Arc 1 - A New World - Chapter 3: Welcome to Earth
Naruto was impressed. The Sanctum Sanctorum of Dr. Strange was the exact picture of what a magic user's home should look like. There were crystal balls, mysterious tomes, and more glowing, pulsing, and humming items than Naruto could count. It was also big, very big. Sometimes, it was almost like the size was changing to suit the needs of the room. A moving image of a swirling something on a backdrop of twinkling stars drew Naruto's attention.
"The Milky Way Galaxy. Sometimes, when you have so much power, you need to remember how small you really are in the grand scheme of things." Dr. Strange waved a glowing hand and muttered some unintelligible words. The picture zoomed in on one of the spiraling arms, then a single star, a single planet, a single continent, a single country, a single city, a single district, a single building, then Naruto found himself looking at his own face. When Dr. Strange turned away from the image, it zoomed back out until it showed the swirling galaxy again.
"Sugoi, (Amazing,)" Naruto muttered.
"Now, I suppose it would behoove us to get better acquainted." Dr. Strange sat on a comfortable looking overstuffed wing chair. "Please make yourselves comfortable."
Naruto chose a leather recliner. X-23 stretched and reclined on a fainting couch. The smirk on Dr. Strange's face told Naruto that he was barely refraining from making a joke about it.
"I'd appreciate it if you took your boots off before putting them on the furniture, or at least before the snow melts."
X-23 shrugged and began unlacing the boots.
"I suppose I should start. My name is Steven Strange. I was once a doctor, a renowned neurosurgeon, before I was in a car accident and damaged my hands. I could still be a consultant but, because of my pride, I could never be satisfied not doing the work myself. I grew depressed and began looking to other sources for healing, even magic.
"I came to know of a man who was called the Ancient One. He was over one thousand years old, and it was said that he could heal what even the best doctors thought to be impossible. I went on a journey and found the man, but he refused to heal me and offered to teach me instead. I thought perhaps that he was a fraud, but due to a blizzard, I was given the chance to witness magic due to the betrayal of one of his disciples. Because of this, I became embroiled in the fight and accepted the Ancient One's offer.
"He had seen within me the potential to succeed him in his position as Sorcerer Supreme of Earth when none of his other apprentices had the potential. I studied under him for many years and he taught me to channel the powers of gods, demons, and even the power of the earth. I even learned to face death freeing me from the ravages of time and age. I faced many monsters, both human and otherworldly. One day a powerful demon enacted a plan to use the Ancient One as his method of coming to this realm. My master forced me to slay him and in death passed on the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme to me.
"The Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, is a bit of a misnomer. My area of responsibility is not just this planet but this dimension. Due to the natural potential humans have in the mystic arts, however, there has not been a Sorcerer Supreme known that did not call Earth their home, though in other dimensions that is not the case. The Sorcerer Supreme is appointed and empowered by a group of gods known as the Vishanti. With the position, comes a rather impressive library of mystical texts and a hoard of some of the most powerful and dangerous magical artifacts in existence. It is the duty of the Sorcerer supreme to protect the entire dimension from mystic threats. That is not to say that I must step in every time a two bit thug learns a useful spell, but when mystics, demons, or extra-dimensional entities try to conquer, slaughter, or enchant a particularly dangerous artifact. For example, if your demon ever succeeded in escaping, it would be my duty to try and seal or banish it, and, if necessary, you."
Dr. Strange let out a sigh and sank back in his chair. "Now, Naruto, why don't you tell us about yourself and where you came from?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Shinobi no Konohagakure no Sato. I is liking ramen and people I is liking. I is no liking people who is think they is better than people because they is... close... having blood of people. I is also not liking people who is not liking people they not know or who is not liking people for something they is not doing. I is... was... wanting to be Hokage, be leader to protect people, even if I is not liking them all.
"I is born day Kyuubi is attacking Konoha. Yondaime Hokage is strong shinobi and is saving town. He is putting Kyuubi in me. I is not having tou-san or kaa-san. I is put in home for others without. There are many with no tou-san or kaa-san."
"Father and mother. Your parents," Strange interjected.
"Many is dead from Kyuubi. The people in that home is sometimes not giving me food. They is doing nothing when my food is taken or I is being hurt. One time I went in town. When I is coming back, I is being told not to go in. I is sleeping outside. I is eating from... things behind food houses."
"You were eating the trash from restaurants?"
