Chapter Text
A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter.
I have no beta.
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"Um... Kakashi, are you aware that that civilian girl is following you?" Genma asked, using his senbon to gesture to the young woman in question.
Almost as if one entity, the group of Jonin and Tokubetsu Jonin all turned to see the civilian girl watching their table, or rather, watching their resident Copy Ninja, with incredibly intense eyes. Very unique eyes to be specific. An unnatural shade of green that made her otherwise average appearance much more comely. The scar across her face ruined the image a bit though.
Gai, being himself, decided that this was a good thing instead of a potential risk to anyone's safety. "The fair maiden seems to be very interested in you, my eternal rival!"
Kurenai huffed a laugh. "More like she wants to kill him. I've seen nicer eyes on my enemies."
Yamato shook his head with a sigh. "She moved into senpai's apartment building three and a half months ago and has been trying to get a date with him every day since. He's refused her offers every single time but he hasn't really tried to push her away, so she's persisted this whole time."
The Copy Ninja buried his head in his folded arms and ignored them as they talked about his nonexistent love life.
"She looks like she's the same age as his students," Kurenai noted. "Maybe even younger than them. I can kind of understand Kakashi's hesitance to get involved with a civilian who is so young."
If she was their age or younger, then she was around the age of seventeen or eighteen. Kakashi was twenty-nine and about to turn thirty soon. To a shinobi, an age difference of eleven years wasn't really important. But since she was possibly still a minor, and a civilian on top of that, that made things a little more awkward.
Anko, who had miraculously managed to be quiet this entire time, finally decided to speak up. "Why don't we just invite the girl over and find out for ourselves? She doesn't look scared of us like the common civvy would be. Maybe she's got more a spine on her."
"Wouldn't that be giving her false hope?" Kurenai asked in concern. "Acknowledging her any more than we already have might end up being the worst decision in the long run."
"Just because we talk to her doesn't mean Kakashi has to fuck her. That's not how it works, MaiMai. And if she gets that idea in her head, we can very easily snap her of it." Anko then stood and sauntered over the young girl's table with her most seductive walk. The kind usually used on missions of a specific sort.
They all noted the girl's eyes immediately falling low to appreciate Anko's swaying hips. She even smirked. Not a normal civilian that was for sure.
"We're all curious about the civvy brave enough to proposition a shinobi. Wanna join us?" they heard her ask.
"Why not?" the girl shrugged, slinging back whatever non-alcoholic beverage she'd been allowed to order in a single shot. "I'm honestly kind of bored anyway." Her accent was an unfamiliar one. She spoke their language with apparent fluency, and yet it was obvious not only from her appearance, but from the way her mouth shaped the words, that she was not from Hi no Kuni or any of the lands around it.
Their wayward friend returned with the civilian girl in tow, and dragged another chair on over so she could join them properly, placed between Kurenai and Anko just to be safe of course.
"I'm Mitarashi Anko. That is Yuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai, Namiashi Raido, Shiranui Genma, Yamato, and of course you've obviously met Kakashi before," Anko announced as she plopped down in her seat once more. "What's the name of our most daring civvy?"
"Potter Harry. I'm from the Outer Lands."
The entire group of shinobi stiffened. Of course knowledge of the lands outside the Elemental Continent was taught in schools, but people rarely bothered to travel that far out of their way. After all, special events in their history made the inhabitants of the Elemental Nations evolve differently from the humans on the outside. They'd be unable to live in such an environment that was so weak in Chakra output.
"I got so many questions!" Anko blurted out, leaning in really close as if that would help her get answers faster. "Is there really no sign of shinobi in the Outer Lands?" It was a concept impossible to think about considering their entire history surrounded Ninjutsu and the usage of chakra.
"Well, Japan has a history of ninja but from what I know, those evolved out of theater performers and not fighters. Like, people in black clothing working the props in performances. The audience was supposed to treat them as part of the background and not acknowledge them. The idea pretty much evolved from there on, I believe," She explained.
