Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: You can't sand this

Summary: Harry finds Naruto manga at an early age and tries to decide his own fate.

Disclaimer: All comments, jokes, asides, rubbish, cabbages etc. are of my own making and in no way represent the policy of J.K. Rowling, or any other member of Bloomsbury, nor any cat, dog, goldfish, insect, bacteria, mineral, etc., on in England.

Having had a productive day with the breakfast genjutsu and dealing with his classmates, Harry decided to go to the park after school and start on getting sand armor. His aunt picked him and Dudley up and they walked home. Harry put his work in the cupboard and reached into his bucket of dirt while flaring his energy and watched as the plants curled up his arm. They all settled on his arm with one around his shoulder, while the more advanced one was on his other wrist.

"Boy, come eat before it gets cold," his aunt called. She would always prepare an after school snack for Dudley before supper, even the diet didn't stop that. Harry walked into the kitchen and saw the tale full of sugary sweets and decided to forego snack-time, less he ended up looking like Dudley. "Actually aunt Petunia I'm going to step out for a bit. I'll be back before dark." He said making his way out.

"Wait" Petunia called. Harry watched as she got out a paper bag and put a few sweets inside before handing it to him. "I don't know what you do out there and frankly I don't care, but tomorrow I'll have a list of chores for you to do. Outside chores since you want to be outside so much," she said smugly. Harry knew why to. It was getting colder and if he messed up the walk while trying to stay warm he would be punished for ruining the Dursleys' perfect image. Harry though was confident he wouldn't fail.

Putting that out of his mind he made his way to the park and most importantly the sand box. When he arrived he saw the sandbox was empty and hurried over. Once there he put down the bag of sweets and got into a meditative position. He concentrated on the feel of his energy and once he had a grasp on it he opened his eyes, not breaking concentration. Looking out he could see some of the adults staring in his direction with indulgent smiles on their faces. Ignoring their ignorance he slowly extended his energy in small amounts towards the sand under him. The sand slowly started creeping towards him and disappearing up his school slacks. He would have to rethink when he came out here as he couldn't release larger amounts of his power least the masses panic. He decided he would come back later tonight to practice with bigger amounts of energy, but for now he could practice his fine control.

More than once a few children would come over and try to see what he was doing. Some even took up meditative poses. Deciding to interact with the kids he pulled open the bag of sweets and passed out all but one which he ate himself. When they were done most of the kids went to play while two stayed to watch as Harry went back to work. Eventually they fell asleep.

Looking up at the sky he saw it was getting darker and people were leaving the park. He stopped the flow of energy to the sandbox while still channeling it towards the sand on his body before standing up. He slowly made his back to the house and got before the streetlamps turned on. They left the door unlocked for him these days as people kept wondering how a four year old kept getting locked out.

"Boy is that you?" he heard his uncle call from the kitchen. "Yes uncle Vernon."

"Well come and eat. Make it quick." Making his way to the kitchen Harry kept up his concentration knowing that if he stopped the sand would spill out of his clothes. After supper Dudley was made to dry the dishes while Harry was sent to clean the bathroom.

That night Harry waited until he could hear snoring before he exited his cupboard. He grabbed the house keys and made his way to the park. Once there he looked out from the tree-line and didn't see anyone. It was a relief because he often heard the ladies on Privet Drive talk about teens out smoking and other such things. He made his way to the sandbox and sat down. He let go of the energy he was exerting and felt the sand slide off his person, but the vines stayed latched on.

He sat there for a while thinking about what made the sand and vines different apart from the vines being alive. He remembered that he used a deeper energy than what he felt every day. It was something more apart of him than the regular energies. Knowing that he won't be able to call up that kind of power while he was running low Harry decided to call it a night, as he didn't want to pass out there.

The next morning Harry saw that the vines had reverted to their natural colors, the newer vines had also started to darken. Before anyone woke up Harry took a shower and got dressed in some loose fitting clothes. He then woke his aunt and made his way outside. Once he was outside Harry started his morning exercises which took about half an hour. He then settled down to work on the garden. He wanted to get his work done now so as to have free time after school.

He waved to a few of the neighbors that were up at that hour before going inside to take another shower, his opinion was you couldn't have too many of them. Once he was done getting ready for school he woke up Dudley. Dudley remembered what happened the day before and grunted at Harry before rolling out of bed to get ready.

It was afterschool that Petunia gave Harry a list of chores. It wasn't a long list but she hoped it would tire him out. Harry having done the weeding laid down seed and fertilizer. He then washed the walk and drive before being called in to eat. Seeing the same fare as yesterday he went to his aunt.

"Aunt Petunia, don't you think all these sweets are unhealthy." He made sure he sat down at the table when he had her attention. "Dudley would definitely benefit from lighter snack foods. Putting him on a diet has no effect if you don't limit the junk foods as well." His argument had given Petunia pause. She looked at Dudley who was ignoring them both while inhaling the sweets she had made. She admitted to herself that she was still overfeeding Dudley. Maybe giving him lighter snacks would help him. "We will see boy. Now if you are done go put the clothes in the dryer. Harry hid a smile as he continued his chores. He saw the look Petunia gave Dudley and knew she would break routine if only to keep him healthy.

