This is the beginning of what I hope will be one of my last long fics. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Chapter 1: Kidnapped by an Elf
"Teeny, lean into me. There's something important I need to tell you," Naomi Uzumaki uttered with a pale face, her violet eyes nearly colorless. She waited for the spindly house-elf to crawl closer to her deathbed at St. Mungo's. "I'm dying." Teeny grabbed onto Naomi's bloody collar and shook her master, but Lady Uzumaki said, "Teeny, you have been there for me since I was a little girl. I don't have much longer, but I want you to know you were right!"
"Madam Uzumaki, I don't know what you are talking about. What was I right about? I promise I'll beat that rightness out of me, I swear!" Teeny shouted, tears coming out of her massive orange eyes.
Naomi swatted her arm weakly around her bloody collar and handed the house-elf a locket. The hexagon-shaped locket was solid gold, except for a sapphire-etched whirlpool seal. Teeny grabbed the locket and gasped.
"The key to the Uzumaki manor!" she looked up at her master and saw their eyes fading. "But madam Uzumaki, I thought the ennervate therapy was working?"
"I have late-stage Carter's Ventroposy. I'm barely holding onto my mind. The healers can't reverse the damage that's been done. I don't think I have much longer. Dying so suddenly puts everything into perspective. I've come to realize that you were right… Kushina was my sister. I should have defended her from our mother. I should have been there in that world when she gave birth. Her son, her little boy, my nephew, you have to find him…" Naomi begged.
"What if he's a squib just like her?"
"Whether or not magic runs through his blood, he is the sole heir to the Uzumaki Family estate. My uncle is never going to be released from Azkaban. This Naruto, I have a feeling that he is magical." Naomi coughed out blood and twisted her head on her pillow.
The St. Mungo's Emergency Healers rushed to the dying Uzumaki matron right as Naomi barely gasped.
"As my dying wish, you are to bring him home."
Teeny thought about her mistress's final words.
She was bound to the Uzumaki Estate in Godric's Hollow, and she would always keep the estate in order. The estate sat at the edge of town near the The Boy Who Lived memorial. Teeny was having a personal crisis as she entered the Uzumaki's forbidden attic.
The last time she entered the attic, Naomi's mother nearly killed her. That was the worst beating she ever experienced. But now she had no choice but to find the most sacred enchanted item the Uzumaki had wielded for thousands of years.
Teeny crawled through the piles of books, treasures, enchanted artifacts, and treasure chests filled with untold riches. Her eyes were locked on an ordinary box at the end of the attic. Her spindly hands soon hovered over it. Teeny opened the box to reveal a ten-inch-long silver scroll case.
The scrolls inside hummed and glowed blue as Teeny delicately removed one from the box until it hung half out. She hesitated while holding the humming scroll case, but Naomi Uzumaki's final order had to be followed.
But what Naomi was asking her to do was against the law.
The scroll case had two scrolls hidden within it. One scroll was a one-way portkey to a separate dimension. The second scroll was the portkey back home. This was the Uzumaki Family's most dark and forbidden secret, for the universe the portkey led to was a place where the Uzumaki sent their magicless children. The dimension was a place where even a squib could feel magical. At least that's what Kaori Uzumaki explained to a frightened, crying Kushina when she sent her to the other world at age four.
The Ministry of Magic's Portkey Office wasn't around when this portkey was created so long ago. Teeny knew what she was doing was illegal, but she needed a new master!
Without hesitation, she grabbed the scroll to the dimension and vanished from planet Earth.
Rain was downpouring from the heavens into the canopy she was in. Teeny hugged her soaked nightcap on her head as she saw what looked to be the forest's exit. Her greyish-red feet scraped over muddy and rocky terrain. She gasped in horror while suddenly slipping down a hillside. She tumbled out of the forest, unhurt but very shaken.
"So beautiful," she muttered. "This world is enchanting."
She couldn't wait to find her wonder new master, Naruto Uzumaki.
She was below the largest and most thundering waterfall the house-elf had ever seen. Two giant stone statues of important figures were carved into both sides of the mountain between where the waterfall dropped. The portkey device started vibrating inside her pillowcase gown.
She was close to the heir to the Uzumaki Family, but she couldn't spot where he was at. Her eyes scanned the terrain until she saw two boys. One of the boys had dark raven hair, a blue tunic, and white shorts. He was holding a sizeable black-steeled knife over a boy with blonde hair and bloody tattered clothes.
Teeny felt the portkey vibrating more powerfully, making her focus on what was happening.
