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Protector of the Fox

Summary:

Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she died for the third time. She was 24 years old when she discovered she was the Mistress of death. She was 24 years old when she decided she had enough of the Wizarding world. She was 24 years old when she crossed the veil of death and became Midori.

Midori was 5 years old when she witnessed the Kyuubi attack. Midori was 5 years old when she witnessed Naruto become the new Kyuubi Jinchuriki. Midori was 5 years old when she saw how the village treated the infant. She was 5 years old when she decided she was going to do something about it - no matter what it took...

Chapter 1: The Fox

Chapter Text

Harriet Lily Potter, girl who lived, woman who conquered was 24 years old when she died for the third time. Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she was betrayed by her closest friends. Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she woke up for the third time after being struck with the killing curse. Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she discovered that she had unknowingly become the Mistress of Death. Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she decided she had enough. Harriet Lily Potter was 24 years old when she stepped through the veil – everything she owned tucked away into a bag with an undetectable extension charm.

Harriet was reborn into a new world as a dark haired, green eyed girl called Midori. She wasn’t born as anyone important. Within the first few days of her new life, her new mother abandoned her at the large gates of a village called Konoha. Within days, she had become another unimportant orphan in the overcrowded orphanage of Konoha. The first 5 years of her new life were unremarkable, the village was at peace, a war having ended shortly before her rebirth but a few months after her 5th (29th) birthday, something happened. There had been a feeling of malice in the air and all the orphans, including Midori, had been evacuated to the shelters within the village. Midori wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, all she knew was that a lot of people were dying. She could sense the souls of many people passing into the afterlife. As the number of deaths seemed to come to a halt, Midori felt a tug, instinctively, Midori knew that someone was summoning one of the servants of death – a Shinigami. The same curiosity that had gotten her into so much trouble when she was still Harriet at Hogwarts seemed to tug at Midori’s being. So, she called upon to power of Death’s cloak and slipped out of the bunker before apparating to where the summon was coming from. Death materialised beside her as she appeared within a barrier created with chains made of golden chakra. The scene before her was a fascinating one. A yellow haired man, who she vaguely recognised as the leader (4th Hokage) of the village, and a red haired woman were standing, a huge claw protruding out of their chests with a small yellow haired baby in front of them. It was clear that the pair were the baby’s parents and had shielded the baby from the claw using their own body’s.
Midori watched, invisibly, from the side-lines as the Hokage used the Shinigami to seal away the creature whose claw was protruding from his chest into his baby son in exchange for his immortal soul. A feeling of sadness welled up in Midori as she watched the parents speak their last worlds to their son before the Shinigami reaped them and claimed the Hokage’s soul for himself. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her own parents. Not the ones from this world who had abandoned her – no – Midori was thinking of Lily and James Potter who had sacrificed their lives for their young daughter despite being so young themselves. Lily and James Potter who died at 21 in hopes that their little Harriet would live a long happy life. And now she had yet again watched a mother and a father sacrifice themselves for their young child. She felt the presence of death approach from behind her as she stared at the corpses of the couple, ignoring the shinobi around her.
“Death?” She murmured. The being stepped up beside her small form and inclined its head.
“Yes, Mistress?” It rasped. Midori turned slightly to look at the primordial being beside her before asking,
“What are their names?” Death stared at Midori for a moment as if trying to solve a puzzle before responding to the question,
“Their names Mistress are Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. The baby they left behind, the new Jinchuriki of this village, is I believe, named Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Thank you” Midori murmured before wandering back to the shelters where the rest of the orphans were.

