Naruto Uzumaki and the Scroll of Sealing Chapter 3: The Ninja Academy, a Harry Potter + Naruto Crossover fanfic

"Blah": Talking

'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto

EXPECTO PATRONUM!

(A gigantic silver Hungarian Horntail erupts from Kvsyaoran's hand and protects him and Naruto from teenager Onyxia's flame attacks)

Kvsyaoran: It's holding up!

Naruto: This is the worse thing that's ever happened on the set of this thing!

K: NO WAY! We've been through way worse situations than this and come out of it just fine!

N: We have?

K: Yeah! Remember the time we watched David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly?

N: DON'T REMIND ME! GOD! I HATE THAT MOVIE! Granted, Jeff Goldblum's performance in the role was spectacular and I love him as an actor, BUT I HATE THAT MOVIE! IT'S SO GROSS!

K: It wasn't that gross. And at least it wasn't M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.

Naruto & Kvsyaoran: (Shudders) Ughhhhhhhh...

AZ44: YOU BASTARD! YOU AND LEAF RANGER MADE ME WATCH THAT! OVER AND OVER!

N: When did that happen?

K: Remember? During Chapter 25 of the Chunin Exams? To punish Azeroth44, LeafRanger tortured Azeroth44 by having him tied to a chair, forced his eyelids open, and forced him to watch that terrible adaptation to a good series for several days. That was shortly after he forced him to watch Barney and the Teletubbies as well. What fun!

AZ44: You guys are assholes!

N: Oh yeah! That DID happen! We love you too, Azeroth44!

AZ44: F*** YOU, NARUTO!

Reviews are welcome and wanted!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,

Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,

Chapter 3: The Ninja Academy

Naruto Uzumaki stared out at the vast and incredible city of Konohagakure from the window of his dark and desolate bedroom. The small child sighed as he pressed his scarred forehead onto the cold surface of the glass. Naruto had a slightly rounded face, knobbly knees, beautiful blonde hair, and equally magnificent blue eyes that shined like two sapphires. He had a number of different birthmarks on his face that looked a lot like the whiskers of a cat or a fox. There were three thin black lines on each of his cheeks, as if someone had drawn them on his face with a pencil. The one thing that Naruto liked about his own appearance was a thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it for as long as he could remember, and the very first question he could remember asking his grandfather Hiruzen Sarutobi was how he had gotten it.

"Because the gods blessed you when you were born," he had said, "You were marked as one of their beloved children."

Naruto could always remember his grandfather always said nice things about him.

For as long as the small child could remember, Sarutobi had taken care of him, and treated him as if he were his actual grandchild. Hiruzen Sarutobi was now the current ruler of Konoha as the renowned as the Sandaime Hokage, the third shinobi ruler of Konoha, as well as the strongest and most influential shinobi of the land. About six years ago, after the death of the Yondaime Hokage, the old man came out of retirement to assume his role as Hokage until he found another suitable successor. The old man was of average height, his hair was white and stuck out behind him in spikes. He also had a goatee, warm brown eyes, and a few wrinkles with one or two liver spots on his aged face.

The kindhearted old man started to take care of Naruto several months after the demon had been defeated, after the child's mother had died. The orphaned Naruto lived in bliss with the old man, unaware of the deaths of his mother and father until he became a toddler. Naruto's surrogate grandfather provided him with all the love and attention he could offer. But then it all changed when Naruto overheard the old man have an argument with the other elders of Konoha. Before he had a chance to understand what had happened, Naruto was told that he had to leave the Sarutobi estate and live in the apartment he lived in now. The kind old man was the only friend Naruto had in the entire world, and then he vanished from his life for months at a time. While saddened that he couldn't live with the Sarutobi clan anymore, Naruto tried to remain positive. The old man still visited him to bring him his allowance, but also took the time to drink tea with him, play small games, and simply talk like they used to. But in the last several months, his visits had become rare, but that should be expected since the old man had the weight of an entire country on his shoulders. Hiruzen Sarutobi sometimes didn't have time to spend with his surrogate grandson. But to make sure Naruto was still looked after, the old man hired several guardians and babysitters to watch over him and take care of him. However, the village's council decided that Naruto didn't need babysitters anymore and decided it was time for him to learn how to live well on his own.

Naruto felt even more alone than ever, not to mention depressed. The blonde child sighed as he looked down the street from his bedroom window, at the corner of town where he was attacked two weeks earlier and met Harry for the first time. It had been two weeks since he had met him and he started to have doubts that he even existed, if his encounter with him was all a dream. Soon after the events in the mindscape, Naruto woke up on the floor of the alleyway where he had lost consciousness. He had healed from his injuries and the people who attacked him never came back, so he ran back home as fast as he could.

Naruto thought that once he started his first term at the Ninja Academy, things would start getting better for him. But to his misfortune, life wasn't that simple and easy.

Naruto went to the Ninja Academy for the first time about two weeks earlier.

When he arrived he and the rest of the new students had to attend an opening ceremony, where all of the facilities teachers and the Hokage were lined in front of the double doors of their education and recruitment center. But before the students were allowed to enter, the Hokage gave a speech that Naruto paid little to no attention to. It was all about the conditions of being a student and understanding what the students were signing up for. Naruto had already sworn to the conditions with Sarutobi when he was first asked if he wanted to become a shinobi, so he didn't have to listen to the speech if he didn't want to.

Naruto instead looked around the crowds, curious at all of the new faces he saw of the other students. But then he noticed all of them were accompanied with one or both of their parents. It served to remind Naruto that he didn't have a mom or dad to stand at his side and watch him take his first steps towards his future. Naruto would have felt depressed had it not been for Sarutobi when he ended his speech and called out the names of the students and announced the name of their teachers. Naruto's teacher was a man named Daikoku Funeno and followed the other students who were also listed with that instructor. Before he entered the school for the first time and scurried through a series of corridors lined with doors and room numbers until he found his classroom.

When he entered, Naruto took a seat close to the door and remained silent and optimistic to the new environment while he and the other students waited for their sensei to arrive. When he did arrive, Naruto's confidence in his teacher took a blow when he noticed his appearance. Daikoku was tall but he was also overweight with two chins and looked like he hadn't been on a mission or even trained for over a decade. To make matters worse, he shared a mean look at Naruto and the child noticed the look. He had the same hateful look he associated with the other villagers that distanced themselves from him and made him feel unwelcomed. But Daikoku soon turned his emotions around for the rest of the class and it became clear that he didn't have a lot of brains; he sounded dumb and didn't seem to be interested in his students.

After introductions were in order, Daikoku answered few of Naruto's questions whenever he was confused about a certain lesson. It didn't matter if he asked how to throw a kunai or how chakra manipulation worked, the oversized teacher was harsh on Naruto and never answered him. This continued for the rest of the class until Daikoku decided to tune Naruto whenever he raised his hand and the child decided to hold his hand down.

