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Five-year old Uzumaki Naruto sat just outside the Hokage's office, swinging his legs back and forth on a too-big-for-him chair. His hair was slightly damp from a recent bath, his clothes were brand new and his stomach was full. That was a big change from the dirty ragged and hungry state he had been in for the past week and a half when he had been living on his own in the streets.

He was waiting for the Third Hokage to finish his 'meeting' with Itou Akiko, the matron of the village's orphanage, to find out what was going to happen to him and if he'd go back to the orphanage.

It was inevitable that Naruto get kicked out of the orphanage eventually. When Sarutobi had first reluctantly placed him there (if only he'd been able to raise Naruto himself; but unfortunately he didn't have the time and the village would riot) the workers and volunteers were obvious in their disdain for the baby. It was only the ever watchful eyes of the ANBU stationed to look after Naruto that ensured that the baby was safe and given what he needed. Anyone caught trying to abuse the baby – whether it be physically or just neglecting his basic needs – were dealt with quickly and severely.

Workers and volunteers dropped like flies before they got smart enough to provide for Naruto. Unfortunately that didn't stop them from finding other ways to make the child miserable. They ignored him; even when handing out food they'd drop the plate in front of Naruto and scurry off as if the devil were after them. They also discouraged the other children from playing or talking with him. And when they thought nobody was listening they'd murmur about how he was a demon and a monster. It made Naruto feel like he wasn't really there, and that no one cared.

But even though the workers didn't like him they were too afraid of the Sandaime's wrath to kick him out. At least until he was older when they could claim that Naruto was self-sufficient or when a needier child came in so they could say they didn't have enough resources.

So what brought upon the earlier than planned boot from the orphanage you ask? Well, I guess it begins with Naruto's dreams.

Ever since he could remember, when Naruto dreamed he always found himself in the presence of a black-haired green-eyed boy. The boy was about a year older than he was and his name was Potter Harry – or Harry Potter as Harry said you say your name where he is from. And that was the root of the problem. The two boys came from very different places.

At first the culture difference didn't matter –they were only babies after all and they just played and slept together. As they got older they started talking to each other – ignorant of the fact that they didn't speak the same language. And since Harry and Naruto both learned languages the way every other baby does – listening to others speak and then mimicking – they were unknowingly learning two languages instead of one (they would hear their native language while awake and pick up the other's language while asleep). This caused them to speak in a sort of mix between English and Japanese (not that anyone realized this since no one really talked to either child). When Harry started going to school, he realized that nobody knew many of the words he knew. After he told Naruto (who then started eavesdropping on the adult's conversations), he realized the same thing except the adults in Konoha only used the words that the adults in Harry's world didn't use.

It wasn't long before Harry's teacher set up a meeting with the Dursley's to talk about Harry's apparent language problems and how to resolve it. Needless to say that Harry got in trouble with his aunt and uncle for being a freak and making up a freaky language. After that incident both Harry and Naruto tried not to use any words that they hadn't heard an adult around them say. Unfortunately a week and a half ago Naruto used a few words from Harry's world accidently when he was playing with this really hyper kid with bushy-eyebrows named Lee (one of the only kids in the orphanage who will play and talk with him). Even though this wasn't the first time Naruto had slipped, it was the first time he was caught by an adult. The matron spared no time to kick him out of the orphanage, screaming about possesed demon spawns speaking in tongues and the corruption of other children.

It was a tough time for Naruto; almost everybody was mean to him and he got very little to eat (though after getting caught pilfering through a dumpster one day, this old man gave him a bowl of ramen for free, and another free bowl every day since. Yum!)

Then today while he was napping in a small alley, the Hokage (who was taking a stroll to escape from his never-ending paper-work) had found him. When the old man found out that he was living in the streets after being kicked out of the orphanage Naruto was promptly whisked away, given food, a bath and new clothes to wear. Which brings us back to outside the Hokage's office.

Just then the door opened and the orphanage matron came storming out, only pausing long enough to shoot a nasty glare at the five-year old. Naruto was then directed inside. Upon seeing him, Sarutobi smoothed out his face from the angry frown it was in when talking to Akiko into a genial smile.

"Well Naruto, it seems that we have a small problem. The orphanage is full and you can hardly live in the streets for your whole life! For now you can live with my son and his family until we find a more permanent living arrangement."

Naruto just sat in silence. There were quite a few empty beds at the orphanage when he was there, so he didn't see why the Sandaime said the place was full. Unless they got a lot of new kids this past week. He didn't want to live in the streets again since it wasn't very comfortable and he was always hungry, and the old man seemed nice enough. He was going to miss the free ramen though.

Sarutobi stood up and beckoned Naruto to his side as he walked out the door. "Come Naruto, I'll bring you to Ichiro."

"Naruto! Sit down!"

The now 7 year-old Harry was trying to get his honorary brother back to work on the English written language, but the blond-haired mass of energy was instead trying to mimic a ninja he had seen and throw a kunai. Harry sighed and gave up for now; the table that they were working at promptly disappearing.