"Now, when people think of ninja, they think all black clothes, some kind of mask covering the hair and most of the face, and then ninja stars. Occasionally a small sword on the back. They're thought to be privately contracted mercenaries who work for mafia families with enough money to pay for them, and they have no loyalty to anyone but whoever pays them enough. No special powers, just intense martial arts training and tricks of the eye. They're not really meant to engage in combat unless it's hand to hand with another ninja. That sort of thing. They're supposed to go unseen and unheard and finish the job with people remaining unaware of their presence. They're also thought to be a thing of the past and don't really exist anymore to most people, so they're often used as enemies in fiction revolving around the East."
They could all pick out the small bits of fact in the description of their job in the minds of Outllanders. The rest was so incorrect it was almost painful to listen to.
"The ninja here are far cooler if you're curious," the girl said.
"Sounds fascinating," Kurenai noted. "Terribly incorrect of course, but interesting to see how such things come about elsewhere in the world anyway. I wonder if someone managed to come here or someone here managed to leave in order for this same word to exist there and carry a somewhat similar meaning."
"What about fighting?" Gai asked, looking even more exited than Anko did now. "You mentioned martial arts. Do they have Taijutsu forms there as well?"
The girl frowned, head tilting a bit as she thought of it. "I only know of a few fighting styles. There's Karate, Kung Fu, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, and Tai Chi. Probably hundreds more but those are the most popular when it comes entertainment and performances. The difference are usually seen in stances, wrist and ankle placements, and how the hands are shaped and used. I saw a Kung Fu competition once and it looked like it hurt."
"What about Bukijutsu? You have any weapon-based martial arts?" Genma then chose to ask. He held up the senbon he usually kept in his mouth. "I use these when I fight, for example. Great for knocking people out when hitting their nerves, or poisoning someone without them being aware."
"I mean, I know there is archery, and that there are ones based on swords, but the only one I know by name is Kendo and it uses a kind of bamboo sword that was created to minimize injury during training. I don't really know much about it beyond that as it was never something I had much option to look into. The needle you have would be used in acupuncture, not fighting, as far as I'm aware."
Fascinating.
Kurenai chose that moment to ask her own question. "So what was it about our dear friend here that drew your interest?" That was the most important question in her opinion.
"He's fit," Harry said, giving Kakashi an appreciative once over. "He was also the first man I encountered in this village who did not make some disgusting comment that he thought would get him in my knickers."
Yeah, despite his well-known habit of reading porn in public, Kakashi didn't really approach anyone with sexual advances. Ever. Nor did he let people be harassed if he was around to witness it.
"I just got out of a really weird relationship with a friend who was into me, but I was oblivious to it for literal years and she spent that entire time dating like half the guys we knew to try and make me jealous, but I was just dealing with my own things and never noticed. And then she finally came out with it and everyone was like, 'you'll be perfect together' and I got pressured into dating her. And then we barely saw each other nor did we speak during the entire time we were supposedly together because of shit going on. I put an end to whatever it was because I was sick of people telling me she looks just like the mom I never knew. It's weird."
"Did she looked like your mother?" Kurenai asked.
"I got one photo of her for comparison and they were simply both redheads with different shades of hair. The big issue was everyone saying we looked like my parents did when they were together and how it was our duty to keep their memory alive or whatever. It felt more like we should be together for the sake of their nostalgia instead of our happiness. A common theme in my life. I spent most of my life damn near blind and unaware that I could permanently fix my eyesight because everyone else decided I looked like my father with my glasses on and that was more important than my health." The rage boiling underneath was very obvious.
The civilian before them had issues. None that any of them could really understand at the moment, but she proved to be very interesting and seemed worth talking to.
Besides, she had information about life outside and that was priceless.
Whether she got what she wanted from Kakashi or not didn't matter. She was a valuable source of information at present.
