CHAPTER FOUR:
Godfather... Godfather... Godfather... Wait, Godfather?
"WHAT!" After almost five minutes of stunned contemplation, Naruto's glass shattering reply bellowed across the room. "You can't be my godfather! The Ero-sennin is my godfather!"
Recovering from the ear battering screech, the man with warm brown eyes and greying brown hair stepped forward. A small smile was painted across his aged face, which was heavily lined with bags and stress wrinkles. Naruto frowned slightly. Surely he wasn't that old? His personal scent, which baffled Naruto's strong nose with its heavy undertone of wolf and primal instinct, certainly seemed young.
"You are most certainly your mother's son, Naruto," the man laughed softly as he stopped in front of the blonde kitsune. "I remember she had an impressive set of lungs on her too. Minato sure seemed to be on the receiving end of them on more than one occasion."
"Ha," the black eyed man snorted, "You can say that again."
"You are correct, of course," the brown haired man continued, "I do believe your parents chose a set of godparents for you from the other side of your family. We never had the chance to meet them, but I understand they were named Jiraiya-san and Tsunade-san."
"Yeah, yeah, that's them," Naruto nodded quickly, "Ero-sennin and the old bat. But how do you know who they are?"
"Do I really have to say it again, you idiot!" the black haired man sighed, exasperated. "They were one set of your godparents. From their home town. They picked you another set from our world, here in wizarding England. Remus and I were supposed to look after you if anything ever happened to them. But one day they just disappeared, about two weeks before you were due to be born. Stopped writing and dropped all contact."
Naruto's face fell. Well that would explain it then. Two weeks before he was born. Meaning the two weeks they needed to prepare for his birth. A Jinchuriki in labour needed more preparation than an average childbirth after all in order to keep the biju contained. And then...
"I'm sorry, but they're dead," Naruto said harshly, eyes hardening. He watched as the faces of the two men fell, pain clearly expressed within their eyes. A twinge of guilt surged in his heart. Maybe he could have been nicer about it.
Naruto watched as the brown haired man sighed, run his hands through his mane of shaggy hair. He turned knowing brown eyes and a sad smile in Naruto's direction once more.
"We figured as much," he admitted eventually, "Minato and Kushina never told us where it was they actually originated from, just that it was far away and almost impossible to travel too. When they didn't come back, and we heard nothing about the birth, we figured you had all, well, passed on." He fell silent for a moment.
"But, I'm glad to be proven wrong about you in any case," the black haired man grinned. "It's nice to finally meet my godson. You look a hell of a lot like old Minato. It's almost scary how much to be honest."
"Indeed," the brown haired man nodded.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, before he froze. "Hang on a second! I don't even know you yet!"
The two men blanched, before bursting out in roars of laughter.
"Sorry," the black haired man laughed, "I was so caught up I completely forgot you wouldn't know who we are. I'm Sirius. Sirius Black. Number one godfather, of course."
The brown haired man beside him frowned.
"Now, now Sirius, you know we are all equal, Jiraiya-san and Tsunade-san as well." He turned to Naruto smiling. "Remus Lupin. It is a pleasure to meet you Naruto."
"Likewise," Naruto smiled.
Completely ignored by the family-ish reunion, the rest of the kitchen was gaping in shock. Multiple red headed people were gasping like fish, mouths flopping open as the meaning behind those truths began to sink in. The girl with bushy brown hair gasped, her eyes darting towards the stunned looking black haired boy with the round glasses.
"Harry," she squeaked loudly, gaining the entire kitchen's attention, "Doesn't that mean you are sort of family too? I mean, Sirius is your godfather, and his godfather, so that means..."
Naruto looked over at the black haired boy with the odd, lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Blue eyes widened as the information computed, before in true Naruto style, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared sitting on the table next to the black haired boy. A wide, excited grin spread across his face.
"Sweet, your Sirius' god kid too then? That means were cousins. Um, sort of. I'm Naruto Namikaze."
"Harry Potter," the boy answered, smiling widely as well, "Yeah, it's nice to meet you too. This is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." One of the red headed boys nodded in greeting, and the brown haired girl smiled shyly. Naruto allowed his gaze to linger over the two for a moment, before returning it to Harry and smiling shyly.
"You know, you're the first sort of family member I have ever had," he admitted softly, much to the shock of most of the room, "Hope we can be friends."
Harry nodded, too confused to talk. First family member ever? Surely Naruto hadn't lived without family. That was just horrible. But still, the haunted sadness buried within those sky blue eyes, so similar to his own sense of loss, told nothing but the truth.
"Well," Dumbledore finally interrupted, smiling brightly at the gathered congregation, "I'm glad you have all gotten aquatinted. The main reason I stopped by was to introduce young Naruto to you all," Naruto pouted angrily at the mention of 'young', "And ask you to look after him until term begins. Molly," he turned towards a plump, friendly looking red head, "I trust you might be able to take him down to Diagon Alley before the start of term? He has most of the required books, but he needs the essentials. I'll leave a list behind for him to double check."
"It would be a pleasure," the woman named Molly nodded, beaming over towards the embarrassed blonde.
