I.

They were supposed to be better than this.

The room was stale, the hangings ripped and mouldering, a dank reek of dust and decay hung like an unwelcome perfume in the dark bedroom with its heavy teak-furnishings, thick forest green hangings, velvet wall-paper and drawn curtains. Candles provided dim, soft lighting that only made the scene seem all the more medieval as, with the sound of tearing paper, Molly Weasley's attempts to feed their captive were thwarted.

Two weeks ago, Albus had Portkey'ed into Headquarters with the unconscious form of James's son levitating beside him. Remus had, of course, seen the child before. Back when he first arrived, thirteen, angry, frightened, and unable to understand a single word they said to him.

To everyone else, they had seen their beloved Boy Who Lived. A child lost, raised by savages in a far off land. To Remus... more attuned to the peculiarities of the world. That had not been what he had seen, he had seen something very different, but no less concerning.

He did not see a boy, or a child.

While people were busy exclaiming over his scars, Remus had paid more attention to where they came from, how they came to be. Knives, claws, burns. Those were scars made during battle, not accidentally cutting oneself while cooking. Someone had made concentrated efforts to murder him, on more than one occasion.

While they commented on his strange dress, Remus had seen the easy access ties that opened and closed it, the smell that lingered on the threads, the neutral colours and how it didn't quite fit. How it belonged to a hospital, and not to Harry himself.

While Molly fussed over how thin he was, Remus had found his eyes lingering on the hard-packed, lean muscle that stretched across Harry's young form. One did not form that kind of muscle mass, or toning, without good meals, and a lot of exercise. If he had to wager a guess, Remus would say that Harry ate better, and more often, in larger amounts, than even he did most days of a week.

And then came the comments on his behaviour. How he refused to eat Molly's cooking, how he refused to look anyone in the eye, how he kept his back to the walls and didn't let anyone walk behind him, how he refused to sleep in the same room as other people, how he violently lashed out. Remus saw him sniff his food, saw him test a strip of paper in it before pushing the dish away. Remus noticed how it wasn't just eyes he didn't look at, but didn't allow anyone to touch him either, and always avoided conversation. How he would always enter a room silently and position himself in the most defensible position, checking every door, window, exit, person, and even every wand and knife in the room. The Werewolf didn't doubt that several of the other objects those green eyes flickered over could be used as weapons. He could hear the stifled gasps as the boy awoke from violent nightmares. And how he never raised a hand unless boxed in, unless someone had a wand drawn. Unless he felt threatened.

But when did this become alright?

Laid out on the bed was the young form of his bestfriend's son, face pale and sweaty with pain. He had been like this for three days now, Albus having unceremoniously deposited him in Molly's care. And nothing, no matter what they tried, nothing worked to awaken him. Molly was positively beside herself because she couldn't even feed him – every time she tried, paper scripts would snap out and cover Harry's mouth, nose, and eyes. And no spell they attempted could stop it. Bill couldn't make heads or tails of the papers, they weren't any language he was familiar with.

If this carried on, Harry would starve to death before the following morning.

Remus turned away and stalked to the living room. When did this become okay?

When did abducting a child, confining him, and forcing him to fight in a battle he wanted nothing to do with become okay? They were supposed to be better than this. The fact that they had yet to descend to the same levels as the Death Eaters was the only reason Remus bothered to return to the Order of the Phoenix after last time! But this... times had clearly changed. Now, it apparently didn't matter if they destroyed their Chosen One as long as Dumbledore won his pissing contest with the Dark Lord.

And as Remus passed by the kitchen, the sight of Sirius, surrounded by empty Fire Whiskey bottles snapping and snarling and drunkenly slurring as he argued with Severus caught his eye. He watched as wands were drawn and the curses started to fly. Some of them... were nasty. Malicious. Dangerous.

And he turned away. Because they should have been better than this.

They were supposed to be the Light.

II.

Severus glared down at the papers wound around Potter's head.

And as much as they utterly infuriated him... he couldn't help but approve of them too. And that just pissed him off all the more! Potter's son was not supposed to be intelligent, he was not supposed to be ruthless, he was not supposed to be so viciously antisocial, he was not supposed to have self-preservation instincts, or such a cruel streak. He wasn't supposed to have Lily's eyes that glared at him with such stark, naked, hate and disgust. He wasn't supposed to be lying there on the bed, his face wrapped up with foreign magic to prevent someone from force-feeding him potions while he was unconscious. He wasn't supposed to need to resort to this kind of safety measure! He shouldn't have even had to think about such things!

He was Potter's vile spawn! He was supposed to have nothing more on his mind than Quidditch, Pranks, harassing his Slytherins and how he could get a girlfriend, or pass his exams, or even what kind of Chocolate he was running out of so he could buy more on the next Hogsmeade trip!

Severus was not supposed to approve of his counter-measures against Albus's meddling. He was not supposed to think that he would have done better Sorted into Slytherin than Hufflepuff, where that ruthlessness and self-preservation would have been celebrated, respected, instead of scorned and made wary of. He was not supposed to feel guilty about brewing minor compulsion potions to make the brat more open to the idea of helping them! He wasn't supposed to be trying to use Legilimency to figure out what they could bribe the child with!

He wasn't supposed to try and erase his memory entirely if all else failed.

III.

Albus had been forced to awaken Harry when all attempts to remove the seal-scripts failed.

He watched as the strained lines on the young man's face faded away, and green eyes opened, they were hazy, bloodshot. Chapped lips opened and hastily Molly poured some water for him and held the glass up. The child was severely dehydrated, he needed to drink but -

The glass shattered against the far wall as the boy flung it away from him as she tried to press it to his mouth.

Green eyes blade sharp on Albus's face with such hate that he felt sick just looking into them.

Only one man had ever looked at him with those eyes...

He turned and left the room as Molly fussed over the child, completely ignored as those eyes drilled holes into his back until the door closed behind him. Albus swallowed, feeling queasy and old as he slowly made his way down the stairs. His heart was heavy with what he now had to do.

They couldn't afford a second Dark Lord.

Once Harry had done his duty... there was no other choice than to deal with him as well.

The Dementor's Kiss. Painless. Quick. He would live out the remainder of his life in comfort with around the clock care. His wife would handle the Potter estate. There would be children. He would have a family. They would grow up at his bedside knowing that he was a great man who fought for the Greater Good. They would never know his ugly side. The Dark side. The killer. The sinner. The liar who tried to doom them. He would be a good man in all the ways that counted in their eyes.

Albus shuddered and wiped his wet cheeks dry as he fumbled with the Floo pot.

Harry just wouldn't be around to appreciate it.

IV.

Sirius sighed heavily, "Albus, the boy refuses to eat anything we give him. I caught him roasting a Doxy over a candle in his room!" the former convict exclaimed hysterically. They were in their usual Order meeting when the question of Harry Potter was brought up, more specifically on how he was doing. Sirius had immediately jumped in with his concerns because – damnit, the boy was eating Doxies!

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sirius, you will simply have to force him. He cannot survive long without food!"

He scoffed, "You know as well as I do that the only food getting into his mouth is the stuff he willingly puts there! That paper thing he's got activates even when he's awake!" he practically roared, slamming a fist on the table. "I'm not asking you to move heaven and earth! I'm just asking for you to arrange an escort so he can go and buy his own food! If he isn't going to trust us to cook food, then at least let him make his own so then he'll damn well eat!"

There was a moment of silence as all eyes turned to Albus.

It... wasn't a bad idea. He had, by now, come to the realisation that drugging Harry's food just wasn't going to work because he refused to even touch it. And that paper-ward would prevent them from slipping him anything while he was sleeping, or from using Legilimency when he wasn't in any state to repel them.

But... if they got the Suggestion Potions into the ingredients when Harry wasn't paying attention... it would make things much easier. He wasn't likely to think they would touch the ingredients themselves, just the final product.

