A Magical Princess

Chapter 19

Hari spent the next hour in a tree, being protected by her 'ninja-knights' as the evil black and white Zetsus tried to kidnap her. She watched Naruto get pulled down to the ground by a group of screaming children led by Natsu and the pig-tailed girl, whose name was Chiasa. The game wound down after Naruto had been defeated, and he helped her down from the tree.

"Big sister!" Natsu called breathlessly as she ran over to her, followed by a gaggle of dirty and smiling children. "Can you do the bubble therapy game? Please?" she begged, and Hari hummed.

"Well...that depends," she said, sitting down cross-legged on the grass and releasing her wand into her hand, studying it.

"Depends on what?" Chiasa said suspiciously, and Hari smiled.

"Well, on if you believe in magic, of course," she said, and the girl scoffed.

"Please, magic isn't real," she said but looked unsure at Hari's raised eyebrow.

"It is!" Natsu said. "My sister is a witch, and that's her magic wand!"

"I don't believe you," Chiasa said with a sniff, and Hari saw that tears were imminent if she didn't intervene.

"Well, I can't blame you for not believing without proof. I could show you if you'd like."

Naruto was watching silently with his usual grin in place next to her, and Chiasa crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. "Let's see it then."

Giving her a solemn nod, Hari held her wand out and gave it a swish. Large multicolored bubbles flowed from the end and started bobbing around the yard, and were met with delighted shrieks. She'd learned the charm from a mom of one of the other children at Teddy's playgroup when she was watching him full time, and it was always a hit.

"Told you!" Natsu said happily. "You're supposed to pop them - but they're hard to catch!"

To prove her point she dove at a bubble, which bobbed out of reach. Soon the yard was filled with screeching children as they raced after the bubbles. When the first one popped and exploded into a cascade of sparkles, there was a hush for a moment before somebody whispered, "She really is a magical princess." Hari had to hide a laugh behind her hand.

Ten minutes later she had refreshed the bubble supply and children were darting around, shrieking in delight at every explosion of sparkles. Eventually, Naruto jumped up and started waving excitedly at something behind her. Hari twisted around from where she was sending more bubbles out of the end of her wand to see Chouji, a large woman that looked like she might be related to him, and a young girl in the waitress uniform Hari recognized from the Akimichi restaurants she'd visited standing at the edge of the lawn, staring around them, arms full of metal pans.

"Everyone!" one of the children yelled. "Chouji and his mom brought lunch again!" There was a loud cheer and Hari's bubbles were abandoned for the promise of food. Amused, she flicked her wand and the bubbles all disappeared in a shower of glitter that dissipated before hitting the ground.

The two mistresses of the orphanage, who had been watching the spectacle from the front porch, hurried over to take the stacked pans of barbecue from their hands. The waitress bowed and left as soon as her hands were free. "Lady Akimichi, Chouji, thank you so much for providing lunch for the kids today," the kind-looking elderly mistress said when Naruto waved off her attempt to grab a pan and picked it up himself.

"Oh, it's no trouble!" the older Akimichi said cheerfully. "We like feeding the little rugrats every once in a while. Figured Naruto would be here this morning since he's just gotten back into town, too."

"Still, it makes their day every time," she demurred, then turned to the children. "Okay, everybody, we'll be eating outside today - go wash your hands, then take a seat at the picnic tables out back!"

All of the children ran to do what they were told, but Natsu and Eito stopped, unsure, to look at Hari. "Of course you four are joining us," the mistress said gently, and Hari bowed.

"Thank you, we'd be honored," she replied, and the woman waved her off as Chiasa dragged the twins after her to wash their hands.

"Please, call me Utano, Princess Hayano," she said.

"Ah, then you must call me Hari," she said.

The woman smiled and ambled off to prepare lunch and Hari stepped forward to hug Chouji. "Chouji, hello! How are you feeling?" she asked, and he smiled.

"Hi, Hari, I'm good thanks. This is my mother, Akimichi Tame," he introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you. Your son is very brave and strong - he protected my siblings well on the trip from Fruit Country."

The woman smiled at her, eyes crinkling in the corners where there were orange markings. "So you're the woman that had Shikaku scaring off my male staff last week," she said cheerfully, and Hari blinked at her in confusion while Naruto demanded details.

"Apparently, one of the busboys let his eyes wander a bit when they were at one of our restaurants for dinner, and Shikaku glared him down. The poor boy refused to go even close to the section until you left," she said, and Hari's eyes widened. Had that happened? She hadn't even noticed.

She ignored Naruto's loud laughter and Chouji's soft chuckles and entered an easy conversation with Tame on Konoha cuisine, and the best places to shop for fresh food that carried them through lunch.

Afterward, they waved goodbye to the orphans, who were heading in for quiet time, and set off for Konoha again. Eito and Natsu were chattering on about the friends they'd made, and Hari impulsively hugged Naruto, stopping them in the middle of the busy market street.

"Thank you," she said. "They really needed that."

He blushed and waved her thanks away. "Well, I go a lot - I'm sure the kids would love it if their princess Hari visited, as well," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

Naruto had given into the twins' sad eyes and was buying them ice cream cones at a stand while Hari idly watched a group of civilians as they worked on rebuilding what looked like a block of apartments across the street. Eito always took forever to come to a decision on flavors, so she wandered closer to get a good look at the pulley system they were using to haul a large beam about twenty feet in the air towards two men and a woman hanging from ropes, ready to secure it in place.