CHAPTER THREE:

August the twenty fourth had come. The day before the long awaited deadline. To say six months passed quickly for Naruto was an understatement; the time practically flew by. Upon dragging every copy of the Hogwarts curriculum back to his small apartment on the outskirts of Konoha, Naruto promptly locked himself away and began to delve into the volumes of information at his fingertips. The outside world stopped mattering. His friends of old took a back seat. Hell, he even started to ignore any and all of the Hokage's summons to her office as the weeks passed. He was hooked, utterly and irreversibly hooked, and no one was going to stop him until he was done.

It was a good thing too, because it actually took him the entire six months to properly absorb every piece of information that he could from the books. Not for the first time, he thoroughly thanked the old Kyuubi no Kitsune for his astounding memory retention and comprehension abilities. Unlike his days at school when he was young, everything seemed to make sense. Everything that is, except for the irritating art of divination. No matter how much he seemed to read up on the subject, not a single aspect computed in his vast, analytical mind.

Most people would have given up. After all, divination was an elective subject. If he didn't like it he could certainly take up another course, such as Ancient Ruins or Muggle Studies. But Naruto wasn't most people. With the integrated mind of an all knowing demon fox, he now found that struggling with a subject just was not ok.

"STUPID GOD-DAMNED BALLS!" he screamed at the top of his lungs somewhere during the fourth month of his studies. He was focusing greatly on the art of crystal ball reading, and for the life of him he couldn't see how a sane, normal person could possible expect to see anything worthwhile in a ball of solid glass! It was stupid.

That wasn't the only thing he struggled with. Aside with the dilemma of perfecting an art he absolutely sucked at, Naruto also found it hard to continue studying without being able to actually practice what he was learning. Potions especially. While transfiguration seemed interesting, changing forms of things was something he could do every day with the thousands of jutsu at his disposal. Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts were just other ways of causing mayhem (in Naruto's mind in any case) but Potions was unique. The ability to brew a liquid of luck or cause an everlasting sleep drew him in firmly. It was nothing he had ever heard of in the Shinobi Nations before, and so, it fascinated him.

But, even with the evil subject and practical magic cravings, he pushed through, and by the 24th of August was finally sealing away his countless magical novels into scrolls to be taken with ease to the Hogwarts School. Falling into bed that night exhausted, Naruto could hardly wait for 9am tomorrow; the time Dumbledore was set to arrive, so that his next bizarre and totally unexpected journey could begin.

"*SNOOOOORRRRE*"

The low, grumbling sound echoed from the blonde's throat, pulling unwilling neighbours from the clutches of sleep and simultaneously infuriating the twitching Hokage standing with her fist raised at the front door. 9am had finally come…

And passed.

Over an hour ago.

And still, that soon-to-be-very-battered-blonde was snoozing away like it was any other day. Tsunade, her patience quickly evaporating (not that she had any anyway), steeled her steel edged glare at the door and counted. One. Two.

"NARUTOOOO!" she howled, bashing open the front door with a bang and storming into the boy's bedroom. Hauled from sleep, Naruto shot up into a sitting position in bed, blinking around stupidly in the morning light.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't do it!" he announced in a hurry, before everything settled down from his morning delirium and he noticed the fuming presence of his pseudo-elder sister. "Oh, morning baa-chan. Didn't see you there. What are you doing here so early, huh?"

BAM.

After a fifteen minute beating, ten minutes of high volume arguing, five minutes of hurried dressing and a further five of travel, the growling Hokage and her black and blue charge finally arrived in one (semi) piece back at the office. Naruto was mumbling sadistically to himself, eyes glinting dangerously as his gaze darted back and forth from Tsunade to the wall.

"It's nice to see you again, Naruto-kun," Dumbledore said amusedly from his seat by the Hokage's desk. He was wearing a vivid purple robe this time, complimented by a purple, star covered pointed hat. Naruto looked up from his plotting, gave a final hiss at Tsunade, before smiling.

"Nice to see you again, old man," he said happily. Until a chakra-coated fist landed squarely on the top of his skull.

