Chapter 7: Meet the Demon of the Mist

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Hari showed Naruto the hand seals necessary for the summoning techniques and let the boy experiment his way from there. Hari couldn't help but be more proud of his student when he brought out the animal he signed a contract with. In truth, his temporary apprentice did way better than he did when he tried summoning for the first time.

Naruto's mastery of Tree Walking and Water Walking chakra control exercise made it possible for the blonde to control his output to summon a medium-sized tiger on his first try. Hari couldn't help but stare at the furry summon since the first time he tried summoning a bear resulted in him getting a month-old cub, a very hungry cub with some milk dribbling down its muzzle.

He knew that the mother of the cub would be after his blood if she ever found out that it was him who interrupted her son's feeding.

Hari had to interrupt Naruto since the boy was practically jumping around the training ground like a kid on a sugar binge for a successful summon on his first try. Hari had to hit the boy's behind with lightning just to get the boy to stop and immediately commanded the blonde to return the tiger (who was snickering at its summoner) to its home and to try bringing out the boss to finalize the contract.

It took three tries for Naruto to bring out the boss of the Tiger summons and Hari couldn't help but gape at the size of the beast. It was the same size as the boss of the Bear summon, complete with the usual provisos of fangs and claws.

Everything about the gigantic animal screamed DANGER! RUN AWAY! SAVE YOURSELF!

Of course, Hari couldn't do such a thing so he stayed his ground and hope for the best.

The boss of the Tigers, who went by the name Byakko, interviewed Naruto and found him to be an acceptable summoner and finalized the contract by giving the boy a tattoo on his right wrist so he need not have to do the hand seals to bring the tigers out. All he needed to do was to smear some blood on the tattoo and apply the right amount of chakra.

Hari found this unfair since the boss of the Bear summon didn't give him one. It would seem that Naruto had better luck than he did.

After finishing up the ceremony with Naruto, Byakko cornered Hari and told him that he smelled his friend and asked if he was the summoner of the Bear clan.

Instead of answering, Hari summoned Tsuyo (Strenght), the robe-wearing mace-wielding boss of the Bear summons, to prove his point.

After a brief talk between the two overly-large animals, they returned to the summoning realm before extracting a promise from their respective summoners to call them out if there was a big battle for them to enjoy.

It was there and then that Hari and Naruto realized that both of their respective boss summon were going to be a handful and promised to bring them out only as a last resort.

The damage those two would cause in battle sent shivers down their spine.

Hari made do with his promise and let Naruto try his hand out at C-rank missions to grant him the necessary experience to be on par with his skills. Most of them were delivery mission but quite a few required them to exterminate a bandit camp.

As agreed, Hari would accompany him during missions as back-up; Naruto had to do everything on his own with Hari butting in if his skill and experience was needed. Hari gave Naruto a thorough evaluation after each mission so the boy would learn his mistakes and avoid repeating it on the next mission they took.

It was during the first bandit extermination mission that Hari discovered that Naruto didn't want to take a life which made him proud of the blonde, though Naruto accidentally killed one with a knife-hand strike to the heart.

Hari had to go psychologist on the boy to help his clearly-distraught student cope with his first kill (not that he had any experience since he only killed one himself and that was Voldemort).

After their heart-to-heart session (which involved two vials of calming draught, a dozen or so of calming and cheering charms, and Fawkes serenading the two of them in the background), both decided that instead of simply killing them on sight as the mission dictated them to do, Hari and Naruto would simply transport the bunch of them to Ibiki and Anko.

The bandits were welcomed with open arms by the two, and screams from the T and I department went on for days much to the shinobis consternation. Hari and Naruto were given a fruit basket and dangos after each delivery of bandits.

When the duo learned what happened to the bandits under Anko and Ibiki's care, Naruto informed his sensei that it might have been better if they killed the bandits since they were suffering under the gentle hands of Anko and Ibiki - two people that were more sadistic than his sensei. Hari just waved his hand dismissively and informed the blonde that they deserved it since they made a mess of things being bandits and all.