Naruto nodded. "Is birthday again. Big omatsuri because of Hokage beating fox. The people is seeing me. New omatsuri game is created, the fox hunt. They is hurting me very bad. I is almost dead when ANBU is taking me to healing house. I is put in bed and people is not healing me. One time every day, they is bringing food, but food has bad things in it.
"Now, new ANBU is to protect me. He is not finding me in house for people without parents. He is telling Hokage. Hokage is angry. I is being found when trying to eat. Hokage is more angry. Hokage is watching as I is being healed. He is finding a place with much broken and not many people in homes. He is buying place for me. He is seeing me and giving money. I can eat only ramen because not many places sell to me. Things take many more money for me. If it is two money of others, it is five or ten for me.
"I is go to gakuin no shinobi. I is learning there how to do chakra and do jutsu. Kyuubi is making me making much chakra. I is having too much chakra for use bunshin jutsu. I is not becoming shinobi three times. I is being told by person who making me no become shinobi that there is a way to become shinobi. He is making me steal jutsu from hokage. I is do one then he is try kill me. I is told about Kyuubi. I is beating him and is being shinobi.
"I is given nakama and sensei. My nakama is no liking me when we begin. Is not good. We do much tasks and I is learn much and is being stronger. Sasuke, ono nakama, is go to being nakama of bad man. He is trying kill me, but I is try for saving him. I is being give task for finding Sasuke with new sensei and new nakama. We is fighting bad man, Orochimaru. He is making me being much angry. I use much much of Kyuubi power. Orochimaru is doing jutsu. I is in white place is like in tamago." Naruto mimed cracking an egg.
"An egg," Strange supplied.
"Is all white. Is being smaller. I hit. White is broke a little. I use all Kyuubi power and fall in snow. I is being stab through chest." Naruto pointed to six points. "No can move. Many men come. Men use gun and I is being sleeping. I is being hurt and men is putting things inside everywhere. I is waking in tube. I is running. X-23 is only not dead. I is taking X-23. We is running and you is finding us."
"Interesting. You broke through the barrier of a temporary reality pocket and was dropped into a random dimension. This means that your dimension is probably relatively close to this one."
"You can is be finding?" Naruto asked.
"Close is very relative. I meant one of the few billion closest realities. If you were willing to wait a few millennia, I might be able to find it."
"There is many many much close?" Naruto asked.
Dr. Strange nodded.
"Kuso!" Naruto cursed.
"If I can determine the location of your summoning world, it might be possible for you to return from there. It depends on how your summoning works. Some can be adjusted, and others have very fixed methods of travel. The more adjustable the technique is, the better chance I have of helping you retarget it. From what I saw, however, it will be difficult if not impossible since I think it uses a blood anchor and a an intersecting dimension. If this is the case, it may not even be possible if not in your home world."
"I is not knowing. I is shown jutsu and I is doing same. I is not being told how it is being done."
"We can discuss it later, when the language is not such a barrier. X-23, why don't you tell us about yourself."
"I don't remember anything before Naruto took me out of the tube. I know English. I know many forms of fighting, both armed and unarmed, and military strategy and tactics. I know how to kill and disable a human. I feel like some is missing, like I should know more, not like I have forgotten but like I haven't been taught it yet."
"That is troubling. There are many things you need to know to survive in society. I suppose we should cover the basics first. This will help Naruto as well.
First, this country is called the United States of America. This is often shortened to U.S.A, U.S., or just America. It was founded on three principles: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our laws generally support these goals including freedom of the press and freedom of speech. You cannot be punished for expressing your opinion, as long as you do it in such a way as it does not harm others. Everyone has the right to live, unless they threaten to take the lives of others. For example, if someone enters your property without permission, tries to harm you, or tries to steal from you, you are allowed to take any reasonable measure to protect yourself, including using weapons or harming them. Likewise, if you do the same, you are risking the same." Dr. Strange punctuated his explanations with simple illusions for Naruto's benefit. "You will find that most things will be fairly obvious. For example, cars have the right of way, so look both ways before crossing the street. Green, or sometimes white, means go." Dr. Strange showed pictured of traffic lights. "Red means stop. Yellow means to be cautious.
"We have different enforcement agencies for various fields. We have military, which handle external threats." He showed a picture of a man in a green uniform. "Then we have various special services to counter threats like spying and terrorism and events local authorities aren't equipped to handle." For this, he showed a man in a black suit. "Then we have state police. You generally won't have any interaction with them. They police areas where there is not enough population for a local police station and for enforcing state laws and boundaries." For this, he showed a man in a tan uniform. "Then, there are local police. They enforce laws and are there to protect average citizens. You should do anything they say if they are not asking you to break any laws." He showed a man in a blue uniform and a black and white car with lights on the top. "They also have special operations units that are specially trained for combat." He showed a man in riot gear and a black armored truck. "Or, for handling explosive devices." He showed a man with thick armor. "Then you have firefighters who deal with putting out fires." He showed a man in a red hardhat and yellow coat and a long red truck with ladders on the sides. "And for emergency medical situations." He showed a man in a blue uniform next to a white truck with a red plus sign on it.