The next time Naruto ever asked his teacher a question about their lesson, Daikoku decided to teach Naruto a lesson for his near-constant interruptions when he forced him to sit down and stuck a hat on his head written with the word that meant, "idiot" in Japanese. The other students in the classroom then ridiculed him and laughed at his misfortune, while Daikoku let the children have their fun and smiled.

Naruto almost burst into tears and his face turned red before he stormed out of the classroom and raced for the bathroom as the bells tuned for recess. He didn't bother to check if no one else was inside with him as Naruto locked himself inside one of the stalls and cried until recess was over.

On the third day of school, Naruto faced fewer incidents with Daikoku; he learned to remain silent and follow the lesson as best as he could. But as he tried his best to listen and write down notes, he noticed Daikoku breezed across the historical events in his lecture. He read from a notebook he carried at all times and recited his notes, word-for-word, which made it clear that Daikoku didn't prepare proper lectures and his written tests would ask questions that most of his students didn't know how to answer.

When the bell toned for recess, Naruto took his homemade lunch and ate his rice and ramen noodles alone on a bench outside the Ninja Academy. No one else from his class wandered as far as he did and Naruto didn't want to interact with them. The blonde-haired child didn't like his classmates that much, due to the fact that he didn't know them outside the classroom. Not to mention, he lacked the confidence to make new friends. The other students seemed cruel when he was ridiculed earlier in the week and all of them seemed like faceless drones to him and blended into the background.

It wasn't until the fourth day of school, during recess, did one of the other students decided to talk to Naruto while he sat alone on the one swing under the oak tree.

It was one of his classmates, he was about as old as Naruto, he had a mess of brown hair, grey eyes, red triangles painted on his cheeks, and smelled like a wet dog. The child introduced himself as Kiba Inuzuka, and he wanted to know if Naruto wanted to play with him. The blonde-haired child was almost afraid to answer him; it was a whole new experience to him for someone to want to interact with him. Despite his lack of social interaction in his earlier childhood, Naruto smiled and accepted his classmate's offer.

Naruto and Kiba often spent most of their time together at recess and the two of them hit it off well. Naruto tried to teach Kiba how to play a marble game he knew, called Gobstones. Kiba was a slow learner but started to understand the basic rules. The brown-haired child learned to love this new game, especially the part where he was supposed to pretend that a foul liquid spewed out of the marbles and hit him in the face. Naruto couldn't remember the last time he had so much fun with someone else and relished the time he spent with his new friend.

But all of that had changed the following Monday when Naruto approached Kiba during recess. He had difficulty looking for him on the playground until he found him sitting by himself next to the slides, failing to realize that all of the other students were intentionally avoiding him. Naruto simply hadn't heard about what happened before he talked to Kiba, but recently, Kiba's father had abandoned him and his family and didn't take it well at all.

Oblivious to this, Naruto approached him with a sack of marbles in his hand and asked his new friend if he wanted to finish their game from last week and called with a cute nickname. Kiba looked offended and he punched Naruto in the face as hard as he could. The child from the Inuzuka clan attacked Naruto and slammed his fists into the blonde child's face and torso. The smaller student cried and screamed as his classmate clawed at his face and felt his face start to swell as his blood blinded him. The other students stood around and watched the attack and none of them bothered to call a teacher.

No one came to the rescue until a new teacher noticed the incident and threw Kiba off of Naruto. The man that saved Naruto had tan skin, a scar that ran across his face, and his brown hair was tied into a ponytail. The new teacher roared at Kiba for what he had done and mentioned he would make sure his mother would know what he did and gave him a month's detention for such a barbaric assault. Soon after, the man carried Naruto in his arms and took him to the hospital. Naruto's face was covered in bruises, cuts, and tons of blood. The tan-skinned teacher never left the child's side and reminded him he would be ok and comforted him as he cried. But soon the teacher was forced to leave the child and returned to the Ninja Academy to teach his first class.

But Naruto remained at the hospital for the rest of the week as he healed from his injuries and regretted every decision he made ever since he started to attend the Ninja Academy.

It was Naruto's first two weeks at the Academy and already he regretted having even gone there. It felt as if no matter where he went, misfortune and trouble were soon to follow. His first experience at school was like a nightmare to him. With the exception of that one teacher that rescued him, Naruto had no reason to return and wished with all his heart that he had asked what that teacher's name was. He wished he could transfer to his class, he would never forget his kindness.

But even so, Naruto wished he could escape and go off somewhere where he could be himself and not feel so much fear and hatred. He wanted to return to that dream world he entered a few weeks ago where he met the wizard. He wanted to be reunited with that dark-haired man with the green eyes. He wanted to see and be with Harry more than anything else in the world.

Once the town's clock struck midnight, Naruto backed away from the window and crawled into bed, praying that he hadn't imagined the warm young man with green eyes and that he really did want to help him. He let the darkness of sleep consume him but never once did he lose his intense desire to return to the mindscape.

"I was wondering when you were going to come back, little one…"

Naruto opened his eyes and to his delighted surprise he had awoken underneath the covers of the most gigantic bed he had ever seen. The same one Harry had tucked him into over two weeks ago. He whirled his head around and found himself back in the world he remembered and must have willed himself there through his intense desire. He held his breath in surprise when he saw Harry smiling at him and he threw himself at the older wizard, who caught him and hugged him back.

"S'matter? What's wrong?" the wizard asked.

Naruto answered in a soft, vulnerable voice, "I thought you weren't real…"

Harry laughed and then asked out of concern, "I'm real, kiddo… So how are we?"

He felt Naruto tremble in his arms and had him sit down next to him. The small blonde child shrugged and tried to hide the scars and bruises he received from vicious canine-kid. Harry placed a finger under the boys chin and gently forced him to look up at his face. The wizard identified the remains of the bruises and cuts before his turned more solemn and serious.

"What happened, little one?" he asked.

Naruto didn't want to answer his question. So he distracted the wizard with a question he had wanted to ask for a while now.

"Why do you call me that all the time?" he asked in a curious tone.

Harry offered him a sad smile, "Because you are little; at least you are when compared to me. And, erm… you're my little brother now, right? You're also the closest I'll ever get to having a kid of my own…"

"Did you want to have kids?" the child asked in a sweeter voice.

"Yeah..." the wizard sighed, "I was in a relationship with this wonderful witch named Ginny Weasley. I was… after the Second Wizarding War was over and once things had settled down and we both finished school after the war, I was going to ask her to marry me. I would have wanted to have a family with her once I found some decent work at the Ministry of Magic… Actually, whenever we could have had children, I would have challenged her to a rock-paper-scissors match to see if I could name all of our children after our friends and favorite teachers!"

