensate on the babe's scent of milk, lavender soap and an overall smell distinct to babies everywhere.

/Mine. Mine, mine, miiiine…/ Harry sweatdropped. The damned beast was drunk like it had just taken a dive in a vat of concentrated catnip! And it didn't help that the feelings were strong enough to affect him too – but at least he had enough sense to not spontaneously combust into a furry puddle of goo right then and there because that would be damned hard to explain.

Even the purrs were going in the venue of 'Mine' in some way, shape, context or form.

The little leveret cooed at him, the characteristically pale Hyuuga eyes looking at him happily as the small hand waved as if to catch that strange white-silvery stuff on his head.

'Little leveret.' He acknowledged, exasperated, feeling the beast in the back of his mind purr in approval and he got a sense of 'what-took-you-so-long' feeling back, which he studiously ignored. Well, if you can't beat 'em then join 'em, right? (Not that it would stop him trying to choke the annoying furball into the submission later.)

He knew he would regret this, but right now, the silvery little bond between the two was bright and warm and good, with the little leveret feeling happy, content and safe – Harry didn't think just how did he knew that, but he just… kid of did.

He inhaled, just to take in more of that scent.

/Told ya so./ The beast sent to him a smug sense of superiority. Inwardly, Harry scowled. Or tried to.

'You told me nothing.' He shot back. 'And tell me precisely why did you have to pick her out of all people? She is just a baby, for heavens' sake!'

/Pack. Baby. Cuddly./ The beast's answer was firm on the issue. Harry blinked, gob smacked.

'You… chose her just because you wanted something soft to cuddle?' He queried back, incredulous.

/Yes. Pretty squishy.../ The beast purred louder, and Harry had to fight for his to tongue to stay in his mouth instead of letting it out to lick the baby's powdery soft chubby cheek. He had to bite the tip of his tongue to remind himself that no, licking babies was not acceptable while he was in a human form. The blood filled his mouth and he swallowed it down. The stinging pain throbbed up his tongue to his temporarily baby-insensate brain also returned back a little bit more of the mind faculties previously occupied with his baby-squishy-obsessed beast.

He gave up. 'Why is she a Pack?' Finally, a sensible question. Maybe - and Harry could only pray that he would - he could get some equally reasonable answers in return.

/Ours. Saved./ Two words that made Harry's shoulders slump with defeat.

Of course. Of-fucking-course.

Because Harry had helped with the levere - Hanabi's - birth, his beast, damn it to Hell and back, misconstrued it as a some kind of a ritual to accept the newest member in their mismatched pack and it didn't help that it somehow managed to steal the placenta and eat it, thus bonding them tighter.

Mammal animals had the practice of eating placenta of their young, both because it was rich with nourishments, especially iron, but also because the predators would have found them via the scent of blood and kill the young they had just birthed scant moments prior. But for magical counterparts this little habit also helped to strengthen the mental bonds between the parents and newborns. Because of this, it was unadvisable to part the kneazle kittens or crup puppies from their mothers before they were weaned off and self-sufficient enough to take care of themselves. The shock of taking them prematurely could literally kill the little ones, and their mothers were also irreversibly damaged, often leading to listlessness, violent attacks and insanity.

And here was Harry, the Animagus whose beast form was foolish and greedy enough to swipe and eat the placenta of a just born baby Harry had just saved mere moments before. The magic shouldn't have worked, but he was Harry-fucking-Potter and of course the impossible just had to happen to him. Harry sighed.

"Hello, leveret." He grumbled to the baby who cooed at him, giggling, not knowing what a mess she and her mommy had caused in Harry's inner world.

"Her name is Hanabi." Suzume's amused voice interrupted his little memory trip. "And because I know you wouldn't accept any reward – "

"Of course not!" Harry interrupted her, glaring at her for a moment before returning her stare to a small one in his arms, once again starting to purr.

"I ask of you to be her godfather."

The rumbling purr abruptly tripped itself into a hacking cough. Harry's eye bugged out as he looked up at the innocently smiling Hyuuga matriarch.

"Wh-aa?" He bleated out. "Are you fucking serious?!" Hiashi's eyebrow twitched at the expletive, while Naruto's already wide blue eyes became even wider with glee at hearing his usually proper guardian cuss in a polite setting. And in front of a Clan Head, no less!

"Yes." Suzume replied, a small gentle smile on her lips, but her eyes were serious, even if a little bit calculating. The hair on the nape of Harry's neck was being raised by the feeling of dread.

"Suzume!" Hiashi objected. Pale eyes looked into another set of pale ones that stared the Hyuuga clan leader down unflinchingly.

"Yes, Hiashi?" A sweet smile - 'too sweet' - Harry's still shocked mind supplied - and Suzume tilted her head, exposing her lovely throat.

"But you just can't do that!" Hiashi protested, even scowling at the slender woman.

