Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: AU for parts of both worlds (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), mild character bashing, mild to moderate violence (there are shinobi involved after all), and a few others that will be announced as they crop up.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

Chapter 4: A Family Found

Monday, May 24, 1999, Late Afternoon
Elemental District, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

"Come in and have a seat, Naruto-kun," Naoki urged as the blond knocked on the door to announce his presence. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

Naruto slipped into the room and quietly sat down while he waited for the man to finish what he was doing (the endless bouncing and swinging of his legs the only evidence of his once boundless energy to be found). Just a few minutes later, Naoki set aside the paperwork he'd been going through and studied the antsy blond for a moment.

"I called you to my office today because we've finally managed to pinpoint the last known location of your uncle as the town of Cokeworth in Kent, England," Naoki began after he'd finished his visual inspection. "Unfortunately, your uncle and his wife were killed in an automobile accident on August first nineteen-seventy-seven."

"He's dead?" Naruto blurted out in shock as the excitement he'd felt the moment Naoki had said his uncle had been found twisted into grief and utter disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun; I know how much you were looking forward to finding and meeting your uncle. There is still a chance that you have family out there, your uncle and his wife had two daughters; Petunia and Lily. Your cousin Lily vanished shortly after her eleventh birthday in nineteen-seventy-one and is presumed dead as we've not been able to locate any records for her after her disappearance. However, your cousin Petunia married a man by the name of Vernon Dursley on April fifteenth of nineteen-seventy-eight and they have one son named Dursley Dudley who will be nineteen this year. If you'd like, I can try to track them down for you."

Naruto chewed on his lip for a long time before he replied, "Could you please…? They are still family…"

"Of course we will; I'll let you know the moment we find them."

"Thanks, Naoki-jijii."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun; now get out of here and go burn off some energy."

Naruto laughed and bolted out of the room so he could find a quiet place to think about what he had just learned that afternoon. On one hand, he was happy to know that he still had family out there but on the other hand, he was sad to know that his uncle had died. The man had been the driving force behind his leaving Konoha and he would have been someone that would have understood Naruto due to their shared origins. He was also a bit disappointed to learn that he didn't have any cousins his age.

The eight year old didn't stay depressed for long as he threw himself into his lessons with renewed determination in the hopes that it wouldn't take any where near as long to track down his cousins as it had to find his uncle. His English lessons were given priority now that it was confirmed that he would need to know the language in order to easily communicate with his cousins (since there was no guarantee that Petunia been taught Japanese by his uncle before he died). His history lessons also shifted to focus on England's current affairs and the island nation's history for the last one hundred years.

Six and a half weeks later, Naoki interrupted Naruto's lunch to tell him that they'd tracked down his cousin's family. The man tried to talk the eight year old into writing a letter to the woman to introduce himself but Naruto stubbornly insisted on both introducing himself in person and traveling alone. Naoki eventually caved and helped Naruto prepare for his trip to England (the older man fully aware of just how independent Naruto still was despite his age). He'd at least managed to talk the eight year old out of traveling on foot.

To start with, two identities were created for Naruto; one for his eight year old self (which included changing his last name to Evans) and one for his chaperon which would be played by one of his clones. He then converted all of the money he'd been saving since he arrived from yen to pounds sterling (bar what he'd need to pay for his trip), traded all of his paper ryō for pounds, and had Naoki auction off two complete sets of ryō coins (each set containing one coin of each denomination in mint or near mint condition) to the highest bidders; netting the blond close to two and a half million yen that was then also converted into British pounds (with a small commission being paid to the Elemental District).

Daisuke then took Naruto to purchase a small luggage set (to keep up appearances), a couple sets of nicer clothes, and a bunch of reading books (in both Japanese and English), music CDs, travel games (word searches, crossword puzzles, and sudoku puzzles), and coloring books and colored pencils (he was still a kid after all) to keep him from getting bored during his flight. He also stocked up on cheep (but healthy) snacks and drinks in case he got hungry during the twelve hour flight.