The blonde-haired boy's eyes were closed, with three whisker marks on both cheeks. He was wearing what looked to be an orange jumpsuit, except it was tattered with giant holes bursting with blood. He wore a blue headband with a metal-plated forehead protector in the center. Teeny was fifteen meters away, still in the treeline, petrified by what she witnessed.
The black-haired boy's hands shook, and the knife's edge wobbled in all directions. He then screamed and grasped his neck, where a black tattoo burned red.
"Damn you! I'm not like my brother. Like a stupid ugly Uzumaki like you would ever figure that one out," Sasuke uttered, still holding his kunai over Naruto's head. "Goodbye, brother!"
Teeny heard enough!
She charged out of the tree line and fired a bright blue stupefy charm that bolted out of her right hand at lightning speed. The proud Uchiha didn't have a chance as the spell knocked him to the ground. Sasuke fell unconscious immediately, his curse mark receding to normal.
She wasn't going to take any chances.
She crawled to the blonde Uzumaki's side, feeling the portkey vibrating and humming like a muggle vehicle rumbling far away. Teeny gasped and held onto her new master's blood-soaked arm.
She didn't trust her abilities to use the mending charm.
She could bring him to St. Mungo's, but then she would be caught. The first scroll portkey was designed to send the traveler to wherever a main branch Uzumaki member was in this world. There was a catch; she knew the return portkey led to a predestined location in London. A lot had changed in London thirty-two years after Kushina was banished.
Teeny grabbed the surprised blonde-haired boy by the collar without even thinking. She opened the latch, and the second portkey scroll dropped from the silver case.
XxX XxX
Naruto jolted and screamed himself awake. He felt like he was being dragged by his nasal across space and time while getting the air sucked out of his lungs. Every injury he suffered during his battle with Sasuke grew in magnitude. The Chidori strike near his heart, the broken bones, and every single throbbing nerve exploded in the worst pain of his life.
Then he fell through white misty clouds into a bright skyscraper city near the biggest stadium he had ever seen before…
Naruto heard his bones crack. He groaned, moaned, and struggled to push himself up. Loud machines roared and screeched beside him. His bloody hands futilely lifted his torso centimeters from the ground, only for him to collapse in writhing pain on asphalt. He tasted copper and smelled gasoline. Blood covered his eyes as cheers turned to horrid screams.
All eyes were on him, from babies wearing Nottingham Forrest sportswear, elderly gentlemen wearing flat caps, and mortified mothers who, a moment ago, were celebrating Manchester United winning the Football League Cup. He landed in the middle of a busy city square with bright street lights illuminating his bloody, torn, and writhing body for all to see. He saw familiar faces of disgust and horror, but strangely, everyone looked concerned.
Cars honked, doors swung open loudly, and a few people screamed, "Call 999! Hooligans must have stabbed him after the cup win."
"Someone get him up and check if he's alive! He's losing a lot of blood fast!" shouted another fan wearing a Nottingham Forrest jersey.
"Laddy, can you stand up?" asked a kind young woman wearing a Manchester United jersey. "Don't you worry, sweety? An ambulance is on their way."
He couldn't stand up. Both his legs were broken, and so was his right arm. Breathing was hard, and staying conscious was even more complex. But for half a minute, his sapphire eyes widened. Standing on the rooftop was the shadow of the creature that had kidnapped him.
It was three feet tall, with spindly arms and legs and an oversized head. Its ears were pointed and bat-like, and its nose was very long and thin as a marker.
That was all he saw of the creature. The creature gave him a pitiful, sad look as it snapped its tiny fingers. It vanished instantly off the rooftop across the street without a trace. Naruto became dizzy. Scarlet blood pooled around his body. Men, women, and numerous people wearing red, black, and gold jerseys rushed to his side.
He passed out not a moment later.
All he saw was darkness.
Two massive crimson eyes with slit pupils opened in front of him. Red fog sifted through jail cell bars, causing Naruto to step back. He barely escaped a giant snot storm that escaped from the Kyuubi's nostrils.
"Hey, what was that for?" Naruto angrily asked.
"That's for losing to your teammate. Even after I gave you my power, you somehow found a way to fail," the Kyuubi growled. "I just wanted to tell you something. That dream of yours…" the Kyuubi started chuckling.
"What?"
"Becoming Hokage. That was your dream, right?"
The Kyuubi was as tall as a twenty-story building, with nine equally gigantic orange-furred tails swinging behind it. Naruto Uzumaki was born on October 10th, during the Kyuubi attack, which destroyed the entire city. Because no man could kill the beast, the fourth Hokage defeated the demonic nine-tailed fox by sealing it inside Naruto. Oddly enough, becoming Hokage had been his dream as long as he could remember. The Kyuubi knew that his dream of becoming Hokage was his biggest soft spot.