Naruto didn't bother to inform his sensei again and kept his mouth shut, and judging from the sadistic smirk on his sensei's face when the screams from the bandits reached them, there was no way changing Hari's mind.

Besides, it was his plan to begin so who was he to suggest otherwise.

After two months, Naruto experienced 5 C-rank missions since Hari didn't want to spend all of their time outside the village that would cut down on the blonde's training time and Hari's responsibilities.

Naruto was curious about that and asked his sensei. What he learned definitely surprised him. Sure, he knew that his sensei was a shinobi but he didn't know that he had other professions to occupy his spare time.

The blonde learned that his sensei was a clan head and needed to be present during council sessions (which Hari said was boring as well), as well as his shift in the hospital twice a week when he had no mission to occupy his time (his sensei was the head of the new Potions Department of Konoha Hospital) though most of which was handled by his secretary, Nao, which Naruto met and became friends with.

Also, Naruto found out that his sensei was a professional medic-nin that was often called during emergencies, especially when a patient's problem was too much for the doctors to handle.

Because of this revelation, Naruto informed Hari that he was interested in becoming a medic-nin or follow his example as a battle medic. However, Naruto's chakra reserves made it impossible for him to acquire the needed control to use healing jutsus and informed him of this problem to his ambition. Any healing jutsu that Naruto managed to perform would be overpowered and would end up hurting the patient instead of healing them.

But despite this hindrance, Naruto decided to continue learning chakra control until he achieved the minimum requirement to use medical techniques safely (his first experiment in using a low-powered medical jutsu made the fish explode instead of bringing it back to life, splattering him with fish guts and had to take a shower afterwards), as well as borrowing some of his sensei's books on anatomy since the knowledge would result in his Tiger Claw to be used more effectively in combat, like attacking weak points and disabling opponent quicker by making every hit count.

It was when Hari and Naruto returned from their latest C-rank mission (delivery of the Fire Country exclusive plant, Fire Blossom, to Tea Country which went relatively well except for the usual bandits that the two had to put down and sending the lot of them to Anko and Ibiki before resuming their trip) that they met Team 7.

Hari, followed closely by Naruto, entered the Hokage's office to see Hatake Kakashi with his team reporting to the aged leader on the success of their latest D-rank mission, Catching Tora the Cat. Not wanting to waste any time dealing with the Jounin and his team, he immediately stood in front of the aged leader.

"Mahora Hari and Uzumaki Naruto returning from a successful C-rank mission to Tea Country," Hari declared with a smile on his face mimicked by Naruto. All their missions were successful, a boon to their record. His smile turned into a smug grin when Kakashi and his Genins gave him and Naruto looks of total disbelief. "Client received the delivery of Fire Blossoms as requested. We were waylaid by bandits who wanted to steal our cargo but Naruto took care of them with ease. I think you will get a report from Ibiki or Anko on their new residents since I used my ability to take them there after Naruto knocked them out." He handed the signed mission scroll to the Hokage along with another report that Naruto wrote up since it was the blonde's job to write mission reports for the two of them. "Here's the signed mission scroll and report that Naruto wrote up."

Sarutobi ignored the indignant look on the Uchiha's face and proceeded to check the two scrolls and their content. Satisfied, he gave a nod and took out a payment vouched and handing it to Hari.

"Very good, Hari." praised Sarutobi before eyeing a very different Naruto. He could feel the power exuding from the boy and he couldn't help but inwardly praise the Mahora clan head for turning the boy from the Academy dead-last to a very capable Genin in just a span of four months. "I see that you changed for the better, Naruto-kun. Training with Hari to your liking?"

"Hai, Hokage-jiji." said Naruto with a smile causing Hari chuckle at the boy's address towards the aged leader. No matter how much Hari would try to teach Naruto the protocols of rank, the boy still had that mischievous streak in him - a trait that Hari didn't want the boy to lose since he was a prankster himself. "Hari-sensei is a great teacher and helped me learn everything I missed from the Academy and then some."

