Chapter four
Chapter four
“…Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants,
freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my
father’s -”
Uzumaki Naruto groaned loudly, twisting in his sleep. He grabbed a pillow and put it over his head, hoping to drown out the shrieks of the portrait downstairs.
When he had learnt that the wizards had moving paintings, he had been so excited -how cool was that? - but the excitement was short lived when he realized just how horrible the painted woman was.
He hadn’t been able to sleep properly the previous day, his encounter with that weird creature the wizards called a boggart flashing before his eyes over and over; if it hadn’t been for Kurama warning him that what he was seeing was not real, he didn’t know what he would do.
That was the first time the demon fox had actually spoken to him since Naruto appeared here, probably due to sensing the boys immense distress. He had gone back to his slumber soon after, claiming he needed time accumulating to their new environment.
At the sound of the wizards shouting back at the shrieking painting in an attempt to shut it up, Naruto rolled out of bed and made his way downstairs grumpily. He missed his walrus sleeping hat.
Hermione Granger was startled to see the blonde boy already sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a toast half-heartedly, when they went down for breakfast.
During the days he had been there, she’d never seen him eat the same time as them, and he generally seemed to be avoiding the other wizard folk for some reason.
She could feel Harry and Ron were surprised too, if all of them stopping at the entrance to the kitchen to stare at the boy was any indication. Naruto, however, didn’t seem to mind and he smiled brightly at them.
“Hey everyone! Please join me for breakfast,” he waved over to the empty seats at the table.
The trio sat down cautiously.
Hermione observed the boy in front of her. The most curious thing about his appearance were definitely the three lines that ran across his cheeks on either side. Were they tattoos? If so, what did they mean? Hermione was burning with curiosity; before she could speak up however, Ron asked a question of his own.
“What the hell are you wearing, mate?”
Hermione’s eyes widened at Ron’s lack of manners, and she bumped him in the arm.
She looked over at Naruto, who was looking down at his fishnet shirt in confusion. This was the first time they were seeing him without that dreadful orange jacket, which Naruto somehow managed to pull off.
the boy opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Mr. Weasley entering the kitchen and announcing that Harry would go to work with him tomorrow, for his hearing.
At this, Naruto perked up and started discussing their transportation method with Ron’s dad.
She looked at him more closely. He wasn’t particularly big, maybe only a few centimeters taller than Harry, a bit shorter than Ron, but now that the baggy jacket was off Hermione could see the well-built body that had been hidden underneath. Her eyes scanned his torso, then were drawn over to his arms; she noted the well-defined muscles as well as the numerous, pale scars that were on his arms. They were barely visible, only noticeable due to his tan skin and the fact that she was staring keenly.
She felt her cheeks warm up when she realized just what she had been doing (since when did she check out guys like this?!) and abruptly looked away.
Harry potter kept stealing looks at the blonde boy sitting across from him during breakfast. He was grinning from ear to ear, discussing the food with Mr. Weasley, who looked equally happy to talk about his wife’s cooking.
How could they be so carefree around this guy? They barely knew anything about him -he could be a spy for all they knew- and here they were, discussing bloody muffins.
Apparently, Hermione was thinking something similar because she spoke up.
“Is the food good back in your school, Naruto?”
The question was innocent enough; but it would give them information on his background. Hermione sure had her way with words.
Naruto turned to look at them for a few moments, as if contemplating something. Harrys heart started beating faster.
“Oh, I don’t go to school, granger-chan.” He chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek.
Wait what?
What was that supposed to mean? He looked the same age as them; no way he could have graduated already?
“Wha-what do you mean?” Hermione looked horrified at the prospect of someone not being in school.
“I graduated when I was 12 years old.”
Naruto grinned at the shocked expressions on the wizards’ faces. He already knew that they were aware he wasn’t a wizard; so why were they surprised? Naruto had heard them discuss him -and what he could be- many times already; they had not figured it out yet.
Before the girl with bushy brown hair could question him again, he stood up and stretched, hearing a few cracks. He looked down at the faces staring up at him and asked his own question.
“Is there ramen in Hogwarts?”
