A/N: Those of you who get this notification, please go back and re-read the first chapter. I have placed a Prologue of sorts up to explain some things. This is still a teaser, as I haven't had much time (or will) to write for this story. I might post chapter 2 sometime soon, but don't get your hopes up.

Also, I changed a thing or two here. Instead of the Third Shinobi War, it is now the Kyuubi attack. You will understand when you read down a little ways.

Chapter 1: Not the Hero

He rocked slowly back and forth on the lone swing in the playground. His hair, windswept and wild, was such a dark red colour it was pretty much black and his eyes, set in a glare, were a bright green. His cheeks were marred by three deep whisker-like gauges on each, and his mouth was shaped into a sharp-toothed scowl. Behind the blue hitae-ate tied to his forehead was a peculiar scar; one shaped like a lighting bolt. His name was Uzumaki Harry. But, in the world across the Great Genjutsu Border, he had a different name; Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived. Not that he knew that. In Konoha, he was just some nameless orphan, one who just happened to be a labeled a monster by the villagers.

"Mommy, I want to play on the swing!" He heard someone's child shout, and he looked up. A brown haired mother-son combo were but a few feet away from him.

"No! What did I tell you about that boy?"

"Stay away from him, 'cause he's a monster!" Harry's scowl deepened at the mother's nod. He turned his head, and was met by other glaring parents.

"Can't believe they allowed that monster be a Shinobi." Contempt laced the word monster. No one cared that he was the youngest graduate since the Kyuubi attack, turning eleven the next day. The Hokage specifically banned early graduation after the Uchiha fiasco!

"He should have been disposed of as a baby."

"Those cheek marks of his have gotten deeper."

"Hmph. How dare he copy Namikaze-sama's boy with such a mockery? And to share half a surname too." Harry's glare turned venomous. Yet again, that damned Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto brat was brought up. Sure, his mother was a nice lady who let him use the Uzumaki surname, but who cares about her cheating bastard for a son? Harry definitely didn't. Naruto tried, every chance he got, to get him in trouble and sabotage his work.

"Bah, if that darned fox didn't attack, Namikaze-sama would have his father. It's all that brat's fault for having the beast se-"

"HUSH! We aren't supposed to talk about that!" Harry grumbled angrily under his breath, and hopped off the swing. He stuck his hands in his pockets and started the glare-filled trek to his apartment. He always made sure to be in before nightfall, not that anyone was there waiting for him. As he was rounding the corner to his building, a cat-faced ANBU dropped down in front of him.

"Harry-san, the Hokage wishes for me to escort you the rest of the way. It is dangerous here at night."

Harry lay on his bed. He glared at the circled date on his calender. He grit his teeth and whispered out,

"Happy Birthday to me..." He growled and slammed a hand down onto his bed. "I hate July 31st! I hate October 31st! I hate Konoha!" He punctuated each shout with a slam of his fist. "I hate the adults! I hate the children! I hate the Hokage! I hate Namikaze Naruto! I hate Namikaze Minato! I hate the Kyuubi! I hate being a Jinchuriki! I..." He could feel the tears well up in his eyes and his emotions swell with sadness and grief, as they usually did when he went through this process. He made sure to go through it every year on his birthday. Even he knew that it wasn't healthy to bottle things up. "...I hate my life..." He threw an arm over his eyes and tried to calm down. "Why me?" That question went unanswered, every time he asked it. The Hokage had told him, a few hours after graduating, about him being the container of the Kyuubi. "Why choose me, a nameless orphan, to be the Kyuubi's container? Why, Minato-sama?" He stared at the ceiling, in hopes of getting an answer.

"Harry-kun?" The wizened, old voice of the Third Hokage drifted through his apartment. "Harry-kun, you have some out-of-country visitors." Harry sighed and sat up, absently wiping his eyes. He made sure his hitae-ate was tight against his forehead, and made his way into his kitchen. He hated when the Hokage let himself into his apartment, but it wasn't as if he could do something about it.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" He asked, giving the two men with him a suspicious glance, as he sat at one end of his table. The others followed his lead, and sat as well. One of the men was dressed in all black, had a paranoid look in his eye, and had a hooked nose. The other was dressed in bright coloured, strange clothes, had half-moon spectacles, and had a long white beard.

"Harry-kun, these two men would like for you to attend their school. It's... it's a magic-users only school." The Hokage sounded disgusted at the mere mention of magic-users. Harry knew why. The magic-users had almost wiped out the Shinobi race far back in the day. The Sage of the Six Paths had banned them from ever returning, for a millennium. Apparently, that millennium is over, as these two magic-users were sitting at his table.

"No thank you." Harry growled. The two magic-users jumped.

"But Harry-kun!"

"Don't call me that! It's Uzumaki-san to you damned magic-users." They seemed surprised at the hatred coating the word.

"Uzumaki-san, then." The magic-user dressed in all black grumbled under his breath about that not being Harry's real name. Harry glared at him. "Uzumaki-san, you must come!"

"Why."

"Your name has been on our list since you were born! Your parents, Potter James and Lily made sure of it!" Harry snorted.

"Some parents. Who cares? I'm a Shinobi, a full-fledged adult here. Why would I go to your school, where I'm sure I'll be treated as I am now?" The bearded magic-user furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Harry chuckled lowly.