Besides, they hadn't totally rooted out the chances of her not being a foreign ninja who just happened to know a lot of information about the lands outside the Elemental Nations. So obviously they needed to keep a close eye on her which meant keeping her close.
"And what would you do if our dear Kakashi were to give you a chance?" Anko asked with a smirk at the Copy Ninja who was ignoring her entirely.
"I'd feed him real food instead of that instant shit he keeps buying."
"You a good cook?" Raido asked with a quirked brow.
"Damn right I am. And if he's not into what know, I can just learn new dishes. It's not hard."
That was some dedication. Kurenai and Anko shared a looked over their beer bottles. Potter Harry was certainly a better option than many of the other people who approached Kakashi. They'd need to keep an even closer eye on her.
"Also, not to brag, but he's been eating all the desserts I've been giving him the entire time we've known each other. And before you ask how I can tell, I bought new cookware when I moved here and my unused fudge pan came back with knife scratches in the metal which means he cut the fudge while it was still in the pan. Since he never allows people into his flat, and also I could smell the chocolate on his breath when he returned my pan by hand, I know he eats the goods. I also now use parchment in a crisscross pattern to avoid more damage to my poor pan. Make it easier to clean too."
The collected shinobi all stared at the man in shock. He actually ate food prepared by a total stranger?
And why hadn't he mentioned anything about it to them? They spent this entire conversation ribbing him over a civvy having a crush on him and yet he'd actually been contributing directly to her obsession! She was already involved before they got involved!
"Also, the scarecrow over here is fascinating and a complete work of contradictions. I'm curious and want to know more about him. I mean, he reads porn in broad daylight and then gets flustered and embarrassed when asked if he'd be willing to demonstrate the skills she's learned from it."
"Sounds like you're much closer to getting what you want than you think," Genma noted, smirking at Kakashi. "He doesn't just eat anyone's cooking after all."
"I noticed that," Harry said with a nod. "The pink student of his came by with a basket of weird black balls she said would help energize him in the mornings and he waited until she left before dumping them in the rubbish bin outside the shop across the street."
Anko devolved into cackles, but Kurenai was much more classy and simply his her smile with a nice, long drink. Haruno Sakura was not known for being a good cook. Great Iryo-Nin certainly, but cooking was not her forte in the slightest.
"So how many times have you given our dear Kakashi something to eat?" Gai asked, eyes practically shining. "He does seem to be in higher spirits lately!"
"I opened a small Dessert Shop down the street from our apartment. It's open from noon to seven and only desserts are on the menu. I tend to have extras left over when I get home and he seems to enjoy them. It's going on about three months I believe. He's also asked for certain treats more than others at times. Just wait until he lets me cook him a full meal."
Collectively, they all stared at Kakashi, who had his face buried in his usual porn. Their judgment seemed to mean nothing to him.
"I wish you luck in your goal!" Gai told the young woman. "Perhaps my rival will see the light some time!"
"Thanks!" she grinned. "All I have to do is keep feeding him and everything will fall into place."
At least she had the guts to keep trying. Her perseverance could be used as a lesson to many.
"Oh! I have to go! I'm going to be selling some scones tomorrow and I want to get a head start on the preparations now so I can sleep in a bit." Potter Harry reached into her pocket and pulled out a stack of business cards that she placed on the table. "Come by during work hours at any time. First visit has a 50% discount on the entire order."
She then patted Kakashi's arm as she passed him, and headed for the door to the bar.
They all watched as Hari eventually took her leave. Kakashi had about ten seconds, as her footsteps became more and more quiet out in the street, to brace himself for the explosion of questions.
Three...Two...One...
"How did you meet?"
"What did you say to her for her to be this obsessed?!"
"I can't believe you actually ate a stranger's food!"
"What were you thinking in humoring her, senpai?"
"Are you really interested in her?"
"MY RIVAL! I ADMIRE YOUR TASTE!"
A simple raised hand mad them all shut up thankfully.
