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Disclaimer:

I own neither Naruto nor Negima! Magister Negi Magi/Mahou Sensei Negima (take your pick of the name). These are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Ken Akamatsu, respectively. Likewise, I do not possess any characters from other stories or other mediums of storytelling that may or may not be referenced in this fictional piece.

Chapter 2:

And Nothing but the Truth

Takahata Takamichi nodded his thanks to Yotsuba Satsuki as he took the steaming cup from her hands. After that mission in South Africa he was glad to be back here—Satsuki made sure that Chao Bao Zi always had a relaxing air about it. It was just what he needed after breaking up a magically-assisted drug cartel.

Sipping his tea, he gave his surroundings a surreptitious glance. Seeing no one looking his way, he pulled out a small slip of paper and tore it in two. Nobody saw the laptop computer suddenly appearing at his table, save for Seruhiku. Said sensei only shook his head at Takahata's boldness before continuing his conversation with Nitta.

Takahata wasn't surprised to see his email immediately start bouncing around the screen before he even thought about checking it. The computer had been doing that ever since he had hooked it up to connect to the magical aspect of the internet. He knew he ought to get it fixed, but he found his computer's new precognitive abilities to be rather funny—and definitely useful.

'Although' he thought as he began looking through the email he had gotten over the past few days, 'it might be better to have Nijuin-kun look it over. He might not be the most powerful mage around, but he knows computer magic well—almost as well as he knows teaching.' Magical computer viruses could be nasty.

That line of thought disappeared quickly after he started to read the email Negi had sent him while he was away. So did the tea in his mouth, spraying from his lips in shock as he read the very first line of the email.

-Takamichi! I beat Evangaline-san!—

Takahata read through the message with growing disbelief. He knew Evangeline liked to play around rather than finish things quickly, but to believe she had actually lost! Pride welled up in him as he read Negi's description of the fight. To survive against Evangeline (Dark Evangeline, of all people!) until the wards over the school restored themselves was an impressive feat for anyone, especially for someone like Negi, who had no real combat training.

'It really is a pity,' Takahata mused, 'that I can't be the one to teach him how to fight. He wouldn't be able to learn my fighting style, and as for the magic…'

It had been a long time since he had regretted not being able to cast spells—he had grown past the point where it made a difference. But he would have liked to teach Negi something, to see him improve as a student.

'I suppose it will have to be enough to watch him as his friend, then.' He closed his eyes as he finished sending his reply. Negi's message had been full of stories about his interactions with his class, ending with a request to meet up with Takahata for tea—which he accepted, of course. 'Although being his friend is more than satisfying in and of itself.'

A quiet ping caused Takahata to open his eyes again. He had a new email. He reached out to bring it up, but his computer had already gone to the message by the time he touched it. It was from the Headmaster.

-Takamichi-kun! I know you have only just returned, but I need you to do something for me. Evangeline came into my office a short while ago to tell me that she felt someone—or something—enter the school grounds. This was several days ago, shortly after her fight with Negi-kun.—

Takahata frowned at that. She should have said something much earlier. Although, he had to admit to himself, if she was sick again she wouldn't have been able to visit the Headmaster. He supposed that Evangeline's pride had probably prevented her from sending Chachamaru in her place.

How a high daylight walker, the most elite of the vampire castes, could fall ill so frequently was beyond him.

-The problem is that we don't know where this being is located. Even with Evangeline connected to the barrier around the school, she can't feel where he is—she described it as being 'fuzzy'. He may be using magic to confuse the barrier, but so far as I know no such spell exists.—

If the Headmaster said that, then Takahata was willing to accept that as fact. That old man might look odd, but he could cast more spells than Takahata even knew existed. And that was only a fraction of the spells that the Headmaster knew about, but hadn't learned. There was a reason he was the leader of one of the most magical locations on Mundus Vetus.

-I need you to find whatever it was that came through the barrier. I've enchanted this message to forward itself to the other teachers once it arrives to you. Be warned, however; Evangeline has described the intruder as being alternatively weak, and as being unbearably powerful. Neither of us know why that is, but dshjkl;kjjjb

-The old man was taking too long. Go find whatever the hell it was! Now!—

Takahata sweatdropped as he read what he could only assume was Evangeline taking over from the Headmaster. He knew the old man liked to dodder about and take matters at his own pace, but did she really need to attack a senior citizen like that?

