A/N: Welcome to the first part of a two part story based on, obviously, Doctor Who and Naruto. This story came into my mind when I was thinking about how much the Doctor loved children and how at his old age, if you are a fan, you know he just can't stand to watch them cry. I write a lot of various stories for Naruto and this is my first time doing something for Doctor Who so I hope I can do one of the greatest fictional characters justice. I chose a two chapter story because it fits well with the Doctor Who serials and their love of two part stories. As for the story itself, I think it explains itself. I hope you enjoy.
Checkup
A man with dark brown hair stepped out of a blue box. That is how it always started. The man took a deep breath before letting it out and doing a quick three-sixty to take in his surroundings. He quickly adjusted his bow-tie before speaking.
"Ah, I'd recognize that air anywhere. Good ole Konoha village. How many years has it been since I've been back here…" The man seemingly said to himself. After a moment, however, a beautiful pale-skinned woman appeared out of the blue box as well with a frown on her face.
"Doctor," the Scottish woman began, "You promised me a beach with lots of hot guys. And what about that great bridge of yours. Oy, pay attention when I am speaking!" The woman had caught the man looking into the distance.
"The Great Naruto Bridge," the man, the Doctor, supplied for his companion without turning around. After a moment of looking at something that had caught his eye he spun back around. "Yes indeed. Of all of the places I have ever visited in my travels that bridge remains one of my favorites. If only all worlds had such great symbols for peace and for hope…" the Doctor trailed off for a moment before smiling brightly at Amy, "I'd be able to show you more beaches, Amelia Pond."
The attractive red-headed woman, Amy, raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "That's all well and good Doctor, but I don't see a bridge or a beach anywhere in sight."
The Doctor looked around again before responding. "Right. Well. The TARDIS isn't always as precise as I would like her to be, always with the detours. Besides, who needs a beach or a bridge! We are on the outskirts of Konoha Village, the crown jewel of all the elemental nations! We could meet the Hokage, the ninja leader of the entire village! No, wait, even better! We could eat the ramen here. I hear they have the best ramen in the entire galaxy right here in this tiny village. Not to mention they have some of the finest crafters of blades you'll ever find. You like swords, don't you Amy? I know you'd like ramen given what I've seen of your eating habits…" the Doctor muttered the last bit to himself.
Amy, who had heard that last line, was about to yell at the Doctor before her mind caught up with what the man had said. "Wait, what was that you mentioned?"
The Doctor decided to play innocent. "Swords! They sell swords here for a rather cheap price. We could pretend to be pirates! You remember pirates, don't you? Arr, I be the great pirate doctor!"
Amy blushed in embarrassment as she held back a sigh. "No, before the swords."
"Ah! Of course, you meant the ramen! Delicious stuff, it is. They take noodles and-"
"No, Doctor! Ninjas! What do you mean we might meet a ninja?" Amy asked, slightly panicked.
The Doctor smiled at Amy. "Oh you know, ninja. Shuriken, scale walls for the fun of it, able to summon beasts of pure energy that are as tall as mountains. Some good, some evil, that's how it usually works with you humans after all," the Doctor murmured the final few words.
Amy had managed to go even paler than usual at hearing the Doctor casually describe the sort of person they might run into. "I really think we ought to go."
"Nonsense!" The Doctor shouted, "We are already here. Plus we can meet a friend of mine. The way of the ninja is a tad too bloody for my tastes I do admit but one man in particular heralded a new age for this world: Uzumaki Naruto. I swear you will love him. Most peaceful and pleasant person you could ever hope to meet. Just don't say anything bad about ramen and you will be fine." Amy expected the Doctor to laugh at his obvious joke but he never cracked a smile. "Now come along before they send someone out to investigate us. I daresay we are quite suspicious right now, talking the day away right outside their main gate." As if on cue they were approached by two men who were both armed.
"Hello fellows, lovely day we are having," the Doctor said in way of greeting. Both men narrowed their eyes at him. "Right, not so lovely day then. Alright I'll tell you what we are going to do. I am going to reach into my pocket and show you my credentials for being here and you aren't going to kill us. Yes, that sounds good." The Doctor reached into his jacket and was about to pull out his psychic paper when two kunai suddenly found themselves at his throat.