He nodded, slowly, "Very well, Sirius, if you feel so strongly on the matter," he conceded, making it seem as if he still disapproved and was granting him a favour. Who to send with him though... Someone able to control him, definitely, someone who wouldn't rub him up the wrong way either – the last thing they needed was to alienate him further. They needed someone to draw him in. A girl would be preferable. Perhaps he could arrange for some Love Potion... No. No he wouldn't stoop that low. There was no need to dose him with Love Potions. Once the Dementors had neutralised him, a wife would be selected, the marriage would be quiet, and done via muggle-law, still legal, but any children or money would belong to the wife, she would be the sole carer of the estate and the name. There was no need to violate him while he was awake and aware, even the Greater Good had limits – and rape was so far over the line it wasn't even visible on the horizon. For now...

"Charlie, would you be so kind as to accompany Mister Potter tomorrow? I understand you are familiar with London and a significant portion of the muggle-world?" he asked, turning to the second eldest Weasley. He was near enough ideal. His experiences with Dragons would render him quite capable against the volatile teenager, he was definitely loyal to the Greater Good, and he was familiar enough with Muggle culture thanks to his father so as not to draw attention to their outing amidst the London crowds.

The tanned red head blinked a moment in bewilderment, "Uhh, sure headmaster. I'm free. But I'm not too familiar with London's streets, I'm not sure how much help I'd be," he admitted, sounding a little bewildered.

Albus waved a hand, "I'm sure we have a map somewhere," he dismissed.

V.

Charlie didn't quite know how to treat the young man trailing along beside him. Harry Potter was nothing like the stories his mum used to tell them at bedtime, and in all honesty, he had been expecting that. But the real Harry Potter was entirely unlike anything he had ever encountered. The closest he could think was a combination of Snape and Moody on the rag.

Potter was not happy to be here. Even less so to be in Headquarters.

"So, uhh, I hear you caused a bit of a raucous in Hufflepuff." he said, trying to start conversation. It kind of fell flat when all he received was stony silence. "Something about a boyfriend popping in unexpectedly." Ah, that got a reaction. Potter's cheeks turned pink and he hunched down a little deeper into his jacket. "Sooo... What's he like? I believe my younger sister had things to say along the lines of an 'Adonis with hair like spun gold'?" he continued, setting his voice into a high falsetto to mimic Ginny as she gushed rapturously about the strange blond boy she had seen shirtless on the school grounds once or twice while he trained.

Potter muttered something, and Charlie had to bend a little closer to hear, "He's not my boyfriend," was the quiet refusal.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at the tone, "Sounds like you wish he was," he observed, watching as Pott- Harry, turned and looked away, the pink on his cheeks fading away and his expression turning sad.

"He loves someone else," he stated quietly, sounding resigned.

Charlie fell quiet as they continued walking, bundled up against the approaching November chill. There was something heartbreaking and painful about that sentence, or rather, the way it was said. The second oldest Weasley was getting the impression that Harry's feelings were not a new development, and neither was the other boy's love for someone else. What a mess. In love with a guy for ages who loved someone else entirely, dragged across worlds and forced to fight in a battle away from everyone you've known and loved. It was that pity that had him allowing Harry to explore a local book-shop, the look on the boy's face when he saw it had him chuckling. Even more amusing was the two large stacks of non-fiction books the boy insisted on buying.

Eventually they found a little China Market hidden away on a back-street. Harry immediately moved in, apparently recognising a few of the words and was immediately talking to the shop-keeper in a different language, the two of them moving through the isles picking things up here and there. By the end of it, Harry's basket was full of all things weird and wonderful, the only things Charlie recognised was a large sack of rice, and pot ramen. A lot of pot ramen.

As they made their way back, Harry suddenly spoke up. "It doesn't matter if he loves someone else though. I'm happy just being at his side. As long as he is my friend, and I am his, I'm content to let him go. As long as it makes him happy," the dark haired teenager explained gently, sounding older than his years. Charlie stared as the last Potter smiled up at him, and he felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight as green eyes glowed in the afternoon sunlight.

"Any who try to ruin that... I will not forgive."

VI.

Hotaru mechanically inked Fuuinjutsu onto the storage scroll he had put his food into, just to make sure it couldn't be taken. All the while, his brain ran at full-tilt. Had Azami been there she would have giggled about smoke streaming from his ears as he overworked his poor brain.

That pocket watch.

He flared his Chakra, drying the ink, and snapped the scroll shut.

That pocket watch was his key out of here.

Without realising it, without even knowing, there had been two parts to the rune sequence on the back of his neck. Parent and Child, so to speak. Hotaru had the Child sequence. That pocket watch... had the Parent sequence carved into it. The Parent sequence was the control sequence. That was the runic anchor. That was what determined the pain threshold, the distance, and the rules for his runes. Hence why Dumbledore had given it to Charlie when they left to fetch his food. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but when they got back and it was returned, Dumbledore opened it up – clearly to check it was the same watchand to change the Parent Runes.

Hotaru had caught a glimpse. Enough to confirm what he was looking at.

And then he'd been forced to blank himself pretty sharpish because if Dumbledore realised he had seen, had understood, had realised, then he would change the Control object that the Parent Runes were inscribed within. The question now remained... How did he get close enough to steal it?

It was time to further his psychological warfare campaign.

VII.

The next time Dumbledore came into the house, Hotaru made a show of wincing and gritting his teeth. He spoke with strained tones and observed Dumbledore carefully, whenever he moved his left hand, he made certain to flinch, when the old man smiled he would inhale shakily through gritted teeth.

He excused himself early, knowing that only three people had paid any kind of attention to his behaviour. He maintained it until he left the room, but continued to play his part – hand snapping up to dig his fingernails into his shoulders, because he knew one of the Order members had an eye akin to the Byakugan, able to see through things. He maintained his performance up into the bathroom where he ran some cold water and dunked his face into it and then a cloth which he laid upon the Runes – as if they were burning him.

He then went to bed and tossed and turned until he felt Dumbledore's Chakra leave before seemingly relaxing into proper sleep.

The next time, he was in the kitchen making food when he felt Dumbledore's Chakra appear in the other room – thankfully, the kitchen had a lot of people, so he made a show of dropping the pot of boiling water and rice with a hiss of pain, a hand jumping to his shoulder. Molly was immediately rushing over and fussing while the rest of the Order members looked confused as he visibly gritted his teeth and straightened up, arranging his facial features into a strained smile for the woman's benefit.

"I'm okay, just a muscle cramp," he told her pleasantly. Again, he kept himself strained, looking as though he were in severe discomfort but trying to hide it as Dumbledore came in, jovial as always. He quickly excused himself, vanishing the mess he made on the floor and taking only the grilled chicken pieces he had managed to make with him. When he was upstairs, he felt Dumbledore's Chakra flare and purposefully upset his food onto the carpet with a choked cry of pain as he dropped to his knees, hand on his shoulder.

The next morning, Remus asked if his shoulder was alright. And judging by the look in those amber eyes, he damn well knew there was nothing wrong with his shoulder and was getting suspicious. Hotaru nodded, "I haven't exercised in a while. Muscle cramping is to be expected," he assured the older man before unsealing his ingredients and getting to work on his breakfast.

VIII.

Three weeks of doing this every time the old man came in for meetings, Hotaru had managed to get almost everyone glaring at him as it had taken that long for them to notice, and for those more observant to gossip about the problem. By the time Dumbledore had become aware of a change in his Order members, it was Christmas, and the Weasley brood, plus Hermione Granger, were back in the house – and all very shocked to see him.

"So this is what Dumbledore meant when he said Protective Custody!" Ron Weasley, the youngest of the boys and current Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team exclaimed. Hotaru glowered at him, while Hermione looked between the two of them anxiously before turning away and disappearing, likely as not into the library – not that she would find much with the way the Order were burning the Dark Magic books that Kretcher hadn't been able to give him. Hotaru had made a point of befriending Kretcher during his long stint of isolation. The crotchety old elf hated the fact that Molly and the Order were messing up the Ancestral Home of the Blacks. Hotaru had merely raised a disdainful eyebrow when he heard the foul mutterings and coldly asked if he was really that senile or just a shit house-elf.