"I can't?" Suzume's voice was mild. "Then what do you suggest we do? Koizumi-san would reject the monetary compensation – "

"Damn right I would!" Harry snapped, scowling. No amount of money was worth of leveret's life, thank you very much!

"- and he is not the sort of person that would brag around about his ties to the Hyuuga clan. And we can't adopt him into the clan either."

Hiashi paled at the last suggestion, causing Naruto to suppress a muffled snicker behind his hand at the sight, only to snap shut when the erstwhile Hyuuga clan leader shot him a look.

"And you can't say he wouldn't protect her with his life, considering he is just about curled around Hanabi-chan and purring at her." Suzume calmly pointed out, but the last part abruptly cut the said purring off, causing the little Hanabi to mewl with disgruntlement.

"I am not purring!" Harry growled out, peeved at this little facet of his Animagus form.

"Look at her." Suzume suggested, and instinctively, Harry looked down. Unbidden, a smile stretched over his face, and there was an unmistakable rumble emitting from his throat and reverberating through his chest.

"You are purring!" Naruto piped up, amused, his eyes gleaming in the soft light like ones of a particularly devious baby fox attempting to bite its parents' tail.

"I am not! I am… Humming! Yes, humming!" Harry's flustered reply didn't convince the fox brat any, if his overly cheery smile was any evidence to what was brewing under his skull.

"Fine, you are humming and you will be a godfather to Hanabi-chan." Suzume concluded, sighing with disappointment.

"Yes, exactly!" Harry nodded, relieved that his manly honor was saved, and then the beast within his mind purred even louder.

/Finally. Our leveret./ The beast growled out, and this time, Harry's jaw dropped in reality. "W-Wait, I didn't agree to this – " He protested, but his disagreement fell on deaf ears.

"But you did." Suzume's serene affirmation was in a direct opposite to a devilish smirk on her face. "If I recall, your words were 'Yes, exactly.' You are not the sort of the man that goes back to his word once its given, are you, Koizumi-san?" She inquired mildly.

Harry's shoulders dropped in unison with Hiashi's as the two men looked at each other in exasperated commiseration common to men everywhere when they are confronted with the conundrum called woman. "Fine. I would be honored to – " He swallowed around the happy purr in his throat "To be a godfather to the levere - um, Hanabi." He eyed the devilish woman, silently peeved at being outsmarted so quickly.

'You got your squishy. Happy now?' He grumbled to his beast.

/Very. Can we take it home now?/ Harry mentally face-palmed.

The leveret in question gurgled with happiness as she finally got her hand on the silver stuff.

Harry winced. For a prematurely born baby, Hanabi had a surprisingly strong grip on his hair and a painful yank to go along with.

"U-Um O-Otousama?" A shy voice sounded from the door, and Harry was almost afraid to look to its owner.

The girl was two year younger than Naruto, a mini-version of Suzume, only shyer, and with her hair cut in bob with two longer bangs on the sides and clad in light purple yukata.

He was right to fear.

/Larva./ The beast's distinctly unflattering remark made Harry bark out a laugh of both relief and despair, causing the room's occupants to look at him with confusion.

Still smiling like a fool, he cuddled Hanabi for the last time before passing it back to Suzume, much to the baby's disgruntlement.

"Ah. Excuse me, but I believe that it's time for Naruto's training." He said, inclining his head good-naturedly. He studiously ignored Naruto's fallen face and the little girl's blushing one.

Suzume made a noise of disappointment while Hiashi nodded in approval. "It's good that you started him young." He agreed as his eyes darted to fidgeting boy before sliding back to Harry's face. "How is he doing?"

Harry tipped his chin forward, humming thoughtfully. He wasn't such a fool as to not see just where the man's question lead, but neither was he an idiot enough to reveal everything.

"He is progressing." He allowed. "The style is a little rough –" He ignored Naruto's indignant squawk of titling their spars of death with such deceptively normal description, "- but he is adapting well."

Hiashi watched Koizumi closely when the man replied to his query. The man was relaxed, almost blasé in his commentary, a total opposite to his ward, who was almost vibrating in his seat with indignation. Wide blue eyes, flushed cheeks and that pout - Koizumi was definitely downplaying whatever regime he had the boy under, but even Hiashi couldn't find fault with the result of the brat heeding his guardian instead of going wildly into the deep like it had been his habit in the past. If nothing else, Uzumaki finally learned the fine art of keeping his tongue behind his teeth when his betters were talking.

He nodded. "Perhaps we could arrange some play dates between our children?" He inquired. Suzume shot him a surprised, yet pleased look, but Hiashi was concentrated at Koizumi.

The man's viridian-colored eye narrowed for an instant, before sliding shut. For a scant moment, there was a tension in his shoulders, before it rippled down his arms and torso in an almost invisible wave before vanishing as if it never existed to begin with.

"I'm not playing with a baby!" Naruto's grumpy voice cut his observations short, causing him to glare at the impudent kitling.