"Slowly," a ninja with tape over his nose said in a quiet voice.
"Always with the weapons. You know, I bet your tourism would be a lot better if you were a bit friendlier-ow!" The Doctor yelped in pain as a kunai pressed against his skin. "Okay I get the point." The Doctor slowly removed the psychic paper from his pocket and flipped it open for both of the shinobi to inspect.
Both men scanned the paper and quickly lowered their weapons. "We apologize, Health Inspector," a ninja with hair covering one of his eyes said. "We were not informed that the Daimyo was sending anyone over this month. Please accept our humblest apologies." Both men bowed at the waist, having been trained by the Hokage to accept any person who was working on behalf of the Daimyo with the utmost respect.
The Doctor smirked; he really liked that psychic paper at times like this. "Quite alright gentlemen, I understand you didn't mean anything by it. Just protecting the good citizens of Konoha, I will make a special mention of this to both the Daimyo as well as the Hokage." The Doctor stopped talking for a moment before asking a question on a whim, "Pop quiz, which Hokage is currently serving."
"The Sandaime Hokage," both men said at the exact same time. "Sixth year of his second appointment, of course," supplied the man with a bandage over his nose.
"Of course. Good with weapons and quick minds, excellent," The Doctor said, fully intent on showering praise on the two people who he was going to get in a lot of trouble later in the day. "What are your names… for my report, naturally," The Doctor said with a disarming smile.
"Izumo," said the one who had one eye covered by hair.
"Kotetsu," the other replied.
"Excellent. I'm the Doctor, this is my assistant-"
"Oi!" Amy interrupted.
"-Amy, you have to forgive her the journey has left her a bit winded." The Doctor glanced meaningfully at his companion who got the message.
"Yeah, I get really winded traveling all this way. Not used to traveling much, y'know." Amy really hoped that didn't sound as made up as she thought it did.
Her hope was probably better spent elsewhere.
"I don't recognize that accent, where are you from?" Kotetsu had a gleam in his eye. It was clear that his ninja sense was tingling.
The Doctor, seeing the look in the man's eye, was about to answer on Amy's behalf before she beat him to the punch.
"Scotland," Amy said automatically before her brain caught up with her mouth.
The Doctor loved Amelia Pond with all of his being but she really needed to learn not to open that big mouth of hers so often. Not that he was one to talk.
"Scotland… Scotland, I've never heard of that place, have you Kotetsu?" Izumo asked his guard buddy.
"Nope, afraid I haven't…" Kotetsu now had a speculative look on his face.
Amy paled, which was impressive given her skin tone. Her life flashed before her eyes, not for the first time on her journeys with the Doctor, and said the only true thing she could think of, "It's north. Really, really north."
Izumo and Kotetsu stared at her for a moment before the Doctor broke out into a laugh. "Not that good with geography then, fellas?" the Doctor asked with a smile.
The two men in front of him looked sheepish.
"I was never good with geography. I am just glad that it isn't in Fire Country, wouldn't want the Daimyo knowing how bad I retain information like that," Kotetsu said before sighing at his own apparent ignorance.
"Maybe you shouldn't have said that out loud then," Izumo deadpanned. "Don't feel too bad though, I haven't heard of it either." Izumo's admission was obviously meant to comfort his partner, and it seemed to work as Kotetsu brightened a bit. He turned back to the Doctor. "Everything appears to be in order sir. Since you don't need an escort we'll leave you to your business. I hope you enjoy your visit to the Hidden Village." In two swirls of leaves the two men returned to their chairs by the gate.
The Doctor and Amy made their way into the village and as soon as the Doctor could be sure they were out of earshot of anyone he turned to Amy with a frown on his face.
"I may have made a slight miscalculation on how far off the TARDIS was," the Doctor said.
Amy raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. In her experience it was never good when he miscalculated, and it worse still when he felt the need to do damage control by saying it was only a slight miscalculation. "Oh?" Amy said.
The Doctor adjusted his bow-tie. "Well strictly speaking it wasn't so much a miscalculation as assuming something."
"Doctor-" Amy tried to interrupt.
"I mean okay it is indeed a miscalculation but how was I supposed to know that the TARDIS would go so far off course? I mean she always did have a mind of her own."
"Doctor-" She tried again.
