He should've expected this to happen, really. All improbable events that could happen would happen in his life and reality would fold over wherever possible. The Triwizard Tournament would commence in his fourth year, he would be chosen as the unplanned Fourth Champion, and he would accidentally nudge against a mermaid artifact that ripped open space-time reality.

Then he would be swept up into the impromptu portal, still under the effects of gillyweed, and splash out into a conveniently placed lake on the other side. Harry sat at the bottom of the lake, fuming at his misfortune. Why did this type of thing always happen to him? Hadn't he suffered enough? Apparently not. Or the universe hated him. Both were plausible.

Then the sides of his neck started burning. He slapped a hand over one side, right over the gills… which were now fusing back into smooth skin. And he was still at the bottom of the lake. Damn you, universe…

Hurriedly, he paddled his way to the surface, taking note of the disappearing flippers as well. Just as he was about to lose his breath, he broke the surface, taking deep, shuddering gasps of air. When he regained control of his restored respiratory system, he took a look around to see where he was. It definitely did not look like anywhere near Hogwarts or even Scotland. The trees were immense and surrounded all sides of the expansive lake that he was swimming in. Two people stood just outside of the line of trees. It looked like they were about to get into the lake. But they haven't changed into swimwear… Of course he himself wasn't in much better shape. He was still wearing his robes instead of proper swimwear—hey, it's not like the Hogwarts list this year told him he would need to go swimming, and he'd never had the compulsion to go into the Great Lake before, so of course he hadn't had swimming trunks.

Harry took a closer look at the smaller person. He had bright blond hair and wore a ton of orange. Something struck a chord in Harry's heart. That boy looks familiar… Memories flashed through his mind, breaking the mist that built up after his death and during his second life. Being a ninja, pride at finally becoming the Hokage, his wonderful wife, fatherly joy of becoming a father... Then it hit him and his breath really did stop. "Naruto! I haven't seen you in so long! Just the cutest little baby I could've ever asked for!" Japanese felt weird on his tongue after having not spoken in it for so long, but he dealt with it. He haphazardly splashed his way to the bank, trying to reach the now-identified boy he hadn't seen for fifteen years, which was definitely not out of choice. He would've liked to have stayed with him, but dying tended to separate people… like his wife.

Naruto looked very confused, and the person next to him defensively walked in front of him. "Who are you?" the white-haired man growled.

"What?" Taking his eyes off of Naruto, Harry took a look at the man. Shaggy white hair, that headband with "oil" engraved in it, and the large scroll tied to his lower back… "Jiraiya-sensei!" Harry exclaimed in surprise. "I haven't seen you for so long either! It's good to see you!" he continued, delighted. By then, he pulled himself out of the water and stood there sopping wet.

Naruto stared suspiciously at the boy that emerged from the lake. This boy somehow recognized him and his teacher, but he didn't recall ever meeting someone like him. From the looks of it, Ero-sennin didn't either. So who was he?

The boy must've sensed that because he stopped trying to walk toward them and stood still and silent. Ero-sennin shifted and spoke. "I will ask this one more time. Who are you?"

The black-haired boy chuckled quietly. "Come on, don't you recognize me?" At the blank looks he got, he seemed to jolt and remember something. "Oh, that's right! Of course you wouldn't. I've changed." Then he reached into his drenched robes and pulled out… a stick? "Now, what was it?" he muttered. "Ah! Cambio forma," the boy incanted.

Was this boy insane? He carried around a stick and spoke funny words as if they would do something. But then again, he didn't look to be native from any of the hidden countries. He could've been speaking his native tongue.

Wait… something was happening. The boy's feet were fading away and changing into the typical blue shoes of ninjas. The change crept further up, sweeping the robes away and replacing them with blue pants, a jounin vest, and a flame-edged long white coat. Finally, the most radical change happened on the face. The foreign aspects completely disappeared and became more familiar. Green changed to blue and black bled into blond. The nose shifted slightly to the north and the eyes gained a light slant. Once the change finished, the boy smiled at them. "Do you recognize me now?"