"Be respectful, brat," Tsunade hissed as Naruto cried out in outraged pain and irritation. Dumbledore could only watch on as the madness escalated into yet another broadcasted argument. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Naruto Namikaze would be a very interesting addition to his school this year.

Seeing that the fight was not going to stop without a mediator, he loudly cleared his throat. The noise cut off, and two vicious glares spun his way.

"Now, now, no need to look so serious," he said, ignoring the killing intent directed in his direction, "As much fun as it is watching you showing your affection for each other," queue loud growls, "I am on a tight schedule and must plead we move onwards. The Anbu team has already been successfully sent on ahead to Hogwarts School, an unexpected benefit of Naruto-kun's lateness, and so it is time to move onto the next aspect. Being Naruto's own departure."

"Of course," Tsunade said seriously, straightening out her clothing where that blonde brat had ruffled them. She spun her brown eyes towards her little brother, softening. "Are you ready for this, Naruto? If you feel yourself struggling you can always return to Konoha."

"Yeah right baa-chan," Naruto scoffed loudly, "As if I'm going to pass up on learning magic! I mean, what is cooler than a demon fox magician?" He laughed at the exasperated expression on Tsunade's face. Suddenly, he found himself pulled forward, straight into the tightening arms of his godmother.

"You be careful, brat," she whispered in his ear as she held him closely. "I know you're on the outside world, but here you are still being hunted. Even more so than usual due to Jiraiya's idiotic fiddling. Don't do anything stupid. Keep the ears a secret. And come back safe for crying out loud!"

"I will, baa-chan," Naruto said softly, before pulling away from the hug. Then he grinned. "Besides, nothing can stop me now that I'm the amazing Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Demon Fox extraordinaire and now epic wizard in training!" He finished his announcement with a large, Jiraiya imitating flourish. Tsunade sighed.

"Go away before that idiot pervert can corrupt you any further," she snapped.

Saluting mock seriously, Naruto made his way over to the patiently waiting professor, who smiled down on him warmly and held out his arm.

"Time to go then, Naruto-kun," he said. Naruto frowned, reaching out his hand to the obviously proffered arm.

"So how are we going to g-," his hand clamped down on Dumbledore's arm and with a pulling, squeezing sensation, they were gone.

"Never again. Never, ever, ever, EVER again!"

Naruto had quickly decided apparition was not his mode of transportation. Even now after five minutes of retching his guts onto the pavement of a street, the nauseating, stretching, squeezing feeling refused to leave him alone, resulting in a foul tempered demon fox and a highly amused elder wizard.

"I am most terribly sorry," Dumbledore said sincerely, although his eyes seemed to twinkle with more than just sympathy, "I should have given you the warning early. Side-along apparition does come with a rather uncomfortable feeling for unexperienced travellers."

"Uncomfortable?" Naruto questioned incredulously. Dumbledore just chuckled lightly.

After another few moments of taming his churning stomach and righting his spinning world, Naruto was good to go, and the silver-haired wizard promptly spun on his heel and began walking swiftly down the road. Frowning, Naruto jogged to his side and followed.

"So… where are we exactly?" he asked curiously, looking around at the brick house lined streets, cobblestone roads and glowing street lights with an interested gaze. The design of this place was nothing like the familiar set out of Konoha. "I mean, I know we have travelled to beyond the barrier surrounding the Elemental Nations, but you never let me know where in the hell you have taken me. All I know is that Hogwarts is located somewhere in the middle of Scotland."

"I see you have been reading my materials properly then," Dumbledore said happily. Naruto nodded. "Most excellent. But, we are not in Scotland. We are in fact in England, its capital city London to be precise. You will be staying here with a certain… group… until you are put on the train to Hogwarts in three days' time."

"A group?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes, a group. They are some of my oldest and most trusted colleagues and I believe you will get along swimmingly. Some of them have a few children around your age," inwardly Dumbledore chuckled at the tame description of 'few', "that you can get to know. It really is the best place for you to begin your educational journey with."