The little bugger nearly had an apoplexy then and there, and Hotaru had ended up grabbing him by those over long ears and pointing at every health hazard and foul thing he could see within sight and then scolded him for his inattention. Firmly stating that if he loved his home that much, then he should have taken better fucking care of it. He had no room to complain about befouling or besmirching anything when his lack of attentiveness to his own duties put the house into such a state that those so called Mudbloods and Blood Traitors were appalled to live in such squalor.

It really put his dander up, and the Elf joined the cleaning efforts with such furore that it made the Order suspicious at first until Sirius ordered the little bastard to tell him just what had changed. Hearing about how Young Master Green Eyes had given him a stern talking to about his duties and how his mistress would be ashamed of Mudbloods and Blood Traitors looking down on the House of Black had been the last thing any of them had been expecting and the look of stunned shock on the assembled faces made Hotaru sneer from where he was making his Miso Soup. Snape, however, looked grudgingly amused commenting on how he should have been a Slytherin.

Kretcher still hated him at that point in time, but Hotaru had gotten his attention, and grudging respect because even he realised what the Hufflepuff had done by that point in time. And the more that Kretcher watched... the more he liked. Hotaru was annoyingly self-sufficient for him, but the elf also liked that he was too 'dignified' to allow others to take care of himself, stating that it was very regal and impressive.

It got to the point where Kretcher asked if Sirius would transfer ownership of him to Hotaru, to the shock of everyone present. The fact that Hotaru then turned around and snapped that he had no need, nor any want for a slave – then giving all present a very dark look, added 'unlike some'.

It hadn't crushed Kretcher like many had expected to be rejected in such a brusque and firm manner. It just made him all the more determined. It got to the point where Hotaru had even managed to talk him into accepting pay by merely pointing out and explaining the way Konoha worked on a Mercenary level. They do jobs, they get paid, half the money stays with them, the other half goes to the Village. Most of what Ninja buy is weapons and food that they eat, so in actuality, all of the money goes back into the village because without weapons, the Ninja cannot complete their jobs, and without food, there are no Ninja, so no jobs can be done at all.

All the while, the Order members were utterly agog at the fact someone had managed to talk sense into the demented little House-elf. Using logic of all things!

In the mean time, while they were shocked and stunned, Hotaru had Kretcher running small errands for him, fetching materials, books, ingredients. Hotaru had every intention of returning to Konoha and he wanted to make sure the village was one of the best equipped in the world. Research papers, texts, materials, potions, anything and everything. Hotaru even made a point of getting Kretcher to track down muggle things, medicinal drugs and text-books. Tsunade would definitely be interested in the majority of the books he would bring back about the human body. Couple that with the magical books and potions, etc, and she was going to let him back into the village even if she believed he left of his own volition. Everything was packed away in multiple storage scrolls, which were then sealed into a much larger storage scroll.

He even decided to be a bigger bastard than even Dumbledore would have considered.

Using blood, Chakra, and a note, he had Kretcher empty the Potter and Peverell vaults. Completely. Well... not completely.

He left a single knut and a note of contempt behind.

IX.

Christmas was not celebrated in the Hidden Countries. At most, they would share cake with family, or someone special to them. Since he had no family, and his special someone was not there, Hotaru opted to stay out of the way the whole day. He used his Potions' cauldron to make his rice and his soup, he ate in his room, he read his books, he made notes. He turned his attentions to other branches of magical study, pondering on how to use them to better Konoha for when Naruto became Hokage. There were a lot of things that could improve their village tremendously. Just the potions alone were incredible. The ability to regrow bones? The number of Ninja who were forced to retire due to shattered bone joints that just could not be repaired was ridiculous.

He hadn't expected for the Weasley family to come bursting in, loudly jabbering about why he hadn't come downstairs for food and such and – Hotaru launched himself up and clung to the ceiling with Chakra out of their reach.

"I do not celebrate Christmas. Please go away," he told them sharply, beginning to feel claustrophobic.

He would have made certain to lock them out, but there was something strange about the doors here because he couldn't carve his usual Fuuinjutsu onto them, any tools he put to the wood were repelled. He later learned that Kretcher had been ordered to do so by Dumbledore, through Sirius. Impervious Wards specifically so he could not do the same thing he had done in the Hufflepuff dormitories and seal himself away from the rest of the world.

X.

New Years came and went, and with it... Hotaru's opportunity announced itself.

He and the other Weasley children had been drafted into cleaning up the house after the twins got too insistent with him and he had, of course, lashed out. It resulted in a fair bit of property damage and the Weasley children now avoiding him for the most part, thank the Kami.

The strange thing was that Granger was now hanging around much more closely than before. And when he confronted her about it, she admitted to seeing the Runes, and being told by the Under Secretary that if she could get Harry away from Dumbledore, they would hide him away somewhere safe from the Order of the Phoenix and do everything they could to remove the Runes. Hotaru snorted and released her. Too naïve. Too innocent. The trust she held in the establishment shone so clearly in her hazel brown eyes that it was almost painful to look at because she believed, whole heartedly, that they would try to help him if she brought him to them. They wouldn't. Just like with Dumbledore, they would only break the Runes so they could apply their own, enforce some kind of Debt repayment spell onto him or whatever.

No. Hotaru had a plan for how to do this. He just had to wait.

Wait until Dumbledore was there, and put on the best performance of his life.

XI.

His moment came sooner than expected.

Not even a week into January, while cleaning, Hotaru felt Dumbledore's Chakra in the house – and then pain, actual real pain, hit him like a freight train.

But it wasn't in the Runes. No. This was in his head. Centred on his scar.

Hotaru's body locked up and he screamed, falling to the ground and curling into a ball, screeching into the carpeting.

Never let it be said that a Konoha nin let something as trivial as pain prevent them from completing the mission. Even with his forehead splitting open, Hotaru's hands gripped the runes on his back, nails digging long bloody furrows into his flesh as he purposefully smashed his forehead into the ground. He felt a nail catch on his hairline and tear a deep gash in his flesh as he shuddered.

There was panic every where around him.

Hermione was screaming at someone to get a Healer while Remus and other Order members were bellowing furiously at Dumbledore.

The old man rushed over, rummaging in his robes for the pocket watch, no doubt he thought something had gone wrong with the runes if he was having such a bad reaction to them – more the fool he, the stupid man just showed Hotaru where it had been hidden. And then he actually brought it out into the open air.

Hotaru uncurled, violently and with force.

He snatched the pocket watch, ignoring the pain that exploded in his hand before he was gone.

He had been training his speed specifically for a situation like this.

Pocket watch in hand, Hotaru shouldered open his bedroom door just as everyone downstairs exploded in chaos wondering where he'd gone, accompanied by Dumbledore's roar of fury.

Served the bastard right.

Ignoring the pain in his head and hand, Hotaru flicked his stolen wand and everything packed immediately.

"Kretcher!" A crack filled the room and Hotaru immediately gathered the house-elf up into his arms, "Privet Drive, Surrey, Kretcher – quickly!" he ordered, feeling the Elf's Chakra wrap around him and -

CRACK

XII.

There was only way back to the Hidden Countries that Hotaru knew of.

The same way he went in.

The Fae Paths.

After having Kretcher fetch Yuki, the owl had promptly stripped out of her false-skin, revealing herself to be eight feet tall with a wing-span equalling that of most small planes. If not bigger. She was still beautiful and Hotaru very swiftly went about transfiguring a riding saddle and some bags to attach to it, storing his scrolls and such within, so they could make their way through the paths swifter. Yuki's sense of direction was phenomenal, she promised she would be able to find their way through the paths no problem.

The question now remained...