"Sorry, Sat-chan," he said to his former student, who had come over to clean up the spill. "The Headmaster needs me to do something for him. I know it's unlike me to just get a drink and leave, but—."

Satsuki just smiled at him. It's not a problem at all, she said in her unusual yet soothing way of speaking. Not everything can wait. We'll still be here when you finish. He didn't often have to leave before talking with the chefs of Chao Bao Zi, but he was glad Satsuki took it with the same calm kindness that she did everything else.

Takahata expressed his thanks before striding away from the restaurant. Even if the Headmaster didn't know where the intruder was, there were only so many places he—or to be fair, she or it—could hide. It hadn't been noticed yet, but if it intended to harm the students… He was glad that there wasn't much traffic in this street—once he was out of sight, he would be able to take to the roofs for much faster movement.

He hadn't gone more than a block before he heard something. His hands darted into his pockets as he turned towards the nearby alley, the origin of the sound. For someone else, it would be a relaxed pose, but no one who had ever seen him in battle would make that mistake. Takahata had assumed the intruder would be more subtle than to come so close to the civilians. If there was going to be a fight, it would be best to finish it quickly before they got caught in the crossfire.

A can rolled down the alley to stop at Takahata's feet, prompting him to gawk at it. That… hadn't been what he had expected. A quiet groaning sound rolled from the passage, drawing Takahata's attention. Two small and incredibly dirty legs stuck out from a dumpster, betraying the presence of the child digging through it.

"Mind telling me what you're doing? I imagine it doesn't smell too good in there." Takahata said as he stepped into the alley.

Takahata couldn't help but feel anger stir as he saw what darted out of the garbage. This was not at all what he had expected to find.

The blond boy was dirty, smelly, and far thinner than any child ought to be. That applied doubly here in Mahora. There were programs so that anyone without a home would have someplace to stay until they got on their feet—the seemingly endless supply of money supporting Mahora ensured that. Homeless or starving people were supposed to receive help immediately, even more so if they were a child!

The intruder would have to wait; the child was more important. If the trespasser was going to attack, he would have already. There wasn't even an argument in his mind about which held priority.

He was glad that the stance he had entered to fight didn't look like one. Looking threatening wasn't the best thing to do with homeless, starving children. He took a step into the alley. "If you're looking for food, I have to say Chao Bao Zi's would taste far better than this." He tried to keep his voice soft so as not to startle the kid into running. He only had to get the boy to the restaurant—Serihiko or Nitta would be able to take care of the kid then. Another slow step into the alley. The child's eyes were startlingly blue, but the fearful look in them detracted from their attractiveness.

Those eyes held stories that Takahata didn't think he wanted to hear. He would have to find out from the other teachers how the kid had come to this in Mahora, of all places. He carefully stepped closer to the child. "I can give you the money to eat there, if you—"

Takahata thought he had been walking slowly enough that the boy wouldn't notice, but he had. The dirty child suddenly bolted.

He was surprised at how fast the kid was going. He hadn't sense magic or chi at all, but that speed was definitely faster than any normal human his age could move. No magic, no chi-this child was obviously the intruder. But he was still a child… he hoped the Headmaster would find a way to sort this out.

The boy was fast, but only compared to a normal human. Takahata was many things, but he could never be described as normal.

Takahata overtook the boy before he had gone more than a short distance. "So you're the one who crossed the barrier. I'm sorry, but you need to come with me to see the Headmaster." Takahata kept his voice calm, but it took on a firmness that had not been there before. "We need to speak with you about how you entered Mahora."

While he had been speaking, the boy had brought his hands together before him. Takahata wasn't too worried—he still didn't feel any magical power or chi coming from the boy. Even if he had confused the detections in the barrier Evangeline was bound too, magic or chi was still required to do anything that might be dangerous.