"What do you mean?"
"You should go shopping for a new dream because that dream is dead," the Kyuubi chuckled.
"Hey, you don't have to rub salt in my wounds, you damned fox..." he vividly remembered that creature crawling on his body. "I remember waking up to a creature. The next thing I remember, I'm falling through the sky... What the hell happened?"
"After your fight with Sasuke, you were kidnapped by a strange elf creature. I know you saw it too because I hate to break this to you, but we are in another world," Kyuubi explained while its tails swished faster behind it. "I don't like how weak you are, but you are all I got. I'd rather you know this before you wake up, stupid!"
They both became deathly silent inside the Kyuubi's cell. Naruto decided to break the ice.
"What happens now?"
"We have to be careful. You've been out for almost three weeks recovering in a hospital. The doctors in this world don't use chakra or any form of magic to heal people. They just use traditional medicine, and I've heard them talking… this might not be a safe world to use chakra out in the open," the Kyuubi warned.
"I'll try. Thanks, Kyuubi," Naruto said kindly.
"Call me Kurama."
"Kurama…"
"Just because I'm telling you my real name doesn't mean I like you. I'm protecting both of us. The last thing we need is to be experimented on," the Kyuubi explained.
Naruto groggily awoke what felt like moments later inside a bright, high-tech hospital room. His sapphire eyes fluttered open, and he saw nurses wearing pink scrubs walking past him. He closed his eyes and then opened them again. Some time must have passed because it was night outside his room. He saw hundreds of skyscrapers outside his window. Naruto groaned and jostled his head from side to side before pushing himself up.
"Ugh, where am I?" he asked groggily. "What happened?"
"Wow, I didn't think it was possible, but you are alive…" the doctor stammered. "And you aren't speaking Japanese… strange."
The doctor, who had a nametag reading "Harold Granger, MD," looked to be in his forties. His hair was still bright brown, and his brown eyes were joyful. Dr. Granger dropped his clipboard containing all the patients' charts and clumsily picked it up. The nurses stood by Naruto's beeping heart monitor, looking just as startled as the doctor.
"I'm sorry about overreacting. I'm just giddy whenever I have the perfect patient. My name is Dr. Granger, and you've been under my care for the last three weeks," Dr. Granger explained. "I don't know whether you have great genes or God himself intervened because you should be dead. A bunch of hooligans attacked you a few blocks from Wembley Stadium. This was one of the worst hooligan attacks I've ever seen. They broke four ribs, your right arm, and your left leg. They stabbed you twelve times, with the largest wound missing your heart by two centimeters. Gosh, don't get me started on the amount of blood you lost while operating… You're lucky to be alive!"
"Hooligans?" Naruto repeated.
"Yes, hooligans, at least that's the story the coppers told the papers," Dr. Granger explained happily.
Dr. Granger's demeanor quickly changed, and the doctor pulled out Naruto's patient chart. He started swatting the nurses out of the room for privacy, only for a loud beeping sound from his coat to stop him dead in his tracks. The doctor removed a small black oval device with a wired antenna on one end.
Naruto watched the doctor take a cell phone call like he was watching Gaara transform into Shukaku.
"WOW! Dr. Granger?" Naruto inquired curiously. "What is that?"
"Quiet, please…" Dr. Granger whispered to Naruto before pressing his brand-new cell phone back to his face. "Hello, brother. Is something wrong? You don't usually call me during work. Is Hermione back home? Oh, right, Scotland. Well, I'll call you back later. I must go. I'm with that special patient."
Dr. Granger flipped his phone closed and smiled awkwardly
"Sorry about that!" he apologized before looking at Naruto seriously once again. "There's something important I must tell you. NHS rules state that because you are a minor, we have to disclose that we took a DNA sample from you while you were passed out. The DNA test had some remarkable results."
"DNA? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, bewildered by the doctor's vocabulary. "I've never heard of DNA before."
"DNA is the genetic code found in all human beings that is distinctive to every individual, but we can use DNA to discover why you have blonde hair and blue eyes. It's a new technology, especially for us doctors at the Royal Brompton Hospital," Dr. Granger explained to the best of his ability. "We took your DNA because we heard you speaking Japanese the first few days you were here, but then you started mumbling in clear English. Metro Police just wanted to make sure you were a British citizen."
"Um, am I?"
Dr. Granger nodded. "Yes." he became quiet for a minute but then smiled. "Metro Police also wanted me to discover who your parents are."
Dr. Granger became awkwardly silent. Naruto saw the doctor's brown eyes look uneasy as he looked at his charts again. Naruto, for his part, had never been so excited by such news in his life. His hands were enclosed, and his foxy smile had never been so wide.