"Do you want to come with us, Kretcher?" Hotaru asked, looking at the elderly house-elf. "You will likely get into a lot of trouble if you remain, but I'm going into a war zone, so you may get hurt with us too. I'll try to protect you, but compared to these people, I am small fry. However, you will be valued and treated with respect. If you want to maintain your terms of service, I know some Noble clans who would be thrilled to have a dedicated staff member with your skills to bond with." Even if the Hyuuga Clan were against it, Hotaru knew that the Nara Clan would love Kretcher, and with the deer grounds to take care of, on top of a perpetually lazy clan of geniuses, there would be plenty of mess for the elderly elf to fill his days with. He would love it. And if not, the Aburame Clan, while fastidious, always needed extra hands. The Akimichi Clan would love to have some of Kretcher's recipes. The Utatane Clan members were some of the oldest citizens, having become sterile during the Second Shinobi war due to concentrated efforts of poison specialist Ninjas, they needed taking care of as some of them had taken the toxin worse than others. And even if Kretcher didn't want to go for any of the clans, the Hospital, the Interrogation rooms, the morgue, there were a thousand and one places that would welcome a being like Kretcher in with open arms once they learned not only what he was capable of but also the laws that governed his species that were magically impossible to betray.

The elf's face was full of such longing, but he shook his head.

"Kretcher wants to. But Kretcher must fulfil Master Regulus's last request and destroy the Dark Lord's nasty locket. Kretcher's duties to House Black have not ended," the elf declared, drawing himself up proudly. "Kretcher wishes Young Master Green Eyes luck for the future," he stated solemnly.

Hotaru nodded, and, in a gesture the house elf wouldn't recognise but understand regardless. Hotaru used an old ANBU sign he remembered seeing at a funeral once.

He concentrated his Chakra in his hand so that it looked like a flame, and kissed his finger tips, he then outstretched the same hand and flared his chakra all the higher. A gesture of respect, good luck, good will... and goodbye.

Large tennis ball shaped eyes watered and the elf bowed, his nose scraping the dirt as he snivelled wetly.

When he straightened up...

Hotaru and Yuki were gone.

And the summons of his foul kinslayer Master pulled him back to the House of Black where he smiled as widely and viciously as he could, feeling that bubble of glee simmering ferociously in his stomach when he saw the angry faces looking down at him. Young Master Green Eyes had outwitted them all. Escaped them. And he wasn't coming back.

So when foul Master ordered him to tell, Kretcher did so gladly. And laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

And stopped.

XIII.

Hermione would scream the next morning when she saw a new head mounted next to the other house elves. But unlike the rest of them, Kretcher's withered face was stretched wide in a broad jovial smile. His milky white eyes sightless but somehow... still happy.

Horrified, she would lock herself in one of the studies, questioning everything she thought she knew about Albus Dumbledore and his so called Light. Everything about the Order of the Phoenix. And she would decide she didn't like what she found.

XIV.

The Fae Paths were beyond description. Hotaru couldn't remember the first time he'd set foot in there. He didn't want to. And he was eternally glad that he couldn't.

That was their nature. You went in, and then you left. And you know time had passed, that things had happened... but because it happened somewhere else... you didn't remember. Couldn't remember. Because those memories had stayed somewhere else.

Time flowed differently, or at least, that was what all the books he found in the Restricted Section said. Privately, Hotaru was hoping that it hadn't. Naruto left three months ago because the village was under attack! But if there was time issues, he would really rather go back to before the battle, not too long though.

XV.

Yuki burst out into brilliant sunshine off the coast of Fire Country.

Hotaru breathed deep the familiar aroma and flavour of the trees, felt the sun soak into his body, felt the familiar Chakras of the world around him. And he laughed.

For what felt like the first time in three years, he threw his arms up and he laughed until his stomach hurt.

He'd done it.

Yuki chuckled, angling herself towards the Hidden Leaf village. It looked like she wouldn't have to worry about that favour she owed Uzumaki Naruto as her human, her clever human, had saved himself without help! She had chosen well. She'd learned so much from him and in turn, she would stay by his side. She would bring her case to the Elders when all was said and done. Konoha deserved the Owl contract more than Kumo in her eyes. But then again...

She was terribly biased toward her human.

XVI.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOI!" Hotaru called, waving an arm as Yuki swooped down on Konoha.

He spotted Naruto immediately at Ichiraku ramen, Sakura was in the doorway, her mouth hanging open in shock as Yuki descended rapidly into the street. He laughed when he saw her, unable to find even a single grain of the jealousy and resentment he used to feel toward her as he swung off the giant Owl.

"No way!" she exclaimed, a split second before an orange blur shot past her and engulfed the smaller male.

Hotaru laughed, hugging his bestfriend equally tightly as the Jinchuuriki nearly crushed him.

Sakura felt something in her chest twist when she saw the way Hotaru looked at Naruto. She knew that look.

"When, how? I thought – Did you break the Seals?" Naruto spluttered in amazement.

Hotaru shook his head, still grinning, his cheeks were hurting but he couldn't stop. "No, no I stole it! He had a pocket watch with the second sequence of Runes inside! That's why I couldn't break it with my notes, it just wouldn't work because I only had half the story! So I stole it clean out of his hands and ran for it." He laughed, breathless and giddy. It may not have been very dignified for a Shinobi to do so but Hotaru knew that without being able to change the parameters on the pocket watch, he couldn't actually fight, he had to run. "I'll figure out how to disarm it later," he explained as he wrapped his hand in a strip of cloth and pulled the pocket watch out from one of the bags. "I can't touch it with my bare hands, the Runes'll burn me. But you should be okay."

Sakura came closer and was surprised when Hotaru gave her a broad, happy smile. How could he smile at her like that when he... when he loved Naruto that much... and he loved her instead? She wondered, but the hug the other boy gave her banished the idea that he may still harbour ill-will toward her. No. He was happy to be home. He was happy to see her. Right now... there wasn't a cruel thought in that boy's head.

She couldn't stop herself from hugging him back, just as tightly.

XVII.

Hotaru smiled warmly at Teuchi as he set a bowl out in front of him, "You have no idea how much I've missed your ramen, Teuchi-jichan," he stated honestly as he reached for a set of chopsticks, two Chuunin taking a seat on either side of him.

"I can imagine it. Look at how thin you've gotten!" the chef exclaimed, "It's a good thing Ayame-chan isn't here, or she'd insist on feeding half our stock to you! Not to mention the half that already went on feeding your lady-friend outside!" he stated mirthfully remembering the large owl outside who was quite contentedly digging into her own bowl of pork ramen, watching as with a snap of his chopsticks one of his favourite customers dug into his food. The moan of appreciation was music to his ears and he couldn't help the glow of pride that came with satisfying a hungry belly with good tasting food from filling him up.

"Hey, oyaji! I'll have a bowl of the same, it sounds good!" one of the Chuunin exclaimed with a teasing wink at the smaller male who was much too interested in eating his ramen to pay attention.

"Coming right up. One miso ramen with crispy-roast pork cutlets, extra broth!" he declared, getting back to work.

"I'll have the same!" said the second with an appreciative sound.

"Ossu!" the ramen chef agreed, listening with half an ear as the two turned to Hotaru.

"So, I haven't seen your face around here. And I'd have definitely remembered," the dark haired man added with a smirk and a once over that, despite the boy not being related, Teuchi bristled a tad over with parental indignation. It may have been a little silly, but he refused to stand by and let people take advantage of Hotaru and Naruto, they were good boys who'd been forced into bad places entirely too often. Hotaru had come by offering to do the dishes more than once so he and Naruto could get some free ramen for dinner – the concept of work for food had completely slipped Naruto by, somehow, Teuchi was pegging that one on the merchants who browbeat him into believing that only money could get him food, meaning he had to pay their bloated bills to eat.