Both Harry and Naruto snorted with laughter before the blonde child asked, "What kinda names?"

The older wizard was about to list the names he would have chosen for his children but then he realized what Naruto tried to do and stared at him in a somewhat comical and serious look.

"Oi! You're changing the subject, little one! What happened to you out there in the real world? Where did all these marks and bruises come from?"

Naruto's mood was dampened in an instant, as the events of the last two weeks rushed back to him.

"I… I thought that things would be different once I started at the Ninja Academy… but things are just as bad as before… No… they're even worse. This one kid in my class called Kiba beat me up for no reason," the child sniffed and brushed his cheeks out of habit, as his face turned red and puffier, "I had to be sent to the hospital… and… and almost all the teachers were mean to me… they think I'm dumb and Daikoku-sensei let all the kids make fun of me! I just wanted him to help me understand the lesson b-better! W-Why did he do that to m-me?! W-What did I ever do to him?!"

Harry reached out and embraced Naruto when he saw his lips start to tremble and tears threatened to flow down his face in torrents. The child started to blubber and sobbed once he was tucked into his older companion's arms. To help him feel better, Harry kissed the top of his head and then told him about how his friend Neville had similar problems with Draco Malfoy and Snape before he came out of his shell. Harry even told Naruto what it was like for him when he was in Muggle primary school back when his cousin bullied him. Until now, he had almost never before told anyone about the details of his life before he discovered he was a wizard, not even to Ron or Hermione.

He then said in a soft voice, "I understand how it feels, Naruto… but don't fret… I swear that things will start working out better for you someday… Plus, you've got something that I never got to have when I was your age..."

"What is it?"

The older wizard smiled and announced, "A teenaged wizard living inside in your mind!"

Naruto giggled and started to feel a little bit better. Harry smiled back even more and drew out his wand from his robes, "Now… it's about time we started! Class is now in session!"

The child moaned and the wizard chuckled, "Don't complain, little one. This kind of school is different from the one you're used to."

Harry stood from the bed and walked over to the wall of his bedroom and brushed his wand to it. This caused the wall to shift and transformed into a solid wooden door with a silver handle. Naruto was amazed at seeing his older brother use his abilities with such ease. At the sight his first taste of magic, the child bolted from his seat on the bed to get a closer look.

"Wow," he awed, "How did you do that?!"

"I'm a wizard, remember?" he smiled, "I can do anything I want… and so can you, Naruto."

"I can?" he asked, curious and entranced.

Harry shrugged and said, "Almost. But it's going to take time, patience, and a lot of practice and hard work."

The wizard motioned for Naruto to follow him and the child followed close behind and stood at the foot of the door. Harry then kneeled down to his level and placed his hands on his small shoulders.

"I want you to listen to me carefully, Naruto." he started in a calm and cool voice, "To help live up to my promise and teach you everything I know, I want you to have a similar experience I had when I first stepped into the wizarding world. But I'm going to make sure to give you the finest education that a child such as yourself deserves… When we first met, I could feel a great potential for your future and a strong source of magic that could far exceed my own."

The blonde-haired child placed a hand on his chest and asked in wonderment, "You sense magic within me?"

"Yes. You're a wizard, too, Naruto… But to confirm this, I have to ask… have you ever made anything happen before? Anything you couldn't explain whenever you were angry or scared?"

Naruto took a few minutes to think about what Harry asked of him and then he stared out once he remembered. A dim series of memories came back to him: when he was playing on a swing in the local park, pumping his legs to go higher and higher and reach out towards the heavens. But then he slid off the swing but started to soar into the air. He floated in the air as if he was weightless and then he was lowered down to the ground as if he had wings. Another unusual incident was in the last week in class; Naruto was terrified that he wouldn't be able to write down his notes in time while in Daikoku's class. But as he tried to write down certain facts on the chalkboard, the chalk exploded when it made contact with the board. He had run out of chalk soon after and was forced to cut the lecture short. And the third time he remembered was when an older kid tugged at his hair, threw dirt in his face, and broke his favorite toys. Naruto couldn't take one more second and the child threw the older kid off of him in a fit of rage, wishing the old kid to leave him alone. But then the older child flew in the air and vanished. The kid wasn't found until hours later, stuck in a tree, hanging by his underwear while birds and owls attacked him.

All of those strange occurrences that had occurred all his life made a lot of sense. And after all this time he had thought that there was something wrong with him or he was going insane.

Harry saw the look of realization in his little brother's face and beamed, "That proves it. The reason you could do all of those strange things was because you were not able to control your emotions, which were linked to your magical abilities. You lost control of your powers and they acted upon your desires and actions at the time. A wizard or witch's emotional state can affect their abilities in magic, both positively and negatively."

What was so strange to Naruto about this information was that he was somehow able to understand it better than how Daikoku or Sarutobi could explain how to throw a kunai at a tree. It was like he had learned this stuff before and nodded to let the older wizard know he understood.

"While you're under my guidance, I won't just teach how to use your magic, but I'll also teach you how to control it. After looking at your memories when you were here last time, I saw that there were one or two instances where you were almost caught using it. We can't let anyone else know that you can use magic and we have to make no one knows that I exist. It'll be our little secret."

"Why, Nii-san? Can't I tell grandpa about it?" asked the curious little wizard.

But Harry insisted in a calm and collected voiced, "No. Naruto, I don't want you to tell anyone that you're a wizard, and I especially neverwant you showing off your abilities to anyone else for as long as we can. Because if people knew that you had so much power within you, they wouldn't want you living in the village anymore. Muggles can be afraid and hateful of magic among many things they don't understand."

"Muggles?" asked the child, "What are those?"

The older wizard answered, "It's the name for non-magical people. If the Muggles found out that you could use magic, they could keep relying to you to use your magic to solve their problems or fulfill their own selfish ambitions. The Muggles could abuse you for your powers. And there might be people out there who will hate you even more than they already do and want to destroy you because they could mistaken your abilities for something more sinister in nature. Muggles are not so different from us, Naruto. Not all of them are bad. They just don't always understand and they might not react to your abilities with kindness or acceptance."

The child looked fearful at the thought of the villagers hating him even more. But then the older wizard nuzzled Naruto's blonde hair with his hand and smiled at him.

"But in order to avoid that, you just have to keep the existence of your powers and me a complete secret no matter what until the time is right to reveal them. Do you understand, little one?"

Naruto hesitated for a few minutes before he nodded his head.

"Good," he smiled, "Then it's about time we started, huh?"

The older wizard stood and remained close to the door he had created, as he looked down at his little brother.

"I'm going to place you into a simulation of the world I am from. So that I can give you a taste of the wizarding world that I'm sure doesn't exist in this world. Are you ready for this, Naruto?"

