Seem familiar to anyone?


Harriett Potter lived a lonely existence for as long as she could remember. Certainly she lived with her aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon, their son and her cousin, Dudley, but they could hardly be considered a family. They sure didn't see her as part of their picturesque family and after years under their care, their borderline abuse, and it was a sentiment she'd come to return.

No, if anything they treated her as little more than unwanted pest at their best, a downright slave at their worse.

Perhaps her home life wouldn't have been so intolerable if she had any friends to speak of. Unfortunately Dudley and his gaggle of gorillas saw no one ever spoke to her more than once, less they be bullied by her mere association.

What baffled Harriett the most was the seeming ignorance of all those around. The neighbors and her school; they all knew she was the niece of the Dursleys, against their will of course, and yet they would never think twice when she arrived at school with visible bruises and in boys clothing three sizes too large for her small self.

Perhaps, Harriett thought, they simply didn't care.

"Harriett!"

She was startled from familiar negative thoughts by a shrill voice and an accompanying slam on the door of her cubbard. Harriett had been awake for some time now, thinking as she often did in the times she was alone, which was often. Though she was unsure of how long she'd been in her own mind as time seemed to lose all meaning in the pitch black of her small space.

It must have been morning as neither her aunt nor uncle ever allowed her to sleep in, even on the weekends or on holidays. She was, after all, amongst many other things the unwilling cook for the Dursleys when her aunt Petunia deemed it so.

"Harriett are you up yet?" Petunia shrilled again following another harsh round of knocks.

"I'm up!" Harriett responded loudly enough despite the dry of her throat. She knew better than to mumble. Her aunt particularly hated that habit of hers.

"We've got new neighbors and I'm baking my renowned lemon pie, so I need you to keep an eye on the oven!" Petunia continued to shout despite her established being awake. "I'll have your hide if it burns, girl! I also need you to cook the bacon this morning! Come on then, up, up!"

Her aunt's pie was hardly as good as she liked to believe, or Harriett would ever voice, much less renowned. However, what truly caught her attention was the mention of new additions to the neighborhood.

In the darkness of her room beneath the stairs, she smiled.

Her aunt and uncle liked to present a facade of a loving and ever perfect family to the outside world; a charade which never truly lasted beyond a few initial meetings. For a time and in the presence of new neighbors, this meant Harriett would be safe from the Dursley's scorn. To an extent, that is. Dudley was dense in both a physical and mental sense. He was ever the bully, no matter the situation.

Harriett quickly dressed herself in the small cramped cubbard, wearing another of her cousin's old tees, she opened her door to begin on her daily duties.

The fragrant and oh so sweet scent of lemon flavoring and mouth watering bacon immediately greeted her. It was unfortunate that the scent of Petunia's prized desert was all that was remotely pleasant, and she was only ever given nominal or fatty pieces of bacon to accompany the small portion of eggs she was occasionally given.

Without further instruction, Harriett began on breakfast, only cooking the bacon as Petunia didn't trust her with cooking eggs. She learned the hard way just how easily they burned the first and second time she was tasked with cooking them. After the third failed attempt she didn't eat anything but school served meals for a week and was barred from ever trying again.

"Don't forget the pie, girl! It had better not burn!" Petunia warned from the kitchen as she set the table.

She'd done so just as Harriett had finished closing the oven. The crust was visibly pale, indicating there was some time yet before it was done.

Groaning floorboards accompanied by thumping footsteps sounded from the hallway, indicating both male Dursley's had smelled breakfast just as she had. It was a Saturday morning so her uncle Vernon didn't have to work ad there was no school. They didn't wake on the weekends until the food was on the stove or on the plate.

"Morning dear," Vernon grunted out his greeting before kissing his wife on the cheek.

Harriett received a glare as her morning tidings.

"When would you like to go meet the new neighbors?" Petunia asked conversationally as she poured her husband a steaming cup of coffee.

"Whenever you wish, dear," Vernon said idly as he adjusted himself in his chair at the head of the table, snapping the weekend paper open in front of him.

Harriett managed to read half of an article reporting on mysterious meteor impact before her uncle seemingly sensed her attention, scaring her back to her duties with a glare.

