Chapter Three:
Naruto sat bundled up on the bed. His clothes had been changed and he now wore a simple white hospital gown. He glanced around at the faces staring expectantly at him. When he had first awakened, he had almost bolted again, but the nice lady with the weird hat had stopped him. She spoke in the same uncomfortable sounding language as all the other people. Except for the, Naruto shuddered and paled, ghost; of course, the one thing that terrified him the most was the only thing that could talk to him. Some time had passed since he woke up and right now there were two other people in the room with him, one was the lady that stopped him from bolting, and the other was the lady that threatened him with a stick, last time they met.
Wherever he was, reminded him of the hospital; he had been in one enough times to recognize a hospital when he saw it, he sniffed, or smelled it. The windows were many and large, the structure completely foreign and flamboyant. There were many other beds like his, divided by light blue screens, but he was the only patient. The two women were having an intense conversation. Based on their expressions and how they kept glancing back at him, Naruto instantly assumed that they were talking bad about him (nothing new). Although their concerned expressions threw him off some.
The door opened and an old man with a long white beard came in with seven familiar faces. Naruto wrapped himself tightly with the blanket, a bit nervous. But all that changed when he saw what the old man was wearing. Naruto pointed at the old guy.
"That old man is wearing a dress!" he shouted and threw his head back as he laughed loudly. The other people looked startled and confused, but the old man just got a bright twinkle in his eye as he smiled.
"Yes, I guess you could say I am wearing a dress," The old man said softly. Naruto stopped laughing and stood up on the bed, his eyes widened in shock, "You can understand me Old Man!" But then he lurched backward, "Are you a-a G-G-G." The old guy smiled, "No, I am not a ghost." Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. The other people were very confused; their faces looking, in Naruto's opinion, like they just ate something sour-eyebrows drawn together, lips puckered and small, heads tilted. He snickered at them.
"So, what is your name child?" The old guy asked, and Naruto looked at him with his brilliant blue eyes. He spread his feet out on the bed, put his hands on his hips and yelled out loud and proud, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna be the Hokage one day. Believe it!"
The old man rose his brows in shock at his loudness, but smiled, "Nice to meet you Nar-it-oh, I'm Albus Dumbledore."
Naruto frowned and shook his head, "No, not Nar-it-oh, it's Nar-ooo-toe." Dumbledore nodded his head and apologized.
Dumbledore turned to the other people and spoke to them in the weird language again. Naruto, having stopped paying attention (not like he could understand anyways), started to jump on the bed. The bed creaked and groaned under his feet as he bounced. The lady with the weird hat jogged towards him, shaking her head while speaking gibberish and tried to grab him. With a sneaky smirk, Naruto dodged her hands and body-flickered behind her.
"HA, no one can capture the great Naruto Uzumaki! Believe It!" He shouted, puffing out his chest.
The people who looked alike laughed and nudged each other, Naruto's eyes widened, and he walked up to them.
"Whoa, you guys are like clones!" Then his face grew serious and he leaned forward, "Can you teach me how you did it? I can never seem to make a clone no matter how hard I try!" The clones glanced at each other and looked at the old man, who proceed to speak to them in the odd language. Whatever he said, caused the clones to burst into laughter.
Naruto frowned, "Hey! are you gonna help me or not?" he yelled at them, "Cause if you teach me, then when I get back, I can pass the exam and graduate. I need to become Hokage as soon as possible!" he paused as reality set in.
"Wait, Old Man!" Dumbledore turned to him, "Where am I? This isn't Konohagakure," he asked.
"Well, that is what I have been meaning to bring up," Dumbledore said, bringing his hands behind his back and looking into Naruto's eyes. "But, before we do anything," Dumbledore pulled out a stick. Man, what is it with these people and their twigs Naruto thought.
"I am going to use a translation charm on you, so that everyone else can understand what you are saying, and you can understand them," Dumbledore said starting the charm, but Naruto stopped him.
"What is it with those sticks huh? You guys are always pointing them at me. And how did I get here? Why can only you talk to me? And-"
Dumbledore cut him off, "All your questions will be answered once I finish this charm, is that alright?" Naruto grumbled, but nodded and Dumbledore casted the charm. Blurry was the only way Naruto could describe how he felt. It wasn't a pleasant feeling so fuzzy was out of the question. Nor was it unpleasant, so nauseating wouldn't be right either. No, blurry was perfect; blurry and buzzing. Naruto's eyes were wide as he looked at the people.
"So, can you understand me?" He asked. But puzzled expressions were all he got in response. The girl with bushy brown hair, the one who comforted him when he was crying, stepped forward while speaking nonsense.
"Oy, Gramps, aren't I supposed to be able to understand them?" Naruto asked, turning to him. Dumbledore had that confused sour expression the others had earlier. The old man turned to the others and told them something, Naruto frowned and crossed his arms, annoyed by not being able to understand and he felt left out.