"I'll explain in order once, and never again."
Finally, like a blessing from the gods, they all shut up.
[1.) How did you meet?]
He'd been home for the first time in a month. The mission he'd gone on was classified and deathly boring and all he wanted was to lay down and sleep for twelve hours before running into anyone. He was terrible at feigning normality on the best of days and hated doing it on the worst of them.
And that was when he saw her. She was entering the apartment right beside his own, left arm filled with large bags stacked atop one another while she tried opening her door.
Kakashi reached out catch the bags that fell before she could even truly notice that they'd fallen. And then she turned her piercing green eyes upon him and he'd been frozen in place for a moment. Her hair had been pulled into a messy bun, allowing him to see her face entirely and the silvery lightning scar the crossed her brow and tipped downward to bridge across her nose and cheekbones.
Scars like that didn't come naturally. The existence of one beget many questions in anyone of sense. How did it happen? It seemed to spread across her eyelids but managed to not harm her eyes in the slightest.
"Thank you," the young woman had said with a bright smile than caused her cheeks to widen in glee and the tips of that scar to wrinkle a bit. "You're so sweet!"
No one had ever told him that he was sweet before.
Often he was called an asshole more than anything. And people weren't wrong either. He lived to be a troll to people who were annoying.
"I'm not one who asks for help often," the woman told him as she finally got her door open. "I tend to want to not bother people."
He waited awkwardly in the doorway for her to return for the rest of her bags. Her apartment was exactly like his own, just flipped. The small kitchen and the large counter that took up most of the space in it was easily visible. the decorations were vastly different. Meaning she had decorated and he hadn't ever bothered.
She set her bags atop the island counter and then reached into the fridge for something.
When she returned, it was with a half-full rectangular pan of something in hand.
"I own the dessert shop down the street and bake all day long. This is from last night. Chocolate Fudge."
The pan of fudge was placed in his free hand while she took the bags away. "Tell me how you like the fudge and I'll make you more. Or something else if you're interested."
He stared as she walked away, unsure of how he was supposed to respond to such an offer. No one had ever said anything like that to him before.
"Oh! My name is Potter Harry," the woman called as she came back. "I probably should have lead with that. It's a name from the outer Lands, so to make it easier, you can juts say Potta Hari."
Potta Hari. From the Outer Lands. Interesting.
"I'm Hatake Kakashi."
"You're one of those ninja, right?"
"Yes."
"Then thank you for your service. I haven't been here long enough to understand everything about the scope of your work, but I do know what it's like to have to fight to protect the people you love and it definitely isn't any easy job, and often ends up being thankless work."
She patted his forearm. "Do come by any time if you'd like some more sweets to snack on, Hatake-san."
And then he was standing alone in the corridor outside, staring at the door in awe.
The first meeting between them had been the most interesting way to break the ice, and left him with more questions than anything else.
[2.) What did you say to her?]
When he next met Potta Hari, the day after next, she was actually coming home from work with a bag covered in her business' logo hooked on her arm. There was flour in her hair and a smile on her face.
"Hatake-san, you're back so early!"
He blinked, unsure of how exactly he should greet her, and settled for a nice wave of the hand.
"I made some brownies in this new set of pans I got at the shop down the way. They baked so evenly and it took little effort on my end! I'll get you some!"
She disappeared inside and returned with a copper, 8" x 8" pan. The snack in question seemed thick, with brown and white swirls on the top. "Marbled Brownies with Chocolate Chunks. I hope you like them as much as you seemed to like the fudge. I made several batches of brownies today but this was the only one left after several hours of business."
He accepted the offering, staring down at the snack in wonder. He probably shouldn't eat all of it himself.
And he'd need an outside opinion.
"It smells wonderful," he murmured awkwardly. "The fudge was great too. Thank you."
She flushed a lovely shade of pink and nodded. "Don't hesitate to come over for more treats if you're ever curious. I'll definitely make an exception for you." Then she winked suggestively and closed the door, leaving him scrambling to understand what she meant.