"Good, good. Congratulations on your recent C-rank. I think that makes it 6 C-rank under your belt." Sarutobi praised the blonde before turning to a very smug looking Mahora clan head. "Hari, you and Naruto have two days off. Return by then for another mission."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a salute causing the Hokage to chuckle. He turned to Naruto. "Back to the clan house, last one there cooks dinner." He said before disappearing from the room with a soft crack.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Naruto before following his sensei in a swirl of smoke and leaves of a standard Shunshin.

He totally missed the incredulous look from Kakashi, a surprised and questioning look from Sakura, a stoic gaze from Sai, and a jealous glare from Sasuke.

It was sometime after lunch that Hari and Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office for an emergency mission. Considering that they just got back from their latest C-rank, the two of them immediately went to the Hokage's office with their supplies in their respective storage scrolls made by Naruto during their spare time since the boy was starting to learn Fuuinjutsu on the side with his clones while training.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." said the Hokage with a frown on his face. "I got an emergency mission for you two and I have no one else to send since the other teams are still out on their respective missions."

"No problem, Hokage-sama." Hari assured him. "It was a relatively easy mission. Naruto and I are well rested for another one without bothering to rest. What seems to be the problem?"

"Team 7 under Kakashi is on a C-rank mission to Wave Country to guard the bridge builder Tazuna from bandits. However, there were some complications due to the lack of information from the client. It seems that Gato hired missing-nins to kill Tazuna before he could complete the bridge. Kakashi and his team encountered the Demon Brothers and dispatched them easily. However, Kakashi found out after interrogating the two that they worked for Momochi Zabuza, A-rank missing-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. Breaching protocol, Kakashi decided to continue the mission but I am not sure if they are capable enough to handle an A-rank mission. This is where you come in."

"Support or Take-Over?" asked Hari immediately with a grim look on his face mimicked by Naruto since the blonde knew about Momochi Zabuza due to having access to his sensei's Bingo Book and reading it during his free time.

"Support with a possibility of Take-Over scenario if Kakashi is not up to it." replied the Hokage before tossing the mission scroll to the Tokubetsu Jounin. "I bumped the mission to A-rank. Your mission is to support Kakashi's team and provide additional fire power if necessary. Bring them back in one piece, Hari-kun."

"No worries, Hokage-sama. I hadn't failed my previous teammates and I have no intentions of stopping." Hari assured him with Naruto eagerly nodding beside him. "Just to be clear, our mission parameter is to support Kakashi. They will still retain their mission to protect the client?"

"Yes, support Kakashi but if you have a clear shot to take down the source of the problem then you take it without hesitation. I know that you haven't failed even once in bringing back your comrades in one piece and I am quite confident that you won't tarnish your record as the Jinsei no Shinobi." ordered Hokage in a crisp voice. "You got your orders. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." said Hari with a salute before turning to Naruto. "East gate." Was all he said before the two disappeared using their own methods of transportation leaving a grim-faced Hokage behind.

After showing the guards at the East Gate the mission scroll and had it registered, Hari and Naruto immediately left on full-sprint using chakra to enhance their speed.

Along the way, they stopped for a bit to see a tied up Demon Brothers. Hari healed them and turned the rope tying them together into a portkey and sent them to Ibiki with a note attached to one of the brother's forehead to give them a warm welcome.

Naruto snickered when he saw the note but shuddered when he saw the sadistic grin on his sensei's face before praying for the souls of the Demon Brothers who were about to enjoy Ibiki and Anko's hospitality.

Using Naruto's acute sense of smell (a side-effect of having the Kyuubi inside him) they followed Kakashi's scent until they came to the shore where Team 7 departed towards Wave with their client.

Seeing no other boats in sight, they had to water walk towards their destination since none of them had any other methods of travel and Hari couldn't apparate the both of them since he hadn't been to Wave Country before. They admired the large bridge from afar before meeting a lone boat coming out of the mist.

After explaining the situation to the weary boatman who was instantly relieved at hearing that they were shinobi reinforcements to protect Tazuna from Gato, he pointed them to the direction where he landed with Team 7 and Tazuna.