The things that he'd brought with him when he left Konoha were carefully reorganized into a single, larger custom scroll that was eighteen inches tall, nearly eight inches in diameter, and roughly twenty feet in length when unrolled. All of his tracings had then been copied over properly onto smaller scrolls to preserve them before they were individually sealed into storage seals within the larger scroll. The nature of the scroll was then disguised with a thin layer of rice paper that had been painted with water colors; turning the storage scroll into a family heirloom which would allow Naruto to carry it tied to the bottom of his backpack through security and customs with little to no hassle.

Friday, July 30, 1999, Afternoon
Asahikawa Airport, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

Naruto climbed out of the taxi with his backpack in hand on the heels of one of his Kage Bunshin wearing a henge that looked suspiciously like Kanzaki Teuchi (the ramen chef from Konoha). He trembled with barely suppressed excitement as he glanced up to watch an airplane flying overhead. While he'd enjoyed the past several months he'd stayed with the Sasaki family, he was really looking forward to meeting his family.

"Come on, Naruto-kun; let's get the two of you checked in," Naoki instructed as he finished paying the taxi driver and stepped beside Naruto and his disguised clone.

Checking in was a fairly simple matter as there wasn't much of a line. All they had to do was confirm their reservations for the next flight to Tokyo International Airport (also known as Haneda Airport), send the two suitcases (filled with a few changes of clothes, extra toiletries, and a few other odds and ends) through the baggage check, and collect their tickets. Naoki then escorted the pair through the airport to their assigned loading terminal and made certain that they had no trouble getting through security before he reluctantly bid the eight year old goodbye.

"Take care, Naruto-kun; call me the moment you arrive in London and get settled in."

"I will, Naoki-jijii," Naruto thickly replied. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome, gaki," Naoki replied as he ruffled Naruto's hair before he crouched down and addressed the eight year old in a serious tone. "If things don't work out with your cousin, I want you to know that you're welcome to come back and stay with us. No matter what, you will always have a place in the Elemental District and I hope you'll keep in touch with us; even if you do find a home in England with your relatives."

"I won't ever forget you or my friends here in Asahikawa, dattebayo," Naruto swore as he gave Naoki a large grin and two thumbs up.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto was gripping the armrests of his window seat as the plane rushed down the runway and lifted off the ground. The eight year old whipped his head sideways and stared out the window with wide eyes as the ground fell away. He then let out a gasp of awe as they reached cruising altitude and he saw the entirety of Japan, a good portion of continental Asia, and a large expanse of ocean below him. He almost envied the birds their freedom to see the world from the heavens any time they wanted to but at the same time it was more than a little daunting to see just how large the world truly was with his own eyes.

"Is this your son's first time flying?" the middle aged woman seated in the aisle seat of their row asked of Naruto's adult clone.

"He's not my son; I was appointed by the courts to escort him to his only remaining family," the clone corrected politely using the excuse they'd come up with for his presence as he looked up from the book he was reading. "But yes, this is his first time on an airplane."

"Gomen, I did not mean to assume…"

"Maa, maa; don't worry about it, no harm done."

Naruto and his clone were left to themselves at that point, the woman still a bit embarrassed about her very minor social blunder. Naruto didn't mind as he enjoyed watching the clouds moving in the distance or staring down at the world below them. Sadly, the small hop from Asahikawa to Tokyo was no where near long enough and before Naruto was ready, the plane was circling around the airport as it dropped lower. He nearly started hyperventilating when he saw just how large the capital city of Japan was in comparison to Asahikawa and the other nearby towns and cities that he'd visited over the past few months.

Sure, he'd seen pictures of large cities but pictures didn't quite capture the sheer size of the sprawling metropolis spread out beneath the plane.