The rest of the day was pretty boring. Naruto was definitely getting restless at this point; he had been cooped up in this gloomy, creepy house for way too long. He would even take training with Kakashi-sensei’s ninja dogs chasing him over this.
At least tomorrow he would be able to leave this place to go to Harry’s hearing.
Harry was woken abruptly the next morning -around half past five- by an overly excited blonde shaking him eagerly.
Green eyes met wide, blue ones who had no business being as excited as they were when the sun wasn’t even out yet.
The boy who lived didn’t even have time to be horrified about Naruto being in his room that he shared with Ron at the crack of dawn as he was dragged out unceremoniously by strong arms.
As they settled down in the kitchen and Harry looked over the faces of the fully dressed wizards in front of him –Tonks, Lupin, Sirius- and something dawned on him.
“he’s coming with me?!” he pointed at Naruto accusingly.
Naruto didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Harry’s tone, instead nodding enthusiastically.
Harry was angry. He was angry at the Order, angry at Dumbledore; who hadn’t talked to him in months, hadn’t even bothered to come with him to the hearing- and now he was sending a teenager to accompany him? Or worse, protect him?
“No! I will not be followed by someone like him!” his hands felt hot. “Your work isn’t required; You should leave.” Harry knew his words were harsh, but he didn’t care at the moment. He was just so mad.
“Harry, Dumbledore deems it necessary; you have to accept his judgement like we did.” Sirius’ voice had a warning tone, the man’s eyes fixed on the blonde kid. He looked nonchalant, which managed to piss Harry off even more. Just who was this kid?
“Sorry, potter-san. But you are not the client; Dumbledore-sama is. You are my mission. So, as long as the old man asks me to, I’ll be following you.” He sounded strangely calm, and had the audacity to smile.
Harry huffed and stormed out of the room, meeting Mr. Weasley in the corridor. He would deal with this later; he couldn’t afford to lose his cool before his hearing. It terrified him to think he might get expelled from Hogwarts.
They walked out of the old house, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see Naruto looking around in absolute wonder. That was strange; Harry frowned and instead turned his attention back to Mr. Weasley.
“You don’t normally walk to work, do you?” Harry asked him, as they set off hurriedly around the square. Naruto kept his distance from them, too busy gaping around.
“No, I usually Apparate,” said Mr. Weasley, “but obviously you can’t, and I think it’s best we arrive in a non-magical way… you know, since you are being punished for using under-aged magic. It would have a better impression if we used strictly muggle ways.”
Harry heard a yelp of surprise, and he turned around to see Naruto staring at the back of a moving car that had just passed them. The boy looked absolutely amazed, which deeply disturbed Harry.
Had he never seen cars before? How was that even possible?
Naruto was baffled. He never expected the outside world to be so.. advanced. He saw tall buildings and numerous strange metal boxes that moved on wheels.
He was not necessarily pleased though. There were no trees, no color. It was loud, their air was polluted, and it irritated Naruto’s sensitive nose and ears.
Mr. Weasley led potter down an underground tunnel, which put Naruto on edge. Where were they going?
His eyes widened as he took in the sight before him. The long, metal boxes that moved at high speeds- this was not going to be fun.
As he sat in the cramped steel box, he thought back to the forests that surrounded his home for miles and felt a pang of homesickness. He also noted how easy it would be for someone to attack harry, with how crowded it was. He closed his eyes and toughed out the rest of the journey, his appreciation for shinobi ways raising with every second.
Some time later, after squeezing into the weird, red moving box, out of nowhere a woman’s voice announced that they were in The Ministry of Magic. Finally.
Naruto was the first one out of the restricted metal box, and he gaped at the sight that greeted him.
Instantly, his brain was analyzing his surroundings, looking for any sign of danger or threats for Harry.
They were standing at one end of a long hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor. The walls on each side had many gold-plated fireplaces set into them, and every few seconds someone would appear from one of them with a soft whoosh. Naruto placed himself between Harry and the wall, just in case. He looked around to make sure no one was looking at him, and quickly went through the hand-signs and muttered henge no jutsu.