A few days after the Kyuubi attack, despite a gag order being placed on all information about it, it was common knowledge that a little baby named Uzumaki Naruto was the new host of the Kyuubi, and Midori was seething. She had experienced so much hatred as Harriet and it had destroyed her, now she was watching hatred being directed at a baby mere days old and all she wanted to do was shield him from it. But she reminded herself, she was still physically only 5 years old, and despite all of her power as the Mistress of Death, the only way to properly protect Naruto would be to enter the Shinobi ranks of Konoha and work her way up to the top. She wanted to work her way up as quickly as she possibly could in order to protect the young Jinchuriki from experiencing the life she had experienced as Harriet. This wasn’t an issue, as the Mistress of Death, she could easily summon the spectres of skilled shinobi to teach her. The issue was that she hated attention and speeding through the academy and getting into the Shinobi ranks young would most certainly draw attention to her. Unfortunately for Midori and her small amount of self-preservation which screamed at her to just become a merchant or seamstress, Harriet had been a Gryffindor and Hermione had been right when she said that Harriet had a saving people think. So, Midori convinced (read confunded) the Matron of the orphanage to enrol her at the academy. And for the first time ever, her goal was to draw as much attention to herself and make as many possible alliances with clan children as she could. The sorting hat had said she would do well in Slytherin…
Midori had been at the academy for a month by the time she began to struggle. Her auror training as Harriet had allowed her to be quickly moved out of the civilian only class and into an integrated class with clan children in. Unfortunately, that meant the training quickly became more advanced to a level beyond the training which had been necessary to be cleared for duty as an auror. In terms of knowledge, she was at the top of her class (well near the top, there was a kid who everyone called a prodigy above her) but she cheated a little for that by using wit sharpening potions while studying. The skills side of training was where she had decided she needed a little help. Midori had always used her magic since being reborn into this world and had completely ignored the other strange source of power within her – her chakra. So, she had no idea how to mould it or use it in any other way than letting it flow passively through her body. In addition to this, she couldn’t seem to get a hang of taijutsu, shurikenjutsu or any other techniques she was being taught. The only way she had managed to avoid being dropped to the bottom of the class or being put back into the civilian only class was by subtly casting a light confundus charm on the teachers and other students. But Midori knew she needed to stand out, she needed to be good in order to gain enough influence to protect Naruto. So, she resorted to using her authority over the dead. She found a training ground not commonly used by any other shinobi and summoned a few spirits. Before her, three figures formed, and Midori smiled. Standing in front of her were the three dead Hokages of Konoha, Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama and Namikaze Minato.
It took hours of shock, suspicion and sadness to convince the three to teach Midori. She could have just ordered them to, being the mistress of death, but she didn’t particularly like controlling people. The odd confundus here and there in order to achieve her goals was ok but even that left her feeling guilty. So, she used the old fashioned method of convincing. Minato was the first on board when she explained her reasons for wanting the three to train her. Hashirama followed close after, only being slower to agree because he couldn’t stop crying about her selflessness. Tobirama was harder to convince. He was suspicious of her but eventually relented with the threat that if he were to find out she was working against Konoha he would find a way to have her eliminated (of course Midori can’t die but Tobirama doesn’t need to know that). And so, the four got to work planning her training. After a few hours of discussion, it was decided that Hashirama would teach her the basics of chakra control as well as senjutsu. Minato would take care of fuinjutsu, shuriken and kunai jutsu and Tobirama would cover ninjutsu, kenjutsu. Together the three of them would work on different taijutsu techniques to help Midori develop her own unique style. They gave her a strict training schedule for her to follow in order to condition her body so that she would be able to handle the techniques they were planning to teach her. Midori wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw a slight sadistic glint in their eyes when they were talking about her physical conditioning…