Naruto looked down at his feet before he looked at him with an eager and enthusiastic look on his adorable face and balled his hands into fists. Harry smiled and then clicked the door to unlock. There was a flash of white light that burst out from the edges of the door. Once the door started to slowly open, Naruto was temporarily blinded with an intense light. Harry offered his hand to Naruto and the blonde wizard took it without question and let the wizard take him into the light.

Once his vision was restored, Naruto blinked and stared out in complete disbelief at what he saw as Harry grinned at look on his face; A cobbled and twisting street came into existence that twisted and turned out of sight. It almost looked as if Naruto were thrown back into the streets of an uncommonly friendly neighborhood in Konoha. But it was curved, twisted with structured a mixture of western and eastern influences. There were no doors made of wood and paper but there were scarlet arches and lanterns that hovered above the streets. The entire environment was so alien to little Naruto, but somehow it felt like he had been there before, in another life.

Shops and stores were lined on both ends of the street; all of them lit with bright colors and were full of life. The sun shone brightly on a tall stack of cauldrons outside the nearest store. Cauldrons made of copper, brass, pewter, silver, and even solid gold. Naruto turned his head in every direction he could, spinning around, trying to look at everything all at once.

There were shops with broomsticks on display, and actual people were out and about, shopping or selling. There was a plump wizard outside of an Apothecary selling dragon livers, a kind-looking witch that was out advertising a new love potion she brewed, and even an energetic old man wearing a strange pointed hat calling out into the growing crowds of people, shouting that he was stocked with a new line of state-of-the-art broomsticks. Naruto heard low, soft hooting from a thousand owls from over a hundred different species being displayed at a pet store. He saw several boys about his age had their noses pressed against the glass of a window with broomsticks in it, outside the shop the old man owned. There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes, strange silver instruments that whistled and shot out steam, and stores that were selling quills, parchment, and even ink of every color and texture.

"Where are we, Harry?" the little blonde kid shouted in amazement.

The older wizard winced at the volume of the child's voice but smiled as he said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley! At least the simulated version…"

"How did we get here? And who are all these people?"

Harry explained to him, "This is a simulation I crafted and designed from my memories of the actual Diagon Alley as well as your memories of the streets, shops, and neighborhoods of Konohagakure. So that way, I can help give you better experience the norm of a standard British wizarding society, mixed with the culture that you are already familiar with. This environment will help you adjust to the curriculum I laid out for you."

He crouched down and pointed out to the people that Naruto had asked about, "None of these people are actually real, mind you. They can't talk to you and they cannot hear you. They are a projection of the same people I've seen mucking about in this alley during the summers I came here to restock on school supplies. Normally a Hogwarts student would have to come to this place to purchase their books, wands, or new robes."

"What's Hogwarts?"

"It's the school where I was educated." he said, "Hogwarts is a magnificent castle that makes the Ninja Academy look like a broom closet. I lived there for six years, with the exception of the holidays and being on the run during my seventh year of school. But I was heavily involved in the Battle of Hogwarts before I… well, before I died."

Naruto asked in amazement, "It's a castle?!"

"Yes. It was an ancient and gigantic enchanted castle. It was almost half the size of Konoha if all the floors were laid out and stretched across an even landmass. It had all these towers, turrets, and numerous enchantments to make it one of the safest places in the wizarding world… with a few exceptions, of course…"

Harry stared at the skies as he reminisced about all the times he and his friends snuck in and out of the castle and all the times Sirius, Draco, and Neville found methods to sneak in and out of the ancient fortress. But then he shook his head and moved forward with his little brother.

"Well, we better get moving if we want to get all of your things before the Alley starts to get crowded," he joked, "Let's go!"

The child looked up at him again with his head tilted, "Huh?"

"C'mon, then," the older wizard crouched down closer to Naruto's level to invite him to climb on his shoulders, "How about it, little one?"

Naruto happily obliged and clambered up on Harry's back, having no recollection of anyone doing this for him since he lived with Sarutobi. The older man held onto his tiny legs over his shoulders while Naruto wrapped his arms around Harry's neck, being careful not to choke him. Harry then started to walk down the alley, eager to get started on teaching Naruto what he had to offer.

Harry guided Naruto throughout the entire simulation, visiting familiar sites and helping his little brother find and become familiar with all the supplies he would use for his training. It seemed a little bit excessive and pointless to make it seem like Naruto was buying school supplies, but the older wizard didn't care. So long as it helped Naruto ease into a healthier learning environment.

One of Naruto's favorite visits out of all the shops they visited that day would have to be Flourish and Blotts. The small child stared at the rows and shelves of books containing untold history with magical spells and enchantments. He ran up and down the rows of books, excitedly looking for something he wanted to learn, jumping up and itching to read the titles written in English and Japanese, somehow he was able to read and understand both languages. The older of the two wizards watched as Naruto ran around the bookstore before he found a book he wanted.

The child had a difficult time holding it up to show his older brother figure, as it was large and weighed almost as much as he did. Naruto tumbled around and showed Harry the book before his legs buckled and the book collapsed on top of him in a comical fashion. Harry picked it up and readjusted his glasses so that he could read out the lengthy title. He raised his eyebrows and his glasses slipped down his nose in surprise. He recognized it as the exact same book of jinxes and curses that he wanted to purchase when he first came to the real Flourish and Blotts with Hagrid:

Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, Decapitation, and Much, Much More (Ultimate Scholastic Edition) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

Naruto asked in a sweet voice when he stood and practically begged, "I wanna use this on Kiba and that Daikoku-sensei! Please, Nii-san? Pwease?"

Harry showed subtle signs of disapproval at Naruto's thought of committing terrible revenge against the boy he mentioned as well as his terrible teacher. But then he tosses aside his disapproval and smiled as he took the book into a shopping bag he summoned from out of nowhere. He agreed to keep it and thought of the number of things he could do to help Naruto give his enemies their dues, so long as they weren't caught in the act. The small child let out a great whoop of excitement and thanked Harry by hugging his leg affectionately.

After Flourish and Blotts, they dropped by the Apothecary, to pick up to see the essential potion ingredients required of a first and second year potions. Naruto couldn't stand being inside of the store as the animal fangs hanging from the ceiling scared him and the unpleasant odor from the cauldrons burned the inside of his nose; it was like a mixture of bad eggs, rotted cabbages, and many other foul things. It also didn't help when he looked into the barrels filled with the eyeballs of animals, herbs, dried roots, and colorful powders, though the powders were quite beautiful to look at.