He transformed himself into a middle-aged woman he had just seen leave through one of the fireplaces, as he figured it would be easier to follow Harry this way instead of his usual attire which consisted of bright orange.
His eyes were drawn to Harry, who was looking around in alarm, probably looking for him. Naruto smirked, but didn’t say anything as he followed them to their destination.
Harry was sure Naruto had been there when they entered The Ministry, but he took his eyes off the boy for one second and he had disappeared. This worried Harry greatly, especially with the way Naruto had been acting ever since they left the house; the wide eyes and startled noises every turn they made.
As they made their way through the ministry, Harry tried to push away all thoughts of Uzumaki and just tried to focus on what he would be saying in his hearing.
After being informed of the time change and hurrying to the hearing room, they were finally in front of the assigned hall.
His footsteps echoed as he walked across big room, towards the chair with chains that had been placed in the middle. When he sat cautiously on the edge of the chair the chains clinked rather threateningly but did not bind him. With heart racing he looked up at the people seated at the bench above. There were about fifty of them, all, as far as he could see, wearing plum-colored robes, and all staring down at him, some with very harsh expressions, others curious. In the middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
“Very well,” said Fudge. “Let us begin.”
------
In a faraway land hidden away by an enchanted barrier, Uchiha Sasuke was losing his mind.
He had looked everywhere he could think of for his best friend. He had travelled to all of the five nations (he silently thanked god for his Rinnegans abilities, even though that same damned eye was the reason he was in this mess in the first place.)
He checked all the possible locations the portal could’ve opened to, but to no avail. It was as if that dobe had disappeared from the face of the earth.
That thought sent shivers down his spine, filling him with dread.
He knew he would have to go back to the leaf soon; he had to report this to Kakashi. The boy had hoped he could find his friend alone, without getting others involved; but now it had been more than a week and Sasuke couldn’t risk it anymore.
He would never admit it out loud, and he was sure that bastard could take care of himself wherever he was, but Sasuke was worried about the blue eyed boy.
He stopped when the main gates of the village came into view. He was not looking forward to explaining how he lost the villages future hokage, to the current hokage; especially since he knew how much the kage wanted to retire early.
Hatake Kakashi stared at his former student in disbelief.
“What do you mean he’s gone?”
Uchina didn’t answer, choosing to scowl and look away in typical Sasuke fashion instead.
Kakashi sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose; he could already feel the migraine forming. Being hokage was really not suited for him.
“I demand a mission. Solo. I will find him.” Sasuke’s voice was determined. He had an unreadable expression on his face; and Kakashi was very good at reading people.
“You know I can’t allow that; the council-”
“This has nothing to do with them,” Sasuke interrupted, urgency in his voice.
Kakashi leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms. This was highly unusual; he had not seen the Uchiha this determined since he had vowed to kill his brother.
“What do you propose?”
“A secret mission. I will look for him; with my Rinnegans space-time jutsu, I’m the best suited for this. Plus, its-” the boy faltered. Kakashi watched with interest as his student’s face hardened with determination. He swallowed and continued “it’s my fault hes gone. I’m the only one who can find him; I just need one thing.”
Kakashi considered this. He wasn’t particularly worried about Naruto; at this point in time that boy may very well be the strongest shinobi alive, along with the last Uchiha standing in front of him. He knew Naruto could protect himself, and he had no doubt in Sasuke’s abilities.
He also knew that the village would be in absolute chaos if the people found out their adored hero is missing; all of his shinobi friends would demand to go on the rescue missions, and as they are all high ranking ninja, Kakashi couldn’t dispatch them all –they would be needed in various different missions. He also trusted Sasuke; despite the councils –and the villagers’- doubts about him, Kakashi could see the boy had truly changed. He no longer was the vengeance-bound international terrorist; he was plain old Sasuke.
So really, making this choice was not that hard for Kakashi.
“Alright. What do you need?”
Sasuke looked relieved; he shot a grateful look at Kakashi and cleared his throat.
“I think Naruto might be outside the barrier. I need to contact the toads on mount Myoboku.”
Kakashi had really had enough of being hokage.