"Then we'll go shortly after breakfast," Petunia decided with a smile. "And once my pie is done!"

Vernon smiled nervously hearing this, though Harriett suspected she was the only one to notice this.

"Wha — " He cleared his throat when he suddenly lost his voice. "Whatever you say, dear."

"I'm hungry!" Dudley whined from his own seat at the table. He had already devoured the orange juice Petunia had set for him.

"Harriett!" Vernon bellowed at her despite her being in the very same room.

"Bacon's almost done," she meekly reported.

Harriett wondered if he realized she had no control over how long it took for food to cook. That much was obvious, he simply wanted a reason to yell at her.

All things considered, breakfast was a relatively simple affair. Harriett was only able to eat her eggs as Petunia had her checking the oven almost every half minute and the first time she left the table to do so, she returned to a plate devoid of bacon.

She didn't bother asking for seconds as she was never given them.

Once the pie finally baked, Petunia ushered her husband and son off to dress themselves in their Sunday best. Meanwhile Harriett was given her only pair of presentable pair of clothes meant for a girl and not a chubby boy. A faded orange sundress she wore only on rare occasions for first impressions.

Soon they were off to meet the new neighbors.

"The new neighbors live just three houses down the street so we'll be walking," Petunia announced as she closed and locked the door behind her.

"But mum!" Dudley once again whined. "I don't wanna walk!"

Harriett didn't mind but decided not to voice as much. It was a beautiful day in March with enough remnants of the cooler season to enjoy the mild wind of her bare shoulders, while also tousling her already unkept hair.

"Cheer up son!" Vernon said as he patted Dudley's back. "Tell you what, I'll take you and your mother out to lunch when we get back!"

"Fine," the portly boy muttered.

Despite the gloomy response, Harriett could see Dudley's eyes light up at the mere mention of food. She already knew she wouldn't be joining them and they never allowed her to stay home alone. This had her pondering on just which of their equally horrid friends she would be stuck with that evening.

She wasn't about to ask but she did take some solace knowing Dudley's birthday was a few months away yet, so it wouldn't be Mrs. Figgs and her many, many cats.

"You know," Petunia began as they trudged along at Vernon and Dudley's lumbering pace. "Beatrice said she saw them taking down the sign the other day. Didn't I tell you it was only a matter of time before we had new neighbors. Hopefully their much better than that Farley family, never really kept up with their lawn, did they?"

"Yes, yes, dear, you're quite right," Vernon agreed absent minded as he stared at a woman reaching into the boot of her car for her groceries.

Oh I do wonder how they are," Petunia continued, apparently not taking notice of her husband's bored drawl. Or perhaps she was simply too excited to really care. "Oh, it looks as if we're here!"

Harriett studied the home briefly. It was almost exactly like the Dursley's in appearance. Then again, most homes on Privet Drive were very similar to one another, down to the nuclear families residing within. They only discernible differences being the home number painted on the dull gray mailbox displaying the number ten. That and their door was a pale white instead of mahogany.

Vernon was quite proud of that purchase.

Petunia rounded on Harriett so abruptly she flinched. "You'd better behave yourself now!" She warned.

"I will!" Harriett said, though she was certain Dudley wouldn't. He never did.

Vernon was the one to knock, a set unnecessarily harsh knocks proceeded the prideful look he took on.

Harriett, along with the Dursleys, were taken aback by whom answered the door, or rather, how they chose to answer.

"What?" A young boy with blond hair and blue eyes asked, both sounding and appearing annoyed.

"Erm," Petunia appeared as if she'd briefly forgotten what she wanted to say. "Are your parents home?"

Harriett felt her face heat up slightly once the boy's sweeping blue eyes landed on her and they lingered. She'd seen plenty of people with blue eyes. Dudley had blue eyes but the boy before her, his eyes were glacial and almost seemed to glow. Soon she became too flustered by the boys continued stare and quickly looked away.

"No, my parents are — "

"Naruto?" A deep voice boomed from further inside the home. "Naruto, who's at the door?"

"I don't know!" The newly revealed Naruto shouted back and over his shoulder.

"Na-ru-to?" Vernon struggled to sound the name out.

"What do you mean you don't know? You're at the door, aren't you?" The voice questioned, now sounding closer.