It didn't take long for Hari and Naruto to catch up to Kakashi and saw that Team 7 was currently under attack. They studied the situation before jumping in.

Kakashi was currently in a water bubble held by Zabuza and other Zabuzas (Hari studied them a bit before telling Naruto that they were water clones) beating the hell out of Sasuke on the shore. Sai was unconscious with a bleeding shoulder wound, while Sakura was shaking like a leaf under a storm in front of an equally shaking Tazuna.

"Naruto, I want you to help Sasuke. Take down those water clones. I'll free Kakashi and deal with Zabuza. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei." said Naruto who was vibrating in excitement since this was the first mission he had that would pit him against a fellow shinobi. They were clones, yes, but a shinobi, nonetheless.

"Good, go!" Hari barked, signaling his charge to start the mission.

Naruto dashed out from his hiding spot heading straight for Zabuza's water clones that was beating the crap out of the lone Uchiha.

Not wasting time, he threw a bunch of shurikens while on the run which nailed one of the clones and dispelling the technique. The rest were able to dodge out of the way but one of them was hit by a quick right hook from the blonde when he got in range. The punch was laced with chakra so it threw the clone towards a tree and immediately turned into water upon impact.

"How are you doing, Sasuke?" asked Naruto as he eyed the seven surviving water clones who was doing the same to him.

"W-what are you doing here, dobe?" asked Sasuke as he pushed himself off the ground and glared at the blonde.

"Saving your butt from the looks of it." said Naruto as he blocked a large sword from a water clone using a chakra-enhanced kunai before kicking the clone on the stomach which threw it back. The kick wasn't that strong so the clone was still in one piece.

"I don't need your help, dobe." snarled Sasuke as he flipped through a set of hand seals, inhaled before blowing out a large fireball towards Naruto's opponent. The only problem was Naruto being in the way which Sasukle conveniently ignored.

Fortunately, Naruto was prepared and used Shunshin to disappeared from the path of the projectile and appearing a few meters behind the Uchiha.

"What in the world are you doing, baka!" screamed Naruto with anger in his voice. Sure, Sasuke was a jackass but he didn't think that the boy would go to the extent of hitting a comrade just to bring an enemy down. That was not how a Konoha shinobi operated.

"You're getting in the way of my fight, dobe, and I don't need your help." said Sasuke who tried to punch a clone but missed when said clone dodged and kicked him on the stomach, knocking him back. Naruto clearly heard the crack of bones and deduced that the kick broke a rib or two.

Angry at Sasuke for disregarding his help and attacking him, he bit his thumb and smeared some blood on the tattoo on his right wrist and slammed his right palm on the ground.

"Summoning Technique: War Tiger Brothers."

Three armored tigers appeared in a puff of smoke. The War Tiger Brothers was a three-tiger armored task force among that specializes in team-based strength attacks. They were often used to spearhead into any defense while taking little damage thanks to the armors they were wearing. Naruto trained with them a few times to set up their teamwork and became close friends with the trio whom considered him a pack mate.

"What's up, Naruto?" said one of the tigers while the other two were eyeing the area before leveling an intense gaze at the water clones who was looking at them nervously. The water clones's nervousness grew when the two tigers licked their chops and eyed them hungrily.

"Need your help guys." Naruto stated to the trio. "Six opponents; all water clones of Momochi Zabuza, an A-rank missing-nin from the Mist. I need your help in taking them down while sensei deals with the main one."

"Great." shouted one of the tigers, giving the water clones an evil toothy grin. "It's been quite a while since we battled a shinobi. You might want to tell your sensei that our bear counterparts want to have some fun. They were envious that we get to train with you often"

"I'll relay that after the battle. We might do a team spar later, you and me against sensei and his bears. Anyway, let's go and get wild." shouted Naruto before dashing towards the water clones with the War Tigers flanking his side.

Kakashi was getting worried.