Chapter 2: A New Friend

Chapter Text

Midori was dying – she was sure of it. Despite death’s insistence that it was impossible, Midori was convinced that if she did one more lap around the training ground, her heart would give out. It would seem she had chosen three sadistic people as her teachers, they had absolutely no mercy and worked her to a point where she was beginning to think the cruciatus curse would be preferable. The only one of her teacher that ever seemed to take pity on her was Minato, but she knew he only let her go so early so that she could check on the wellbeing of his son who had been placed in an isolated room at the orphanage.
Both Minato and Midori had been outraged to learn that Naruto was completely neglected by the orphanage staff leaving ANBU operatives (or as Midori had called them “Those weirdos in the animal masks”) to care for the infant. Midori, with the image of her precious Godson Teddy in her mind, couldn’t understand why anyone would or even could treat a baby in such a way. It broke her heart to see such a precious baby with nobody to care for him but a group of silent, masked people. So, Midori, recalling one of Hermione’s rants about baby’s using hearing talking around them to learn to talk, made a point to go and talk to the boy or read him a story every night. Suffice to say when Minato (and Hashirama) learnt that fact, they both got a bit teary eyes (well for Hashirama it was more like full out sobbing). But between that, the academy, her chores at the orphanage and her training with the dead Hokages, Midori’s 5 year old body was exhausted.
She finished her laps for the day and collapsed to the ground. None of the Hokages were there that day so there was nobody there to tell her she was being watched and she was far to exhausted to be able to notice herself. So, Midori had no idea about the boy with dark, curly hair that was had been watching her train from the treeline. Nor did she notice when he lightly jumped down from the tree he had been perched in and approached her. It was only when he was right behind her and said,
“Hey” that she noticed his presence. Although, as soon as he spoke, she was on her feet and instinctively reaching for a wand she no longer carried. He grinned at her reaction and raised his hands in order to show her he meant no harm. She eyed the boy carefully trying to figure out why her was her when she noticed the hitiate tied around his head. The boy looked no older than seven or eight years old and yet he was already a shinobi of Konoha. The boy studied her inquisitively for a moment before speaking again.
“You were training awful hard there for such a little thing, and you are by yourself, shouldn’t your parents be here training you?” He said watching her reaction carefully for the sheepishness or guilt he was expecting from this kid her was certain had slipped away from her parent to come here. In his eyes she was too small, to fragile looking to be anything other than the daughter of a merchant – a civilian who hoped to one day be an awesome shinobi. But there was no reaction, she simply shrugged and sat back down on the ground.
“I’m an orphan, Shinobi-san, I have no parents to train me which is why I am by myself” There was no sadness in her tone as she spoke. Harriet Potter had long since come to terms with being an orphan and Midori was no different. The boy made a face at the way she addressed him before plonking himself down on the ground next to Midori.
“None of this Shinobi-san stuff. You can call me Shisui” He grinned turning to her and holding out his hand. Midori eyed his had for a moment. She hadn’t really had this much interaction with a living person since being reborn in this world and she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to start now. But he was a shinobi, he was already in the ranks. If she could befriend him it could help her getting to a point where she could help Naruto. So, Midori lifted her own hand and clasped his before saying,
“I’m Midori, nice to meet you Shisui-san”

Chapter 3: Fate shifts

Notes:

Sorry for taking so long to post this - I had intended on posting it sooner but had a lot of uni work to do which unfortunately had to be prioritised.