It didn't take long for Naruto and Harry to realize that their dreamscape could and would become anything that they could think of. They had lots of fun thinking up the weirdest and coolest objects and places. The only problem was that it depended on their knowledge of the things they wanted. For example, when Harry had first described a car to Naruto (something Naruto couldn't quite wrap his mind around), the blond-haired boy decided he needed to see it to believe it. But instead of asking Harry to think it up, Naruto tried to imagine what it was like. Needless to say that Naruto's version would never actually be physically possible or useable in real life.

Another example is when Harry, who hadn't done his homework yet (since the Dursley's had locked him in his cupboard after fighting back when Dudley tried to beat him up), had tried to finish it there. Not only did no question after number 7 show up since he hadn't read those questions yet, but even though he finished the rest his answers they weren't actually on the paper the next morning. But the fact that nothing physical carries over to the waking world also ended up being a bonus whenever either boy got hurt since they were back to normal again in the morning.

Harry watched as Naruto tried again and again to hit a target with a kunai. The older boy didn't have the heart to drag Naruto back to work, and to be honest the seven-year old was feeling restless too, and what Naruto was doing did look like fun...

A few seconds later Harry was standing next to the blond haired boy throwing his own set of kunai.

Though neither boy realized it, the past dozen of months had been life changing for the both of them. They were more confident, healthier and generally happier.

It all started when Naruto was sent to live with the Hokage's oldest son, Ichiro, Ichiro's wife, Yui, and their two-year old son, Konohamaru. The Sarutobi's were very welcoming to the blond and made him feel right at home. He wasn't sneered at, he got plenty to eat, they were teaching him how to read write and do some basic academy ninja exercises. It wasn't long before Naruto became the talkative, energetic boy that he had only been in Harry's presence before.

Naruto had also decided what he wanted to be when he was older. After sharing many walks and talks with the Sandaime (who Naruto took to calling 'old man'), he noticed how everyone loved and respected him. Yui explained that the Hokage was the strongest ninja in the village, and it was his job to care for and protect the village. The villagers know this, and therefore loved and respected the Hokage in return.

To Naruto, there was no turning back. He knew that was the job for him. He would do anything to protect his precious people, and the more precious people the better. He would just have to prove to the village that he was worthy of their respect and love too.

Naruto's new living arrangement also indirectly brought upon Harry's transformation into the confident and independent child he was today. Harry had already known all about ninjas in Naruto's society and how Naruto wanted to become one, but he had always figured that Naruto meant the type of ninja like on the cartoons Dudley watched – people who wore all black and were very good at fighting and stealth. He never knew that they had such a thing as chakra.

One night, when Naruto was rambling about all the cool things he learned and did that day, he mentioned how he had seen a ninja use a henge – or illusion – to look like someone else. Once Harry processed that Naruto was talking about something that was impossible, unnatural and freakish, as if it were an everyday occurrence, he interrogated his little brother on all things chakra.

According to Naruto (who had asked Yui, Ichiro and the old man), chakra was something that everyone and everything had. But only some people could use it, and even then you had to be trained properly.

Harry realized that

- Yes, magic – or chakra – did exist

- Therefore he must have really turned his teacher's hair purple, opened the locked cupboard door, re-grew his hair and all those other things he'd been in denial about

- Other people probably had it too, but they just couldn't use it like he could

- His Aunt and Uncle must have known; why else would they be so against anything abnormal and hate him so much?

Since then Harry and Naruto have been trying out their powers and seeing what they could do. This in turn boosted Naruto's confidence (especially since he was the one doing most of the teaching to Harry) and increased his own skills, so that Naruto was positive that he'll one day become a great ninja and Hokage. And it allowed Harry to gain leverage on his family, ensuring he'd get proper meal portions, Dudley's second bedroom, and he was left alone more (which gave him more time to try out new techniques). Granted, Harry still had to do an unfair amount of chores and his family hated him more than ever, but that was fine with the brunette - Naruto was all the family he needed.

A/N: If I didn't come across clearly, this is how the dream world works:

It's sort of like the room of requirement (from HP), but not as good. For example, in the room of requirement if you want books on bogarts, all books that even reference bogarts will appear, whether or not the user has ever heard of the book before. For Naruto's and Harry's dreams, at least one of them had to have already thought of the book (even if it;s subconsciously). Even if they had only read the book once, all the info will be there since they have it in their subconscious. But if they had only heard of the book or haven't read it, the inside pages will be blank.

This is the world of their subconscious, so even if they're awake all night in the dreamscape, their bodies will be fully rested when they wake (though they might be mentally tired, which is why they sometimes sleep within the dreamscape). At this point in time, both boys are able to spend 3 full nights 'awake' before they need a whole night of real sleep to deal with mental exhaustion. As they get older they'll be able to deal with it better and both stay mentally aware for longer and process more information better (this will be important for how Naruto is able to cope with so many shadow clones).

Since the dreamscape happens in their heads, they can't improve physically while asleep. They can practice fighting and think of new moves, but they won't be really exercising or developing muscle memory (if you've ever read Chunnin Exam Day by Perfect Lionheart, it works sort of like that, except for dreams instead of repeats).

Next chapter: Naruto starts attending the ninja academy.