"Of course I am, old man! I just don't know who they are!" The boy fully turned to continue shouting into the home.

"Oh my," Petunia muttered, placing a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Who are you calling old you damned brat?!" The man shouted back.

"Who else here has white hair?" Naruto questioned sarcastically.

"I've told you before, it's natural!" The man cried, sounding truly frustrated.

"So you say," Naruto muttered.

"I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!"

The interaction between the boy and the man happened very quickly and in that short time, Harriett found herself struggling to hold back a fit of giggles. Initially she believed the blond boy to be in a similar situation as she. However, it soon became apparent that he gave as good as he received in terms of insults and soon, a rather humorous shouting match erupted between the two in which they lobbed rather childish insults at one another.

That was, of course, until Harriett could no longer contain herself and began to giggle, drawing the boy's attention back to them, to her more specifically. His slight grin almost distracted her from the twin glares she received from the Dursley's for her own outburst.

She quickly averted her gaze down to her old shoes.

"Well, who is it?"

Finally, the owner of the voice appeared at the door, roughly pushing the boy behind him to see their visitors for himself. The Dursley's, and Harriett, were once again left stunned, this time by what they witnessed as before them a man towered. His hair appeared as wild as it was long and, much like the boy described, was white as snow. Despite his imposing stature, his brown eyes were welcoming and grinning to match the expression on his lips.

"Neighbors?" He inquired.

"Y-Yes," Petunia was the first to respond, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly. "We've come to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Well isn't that something?" The man's grin became a smile as he stood aside. "Come on in, then. I'm Jiraiya by the way, and this here's Naruto."

"Ji-rai-ya?" Vernon struggled with the man's name as well as he followed his wife inside.

Harriett studied their home with further curiosity, finding again their home was much like the Dursley's in general layout. They owned regular furniture; a beige sofa set with a wooden tea table, and in between it, a recliner. Their television was considerably smaller than Vernon's own, yet another purchase he loved to boast about during neighborhood gatherings.

Nothing of note there.

What did strike her as odd was the distinct lack of any decorations. The Dursley's home was adorned with pictures of the family, with the exception of herself, of course, with even more portraits of Dudley showing his transformation from a bright red blob into the large buffoon he was to date. Along with that, various knickknacks pertaining to Vernon and Petunia's hobbies and interests. There were no such pictures on the walls, personal or decorative. No rug atop the hardwood floor or even a single vase, nothing to ornate the home at all. Thinking on it now, Harriett didn't recall seeing a doormat, either.

"I'm Petunia Dursley," her aunt introduced herself first. "This is my husband, Vernon and this handsome young man is our son, Dudley."

When she didn't introduce Harriett, Jiraiya and Naruto shared a brief glance the Dursley's seemed perfectly ignorant to. "And who may this be?" The man asked, smiling kindly at her.

Petunia's own smile seemed to fall away. "Oh, that's Harriett."

Even on her best behavior, her aunt couldn't help herself and did little to hide her spite towards Harriett. Most people didn't take any heed to this but for one reason or another, the odd pair did, exchanging between them another, more concerned look between them.

Harriett herself wondered if she was just partaking in some wishful thinking.

"It's nice to meet you all, isn't it, Naruto?" Jiraiya said, lightly elbowing the boy whom by now appeared to have lost all interest in them in such a short time.

By then Harriett was convinced what she had thought to have witnessed earlier, their concern, was indeed just her imagination. Though she should have known better than to expect any different, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Yeah, sure," Naruto muttered, his tone indicating otherwise. "Well, I'm going out for a walk. Gonna get to know the neighborhood."

"Whatever," Jiraiya said dismissively. "Why don't you guys join me in the kitchen for some tea? I can't wait to try out some of that delicious smelling pie!"

"Y-Yes! It's quite delicious!" Vernon agreed nervously.

Again, Harriett wondered if she was the only one to catch on to her uncle's reservations.

"Mom, can I go with the weird kid?" Dudley asked.

"Weird kid?" Naruto leveled the chubby boy with a glare everyone seemed oblivious to.

"Dudley," Petunia chastised without any real meaning.

"Only if you behave," Vernon added, his words also lacking any stern undertones.