"Right," Naruto muttered, falling silent. He wanted nothing more than to question further, but for some reason, he was getting the vibe to stay silent. At least for the moment. Maybe Dumbledore, or these group members, would be more open when they arrived.

Closing his mouth and looking ahead, Naruto instead focused on the new people he was soon to meet. Admittedly, he was excited to talk to people his own age who didn't have any misconceptions about him. The fuzzies were firmly hidden beneath a kitsune illusion (an ability he had joyously discovered in the archives of Kurama's memories – much to Tsunade's disgust when he developed the ability to not only hide his fox features, but place interesting extra bits on the bodies of others that refused to be dispelled by their unhappy victims) and he now appeared as a completely Average-Joe civilian. Normal. Human. It was a welcome and exciting change, and he only hoped he would finally be accepted for himself instead of what he carried – or was, now.

It wasn't long and the odd pair was halting out the front of a row of identical houses. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked quietly. He was about to continue on when he noticed something extremely odd. His jaw dropped.

They were standing in between two houses on the street name Grimauld Place; number eleven and number thirteen. Where number twelve should have been located was a completely blank spot, as if the entire house had been obliterated from the face of the earth, leaving behind only a large, dirt hole in the ground between the houses. What was odd, however, even more so than the gap, was the strange, silver shimmer that seemed to hang over the area, highlighting odd, looming shapes from behind what Naruto could only think of as a veil. He rubbed his eyes, blinking hard.

"Whoa," he muttered, gaping at the sight with thoroughly impressed eyes. Dumbledore looked down curiously. Naruto explained. "That hole. It's… like… glowing. It's the weirdest thing I have ever seen before, and I have seen so much crap on missions you'd think that would be impossible."

"What hole are you talking about, Naruto-kun?" Dumbledore frowned. He stared hard at the houses. Naruto noticed that as Dumbledore looked, his eyes seemed to dart over the hole completely, focusing instead on the middle of the air between the houses numbered eleven and thirteen. Like something invisible was residing there. An excited expression burst into being.

"Wow, this is magic, isn't it?" Naruto crowed enthusiastically, startling Dumbledore from his gazing, "That's why I can't see a house in the space between number eleven and thirteen. It's like its being veiled from me."

Dumbledore's eyes, almost unnoticeably, widened slightly, before an amused and merry twinkle again returned to his eyes. He looked down seriously at the young, jumping blonde, focusing his gaze right through Naruto's head, as if seeing into his soul. Naruto twitched uncomfortably before the twinkling blue eyes regained their warmth.

"You are indeed correct, Naruto," Dumbledore smiled, gesturing towards the houses, "What you are seeing is the usually unnoticeable effect of the Fidelius Charm. It is supposed to make the protected property undetectable by all except the secret keeper and those he has entrusted the secret with. It seems with your demonic nature, the effect is not quite as, well, effective."

"Yep, definitely awesome," Naruto nodded. Dumbledore shook his head.

"Anyway, I should think we should go in," he said, stepping forward, "I have already alerted the group inside of my imminent arrival, although you are a surprise for upon entry. By the way, it is my pleasure to welcome you, Naruto, to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Located at Number Twelve Grimauld Place, London."

The minute the words left Dumbledore's smiling lips, the silvering shimmering seemed to harden. With a quiver in the air, the veil shattered, dispersing into a thousand sparkling crystals before disappearing and revealing the house beyond. Naruto walked up the worn stone steps, following the beaming Dumbledore, staring at the newly materialized door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Harry heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain. The door creaked open.

Naruto stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Naruto heard something scuttling behind the baseboard. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.

Dumbledore, now comfortably inside the house, stepped past the critically evaluating Naruto and strode confidentially and silently down the hallway. Turning back, he gestured welcomingly for Naruto to following, disappearing behind a door and out of sight. Nervous now, Naruto followed.

The first thing he noticed as he stepped cautiously through the gloom was the sound of chatting voices from the end of the next room Dumbledore had stepped through. A closed door, illuminated by a soft yellow light slipping through the cracks, closed gently behind Dumbledore's impressive frame. Naruto heard the noise splutter out, followed by a vigorous increase in volume and density. Obviously there was a large crowd out there, and the wizard was well liked.