"Naruto." One word and a single stare, and Naruto ducked back, but he still had that stubborn pose of his hands being crossed on his thin chest and blue-eyed glare that reminded Hiashi so painfully of –

"You won't be playing with Hanabi-chan, she is still too little. " Suzume interrupted gently, and Hiashi watched, amused, how the brat's face flushed pink as Suzume smiled at him. "Instead, you would play with Hinata and Neji. Both of them are very lonely and they need some good friends." Suzume smiled that particular smile of hers and Naruto blushed bright red.

"N-No problem. I will be the bestest friend ever, dattebayo!" The boy exclaimed, pinching his hand in the hair as he grinned, causing the mini-Suzume squeak and blush a bright red when he looked at her.

"That is, of course, if Koizumi-san allows it." Hiashi interrupted the blond menace. Immediately, the whisker-cheeked boy turned to his guardian, widening his eyes. "Can we? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Suzume hid her giggles behind her hand delicately, and Hiashi felt a smirk crawling up his face at seeing Koizumi's exasperated glare at his foxy ward.

But that didn't mean he liked Uzumaki any better - especially now when the brat acquired a crush on his wife.

"Of course." Koizumi allowed, bemused at Uzumaki's falling prey to Suzume's charm. "Should they come, we would be delighted. I only ask that you tell me when, so that I can make sure there's nothing in our schedule to interrupt their play-dates."

When they had left the Hyuuga compound that evening, Harry's beast acquired the rights to its leveret/squishy, Harry acquired another kid to play the minder to and Naruto got a brand new friend and playing partner in the shape of Hyuuga Hinata. Neji was still an unknown, but maybe he could be a good sparring partner to Naruto. At least the play dates would be interesting to observe, what with Naruto's little infatuation with Suzume and the larva's infatuation with the bright fox-child. Harry shook his head. Maybe his beast was having too much influence on him, if he thought of people he knew in their beast-given nicknames first and their actual names second. But at least he narrowly avoided adopting yet another herbivore.

He suppressed a wince at the memory of his little outburst at the beast. 'Yet another herbivore', indeed. Nevermind that both Itachi and Naruto were classified as carnivores, as noted by both of their respective beast-nicknames and, for now, the only members of the mix-matched pack he was beginning to build in the strange country he had found himself in. It boggled his mind that the beast even deigned to adopt something as weak as a baby - Itachi, he understood, as the young boy was dangerous enough to warrant his attention, and Naruto was both troublesome and unpredictable for it to be interesting, and even amusing to keep an eye on the brat, but Hanabi wasn't anyone truly dangerous, what with her having to depend on her parents and caretakers to tend to her needs as babies are won't to do.

"I don't want another one." His half-complaint and half-plea was snatched by the evening breeze and dancing away on the tiny snowflakes that drifted lazily from the darkening sky.

"You don't want another what?" Naruto's voice cut into his stream of thoughts. Harry looked at Naruto. The brat was once again bundled into his eyesore of an orange jacket and hogging Harry's scarf with his hands being tucked deeply in the jacket's pockets.

Harry sighed. "Another brat." He elaborated. Naruto looked up at him with flinty eyes. "Why?" His voice was curious, even if a bit vulnerable if someone had a sharp ear to hear that undertone.

Harry focused himself on watching the dance of the warm light from the windows on the street. "It's not you. It's my beast." He began.

Naruto blinked at him, a tiny silver of hurt being replaced by curiosity. "What kinda beast? Like toad?" His innocent question made Harry shudder.

"Gods, no. How did you ever get that idea?" He asked, horrified.

"But toads are the bestest animals, dattebayo!" Naruto pouted, looking like dissatisfied baby fox. "They were Yondaime's suh-moons and they helped kill Kyuubi!" He darted in the front of his guardian and began walking backward, firmly keeping his eyes on Zombie-san's face.

"Summons, Naruto." Harry corrected his ward, exasperated. "And no, we didn't have toad summons." 'This is just as well, as toads are the most useless pets ever.' He thought to himself. "And no, I won't tell you anything about my partner."

"Then it just ain't awesome like toads are!" Naruto volleyed back, causing Harry's single eye to narrow.

'Why that little - !' Still, the corner of his mouth twitched at the brat's attempt to weasel out what his beast form was. For a moment, he contemplated changing into it and scaring the bejesus out of the cheeky punk, but he binned the idea as soon as it came. No need to give the kid a premature heart attack, after all.

"You know the one saying in my country, brat?" He asked conversationally, causing Naruto to eye him with dread. "Never assume."

Naruto's only reply was him smugly sticking his tongue out at him.

"Just for that, additional three laps around Konoha." Harry smirked at the dismayed expression on Naruto's face before he ran forward, leaving the spluttering boy behind.

"Wait! No! Hey, that's mean! OI!"

Chuckling, Harry sped up, leading to their usual jogging trail, with Naruto huffing and complaining all the way right at the back of his heels as they sped past a cloaked form trudging in the opposite direction, the dark glasses under the cowl glinting before the person ducked it's head and continued on its way.

/To Be Continued/