He avoided a panic attack by reminding himself that he didn't have to actually set foot in the city as he only had a three hour layover in Tokyo before he boarded the plane that would take him to Great Britain. All thoughts about the size of Tokyo flew out of the eight year old's mind when he was introduced to the crowded halls of Haneda Airport; he was far too busy trying to figure out where he needed to go next and almost wishing he'd not been quite so determined to travel alone. Thankfully, the airport staff were happy to give him directions (or rather they gave his clone directions) and the two of them went through the check in process a second time (their luggage being transported over separately).

The eight year old took a small side trip to the bathroom to replace his clone (since it had taken a few hits as they walked through the airport and Naruto feared the next accidental shove might dispel the clone or the henge it wore) before he all but plastered himself to the window in the waiting area so he could watch the planes take off and land. He couldn't wait to for his next flight to take off; the blond eager to see what the world looked like from the sky during the night (the sun had set shortly after their first flight had landed.

Naruto's temporary guardian (his clone) drew him away from the window forty-five minutes before they were due to board their flight and reminded him to eat the bento that Izumi had given to him before he left. When he opened up the beautifully carved wooden bento box she'd packed the meal in (a gift from the kind woman), Naruto felt a lump form in his throat as he found three onigiri decorated to look like Kenichi, Daisuki, and Naruto in addition to the chilled shrimp, a small garden salad, and a couple of Naruto's favorite cookies. Taped to the top of the lid in a protective plastic cover, was Izumi's family recipe for salt ramen.

Wiping the moisture from his eyes, Naruto dug into the delicious meal with gusto after carefully transferring the sacred recipe for the food of the gods into his backpack where he knew it wouldn't get lost. He'd place it with the dozens of other ramen recipes he'd diligently gathered later (there was no denying that the blond was utterly obsessed with ramen and completely devoted to devouring as many different types of ramen as possible). Being able to make such heavenly food whenever he wanted (thanks to the recipes and cooking lessons from Izumi) was just an added bonus.

Naruto finished his meal and wiped out the bento box with a couple of napkins (to keep it from growing mold or starting to smell of rotten food since it would be a while before he could wash the box out) just five minutes before one of the flight attendants announced that his flight would begin boarding those individuals seated in first class and those traveling with children. Naruto and his clone were two of the first people to line up; the eight year old vibrating with excitement as their tickets were checked and they were allowed to enter the jetway leading to the plane.

The moment he found their seats, Naruto tucked his backpack beneath the seat in front of him, put on his seatbelt (so he wouldn't forget later) and plastered his face back to the window as he stared out at the glaring lights of the city in the distance. Naruto was twitching with impatience ten minutes later as the other passengers were still looking for their seats, stowing their belongings, and sitting down. He wouldn't settle down until the airplane began taxing out to the runway while the flight attendants gave the same safety demonstration they'd given on his first flight. Naruto barely listened to them as he kept craning his neck back and forth so he could see as much of the darkened landscape and bright lights as possible.

And then they were speeding down the runway and lifting off the ground once more and Naruto would spend most of the flight with his face once more glued to the window. He barely pulled his attention away from the view (even when there was nothing to see but dark clouds and the stars) to eat the in-flight meal (Naruto eating both his meal and the clone's since there was really no point in the clone eating). His clone, on the other hand, spent the flight working on the sudoku puzzles, watching the in-flight movie, and pretending to keep an eye on the original Naruto.

If anyone who had known Naruto prior to his leaving Konoha had seen him sitting quietly and practically unmoving as he stared out the window, they would have immediately assumed that he was an imposter because Naruto never sat still.

At least he hadn't prior to spending time in the Elemental District where his boundless energy had been given an abundance of outlets so that he wasn't quite so hyper all of the time. Oh, he still tended to be constantly in motion ninety percent of the time (especially when he was excited) but he could now actually sit still for hours at a time without feeling completely restless simply because his days had been filled with tons of activities. His attention span had also increased due to the increase in physical and mental activities and his growing control over his abundance of chakra.

It was now quite easy for him to focus for an hour at a time before he grew bored with the time exponentially increasing for those topics or activities that he found interesting (such as enjoying the view outside of the plane's window or completing sudoku puzzles – he absolutely loved number games and recognizing the patterns in groups of numbers came easy to him).