Naruto didn't seem all too pleased with the idea and looked ready to protest when a single scathing look from Jiraiya silenced him.

"Why doesn't your daughter go along too?" Jiraiya suggested. "It'll give us a moment to become fully acquainted without the little ones interrupting."

"Oh that won't be necessary," Vernon laughed away the suggestion. "She'll behave herself right here, won't you, Harriett?" His light-hearted tone quickly became stern, casting the girl a fierce glare neither of the new neighbors missed.

However, in the presence of such a heated look, Harriett failed to notice this.

"I want her to come along," Naruto said.

Harriett startled at his words, immediately drawing her attention away from her uncle's red face to the boy. He looked angry as well, though his focus was not on her but rather her uncle and she wasn't sure what to make of that.

In their presence, the Dursleys shared a glance before reluctantly agreeing.

"Very well," Petunia relented. "You will behave yourself now, won't you, Harriett," she warned.

"Y-Yes!" Harriett, still thoroughly surprised at having been invited, nodded along with her agreement.

"Let's go then," Naruto said.

Harriett followed behind the two boys meekly as Dudley prodded Naruto for answers about what toys he owned, all while listing those he had. She wasn't all together surprised at Dudley's lack of restraint; he was a bully through and through, but Naruto was taller than him by at least a head, had to have been a year or two older too.

The default glower on his face didn't reference someone who would be pushed around.

Harriett flustered once she realized what she was doing. Staring, that was. Naruto was wearing a simple black t-shirt above a simple pair of blue pants. His name was odd but the English he spoke had Harriett believing their new neighbor may have been American.

Harriett had watched a few movies from America at school, mostly popular animated and family movies, and his accent sounded almost identical to the ones she'd heard. The older man's as well, now that she thought about it.

Their names on the other hand, sounded foreign beyond what she expected of the United States.

Dudley seemed to grow impatient at Naruto's lack of real responses beyond prompt dismissals and single syllable grunts. Though he didn't seem too keen on pressing his luck against the taller boy.

That did not bode well for her, Harriett quickly realized when his vile attention turned on her.

"Wanna see something funny?" Dudley asked mischievously.

Naruto offered another disinterested hum in response but seemed to humor him by actually paying attention.

"Look at her shoes!" Harriett felt her heart drop and her face heat up when Dudley pointed down to her shoes. They were a dirty old pair of sneakers with a few tears on the sides and laces much too long. It didn't help that the laces themselves were bunched into the shoes themselves as she didn't know how to tie them.

No one bothered to teach her and she was too embarrassed and afraid to ask.

With her attention down on her shoes, she failed to notice Dudley's approach until he flicked her on the nose with his fat sausage finger.

"Gotcha!"

Tears of pain and humiliation pooled her eyes as Harriett held her nose, feeling it burning and throbbing.

"Hey!"

The intensity of Naruto's shout made her jump slightly. Harriett watched with eyes wide as he marched up to Dudley and shoved him.

Hard.

Dudley stumbled backwards a couple of feet before his own weight finally overcame him and he fell, landing on his bottom with an audible thump. Clearly not expecting such a response, his fat cheeks quickly turned red and his beady blues widened in absolute fear and pooled with tears.

"You think that's funny?" Naruto continued angrily.

The sheer viciousness in which he spoke frightened even Harriett herself and she was not the focus of it. Such was his fury that she almost felt sorry for Dudley.

Almost.

Said boy, still on his bottom, began to back-peddle with all the grace of an inebriated crustacean until he reached the curb. The slight variation in height between the curb and the street had him rolling onto it, his fat belly exposed for all to see.

"I-I'm telling my parents on you!" Dudley cried.

Harriett had never seen Dudley so shaken, or run so fast.

"Yeah go and cry to your mom you fat fu — oaf!" Naruto shouted after him.

Despite her state of disbelief, she flinched slightly when he turned his angry attention to her. Harriett remained rooted in place, still affected by the sudden violent display.

He regarded her, his angry expression turned to one of brief confusion before realization took its place and his face softened. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked softly.

"Y-Yes!" Harriett squeaked out.

Naruto sighed and palmed the back of his head, ruffling it lightly, further displacing his already untamed mane. Harriett flinched again and closed her eyes at his approach. Fearing the worse, she immediately opened them when she felt a. Warm hand ruffle her own hair very gently.

