Chapter 3: Konoha 101

It has been a year since the Mahora Clan had been set up with the blessing of the Konoha council, a year of intense study for the first head of the clan, Mahora Hari, in order to cement his position in the village.

Thanks to the resources offered by the Hokage, Hari plowed through the many books he was given, including the Konoha charter, as he studied various subjects concerning the village; from the running of the village to the different responsibilities of shinobis in and outside missions.

If he was honest with himself, Hari enjoyed the chore since for the first time in his life; he wasn't forced to learn because of a prophecy. He just learned because he wanted to and it was a welcome experience.

If he was not in the hospital helping the doctors and nurses with their patients, he was either at home brewing potions or taking care of the greenhouse that contained many of the magical plants he used for his potions business, which was very lucrative. Instead of putting up a shop in the village, he consigned his potions to the hospital with the Hokage providing a department which Hari was given the head position. He trained a few doctors and nurses on the various potions he had on stock and allowed it to be sold to the public.

However, in order to control the use of the potions, a log was made to make sure it wasn't overused or sold in excess and stringent methods were in place to make sure that they don't leave the confines of the village without the Hokage or Hari's express permission. He didn't want the potions to be used by other villages without their respective permissions. It was safer that way and would give Konoha the monopoly it sorely needed.

Since the potions weren't released outside the village, they simply advertised it to the outside that Konoha had a unique treatment method for various health related problems. It was a week later after the word was spread out that Konoha hospital saw to their first batch of patients, around twenty of them in fact. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses were thoroughly briefed so Hari didn't have to see to all of them, only the ones that needed his…personal touch.

Speaking of potions, he also donated a few batches of certain potions to the different departments in the shinobi ranks.

For starters, he gave Ibiki and Anko a batch of Vertiserum placed inside a charmed box that only the two, Hari, and the Hokage could open as a security feature.

He also gave some potions to ANBU that would be a big help on high-profile missions, like Polyjuice for a perfect disguise, Pepper-Up (since Hari discovered that it can replenish chakra fully without side-effects), healing potions, and the likes.

Of course, the Hokage would have to give his permission to use these unique supplies to avoid the possibility of his subordinates becoming too dependent on them. It was made available for use only on extreme circumstances and still use them as a last resort if their abilities were found lacking.

In regards to the laws of Konoha, Hari already passed his proficiency test given to him by Nara Shikaku who supervised his education in the subject. In just a span of six months with a lot of thanks to his Occlumency training, he plowed through the various laws with ease and answered the questions in similar manner.

After 7 months, he took his position as a clan head and a member of the Konoha Council, which Hari found out to be quite boring but he persevered since his attendance was mandatory.

At the prompting of the Hokage, Hari also checked the various students in the Konoha Academy to see if they had the ability to use magic. So far, the test had proven negative though there were some interesting discoveries that made it worthwhile.

For example, even if the students or shinobis didn't have magic in their system to merit the use of spells or magical objects, Hari discovered that chakra was of similar make that some magical disciplined would benefit the practitioner greatly.

One such discipline was Mind Magics which Hari discovered was similar to the techniques used exclusively by the Yamanaka Clan which resulted in Hari giving them some books on Occlumency to allow them to focus their bloodline properly and erect mental shields to protect their own minds while scanning others. Legilimency was out of their league since they didn't have active magic to do passive or active mind probes. Inoichi gratefully accepted the gifts and promised Hari that he would be making Occlumency a standard practice of their clan from now on (after mastering it himself, of course).

Due to the discipline's capability to improve one's focus, he made the book available to the rest of the shinobi population, though he omitted a few information that he deemed dangerous. Everyone was happy, especially the experienced shinobis since the discipline made it easy for them to use jutsus and improved their chakra control exponentially.

The Konoha council was even contemplating in adding a subject to their Academy curriculum to include Occlumency training to improve the student's learning curve. So far, they were still studying the idea since they wanted to make sure that it would help the village and not destroy it from the inside.

Hari's lessons in the shinobi arts was going well thanks to his part-time tutor, Umino Iruka - an instructor in the Academy, giving him lessons during the weekends within the threshold of his clan compound. After a brief mind probe, Hari found the Academy instructor a kind-hearted person bearing no ill-will to himself so he added him to the wards with an open invitation to visit anytime.