Once they left the Apothecary, they journeyed down the alley to pick up a cauldron for Naruto. The little wizard wanted to take a giant solid gold cauldron that had crystals and gems decorated on it and an advanced self-stirring special mechanism attached to it. But Harry told him all he needed was a standard cauldron, with his name engraved on it in solid gold letters. Harry showed Naruto a perfect set of silver scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. But when he thought about it more, the older wizard was certain that Naruto wouldn't want to study Astronomy anytime soon. When they left the store that sold cauldrons and scales, Harry picked up Naruto and placed him on his shoulders again.

They started walking back up the alley to where they first entered it when Harry announced, "The last and most essential thing you require as a student of magic, Naruto, is a magic wand."

"A wand?"

Harry nodded and looked up at the child as he walked, "Yes… It's an essential tool that we wizards use to perform spells. The place we need to go to get one of those would have been Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."

Harry pointed Naruto into the direction of the final shop and the boy felt a swoop of nostalgia swell in his tummy. It felt to him as if he had actually been to this shop before in a dream or a past life, which was the truth. Harry let him down to enter the shop of his own accord. Naruto walked up to it and observed the tall, narrow, and shabby looking store, seeing the peeling gold letters of the name and title Harry announce a moment ago. A number of differently shaped thin rods made of wood rested upon various cushions in the dusty window display. If felt so familiar to him as the child turned to the door of the shop and entered, tingling a small bell when he walked in. He stood mesmerized by the sight of this place from the inside. The simulated version of the original Ollivanders was almost exactly the same when Harry received the phoenix feather wand when he was eleven. Naruto looked up again to see the store was rather tiny and empty with the exception of a single spindly chair rested against the counter, but it was also unimaginably tall. There sat thousands of long and narrow boxes containing wands that were piled up right up to the ceiling that went up for hundreds of thousands of feet into the air.

Harry reappeared behind the counter and allowed Naruto to stand on the chair to try to be at the same level as him.

"In my time during purgatory, I studied many different things about magic; one of them being wandlore. I learned how to make them and how they functioned as essential tools for a wizard or witch... While you were busy at the Ninja Academy, I took the time to start crafting an assembly of wands for you to try out in the hopes that I created the one that would be forever yours in the mindscape, Naruto…"

The child hesitated, unsure if this was like a test, "W-What do I do now?"

Harry walked around the counter with a special tape measurement in his hand, "Just stand still. I have to take a few measurements. Which arm do you use to write with?"

He answered him, "I'm right-handed, Nii-san…"

"Hold out your right arm, then," he commanded and then said as took the tape, "Good! Here we go!"

He measured Naruto from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and around his head, "Aaaaaaaaaand… Done!"

Harry removed the tape measure and tossed it aside. He then retreated to a collection of boxed wands behind the counter and all around the walls before he placed them down on the counter. Harry took the first box and pulled out a warped, bent, zigzag shaped wand and offered it to Naruto, who stared at the wand with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

(A/N: Let's try something different: See if you can guess whom these next two famous wands belonged to? Only a true Harry Potter fan would know whom these wands belonged to.)

"How about we start with this one, Naruto? This is made of chestnut and unicorn hair. Nine-and-a-half inches. Brittle."

Naruto slowly took the wand from him and gripped it firmly by the handle. He felt very uneasy about holding the wand, feeling as if he shouldn't be holding it at all. The child simply stood there on top of the chair and waited for his older brother or the wand to do something for him. Harry noticed the hesitation and started instructing Naruto.

"Focus some of your magic into the wand and give it a wave." he said.

To which Naruto replied pitifully, "But I don't know how…"

Harry instructed Naruto on how to channel his magic, which were not so different from how shinobi focused their chakra. Naruto had basic knowledge on how to focus his chakra when Sarutobi taught him before he entered the Ninja Academy. Once the instructions sunk into child's head, he focused on the difference between his magic and chakra; he imagined his magic as if it were the color green while he imagined his chakra to be blue and focused his green magic into the wand and then he waved it. But as soon as he had done so, a violent, purple blast of energy erupted from the end of the wand and bounced off the walls. Boxes of other wands flew out from the shelves while others exploded out of their boxes. Naruto threw his arms over his head and screamed in shock. Once the boxes stopped falling and the spell he cast vanished, Naruto dropped the wand onto the counter and recoiled from it.

The older wizard laughed a little and discarded the brittle wand, "No problem, we'll find the right one for you…"

He selected the next wand on the counter and offered it to a hesitant Naruto. The wand offered to him was made of a dark brown wood and had a slight bend to it, making it appear somewhat like a bird's talon or an old wicked witch's finger.

"Walnut and dragon heartstring, twelve and three-quarter inches… Inflexible and unyielding… Not a favorite of mine."

Naruto took the curved wand and it felt the same as the other one did. He soon repeated the same exercise as before and waved the wand while he prepared for the worst. And like it did before, another blast of magic shot out but hit a potted plant behind Harry. The older wizard turned around and watched as the vines of the unknown plant shot out from the pot and move like legs and arms. The potted creature hopped off the wall and ran after the two wizards to attack them

"WHOA!" the older of the two shouted, "Get back! BACK!"

Naruto jumped off the chair in terror as Harry stomped on the potted plant when it fell to the floor and blasted it with his wand until it remains were motionless. Soon after, Naruto removed himself from behind the other side of the counter and threw out the walnut wand, afraid to chose another one.

"It's fine now, Naruto," said the older wizard when he finished his examination of the remains of the creature, "Not bad for a first curse, Naruto!"

The blonde child quivered as he found the experience to be anything but funny. But once the dust had settled, Harry went back to giving Naruto a number of different wands from the shelves and stacked them onto the counter. He tried and tried again with each new wand given to him, but none of them seemed to appeal to him or functioned well. The amount of used wands piled into a stack that filled an entire chair in the corner of the room. After the two of them went through a dozen more wands, Harry took one of the final wands from his selection and opened the box to find, a wand that looked similar to his own, but the wand look more like Ron's wand, the wood was also a significantly lighter shade, almost yellowish, and about fourteen inches.

Harry raised an eyebrow when he remembered when he constructed this wand, "I think this is one of the last wands I created, Little one. This one is made of ivy and phoenix feather, fourteen and a half inches. Flexible. I think this one could be ideal for charm work and useful in duels."

The child took the wand from his new master and when he did, he felt a sudden warmth in his fingers unlike anything he had felt before. He raised the wand above his head, bringing it back down in a swish through the air while a stream of red and golden sparks shot out from the end like a stream of fireworks, throwing dancing spots of light onto the walls. Harry let out a whoop of victory and clapped his hands in congratulations. Naruto stared at his wand in wonder and amazement, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling with joy and happiness. He gripped it tighter in his small fist while he felt the magical flow of his blood pump powerfully for the first time under his control, "Wow…"

Naruto smiled as he held his wand but then asked, "How come this didn't happen earlier?"

"The wand chooses the wizard, Naruto." he smirked.

The shorter wizard was confused, "Huh?"