Hotaru slowed down in his concentrated scarfing of food and sucked on the tip of his chopsticks thoughtfully, "You wouldn't have. I just got back from a two year absence," he stated delicately. A very diplomatic way of saying that he was abducted and considered a missing nin until the truth came out. Likely as not the only reason ANBU weren't swooping down on him was because Sakura-chan had gone and spread the word not only of his return but also of Tsunade-sama's awakening. Thank Kami Naruto had returned the pocket watch before he had vanished – a reverse summon if Hotaru was correct.

Blond whistled appreciatively, "Must have been some mission for a two year assignment!" he exclaimed.

Hotaru shook his head, "There was no mission," he explained honestly, "My clan collected me and weren't keen on letting me come back. It took a while to convince them otherwise." Teuchi nodded in approval of the teenager's dark tone of voice. It left very little to the imagination as to what that convincing may have entailed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back for the attack," he murmured, hunching a little over his bowl miserably.

Teuchi set his ladle down loudly, and pointedly, "Naruto told me the whole thing," he declared strongly, "You have got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, Hotaru! You worked yourself to death over those two years trying to find your way back! When you heard about the attack, instead of wasting time trying to force your release, you sent your retrieval team back to Konoha and continued your work alone. You lasted two years in enemy territory against starvation, interrogation, and indoctrination tactics," the Ramen chef impressed, leaning over the counter to place his hands on his little kitchen helper's shoulders. "Do not be sorry that you could not make it back. No one here would ever hold it against you. Only be glad you finally came home."

Whatever else was about to be said cut off as with an explosion of smoke, Hotaru yelped as he very nearly up-ended his ramen as someone appeared beneath him.

"Hey, I'm back! Taru?"

"Naruto, what the hell?" the dark haired male exclaimed, eyes wide from where he was, quite literally, in the blond's lap.

XVIII.

Getting a complete, thorough, debrief by not only Inoichi, Ibiki, Shikaku and Tsunade-sama, was certainly an experience and a half. But Hotaru held absolutely nothing back, he brought out all the storage scrolls of information, items, objects, ingredients, that he had collected over the last two years – the bulk of which happening once he'd gained Kretcher's favour. Yuki was there to explain the bits and pieces Hotaru wasn't too certain on.

They had him strip and examine the Runes on him, and check every other inch of his body for tampering. Thankfully there was none. Inoichi checked his mind when Hotaru explained how they had not only drugs that issued minor, and major compulsions, but also mind walkers as well. He too found no tweaking aside from a rip in his mental defences that originated from his scar – he reported that the presence within it had recently become active. There was no danger of Hotaru being possessed as his Chakra seemed to burn it, but there was no way of removing it without causing death. Something that everyone agreed was a bad idea, thankfully.

Tsunade created five Kage Bunshin to comb through all the medical texts Hotaru brought with him, it was only five because that was the total amount that Hotaru could create with his current level of health. Had he been at optimal levels – fifteen, at the most, before being Chakra exhausted. On a good day, Tsunade could manage thirty with her insane Chakra Control levels. Jiraiya could manage more simply because he had more Chakra – closer to fifty. Orochimaru could only manage twenty. And this was enough to push them to Chakra Exhaustion. No one could crank out Kage Bunshin on the same level as Naruto. It was ridiculous.

"So... Until you figure out how to disarm the Fuuinjutsu on this watch, you cannot move more than five hundred metres from it, raise your hand to someone before they attack you first, cannot kill, and cannot take your own life, is that correct?" Tsunade asked, spinning the pocket watch around her finger, mind already going to all the delicious, delicious places that a nasty little something like this could be eternally useful to the village. She didn't give a shit what Koharu and Mitokado said about security, this kid was worth over eight times his own weight in Chakra conductive Iron Country steel, no way in fucking hell was she going to kill him until he proved to be a threat. And even then she would only kill him after that had ripped everything of use out of his mind.

Hotaru nodded, "That is the long and short of it. However, I should be able to crack it within the week, shorter if I use Kage Bunshin and don't have to worry about interruptions. I have both parts of the sequence now. It won't be too difficult," he promised firmly, staring the woman directly in the eye. It was one of the things that Tsunade liked about this brat. He was not only intelligent, down to earth, and very much a 'just get on with it' type of person, but he was also utterly no-nonsense and loyal to a fault. Plus, he wasn't a pervert. Unless you counted his feelings for Naruto, but those were a lot purer than Kakashi had been insinuating – with that disgustingly perverted eyebrow waggle.

She nodded and handed the watch back after she had wrapped it back up in the cloth. "You'll be on attachment with Naruto then," she declared, knowing that if there was even the smallest chance of Hotaru being attacked if he left, there was no way Naruto would abandon him to go haring off to the frontlines. And with Hotaru unable to fight back, going to the front would be suicide, and Naruto knew it. He would never risk the Fuuinjutsu prodigy like that. She would have to make sure Iruka played on those heart-strings if need be. Anything to keep them both safe in the up coming conflict. "Things are delicate right now," she began before hesitating as she rethought her plan – thankfully Ibiki stepped in before her pause became suspicious.

"With the five Nations joining forces against Akatsuki, we will need as much in the way of aid as possible. Naruto was set to go on a training mission with the Hachibi Jinchuuriki at a remote island location in Kumo. While there he was to study the ecology of the island, see if the animals there were likely to be a threat should they be tamed by Kumo in any fashion, and take advantage of the Hachibi's knowledge on controlling the Bijuu within. You'll be joining him and seeing if any of the creatures there could work as effective substitutes for some of the ingredients needed for your Potions, and to also act as a suppressant should the taming attempts on the Kyuubi fail. In short, you have a two pronged mission of information retrieval and back-up support," the Torture and Interrogation expert bullshitted expertly on the spot.

The lot of them had already come to the conclusion that if Miura knew of the real reason they were sending Naruto away with the Hachibi, he would tell him. Orders or not. Hence why they widened the umbrella of false information to include him in a way that would not only be useful to the village, but not arouse the frightfully intelligent teenager's suspicion.

"Understood. When do we leave?" Hotaru asked, already calculating how much time he would have to get food, get clothes (he needed to buy new ones, and get a replacement Hitai ate, not to mention weapons, scrolls, brushes, inks, he had quite a large shopping spree ahead of him), visit the bath house and get some sleep before having to be up the next morning.

"The ship leaves from Nami tomorrow at ten-hundred. You will be expected at the dock by oh-nine hundred," Shikaku detailed, handing over a Mission Scroll with a customary light blue band, dictating it to be an S-ranked mission. "You may inform Naruto and your escort about your mission, but not the Kumo nin themselves. If they discover it, there will be no repercussions, but do be aware that their days of Kekkei Genkai theft are not entirely behind them. And they have made moves on previous members of the Uzumaki Clan," he warned grimly.

Hotaru nodded and tucked the scroll away before bowing to all assembled and darting out. He had a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.

XIX.

Hotaru hummed as he worked.

The ship had set off from Nami in relatively good weather as they moved up the coast, by-passing Yu no Kuni and up into Kaminari no Kuni, following the coast-line north. The plan was to then split off and head to the island. In all, it wasn't a long journey if they caught the right current. Three days roughly. Naruto was excitedly explaining what the Toad Sages told him to their ANBU guard, a young man by the name of Yamato whom had apparently worked with Naruto and Sakura before now. He was their mission head and Naruto's primary support as an ANBU operative with the rare and very much valuable Kekkei Genkai of Mokuton, able to suppress Kyuubi's chakra. Hotaru had kept a very close eye on any Kumo nin who paid him too much attention.

Maito Gai and Aoba-senpai were currently below deck, the Taijutsu specialist was horribly, horribly sea sick, while Aoba was their only trained medic and trying to do his best to stop the poor man from doing himself harm from violent vomiting.