This notion—one taught to him by some of the most powerful and knowledgeable people in the Magical World—was suddenly wildly disabused as the child before him spoke for the first time since Takahata had found him.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Takahata had been a teacher at the all-girls school in Mahora for a long time, and as such was not afflicted by the crippling nosebleed that usually felled the victims of the technique. Nevertheless, he was stunned long enough for the child to run off again.

He could scarcely accept what he had just seen. He supposed it was similar to what ordinary humans felt when they first saw magic. It was impossible—utterly impossible—to transform or make an illusion without using either of the two powers. Even shapeshifters emitted a tiny bit of magic when changing form, and the demonic powers were similar enough in form that the resonance could be felt by anyone sensitive to magic.

By the time Takahata got over his shock, the boy had already fled down the street. He sighed, and raised a hand to rub the back of his head. That had been a good move, he had to admit. He hadn't thought he would ever have to do this to catch up to a child. But if the kid could become a smoke-clad naked girl, he could probably become someone else too. And with him about to run into the crowd, he'd never be able to find him, even with the smoke produced by that technique as a give-away.

A Shundo and a quick, almost painless strike to a nerve cluster later, and the boy had collapsed in his arms.

This boy would cause a great deal of paperwork for the Headmaster, Takahata was sure of it.

"My Lord Orochimaru is most upset, Danzō-sama."

The man who had become the Godaime Hokage showed no signs of hearing the words of Orochimaru's lackey. His one-eyed gaze was focused forwards, on the spectacle before him.

"My lord returned to Konohagakure, and has abided by your edict not to perform experiments on the villagers, under the assumption that he would be permitted to experiment upon the Kyuubi container before it was placed under Root." The silver-haired shinobi from Oto pushed his glasses higher up his face, although they sunk down again almost immediately. Light flashed from the lenses into Danzō's single eye. "Denied the jinchuuriki, why, I don't know what Orochimaru-sama will do."

"Since when, Kabuto-san," Shimura Danzō asked, "Have you not been able to read your master's intentions and desires like an open book?" Despite addressing Kabuto, Danzō did not turn his head, nor change position in any way.

Kabuto laughed. "I am humbled by your praise, Danzō-sama. But I am not so skilled at reading my lord's mind as you seem to think."

Danzō spoke with the same grave seriousness he had used in every conversation he took part in since he lost his eye. "I highly doubt that. Even so, it makes no difference. After leaving Akatsuki as violently as he did, neither Orochimaru nor Otogakure can afford to be without the support of Konoha."

Kabuto paled. "H-how did—"

"How did I find out?" Danzō laughed, although there was nothing resembling humor in the sound. "The organization has not been made, even one formed with a foundation of S-ranked shinobi, that is immune to the infiltrations of Root. I have long known of Orochimaru's connections to Oto."

Kabuto shivered. He knew that Danzō would have discovered the link between Orochimaru and his project village, but to think that Danzō had been able to spy upon even the Akatsuki… Root was fearsome indeed. It was even more so now, when it had formally merged with Konoha's Anbu forces, with the full force of the village behind it. He would need to check over Orochimaru-sama's people at the lairs again. Danzō had no doubt placed new agents since his last inspection.

"Even so, do not think that Orochimaru-sama will take this insult silently. He may need you, but he can still work against you in more subtle—and more dangerous—ways than open rebellion." Open threats were not typically the best way to conduct negations—particularly when speaking with one who held as much power as Danzō. Even so, conversations between Danzō and Orochimaru—or his lackey—were typically far more laden with threats than this one was. It was simply the way of things when negations involved traitors.

Kabuto's faith in his master was unequaled, but it was simple fact that their village wasn't large enough to survive a confrontation with one of the five greatest nations in the world.

Danzō nodded. "You speak true. It is well, then, that I have a gift for Orochimaru that may mollify him."

Kabuto waited for several minutes for a response, but none came. Danzō simply stared forwards, ignoring the man waiting beside him. When his annoyance at the Hokage's silence grew too strong, Kabuto spoke.

"A gift, Danzō-sama?" Kabuto said, trying to prompt the Hokage into revealing more about this present. The one-eyed man dispensed words as though each cost a thousand ryo.