"Any questions?" Dr. Strange asked. When he didn't receive a response, he continued, "These two books should help you if you think of anything." He wave a hand and a fat black book floated onto a coffee table. "This is a concise summary of the laws of this country." Another, much smaller, book floated down. "This is a driver's handbook. It will tell you the correct method of driving a vehicle, even if most people do not follow it to the letter. It is better to be vigilant and assume people will do things wrong than to get splattered across the road." He paused for a moment, then waved his hand again. Two more books floated down and landed on Naruto's lap. "One is a dictionary. It will give you definitions of words. The other is a thesaurus. It will tell you what words can mean the same thing."
Naruto looked at the size of the two books and frowned.
"I don't expect you to read them cover to cover. But, if you see or hear a word you don't recognize, this will let you find out their meanings."
Naruto opened the dictionary to a random page. "I is no can read this," Naruto complained.
"I will teach him," X-23 offered.
Naruto grinned happily and scratched the back of his head.
"Now, I know you both have healing abilities. And X-23 has claws. So you have any other powers or skills?" Dr. Strange asked.
"I know how to use several forms of martial arts. I know how to use knives, swords, singular and twin staves, handguns, sub and regular machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, explosives, missiles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, boats, planes, and helicopters. I know first aid and emergency field medicine. I know English, Spanish, French, and I am supposed to know German, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, and Latin, but I don't have any vocabulary for them. I am supposed to know international law." She continued thinking for a bit. "I know calculus and geometry, physics, chemistry, and biology. I am supposed to know literature. I believe that is everything."
"Yes, it definitely sounds like they were using a telepath to create you. They told the telepath what your mind would eventually contain, and they ordered it for you, but you escaped before they brought in everyone they were going to copy information into you from," Strange deduced, "Though it is probably good that Naruto rescued you when he did. Once your knowledge base was formed, they probably would have started with behavioral patterns, starting with absolute obedience to their wills. And you, Naruto?"
"I is knowing how to being shinobi. I is can throw kunai and shuriken. I is can fight. I is can use chakra. With chakra I can is walk on water and walls." Naruto demonstrated by flipping to land on the ceiling. "I is can use chakra for being strong and fast. I is can do jutsu. Henge." Naruto transformed into Dr. Strange. Then he smirked. "Oiroke no jutsu." Naruto transformed into a girl with only a few wisps of smoke covering her modesty. He was surprised when X-23 blushed and Dr. Strange just raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Strange is no hentai, or is much, much hentai," Naruto said, canceling the jutsu. He dropped to the floor. "Kawarimi," Naruto said, replacing himself with a wooden chair. "Kage Bunshin." There were now two of him.
"You said earlier that you couldn't do bunshin," Dr. Strange interrupted.
"Is kage bunshin. Bunshin is like you is doing police. Is no there, just see there. Takes little little chakra. I is being big, big, big, chakra."
"What is chakra precisely?" Strange queried.
"Make body strong. Make head strong. Head and body together is make chakra," Naruto explained. "All life is having chakra. If you no use when little, you is not ever getting big chakra. Is becoming hard and is not being made big." He paused for a moment. "I is can kuchiyose: Gama. Is not working here." He demonstrated the technique anyway, summoning only smoke. "Shunshin." Naruto appeared on the opposite side of the room. "Is no for fight. Is always straight. Can no stop. Can no turn. Can no see. When is stopping, is being need find me. Is for running, or is for being sugoi." He held out his hand. "Rasengan. Is being strong justu. I is being making rasengan stronger." Narutos clone hopped over and helped Naruto expand the rasengan until it was as big as he was. "Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto grinned. "Is can be breaking through big rock, then is letting go and is big bakuha." Naruto let the jutsu dissipate harmlessly. "Boom!" Naruto and his clone jumped back to show the size of the explosion.
"Some of your techniques. You were doing something with your hands." Dr. Strange said.
"Shirushi. Is making jutsu much more easy. Is making chakra being in special way. Jutsu is being much, much hard for no shirushi. No shirushi is much much much time to learn. Nidaime Hokage is using suiryuudan. Is liking jutsu much much. Is taking yon juu yon," Naruto held up the number four twice, "Shirushi when start. When is being dead, is still using one shirushi. He is being more good than all people for suiryuudan."