For the last two days, Hotaru had been stretched out on deck surrounded by books and scrolls, lying on his stomach and working. Day and night. He wouldn't go below deck for love, nor money. Even Naruto had tried to talk him into going below deck to sleep – but being cooped up in Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts Castle had afflicted Hotaru with a rather bad case of claustrophobia. He refused and merely curled up under a blanket, using one of his scrolls as a pillow and Yuki nesting beside him – if it rained, which it had once or twice, she would stretch a wing over him so he wouldn't have to go back inside. The Owl, like Hotaru, was decked out in some new gear. A proper saddle for one, and some very nasty looking claws and armour. It was then she revealed that she was from the Kaminari no Kuni Battle Owl Summons, but she refused to leave Hotaru, and thus cut herself off from the Summoning contract.

Still, aside from his refusal to sleep inside, Hotaru had made frightening headway in his breaking of the Rune sequences. Umehito, the ship's captain, had taken one look at the Fuuinjutsu notes Hotaru had to one side and blanched so rapidly that someone asked if they were under attack. He had waved it off but to the Konoha nin, it was obvious now that the attending Kumo Ninja were being more wary of Miura Hotaru than they were of Uzumaki Naruto – the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

They didn't quite get it, because there were very few of them who remembered just whom Miura Hotaru was. His disappearance had been overshadowed by Uchiha Sasuke's defection so completely that many were still under the mistaken impression that the Fuuinjutsu prodigy revealed in the Chuunin selections that turn over was hidden away deep within the bowels of the R&D department. With the exception of Tenzou, Gai, and Naruto, every other Konoha nin on the ship had no idea why the Kumo ninja were being so careful and wary around the weakest and biggest unknown amongst them.

To Tenzou, who had only read the boy's old file, he could understand why most Konoha nin were dismissing him as a threat.

All he had done was read, and write, since he got on the ship. And he was hardly a physically intimidating specimen. Barely 5'0" in height, Tenzou knew Kunoichi taller and younger than him. His hair was roughly the same length and consistency as a Hyuuga – so long, and silky – but several shades darker and pulled back into a plain horse-tail. Porcelain white skin from lack of sunlight, so clearly he must not get out to train much. And his clothing didn't much help him. He wore a simple old fashioned black yukata shirt that the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans used to favour, the tie around his waist had a pair of back-packs, and about six scrolls clipped on – honestly, he should have looked over burdened, but somehow he managed. Dark brown over large trousers tucked into a set of black sandals. Sandals with Fuuinjutsu inscribed onto the straps and soles.

He didn't look threatening. By any stretch of the imagination – even the Shinobi's.

But Tenzou damn well knew the boy was a force to be reckoned with. His Fuuinjutsu skills alone boggled his mind, it was like looking at a younger more bitter Temarei-san with a much higher drive to get shit done. Temarei-san was not like the Nara clan, who were highly intelligent, but also very logical and thought in chess terms. Temarei had the intelligence, he had the imagination, and he could motivate himself to some extreme highs. He worked hard.

But he looked like your typical lazy Nara next to his student who worked with just as much, if not more, furore than Naruto.

Then something happened that cemented the acknowledgement that Miura Hotaru was more dangerous than he looked, or perhaps even more dangerous because of how he looked, in everyone.

"Prepare to make landfall," Umehito announced, stepping out onto the deck.

One of the Ninja exclaimed that he could see the island and immediately everyone was clamouring at the railings to get a glimpse. Tenzou glanced over at Hotaru who was beginning to pack up his scrolls but still pondering over a little note book and chewing idly on his pencil in thought.

Then the island came into sight and... well... Only the Forest of Death came close in all honesty.

"P-paradise?" Naruto muttered, no doubt remembering the Toad Sage's words.

"It's like Konoha's Forest of Death, though I guess ours is a little extreme," Umehito observed with a goodnatured chuckle. "It's perfectly safe. The animals are docile so long as you don't provoke them. There's just one thing..."

"What is it?" Tenzou asked warily as Hotaru moved to join them. He had to be careful of both of them, Shikaku had quietly pulled him aside earlier before they got onto the ship and told him that, as of right now, both were considered on the same level as National Treasures, to be protected at all costs. Given how Naruto held the Kyuubi, and Hotaru seemed to be the heir to Sage arts that made Jiraiya look like a dabbling child, on top of everything he brought back from the other world, and his Fuuinjutsu skills... yeah, he could understand.

"On this shore there's -

"O- Octopus arms!" Naruto exclaimed, spotting a large set of tentacles rising up from the water behind them as Umehito spoke. "OOOOOI, OCTOPUS! SHOW ME THE WAAAAAAY!" the blond cried, rising his arms up in an ecstatic wave to get the creature's attention. If Hotaru didn't know better, he would say the blond was actually sparkling.

"N-Naruto..." Tenzou began, feeling a twist in the pit of his stomach, "That's... A SQUID!" he bellowed.

"IT'S HERE! TH-THIS IS THE THING I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TELL YOU TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR, AND NOW IT'S HERE!" Umehito wailed, scrambling backwards on his backside in terror.

"PROTEGO!" Hotaru's voice rang out powerfully as a large orange shimmering dome encased the ship as one of the tentacles descended down and crashed onto it, pummelling the barrier uselessly.

The ninja turned.

Miura Hotaru was stood on the deck of the ship, arm out stretched with a strange polished black wooden stake clutched between his fingers, books and scrolls held securely against his chest as he frowned mildly up at the giant squid. "I really don't appreciate interruptions," he muttered unhappily with Yuki stood behind him, glaring at the squid with liquid golden eyes.

Just then, the squid was crushed up against the barrier and violently wrenched away, "YO, SQUID, YOU BETTAH GET BACK TO YO' PLACE, 'FORE MAH BOOT LEAVES A SKID MARK ON YO' FACE!" roared an odd horned creature with... tentacles also. Hotaru sniffed quietly about his being late but maintained the barrier even as the Kumo nin cheered for their comrade. "YOU'RE LATE, YOU TOOLS, AN' FOOLS!" he announced.

XX.

For the first day they were there, Hotaru mainly kept to himself, sat cross legged in the forest working on his Runic sequence. He was so close he could practically taste it. He ignored the Hachibi Jinchuuriki has he wrestled with his animal friends, absently patting a rather shy seeming armadillo when he tried to stick his nose into his business. Unless the Hachibi wanted to speak with him, Hotaru had more important things to do like regaining his combat effectiveness.

"Yo, what choo workin' on?" Speak of the devil.

Hotaru looked up into the reflective dark shades of the Jinchuuriki, "My freedom," he admitted quietly before getting to his feet, "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier, Killer-san. I am Miura Hotaru, Naruto's roommate and his partner for our mission here. Thank you for hosting us," he recited politely, closing his notebook and bowing to the older Shinobi.

Bee waved away the formalities, lifting a fist, "You've gotta start a greeting, bump fists with me, and give me a beat!" he exclaimed grinning at the smaller male.

Hotaru straightened and eyed his hand with some trepidation, "I... I'm sorry but I've got zero musical talent. Um, 'Star light, star bright, first star – I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish – I wish tonight'?" he recited awkwardly flushing in embarrassment as he knocked fists with the older man. "It was something a friend taught me a while ago," he admitted with a fond smile as he thought of Luna. She had stopped him from going insane in that school. She taught him how to sing, a few children's rhymes and tales.

The Kumo ninja grinned and pulled back, hands going behind his head in a very familiar motion. "Naw, s'cool. So you can't rhyme? That ain't a crime. Just nod to the rhythm, and I'll carry the line!" the Jinchuuriki rapped with a friendly grin that brought an answering laugh from the kid who's heart felt so heavy with guilt and sadness for shit that weren't supposed to be his problem. "So, what's your deal, I can't cook meals, but maybe I can reveal an escape wheel." Unlike the other kid, this one didn't think badly of his rhymes, or of rhyming in general. He quite liked music, even if he wasn't very good at it. The flow was good, but he just didn't have a beat, or a line.