Steeling himself (because an immortal demon fox was DEFINETELY not afraid of the room of people hiding behind the door) Naruto took a deep breath, crossed the darkened room and slowly pushed open the door into the room beyond. His blue eyes darted around, taking in the sight with amusement.

The first thing he noticed, apart from Dumbledore standing erectly by the back wall and watching patiently for Naruto's entry, was the size of the room and the amount of people in it. Twelve loudly talking people (with a shocking amount of redheads) were screaming their opinions and insults across the room. In particular, two identical teenagers, both with vivid orange locks, were standing at opposite ends of the large dining table and screaming loudly at each other, adding to their match the chucking of a large, round, silver object that a brown haired girl with a flustered appearance was chasing back and forth to retrieve. Another couple of teenagers, another redhead and a black haired kid in glasses, were roaring with laughter as they watched, while in the corner by Dumbledore, the various adults were talking animatedly with the recently arrived Dumbledore, who despite his amusement, looked far to use to such an environment.

All in all, it was chaos, and Naruto loved every second of it. Inside, his inner kitsune was jumping around excitedly, thinking and planning of the perfect way to add to the overall mayhem. Outer Naruto just burst into laughter.

Silence fell onto the room, but Naruto was still uncontrollably cackling, holding his stomach with tight hands.

"Who's that?" one voice asked (it was one of the twins, the one standing at the far end of the room).

"Dunno, brother," the matching boy shrugged, staring at the hysterically laughing Naruto with a confused expression. "He just sort of-,"

"Turned up-,"

"Here, right?" he finished.

Dumbledore, noticing that Naruto was far too gone to offer any hint of introduction, chuckled lightly, before clearing his throat and gaining the attention of the stunned room. He turned towards the adults, in particular the suspiciously glaring Sirius Black.

"There is no reason for alarm," he said softly, instantly gaining all attention. Apart from Naruto. His roaring laughter had subsided into breathless panting on the floor, collapsed onto his back. His blue eyes were glazed with humour, not even slightly paying the barest inch of attention. Maybe he had inherited more of Kushina than he had given credit for. It was a worrying thought.

"This boy is the reason for my visit here tonight," Dumbledore continued reassuringly, "He will be starting at Hogwarts School this year, along with the fifth years, as a sort of transfer from another magical school. His name is Naruto. Naruto Namikaze."

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the room. Naruto looked up, finally past his manic laughter, to see a broken glass cup shattered at the feet of a tall, dark haired man with soulful black eyes. The man's gaze was locked on Naruto's own figure, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"Did… you say… Namikaze?" he all but breathed, hands shaking slightly. Beside him, a brown haired man was also staring in shock. Confused, Naruto nodded. He was about to open his mouth to speak again when the black haired man was surging forward, and before Naruto could blink, pulled him into tight, unrelenting arms.

"What…" Naruto started, before being interrupted by the addition of another pair of arms from his back. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed the brown haired man, eyes closed and flooded with shedding tears. To say he was slightly confused was an understatement.

"Finally, you're back home, finally," the dark haired man was muttering, "It took you long enough you old fool, but you came back to us."

The brown haired man at his back nodded in agreement to the words, hugging Naruto tighter in response. Now utterly and totally confused, Naruto had had enough. Closing his eyes and focusing his chakra, he vanished from their arms, startling both men, before reappearing in a leaf shunshin besides Dumbledore.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" he asked loudly, eyes gleaming with determination, "I don't even know you two and you are strangling me tighter than the stupid old bat back home. Who are you and how the hell do you know my last name?"

It was silent in the dining room, not a sound was made by a single member. The two men shared a meaningful gaze, before looking up fondly at the frowning blonde demon fox. The black eyed man chuckled.

"Of course I know who you are, Naruto," the man said, black eyes locked on Naruto's own, "It would be a damn shame if I didn't recognise the name of my very own godson."

Not for the first time in the last six months, Naruto felt his jaw plummet violently into the floor. Baa-chan was right. His life was way too complicated for his own good.