Harry summoned his own wand and twirled it in his hand, "In the known history of wandlore, wandmakers made wands that would eventually choose their wielders. It was never made clear why that has been so, but wands have been able to do that… You seem to have a natural affinity towards the properties of the wand you hold in your hand now; the wood it's made of, the core inside it, and the length as well… The same thing happened with me when I received this wand… Granted, this is a replica of the wand I had before…"

Naruto tried to take in as much as he could, the information about magic and wands being a million times easier to understand than a lecture at the Ninja Academy.

"Well, with that done…" the older wizard motioned towards the door hidden between stacks of boxed wands, "It's time to start hitting the books, but don't worry, they won't hit back… much."

The blonde-haired wizard followed suit towards the door with wand in hand and Harry opened the door and was almost blinded as he walked onwards. Once his vision cleared up, Naruto looked around to observe a new environment. He seemed to be inside a gigantic church or cathedral. The new environment was built out from stone and wood, lined with tapestries and paintings whose characters moved inside their portraits. The chambers were lit with large iron torches, whose light shined upon giant suits of armor standing on either side of the entrance he had walked through. Naruto stood back from them fearfully but then he stopped when he heard his own footsteps. He looked down and realized his feet were dressed in the most comfortable black shoes he had ever worn with black socks. He then noticed that he also wore grey trousers, a plain white shirt, with a black tie decorated with a golden "H" over a unique coat of arms featuring a lion, badger, raven, and snake, and he also wore a knitted v-neck sweater. And to complete the uniform, he wore a black robe that went down to his feet.

Naruto felt so warm and comfortable in these clothes, too used to the secondhand clothes he was forced to wear. This new school uniform felt like clothes fit for a prince in comparison. While he wasted time to admire his new clothes, Naruto failed to notice Harry arrive before the spiral staircase that led to the door into a classroom.

"You seem to like the new uniform, Little one," he said with a smile.

Naruto bounced in surprise and looked to his older brother and ran over to him and listened, as he was certain class was soon to start.

"It's a bit much, but I couldn't resist. You look so cute in that whittle uniform!" he teased and soon Naruto crossed his arms and pouted while he blushed, "Now we are ready to start our first lessons. But before we do that, there is one more thing I was a little bit curious about… Would you like to be sorted into one of the four Houses?"

The child raised his hand as if he were in school and asked, "What's a House? Is that like a home?"

"Sort of," he said before he crouched down lower and explained, "You see, when a student is admitted into Hogwarts, that student is sorted into one of the four school Houses. The Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You're sorted into a house based on what qualities you share with one of those four. Gryffindor students have qualities of courage, bravery and chivalry. Hufflepuff House values hard work, patience, and fairness. Ravenclaw House values wit, intelligence, and wisdom. And the Slytherin students tend to be clever, ambitious, and traditional… but a whole lot of Dark wizards and witches were born from that House… some of them took traditionalism a little bit too far when we look back on it."

Naruto asked, "What House were you in, Nii-san?"

"I was in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart." he smiled.

Naruto sighed after hearing that. When he took a second to look back, Naruto remembered how he had lack self-confidence and was often considered a coward unless he stood behind someone much stronger. He did work hard in order to catch up with his class and he believed everyone deserved a fair chance, but he wasn't the most patient person in the world. But the blonde wizard thought he applied more towards the second Hogwarts House more than the others.

He said out loud, "I bet I'm in Hufflepuff."

Harry held onto Naruto's shoulder and reassured him with an enthusiastic grin, "Well, we won't know until we see! Let's find us a smart hat and see which one it is? No matter which one it is, I bet you'll be brilliant no matter what!"

The wizard led the child up the spiral staircase while Naruto zoned out and his whole world seemed to turn dark. He blinked a few times as the two wizards entered the door and Naruto hallucinated. He was in a classroom, but in his point of view, he had entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts. He was in the middle of a crowd of students that resembled his classmates from the Ninja Academy, all of them dressed in Hogwarts uniforms. Naruto walked with the other students passed the tables lined with older students that wore black hats and wore uniforms with the insides lined with red, gold, yellow, black, blue, silver, and green. Naruto looked up and noticed the candles that hovered over them and the ceiling viewed the magnificent nighttime sky. The moon shined into the Great Hall as the skies with lined with stars and swirls of clouds. Naruto followed the other new students to the end of the hall before the table of the Headmaster and staff. Harry led the students and presented an old, patched, frayed, and extremely old wizard's hat.

The older wizard stood next to the stool and raised the tattered old hat while he looked directly at Naruto, "Once you're ready, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head and it will sort you into one of the four Houses… So how about it, Naruto?"

Naruto was nervous and scared as he felt the stares of the other new students, and the rest of the hall. He continued forth and hesitated as he approached the stool and climbed it. Naruto sat down as the torches and candles in the Great Hall died down and the chamber became filled with darkness and blocked out the other students from view. Harry placed the hat down onto Naruto's head and the old hat dropped down over his eyes. Naruto waited as he stared at the dark inside of the tattered old hat, unsure of what was going to happen next, but for some odd reason this entire experience was familiar to him.

"Hmm," said a voice in his ear and made him jump, "A difficult choice this child… What House should this he be placed in, I wonder?"

Naruto gripped his seat tightly as the hat whispered to him, "You lack the ambition to be in Slytherin… Courage is not your strongest suit either… Your wisdom is limited… far too limited to be in Ravenclaw… But what about Hufflepuff? Yes, that doesn't seem too bad at all… However… You have doubts? You don't think it's for the best? You can't even make a decision… If that's the case… come back to me later when you're actually ready to make a choice for yourself for once, you coward…"

After that, the hat spoke no more. Naruto shook his head to make it talk and choose one of Houses for him, but it never answered. His face turned red and he could have cried as he removed the hat from his head and saw the students around him whisper. Ashamed at his cowardice and self-doubt, Naruto handed the hat back to his confused older brother and looked down at his shoes as he tried not to break down in tears.

"Nothings happening, Nii-san…" he said in a weak voice, "It won't choose a House for me…"

Harry removed the hat from Naruto's hands and flicked at it. He started shaking it too and it refused to move or respond to him. He then looked inside of the hat, fitting his whole head into it.

"What's going on in there? Hello!" he shouted inside of it.

The wizard removed the hat from his head and tried to examine the outside. The smaller of the two wizards waited on the stool when Harry noticed a tear about to stream down Naruto's cheek. He frowned at the child in sadness and knelt down closer to him as he offered words of encouragement and treated Naruto, less like his little brother and acted as if he were speaking to his own son, "The hat doesn't seem to want to place you in a House… but maybe you need to focus more on what it is that you desire most out of the four Houses… Look deep inside and find the qualities, the traits you feel you need bring out more. Give it one more go, but this time look deeper and find what it is you feel you need to bring out the most… Keep in mind that that the Sorting Hat always takes your choice into account..."