After a brief scuffle with Zabuza and getting trapped inside a water prison courtesy of said shinobi, he watched Sasuke disregard his order to retreat and tried to take on all of Zabuza's water clones on his own; disregarding the help that Sai was trying to give him.

He despaired when the clones were making a sport out of his students and taking out Sai from the game, leaving Sasuke to deal with them alone. It wasn't much of a fight and resigned to a possible death under his watch.

He was shocked when a blonde blur came out of the surrounding trees and dispelled one of the water clones with a barrage of shurikens and destroying another one with a punch to the face. When the blur stopped, he immediately recognized Naruto. Why in the heck was the boy here? Was he the reinforcement that the Hokage sent?

He silently observed the battle and couldn't help but get angry when Sasuke, his very own student, exhaled a fireball at close range that would have killed the blonde Genin. Thankfully, the boy was quick on his feet and got out of the way using a quick Shunshin. The water clone didn't though.

He was further shocked when Naruto summoned three huge armored tigers and making sport of Zabuza's water clones, taking them down one by one using teamwork and brute force. He saw Sasuke on the ground, holding his ribs in pain while glaring at the blonde Genin that saved his life.

"I don't know who that boy is Kakashi but he's good." commented Zabuza as he observed his clones getting decimated by the blonde boy and his huge tigers. He knew that they were summons and he didn't know anyone who had the Tiger Summoning Contract since many believed it to be lost during the Second Great Shinobi War when the Tiger's last summoner died in battle. "Another one of your students, I take it?"

Instead of Kakashi answering, a voice from the mist answered Zabuza's question.

"No, Zabuza-chan, Naruto is my student and yes, he is good." said the voice from the mist before a person walked out of it. "I trained him after all."

Zabuza immediately recognized the person and suddenly shivered in fear.

"Holy shit, Kakashi. Why didn't you tell me that you have the Trigger Happy Sadist of Konoha as your back-up." shouted Zabuza, fear clearly evident in his tone. He knew all about Mahora Hari, an A-rank shinobi from Konoha that had a penchant of lightning techniques that didn't require seals. In fact, quite a lot of his missing-nin friends fell in the hand of this sadistic Jounin many times. But instead of being killed, there were electrocuted to every inch of their lives until blacking out from the pain and waking up later all healed up and restrained. They were all alive but the phantom pain they felt from being electrocuted gave them nightmares for months.

"I didn't know." Kakashi said lamely. "I requested reinforcements but I didn't know that Hokage-sama would send him of all people."

"No shit." exclaimed Zabuza as he tried to weigh his options since standing on water while facing a powerful Jounin with penchant for lightning was NOT a good thing.

"Oh yes." said Hari as he water walked towards Zabuza before stopping a scant few meters from the missing-nin and his captive. "Now let me see. Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Easy way?" Zabuza and Kakashi both asked hopefully and fearfully at the same time.

"The easy way is for me to electrocute you with a mild lightning jutsu so you would be forced to let go of your captive." Hari said cheerfully as he held up a finger cackling with electricity.

"And the hard way?" Kakashi asked, gulping while eyeing the electricity-encased finger with distrust and fear. He still remembered Asuma's description of the pain he felt under Hari's technique and he didn't want to face such a thing if he could help it.

Hari increased the combination of chakra and magic he was channeling into his finger and his whole hand erupted into yellow lightning. Hari's smiled turned sadistic.

"I hit both of you with a powerful blast of lightning to knock Zabuza out and free Kakashi. Don't worry, you'll both live. A bit scorched and electrocuted perhaps, but alive all the same. After all, I'm a medic so you're in good hands." Hari said with the sadistic smile still plastered on his face.

"You do know that if you hit me with your lightning, Kakashi will be electrocuted as well, right?" Zabuza pointed out hopefully, praying that the sadistic Jounin would let him go…just this once.

"So?" Hari countered in a bored voice that scared the two. "I can always heal him up no worries. So…what will it be?"

"Neither." growled Zabuza with every ounce of courage he could muster. He made a seal and ten water clones appeared, surrounding Hari. "I don't think you'll survive with this much against you even with your reputation."