Naruto almost let out a whine when the captain announced that they were approaching Heathrow International Airport in London, England (another overwhelmingly large city). The only thing that stopped him from voicing a complaint, was the fact that he'd been sitting still for far too long and now that he was no longer so focused on the view, he was beginning to feel the need to move set in (he had been sitting still for an abnormally long period of time). He was once again twitching with impatience by the time the plane touched down and began heading towards the terminal gate.

The hour and a half it took to get through customs once they were allowed off the plane didn't help and a number of the other passengers glared at him in annoyance while a few of the more understanding passengers actually allowed Naruto's clone and Naruto to cut in front of them. The familiar cold glares he'd received from a number of people that had little patience for children actually helped him calm down as it brought back painful memories of living in Konoha.

They were met just outside of the customs area by the taxi driver that Naoki had arranged to meet him at the airport (to save Naruto the need to try and flag down a taxi in the rush of people coming and going). The man helped them navigate through the maze that was Heathrow so they could pick up Naruto's luggage before they headed outside to where the cab driver had parked his car. The ride to the hotel where Naruto would be staying for a couple of days (to allow him to adjust to the time differences and to get a feel for the new culture he was entering) was made in complete silence as the eight year old stared out the car window at the sheer number of buildings, people, and cars that appeared everywhere he looked despite the time of night (which was after midnight London time).

By the time they had arrived at the hotel, paid the cab fare, checked into the hotel, and unlocked their room, Naruto was exhausted despite the fact that he hadn't really done anything but sit around for the last eighteen or twenty hours. The eight year old hung up the do-not-disturb on the door (to let the hotel staff know not to wake him up in the morning), locked the door, dismissed his clone, changed into his pajamas, and crawled into bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow and would not wake up until well after noon the next day.

After taking a shower and washing out his bento box, Naruto created eight new clones and set seven of them to working on chakra control exercises (one in the tub to work on Suimen Hokou no Waza, five to climb the walls for Kinobori no Waza, and one to practice Ha no Noudo using a bunch of leaves he'd stored in storage scrolls before he'd left the Elemental District. The final clone used the henge to take the form of his temporary guardian so he could call the front desk to ask the staff on duty to call for a taxi. Before he left with his faux guardian, Naruto reminded the clones that he was leaving behind to hide if the maid came in while he were gone.

The eight year old then headed down to the lobby to wait for his ride, taking the time to ask a couple of the workers where there was a good place to get some Japanese food (specifically ramen). Armed with the names of three restaurants to try, Naruto bravely stepped outside of the hotel to face Greater London as his taxi arrived. His first stop was the first of the recommended restaurants for lunch (Naruto had his priorities after all). After three bowls of what he considered inferior ramen, Naruto and his clone paid for their food and slipped outside to find an out of the way place where he could call up a few dozen Kage Bunshin without anyone seeing him.

Half an hour later, the bird population of London jumped by two hundred in the blink of an eye as dozens of crows, sparrows, starlings, and pigeons took the air. Naruto and his 'guardian' then spent the rest of the afternoon doing touristy things; like visiting Hyde Park so Naruto could burn off some energy. After the sunset, the pair went to the second Japanese restaurant that had been recommended to him and he had six bowls of some tasty beef ramen (though it still fell short of Izumi's heavenly salt ramen).

Once Naruto finished his ramen, the two of them took a nighttime tour via taxi of some of the more notable landmarks in the area (Big Ben and the London Eye two such places) before they returned to their hotel for the evening. He'd fall asleep shortly after returning when the fatigue his clones had built up doing the chakra control exercises for most of the hit him. The next day, Naruto would stay in the hotel room all day working on his taijutsu katas, chakra control exercises, and sorting through his memories from the clones that had been out exploring the city all night long as they dispersed in groups of five every ten to fifteen minutes.