[3.) Why did you eat a stranger's food?]
He wasn't exactly the best person to come to when it came to manners, but he didn't want to waste the food or anything. So he had taken that first pan of fudge to Sakura and had her check it for poison. And then every other thing Potta Hari had handed him was subsequently checked for poison.
Sakura hadn't really asked any questions about where he'd even gotten the food which he appreciated very much. Still, she did send him this odd look about it when she handed the pan back and said that everything was in tip top shape
And then he kept coming back every day for an entire month and she declared that it was most likely safe for him to consume the food from whoever he was getting it from and to please stop bothering her at work just to solve something so small.
So anyway, he trusted Tsunade's most talented student, to know how to check for poisons. Besides, in his daily meetings with the young woman, she seemed to be a pretty decent person and seemed a little too brash, much lie Naruto, and less likely to use poison to sabotage someone. She'd probably just go up to them and punch them in the face than anything else.
After the green light had been given, he just accepted whatever was handed over and ate it with relish. While he wasn't one to give excessive praise to people, he really did like whatever she gave him, and tended to finish it off solo except for those few times he had to bring the rest to a team meeting in order to get Naruto to finish it for him so he could bring the pan back and get something new. Naruto was like a human trash receptacle and could inhale anything at an alarming pace. Sai saw no point in desserts and Sakura was 'dieting' still so Naruto had to do the deed for him since Tenzou wasn't interested in things like fudge and brownies.
His team had in fact been asking to meet whoever it was that kept giving him snacks to eat.
He hadn't known how to answer and would use a Shunshin to avoid them entirely until they gave up.
A common tactic that still worked even now!
So yes, Kakashi had no problem eating the food she gave him because it was safe and tasted great. And was free. That was always the cherry on top.
[4.) Why were you humoring her crush?]
It took probably two weeks into their acquaintance before Kakashi realized that there was something a bit different with how Potta Hari treated him versus everyone else. She was kind to people and offered to help them just fine. She even took extra effort to make certain her little shop was accessible to anyone and that everyone enjoyed themselves.
Yet, she didn't blush when meeting other people and she didn't offer them free food. She still charged people the usual amount and then took home the leftovers at the end of the day. And instead of charging Kakashi, she just shared them with him and no one else.
In the limited time she'd lived in Konoha, she had made many acquaintances, but no friends. Yet she went out of her way to speak to Kakashi every time she saw him.
Finally, she'd extended many invitations already for him to join her for dinner.
He hadn't accepted because he felt awkward, but the invitations kept on coming. She wanted to cook him food from her home. Asked him what kinds of meats and vegetable he liked. Asked if he was allergic to peanut oil. Simple things like that.
Whatever spare time she had, she spent reading cookbooks from Konoha. And she really seemed to like them too.
In fact, he wasn't aware of any other interests of hers until the day she caught him reading Icha Icha Tactics. He'd been expecting her to berate him for reading such things in public, and maybe even smack him for it, but she'd just tilted her head and asked, "Is the porn good?"
Kakashi's reply ended up being drowned in his dry throat.
"Could I borrow that book of yours?" was her next question, which earned her a squeak as she slipped it from his lax fingers to peer at the pages quickly. "Ah, the writer loves himself some busty ladies, huh? I can see the appeal."
And then Potta Hari aimed a curious but suggestive look his way and asked, "Did you learn anything interesting from such content?"
It had been the most embarrassing thing he'd ever been asked! Not even anything Gai could come up with would even hope to eclipse that one moment!
"Perhaps you'd like to teach me any skills you have... in the bedroom?"
In a sudden panic, he'd used the Shunshin to disappear, leaving his poor book behind in the process.
It took him three days to get up the courage to ask for it back, and he got not only the book, but a whole pan of his favorite fudge as well. She'd given him a pitying look as she patted his masked cheek. "Poor thing. I'll get your agreement someday."