Chapter Text

Midori had known Shisui for a few weeks and she was fascinated by him. The Uchiha boy was eight years old and was not far off of becoming a Jonin but that wasn’t what she was fascinated by. Shisui reminded her so much of Harriet Potter. Midori just knew that if Shisui was faced with the same situation that Harriet had been faced with, he would have made the same choice as she had. He would have willingly walked to his death in order to protect the people he cared about. She supposed that was the reason she was so drawn to him. Even after four years of avoiding forming bonds with anybody (except little Naruto) it would seem as though Midori had managed to do something unexpected. She had made a friend (granted he was a very clever and ruthless friend). After having realised that she only ever trained on her own (she wasn’t about to tell him about her ghostly teachers), Shisui volunteered himself and began to help Midori train. She had never been so exhausted.
Between the Academy, her dead teachers and Shisui, Midori was beyond exhausted. She had thought her endurance was growing quite impressively but then Shisui came along and made her realise that was far from the truth. His method of training was brutal, rather than making her repeat katas or running laps, he decided to increase her speed and ability to actively respond to attacks by using his signature technique the Shunshin to attack her from all angles. It was a very painful but effective method. In the few weeks he had been training her, she had grown in speed and was beginning to properly develop her own style of taijutsu worked for her. Her dead teachers had noticed how effective this method was and so had adopted it themselves. During her taijutsu lessons with them, Minato and Tobirama had begun to use the Hiraishin to ambush her and speed up her reaction times. Of course, as a result of this, her body was covered in more bruises than ever before. Even during her training as an auror she hadn’t gotten this many bruises. But she didn’t mind as she knew that the training, she was receiving from both her living teacher and her dead ones would speed up her plans to help Naruto.
Her increased training and progress was beginning to be noticed at the academy. For the first time, she had won all of her spars and accurately hit the targets starting murmurs within her class of prodigious skill. She was glad of her 29 year old mind as it allowed her to push herself to the top of the class quicker that a normal five year old without real prodigious skill would have been able to. Tobirama had estimated that at her rate, she was around two years away from being allowed to graduate. She was glad of this, it meant that she was just a little bit closer to being able to help Naruto.
Every day after she finished at the Academy, Midori would meet up with Shisui to talk and train. Most shinobi (except that weird silver haired guy) were very punctual, so Midori was a little confused and concerned when Shisui wasn’t waiting for her at their usual spot. She tried sitting on the grass to wait for her friend but couldn’t sit still. She had a strange feeling that whatever was going to happen today was going to change the fate of this world and its people.
Midori had been waiting half an hour and had been about to reach for the elder wand to locate her friend when she heard him call out from behind her,
“Midori-Chan!” She whirled round to see Shisui grinning at her, beside him there was a small boy with dark hair and the same dark eyes as Shisui. The style of the boys clothing and the symbol adorning the back of his shirt told Midori everything she needed to know. The boy was an Uchiha, likely another friend of Shisui’s. She smiled at the boy before narrowing her eyes at Shisui.
“You’re late!” She huffed crossing her arms over her chest. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
“Ah, Sorry, I got caught up with a mission report then bumped into Itachi here on my way” He told her while gesturing to the boy beside her. Midori narrowed her eyes a little more before sighing and responding,
“Fair enough” She then turned to the boy, who she now knew was called Itachi, and said,
“Hi there, Itachi-san is it? My name is Midori, its nice to meet you” She smiled at Itachi as she spoke. She frowned slightly when all she got was a small nod and a quiet,
“Nice to meet you” from the boy. He seemed to be very withdrawn and quite uncomfortable around Midori, a fact that concerned her. He looked to be around the same age as herself and yet he seemed to be even more withdrawn that she was (and she had 24 years of previous trauma to blame for her withdrawn nature). She tried not to let her concern show as she smiled gently at the boy. He very clearly needed a friend other than Shisui and Midori was determined to become just that. Even if she was no longer a Potter by blood, she was one at heart and Potter’s stopped at nothing to do what they have set their minds to.

Not far from where the three children were gathered, Death watched as it's master made a decision to enter herself into the younger Uchiha's life. Death watched as this decision altered the future's of the two boys accompanying its mistress. Its mistress had altered the fate of the world ever so slightly when she made the decision to protect the young Kyuubi Jinchuriki, but this newest decision changed the fate of the world entirely...

Chapter 4: Fury of Death

Chapter Text

Midori was absolutely fuming. She had risen early that morning for training with Itachi and Shisui. She had left before Naruto had awoken but had believed that the caretakers and matron at the orphanage would provide the toddler with at least the basic care even if he wouldn’t be treated the same as the other children like she would have preferred. However, when she returned from training she found Naruto alone, hungry and crying in his crib. It was very evident to Midori that the toddler had been left alone all day. Nobody had even bothered to change or wash the boy. The state of the innocent boy in front of made her itch to pull out the elder wand and burn the orphanage to the ground. The only thing that stopped her from doing exactly that was the small boy in front of her that needed her. So instead of pulling out her wand she picked up the boy and took him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up.

It wasn’t long until Midori had a clean, freshly dressed toddler in her arms babbling happily. Midori, however, was still furious. She marched into the Matron’s office without knocking. As she passed through the door she subtly placed a muffling charm over Naruto to avoid distressing him if she started yelling. The Matron looked up from whatever she was reading when Midori burst into the room. She looked as though she were about to say something but didn’t get the chance as Midori began to speak.