He was finally going to find out the truth about his parents, and his tongue was jittery inside his mouth from his anxious excitement. There were so many questions that popped into his mind all at once. Sadly, all he could think about were the basics: What were their names? What did they look like? Were they still alive?
"What did my DNA test say? Who are my parents?" Naruto begged with tears welling in his eyes. "Please, I need to know?"
"You don't know?" Dr. Granger asked rhetorically before shaking his head. "Is your name Naruto Uzumaki?"
Naruto nodded eagerly.
"If the DNA test is correct, I'm sorry to say this, but you are the last Uzumaki alive in the United Kingdom. Your mother's name, according to her death certificate, was Kushina… she uh, passed away the day you were born. We also discovered that your aunt Naomi died four weeks ago." Dr. Granger said gently. He patted Naruto's shoulder and softly said, "You are an orphan."
"I know," Naruto said, closing his eyes and turning away. "Th-thanks."
Dr. Granger shook his head and quickly jostled his answer onto his charts. The doctor smiled and patted his right shoulder.
"I'm afraid I don't have any information on your father's name. It wasn't written on your birth certificate. Again, I apologize if this information is upsetting, but I figured you needed to know," Dr. Granger apologized sincerely.
"Dr. Granger!" Naruto looked at the doctor with a quivering smile. "You aren't lying?"
"Science doesn't lie," Dr Granger assured.
Naruto took a quick sigh and accepted the truth. Making sure the kind doctor wasn't looking, he quickly rubbed the tears of disappointment from his eyes. He was happy that someone was finally being honest with him. Strangely, a doctor in another world knew who his mother was. But he would never forget that outstanding name, Kushina. He tried to picture what she looked like in his mind, but then his thoughts changed to the future.
"Will I be sent off on missions as soon as I get discharged?" Naruto asked excitedly. "Do you have shinobi in the United Kingdom?"
"Shinobi? Missions?" the doctor repeated.
"Shinobi are like soldiers. They go on missions for money," Naruto explained.
"What kind of missions are you talking about?" Dr. Granger was looking at him like he was crazy.
"Cool ones like protecting a Queen from bad guys. I don't like the ones where I have to walk rottweilers through minefields or do the neighbor's dirty laundry. Plus, those missions don't pay as much as the dangerous ones," Naruto explained while trying to flex his arms only to groan in excruciating pain. "Oww."
"You have a good sense of humor lad. I best be getting off. You, mister, need to lay off the James Bond!" Dr. Granger said before chuckling out of Naruto's hospital room.
Naruto sat in his bed for the rest of the day, confused. The nurses who visited him afterward unhooked his heart monitor and brought him food. He spent the rest of the day sifting through television. There were shows about nature, British cooking presented by Marco Pierre White, and BBC news covering John Major's accent as Prime Minister.
Naruto noticed that he had trouble reading the words on the television. Worse, he quickly realized that he was speaking another language. However, he promptly disregarded those thoughts when a cartoon called The Simpsons started playing. Naruto was glad there were ways for him to pass the time at the hospital. He learned from the nurses that he was under something called clonazepam for three weeks so that his body could fully heal.
The nurses here were much better than the ones in Konoha. They smiled and looked enthusiastic whenever they came to give him food while chatting him up about how brave he was to go through what he had been through. He blushed from all the compliments and kindness he received.
The nurses kept asking him only one annoying question: "How did you get your whisker marks?" He always hated that question. They didn't believe him when he said he was born with them, but eventually, they stopped asking. Back in Konoha, his whisker birthmarks were like flashing neon signs that told the world he was a jinchuriki.
Before he went to bed, Dr. Granger visited him one last time.
The kind doctor hesitated before saying, "Tomorrow, you are leaving. I spoke to my brother about your situation. Those hooligans left your clothes in rags, so he is bringing some of the old clothes our mum made us wear. So don't fret you won't walk out of here naked!"
Naruto nodded and thanked the kind doctor. Alone in his hospital room, he thought about this world and its people. He had never been treated so kindly by strangers. This world was strange, with its oddly spoken language and different written characters.
"That's because you are speaking a language called English. I don't know why we both understand this language, yet we do. I wonder what kind of magic did this," Kurama said whimsically. "Just remember to keep your shinobi abilities hidden. In this world, I doubt children are rushing off to battle. But that can quickly change if they see you acting like a shinobi!"
"I promise to be good. At least until we can figure out why that creature kidnapped us."
"That's if we can find that creature. Do you want to go back to Konoha?"
"I just want to know why it brought me here. This world is strange, not just because we can speak English. Kurama, that doctor has my birth certificate and my mother's death certificate. That's impossible… unless I'm from this world."