Iruka thanked him profusely since the Chuunin found a liking to Hari's western cuisine (which Hari relayed to the elves much to the little blithers pleasure).

In the shinobi arts, Iruka helped Hari unlock his chakra which was quite easy considering that the wizard had complete control of his mind, body, and magic. Hari discovered that chakra was exactly a counterpart of magic in this world though with certain limitations and differences.

For example, chakra was a combination of physical and mental (spiritual energy). Magic on the other hand was purely from the soul using the body as a conduit. From his studies, chakra had certain characteristics that magic could not replicate.

For starters, magic had the ability to prolong one's lifespan by keeping their health at peak efficiency. Chakra also offers the same effect though at a milder rate.

Also, chakra could be manipulated to boost a body's physical performance which magic could not do without the use of spells to merit such an effect.

After unlocking his chakra, Hari immediately took advantage of his free time to control it using chakra control exercises. He wasn't interested in learning jutsus since he was well-versed in battle magic (which he immediately took to learning since he wanted to be on par to shinobis in case something bad happened that needed his expertise, especially if he joined the shinobi ranks).

The wizard-slash-shinobi-in-training found walking on trees and water to be an invigorating. He was also introduced to the resident taijutsu (hand-to-hand combat) expert, Maito Gai to help train his body to use chakra, as well as improving his overall physical performance focusing on speed and strength that the man considered as a must-have for any shinobis.

After a year of training, Hari was easily Chuunin level in terms of both speed and strength, and growing as he continued training. He found the daily training program to be relaxing, though sweaty, so he had no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

Hari's study in magic was also growing in leaps and bounds similar to his growing skill in the shinobi arts.

Due to his work in the hospital, Hari practically ransacked his library in Potter Manor of any medical texts he could find. He even gave the elves the leeway of scouring the magical world back in Britain on similar books.

After two months of his elves' tireless work, he could safely say that he had the largest collection of medical texts in the history of the magical world. He learned a lot of healing and diagnostic spells from these books and partnered it with some anatomy lessons he had from the many doctors in the Konoha Hospital who were more than happy to help him out since it would greatly help in the long run. Shinobi life was dangerous work so they needed all the help they could get.

After half a year of study and taking an exam in the hospital, he became a Healer of Konohagakure no Sato since he couldn't be called a medic-nin since he wasn't a shinobi to begin with. Many of the doctors and shinobi likened his skills on par with Tsunade of the Sannin, the Slug Princess, whose medical prowess was renowned throughout the Elemental Nations. Hari read about Tsunade in the many books Shikaku gave him and preened himself for being compared to such a historical and talented figure (he made a special point to ignore the fact that Tsunade was a chronic gambler who never won a game in her entire life).

Hari also started improving his proficiency in battle magic though he made a special point in learning elemental spells to fit his status as a resident of the Elemental Nations. He found out that he had an affinity towards lighting spells, allowing him to cast the most complicated lightning-based magic without the use of his wands. He took to learning these spells like a fish to water and even came up with unique lightning-based attacks by combining his chakra and magic which had more powerful and destructive results.

As a favor to the Hokage, Hari was also given the task of studying the tailed-beasts of the Elemental Nations. At first, he was of pure disbelief in the existence of such powerful beings but when the Hokage told him the history of such beasts, he became a believer.

After explaining the Kyuubi attack that happened 8 years ago, Hari accepted the request of studying bijuus and their jinchuurikis. Having access to the Hokage's Library, Hari found out that bijuus who were inside their containers were similar to Horcrux (which made him shudder when he made the connection).

However, the similarities ended there.

From what he learned, jinchuurikis had the ability to tap into the power of the bijuus they hold and use it as their own, with limitations since human weren't designed to handle such power to begin with.

In most cases, Hari likened it to a symbiotic relationship. The bijuus continued to live safely inside their containers, ensuring that no power hungry fool would use their powers and the jinchuuriki using a portion of their power as payment. For the most part, the bijuus would fight with their jinchuuriki inside their mind for domination but seals were in place to ensure that possession wasn't possible. This was made evident when the Hokage informed Hari of Kumo's two jinchuurikis who had complete control over their bijuus.

The only exception to this rule was the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Tanuki of Suna who was a murdering sycophant despite being a child.

Hari didn't know why the Hokage made him study the bijuus and jinchuurikis but it was all made clear when he was called to a private meeting with the elders in the Hokage's office.