"Is that everything?" Dr. Strange asked.
"I is knowing little fuuinjutsu. Is needing..." Naruto grabbed one of the books and selecet a single page. "This."
"Paper," Dr. Strange said. He waved a hand and paper and a various writing implements appeared.
Naruto smiled happily as he grabbed the brush, ink, and an inkwell. He poured some ink into the ink well, then bit his thumb, allowing a few drops of blood to drip into the ink before mixing it with the paintbrush. He carefully split one piece of paper in half by folding then tearing. Then, he quickly began painting. "Is good having ink. Less blood is needed. I is being seeing Ero-sennin being making fuuinjutsu where is needing ink because is little blood for big fuuinjutsu. If I is being eating, I is not being little blood." He finished the tag and let his clone start on the second piece of paper.
Naruto handed the completed seal to Dr. Strange. "Is being kabaku fuda. Is putting chakra. One. Two. Three. Boom." Naruto jumped back eight feet. "Boom is big if paper is big." He went back to where Strange was sitting. "If is being big," Naruto gestured with his hands a size about the same as a legal sheet of paper. "Boom" Naruto jumped back and landed almost forty feet away by the far wall.
"Yes. I have seen similar sealing and script techniques."
Naruto's clone handed him the completed seal, then dispelled. "Is a putting fuinjutsu." Naruto piled the writing implements on the seal and focused chakra into the seal. All the writing implements disappeared. Focusing chakra again, they came back."
"Interesting. That technique must be similar to the one that ended up sending you here."
"Is not can be using on people. Is no time, but people is having chakra. Chakra is keeping time and people is becoming dead."
Dr. Strange nodded. There were many techniques that only affected inanimate matter. He would need to do more investigation of chakra. Dr. Strange stood and walked to one of the bookshelves. "On these two shelves are my reference materials for this type of spell. You may read them if you like. You may be able to learn some new techniques.
"Eh... Arigatou..." Naruto said a little flatly. It was not that he didn't appreciate the offer, but he had always learned better by doing than through books. He was never a fan of books. Of course, that could be because he had not been taught to read much more than the Ichiraku menu until after he had started the academy and had complained to the third hokage about all the extra readings that he couldn't do. After that, Weasel, Dog, and Neko had each shown up a few times a week during their protection shifts to work on it with him. He had still never gotten as good as his classmates. A good portion of his three year training trip had been calligraphy training so that he could write well enough to actually create seals.
"Well, now that we know each other better, I suppose I should show you how this place works. It can be confusing if it is you're new."
Dr. Strange led Naruto and X-23 through the building, pointing out the clues to recognize trick corridors, illusory walls, and booby traps. He eventually ended up at a pair of rather plain bedrooms that were opposite each other. They each had a wooden dresser, a mirror, a queen-sized bed, and a small closet. On each door was a bronze plaque.
"Wipe some blood on the plaque," Dr. Strange instructed. When they did, their names appeared embossed on the metal. "That should help you find your rooms if you get lost."
From there, Dr. Strange led them to a fairly standard kitchen, if you did not count the fact that there was a large fireplace set up to boil a cauldron over. He showed them where to find the usual dishes, utensils, spices, and common food items. Naruto didn't recognize anything except a few of the vegetables, eggs, rice, salt and milk.
"Is there ramen?" Naruto asked.
"I don't eat the stuff. It is quite unhealthy. If you want some, I know of an Asian restaurant nearby that sells some soups you could try once you find a source of money. Or you can buy the instant stuff from any supermarket."
X-23 looked just as lost in the ramen-free kitchen as Naruto did, but then, the sum total of her cooking experience was impaling meat on a stick and holding it over a fire.
"If you want to learn, you'll just need to help out when it comes time to prepare meals."
"Clones can be making clean," Naruto suggested. He didn't want to just be a freeloader.
"Thank you, Naruto. I'll tell you whenever I have a boring task that no one wants to do," Dr. Strange said with a smirk. "Next, I will show you how to get in and out. If you don't know how to get in, all you will find is an empty building."
This process was fairly simple, just approach the door and perform a certain pattern with the knocker if your blood had been added to a small brass bowl hanging above the inside of the entrance. If you did, then you would be teleported in. Guests could be brought in by opening the door from the inside which was the same process for leaving.
"Now, why don't you familiarize yourself with the city for a few hours before dinner time while I make some preparations."