“Would you like to explain, Matron, why Naruto was left all on his own, with no food, no company and nobody to clean and change him all day?” Midori’s voice was dangerously low as she spoke. The matron scowled and replied indignantly,
“Why should that demon get the care that the other children get? That would take away attention from the other children who deserve it. Why should I care if that demon is looked after? In my opinion he should have been thrown in the river the night he was born!”
The air in the room dropped several degrees as Midori’s anger grew. Death materialized by her side ready to strike should Midori order it.
“Naruto is a child. He is innocent. There is nothing in this whole world that could justify treating a child in this way. There is one thing you can be certain of right now, Matron. The Hokage is going to hear about this and I am sure he will be less than happy.” Midori stormed out of the room before the Matron had the chance to respond.

Nobody tried to stop Midori as she walked out of the orphanage with Naruto in tow. With half a thought she summoned Minato to her side and shot a thought to him using legilimency explaining what had happened. His face hardened and he moved into step with Midori.
“You needn’t worry, Minato-sensei, I intend to ensure that this is dealt with appropriately. Even if I have to deal with it myself” Midori muttered low enough that nobody around her except the spirit and death would be able to hear her.

Luckily for her (or maybe the village) the streets were relatively quiet as she made her way towards the Hokage tower. Midori didn’t think she would have been able to reign herself in if she had to witness the usual glares that were directed at the sleepy toddler in her arms. She did garner a few curious glances, however, when she walked into the Hokage tower. She supposed that a small child marching into Hokage tower carrying an even smaller child was quite a strange sight. But even so, nobody tried to stop her as she marched towards where Minato had told her the Hokage’s office was.

The Hokage’s secretary didn’t say anything as Midori approached the desk. She just looked at Midori expectantly at the girl waiting for her to speak. Midori took a deep breath to balance herself before speaking with as much seriousness as she could muster while still being in the form of a five year old girl.
“I need to speak with the Hokage about an urgent matter” The secretary looked at her for a moment before glancing at the toddler in her arms. She didn’t say anything as she stood and walked into the Hokage’s office. A minute later she walked back out and spoke her first words to Midori.
“ The Hokage will see you now. You may go in”

Chapter 5: A child's Justice

Chapter Text

"Hokage-Sama" Midori said in greeting, allowing her fury to seep into her words. Absently, she checked that the muffling charm she had placed over Naruto whilst in the Matron's office was still in place. She didn't want to startle the sleeping toddler if she were to start yelling again.
"Midori-Chan, isn't it?" The Hokage said cheerfully, though there was a note of caution in his eyes as he registered Naruto in her arms and the anger lacing her tone. Midori didn't bother responding verbally, she simply gave a curt nod in response.
"How can I help you Midori-Chan?" He asked, not deterred by her non-verbal response to his previous question. Midori shifted Naruto in her arms slightly before straightening and staring directly into the Hokage's eyes. The old man seemed intrigued at what he perceived as a young girl's determination.
"It would seem, Hokage-Sama, that those you appointed to care for the orphaned youths of Konoha are unfit for the role you have given them. I noticed for a while that Little Naruto here doesn't get treated like the other little ones. Most of the time I take care of his needs simply because it is obvious to anybody that the caretakers are reluctant to interact with him. I can't for the life of me figure out why. He is such a sweet little boy after all. But I am unable to be there all of the time, I have the academy and I train independently with a couple of friends outside of class. Today, my friends Shisui and Itachi wanted to meet up earlier to train for a bit longer and just generally get to hang out together. I got up earlier because of this and I didn't want to disturb Naruto. He was sleeping so peacefully after all. I assumed, that with it being their job, the caretakers would take care of Naruto's needs but no! I returned late this afternoon to find Naruto alone, unchanged, unwashed and clearly unfed! They left him alone all day with no care! I want to know, Hokage-Sama, how you have allowed this kind of neglect to occur in your village?!" By the time she finished speaking, Midori was nearly in tears, the overwhelming fury making her want to curl up and cry.