"Oh I wouldn't say that, Zabuza-chan." said Hari cheerfully as he raised his other hand and channeled lightning through it.

The Zabuza water clones saw it and prepared to attack but was caught off guard when Hari clapped both of his lightning-encased hands together, releasing a wave of cackling lightning around him that hit the clones, making them scream in pain before dispelling back into their base substance. The wave of lightning continued to travel outwards and hit Zabuza, making him scream in pain, and by extension, Kakashi who also screamed from being electrocuted thanks to Zabuza's hand being attached to the water prison.

Hari saw the water prison collapse and immediately levitated an unconscious Kakashi with a thought. He was surprised that Zabuza was still conscious, though smoking a bit thanks to his attack, leveling him a glare.

But before Zabuza could say anything, a lightning-encased fist hit him on the cheek courtesy of a shadow clone Hari made in advance and hidden in the mist. Said attack shocked Zabuza again while throwing him back to shore with the real Hari following him at a sedate walk with an unconscious Kakashi floating beside him.

After depositing his floating baggage beside an amazed Tazuna, Hari walked over to a downed Zabuza who was still conscious though his cheek was smoking from his lightning punch.

"Still awake? You truly deserve your rank, Zabuza-chan." Hari commented in surprise though he shouldn't be because the Lightning Fist technique that his clone used was nowhere near its original level of power since he didn't give the clone enough energy to use it in full.

"Shut up." growled Zabuza as he tried to stand up but screamed when a chain of lightning bound him in place and electrocuting him again. This time, he screamed himself into unconsciousness.

Nodding for a job well done, Hari was about to tie Zabuza up when a Hunter-nin wearing a mask with a Mist symbol appeared beside the man and took him away without a word.

Hari raised an eyebrow before shrugging. He'll deal with it later. No use trying to catch the two since whatever technique the Hunter-nin used, it brought them away from his sensing range.

When he got back to the group, Hari saw that Naruto was currently talking animatedly with his tigers. He simply smiled at the boy before continuing his walk towards Team 7, their unconscious sensei, and a relieved Tazuna.

"Do you really have to electrocute him, sensei?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. He saw the unconscious form of Kakashi after he finished his conversation with the War Tiger Brothers and sending them back to their home. When he went to his sensei treating Team 7, he saw Kakashi with some scorch marks on his clothes and skin.

Hari paused from his healing of Sai, a thoughtful look on his face. "No." he finally answered after a few seconds of though before cheerfully adding, "But it was collateral damage so no harm done."

Naruto sweatdropped at his sensei's sadistic tendencies.

"How are they?" he asked curiously when he saw Sai's wound heal before his very eyes. He wasn't surprised since he already saw his sensei heal someone from worst wounds.

"Sasuke had two of ribs broken and some internal injuries after being clobbered silly by Zabuza's clones. Finished healing him but he need to rest a day or two to get his body back into shape. Sakura and Tazuna had no injuries though they needed to change their pants since they peed on it…why, I have no idea. I already healed the gash on Sai's shoulder and the concussion he sustained from the battle. He is suffering from chakra depletion too but nothing to worry about since he can just sleep it off. Kakashi is suffering from mild burns, some nerve damage, and chakra exhaustion. I'll heal him in a bit.

"Are they fit for travel?" the blonde asked. "Tazuna said that his home is two hours walk from here."

Hari nodded.

"Sasuke can walk but that's it." he said while firing a healing spell at Kakashi's prone form. "I'll levitate Sai and Kakashi so they can sleep their chakra exhaustion off. You take the lead with Tazuna and keep a sharp look-out. Ask Sakura and Sasuke to accompany the floaters from both sides, I'll take the rear."

Naruto nodded and did what his sensei instructed. It took a while to prepare the necessary logistics since Sasuke and Sakura didn't want to follow Naruto's instructions. Hari had to intervene to shut the two up and scared the two enough to take their assigned positions.

When that was over and done with, they trekked to Tazuna's house to get the injured into a bed before deciding what to do next.