"So let me get this straight, Konoha currently has a jinchuuriki and it is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?" Hari asked incredulously. He was currently wearing an outfit similar to the Hyuugas (AN: Hari is wearing an outfit similar to Neji's in the Shippuden Arc though only in blue instead of white)

The Hokage nodded. "You're correct, Hari. I think I don't need to explain the complexities of jinchuurikis and bijuus since I asked you to study about them?"

Hari nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama. However, why tell me this now?" he asked curiously.

"You see, Uzumaki Naruto is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Sarutobi blurted out with a straight face.

"Whoah? You mean that blonde kid with whisker-like marks on his cheeks, wearing orange, and love to prank people?" Hari asked incredulously.

The side of the Hokage's mouth twitched, the two elders scowled, and Danzo was still as blank-faced as ever.

"That's the one. How did you know him?" asked Sarutobi curiously.

"Well, I was walking around the village when he came out of a store as if the hounds of hell were after him. I laughed myself hoarse when I saw the people inside the store in color orange. That kid is a great prankster," said Hari with a chuckle before frowning. "Is the Kyuubi the reason why many of the villagers kept glaring at him?"

Sarutobi nodded sadly. "Despite how the Yondaime Hokage wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero for holding the Kyuubi, some of the villagers think of him as the bijuu he is holding, which is why I asked you to study jinchuurikis for a favor."

"So what do you need?"

"Is there a way to determine if the Kyuubi can influence Naruto? I trust the Yondaime's seal but I wonder if it is possible to use one of your…spells to determine if it has an active influence on the boy or not in order to change the civilian council's mind about the boy."

"Hmmmm. That is a tall order. From what I can determine, a jinchuuriki can communicate with their bijuu via mindscape. If that is the case, I can easily do a mind probe to determine if it is trying to possess the boy or not. However, I can only do that if Naruto is directly in contact with the beast. If not then it is a premature move. Tell me; ever since Kyuubi was sealed inside the boy, has there been any occurrence that gives evidence to the bijuu being active?"

This time, Danzo answered. "No. Ever since the sealing, there were no signs of the Kyuubi being active since the use of its chakra would announce its presence to every shinobi in the village. However, it was discovered that Naruto gained some abilities from the bijuu he holds in his stomach."

"Oh? What abilities?" Hari asked curiously.

"Regeneration." Danzo answered immediately. "Wounds that would take weeks to heal only take a few hours for the boy. Aside from that, the boy has increased stamina and an overly large chakra reserves."

Hari winced. Chakra was a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. If Naruto had large chakra amounts for his age then his stamina must be through the roof. "Ouch, no wonder the boy is always on the run. With stamina like that, keeping still would be a chore. If he ever became a shinobi then chakra control would be one of his biggest hurdles."

"Agreed," Sarutobi said with a nod before voicing out his question. "So as of now, there is nothing you can do to determine Kyuubi's activity inside Naruto unless the boy came in contact with the beast?"

"For now." Hari said with a nod of agreement. "Don't worry; I'll try to find a way to determine it without rousing suspicion. As far as I can tell, it is similar to a spirit possession in my world. I can discretely hit the boy with a spell if I ever come across him and see if there is an active possession from the bijuu. I will report whatever findings I have as soon as I have it."

"Perfect. Thanks for doing this for us Hari-kun." said Sarutobi with a grateful smile. "Anyway, how are your shinobi studies coming along?"

Hari grinned. "Doing well if I do say so myself. I have mastered my chakra similar to how I control my bloodline. I can do tree walking and water walking with ease and I can keep it up for hours without problem. I haven't learned any shinobi techniques as of yet except for using chakra to enhance my strength and speed. However, I am compensating the lack of jutsus with battle magic. In fact, I find that I am quite adept in using lightning-based attacks." He boasted with a grin on his face.

"Oh? Who's teaching you to use chakra physically?" Homura asked curiously. Interested in how an teenager could learn the shinobi arts with such ease. He knew that the boy was capable, he just didn't know how much.

"Maito Gai." Hari answered making everyone wince. "What? He's not that bad."

"You're not serious, Hari." Koharu said with aghast before shuddering when he remembered the spandex-clad Jounin. "I don't know how you can stand his…quirks."