She opened her eyes to find he was smiling at her.

"You're a good kid," he said, his tone of voice dropping an octave, with a slight waver to it initially. "I can tell, so if he ever gives you trouble again, you'll tell me, yeah?"

In that moment, Harriett realized something. The boy had stood up for her and protected her. Responding rather angrily to Dudley's blatant act of mockery instead of joining or simply ignoring it as so many before him had done.

No one had done that for her before.

"Hey now," Naruto poked her red nose softly. "Don't overthink it too much. Now, how about we get your shoes tied before you fall?"

Harriett watched intently and at a loss for words as Naruto kneeled before her to pull the laces from her shoes and began to tie them. Or at least he tried. The laces themselves were far longer than rightly needed to be, resulting in long loops with touched the ground still. She felt completely awkward standing before the boy as he grumbled and un-tied the laces. Taking one between his fingers he seemed to reach for something at his side before pausing to look up at her. She flustered and quickly turned away.

Feeling a tug at her feet, she looked down to see the boy had taken one of the laces and wrapped them between both of his index fingers and pulled, snapping the lace with no effort.

No effort at all.

Idly Harriett knew it shouldn't have been possible, even if her shoes were old, including the laces. However, her main focus was on his technique, hoping to learn at a glance how to tie her own shoes in an effort to save herself from the future embarrassment.

She had no such luck.

After quickly tying her other shoe, he stood up again, regarding Harriett in a questioning manner. "There, that should hold for now. I'm guessing you don't know how to tie them yourself then?" Naruto asked.

"N-No," Harriett admitted bashfully.

He hummed, the sound coming off as more of a grunt. "Why haven't your parents taught you how to tie your own shoes?"

"Because they're not my parents!" Harriett said, all but shouting as she did so and immediately felt embarrassed for having done so.

"They're not?" Naruto only looked confused.

Harriett looked down, wondering if he would make fun of her for being an orphan. Many of the other children at her school did so when Dudley would mention it, often in mocking.

"No. My parents died in a car crash when I was younger. I don't really remember them. My last name is Potter," she admitted. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon have been taking care of me since."

"Hey," the soft of his voice drew her attention to him once again. "I know this probably won't make you feel any better, but I'm an orphan too."

"Really?" Harriett asked, astonished. "But that man…" She trailed off.

"That old goat's my godfather," Naruto finished with a smile. "I mean, do I really look as ugly as him?"

Harriett giggled at his description of the man from before, as well as in recollection of their rather humorous interactions. Her sadness all but forgotten, though she was embarrassed at his latter question.

She certainly didn't think so.

"Ya'know," Naruto began with a twinkle in his eyes. "I knew there was no way you could be closely related to those people."

"Really? Why do you say that?" Harriett asked.

"Because you're too cute to be their daughter, or that pig's sister," he said, pressing his index and middle finger softly against her forehead.

Harriett burned.

"Y-You're teasing me!" She accused, secretly hoping he wasn't because that would be another first. Someone calling her cute, that is. At least someone near her age. Eerily enough, Harriett was occasionally complemented by elder strangers dressed in oddly dusty clothing but she tried to pay them no mind.

Naruto continued smiling, and despite her negative expectations, there was no signs of mock or malice.

"I am, but in a friendly way," he said.

"Friendly?" Harriett repeated timidly.

"Yeah," Naruto said as if was nothing, and maybe to him it wasn't, but to Harriett it was a cruel hope. "So, Harriett, wanna be my friend?"

"Y-Yes!"

She'd done it again. Harriett no longer bothered trying to fight back her blush as she heard him laugh. Though something deep down informed her that the gesture was not her expense. In fact, Naruto almost sounded happy. And in that moment, she smiled because she was happy too.

Incredibly so because for the first time in her life, Harriett Potter had a friend.


So I'm sure this story may seem familiar to a few of you. My old account was D-Ranked Writer. I deleted all of my old stories because I hit a major writers block and didn't like where they were going. So consider this a soft reboot of my old series. They won't be completely different, just re-written with a better direction. Well, that's the idea, anyway.

So, to all my old followers, sorry for the wait.

Until next time!