"Indeed. You may pick her up on your way out." Danzō gave Kabuto a short wave of his hand, an obvious dismissal, but was otherwise motionless.

Kabuto's eyes widened at Danzō's dismissal. To be dismissed so, like a servant, by someone other than Orochimaru! It was intolerable. Nevertheless, they needed the old fool for now.

"Very well, Danzō-sama. I will look forwards to our next conversation." Done trying to deal with the taciturn leader of Konoha, Kabuto stalked from the room, his anger only lightly controlled.

Danzō turned to gaze at the retreating back of Orochimaru's second-in-command. He hoped Kabuto wouldn't damage the girl in his anger—he was known to do so at times, and the Anbu team he had sent after Zabuza to collect the girl had lost three members killing the Demon of the Bloody Mist, and another two to the ice-wielder before they had subdued her. Or was his 'temper' simply another act?

The moment Kabuto left the building, a signal was sent to Danzō's throne room. Once it arrived, the Anbu and Root hidden in the room vanished, leaving the leader of Konoha alone.

He stood, leaving the cane he used to walk while in the presence of others behind him. He turned on his heel and strode away, intent on looking through the massed knowledge of Konogakure, trailing all the way back to the Rikudo Sennin. Somewhere in the massive library of information, Danzō knew, would be the explanation of what had happened to his jinchuuriki—and more importantly, would be the details of how to get it back.

Behind him laid the corpses of two of the Anbu sent to retrieve the demon host. Failure of such magnitude had only one appropriate response. Perhaps fear would serve to make the survivors more competent.

It was with great reluctance that Naruto returned to wakefulness. Rest without dreams was rare, and even if he had been knocked unconscious he still clung to it. However, the utterly wonderful scent wafting towards him was too great a draw to resist.

He hadn't been able to get a bowl of it in months, but the day had not yet come to pass that Naruto would not recognize the smell of ramen. He would know that glorious, soul-lifting aroma even if it were placed amongst an army of other noodles.

'But… I don't have any ramen.' The thought, though a horrible one to consider, was nevertheless true; getting any sort of food was challenge enough, let alone trying to get hold of his favorite. 'So why is it here?'

Naruto became abruptly aware of his surroundings as that thought ran through his head. The bed he was in wasn't moldy, and he couldn't feel springs digging into his back. He couldn't smell the ever-present scent of fungus and filth and blood that had saturated his house, and although he hadn't opened his eyes, Naruto felt nothing of the breeze that flowed in from the open roof.

And he was clean, something he had not been in… far longer than he cared to consider. Slowly, quietly, he slid up to a sitting position. Blankets, too intact to be his, fell from his body as he rose. Naruto stretched his arms and yawned, but knocked over an object beside the bed—a lamp. His eyes snapped open at the sound.

Naruto slowly surveyed the room he found himself in. Pictures lined the walls, framed and obviously well cared for. A small red-headed girl, hair bound up into two tails, was prominent in many of them, seeming a little larger and more mature in each one. Naruto wondered if she was the daughter of whoever's home he was in. Or maybe that person's sister. Someone close, anyways, to have enough pictures that one could look at each one to see how she grew.

Naruto rose from the bed to take a closer look at the pictures, only distantly noting the pajamas he was garbed in. There were several group photos; some showed several men standing together, projecting a sense of camaraderie that showed through the picture. Others were of large groups of girls. Naruto was reminded of the class photos he saw at the Academy; he had been given detention during the ones for his class every year so he wouldn't appear in them, but he had seen his classmates gather outside through the windows.

"Yes Headmaster, I have the boy."

Naruto froze as he heard the quiet voice come in from across the hall. It was that man, the one who had come after him in the alley. So the man with glasses was his captor. Naruto couldn't help but worry at the thought.

What would they do with him? He didn't know where he was, but Naruto knew that he couldn't possibly be anywhere near the Land of Fire. He had never even heard of someplace like this, with all of the different clothes, the weird designs of the buildings, and the odd language they spoke.

When Naruto had climbed down from the titanic tree he had found himself in, he had felt overwhelmed. Everything was so new, so strange. Some people had pointed at him when he got to the bottom, and a couple of them had tried to say something to him. He hadn't understood them, though—the words they spoke were foreign and bizarre.