Naruto nodded and sat down with a straighter back while he saw the hundreds of students stare at him again. When the Sorting Hat covered his eyes once again, he took Harry's advice and tried to look deep inside and find the qualities he lacked to most, what he believed would help him in his future and shape him into the man he would one day become. Nothing happened for what felt like an eternity, but then that same voice returned.

"You have almost unlimited potential… You have so much power… so much magic and something else, something very different, but also powerful hidden within… Slytherin seems like a good place to start… if you were to apply these gifts, harness them, you could become something absolutely extraordinary… You could use a little more ambition… With Slytherin's ambition and cleverness, you could teach those rotten villagers a lesson… With enough power, you could make them fear you and force them to respect you with your power and influence… Use your ambition to become powerful and you could go so far as to rule this entire country… How about it?"

After he heard that, the child stared out as he wondered if he should be sorted into Slytherin. But then he shook his head as he imagined the villagers shivering in fear of him, the exact same way he did whenever he was scared and recoiled.

'NO,' he shouted in his head,'I don't wanna be feared! I don't wanna be in stinky Slytherin!'

"Are you sure?" the hat asked.

Naruto answered with a strong nod of his head and pouted, 'YES!'

"Hufflepuff seemed promising… You are very loyal to your village and it's leader… You believe in fairness, work hard, and you show no desire to make yourself anymore than you feel you need to be… You are content and prefer to fit in with everyone else rather than stand out and become singled out… Hufflepuff values the more modest students, accepting the unexceptional witches and wizards…"

The blonde-haired child started to smile, as his decision seemed clear to him. But then he hesitated as he imagined how he would fair out in the future. He would have fit in well with other shinobi and kunoichi, but never once stood out, never showed his comrades the hidden potential the Sorting Hat mentioned. Naruto looked down and started to have doubts like he did before.

"Again?" the hat asked, "Then what is it? What is it that you desire the most? What is your greatest desire?"

Naruto tried to think, but soon he was reminded of his grandfather, Sarutobi. He remembered how the old man often smiled at him and was nice to him. And then he remembered how much he was respected by everyone in the village. And that's when Naruto realized that's what he desired the most; he wanted to be accepted and he wanted everyone in the village to treat him with respect and acknowledge him as the strongest and most reliable person in the village. He wanted to protect people he cared about from bad guys, and earn the praise and attention he had lacked throughout his childhood. But the real problem about that desire was that Naruto was a coward; he had little to no backbone and often submitted to whoever was in charge without question. He showed no fighting spirit, no defiance, no nerve, and no particularly strong will of his own. And he was sick of it. That's what Naruto wanted the most, what he felt he needed more than anything if he wanted to make his dream a reality.

'I don't wanna be afraid anymore! I wanna be brave and strong like Nii-san! I wanna become the Hokage! I WANT TO BE LIKE HIRUZEN SARUTOBI! I WILL BECOME THE NEXT HOKAGE! DATTEBAYO!'

The Sorting Hat remained silent and motionless for several moments until Naruto calmed down, but his face remained hardened and determined.

The hat then said, "Hmmmm… Well if you're sure… better be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Naruto heard the hat shout out the name of his Hogwarts House, he heard the Great Hall echo with applause but then soon faded out of his mind as the chamber turned into a classroom. Harry removed the hat from Naruto's head and smiled before he hugged the child, and Naruto laughed and felt more confident now that he was in the same House as his older brother.

After he tossed aside the old hat, Harry started his first lesson of Naruto's magical education. He stuck to his original plan and started teaching the boy the most difficult branch of magic he could have ever hoped to have learned back when he was still alive and never succeeded until after he had died.

Occlumency.

Harry had Naruto sit down in a chair while he stood with his wand in hand. The older wizard brandished his wand and started explaining how Occlumency worked and why it was important.

"The first bit of magic that I'm going to teach will greatly help you in shielding yourself from the villagers."

"I thought we were gonna learn how to cast magic spells!" the child whined.

The older wizard said back, "Don't complain. This magic will help you to survive out there when I'm not there to help… After looking through your memories, I realized that there are shinobi out there that have the ability to release an energy inside their bodies called killer-intent, which is a manifestation of a person's desire to kill someone to either intimidate their enemies, torture them with fear, or paralyze them long enough to finish them off… In order to shield you from any future attacks similar to that, I will teach you how to use Occlumency. When it's used properly, this magic will shield your mind from any possible access or influence… In these lessons, I'm going to attempt to penetrate your mind, what you need to do is resist as best as you can."

"How do I do that, Nii-san?" the blonde child asked as he raised his hand.

Harry answered, "It won't be easy… But you will need to clear your mind of all emotion and literally push me out when I start to invade," he walked closer to Naruto and crouched down to his level and tried to explain as best he could, "To help train you properly, I'm going to penetrate your mind using a powerful form magic called Legilimency… It's like getting inside your head... even though technically we already are inside your head now, heh!"

Naruto didn't laugh or even crack a smile. The idea of someone able to get inside of his head using a spell was a scary thought. Seeing the look of hesitation on his little brother's face, Harry thought it best to reassure Naruto and limit himself on how deep he would venture into Naruto's past thoughts and memories. He didn't have Snape give him this kind of mercy when he was fifteen. The former teacher forced Harry into reliving his most private thoughts and memories and made him re-experience some of the most horrific moments of his life in a matter that brought him both emotional and physical pain. He would not subject a child as young as Naruto into the same methods that Snape forced onto him. He would use his own methods to teach this child.

"I won't go in too deep, though, Naruto… I don't want to have to force you to relive your worst nightmares or any bad memories… What you need to do is prevent me from going in any further and try to push me out… Do you think that you're up to it?"

Naruto felt a little bit better and beamed in a more confident manner, "Yep!"

Harry frowned at the confidence and enthusiasm Naruto showed. While he was pleased to see him become more confident, he feared Naruto's emotional state would make it difficult for him to master Occlumency. He needed to teach him to control his emotions as best he could, otherwise the blonde wizard could fail to do it, even on a most basic level.

The older wizard said, "That's not what I'm looking for out of you, Naruto… You can't allow yourself to show or feel any of your true thoughts or emotions otherwise you lose control and leave yourself exposed to the forces that mean to destroy you."

The boy seemed confused and unsure until Harry had him sit down and instructed him, "Close your eyes, Naruto…"

The child did as he was told and listened.

"Clear your mind of all thought… Let go of every emotion you've ever felt…"

Naruto remained silent and didn't move as he tried to erase his emotions.