"Why go, when I'm sure I'll be treated as what people seem to see me as, a monster?" He shook slightly in anger. "I was never a child, never the "helpless orphan", but always the monster no one wanted around, and everyone wanted dead." Harry growled, before taking a deep breath. He saw the Hokage wince back and wring his hands together. These men chose the worst day to come see him. There was a reason he asked everyone to leave him alone on his birthday: he was easily irritable and extremely emotional. Even the Hokage stayed away until the next day, where he'd give Harry a present of either new clothes or shuriken and kunai.

"Hiruzen-san?" Harry could feel the bearded magic-user's anger. The all black magic-user seemed stunned at his words. "What is the meaning of this!" The Hokage gave Harry a glance. Harry nodded, and the Hokage took a small breath.

"On Hallowe'en night, about ten years ago, the Kyuubi attacked our village. The Kyuubi was a mighty fox monster, several hundred feet high and had nine tails that could smash mountains. Our Hokage at the time, Namikaze Minato, prepared to seal the Kyuubi into his son, Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. But, almost near the time of sealing, Harry-kun appeared in his arms. Minato was going to bring Harry back to the village, but he was running out of time. He needed to seal the beast quickly, and, unfortunately, young Harry-kun was the first readily available baby aside from his own son. Minato's last wish, for Harry-kun to be seen as a hero, was not honoured by the villagers. They scorned and hated Harry, for the burden of keeping the fox at bay. He is often ignored, and has had several assassination attempts on him since the sealing. As he said... nearly everyone wants him dead."

"That..." The bearded one started, anger rolling off him in waves. The all black man finished for him.

"Who would treat a child like that! That is horrible!" He turned to Harry. "Uzumaki-san, in our world, you are hailed the hero you are supposed to be. No matter what, you will not be treated a monster." Harry scowled, effectively making the men notice the gauges on his face.

"Uzumaki-san, where did you get those marks on your cheeks?" The bearded one asked.

"The damned fox." He nodded.

"I see. I guess it is our turn to tell our tale now." Harry raised a brow. Tale? "On Hallowe'en night, ten years ago, a mad and evil Wiz- err, magic-user named Riddle Tom, or Voldemort as he preferred to be called, attacked your family, Harry. He was following a prophecy; one that was self-fulfilling, none the less. He killed your father, Potter James, before killing your mother. However, your mother, Potter Lily, before she died, cast a special form of magic, real powerful magic, and it protected you from the Killing Curse Voldemort cast at you. It rebounded, and blew up in his face. He gave you that scar you're hiding under your headban-"

"Hitae-ate."

"Ah, yes, under your hitae-ate. In our world, you're hailed as the Boy-Who-Lived, a true hero, for simply surviving the unsurvivable." Harry's eyes widened slightly. He... he could have been raised a hero this entire time?

"Why... why haven't you magic-users tried to find me before?!" Harry shouted, standing quickly. "I didn't need to live here in this damned place, only knowing hatred and scorn!" He felt a foreign power well up inside him in response to his anger. He knew his eyes flashed red- they always do when this power welled up. At least he knew what this power was now. The Kyuubi. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, sitting down stiffly. "Sorry about that..."

"It's okay Uzumaki-san... to answer your question, we couldn't." The bearded one sighed. "The curse on our magic, which prevented us from going anywhere near the Elemental Nations, faded not even a few weeks ago. Before that, all of our locating spells fell short. We were unable to come until today, because of our roles in our society." Harry nodded.

"I see..." He frowned. "Can I... Hokage-sama, men, may I attend your school for a year, to see if I like it? If I don't, may I return to being a Konoha Genin?" The men nodded and the Hokage smiled softly.

"I'm sure we can arrange that." The Hokage said, and the two men agreed.

"Yes, many Muggleborns do that."

"I don't want to fall behind on my training, though."

"Well, I am the Headmaster of the school. I don't mind if you take a few hours before and after classes to get some exercise in." Harry narrowed his eyes. This strange old man was the Headmaster?

"Ah. Why are you wearing that monstrosity?" Harry pointed at the Headmaster's robes.

"Why, this is rather fashionable in the Wizarding World. Why are you wearing that?" The Headmaster pointed to Harry's shinobi outfit. Harry looked down at it. He was wearing a blue jacket with black trimming, clipped together by a single button near his neck, over top of some fishnet, long black pants, his kunai and shuriken holster, and the standard issue blue sandals. And of course, his hitae-ate.

"This is my shinobi outfit." The Headmaster smiled and nodded.

"Would you like to wear your ninja clothes during school hours? I'm sure I can make an exception for you." Harry shrugged.

"I'd do anything to not wear those horrible robes." The black wearing man started staring intently at his face. "What are you looking at?"

"...did you ever need glasses?" Harry blinked.

"No. The fox heals anything wrong with me. And I mean anything." The way he said the word made the two men shudder. Harry eyed the two suspiciously, and was about to say something when the Hokage interrupted him.

"Now, you two haven't introduced yourselves properly." The Headmaster smiled jovially.

"Why, I can't believe we forgot that! I am Dumbledore Albus."

"I am Snape Severus." Harry nodded. Albus dug through his robes, and pulled out a wool sock. He held it out to Harry. Harry raised a brow, but accepted the sock.

"That is a port-key. It will take you to Diagon Alley at 11 o' clock sharp tomorrow, where Severus and I will meet you."

"How is a sock going to take me to this Diagonally?"

"Diagon Alley, and it's charmed to do so. Just make sure you're holding it at 11. One last thing..." Albus reached into one of his many pockets, and pulled out a letter. "Your Hogwarts letter." He placed it on the table and stood. "It was nice meeting you Uzumaki-san. We must take our leave now."