The Hokage sat in shock for a moment before quietly responding, a hint of anger in his voice,
"I can assure you, Midori-Chan, this matter will be thoroughly investigated and anybody found to be involved in such neglect and abuse shall be dealt with appropriately." The man glanced behind Midori prompting her to do the same. Stood silently behind her was a man wearing a dog mask - a member of ANBU. Midori could feel the silent rage within the man's soul. He was looking between the Hokage and Naruto who was still peacefully sleeping in Midori's arms. There was an almost animalistic protectiveness that reared up within his soul when he looked at Naruto. This man, Midori realised, secretly cared for the toddler just as much, if not more, than she did. She saw the Hokage give the man a subtle nod who then vanished from the spot. He was being sent to deal with the situation, of that Midori was certain. With a glance to her side where death lingered awaiting any possible instructions, she conveyed her orders. Follow the man and subtly ensure he had what he needed to make those who hurt Naruto suffer!

Chapter 6: A Hokage's thoughts

Chapter Text

Hiruzen wasn't sure what to think of the strange girl standing before him. She was brave, he had to give her that. She had marched into his office without a hint of fear and essentially chewed him out for the actions of those he had appointed to oversee the orphanage. She was so young and yet was not afraid to fight for what she believed in, a young orphan who already seemed to embody the will of fire.

He had initially been cautious, seeing this child looking so angry while holding young Naruto in her arms. He had obviously heard the whispers about people believing the boy to be the Kyuubi reborn and was concerned that this girl had bought in to the stories. She was so young after all, it would make sense for her to believe what the adults told her. However, she had come marching in to fight for the boy. This young orphaned girl, who was apparently close friends with the two young Uchiha prodigies, stood up against the Matron of the orphanage and had been willing to stand up against him in order to ensure that Naruto got the care he deserved. It warmed his heart to know that Minato and Kushina's boy had somebody who loved and cared for him so much. He wished that he could raise the boy himself or allow Kakashi to but the risk of other villages finding out Naruto's parentage and targeting him for it meant it was too dangerous. However, seeing this girl holding Naruto so gently, calming him so easily when he began to fuss and just in general smiling at the boy... it gave Hiruzen an idea. The orphanage was clearly no longer suitable for Naruto and young Midori and it wasn't all that unusual for an orphaned academy student to live in an apartment by themselves so allowing young Midori to do so wouldn't be unusual. The unusual part would be allowing her to take Naruto with her. He was certain the girl was capable of caring for the boy but she was still very young.

Kakashi had been gone for nearly half an hour, he ought to return from dealing with the caretakers and matron before long. The thought of that gave Hiruzen an idea, Naruto was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi so it wouldn't be strange to assign an ANBU team to care for him. Kakashi's team might object (though perhaps not with young Shisui apparently being a close friend of Midori) but Kakashi himself would likely relish the opportunity to to care for Naruto, even if it would only be in an ANBU capacity. Assigning a team to Midori and Naruto would allow him to remove the two from the care of the orphanage. It would also mean that he wouldn't be placing the responsibility of raising a toddler on Midori alone.

Yes. Hiruzen thought that was a fantastic idea, he knew of a few vacant apartments which would be perfect for the pair. With Team Ro to watch over them, Naruto would get the care he deserved. At the same time it would allow him to keep an eye on this courageous young girl who he could tell would become incredible in the future

Chapter 7: A new start

Notes:

Hey guys, I'm gonna try to upload a little more often but in order to do so chapters are gonna be short and snappy. Hope that's OK! Also fully intended in uploading this sooner but I have barely been able to function cause apparently severe hay-fever can give you vertigo! Who knew?? Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Text

Midori wasn't quite sure what had happened. After chewing out the Hokage on Naruto's behalf everything seemed to happen in a blur. Midori was escorted by a team of ANBU to the orphanage and told to gather both Naruto's and her own belongings before the two children were led to an empty apartment. Inside the apartment, the Hokage was waiting alongside the dog ANBU who had been sent to handle the caretakers. Her head was spinning with thoughts as the Hokage explained that she and Naruto would be living there from now on with Dog's ANBU team assigned to watch over them. A small part of her was outraged at the idea of two children (or what the Hokage perceived to be two children) being left to live on their own. However a larger part of her was relieved that Naruto wouldn't have to return to a place that reminded her of the Dursley Household. At least with her by his side (as well as the team of ANBU) he would know what is was to be loved and not have to grow in an environment of hatred like she had as Harriet.