If he hadn't been so nervous about meeting his cousins the next day, he might have spent the day sightseeing again but he couldn't really bring himself to face the city while his stomach was all tied up in knots. Before he went to sleep that night, he made certain to seal all of his belongings bar his backpack into a scroll (including his suitcases) so he wouldn't leave anything behind by mistake.

Monday, August 02, 1999, Late Morning
No. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, England

Naruto nervously hovered behind the Kage Bunshin wearing the face of his chosen 'guardian' while he waited for someone to answer the door. He'd arrived at the address that Naoki had provided him just a few minutes earlier and his stomach felt like he'd swallowed a ton of rocks; all heavy and knotted. Before he could work himself into a complete panic, the door was opened by a thin woman with a rather long neck, dark blonde hair liberally streaked with gray, and blue eyes that were washed out in comparison to Naruto's vibrant sapphire orbs.

"Good morning," Naruto's clone greeted neutrally as the woman gave the pair of them a rather plastic smile while her eyes flashed with annoyance (making the real Naruto tense up).

"Whatever it is you are selling, we are not interested," the woman snapped as her fake smile immediately became a scowl for some reason.

"My apologies, I am not selling anything; I am looking for a Dursley Petunia, formerly Evans Petunia, and was given this address."

"What do you want?"

"My charge wished to meet with you and your family since according to our records, you are his only surviving family."

"What!?" Petunia all but screeched as her eyes bugged out. "No. No, that's impossible; I have no other family."

"I have valid documentation proving that this young man is your father's nephew…"

"Shush…" Petunia hissed vehemently as she leaned out and glanced up and down the street before roughly pulling both the clone and Naruto into the house and slamming the door shut. "Have you no decency? Showing up here without so much as a by-your-leave or a warning only to start spouting lies while standing in full view of the entire neighborhood! My father was an only child!"

"I have birth certificates…"

"I don't care! I already dealt with one ungrateful brat that was dumped on my porch; I'm not about to deal with another!"

"Like I'd want to live with an ugly old hag like you anyway," Naruto snapped as he glared at the woman that was supposedly one of his only living family members; his heart hurting with the knowledge that his cousin could be so cruel. "I only wanted to meet you because you were family."

"How dare you call me names you… you wretched brat!"

"You started it, you stupid hag," Naruto's clone disguised clone maturely pointed out.

Petunia spluttered indignantly for several seconds before she lashed out and slapped Naruto's clone across the face; the blow hard enough to dispel the Kage Bunshin in a cloud of smoke. The woman let out a strangled scream as her eyes went even wider and her hands flew up to cover her mouth in utter horror. The expression on her face then turned positively ugly as she fixed her eyes on the startled Naruto (the eight year old had not expected the woman to actually hit his clone, let alone hit it hard enough to dispel it).

"Freak! Demon! Monster!" Petunia exclaimed in a hissing screech. "How dare you pollute my home with your unnaturalness!" The woman then began wringing her hands as a fearful look passed over her face. "They'll know… just like they knew when they dropped that other ungrateful wretch on our porch! I'll not have it…! Not again! But they will be watching. They are always watching. What will I do..? I won't keep another filthy freak in the house. I won't!"

The woman paced back and forth, practically frothing at the mouth as she rubbed at her face and neck with frantic hands every so often. Naruto remained frozen in the middle of the hallway; the woman currently standing between him and the only exit he was aware of. Fear coiled in the blond's belly as the woman finally recalled his presence and she reached out, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck unexpectedly, and half dragged, half pushed him down the hall.

"Vernon will know what to do; he'll fix everything this time. I'll call him right now," Petunia babbled as she stopped beside a small door in the middle of the hallway, opened the door, and shoved Naruto inside what turned out to be a rather small closet before she slammed the door shut and locked the door behind him. "You stay right there you wretched little monster! My husband will deal with you when he gets home."