"Okay so admittedly knowing that I should have been able to guess something like this could happen, but still it's a very minor thing and-"
"Doctor!" Army finally succeeded in bringing the Doctor out of his monologue.
The Doctor turned his attention to Amy while rubbing one of his ears. "Was yelling strictly necessary?"
"Well if you had just shut up the first time I wouldn't have had to raise my voice now would I?"
"So Scottish," the Doctor said.
Amy smiled in a predatory manner. "And don't you forget it." She stared at the Doctor a moment to attempt to make him uncomfortable before continuing. "Anyway as I was trying to say, what did you miscalculate?"
The Doctor tugged at his collar. "Well as you know time doesn't always go quite the way as you might think it would. Not only did we arrive at the wrong place but we also arrived in the wrong time."
"How wrong?" Amy asked suspiciously.
"Well in the grand scheme of things we aren't too far off. Well, I suppose that's a matter of perspective really…" the Doctor began to ramble again.
"Just spit it out!" Amy shouted.
"Always with the yelling!" the Doctor was taken aback by Amy's glare and decided it was probably wise to answer her question. "Fifty years."
Amy stood very still for a moment. "Well I don't see the big deal about that. So what if we can't see that guy you were all in a huff about. We can still go check out the sights, yeah?"
The Doctor hesitated a moment before speaking. "Well, not exactly. You see when I say we are fifty years off I mean we have managed to land in a very chaotic period in the world's history. Almost constant wars going on with untold bloodshed."
"Oh," Amy said. "Well, bye then." Amy promptly turned away from the Doctor and started back towards the TARDIS.
"Amy I don't think that's a wise idea," the Doctor said with a hint of fear in his voice.
"And why not?" Amy retorted without breaking stride.
"Because if those two guards see us leaving the village a few minutes after entering it I don't think any amount of psychic papering is going to keep us from having to answer questions I quite frankly have no interest in answering. And you know how I so love answering questions."
That response caused Amy to pause mid stride. It was clear she was debating something in her mind. It probably involved a decision between sharp objects and blunt objects to smack the Doctor with. After a long moment Amy huffed and turned back towards the Doctor. "Fine, but you mister are treating me to some ramen."
The Doctor broke out into a large, sincere smile that was too innocent to belong to someone as old as him. "That's my girl!" He said while pointing right at her. He clapped his hands and continued speaking. "Alright then. Konoha has changed a lot since my last visit, although I suppose it'd be more correct to say Konoha had changed a lot when I last visited. Either way the point is I think I can still find that ramen stand. Come on!" The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand and rushed forward to find the elusive ramen stand. They would be lost for a while, naturally.
All the way across town at said ramen stand a boy who wore too much orange to be considered not offensive to the human eye was busy slurping down a bowl or ramen under the watchful gaze of the stand's sole chef, Teuchi.
"You enjoying that bowl of miso, Naruto-kun?" Teuchi asked rhetorically.
Naruto, never even having heard of the word rhetorical, gently placed the bowl down as to not spill any of the precious ramen and answered, "Yes! Your ramen is the best, Teuchi-jiji!"
"I'm not that old, Naruto-kun," Teuchi said as he washed a dish. He got no response however as Naruto was already back to devouring the extra large bowl. Teuchi chuckled; pretty soon he was going to have to serve the boy more than one of even the huge bowls just to keep him satisfied. He didn't mind though, he saw the cold glares Naruto got a lot of the villagers and the fact that most places wouldn't let him shop just because of what the blonde held inside of him. Teuchi had never understood how anyone could see a demon anywhere within that big grin of Naruto's, but he knew that grief could do many terrible things to a person's mind. Naruto had always been polite and earnest, as well as hungry, and Teuchi just couldn't look away from a kid going hungry. He had a little girl of his own and it made him sick thinking that someone would treat her like he saw people treat Naruto.
Teuchi was brought out of his thoughts as a young man in a suit and an attractive red-haired woman entered the stand. "Welcome to Ichuraku's! What can I get you?" Teuchi asked.
"Two house specials, please," the Doctor replied while making a silencing motion to his companion. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his psychic paper and flipped it open.
"Ah, a health inspector! You have nothing to worry about here, sir. I'll get to work on those house specials right away!" Teuchi went to prepare the food.
