Chapter 01

A Deal with Death

[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto manga or Harry Potter, a series of seven fantasy novels. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and British author J. K. Rowling respectively. This fiction is just for fun.]

"Character Talking"

Character Thinking

"Telepathic Conversation"

Prophecy

"Jutsu/Magic!"

"Demon/Summon/Angry God or Goddess"

Death was not a single being that ruled over all creation. No...like the many facets of life, there were also many Death, each with a domain of their own that had spanned across universes and galaxies. Every dimension had a Death of their own, a personification of Death that was tied to the dimension's existence. In the Elemental Nation also known as the Shinobi World, the Death here was accompanied by a Shinigami, the one who guided the dead on their journey, the gatekeeper of the soul.

Shinigami was a tall god, at least ten feet tall, with an unnatural purple skin tone. His long, shaggy and white hair from which two red horns protruded was floating behind him the strange way. He was sitting on what seemed like a throne of fused human bones and his catlike yellow eyes were focused on a scroll on his table. When he finished reading, the scroll rolled, closing on its own. It levitated back one of the shelves it had come from. As the God the steadily reached out his hand to pick up another one from the table, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his white robes, faces of torment as if the garment was stitched of souls, trying to get out. The Death-God opened the scroll and was about to read, but he was disturbed by what looked like a violent square of light about ten feet by ten that had popped up in the middle of his office.

A second later, a normal-looking man with a medium built stepped out of the portal. He was tall—not tall as Shinigami but taller than any average human—and had short black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a traditional tux—black suit and pants, black tie, white shirt—with a black round hat. He blended well with the black background of Shinigami's office.

The God seemed to know that person as he spoke in a very familiar way. "What are you doing here?"

The man walked toward the God of death twirling his long black cane with a silver skull handle at the top. He stopped, shifting his cane to his left hand.

"I need your help, brother."

...oOo...

Darkness…complete and utter darkness…

No, this isn't quite correct.

Darkness is, after all, just the absence of light, right?... Nothing more and nothing less. A place beyond time or space... Here is absolutely nothing but an empty void. Nothing to see...Nothing to hear. Nothing to feel...Nothing to smell. Nothing to taste...Absolutely nothing…

But…that isn't quite correct either.

Something exists in this void. I exist. They exit. It is quite blurry, but I still remember them...my dreams...my hopes and goals for the future...

"I'm busy right now. Come back later," he said, rather bluntly.

"Why are you so rude, Naruto? Aren't you happy to see your old friend?"

Shinigami stepped in front of a young boy with amethyst eyes. He was doing a push up on the nonexistent floor while reading a book. The boy was tall, slender, athletically built, who could be described as having chiselled features. His eyes were glowing in the dark. It was so unnatural same with his pale white skin, which was perfectly matched his pale blond hair colour.

"We're not friends. I only tolerate your presence because I'm too tired to learn to tolerate someone else's," Naruto said. Balancing his weight on the left hand, he flipped the page with the thumb of his right hand. "Come to point, God, what do you want from me?"

"We, Gods, require your help once again."

"No," Naruto told him immediately. He closed the book and sat down in the lotus position. "Just because you gave me materials to keep myself busy in this timeless place doesn't mean I owe you anything. The last time, I helped Gods to save the world…"

"Actually, your action nearly caused the destruction of multi-universe," Shinigami said.

"…and brought peace." Naruto simply ignored him.

"For that peace, you killed the half of—"

"It served its purpose, didn't it?" Naruto was annoyed by Death-God's constant interception. "My father was a great man, a hero, so they say. But sometimes the world doesn't need another hero, sometimes what it needs is a monster."

Naruto stretched out the hand holding the book. A space of void distorted before taking the shape of a tall man. He was wearing black ninja suits with dark red and blue accents that covered most of his body and face. He had greyish-blue skin and glowing, red eyes as if he was a demon or a part of a demon. The man inclined his head silently in a slight bow toward Naruto. Then he came forward and took the book out of his hand.

Naruto smirked, noticing the stunned look on Shinigami's face. "Do you my new servant? There're many others like him. I called them Darklings—creatures of Darkness and shadows," he said, proudly as he answered Death-God's unasked question. "They have always been here as a part of this plane. My chakra just gave a slight push in their evolution."

He was alone before, but now he has subordinates. Shinigami amazed as Naruto's servant blended completely into the background of the realm.

"And could you please tell your friend to come out from hiding?" Naruto told Shinigami. He did know about the eternity who had come along with Shinigami.

The tiny cracks spread over the space beside Shinigami. "You are good," Shinigami's brother said. The barrier that making him invisible had shattered like glass. "I've heard a lot about you."

"All good I hope."

A smile appeared on the man's face. "Nice to meet you, Mr Naruto. I am the Grim Reaper, a death-god from another dimension," he introduced himself, "but you can call me Soul."

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "You don't look like a death-god from any angle."

"Really?" Soul asked, a smirk playing on his lip.

He taped the nonexistent floor with his cane. A purple fire started from his cane before it enveloped him completely. The fire grew denser and darker until it almost became black. His true form was almost twice as tall as a normal man and slim. It resembled a human skeleton, draped in a flowing pitch-black hooded robe. His cane had transformed into a wicked-looking scythe, which he was holding in bone white fingers. His appearance was truly terrifying and demonic. He tilted his head and removed his hood, revealing a shiny white skull plastered with an evil grin.

"How do I look now?" His tone was the deep, dark and almost demonic.

"Now, you look like one."

"Thank you." The fire ceased, the smoke disappeared, and Soul transformed back to his human form. "Mr Naruto, I have one proposal for you."

"Sorry, but I've stopped doing work for gods."

"Just listen to what I have to say. I promise I will then make your decision as final and not bother you again."

Naruto crossed his arms on his chest and slowly levitated at Soul's height. His violet eyes locked onto the Grim reaper's dark ones. "Very well. You have my ears."

"I also need your eyes for this."

The Grim Reaper lifted his cane and a small purple spark was produced on its tip then it became a purple flame. The purple flames danced around the tip. He waved his cane in front of his body in a circle, creating a purple flame of the ring. The ring expanded until it became bigger than him.

Naruto asked, "What is this for?"

"Take a look into this and see for yourself," Soul said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but he did what Soul had said. When he looked inside the ring, rather than seeing through the ring, first, he saw blurry images, but then it became more clear. There was a bunch of human holding sticks doing some kinds of stuff like turning humans into animals, summering various elements, flying on broomsticks and various pieces of stuff which were quite impossible to do.

"They are mages, witches and wizards—Yes, they are doing REAL magic," Soul explained.

"Interesting." Naruto cupped his chin in his hand, not moving his eyes from images.

Soul smiled as he got the blond's attention and waved his hand. Another image occurred. It was an image of a short, skinny boy with jet-black, incredibly messy hair. When the boy turned his head, Naruto saw his startlingly green eyes that were hidden behind round glasses. His attention turned to a very thin scar on the boy's forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. His violent orbs narrowed.

"His name is Harry James Potter, the child of the prophecy of my world," Soul informed.

"That boy has another soul or a soul fragment in his body," Naruto cupped his chin in his hand and gazed at the lightning-shaped scar, "which resides in that boy's scar. Do you know that?"

Shinigami turned to his brother and said, "Told you, he is the best for this work."

Soul smiled and waved his hand. Another image appeared. Naruto quickly covered his eyes and cursed his strong memory. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't shake off the image of a small, naked child, with a face like an ugly old man, curling on the ground.

"What the heck is this?" Naruto said, nearly shouting. "You should have warned me. Seriously, I can't get this image out of my head."

"Sorry," Soul apologised. He snapped his fingers, extinguishing the purple flame ring.

Naruto opened his eyes just to confirm that the horrible image had disappeared. "Who is that child-err—old man... whatever it is?" he asked.

"That mutilated baby-like creature is a fragment of Voldemort's soul that residents inside Harry," said Soul.

"Who the hell is this Voldemort?"

"An evil Mage."

After getting Naruto's compete for attention, Soul began, he told the story of Tom Riddle, how he had become Lord Voldemort, How he had killed Harry's parents, How he had accidentally sealed his soul fragment into Harry. He told Naruto almost everything about Voldemort and the Child of Prophecy of his world. He finished and waited for his response.

"Born genius, snake fetishes, immortality obsessions," Naruto said, counting on his fingers. "Yep, I've found Orochimaru's lost brother from another mother."

Shinigami said, "That slippery snake—Yes, I can see the similarities."

"What have you decided?" Soul asked.

"Why do you need my help if you have Child of Prophecy to handle your Snake problem?" Naruto said.

"I wouldn't have approached you for help If Tom had only been my problem," the Brother of Shinigami said as his voice became more serious. "The bigger threat than him is coming and I don't think Harry Potter or anyone from my world can handle it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "If that snake freak is your least problem then what is your big problem?" His eyes narrowed as he studied the Grim reaper intently. It very clear that Soul wasn't telling everything. "What are you hiding, Death-God?"

Soul sighed; the blond had left him no choice. "Your indirect interference has caused a disturbance in my dimension's timeline. It has ruined the purpose of my Prophecy Child."

Naruto glared at Soul. His sclera turned black as night and his irises faded. Little sparks of ink-black electricity rimmed those all dark eyes. "Death-God or not, are you accusing me of something I didn't do?"!

"I am not accusing you," Soul said. He was very calm and wasn't bit bothered by Naruto's outburst. "I'm just telling you that the last stunt you pulled to save your dimension has left some nasty side effects to mine. The Messed up the timeline of my dimension is one of them."

Naruto took a moment to close his eyes and calm himself. He thought about everything and opened his amethyst eyes. "Very well, I'll help you," he said, "but—what will I gain from it?"

"Freedom," Soul said. "Freedom of travel to another dimension."

"I can do that," Naruto said. They were offering him a dimensional hopping power, which he already had.

"You can only access dimensions that close to you through your space-time technique. Naruto, there are hundreds, millions, perhaps even billions of dimensions," Shinigami said and he successfully got Naruto's attention

"We are here talking about giving you a key to access multi-universe," Soul said.

"Ok, but I've another request, " Naruto said. He didn't wait for their response as he continued. "I want this dimension."

Soul was surprised by his weird request, so he asked, "Why do you want ownership of your prison?"

"I grow fond of this place," Naruto answered, "I also don't want to leave my new servants behind. They feed on the energy of this realm and cannot live much longer without it."

Shinigami thought about for a second before nodding. "I can arrange that."

"Very well," Naruto said before he turned and looked at Soul. "But how are we going to do It?"

Soul's eyes flashed fire as he smirked. "The timeline of my dimension has already messed up, so this isn't going to put much difference in it."

...oOo...

Professor McGonagall was rather a severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses. She was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. When she heard the news about her ex-students, she gasped.

"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..."

Albus Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.

Albus Dumbledore was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.

Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying... he went after the Potter's Twins, Harry and Nathan. He tried to kill them... Harry survived, but Nathan—he is...missing."

Dumbledore bowed his head. Image of a blond infant with purple and green eyes appeared in front of his eyes. The ability to perform magic usually revealed itself by age seven, but in the case of Nathan Potter, the boy had somehow born with incredible magical power, very rare in the magical word. Whenever the infant felt a strong emotion, the magic magnified around his body.

"They're also saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke—and that's why he's gone."

Dumbledore nodded glumly.

"It's—it's true?" Professor McGonagall faltered. "After all, he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy? Of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive but his brother didn't?"

"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."

...oOo...

Sister Augustine was a woman of seventy years and although she was everything but rusty, life started to take its toll: her knees weren't what they used to be; she was a little slower than before. There was an old saying Age comes with experience. Over the years she has gained a breadth of experiences. The same experience was screaming at her that the man in front of her was anything but normal, but she ignored.

"I'm sorry I mispronounced that. Could you please repeat your name slowly for me?"

"Yes, of course." The man just smiled. "It's Mi-na-to U-zu-ma-ki."

"You are Japanese?" Sister asked. The man didn't look or sound Japanese; he had blue eyes and spiky, blonde hair.

"Actually, I am half-Japanese. My father is Japanese. But he was born in London. My grandparents were born in the United Kingdom, too, and my mother is white, English and Scottish," Minato said as he purposely added the "but" because he wanted to clear everything about his origin.

Sister Augustine nodded in understanding before she went back to writing on her pad.

Sister Augustine didn't have any favourites. That was a fact. Everybody knew it. She cared for all of her charges equally. After all, they were her children. Temporary or not, they were hers. She looked after them until they were able to stand on their own feet or they finally found the home each of them so dearly deserved.

They sipped their coffee in silence for a few minutes and then Minato spoke. "Where is my new son?"

"He is with Sister Sara. She will be here shortly."

The office door opened softly and Sister Sara walked in with one and half-year-old boy in her arms. She had black hair and stereotypical narrow almond-shaped eyes with single fold eyelids. It was quite clear that she was Asian or descendant. She handed the boy to his new father.

"This is our little maelstrom," she said, smiling up at him.

Minato carefully took his new son from the sister. His son had bright blond hair a similar shade of him. For a moment older blond thought his son was sleeping until two mismatch eyes opened. Those eyes flashed with recognition, showing quiet intelligence in them.

"Naruto."

"What?"! Sister Augustine asked, confused. The word did sound like Japanese.

"Nice name. It means maelstrom in Japanese, sister—also fishcake." Sister Sara muttered the last part under her breath.

...oOo...

"I am grateful for your help, Sister, " Minato said.

Sister Sara stroked the baby's blond hair. "Just take care of our Little Maelstrom, Mr Uzumaki." She leaned forward to kiss baby Naruto on the forehead.

"I will." Minato smiled.

A long black vehicle stopped beside him. Two men got out of the car. One of them went to the rear passenger door and opened the door. Minato climbed inside the car with Naruto in his arms and sat down in the luxurious leather seat. His servant shut the door and both men went back to front seats.

Minato looked at Naruto and smiled. His form shattered like glass showing his true face. "Welcome to my world, Naruto Uzumaki," Soul said.

(TBC)

Hey, it is me, YamiNaruto!

I want to say thanks for reading my new story.

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