The thing about the whole situation that had caught Midori's attention the most was the familiar presence among the team of ANBU assigned to them. Shisui was among them, a fact that allowed her to relax slightly. She didn't trust many people in the village, especially with how they treated little Naruto, but Shisui was somebody she had grown to trust a great deal. He was a good friend and she hoped that the support he offered her would extend to the toddler still sleeping comfortably in her arms. She didn't know the other members of the team but the fact that Shisui was with them settled something inside her allowing the gravity of the situation to finally hit her.

Naruto was safe, Shisui was here helping her protect him, the awful caretakers were gone and would never again be able to approach him. She did wonder how the financial situation would be sorted for the pair, after all, Naruto was a toddler and she was just an Academy student, she didn't have time to work between the academy, looking after Naruto and training. How would the Hokage handle that?
Before she could begin to doubt the plan of them living independently, the Hokage began to explain further.
" You will receive money monthly from the orphan fund, from what I have gathered Midori-Chan, you are a responsibly young lady so I trust you will be able to budget properly and manage?"
Midori considered for a moment, if need be she could use her magic to duplicate the money so her and Naruto should be able to manage with the allowance. As for any unexpected costs, Death had Harriet's belongings including quite a significant amount of gold that she could sell.
"Yes Hokage-Sama, Naruto and I will manage just fine. One issue though, Naruto surely can't be left alone while I am at the academy and I cannot take him with me so what will I do?"
The Hokage smiled proudly at the girl before responding,
" Team Ro here are capable of caring for young Naruto while you are out, I am sure"
Midori studied the team of ANBU still lingering in the apartment, she wasn't sure about them but she trusted that Shisui was at least semi-capable of looking after a toddler, after all he was pretty responsible (at least some of the time) while spending time with her and Itachi. Midori nodded her agreement.

'Well then' Midori thought, 'I guess Naruto and I get a new start.' With her mind flashing to the blonde Hokage she was so fond of she silently vowed, 'I will do my very best!'

Chapter 8: Elite Shinobi Babysitters

Summary:

This really short chapter is the result of several people's requests. The idea was too funny not to write.

Chapter Text

The girl was at the academy leaving Kakashi and his team to take care of little Naruto. The day had gone relatively smoothly, they had fed the boy, played with him, changed him out of his pajamas. Everything was fine right up until a foul smell permeated through the air. Naruto needed changing...

It was a disaster. Kakashi was panicking, baby wipes and a clean diaper in his hands. Shisui had somehow ended up completely wrapped in toilet roll. Yugao had made a break for it the moment the infant began to try and as a result was now tied up in the corner. Tenzo was trying to free Shisui with the help of Yoji and in the corner of the room Ko was sat staring into space, shell-shocked. All they had to do was change the diaper of a toddler, they were Elite Shinobi, it should have been a breeze... How did they mess up so badly?

That scene was the first thing Midori saw when she returned from her day at the academy. She stayed frozen in the doorway for a few moments trying to figure out what the hell had happened. She then marched over to the dog masked ANBU without saying a word. She snatched the baby wipes and clean diaper from his hands and headed towards where Naruto was laid. In a matter of seconds, the toddler had been changed and was giggling happily as Midori smiled at him. She then turned to the disaster of an ANBU team and said in a completely deadpan tone,
"You are all idiots"

Chapter 9: Graduation

Notes:

Hi besties!!!
I happened to get a burst of inspiration while I was meant to be writing a scientific paper for uni so here I am!
Enjoy!!!!