"So," Amy began, "Just how good is this ramen stuff anyway?" She didn't expect the answer to come from someone sitting at the end of the stand.
"It is the greatest food in the world! Dattebayo!" Naruto said excitedly.
Amy and the Doctor turned their heads to find a blonde grinning at them.
"Why hello there. What's your name, cutie?" Amy asked.
Naruto's cheeks darkened in a blush. He wasn't used to being spoken to a lot, much less complimented about anything. He quickly recovered however and gave another foxy grin. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto!"
Amy raised her eyebrows at the name. She remembered what the Doctor had said earlier about an Uzumaki Naruto bringing peace to the world. Amy saw that Naruto was taking her shocked expression poorly and put a friendly smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, Naruto! I'm Amy and this weird guy next to me is the Doctor." The Doctor ignored Amy's insult in favor of giving Naruto a smile and a small wave of his hand.
Naruto's eyes squinted as he mulled something over in his mind. "I am guessing you guys aren't from around here," Naruto said with confidence.
"A very astute observation, Naruto," the Doctor said. "How did you manage to figure that out?"
Naruto looked down with a sad look in his eyes. "Because you guys actually talk to me," he muttered dejectedly.
Amy was taken aback by the sadness in the young boy's voice. "Well Naruto you seem nice enough to me, so anyone who doesn't talk to you must have some very big problems."
"I agree," Teuchi said as he placed a bowl of ramen in front of both Amy and the Doctor. "Naruto here is my best customer! Isn't that right, Naruto-kun?"
"Yup! I'll eat your ramen until the day I die, Teuchi-jiji! Dattebayo!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
Teuchi sighed. "I'm not that old, Naruto-kun." It fell on deaf ears as Naruto was back to his big bowl of ramen. Teuchi really didn't think he looked that old.
Amy tentatively took a bite of the ramen and a smile spread across her face. "This stuff is delicious!" she said between bites.
The Doctor, whose mouth was currently stuffed with noodles made an unintelligible noise in response.
Amy rolled her eyes. "With less noodles this time, Doctor?"
The Doctor slurped all the noodles up and said, "Right. Sorry, I just love ramen. What I said was that the rumors about this stand were very accurate. This is amazing ramen."
Teuchi blushed. "Thank you, health inspector. It means a lot."
Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "I knew it! This place is amazing!" Naruto looked down at his bowl and noticed it was empty. "I'm done. Thanks for the ramen, Teuchi-jiji! I'll seeya tomorrow, dattebayo!" Naruto hopped off of the stool and practically ran out of the stand.
Teuchi didn't bother to say he wasn't that old for a third time that day. Hopefully the boy would grow out of it. He grumbled as he went to the back to stock some ingredients.
The two remaining guests ate in silence for a little while before Amy's curiosity got the best of her. "Doctor, Naruto was surprised we talked with him. Why is that?"
The Doctor's face grew grave. "Because he has a tremendous burden that not many understand," he said seriously.
Amy was just more confused than ever. "What does that have to do with anything?"
The Doctor looked around. "Not here. Let's talk elsewhere." The Doctor left the stand in a hurry and Amy had to run to try to keep pace with him.
The Doctor seemed to know where he was going even though Amy didn't have the first clue. After several minutes the Doctor stopped and Amy instantly understood why: Naruto was being confronted by a few older men who looked at him with the coldest eyes Amy had ever seen.
"The night he was born, Naruto had a great monster placed within him. It was locked away in his body with a very powerful seal and the key was hidden in a very safe place," the Doctor said somberly.
Amy's eyes went very wide in shock. "So that little boy is keeping a monster at bay? Tough kid."
The Doctor grinned at Amy. "Amelia Pond, always so perceptive and kind. You would know the horrible loneliness of growing up without loved ones, wouldn't you?"
Amy cast her eyes downward. Yes, she knew far too much about that.
The Doctor touched his hand to her shoulder. "You don't need to say anything, I understand. It is part of the reason why I took you with me. No child should grow up alone, yet too many do." The Doctor looked towards Naruto. "Inside of him is a powerful fox spirit that caused much destruction to this village. It is hard for people to look past their own suffering to see the suffering in others. In fact, it might be the hardest thing to do. Naruto smiles, he laughs, but it is so empty. Empty because he always smiles or laughs alone. At this point in his life he has very few people he can rely on." The Doctor stopped talking and made a silencing motion to Amy so he could listen to what the men were saying.