"Nothing is impossible, just complicated. I'm sure we will eventually figure out what's going on. This still doesn't make us friends, but you are all I have right now," Kurama admitted hesitantly.
"Thanks! That's the nicest thing you have ever said to me!"
"Just because we are in a new world doesn't give you the excuse to be cocky!"
"This world is weird, but I kind of like it," Naruto thought before drifting off to sleep.
XxX The Next Day XxX
Naruto looked at the mirror in his hospital room and shook his head. His sapphire eyes scanned his body up and down. He wore dark blue jeans, a plain white undershirt, a maroon Arsenal Football Club polo over his white shirt, and a chocolate-brown suede bomber jacket from the 70's. The Granger family didn't have shinobi sandals, but Naruto found a pair of black and white Converse shoes that fit him.
"Hmm, not sure if I look goofy or what," he muttered.
The door to his hospital room swung open suddenly, and Naruto was greeted by a man with a very angular face. The man looked old, in his early fifties, with a bald head and bright blue eyes. He wore khaki pants, a blue buttoned shirt unbuttoned at the top, and dirty brown dress shoes. The man stood beside a lovely young woman with long brunette hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a long black dress that fluttered around her ankles with every bounce of her step. Her glimmering hazel eyes were enchanting, and Naruto was mesmerized when she gasped, "Alan, look at him! He doesn't have a scratch on his face!"
"Sweet Caroline, da-da-da," Alan sang before grinning at Naruto. "We are so happy you've fully recovered, all thanks to Dr. Granger!"
"Oh, well," Dr. Granger blushed and looked away. "I have to give the boy some credit. His will to live is what kept him alive."
"Naruto, you are going to fit in with all the boys. And even some girls are excited to see you," Caroline said happily.
Behind them were two tall, massive men wearing more body armor than Kakashi-sensei. These men wore black uniforms with intimidating gadgets attached to their belts.
He looked at his new visitors with squinted eyes and recalled what Dr. Granger told him about going to an orphanage. Terrible memories bombarded his mind. He remembered all the nights he went to bed hungry or the appalling beatings he received during his stay at the Phoenix Orphanage. Both staff and fellow orphans alike made his life a living hell. There was a reason why the Third Hokage emancipated him to live in an apartment at seven.
Naruto didn't even realize he was backing up against the wall until his head knocked on the window. The men wearing yellow-black Metro PD uniforms were on edge after hearing the noise. Their hands hovered over their dangerous gadgets, but both men quickly composed themselves. They laughed, and one hollered, "This the boy who fought the Nottingham hooligans?"
The other armored man replied, "Sure is. I'm just glad it wasn't Manchester United this time!" He walked up to Naruto and looked down. "You promise to stay out of trouble, boy?"
Naruto nodded.
"Mr. Alan, the boy is now under your care," said the officer before handing Alan a form and a sealed plastic evidence bag.
He didn't see what was inside the bag before Alan shoved it into his pants. The police officers left shortly thereafter.
"There's nothing to fear, laddy. I am Alan Cole, the headmaster of Wool's Orphanage here in London. Right next to me is Caroline Richardson. She's your guidance counselor at the orphanage. My grandmom used to work at Wool's Orphanage sixty years ago as a caretaker. Naruto, I take my job very seriously, not because it's what I do but because I care about you turning your life around," Mr. Cole said comfortingly.
He nervously took a few steps forward. There was no point in making a scene. Now was the time for him to think like a shinobi instead of acting like one.
He looked at Alan and Caroline uneasily, asking, "Turning my life around? What do you mean?"
"Naruto, there is a lot for us to discuss. Here isn't the best place for that. What do you say to a happy meal from Maccy D's?" Alan offered.
Naruto nodded hesitantly.
"Is something wrong?" Caroline asked.
"I've looked after myself my whole life," Naruto commented. "Why can't I live alone?"
"Because there exist laws, and the law states you need a guardian until you turn eighteen. Until then, you belong to the state unless you are lucky enough to pass an entrance exam at a Catholic Academy." Caroline offered with a wide smile. "That's what we mean by turning your life around."
"Are these Catholic academies hard to get into?" Naruto asked.
"They are exceptionally competitive, mister! Expect to hit the books when you go to school because I have great expectations," Caroline said encouragingly.
They soon exited the hospital, and he was utterly taken aback by the red brick buildings, Victorian architecture, and high-rise buildings splattered across London. The sky was grey, and the ground was wet, casting a depressing and mystical ambiance over the skyline. However, he was surprised to see so many moving cars, double-decker buses, airplanes roaring in the heavens above, and loud bucket drummers on the corner of each block. There was so much noise and stimuli in the environment that it could drive anyone mad.