Hotaru stared a moment, perplexed before smiling a little, guessing that he wanted to help, or at least hear an explanation. "Um, yeah. Unless I figure out a way to break it, I can't fight, or protect anyone," he admitted quietly, cracking open the notebook, letting Bee get a glimpse of what was inside. He had to whistle, knowing the kid was smart just from bumping fists, but to actually see it was just as amazing. He pointed to a few symbols, "See these? This one here is the Mother rune. It spawns all of these parent runes here which control the set carved on my back. They all link and protect and support the mother rune, I need to figure out a way of collapsing the whole thing at once without causing a feedback discharge that will basically kill me," he explained dragging a finger across the inscribed runes on the page. "I think I've got it. I just need to finalise my calculations before I move ahead. It works like Fuuinjutsu's White Rhino, but in reverse and from the West summit. I need to break each connection in that sequence for the feedback discharge to actually destroy itself and collapse the whole sequence in one fell swoop," he explained, turning a page and comparing the not very familiar, but recognisably high level Fuuinjutsu array to the Runes on the other page, showing the process he planned on using to break it down.

In the margins beside it was the list of mathematics and, while Bee was no whizz with the numbers, it didn't look wrong, at any rate. He grinned, "Looks like you got a plan, so dun' turn inta a strawman, chuck yer fear inna can and show 'em who's tha man!" he told the younger Ninja, clapping him in the back and sending him sprawling on the dirt.

XXI.

"Taru?" Naruto asked, hesitantly stepping into the clearing where old man Bee was with his bestfriend. Hotaru was still furiously scribbling away but there was a fierce light of satisfaction and glee in his eyes, he must have made a break through. Old man Bee though... he was looking at Naruto much more speculatively than before and, as much as Naruto wanted him to acknowledge him... he needed his bestfriend more than that right now.

Hotaru looked up and immediately the smile dropped from his mouth, he almost tossed aside his notebook as he got to his feet and made his way over. "What's wrong?" he asked softly gently pulling the blond away somewhere more private next to the coast.

Naruto was quiet as they sat on one of the spikes jutting out over the ocean. Hotaru didn't push him, just held his hand and watched the waves, providing the same silent support he always had. His face screwed up a tad.

"Do I treat you badly, Taru? Do you hate me, cause I can't return your feelings, cause I like Sakura-chan more?" he finally asked miserably. He squeezed his eyes shut, those poisonous words from his darker half chewing away at his brain. It kept spitting horrible things at him, about how he did nothing but hurt his bestfriend who had stood by them all these years, protected them as best he could even though he was tiny and not as powerful. How if it had been him he would have made sure Hotaru had never been taken away, and he would have been taken care of.

Naruto stiffened when he felt Hotaru's arms wrap around him.

"I could never hate you, Ruto," he promised, running his fingers through the blond's hair. "I won't lie, I used to be very jealous of Sakura-san. I felt a little abandoned when suddenly we were pulled apart at Genin selection, but... I realised recently that I don't care.

"I don't care if you love Sakura-san. If you two end up getting married and having kids. I honestly don't. Just as long as I'm still your friend. I'll come over every weekend and read stories to the children, help her with the washing up, scold you over missing paperwork and everything else. I don't care if you don't love me the same way Naruto. Just as long as you never stop being my friend. If you're happy, then so am I," he explained honestly.

It must have sounded insane to anyone but... all those years alone at Hogwarts... Hotaru came to understand that the pain of unrequited love was nothing, absolutely nothing, in the face of that crushing loneliness. He would rather die, than be alone like that again. As long as he had a place in Naruto's life, he could be content with being his bestfriend, his brother, the uncle to his children, the pain in the backside bestfriend of his wife, and the one who makes sure he gets his work done on time. Just as long as he was there.

"WAA!"

The two broke away at the sound of the ocean rising up and a human voice yelping in pain and fear.

The two of them jumped to their feet in shock, "Motoi-san!"

XXII.

Hotaru stared.

The so called Falls of Truth.

Half an hour ago, Naruto had conquered his darker half and stepped under the falls while Hotaru removed the Runes from his back. He hadn't told anyone what he was doing. They would have made a fuss when they had more important things to worry about. He was certain about his calculations and – what do you know, he was right. As usual.

But... those comments that Naruto made... if it was his darker half saying them, that must have meant he had thought them, somewhere, deep down inside of himself, he had been scared that Hotaru hated him because he didn't feel the same. And while Hotaru said that he couldn't, that he never could. Now there was a grain of doubt.

Because if Naruto could doubt... what did that say for him who was by far the most pessimistic of them?

He was scared. He didn't want to know how ugly he was on the inside – because he knew he was. He could be completely ruthless and cruel. His time at Hogwarts only proved how horrible a person he could be. And he didn't want Naruto to know. He didn't want anyone to know just how twisted and evil he was on the inside. The kind of evil that would have murdered everyone in that building just to prove a point, just because he could, just because he hated them with every fibre of his being.

But at the same time... He had to know.

Hotaru gently hopped onto the small island and sat down. His eyes sliding shut and he took a deep, slightly shaky breath.

"I see you finally scraped up the balls, coward," sneered a familiar, if distorted voice from behind the waterfall. "If you want to pussy out, now's your chance. No? ...Heh," the voice snickered cruelly as the water parted, a familiar, yet not, face stepping out from under the falls.

Hotaru swallowed tightly, climbing to his feet as he studied the other individual. It was him, down to the very clothes they were wearing. Save... the other had his hair loose. And he was carrying a bundle of blankets. They were soaking wet from stepping under the waterfall. It was then that Hotaru realised... the other's eyes were red. Red on a black sclera.

"What is that?" he asked, staring at the bundle, was that thing moving?

"What, no hello, who, what are you?" his darker half demanded.

Hotaru flicked his eyes up to stare into those disturbing red on black ones, "You're going to be actively hostile either way, I didn't see the point," he admitted honestly.

His darker half blinked, startled for a moment, before snorting in amusement, "Can't argue with logic like that," he decided as he came closer, pulling aside the blankets so Hotaru could get a better look. And recoil in horror at the flayed infant in his darker half's arms. It had remarkably reptilian features, even a set of horns on his glistening red form, it... looked like a foetus. Red and raw, slick. Like an organ removed from the body, he could see veins throbbing with the flow of blood.

"This, Hikari-mine, is our scar. Or rather, what was in it. A splinter of Voldemort's soul," his darker half explained, casually pushing the infant into Hotaru's arms. "And it's just as unhappy with it's lot in life as I am," he declared as the reptile child's eyes opened and magic lashed out.

Hotaru yelled as he felt the sinister black and crimson bands wrap around him, pulling his head down closer to the child as he tried with all his strength to throw it away.

"What the hell?" he shouted as the thing started to hiss at him, serpent tongue, Hotaru frowned in confusion when all it sounded like was incoherent hissing. He used to be able to understand this, why couldn't he anymore?

"We were never able to understand it. S'alllll been him," Yami explained, grinning viciously with his arms behind his head, watching as his light struggled with the Horcrux in his arms. "See, he wasn't meant to have happened. Accidental soul baby, heh. But y'see the funny thing is, he's got himself a unique ability. Soul Take-over. We've been talking it out. Neither of us is happy with the way you've been running the show to be honest, and this seems like the most ideal way that everyone can get what they want," Yami explained as Hotaru began to fling himself around, trying to throw the child away even as his arms strained under the force of magic slowly pulling him closer and closer.

"See, once he consumes you, I'm in charge. And what I say goes," Yami explained while Hotaru cursed and called up his Chakra, spitting fire directly into the infant's face.

It shrieked and the magic bands went lax for all of a split second, long enough for Hotaru to slip free and fling the child away.

"ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?" the lighter of the pair roared, making the darker blink and lean back. "WE ARE ONE IN THE SAME! THAT THING EATS ONE OF US, WE BOTH DIE! THERE IS NO 'IN CHARGE' WHEN ONE OF THOSE THINGS EATS A SOUL BECAUSE IT DOESN'T JUST EAT HALF OF IT! WE'D DIE AND BECOME LITTLE MORE THAN A MEAT SUIT!" he yelled. "God DAMN, I didn't think I could be this fucking stupid in any life!"