He had run as soon as he could. But once he had done that, he found that he didn't know what to do. He didn't know this city, or the people here, and the noises that kept coming from their weird machines wouldn't let him sleep at night.

He had tried once to spend some ryo at someplace that looked to be selling food, but the woman at the stand had given him a confused look, like she didn't even recognize the money. Ryo were used everywhere! Even in far away countries, the ryo was accepted as the common currency. That day he had tried to do what he normally did back in Tanzaku and dig up something to eat from the trash—lots of perfectly good food gets thrown away for being just a little bit over the expiration date, or for having a tiny bit of mold on it—but this city seemed to be far cleaner than what he had seen in Tanzaku. It had taken him a long time to find a can of some sort of chicken soup, which he had eaten cold.

Then that man—the dapper, blond-haired man with glasses and a kind look on his face—came to the alley he was scavenging it. Naruto should have known better than to wait until a strange man got close to him before running, but the gentleness of his features threw him off. But the taller blond had gotten too close to him, so Naruto tried to escape.

He didn't know how the stranger had gotten in front of him so quickly; Naruto had felt… something… when the man had moved, but he knew it wasn't chakra. It felt different. The other had started to talk again, but not as gently as he had before. Naruto hadn't understood what was said at first, but partway through the conversation he had suddenly started to understand. Naruto didn't know why, but the man's words suddenly made sense. Naruto didn't know why the man had been speaking gibberish when he knew an actual language.

"—come with me to see the Headmaster," the man had said. Naruto didn't know what a Headmaster was, but it didn't sound nice at all. A master of heads? Was he going to be executed for coming here? Naruto knew that some villages beheaded trespassers. This place didn't look like a ninja village, but what if it was?

So Naruto had tried to run away again, this time pulling out his secret weapon. But the Oiroike no Jutsu had failed him for the first time. He didn't know what happened to him after that, but then he had awoken here, in what he could only assume was the home of the man who captured him.

Said man hadn't noticed that Naruto had awoken, and was continuing to speak to someone. Naruto couldn't hear the other person at all, like the blond man's partner in the conversation—this 'Headmaster'—was someplace else. Was he using a radio?

"No, I don't think he is. He tried to run rather than attack, which I don't believe a malevolent—" The man stopped talking for a moment, as though he had been interrupted. "I know that, Headmaster. Yes, I did get the potions from Eva. She just left, but she promised that they were safe this time, so there won't be a repeat of the last incident. Do you know if these mix badly with ramen?"

As Naruto heard that last word, he couldn't help but perk up. Stepping as quietly as he could, he tried to sneak from the room. If he was lucky, he might be able to take the ramen and run before the man noticed he had woken up.

However, that plan was brought to an abrupt halt. Naruto had forgotten that he had knocked over the lamp; although it had landed rather softly on the carpet, it happened to be very hard and solid; solid enough make Naruto swear rather loudly when he stubbed his toe on it.

"So you're awake." Naruto looked up and flinched. The man who had knocked him out was standing by the doorframe, a bowl of ramen in his hands. Naruto hadn't even noticed him get so close.

Naruto's stomach growled as he stared in longing at the food in the man's hands. The tall blond laughed. "I was about to ask if you were hungry, but I suppose my question has already been answered. My name is Takahata Takamichi. Would you like some ramen?"

It was obvious that this Takahata person had put something in the ramen. Even so, that didn't stop him from accepting the offer. After all, if Takahata had wanted to poison him, he had already had him under his power for some time.

And Naruto hadn't had ramen in far too long. He would probably have eaten it even if it had been poisoned. Naruto was certain the fox wouldn't let a poison hurt him for long… probably. Well, maybe if it would kill him, or otherwise inconvenience it.

"So you didn't know what I was saying to you?"

Naruto nodded, as his mouth was full of noodles. After his initial mistrust, he felt himself start to warm up to this person. Takahata hadn't started to interrogate him the moment he sat down, as Naruto thought he would. Instead, Takahata had waited for him to eat and take the edge off of his hunger. It was only after Naruto had started eating less desperately (and after several warnings to slow down lest he make himself sick) than the questions had started, and much less roughly than Naruto had thought they would be.