Alan left Caroline to look after him while the headmaster retrieved their car. While waiting, Naruto was curious about the orphanage.
"So, how far away is this Wool's Orphanage?"
"Oh, just a half mile away that way," Caroline said, her right index finger pointing east. "We are in Chelsea, near Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. I gotta ask: why were you at Wembley Stadium during the FA Cup? It's always dangerous wandering around the city after a big game."
"Wembley Stadium?" Naruto repeated.
"The place where hooligans attacked you... For a native Brit, you sure are clueless." Caroline observed.
"Oh, well, I never said I was good with geography," Naruto replied with a foxy grin.
Caroline laughed right as Alan pulled up his Renault Clio minivan. Naruto looked at the contraption like it was a forbidden fruit. As much as he wanted to ride in a car, he didn't want to enter the vehicle. "Well, are you going to go in?" Caroline asked.
"Oh, uh, sure," Naruto said awkwardly.
He entered the vehicle hesitantly and rolled across the backseat cushions, falling on his back. His neck was entangled inside a buckle along with his right leg. He started flailing hopelessly shouting, "I'm caught by the car! Someone help me!"
Caroline was chuckling hard, but Alan was shaking his head, annoyed.
"Caroline, could you buckle him up?" Alan commanded.
Caroline's hands were all over his body, getting him into position, much to Naruto's glee. This was his first car ride, and he was excited yet frightened by what would happen. While she was buckling him into his car seat, Naruto kept thinking and wishing the car would fall apart. He wanted nothing more than for the vehicle to catch fire so his trip to the orphanage could be delayed. That was when Kami intervened, and as Alan tried to start the car, everything went wrong. The lights flickered on and off, the car's horn went off, and smoke quickly fizzled out of the engine. Naruto pushed his head between Caroline and Alan from the backseat.
He pointed to the smoke coming out of the car hood.
"Is that supposed to happen?" Naruto asked out of concern.
"No," Alan grumbled. "This car is just two years old. It can't be broken already." Alan turned his car on and off, but this only worsened the problem until the smoke was a black cloud of burning metal and plastic. "Impossible. This is utterly and inconceivably impossible. The shopworkers said everything looked good last week." Alan's head twisted to look directly at Naruto's sapphire eyes. The young jinchuriki flinched from Alan's odd stare. "My grandmom once said there was a boy that caused bad things to happen."
"Alan!" Caroline shouted in dismay. "Naruto is nothing like the Riddle boy."
"I hope not," Alan muttered.
Alan shook his head. He called a cab but never mentioned who this Riddle boy was or what had happened to his car.
XxX Hogwarts Headmaster Office XxX
Professor Snape had been riding high since he heard that Granger and Potter were getting detention. Filch caught those brats wandering past curfew, probably up to no good. All Potter's were all the same: Lawbreakers, brutes, thieves, murderers, and bullies—no different than his father, Tobias. Just thinking about Father and Potter made his blood boil. He spent only one day relishing in the sweet release of justice being served, only to be dragged in front of Dumbledor for one of his students' silly pranks!
Daphne Greengrass was destroying what little faith Severus Snape had in the future of the human race. The little girl was a pure-blood, born into the wealthy and prestigious Greengrass family. She was pretty with straight platinum blonde hair, emerald eyes, a pugnose, and a smile that could fool half the faculty. But he knew her true nature was more akin to a harpy or, worse, a Weasly!
Severus was standing beside Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk. Both men were staring down Daphne Greengrass. Inside the room was Minerva McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor House. The little first-year Slytherin girl was looking down. Sweat was beading down her angular, oval-shaped face under the intense pressure of the situation.
"Daphne, you best fess up to poisoning those three Gryffindor girls. You must think you are a genius for executing this plot right after their OWLs. Pompey Pomfrey checked the muffins they saw floating on the fourth-floor halls. As I suspected, they had the key ingredients to make the laxative potion, which is Agrimonia, two scrumples of elephant trumpets and sodium phosphate. You've been researching the potion outside my class for two months. If you showed half as much interest in my class as you do researching ways to get yourself expelled, you'd be my best student!" Severus fumed inside the headmaster's office. "But given this is your first slip-up, you best fess up and admit what happened!"
"I-I," Daphne said, shaking her head. "Okay, I did it!" Dumbledore put his head in his palm and listened closer. "I did it because Fay Dunbar's older sister Freya and her friends keep picking on me after flying lessons."
"That isn't an excuse to poison fellow students with such a horrible potion," Professor McGonagall said vehemently. "I'll speak to Freya so this doesn't happen again."