Naruto fell back against the wall and slid down onto the floor before he curled up on himself and tried not to cry as reality crashed down around him; he was trapped in a closet in the house of a crazy woman and no one knew he was there (aside from a handful of people back in Japan). Maybe he should have listened to Naoki and written a letter first.

Naruto had no idea how long he'd been locked in the small closet before he heard a door slam open and an angry voice bellow out as the house fairly shook under heavy footsteps, "Where'd you stash the new freak, Pet?"

"I locked him in the cupboard; I didn't know what else to do with him," Petunia whined frantically, her tone borderline hysterical.

"Did any of the neighbors see him?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone saw him or the other freak that dropped him off but I can't be sure. They caught me off guard this morning when they showed up out of the blue. What are we going to do, Vernon?"

"We'll get rid of him. We might not have been able to dump the last brat on the streets to live in the gutter where he belonged but there's nothing to stop us from ditching the newest freak; that ruddy Dumbfeldork bloke is dead. We'll keep the boy in the cupboard until the weekend and then I'll take him up north and throw him in the river or something."

"Are you sure it will be safe to wait that long?"

"Yes, I don't want him to end up somewhere too close because he's liable to find his way back here again and bring more of the freaks with him. I'll run to the store and pick up a few more locks to for the door to keep him from using his freakishness to get out like the boy did. I'll shove the couch in front of the door for now just in case he tries any funny business while I'm gone. I'll pick up some take away for supper on the way back so you won't have to worry about cooking."

"Thank you, dear; I don't know what I would do without you, Vernon."

The man, Vernon, grunted in response before a loud scraping sound was heard as a fairly large piece of furniture was position in front of the door to the closet. Naruto sank even deeper into despair as he wrapped his arms around his legs and pressed his face into his knees; his relatives not only hated his guts but they were talking about killing him. Knowing that it was his relatives, his own flesh and blood, that were speaking of him in that way (when they really didn't know him) hurt far worse than anything the villagers of Konoha had said or done to him. He eventually drifted off to sleep as a steady stream of tears trickled down his face.

He snapped awake sometime later when he heard something heavy being shoved aside followed by several unfamiliar curse words and unrecognizable sounds. A moment later, a grinding whir sounded as someone did something to the door to Naruto's makeshift prison. It took a moment for the eight year old to realize that Vernon must have returned from the store and that the man was probably installing the locks he'd spoken of buying.

Angry over the way he was being treated, Naruto launched himself at the door and began pounding on it as he demanded, "Let me out of here, teme!"

"Shut up, freak, or I'll bury you out in the backyard until I can get rid of your body!"

Naruto recoiled in horror over the threat and immediately stuffed himself in the smallest corner of the closet in the hopes that he'd be overlooked if the man actually attempted to carry out his threat. Once the man was finished doing whatever it was he was doing to the door, he stomped off. He tensely sat huddled up beneath the slanted and uneven roof of the closet for several hours listening to the muted sounds that floated to his prison from somewhere else in the house before pounding footsteps shook the ceiling as they traveled upwards.

Silence settled over the entire house not long after that and Naruto sniffled a bit as he tightened his arms around his knees and tried not to think about the fact that his relatives somehow already knew about the Kyuubi (they'd called him a demon, after all) and that they intended to kill him. He eventually drifted off to sleep once more where he was plagued by old and new nightmares until the faint sound of metal scraping against metal dragged him back into consciousness. Two minutes later, the door to the closet silently swung open as a small triangle of light pierced the gloom within.

"Hey, kid; are you alright?" a voice asked in a low volume that wouldn't carry very far and Naruto couldn't help the small whimper that escaped as he pressed himself further backwards when a blond head appeared and began searching the closet for him. "Hey, don't be afraid; I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I'm really sorry about the way my parents are treating you; they've been like that for as long as I can remember and they only got worse after the war."

The person soon caught sight of Naruto huddled in the back of the closest and the look on his face grew sad when Naruto didn't say anything. The boy or possibly young man then sighed and glanced upwards before he sat down in the doorway and leaned back against the door jam.