For some reason, Naruto found himself answering the questions truthfully, even though he had considered lying. Maybe Takahata was just a trustworthy guy. "Yeah. Ever since I appeared on that giant tree, it was like I didn't know what anyone was saying. You started off talking like they did, but partway through your sentence you stopped speaking nonsense." Naruto laughed. "It was sort of weird, actually. Like different languages from the stories."

Takahata didn't respond immediately, his brow furrowed and a slight frown upon his face as he looked down, contemplative. "Naruto-kun, I was speaking Japanese the whole time. Virtually everyone in Mahora speaks it."

"Japanese?"

The older man grimaced. "There goes any possibility of this being easy. That's our language. Japanese—it's what we speak here in Japan."

That wasn't possible. There was a cold feeling in the base of Naruto's spine at the thought. It wasn't. Everyone knew that the idea of different languages was just in children's stories. Everyone, from every country and every village, spoke the same way. The icy reaches of northern Lightning to southernmost Land of Wind shared one tongue, and always have. The idea of there being… of... it was more like something from a fairy tale than real life.

Takahata must have seen the confusion and disbelief in Naruto's voice, because he continued to speak. "You don't recognize it? How about America? Africa? Megalomesenbria? The Hellas Empire? What about Britain, Rome, or Russia? Guam?" Takahata continued listing names Naruto had never heard of, leaving the boy to numbly shake his head in response.

The older man sighed, and leaned back. "This… shouldn't be possible."

Naruto gave a weak chuckle. "We agree on that, at least."

"How should I explain this?" Takahata wondered aloud. "There really doesn't seem to be a gentle way to do this. Naruto-kun, I've just listed nearly every major location in two worlds—and the third isn't accessible to humans in any way, shape, or form. There shouldn't be anyone in any of these three worlds that wouldn't recognize at least one of those—and there isn't a single place where the very idea of a foreign language would be considered a fable."

That wasn't something that Naruto wanted to hear. "Three worlds? That's… that's…" Naruto tried to hang onto the least important thing Takahata had said (three worlds the least important!), because he didn't want to think about what that meant.

It made sense.

He tried to open his mouth, to say something to end the silence, but no sound came forth. Naruto couldn't bring himself to speak. His gaze dropped to the bowl before him. There was still some of the broth and noodles from his ramen inside it, but he couldn't bring himself to eat.

'I'm… in another world?' Naruto shook his head at the thought. It was preposterous, impossible. He couldn't believe it. Or rather, he didn't want to believe it. This place was just too… different. The noises, the people, the sounds—everything seemed so alien to him.

It made sense. If Takahata wasn't lying—and why would he? No one would expect so wild a lie to be believed—then this place was completely and totally different from his own home. If the places he named were real, then Naruto had certainly never heard of them. And perhaps he had never been good at geography, but he hadn't heard a single "Land of _" in the list.

Three worlds? There could have been nine for all it mattered. That there were other worlds at all was unbelievable. But their machines, their clothes, the ceaseless light that lit the streets… they all demanded to be believed.

"You said you were speaking Japanese. How did I understand what you said, then?" Naruto said, turning his attention to something else. He could think about worlds later. Right now, he needed to get as many answers out of Takahata as he could.

"You're speaking it now."

Naruto immediately retorted. "That's ridiculous, I'm not—"

He was. Even as he said the words, his mouth formed around strange sounds. The syllables were different, the words were in different places in the sentence—this was not what his language sounded like. But even as the sounds felt out of place, he understood them as clearly as he heard his own thoughts.

Naruto gaped in silence for long moments before managing to find words again. "H-How? That's not… how is that even possible?"

He didn't know what he was asking with the question. How was it possible to speak a language he didn't know? How was it possible to go to another world? How did things like different languages even exist in the first place?

"I don't know. If I were to guess, I would say magic—but I've never heard of a fourth world before, and I don't know of any spell that would let you learn a language in the middle of a conversation.