He chose to ignore the implications of her words and ended up eating half the pan of fudge in one sitting to keep his mind occupied.
[5.) Are you interested in her?]
It took about two months in for Kakashi to realize that maybe Potta Hari was different than others.
As a civilian, she should be left unaware of the true horrors of the world. She wasn't to be involved in dangerous situations and was meant to be protected at any costs. Unfortunately, what little he'd gleaned from her in the time they'd known each other, leaned toward something else.
Life in the Outer Lands was different. They didn't know about the Elemental Nations overall. There were about six billion people all across the world and about 1% of them were enhanced with a natural ability they had to hide. The existence of them seemed to be considered myths propagated by overly religious people thousands of years ago.
There was a bloody history involved, much like the recent past of Kirigakure and the genocide of anyone bearing a Kekkei Genkai.
Centuries of persecution for being different had lasting effects all across the world. And the biggest issue was that while many of these naturally enhanced humans had been targeted, even more people who weren't part of their kind, suffered anyway because religious zealots declared them evil or corrupted and would put them through rigorous trials to prove their innocence.
Women were often the target. If they had red hair, they must be possessed by an evil spirit. If they exhibited intelligence of any sort, they must be possessed by an evil spirit. If their skin color did not match the common shade of those around them, they must be possessed by an evil spirit. To prove their innocence, they were bound at the hands and feet, and cast into the sea. If they managed to float, they were guilty and burned at the stake for existing. If they sank and drowned, then they were innocent and the god those people worshiped would welcome the with open arms.
Hari's people went into hiding to protect themselves. They remained the only people aware of the existence of the Elemental Nations and were the only beings capable of opening the barrier between the Elemental Continent and the rest of the world.
It took random comments made here and there for Kakashi to put all this together of course. Hari spent a lot of time trying to flirt or proposition him in some form or fashion, and he tended to pretend he didn't understand.
The last thing she'd said was that her people have something like a Kekkei Genkai of their own, but it could manifest slightest differently in each person. Like a mutation they all shared, but some had a further mutation.
He'd gotten to see a book from the Outer Lands. Of cities and towns much larger than any he had ever seen. Of buildings higher than any he'd ever laid eyes on, even with all of his traveling as a shinobi.
Her entire shop was mostly dedicated to foods from her side of the world. The Hokage's seal was on the door, proving that her presence was sanctioned and that everything within had been strictly vetted. All books and items therein, from the outside world, were allowed on Konoha land. Customers were allowed to read as they ate, and learn about things outside their realm of reference.
There were little trinkets and amazing toys for children to play with to keep them occupied.
It was a peek into a whole other universe, so different from what they were used to.
Also, she might not know it, but already there had been four attempts on her life and two attempted kidnappings.
Though maybe she did know because the protections on her business had trapped one of the attackers and kept him suspended in the air, upside down, for hours. Probably around five or six hours just hanging there unconscious and waiting for someone to find him. Potta Hari had been the unfortunate one to find him and deposited him in the arms of the nearest ninja she'd seen on the street.
The nearest ninja being Tenzou, who told Kakashi all about what happened when he returned from a mission out to Suna.
She'd been so calm about it too.
She was an odd one.
A civilian who got along with shinobi and was unthreatened by danger? Who flirted and propositioned a shinobi regardless of the details of his duty or her own past experiences.
She'd made him curious.
So no, he didn't really want to avoid her, but he really didn't know how to handle her either.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us about her already!" Anko whined with a glare that she kept on Tenzou the entire time. "Why'd you just let us talk out our asses? We could have approached that conversation differently!"
He shrugged and took a sip of his sake, a mysterious and slightly creepy smile on his fish-eyed face. "Who knows? Maybe it was to get back at all of you for something."
Kakashi snorted. They'd think twice before asking Tenzou to fix their training grounds again, that's for sure.
A/N: The first is done!
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