Hari shrugged. "Well, all I can say that he is…unique. I just ignore his quirks and leave it at that. I just ignore him when he starts prattling about his 'Springtime of Youth'."

Sarutobi gave him a long look before nodding at him in respect. Anyone who can stand Maito Gai and his…quirks had his respect.

Hari was currently in the Hyuuga compound after getting an emergency message from Hiashi. When he got there, the Hyuuga clan head immediately cornered him and asking if he could help his wife.

From what he discovered, Hiashi's wife, Hitomi, just gave birth to his second daughter, Hanabi, and her health was deteriorating at a rapid pace and none of the Hyuuga medics could help her. This was the reason why he was immediately called to see if he could help her which he immediately agreed.

After Hari was brought into the room where Hitomi was currently residing, unconscious; he immediately cast a diagnostic spell on her to determine the status of her health. What he found was shocking to say the least.

"Hiashi-sama, did you know that your wife is currently suffering from a potent poison that is slowly killing her?" Hari asked the Hyuuga clan head.

"WHAT? HOW?" Hiashi shouted with anger clearly etched on his face.

"I don't know how but from what my spells found out, poison is currently destroying her body from the inside, shutting down the major organs. If left untreated, she only has a day or so to live."

"Can you do anything to help her?" Hiashi asked desperately.

Hari nodded before reaching into his enchanted satchel that held all his medical supplies and pulled out a bottle containing his stock of Bezoar.

"This is what I call a Bezoar. It has the effect of neutralizing any poison in this side of the Elemental Nations. I know this for a fact since I saved quite a number of patients with this little thing." Hari informed him before opening the bottle and pulling out a stone. He walked over to Hitomi and administered the Bezoar orally, using a spell to help her swallow it. After a few minutes, he cast the same diagnostic spell and the result made him smile. Hiashi saw his smile immediately.

"What happened? Did it work?" a concerned Hiashi asked.

"It's working as we speak. From what I discovered, the Bezoar is counteracting the poison. In an hour or two, it would be completely gone for her system. However, she needs to rest and I will give you a bunch of healing potions to administer to her for a week to counteract the damage the poison did to her body. Since she was poisoned, I suggest that you restrict access to this room. I'll place a ward around the room to make sure that anyone who intends to do her harm wouldn't be able to get past it. Do I have your permission to do so?"

"You have my permission and my thanks, Mahora-dono." Hiashi said with a bow of respect.

Hari patted the man on the shoulder. "Call me Hari or Mahora-san. There is no need for such formalities between friends, Hiashi-sama."

"Then I extend the same courtesy…Hari-san." Hiashi said with a smile.

"Great, not let me get to work to ensure Hitomi-san's safety." said Hari, bringing out his Holly wand before casting an intent-based ward with a minor repelling charm to make sure that anyone who intends to harm her wouldn't get past the boundary of the room. He knew that it would suffice since Hiashi would ensure that his wife was properly protected.

Before leaving, Hari made a special point to check on Hanabi to ensure that the poison wasn't also in the child's system and doing the same to a sleeping Hinata. Thankfully, the baby and Hiashi's eldest daughter was free from it which made both him and the Hyuuga clan head thankful.

It was three hours later that Hari left the Hyuuga compound with a smile on his face since he was happy that he saved a life and gained a friend in the process.

Hari was finishing his shift in the hospital when a commotion at the front desk drew his attention.

An ANBU wearing a dog mask with silver hair was arguing with a nurse while carrying a bloodied boy in his arms. Hari immediately recognized the boy as Naruto and saw the numerous wounds the boy was having.

His blood boiled immediately.

"What in the world is going on here?" Hari demanded in a voice that brooked no nonsense.

"Mahora-sama. This ANBU here is making a commotion?" said the nurse who was eyeing Naruto with a look of disdain which Hari immediately saw and noted. It seemed that she was one of those people who saw the boy as the Kyuubi he was holding.

"If you just do your job and treat Naruto then we won't be having this problem in the first place." the ANBU barked in anger.

Having seen enough, Hari took charge of the situation.

"Enough. Bickering now would not save the boy's life." Turning to the ANBU, "ANBU-san, follow me and I will treat Naruto personally." Getting a nod from the ANBU, Hari turned to the scowling nurse. "Kimiko-san, I suggest that you start thinking of your priorities. All healer and doctors made an oath to treat ALL patients, no matter their status. If you don't think that you can follow that oath I suggest you resign before I bring this to the Hokage. You have been warned." With a wave of his hand, he floated the injured Naruto out of the ANBU's hands which startled the man. "Follow me, ANBU-san."