"You will never be strong enough to stand up to us, brat. Despair in how weak you are. How pathetic and alone you are. You are nothing," a man with black hair said.
"You are just lucky we don't have orders to kill you. We'd do it without hesitation," another said with coldness in his voice that matched his eyes.
"Why are you doing this to me? I did nothing wrong!" Naruto yelled as tears streamed down his face.
"You were born!" the black haired man said.
Amy was furious. Her palms began to bleed lightly as she dug her fingernails in too deep to her skin. She began to move towards the group when the Doctor called out.
"Stop, Amy. You cannot interfere in this." The Doctor looked like he was going to be ill just for saying those words.
Amy whirled on the Doctor and hissed, "He's just a little boy! We have to do something!"
"We can't. For one if we interfere it would cause trouble." The Doctor paused here and allowed a small smile to form on his face. "While I am all for trouble, ninja do not look kindly on people who lied to gain access to their village," the Doctor said before getting more somber, "More importantly than that, though, is the fact that moments like this will shape Naruto's life and therefore shape this entire world. The loneliness that Naruto feels now will propel him to greatness beyond anything this world has ever seen. He will forge important bonds and those bonds will allow him to capture the hearts of some of his fiercest enemies." The Doctor now had a frown on his face. He didn't like this any more than Amy did but he understood it, something he knew Amy just couldn't do. In a way he envied Amy; it was a terrible burden to be able to understand that sometimes an innocent child has to suffer for that child's future to take shape.
Amy wore a harsh expression on her face. "Fine. But if they lay a hand on him don't expect me to stand back."
The Doctor gave Amy an odd smile. "If they lay a hand on him don't expect me to stand back, Amelia Pond."
Amy smiled back at the Doctor. That was the man she fell in love with. He was cold at times but he always came through in the pinch. She turned her attention back to the scene in front of her and watched as the men gave one final round of cold glares to Naruto before leaving him alone to his tears.
She wanted to go over there and comfort him but before she could contemplate doing it she was shocked to find the Doctor was no longer next to her. She looked around until she saw him off to her right pacing like the mad man with a box he often claimed to be.
"Think think think. Something isn't adding up here. But what? What?" the Doctor said frantically as he slapped his hand against the side of his head in an attempt to make his brain process information faster. Finally he stopped hitting his head and shouted, "Of course! It was right in front of me the whole time! Orders, Amy, they mentioned orders!"
Amy looked at the Doctor with a look of complete confusion on her face. "What in the world are you talking about?"
The Doctor rushed to Amy's side and looked her directly in the eyes. "The men. They told Naruto that he should be glad they don't have orders to kill him. This means they had orders to harass him from someone. I intend to find out who gave those orders."
Amy looked at the Doctor dubiously. "What about not interfering?"
The Doctor turned to the three men who were now walking away from Naruto before turning his attention back to Amy with a wry smile on his face. "This isn't interference, this is … research," the Doctor said after a long pause.
"Research," Amy said flatly.
"Yes! Research. You know me, always wanting to learn everything I can about everything. Now come on, before we lose them." The Doctor was careful to remain hidden in the shadows and very far away from the three men as Amy let out a sigh.
"Does he even want me to believe the things he says sometimes?" she questioned to herself before following the Doctor into the shadows.
It didn't take them long to arrive at their destination: a giant tree on the outskirts of the village. The three man stopped suddenly in front of the tree and each made a subtle movement with their arm. After a moment the tree split open and the three men entered.
"Of course! A hidden base, how very ninja like. I must say I like this place even more," the Doctor said.
Amy sighed at the Doctor's obvious excitement. "Okay Doctor we found the hideout, now what?"
The Doctor turned to Amy with genuine puzzlement written on his face. "Isn't it obvious Amy? Now we pursue!" The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand and ran towards the slowly closing tree. They both made it inside of the tree just before it slammed shut behind them, leaving only the darkness to surround them.
To Be Continued...
Insert Doctor Who music here. Part 2 will be posted sometime in the middle of the new Doctor Who season. That stuff just inspires me.