Naruto was about to shake his head and brashly yell at the boy, but a glimpse at his mentor's face made him uncharacteristically pause. "Ero-sennin, you okay?" he asked. The Gama Sennin was pale and shaking just barely noticeably at a close distance.

"M-Minato? Is that really y-you?" Jiraiya stuttered. Then he seemed to snap. "No! You imposter! I saw him die! How dare you take his face?!"

Jiraiya rushed at the supposed identity-thief, who was apparently very bad at his trade if he thought it was a good idea to pretend to be a dead, celebrated, high-profile war hero. He even still looked like a teen, much younger than what Minato would've been had he still been alive. That thought made him pause. He looked exactly like how Minato had when he was fourteen (other than his outfit as a Hokage), down to the somewhat deep scratch on the underside of his face from an errant kunai during practice. That scratch had healed by the next year, maybe two, and no one knew of it since it was such a minor detail during the time before his first hit at infamy.

Possibly-fake-Minato reeled back, holding his hands out in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, wait. It's really me. I can prove it. Ask me a question."

Jiraiya contemplated the suggestion for a moment and nodded. "Fine. If you can answer this question, I'll accept your words as the truth," he declared.

"That's good with me," maybe-Minato agreed. "So?"

"What is the origin of Naruto's name?" Those that knew of Naruto's identity as Minato's son assumed that he was named after the fishcake ingredient of Kushina's favorite food, which was now also Naruto's favorite. A ninja who wanted to play impersonation would have to have deep knowledge of their subject's personal information, even small details such as the source of a name. Minato and Kushina never bothered to correct the mistaken people's assumptions because Kushina found it amusing, so only Jiraiya knew the truth of the name. When the imposter gave him the wrong answer, Jiraiya would slice clean through the neck for having the audacity to pretend—

"It's from my favorite novel, the one that you wrote, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato replied, still smiling dazzlingly at them. "Can I hug my son now?"

"MINATO!" Jiraiya jumped on the surprised (not dead anymore?) Fourth Hokage.

"Oof!" The breath was knocked out of him, and both of them fell backward into the water. When they resurfaced, Minato spat out lake water and spluttered. "I just got myself dry."

"Minato! How did this happen? And why are you young again?" the excited and ecstatic sage questioned.

"Hahaha, that'll take a while to explain," Minato said. "Let's get out of the water first and get dry. No need to get sick."

They got back onto land, and Minato did something with that stick again, which made all of the water congregate and seep back into the lake in one large clear ball.

"What's that, Minato?" Jiraiya referred to the stick that Minato was putting away into his pocket.

"Oh, this? It's a weapon used in the world I was reborn into," he answered. He brushed away further inquiries in favor of the stunned blond boy. "And now… Naruto!" He rushed to the bemused teen and hugged him tightly. "I wish I was able to raise you, but misfortunes happened. You've grown so big! Taller than your old man now!"

"What? Old man? My dad died during the fox attack. Jiji said so," Naruto confusedly told the younger boy. "I'm pretty sure that to be my dad you have to be a lot older than me."

"Yeah, I was dead, but I'm back!" Minato told him. "I won't leave you again, so don't worry. I'll protect you from now on."

"Eh? You're really my dad?" At Jiraiya's nod, Naruto looked back at the boy currently nuzzling his head into his chest. "For real?"

Minato happily babbled about a habanero, the color red, and his son, who was apparently him.

"I have a dad!" Naruto joyously shouted. "…and he's younger than me, but whatever!"

The loud exclamation from his current student prompted one of his own. "My student came back from the dead!" Jiraiya happily yelled.

The universe didn't hate him! Or it did, but this made up for all the misfortune he put up with in his earlier years. He had a chance to raise his son! Who cares if his own child was now older than him? He'd still do it happily.

And then Minato realized something.

"I missed fifteen years of my son's life!" Minato bemoaned.

This was written because I was stuck on my other story. This is probably a oneshot. Unless I stay stuck or get stuck again. Maybe. Sorry if this was done before.

Edited on 8/24/16 for a continuity problem between robes and boxers. Thanks to hachinonana for pointing it out.