"Alright then," Dumbledore said, "Then it is time for my departure. I'm afraid I have much to do before term begins and must be off." He turned towards Naruto, eyes turning serious. "Stay out of trouble, Naruto. You may be here now, but that by no means you can be flippant. I very much doubt your godmother would be pleased if she heard of any trouble." In other words, I know all about the Akutsuki and just because they are back in the Elemental Continents doesn't mean you can be stupid and draw attention to yourself. Naruto hated to be scolded over something he hadn't done yet. Seriously, it wasn't like he was planning too much trouble. Sort of. Not really. Okay, it was in the plans, but nothing too explosive.
...
"Hai hai old geezer," Naruto said, rolling his eyes much to the amusement of the children and adults alike in the room, "No pranks, I got ya." He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw the set of twins perk up in a snap when the infamous p word was uttered.
"Very good," Dumbledore chuckled. He spoke a few quiet words to the adults in the room, smiled once again to the entire group, before spinning on his heel and exiting out the door. The group listened in silence until they heard the distinct click of the front door bolting shut once again after the aged wizard. Then all eyes spun in the direction of the new house guest.
"Ah, hi?" Naruto tried. Then it began.
"Hey, how old are you exactly? Dumbledore said you'd be entering fifth year so you must be around fifteen right?" Hermione as in a flash, leaning forward eagerly.
"Did I hear you say pranks, my young friend?" one of the twins beamed.
"I'm sure he did brother," the other nodded sagely.
"Do we have a new accomplice?" the first asked excitedly. The second just laughed loudly.
"How did you do that disappearing trick," Ron asked from Naruto's other side. His brown eyes were wide and his mouth was all but hanging open. "It was wicked! I've never seen a wizard do that before. Is it apparating? But wait, fifth years aren't supposed to be apparating, right?"
"So, Naruto, tell me about your life back home? It's been a lifetime since I heard about you and your parents," Sirius said eagerly, bounding up to the table like a large, shaggy dog. "I bet you were quite the lady killer there, huh? Your father had to beat them off with a stick!"
"Can you show me the disappearing trick?" Ron said louder over the noise.
"Prank buddy prank buddy prank buddy!" the twins sang.
"Seriously though, if you aren't at least our age you should consider going down a grade. Fifth year is O. year after all," Hermione lectured.
Naruto didn't know which person to turn to. His face was growing more and more flustered, until finally, someone spoke up over the cacophony of noise.
"ENOUGH!" Molly Weasley howled! The room fell silent in an instant. Naruto gulped. The kind older woman suddenly looked a lot scarier. He would NEVER get on her bad side. "The poor boy has only just arrived here and you lot are already harassing the dear," she scolded the room sternly as she walked around the table to rest her hands on Naruto's shoulders. "He doesn't even know any of us here. Now stop badgering him and introduce yourselves or you can all go to bed!"
"Well, you already know me," Ron started, gesturing to his chest, "but just to let you know I'm a fifth year too. So is Hermione." She nodded proudly before pointing to a shiny red and gold emblazoned badge pinned to her clothes.
Next were the twins.
"I'm Fred," said one.
"I'm George," said the other.
"Hang on, I changed my mind," said the first, "I'm Gred."
"Ah, that means I'm Forge then."
They both nodded in agreement, leaving Naruto more confused than he was before they introduced themselves. He ignored them both however in favour of turning towards a blushing red headed girl.
"I'm Ginny Weasley," she said softly, "I'm in fourth year."
With that, the children were introduced. Mrs Weasley beamed.
"Now you already know Sirius and Remus so I won't bother introducing them to you again," she said kindly, patting him gently, "but I'm Molly and that I my husband, Arthur." She pointed to a balding red head at the end of the table, who waved pleasantly. "It's lovely to have you with us dear. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you, Mrs Weasley," Naruto said softly. He felt... happy. So many people, and every single one of them exuded kindness and acceptance. It was something he had never felt before. The older woman tushed.
"Now, it is quite late here," she announced suddenly, turning towards the rest of the children, "We need an early night if you are to be up early to finish off the cleaning and start preparing for the school term. Naruto dear, you wouldn't mind sharing a room with harry and Ron now would you? It will be a squeeze, but that way you might get used to living in a dormitory a bit quicker."
"Not at all," Naruto quickly assured, "I'm happy to be wherever you place me. Thank you for letting me stay her with you all."
"Anything, Naruto, you are family after all," Sirius said warmly. With that, they stood, filing out of the large kitchen in a single line and heading towards the large staircase in the main hallway. Yawns were muttered, eyes drooped, as one by one they ascended the stairs.
"We're in this one," Harry said softly, gesturing lightly towards the first door on the left of the hallway. Naruto nodded and followed the two boys into the room.
They dressed quickly and silently. Naruto, not wanting to unseal all his things, decided to just sleep in his boxers. Pulling off his clothes, he flopped down onto the foldout bed that had magically been squished into the room in the time between Mrs Weasley mentioning the arrangement and Naruto walking through the door.
"So weird," he muttered tiredly as he allowed his eyes to slip close. He grunted a sleeping goodnight to the other room inhabitants, got comfortable, and quickly descended into a deep and refreshing sleep. He had only just met these people, this family of his on the other side of the world, but already he felt as if he had known them for years. He felt safer now lying in a room of strangers than he ever had under the scrutiny of Konoha's population. Truly, he understood why his parents visited so much before they died. It was safe. It was warm. It was another home.