"I believe Daphne has learned her lesson. As this is your first summon into my office, I shall look the other way. But please, think before you poison your fellow students," Dumbledore said tenderly. "Go on. You are dismissed back to your dormitory."
"I'm not in trouble?" Daphne asked innocently.
"You heard the headmaster. Move it!" Severus snapped at the little girl.
Daphne rushed from the headmaster's office faster than a Cornish Pixie set ablaze.
Severus moved around Dumbledore's desk and saw Albus reading the Daily Prophet's latest issue which had a headline that read "Mysterious Portkey Boy Suspected Wizard: What Will The Ministry Do?". Minerva straightened her emerald green robes and her black crooked wizarding hat. She read the article over Albus' shoulder while Severus looked around the headmaster's office.
It was a large and beautiful circular room full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. Albus was sitting behind his enormous, claw-footed desk and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat. Severus sighed, looking at the old thing.
"Albus, have you heard from Rufus Scrimgeour from the Auror's Office?" Minerva asked.
"Rufus has a team of six Aurors making sure the boy is up to no good… they have already deemed the Uzumaki boy to be a wizard," Albus answered uncertainly. "We have enough on our plate protecting the Philosopher Stone. Now, he wants us to take in the boy immediately."
"Preposterous," Severus snapped, causing Minerva and Albus to look up at him. "The term will be ending in less than a month. We can't bring in a first-year student just for him to go back home in less than a month."
"I agree. Is this boy related to Naomi Uzumaki? I didn't know she had a son," Minerva pondered.
"The Uzumaki Family have always been secretive. Naomi used to say their family was the most feared among Japan's Great Eight Wizarding Clans. I know she didn't have children, but the boy is likely related to her, so she probably summoned him to London. The Uzumaki have been a core part of our school since the days of Salazar Slytherin. They chose to send their children to Hogwarts over Mahoutokoro. That's why they moved here two hundred years ago," Severus explained.
"Albus, do you know his full name? The papers haven't even reported that he's an Uzumaki." Minerva asked.
"His name is Naruto Uzumaki." Dumbledore settled his issue of the Daily Prophet on his desk and smiled. "We will be monitoring him alongside the Aurors. I don't know why, but there is something about this boy that I can't put my finger on."
XxX Wool's Orphanage XxX
Before Naruto entered Wool's Orphanage, he saw a massive sign with a picture and blueprint of what the building would look like in 1995. Surrounding the orphanage were construction cranes, bulldozers, and men working jackhammers nonstop. The building looked ancient: The gargoyles hanging from the rooftops were eroded. The main gate was rusted up and had the orphanage's name on it, except the O, R, and A were missing in the word orphanage. Even red brick walls were chipped, the Victorian tower was covered in pigeon feces, and some windows were so murky he couldn't see inside the building. His first impression of where he'd live made his stomach churn.
"This place is a dump!" Kurama roared inside his mind. "I've seen whore houses that looked cleaner."
Naruto nodded and entered the building with Alan and Caroline. He noticed that the orphanage had four floors with the Victorian Tower out of commission. All the walls inside had tiled black, green, and orange bricks in odd patterns. The tops of the walls had cracks in the plaster, and something about being here made Naruto feel uneasy. He shook off the feeling and followed Caroline, who happily took him on a tour of the orphanage. The first floor had an indoor gymnasium, a kitchen, and an eating hall. This was also where Alan's office was. Naruto could barely remember half of the rooms and facilities Caroline pointed out during his tour through the orphanage.
The second and third floors were the dormitories for the orphans. The boys and girls were separated between wings, with the boys on the right wing and the girls on the left, which was simple enough for Naruto to remember. These rooms were reserved for the older kids. The fourth floor was a madhouse with almost a hundred boys sleeping in big bunk beds in one giant room. There were fifty bunkbeds in total, and every boy was eyeing him suspiciously.
The boys in this orphanage looked gritty, angry, and dangerous. Many of them were playing with decks of cards in circles or kicking checkered soccer balls in the corners. Some were whispering amongst the shadows between beds while pointing at him. A few boys were hollering thick Jamaican slang, cursing in Albanian and numerous other languages Naruto would soon learn existed in this world. Caroline quickly scolded the boys who were playing football indoors.
He saw more boys whispering to each other. She returned and led Naruto out of the dormitory to meet Alan on the first floor.
On the way, they were going down the stairwell when Naruto felt a spike of coldness emanating from a room on the third floor. He saw a room down the hallway that felt dark, horrible, and evil like some nasty monster was hidden behind the doors of room 327. Many people were walking past the door in the hallway uncaringly, but Naruto stopped in the stairwell and tugged at Caroline's arm.
His ears started ringing as he stared at room 327 down the hall.