"Hey!" Yami snarled, scowling darkly.

Light!Hotaru scowled and pointed a finger directly in his face, "Idiots have no right to speak! Shut up," he snarled coldly, and then regretted it promptly when an odd expression of hurt flashed across his darker half's face. He sighed, deflating as his anger fizzled out, and ran a hand through his fringe, "Okay, a bit harsh." He ignored the muttered retort of 'y'think' from his other, and sat on the stone island. "Maybe... just naïve," he decided thoughtfully.

This was supposed to be his other half, his darker side, the subconscious thoughts and feelings he kept hidden away. The... Yin to his Yang. Or was it the Yang to his Yin? He would figure it out later, not important right now. But either way, this was his opposite. So... It wasn't all that surprising if he was trusting and naïve in a way that Hotaru had never allowed himself to be. Or easily hurt as he couldn't afford to be in Konoha. It would mean he was a lot more emotional and...

Hotaru looked at the quietly seething figure stood in the water.

...holding a lot of the angry resentment that Hotaru had pushed aside.

"Come out of the water. We don't know if that thing can swim," Light!Hotaru told him.

"What, scared it'll eat us?" Dark!Hotaru sneered, folding his arms petulantly. Light!Hotaru frowned a little in confusion before it hit him – Dark!Hotaru was proud. He had more pride than common sense, a trap Hotaru had never let himself fall into before now because... he... just didn't. It seemed stupid to put your pride higher than your self-preservation but... "Feh, pussy. We're no way one in the same. I'm better than you," his Darker half sneered, kicking the water in disgust.

Hotaru frowned at that, he wasn't the one making such a disgustingly poor tactical move based on something as stupid as pride, "What's that supposed to mean?" he growled, climbing to his feet.

Dark scoffed, "Thanks to you we lost two years against civilians armed with sticks. Not a single ounce of training between them! You're pathetic! It's that simple! A coward who sits on the sidelines doing fuck all while your bestfriend gets spat on and has shit thrown at him! You didn't even try to stand up to those idiots in the village!" he shouted while Hotaru scoffed.

"It was more complicated than that, and you know it," he retorted flatly.

"It didn't have to be, you made it complicated!" Dark snapped, "What's so complicated about standing up for Naruto, huh? Or did you just not care enough? Just like you didn't fucking care enough to fight for him when that pink haired banshee appeared in our lives!"

Light huffed, "Why don't you go and choke on a dick, huh? If we started attacking the civilians it would have made our situation worse. Forget getting over-priced for food, they would just refuse to sell to us, and there would be nothing Sarutobi could have done because within the Merchant Guild's laws. They have free reign if we prove to be disruptive or violent. We would end up having to dig through trash for food – which would make it only too easy for some shit head to poison it knowing full well we would eat it anyway because we were thatdesperate. Think a little would you? That's best case scenario. Worst case is that we're hauled up in front of the Council to answer for our crime, Naruto gets branded unstable and a menace and gets taken away for reeducation, or reprogramming, turned into little better than an emotionless drone, and we're quietly executed as a bad influence on the Jinchuuriki, or a potential traitor or even an enemy nin plant.

"As for Sakura-san... I cared enough to let go," he stated softly, hands fisting. "He loves her. He would be happier with her. As long as he's happy, I'm content with being his brother."

Dark sneered, kicking a wave of water over his Light, "So self-sacrificing, so disgustingly spineless," he scoffed, "We've never seen him as just a brother. Never. You've just been too much of a chicken shit to do anything about it! Grow a fucking pair!"

Light's eyes narrowed a split second before he shot forward, tackling Dark aside, black and crimson magic lashing at the air where he'd been a split second earlier.

"Look out!" the two of them hit the water and rolled. "We can talk about this later when that thing isn't trying to eat us from the ankles up," the lighter half of them declared.

Dark shoved him away, "No, we can fucking talk about it now! Or I can beat the truth into you! Face facts, Hotaru, you're just not fucking good enough! All these years, you've never felt you were worth a fucking thing to anyone! News flash, you're right! I'm the only one worth a damn thing in this life! I'm the one that's stopped us from going insane in that goddamn castle! I'm the one that's kept us sane while we went running through the Fae Paths!" He grabbed his light by the throat and pulled him face to face, "I'm better than you because I never fucking gave up."

"Fine, yes, okay, you're better!" Hotaru snapped, wrapping his arms around his darker half and leaping for the stone island as the water beneath them exploded upwards. "We'll argue about this later once that thing is dead!" he snapped as they landed and stepped back from one another.

With a very put upon snarl, dark ran through the hand seals for a Wind technique while Hotaru went through one for fire. The death shriek of the Horcrux tore through their mind scape as the water around them boiled and turned to steam. As with most things in the life of a Ninja, the simplest solution is often the most effective, and without fanfare or acknowledgement of the parasite's death, beyond waiting until it's broiled corpse was floating on the water's surface, the two of them went straight back to arguing.

"I'm not going to take advantage of my bestfriend!" Light!Hotaru shouted, "What is wrong with you? Face facts and accept the fact that he made his choice abundantly clear three years ago!"

Dark!Hotaru scoffed, "Yeeeeah," he drawled sarcastically, "Because an emotionally compromised thirteen year old boy who's just had his Teammate ran a hand through his lung is capable of thinking rationally! Because you know exactly what you want at thirteen and have the emotional and mental maturity to make those decisions!"

"We did," Light!Hotaru retorted. "Why won't you just face it? Naruto doesn't love us. He never will."

"How would you know, you never even tried to change his mind! This is real life, shit-stain! It doesn't work like Azami's dumbass romance novels! You've gotta work for your fucking happy ending! Stop sitting there and whining about your situation and fucking try changing it!" his Darker!Half roared grabbing his shoulders and shaking him roughly. "Damn, and you call me an idiot," he muttered, banding his arms around his light in a tight hug.

"Did you mean what you said earlier... that we were one in the same?" dark asked quietly, feeling his light's arms come up around him.

"Eh? Yeah. You are me. I am you. I pushed you away because I was scared of what I would see. I know... I know I'm not a good person. I was scared that I would be worse than even I thought I was," he admitted quietly.

Dark smiled a little sadly. Even now, even after nearly getting them killed, his idiot light was talking as if they were the same person, not even a difference in nouns to signify they were two entities instead of just one. He had been accepted entirely, before they had even begun to argue about it.

"You're an idiot, you know," he told his light as he felt his grip on his self-hatred fade. "Be more selfish. Or we're going to end up dying old and alone."

000

Okay, I'm cutting there. I know it's a rip off, but this is an IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE so please don't skip it.

Given how close the manga is to the end, I've made the decision to set this as a four shot (With an epilogue after), mainly because you've waited long enough for the third piece, but also because I want to include the ending of Naruto itself in the chapter. Thanks for sticking with me guys. 8DDD

I'll be writing chapter four as the manga chapters come out so you'll be getting the final product as soon as possible. As for why I stopped here...

Well, each chapter has been a stage of Naruto and Hotaru's relationship, hasn't it?

C1 was childhood. C2 was coming to terms. C3 is acceptance – or in Hotaru's case resignation. And C4... C4 is, for lack of a better word, ATTACK!

Dark has a point in that Hotaru can't sit back and let the world carry on. He has to make his own miracle. So if he wants to win Naruto's heart, he's going to have to make some effort toward it. So far, all the reviewers have been on Hotaru's side and shouting down Naruto, but as someone who has been on the receiving end of an Unrequited Love Interest from someone I treasure dearly as a friend, I can tell you that it is not an easy place to be. Naruto's doing his best, bless 'im, but Hotaru is actively shooting himself in the foot with Naruto because he's not telling him when his behaviour is out of order, he just accepts it. So yeah, please be a little kinder to Naruto and put yourselves in his shoes. Your best friend is lusting after you, but you're not gay, and you have someone you like.

Awkward to say the least.