"Hmm, well this is going to be an issue," Dumbledore said, turning back to Naruto who stared, frowning at him, "It appears as though that you might have to learn another language Naruto." Naruto's frown deepened but it was gone in a second.
"If I learn another language then I'll be better than that dummy Sasuke," He mumbled and smiled, "I'm gonna learn that weird language if it's the last thing I do, Believe It!"
Hermione smiled at the small boy as he hopped around the room screaming and laughing. It was a stark difference to how they first met. He was completely healed and didn't seem the least bit afraid. She had first thought that Madam Pomfrey had done an excellent job, Harry had never healed that fast and for less. But apparently Poppy did nothing and he healed on his own, shockingly. When she, the twins, Lee, an angry Alicia, a very frustrated Ron, and a glad to be out of class Harry, had entered the hospital wing they were all a little confused. None of them really knew why they were there, only that they were involved in the boys summoning- well most of them at least (as Ron has made so very clear).
On the way, Dumbledore had explained that the language the boy spoke in was Japanese. Which made sense, considering that the Kyuubi was from Japan. He told them that the boy had woken up and he was going to use a translation spell on him so that they could figure out what happened. Hermione felt bad for being excited, she had helped in ripping this boy away from his home; although she had a small suspicion that those bruises didn't come from summoning him here. But she was still excited, this was so new, so unknown, so awesome! The only bad thing she could think of was that George looked guiltier than her-which never happens.
For some reason, the translation spell didn't work and no one knew why, as this had never happened before. Then again, no one had ever summoned another human before. But, is he human? Hermione thought. He looked human, acted human, felt human.
"So why was he summoned and not the nine-tailed fox?" Hermione said aloud, the others turning to her. She blushed, realizing that she didn't say that in her head. Dumbledore looked up from his conversation with the young boy and turned to her.
"That is a very good question, Hermione. A question we unfortunately don't have an answer to," He said with a hum.
"What was the kids name again?" Lee asked from behind Hermione, his eyes following the boy as he dodged Madame Pomfrey once more as she tried to stop him from running.
"His name is Naruto, not Nar-it-oh, Nar-ooo-toe," Dumbledore nodded, and Hermione tilted her head at his specification. The boy- Naruto-paused his running and looked at Dumbledore, but as Madame Pomfrey lunged towards him, he continued. A frustrated and annoyed expression crossed McGonagall's face and she started to pull out her wand, but Pomfrey stopped her.
"No, don't. I still don't know the properties of the spell used to summon him and how other magic will affect him," Pomfrey said, huffing and pausing her chase. McGonagall tucked her wand away with a disappointed stare. Naruto stopped his running once Pomfrey stopped and puffed out his chest, "(1) Watashi wa sekai saisoku no ninjadesu!" Hermione, although she had no idea what he said, giggled into her hand.
"Madame Pomfrey, would you start your assessment over, now that he is awake, while Minerva and I speak with the children? I will join you in a bit to translate," Dumbledore asked, turning to the group. Pomfrey nodded and, before Naruto could jump away, grabbed him into a bear hug causing Naruto to gasp and struggle in her arms. "(2) Naruto, Madam Pomfrey ni shitagatte kudasai, kanojo wa anata o kizutsukemasenshi, kanojo mo sō shitaku arimasen. Kanojo kara nigeru no o tomete kudasai," Dumbledore said sternly, and Naruto stopped struggling, albeit with an annoyed face.
As Professor McGonagall shooed them away from the summoned child, Hermione watched Pomfrey lift Naruto back into the bed and close the curtain around him. Hermione pursed her lips, There's no way he's a demon. With a shake of her head, she looked to the professor as she started to speak.
"Now, with everyone responsible here-". She shot a look to Ron as he opened his mouth in protest, "We will start figuring out what in the world happened." She crossed her arms and looked at them expectantly, pursing her lips. Hermione glanced at Fred and George, they both met her gaze and gave half smiles. "Well?" McGonagall asked.
Fred stepped forward and shoved his hand into his pockets, "We wanted to summon a creature that could get past the restrictions on the goblet." The Professor narrowed her gaze onto him and he puffed his cheeks out, eyes darting around the room. The Professor cleared her throat and Fred met her eyes then smiled sheepishly.
"And, maybe something that could help our…" George trailed off, but with a twinkle in his eye continued, "fun?" Fred nodded at his brother, and his smile became mischievous.
Translations:
Watashi wa sekai saisoku no ninjadesu!- I am the fastest shinobi in the world!
Naruto, Madam Pomfrey ni shitagatte kudasai, kanojo wa anata o kizutsukemasenshi, kanojo mo sō shitaku arimasen. Kanojo kara nigeru no o tomete kudasa- Naruto, obey Madam Pomfrey. She will not hurt you nor does she want to. Please stop running away from her.