"I suppose I can't blame you for not trusting me; I wouldn't trust me either if I'd had to put up with all of the things that mum and dad said and did. I'd really, really like to help you though. I already sent off a letter to Harry in the hopes that he'll be able to come get you before dad carries out his threats."

"Who's Harry and… and are you Dursley Dudley?" Naruto tentatively asked as the unfamiliar name immediately caught his attention.

"Harry's my cousin… well, I suppose he'd be your cousin too if you really are mum's cousin like that man said you were this morning; he's Aunt Lily's son. And yes, I'm Dudley Dursley. Is there a reason why you keep saying our names backwards?"

"Gomen… er, sorry, I keep forgetting that first and last names are mixed up in English; I'm still learning to speak your language."

"Don't sweat the small stuff kid; it's not that big of a deal. What language do you usually speak if it's not English?"

"Japanese; I was born just outside of Japan. Did you say the Harry guy you mentioned earlier was Lily's son? Wasn't Lily Petunia's younger sister? I thought she died when she was eleven, how could she have a kid if she died when she was just a kid?"

"Aunt Lily had Harry before she died when I was still a baby. Harry was just a few months younger than I was at the time and he came here to live with mum and dad. That's kind of cool that you're from Japan. One of these days I'd love to travel around the world and visit different countries."

Naruto shrugged in response and relaxed a bit as he slowly grew comfortable in the older boy's presence.

"So, what's your name?" Dudley asked after the two of them stared at each other in the dim light for several minutes.

"Uzu… er, Evans Naruto."

"Narto would be your first name, right?"

"Hai… er, yes; Na-ru-to, is my first name," Naruto corrected even as he nodded.

"It's really nice to meet you, Naruto. Could you tell me what it was you said before said your name? Oo-zoo, I think it was."

"I almost used my mother's last name because that's what I thought my last name was for a long time until I learned about my father and his uncle. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina."

"Where are your parents?"

"They died when I was just a baby."

"You really do have quite a bit in common with Harry," Dudley stated in surprise as he shifted just enough for the light to illuminate his pale blue eyes. "My mum and dad stuffed him in this cupboard when he was little too and he can do all kinds of cool tricks and stuff but my parents can't stand the things he does. Anyway, what do you say we get you out of here so you can go to the bathroom and clean up while I fix you a little something to eat? You can stay in my room with me until we hear from Harry."

"Won't you get in trouble for letting me out?" Naruto asked skeptically as he eyed his cousin.

"Only if they find out but they won't even check to make certain you're still there if I lock the cupboard back up once you're out. You'll just need to be really quiet or else mum and dad will hear you and there's no telling how they'll react to finding you out of the cupboard."

Naruto studied the older boy for a full minute before he crawled towards him; he really didn't want to stay in the closet any longer.

Translations: Japanese to English

Gaki – brat
Gomen/Gomen nasai – I'm sorry
Hai – yes
Maa, maa – now, now or there, there (a phrase used to placate someone)
Teme – bastard/jerk (rude way of saying you)

Techniques/Skills:

Ha no Noudo – Leaf Concentration
Henge no Jutsu – Transformation technique
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone
Kinobori no Waza – Tree climbing
Suimen Hokou no Waza – Water walking

Notes:

Naruto's brief imprisonment – I can hear people screaming from here about the fact that Naruto should have been able to escape from the cupboard in a heartbeat using his clones or a jutsu or some other shinobi skill. My reasoning for not having done so (aside from developing the plot) involves the fact that he was blindsided by Petunia's hatred and insanity (without any warning) and he was more than a little shocked by her extreme reaction to both his very existence and to the 'death' of his clone.

He's also an eight year old kid who has just learned that his relatives want to 'kill' or 'dispose' of him (something he thinks they've done before due to the things Petunia said about dealing with 'another one') and he basically froze up. Much like a twelve year old Naruto froze when Team Seven encountered the Demon Brothers in canon during the Wave Mission.

10-24-15: Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes.