Well, this has been an idea floating in my head for a while, and I had decided to get back in the game with it, as it is one I have developed the most. I know this idea has been done, but trust me when I say it will be a bit different. More should follow soon. If anyone is interested in betaing this one, or knows a good beta to recommend, feel free to PM me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

A ninja is born

Harry was mesmerized at the sight before him. It was difficult to see the TV trough the small grate on the door to the cupboard under the stairs he was living in, but the sight before him made him forget the uncomfortable position he was in.

His cousin Dudley, who resembled a round ball more than the eight years old boy he was, had started to watch a new cartoon, something called Naruto.

For some reason, Harry could not get the new show out of his mind. He watched it as often as he could, trying to memorize as much as he could for as long the show was available, which went on for two more weeks before his cousin got bored with it and stopped watching.

Harry for the first time in his short life was seriously considering murdering his spoiled cousin for taking away the sole source of joy in the young boy's life.

Harry had lived with his relatives for seven years now, and all he knew was hate and scorn from them.

His aunt and uncle took no small pleasure in reminding the young boy how worthless he was, and how grateful he should be that they decided to take care of him instead of sending him to an orphanage.

Furthermore, since he was five, they had forced him to earn his keep by doing all sorts of chores around the house.

"Did you catch the new Naruto episode? That was some fight, huh?" Harry perked up at that. School was never a pleasant place for him, but hearing two boys speaking behind him about Naruto made it a lot more bearable.

"Yeah. I can't wait to see how it ends." The other boy sighed.

"You should go and buy the comic, then, Jerry. They're a lot further. You can get them at that comic store next block." The first boy grinned lightly.

"Thanks, Matt. I'll stop by there after school." Jerry replied.

'Comics? I can read about Naruto?' Harry's dull green eyes shone with joy for the first time in his life.

"Hi there. Can I help you?" Harry turned away from the shelf filled with comics to the shop attendant.

Gerald Stevens had spent fifteen years working in this store, and knew every type of customer that walked in at first glance, and he knew how to deal with them.

So, he was a bit surprised when he failed to sort the young boy before him.

His rather baggy and messy clothes, not to mention his chaotic black hair screamed troublemaker and Gerald had approached him to make sure the kid didn't steal anything, but when the boy turned his eyes to him, Gerald was surprised.

The boy's vibrant green eyes showed no trace of any ill will, only eagerness to read the many comics before him.

"Err, how much is that?" Harry timidly pointed at a fan book for the Naruto comic offering fans more details about the techniques shown in the comics and the show.

"That one is three pounds fifty." Gerald replied, watching as the boy's eyes fell.

"I only have two." Harry sighed and turned away, feeling his hopes crushed again.

"Wait. Tell you what. I have a defect copy of it in the back I was going to throw away later. The print is good, but the cover and binding are off." Harry perked up again at that. It was almost too good to be true.

Gerald smiled at the boy as he rushed away. Turned out he wasn't so bad after all.

Harry slowed down as he approached his home. He really disliked the house. It was too orderly, too neat. To Harry, it just felt fake and forced.

Grateful that his relatives were all busy watching TV, Harry slipped into the cupboard, knowing he wouldn't be bothered until dinner.

Once safe in his cupboard, Harry eagerly dived into the book getting lost until he heard his uncle's heavy form step onto the floor, which creaked loudly in protest.

Cooking was the one chore he enjoyed a little bit, since he discovered he had a real talent for it. He would have enjoyed it more if he was actually allowed to eat some of it.

After dinner, he returned to his book, finally reaching the part that dealt with how the techniques in the show were actually performed.

'Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do all those things?' Harry sighed wistfully.

Acting on a whim, he put his hands together in the basic hand form described in the book and concentrated, trying to pull at his inner energy, and force it to move trough his body.

Deep within his body, Harry's magic felt the pull. At first, the energy was confused, not expecting the method the boy was attempting. The confusion lasted only a moment, however. Magic served its wielders regardless of who they were and what they did. So, it would adapt and serve Harry as well.

Outside, Harry felt a bit silly, when suddenly; a rush of energy filled his body, making him feel more alive than ever before. Being held on the edge of starvation since he was one, had never felt energized before.

'I can use chakra?' Harry released the sign in surprise, letting the sensation dissipate slowly. Then, his face split into a huge grin.

'I need to learn genjutsu.' Harry took a moment to ponder his options, and came to a decision that could help him the most. Genjutsu, or illusions, could be used to trick and ensnare your opponents, making them see or feel things that weren't there.

In this case, his opponents were his relatives, and the goal was a better life for himself.

He turned to the genjutsu techniques, and found the perfect one almost immediately. The False Surroundings technique. With it, he could cloak an object or even an area with a false image. A skilled user could also fool the other senses of the victim.

However, a problem arose for Harry. Genjutsu required not only high chakra control, but were also highly dependant on the will and focus of the user.

To further complicate things, he had no way of knowing if he was doing it right or not.

"I'll have to train." Harry sighed as he realized that there were no shortcuts in life. For a child his age, it was a profound discovery.

"Man, when Kakashi said focusing chakra to your feet was hard, he wasn't kidding." Harry cursed as his attempt at tree walking was met with dismal failure.

His first attempt made a deep, foot shaped cracked into the tree, telling him he used way too much chakra. On his next try, his foot did nothing at all, telling him he used too little. So, for two hours now, he was trying to find the middle ground.

He left for home in a rotten mood. He had managed to get his foot to stick to the tree, but did not feel like he wanted to climb the tree yet. Even if he could use chakra, he knew he would break something if he fell from the tree.

To add to his chakra control training, he began doing basic workouts to improve his physical condition, but he hit a snag here. Without a proper diet, it wouldn't do much.

It took him two weeks before he felt his control over his chakra was good enough to try running up and down the tree. He was lucky he was small, since he could crawl under a large rose bush and into a part of the local park that people didn't frequent.

Even then, he made sure he wouldn't be seen. He felt elated as he stood horizontally and looked down at the ground.

In the last two weeks, he had also become aware of his limits. He discovered that while his chakra capacity was large, his body was too weak to handle the strain of prolonged use. That's why he was determined to learn genjutsu as quickly as possible. His relatives were stunting his progress.

First, he worked on the three basic academy techniques, the Henge, Bunshin and Kawarimi.

It turned out Kawarimi was the most difficult to learn. Henge was really simple, and it had helped him tremendously in improving his visualization skills, while Bunshin took only slightly longer, further helping him with his visualization, as well as offering an example of external chakra projection.

Kawarimi, however, was a deceptively simple technique. It was a near instantaneous replacement with an object in your vicinity, allowing you to avoid an otherwise unavoidable attack.

However, Harry discovered the intricacies of the technique the hard way, after he managed to break his nose twice by slamming into a tree. Having experience with such an injury after several encounters with his cousin's gang, he reset it quickly, and channeled some chakra into it, making it heal more quickly.

"Ninpou: False Surroundings." Harry held the hand sign as he watched the cat he had ensnared chase an illusionary mouse.

"Not bad for two weeks worth of hard work." Harry grinned. He had mastered his objective, and could cast it quickly, having worked on his seal forming sleep every time he could do so safely, and also maintain it without holding the final seal.

He also started working on more advanced and combat oriented genjutsu, and had started looking into some basic ninjutsu to add to his arsenal.

"Hurry it up, boy." Vernon Dursley bellowed at his nephew. The boy was on time, as usual, but it was important for the man to keep his freak nephew in line.

"Ninpou: False Surroundings." Harry whispered as he felt the genjutsu take place. He put the plates of food on the table and finally sat down himself.

Vernon and Dudley tore into their plates like pigs in a trough; a comparison Harry felt was insulting to pigs, while his aunt Petunia took a slower pace. What they didn't know was that while they saw Harry eat two pieces of dry toast and a glass of water, he was actually eating a rather generous and balanced breakfast.

'It worked.' Feeling sated for once in his life, Harry went to school in a good mood. Nothing could bring him down now.