Naruto brought a shaky hand up to massage his brow. "Magic? Spells?" Had he not just learned he was on another planet, he would have been insulted that Takahata thought that he would believe in that. But here he was, speaking another language in a bizarre town in a strange world. "Please tell me you're joking."

Takahata gave him a comforting smile and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You don't believe in magic, then?

"I didn't."

"Ahaha… well, I suppose these are sort of extenuating circumstances, aren't they?" What the hell did extenuating even mean? "So yes, magic exists. It can be used for healing, travel, communication—and, unfortunately, for violence."

He hadn't needed to be told something so obvious. "Wherever there's power, there's going to be someone who wants to use it." Like Root had wanted to use him. Whether it was by or against the person with power, strength would always beget more fighting.

There was something in Takahata's eyes that made Naruto wary. As though he had heard more in his words than just what Naruto had said. "There's no need to worry. Japan isn't at war with anyone, and Mahora is one of the safest places in all of Asia."

"That's not what I—oh, forget it," Naruto muttered. Had Takahata thought he was scared of fighting? He didn't need an adult trying to hide that sort of thing from him—he had trained to be a ninja, after all. "So what can you do with magic? There's a lot of different stories about it."

Takahata chuckled. "That would be a little long to go over right now. For now, let's just say it can do nearly anything, and leave in-depth discussions for later, hm?"

'Do anything, huh? I'd love to have that! I would get all the food I wanted, live in a great big house, never have to worry about being found by Danzō again, and even…'

Naruto's eyes were wide and sparkling as he spoke. "Can…can we go and see the dinosaurs?"

Takahata sweatdropped. He really needed to have someone explain what magic could and couldn't do to the kid before Naruto asked someone to do something they shouldn't. Perhaps he should introduce him to Negi—it would do Negi well to have a friend his age.

Or at least a friend his height.

"Like I said, Naruto-kun, it can do nearly anything. Something like travelling through time just can't be done. Every mage who has tried has only succeeded in hurting themselves. And often anyone in the immediate vicinity."

"I wasn't talking about time travel! I just wanted to—"

Takahata hastily interrupted the boy. He had no desire to wade through an endless barrage of requests for magic again. He shuddered from remembering how Shizuna, the Headmaster's assistant, had reacted when she was told about it. The Headmaster had slept for two days straight after that debacle.

"Naruto-kun, I was focusing more on the matters of your other world and language at the time, but you said that you had appeared at the World Tree? What were you doing before you showed up there?"

"I rolled into a pool of water to drown myself in order to avoid being captured."

The boy's look of surprise showed Takahata that he had been intending to say something else entirely. He could see why—whatever the boy was involved in, it was only to be expected that Naruto try to keep it a secret. Naruto leaped to his feet and stumbled away from the table, staring at him.

But Takahata had a responsibility to his students—he had not wanted to put Evangeline's truth-compelling potion in the (many) bowls of ramen the boy had eaten, but he had to find out if Naruto was dangerous or not. He could never forgive himself if his own laxity resulted in the injury of anyone in Mahora.

But this… he hadn't expected to hear this. He paled—a child willing to drown himself to avoid capture? Who, or what, was he running from?

Takahata needed to find out more about what had happened. He needed to know if Naruto—or the people who had tried to take him—would be dangerous, either to the boy or to anyone else. "Tell me more about this water, and about why they were chasing you. I need to know more to be able to help you."

Naruto's mouth opened to begin to speak, but shoved his hand in his mouth before he could say anything. Naruto's eyes looked into Takahata's with anger and hurt betrayal burning within them. He almost saw what looked like flecks of red within them, but they disappeared so quickly that he disregarded them.

He was impressed that Naruto had figured out that he couldn't control himself when he was told to talk. He must have guessed it from overhearing him talk to the Headmaster, and from the conversation about magic. Takahata couldn't say he hadn't intended that—maybe direct confrontation wouldn't be best, but he wasn't going to force the truth from the kid all unawares.

Takahata hastened to explain himself, to try to mitigate the damage done. To force the truth from a child was a cruel thing, but perhaps he could make it less so. "I am sorry about the truthfulness potion, Naruto-kun. But this entire city is a school, and I am a teacher. I must know anything that could pose a danger to my students—I need to know whether or not that danger was you."