"What is that room?"
"The Riddle Room? I don't think you should know about that room," Caroline said almost desperately.
"Why is there something wrong with it?" Naruto asked curiously. "Does anyone live there?" He saw Caroline's eyes widen in terror, and her lips quivered uneasily. "What's wrong?"
She turned her head in all directions and whispered in his ear, "That's where we send the naughty kids. By naughty, I mean the types that start fights and hurt other kids."
"Why is it called the Riddle room?"
"I've said too much," Caroline said uneasily. "Come along, let's get some food in your belly. You must be starving after all the drama earlier."
XxX Wool Headmaster's Office XxX
Alan was eating a Big Mac and waving for them to sit before them. He handed Naruto a burger, fries, and a soda. Caroline joined them in their little feast. Both adults engaged in most of the talking, their words drifting in and out of his ears. This was because he was eating a cheeseburger for the first time! Tears were welling in his eyes. He had never tasted something so good!
"Where did you get this!" he shouted subconsciously. "I could eat these all day!"
Alan and Caroline looked at him like he was stupid.
"You've never had Maccy D's before?" Caroline asked, baffled. "Where did you live the last twelve years?"
Naruto felt put on the spot. Sweat was rolling down his brows. Alan stared at him like a scientist analyzing a bacterium in the microscope. Naruto chuckled nervously at the adults.
"I know how to take care of myself," Naruto answered.
"You didn't look like it when the police picked you up. By the way, Officer Lewis handed me this," Alan said while opening his desk. A loud, shaking plastic bag fluttered in his hands. "Nobodies ever seen something like this before. Does this mean anything to you?"
Naruto's eyes widened.
In Alan's hands was an evidence bag with his shinobi headband sealed inside. The metal forehead protector glimmered with the insignia of Konoha. That headband was originally Iruka-sensei's, but he gave it to him the night he became a Genin. Alan shook the evidence bag before Naruto's face, returning him to reality.
"Ring any bells? The coppers thought you might be part of some gang or illegal activity, but nothing came up except that it's technically your property. Well, the only property on your person that wasn't completely tarnished," Alan explained, much to Naruto's fury. "I figured you could explain what it is?"
"That's an heirloom!" Naruto spat before looking up. "It belongs to me!"
"Look, kid, you aren't the first troubled youth to walk through these doors. You think I'm a fool?" Alan inquired.
"I'm not part of a gang. I've never been part of a gang. No one would ever want me in their gang! So please, give me back my headband!" Naruto begged.
"Please, don't lie to me!" Alan retorted.
"I'm not LYING!" Naruto shouted back.
"Bastard! You should rip his head off, dance in his blood, and take it back," Kurama suggested.
"Don't give me ideas!"
Never in the blonde jinchuriki's life did he want to tackle someone as much as he did now. Not even Saskuke or Orochimaru were sadistic enough to dangle his headband in front of him. He had to bite his cheek and pinch his sides to avoid lunging at Alan. But that was easier said than done.
"Naruto we don't want to torment you by holding onto your headband, but there are many holes in your case. Alan suggested we make a deal," Caroline interjected.
"Crimey! Here's the deal! I don't want to hold onto whatever you call this thing any longer than I have to. So if you are a good boy, I'll give it back to you. By good, I mean going to school, getting good marks, and being responsible. This means no gang involvement and no getting into trouble," Alan challenged.
"That's easy. I'll get that headband back in no time," Naruto said confidently. "What if I get into one of those fancy prep schools?"
Alan looked surprised but shrugged his shoulders.
"I see no problem with that. Hell, if you're lucky enough to be adopted, I'll personally give back your headband immediately. Like I said, I don't want to hold onto it any longer than I have to. But I don't want you causing problems like what happened to my car earlier today, capiche!"
"Just wait," Naruto said confidently.
"You Idiot! You will never get that headband back ever again!" Kurama screamed.
"All I have to do is be good and go to school. What's the worst that can happen?"
"You nearly flunked out of the Academy! You and education mix like water and oil. Not only that, but you are a magnet for trouble! Something is going to happen and you will regret not killing this mortal! If you truly want to get that headband back so badly, you must either crack open the books or steal it. But knowing you, I see you taking the long-turbulent road to failure," Kurama pointed out.
"You keep calling me a failure. Because of that, I'm going to prove you wrong!"
Naruto looked at his Iruka-sensei's headband inside the evidence bag. He only hoped that the Kyuubi was wrong. But what else could possibly go wrong in this strange world?
(A/N) This completes chapter 1. I hope everyone enjoyed it. If you want to support this story, please follow, favorite, and leave a review. Feedback is like crack for writers.