Later that night after everyone had gone to bed Harry awoke from his nap. He was beginning to notice that as long as he didn't overexert himself with using his powers he was not as tired as before. He figured the regular meals and exercise was giving him energy to keep up with his training.

Once again he grabbed the house keys and made his way to the park. In the sandbox Harry settled down for a long night. He dug deep within himself for the energy he identified with the vines. This energy was harder to ring out and didn't want to bend to his will. After a few minutes trying to force it he relaxed. The energy was stubborn and most likely wouldn't do as he asked. That's when he realized he had not asked it. He forced it and it rebelled. He thought about how he and the energy shared his body, like a vessel that both wanted to protect. He then tried to show the energy that the sand would protect them if it took control of it. Instead of seeing or hearing though the energy had to feel how it worked so Harry thought about when he was controlling the sand. He let the energy feel how it felt.

Tentatively he felt the energy branch out of his body and into the sand. He opened his eyes to find the sand floating around him lazily. It danced through the air with no set pattern just fluttering in the breeze. Coming back to him Harry showed the energy how to wrap the sand around his body so that it covered all of him. He waited, feeling the energy test out his instructions before snapping towards him with the sand in tow. It didn't hurt when it flowed over his skin, mindful of the vines, but he knew it would take a while to get used to the gritty feeling of it.

Looking over himself, Harry noted that the sand was just that sand. It didn't blend to his body and hand a gritty look to it. Thinking back to something he had read about light refraction Harry conveyed to the energy that the sand needed to blend in better. It had to look just like his regular skin and hair. Though it took him a while to explain it, it was a normal looking boy who exited the park before daybreak.

With the sand armor taken care of and a new subject on his agenda concerning his part sentient energy, Harry spent most of his none workout time with his head in a book. Though he didn't have to worry about constantly exerting energy to keep up the sand he still had to learn to control it like Gaara did. It had to harden to make a protective barrier but still allow his skin to breathe, he had trouble keeping it the color of his skin as it liked to experiment with its new found freedom, and it was a pain to take off when he took showers as it didn't want to move. But after a month they came to an understanding, as long as Harry was in public it would behave normal, while in private as long as it didn't interfere with his work it could do what it wanted.

It was also in that month that the family learned of Petunia's condition. It seemed they were expecting another arrival in the family. Dudley for one was not happy with this because they began to redecorate his second bedroom. Petunia ecstatic she had always wanted another child, and now that Harry and Dudley could take care of themselves she had the time for a new baby. Harry though got something out of it as well. The Dursleys while busy with baby things had paid less and less attention to Harry, meaning less chores and more free time. It was a good thing he put that jutsu on the kitchen or they would have forgotten about him altogether.

So while they busied themselves Harry pushed himself even farther with his academics and physical training. He decided to take three extra classes in school. They were Japanese language, politics, and strangely etiquette. He thought back to the lessons Mrs. Figg had given him before the start of school and according to the books he was reading, manners made your trip into upper society a lot easier. It wouldn't do for him to get a prize position and then mess it up by acting like Naruto in most situations.

His physical skills are what really improved. He worked himself into the ground daily. He decided if he could still stand he hadn't done enough work, which was one of the good things about Naruto. So every morning at five o'clock he would drag himself out of bed just to drag himself into it at three o'clock in the morning. His balance had improved and he was gaining muscle where before there was skin and bones. He knew that had to do with all the regular meals and healthy snacks provided for him.

That Christmas the Dursleys gave him all the old books in Dudley's room which he was thankful for. Harry had actually learned to knit at the beginning of the month so he could give Petunia a gift for the baby. He didn't see what the big deal was as knitting was way easy. He did a simple basket weave stitch with baby blue fleece. He earned the money by shoveling a few drives and sidewalks. He even added a bear pattern so it wouldn't look so plain. Vernon tried to insist it was girls work until Petunia told him to shut up as she gushed over it. It seems Harry would have another job when the bay came, a job he would be paid for too.

Come January Harry started to channel chakra to his limbs. He learned that he could run even longer and punch harder. Though he still hadn't figured out how he paralyzed Dudley's arm before. He channeled chakra to everybody part he could feel, but for some reason he couldn't correct his eyesight. Filing that away for later Harry made a note to get a better understanding of the human body.

One thing besides his sand that he learned to use as an extension of himself was his vines. He only had to think about how he wanted them to respond and they did it. He even managed to form a whip/rope that could hold his weight for periods of time.

Through the rest of the school year Harry took some time out to meditate and do odd jobs around the neighborhood for pocket money that he kept under a floorboard in his cupboard.

Harry managed to surpass his peers and discovered come next school year he would enroll at a secondary school that had programs in physical education and politics on a scholarship. He spent the next few months before the end of school with his aunt at baby classes as Vernon was a hands-off dad when it came to birth. He even helped Petunia pick out a name when they discovered it was a girl. All in all he was satisfied with everything that was going on.