"I don't think you would hurt them, but I have to know more about the people who were chasing you, and I need you to tell me more about how you got here."

Naruto's glare softened, but by so little. Takahata had hoped for more—but perhaps that was too much to be expected. Naruto didn't take his hand from his mouth.

Takahata sighed, and walked over to the younger blond. He sat down in the chair Naruto had previously occupied—close to him, but with his head lower than Naruto's—and looked him in the eyes. "Naruto-kun, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," Takahata said. "I don't make promises lightly. If you can just tell me who was chasing you, and why, I can protect you. You won't have to run from them again."

Naruto shook his head, but didn't step away. Neither did he break eye contact with Takahata, which encouraged him to keep pushing. "I can stop them. This entire city is a school, with dozens of sensei of magic. We could stop an army, and we can protect you. Just please… trust us. Had I had the opportunity to talk with you first, I would never have used the potion."

"For the sake of all the students here, who may also need to be protected from whoever is hunting you, please. Please trust me." Takahata finished his entreaty, not daring to look away from the child who stood before him. 'Please let this work. I can help you.'

A tear slid down Naruto's cheek, and another. He tried to talk, but he seemed to have no voice with which to speak. Shudders wracked his small form as he attempted to speak.. Takahata stayed silent; although he didn't show it, he was gravely concerned by Naruto's reaction. Just how traumatic was this experience, to cause this?

Finally, Naruto found words—too many of them. He stared straight ahead as he told the ever more horrified Takahata about his life, from his earliest memories of the orphanage, to his abandonment on the streets, to his escape from the Anbu; far more information than Takahata had expected. And far worse, as well—that a child would suffer such a life dismayed and enraged him.

At times, Takahata wished he could cover his ears, to block the litany of suffering. He knew the feeling well—he had been in the Great War, and had later been to Darfur, to South Africa, to the Middle East. He had seen such horrible things done to—and by—children. But he had never seen a child so terribly… alone.

Throughout the entire speech, the hours that it lasted, Naruto's voice never rose above a deathly silent, emotionless whisper. Takahata didn't think he could forget the sound of that painfully empty voice—it felt as though it had burnt into his mind, like the frantic cries of the first man he had killed, or the soul-rending wails of a mother whose child had been shot.

Even so, Takahata felt a part of him rise in hope when Naruto finished speaking and collapsed, emotionally exhausted. Carrying the boy to the bed, he could not help but think that life would get better soon for the boy. From his description, Takahata did not believe these 'Anbu' could follow him, or they would have already. Which meant he was safe. And not only was Naruto safe, but he was in Mahora. Loneliness could not survive long in this place.

For Naruto, Takahata believed, such pain and loneliness would soon become a thing of the past.

He could not have known that, in the midst of the unveiled truth, there had been one thing that Naruto had not spoken of. He could not have known that the truth potion had been corrupted by a far greater power.

He could not have known anything of the immense and fell power that was the Kyuubi no Youko.

Author's Note:

Hi everyone! Thank you for reading!

I hope it came out alright—there's more conversation here, and I know already that dialogue is a weakness of mine. I hope it comes out realistically.

Hm… choosing what to call Takahata was sort of hard. His given name is Takamichi, but honestly when I think of him I think 'Takahata'! I decided to go with Takahata in the end, though—just because, as a teacher (who isn't as ridiculously close to his class as Negi is), referring to him by his surname just felt more suitable.

sagitarius mentioned that Gaara would have killed a couple of the characters—in order to show why they are alive, I moved a scene I intended to have a couple chapters in to this one (well, I didn't write the scene to show they were alive, I wrote it for a different reason… but it does explain why). I think its placement works well enough now, though. I hope this chapter answered the question.

Something that I didn't respond to earlier—some said they were hoping for fight scenes soon. I can't say 'soon' (not knowing how many chapters it will take me to get there), but this is taking place just before the Kyoto trip, so I most definitely assure you action will come.

I simultaneously look forwards to and fear introducing some of the characters. Natsumi, for instance, and Misora—how on earth does one capture those amazing facial expressions of theirs in writing?