Hari immediately went straight to his office where all his medical equipments were kept. The Hokage gave him his own treatment room, similar to an emergency ward, for treating patients with problems above those the resident doctors could fix. He walked there at a brisk pace with Naruto floating beside him. The ANBU followed without a sound.

When they arrived, Hari immediately levitated the boy towards the bed and conjured a note for the Hokage to come to his office immediately. He called Fawkes and sent the bird on his way with the note.

"What happened?" Hari asked the ANBU as he started casting diagnostic spells on the boy after vanishing the boy's clothes. The sight of the boy's mangled body made him furious, causing his magic to lash out angrily which started shaking the room and scaring the ANBU out of his wits. Thankfully, he was able to control his rampaging magic thanks to his Occlumency shields, dampening his emotions to the point that only a cold mask fell on his face.

"A mob cornered Naruto in one of the side alleys in the entertainment district and attacked him. I got there in time before one of the villagers was about to run him through with a sword. After making sure that the perpetrators were apprehended, I immediately scooped up Naruto and came here. You know the rest." the dog-masked ANBU reported wearily since he felt the power emanating from the man. Sure, he heard of the new Mahora Clan and its mysterious head but seeing the power first-hand was a scary sight.

Hari nodded as he floated a clipboard to him and had an enchanted pen write the result of the diagnostic spell he cast on the boy. Concussions, laceration, broken bones, internal bleeding, and some teeth missing, third-degree burns, and the list goes on making Hari grit his teeth in anger. What the villagers were doing was pointless. Blaming the boy for what his prisoner did to them in the past. It was unacceptable.

The Hokage appeared a few minutes later while Hari was healing Naruto's wounds, explaining all the while the result of his findings. It was 30 minutes later that the treatment was finished and Naruto was sleeping peacefully on the bed, fully healed without a single scar on his body.

"This has got to stop, Hokage-sama." Hari said with a sigh. "This is the third time I treated Naruto since the other doctors wouldn't even give him the time of day. This time, the results of the attack are much worse."

"I know." said the Hokage with a grim look on his face before his shoulder slumped in resignation. "No matter how much I try to convince the civilian council that Naruto is innocent of the bijuu's crime, they wouldn't listen. That is one of the reasons why I asked you to examine him to give testament to my claims."

Hari smiled at the aged leader. "You're in luck. After treating Naruto, I took advantage of the situation to check on the boy's physical and mental health. I easily determined the presence of the Kyuubi inside him BUT there is a very strong barrier separating him from the boy's mind. From the nature of the barrier, I can say that only Naruto could pass through it and the bijuu is safely behind it with no possibility of possessing the boy whatsoever."

Sarutobi sighed in relief followed by the dog-masked ANBU. "Is there a way to convince the council of your findings?"

"Hmmmm." Hari hummed, deep in thought. "I can always attest to it by giving them a Wizard's Oath since they know the repercussion of me lying with it active; other than that, nothing I can think of would do."

"Let me think about that for a few days. I will summon you to a council meeting if such an event is required. Are you alright with that?" Sarutobi asked with clear relief on his face.

"No problem, Hokage-sama." said Hari before frowning. "What will happen to Naruto?"

"The same as always."

That answer didn't sit well with Hari in the slightest.

"Is he living in an orphanage? Considering that he is still 10 years old. If my guess is correct, he should be attending the Academy now."

"No, the orphanage threw him out before you came to Konoha. I had him situated in one of the apartments I owned and he is the only resident there. To answer your other question, yes, Naruto is currently attending the Academy. In fact, it's his first year there right now."

"I see. Why isn't the boy adopted then? No 10 year old boy should live on his own." said Hari with a frown, memories of his life with the Dursleys coming to the forefront of his mind.

"There were multiple instances that the clans wanted to adopt Naruto but the civilian council kept getting in the way. Since Naruto is not a shinobi, he is currently under the control of the civilian heads. There is nothing I can do unless Naruto became a shinobi and until then, I can only try to protect him from afar." Sarutobi admitted making Hari nod, deep in thought. An idea crossed his mind that made him grin.

"I have a plan." said Hari with a mischievous grin on his face.