Chapter Text

"You want me to what?" Midori asked her teacher incredulously. She must have been hearing things because surely the man had not just asked a six year old to take the academy graduation exam.
"You have been far ahead of your classmates for some time now Midori-Chan. There is nothing more we can teach you here so I am recommending you take the graduation exam." He repeated patiently. She was aware of this societies reliance on child soldiers, she was friends with Shisui after all, but it hadn't really registered fully in her mind. She knew Shisui was a fully fledged Shinobi ( a Jonin and ANBU) but had never seen him on missions beyond the usual babysitting Naruto mission often assigned to his team. Because of this it had never really occurred to her that the boy was undertaking dangerous missions. But now, being asked to take the graduation exam at the age of six (despite her much older mental age) horrified her. If she really was just six years old, she would be sent out on missions in which she would most certainly die. She almost wanted to say no, however she didn't. Despite how much it horrified her, she knew the position as a Genin would allow her to be classed as an adult legally. Therefore she would be able to better care for Naruto. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she finally responded to her teacher,
" I will do it." She said nodding at the man.
"Good," the man responded, "don't worry Midori-Chan, in a rare turn of events, there is another your age being put forward for early graduation so you aren't alone in this"
Another her age? This was a nightmare. She was willing to accept her own graduation - she wasn't an actual child after all - but another six year old?! This society was truly insane!

~<>~

It was Itachi. Her shy, introverted friend who trained with her and Shisui was the other child her age to be offered early graduation. She ought to have known really, the boy was too smart for his own good sometimes and he was skilled, so skilled for his age. But the fact that is was her friend who was being forced into the line of fire at the age of six caused a cold rage to sweep through her. In all likelihood, the plan wasn't going to be putting two young geniuses on the same genin team. After all, that would be putting a lot of pressure on one Jonin teacher. However, she would not stand by and let the youngest of her two Uchiha friends walk into danger without her being there to ensure he would walk away alive. She tried not to rely on her magic in this world she now lived in, but in order to assure the safety of her young friend, she would manipulate the minds of whoever she needed to so she would be on the same Genin team as the young Uchiha. After all, she could hardly be prosecuted for use of the imperius curse if nobody knew it existed...

Chapter 10: The First Missions

Chapter Text

Midori hated D-ranks. She hated them with the kind of passion she usually reserved for Tom Riddle and that orphanage matron who had dared to neglect Naruto. They were boring, time consuming, well beneath her level of intellect and skill. It wasn't even the clients. The ignorant civilian wretches who dared to insult her young charge. They reminded her far too much of the populous of the wizarding world who would latch on to a target and tear them apart through gossip and insults. Nor was her hatred driven by the sheer pointlessness of the tasks. She understood the need to build teamwork in a genin team (not that she and Itachi had any issues with that) but she could not understand the need for this worlds equivalent of soldiers (children as they may be) to take on labour such as painting fences, babysitting and gardening. In her mind, mock missions or very low risk body guarding jobs would make more sense in order to better build their teamwork and actually prepare them for situations they may face in the future. The thing that really made her hate D-ranks was the damn cat...

The creature was a demon, she was sure of it. And she was the prime authority on demons in this world given she had actually met several in her previous life (despite what everyone thought, the Biju of this world were not demons but were in fact sentient chakra constructs). By the time they finished the mission and caught the damned cat, she was so tempted to call upon death in order to teach the creature a lesson. She was fairly certain that Itachi had been on the verge of awakening his sharingan at one point due to the sheer frustration caused by the mission. Their team mate, Tenma, had been scratched horrifically leaving red marks covering his face and arms. From what she could tell, both the boys had developed a deep hatred of the cat alongside her. Their sensei, Yuki Minazuki, had just watched in amusement as his three students struggled to capture the demon cat.

Maybe it was time for another round of subtle manipulation with the imperius curse just to make sure she and her team never got that particular D-rank ever again. Surely that wouldn't be abusing her power....right?