"Forget about every memory you've ever had and every emotion you've ever felt… Let go of your anger over the villagers, that teacher you told me about, and your classmates… Forget about all of them… Forget about the happiness, sadness, sorrow, and everything you've ever felt… No more hurt… No more pain… No more anger and no sadness or happiness… Just let go of everything and enter the void."

With some hesitation, the child did what he was told. It was extremely difficult to let go of his hatred of Kiba and Daikoku, and letting what few memories he had of happiness and joy because he was dependent on them for hope. Harry looked to Naruto, who still had his eyes closed as he slowly let himself go on an emotional level.

"Are you ready?"

Naruto struggled as he released his hatred and his joy. But slowly and surely, he opened his eyes, and his older brother noticed how his blue eyes lacked the shine he was familiar with. His eyes were darker, blank, and unreadable. If it weren't for the color of Naruto's face, his heartbeat, and the movement in his chest, he would think Naruto was dead. He couldn't read his emotions as he stared out and answered his new teacher.

"I am." the child answered with a lack of tone in his voice.

Then, without hesitation, Harry aimed his wand at Naruto's forehead and remembered the incantation that Snape used on him each time he came down to his office dungeon during their private lessons.

"Legilimens!"

That first night of magical lessons ended after Naruto and Harry had practiced Occlumency for hours on end. By the end of the first night of lessons, the blonde-haired child was exhausted and practically on his knees, using his hands to hold himself up after he had fallen from his chair. The older wizard lowered his wand and dropped it down on his desk, as he stared at the exhausted child on the floor in sheer disbelief. Harry was beyond impressed with how fast Naruto learned. It should have been impossible for someone as young as him to be able to progress this far into training.

Naruto's first attempt to use Occlumency was a complete failure, as Harry never met resistance as he ventured into his memories. He decided to stop snooping when he knew he was close to approaching the most recent of Naruto's public humiliations. The two of them practiced the exercise countless times until Naruto was able to get a hang of it, after about the fiftieth time. It wasn't until then was Naruto able to halt Harry's search into his mind. When the older wizard used the same spell over and over again, it felt as if Naruto's were truly fighting back and he wasn't able to see more of Naruto innermost thoughts and memories. After a few more hours, Naruto was able to cast Harry out of his mind, but after the older wizard searched around his mind for a solid five minutes.

Throughout their lessons, Harry continuously asked if Naruto had enough, but the small child insisted to continue and refused to stop until he was able to show more resistance or at least slow down Harry's efforts. But when Naruto almost fainted from exhausted was when the older wizard declared their first lesson was over. Harry walked over and picked up Naruto from the floor and into the first chair he could find in his classroom.

Harry simply could not believe Naruto could do as much as he did and at such a remarkable age. He assumed Naruto was able to learn Occlumency easier than most wizards as a result of him being a shinobi. But it seemed Naruto leaned more towards the magical arts than ninjutsu. While Naruto showed a lot of promise in Occlumency, he still had a lot more practice ahead of him before he was able to show true talent with it.

"I think you've had enough for tonight, Little one…"

Naruto was about to protest but stopped as he let his head fall into his arms. Harry chuckled and carried him away from the classroom and back into the bedroom area. He laid the child down to rest, closing the door to the classroom and dismissing it out of existence until tomorrow. Harry waved a hand over Naruto and made his school uniform vanish and become replaced with his original clothes. The child stirred and then woke up from his spell of exhaustion. He looked up at Harry who started tucking him into bed.

"We're done then, Nii-san?" he asked.

The older wizard nodded, "Yes, for now... That's more than enough for our first lesson. Tomorrow night, we'll continue where we left off and get started on the rest of the standard curriculum… Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions sounds like a good place to start," he finished tucking in his little brother and said, "But make sure to focus on your schoolwork at the Ninja Academy until bedtime tomorrow night."

Harry was about to use a charm on Naruto to help him return to the real world through sleep but then Naruto reached out to him and tugged at his sleeve of his robes. Harry looked down at the round, youthful face and saw Naruto was still very much awake but he wanted to ask something.

"Harry?" he asked.

He looked concerned, "Hmm?"

Naruto retreated deeper into the bed and looked away from Harry as if something were bothering or embarrassing him.

"Would you mind… well… if it isn't a big deal… C-Could you please read me a bedtime story?" the small child trailed off before his eyes turned glassy and asked again in stutter, "P-Please?"

Harry felt his heart break in two when he heard that request. He had searched his memories thoroughly but he couldn't recall the last time anyone ever read a story to him to help get him to sleep. It was as if he and Naruto were both deprived of one of the most simple of childhood experiences. But Harry wouldn't just stand aside and let him leave this place without getting a taste of what both of them deserved to have.

He cracked a warm smile and said, "I would be delighted to, Naruto…"

The older wizard waved his hand towards a wall across from the bedroom and made a tall book shelve appear, filled to the brim with books of all shapes, sizes, and languages, all of them containing stories for children. Harry flicked his fingers and a single book levitated and flew to his hand. He caught the small green book in his hand effortlessly and opened it up to the first page.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard… Let's start out with… The Wizard and the Hopping Pot!"

Naruto smiled gleefully and held up the covers up to his chin, gripping them tightly in anticipation while he listened to a bedtime story. Harry smiled while he started reading this tale for the first time and greatly enjoyed it. He felt grateful that it was the first story he was going to be telling Naruto in the whole collection that was to come. Grateful because through this story, Harry was beginning to teach the young child how to understand and create an acceptance and tolerance for Muggles, in other words, learn how to understand and tolerate the villagers of Konoha. This would help to prevent Naruto from risking trailing down a dark path with his gifted powers, should he uncover the truth behind the fusion of their souls.

Harry accurately imitated the voices of the characters and made Naruto laugh while he pretended to be the Muggle-hating son in the tale and let Naruto interact with the tale by showing him the pictures and letting him point out what part of the story that were being illustrated. By the end of the tale, the boy slowly but surely fell sound-asleep and vanished out of thin air like a ghost, being sent back into the world of the living to sleep with a warm smile upon his angelus face.

To Be Continued…

Now this chapter is actually cut off from one whole entire chapter I originally intended to post, but due to it's incredible length, I decided to pull it and cut it into two parts, which I have done before when I originally posted the Dark Path of Shinobi.

Naruto: SYMBOLISM!

Kvsyaoran: Uuuuhhh… Yeah. Let's go for that.

Harry: It thought it was very sweet how you made me recreate Diagon Alley just for Naruto-kun.

Kvsyaoran: Really? Because I thought I should try to stay more original than just making it look like Konoha.

Naruto: What would you have gone with then?

Kvsyaoran: I would have… Uh… Well… I don't really know, then…

Harry: Bat credit card.

Kvsyaoran: A BAT CREDIT-CARD, YOU BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!

Naruto: We'll be back once Kvsyaoran has calmed down…

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