Looking around Kings Cross Station Naruto scratched the back of his neck in puzzlement.

“Ano, Sakura, are you sure you got the platform number right?” he asked tentatively, it was always safer to be careful with what you said around the fiery tempered kunoichi.

“Yes!” she snapped. “It says right here on the tickets Kakashi-sensei gave us: Hogwarts Express, Platform 9 ¾!” She was getting more and more pissed off by the second.

Sasuke stood the tallest of the three ninja. He was watching the crowds move around them very carefully. Then suddenly he wasn’t standing beside his team mates any more. Sakura and Naruto looked on as Sasuke leaned against a wall looking thoroughly uninterested in everything (a skill Sasuke was only too good at). But Naruto had been Sasuke’s team mate too long not to recognise that look: he was listening, hard. Nearby there was a ticket barrier and in front of it stood a large group of people all of whom had flaming red hair. Whatever they were discussing appeared to have Sasuke thoroughly hooked.

“What is he doing? We have to find platform 9 ¾ now! The train leaves in five minutes!” hissed Sakura.

Naruto turned to stop her from interfering; she just couldn’t read Sasuke like he could! When he turned back the red-headed family were gone and Sasuke was stood in front of the ticket barrier staring at it with such an intensity it was as though he was trying to melt it with his eyes. He turned slightly towards the other two and summoned them to him with a flick of his head that set black bangs waving.

Hitching up his large backpack Naruto marched over to the raven haired teen not bothering to check if Sakura was following; he knew she was.

“Through here.” Sasuke said gesturing at the very solid looking barrier.

“Nani?!” Exclaimed Naruto.

But before he could protest further Sasuke had grabbed both Naruto and Sakura’s wrists and dragged them through the barrier. Naruto was thoroughly shocked when he didn’t crash into the barrier and Sakura gave a cry of amazement.

“I saw that family of wizards do it.” Sasuke told them in answer to Naruto’s questioning look. “And if you don’t close your mouth, Naruto, I’m going to put something in it.”

Naruto closed his gaping jaw before smiling slyly. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Answered Sasuke shortly, though he had a small blush on his face as he turned to survey Platform 9 ¾.

Naruto let out a low whistle at the sight of the magnificent, scarlet steam engine. “Sugoi! Ikusei!” he shouted making to run towards the Hogwarts Express only to be pulled back by a firm hand on the strap of his rucksack. “Ite!” He whined scowling at Sasuke. “Sasuke-teme!”

“Calm down, Dobe, this is a mission not some bizarre school trip. Think like a ninja for once in your life!”

“I do think like a ninja! I’m the best ninja there is! Believe it!” he shouted, causing a few nearby students to stare.

“Then stop shouting about being a ninja, Naruto no Baka!” shouted Sakura just as loudly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hoping no one nearby could speak Japanese. Naruto was being extra loud due to the excitement of starting a new mission in a foreign country and in a world filled with magic no less. Sasuke started towards the train not really caring whether the others were following. He quickly located an empty compartment and pushed the door closed in Naruto’s face. Naruto held his nose and moaned loudly as he sat down.

“Ano, you guys, do you think maybe our disguises weren’t complete enough?” Sakura asked quietly, regarding her muggle clothes with despair. They had all had to change out of their ANBU outfits to avoid unnecessary attention and it had taken her ages to find an outfit she liked that was also practical for a ninja. In the end she had settled for sewing extra weapons pockets throughout her lumpy jacket and carrying kunai in her new boots, which she felt went rather well with her miniskirt.

“What makes you say that Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked innocently, he wore baggy jeans, an orange t-shirt and also had a rather lumpy jacket. Sasuke had forbidden him from wearing his old orange jumpsuit again.

“Well, people kept staring at me.”

“It’s your hair.” Sasuke told her flatly, his clothes were also quite plain but out of all of them, Sakura felt, he most resembled the classic idea of a ninja. With a black polo neck jumper and tight back jeans, all he needed was a balaclava.

“So, ka.” She said slowly with a look of dawning comprehension.

Naruto frowned; he knew if he’d said that she’d have hit him. She still treated Sasuke preferentially after all this time and in this situation. He and Sasuke had been together for nearly a year now and even if they only acted like friends (bickering friends) in public, he knew Sakura was more than aware of their relationship having walked in on them previously. He shifted a little closer to Sasuke on the worn train seat.

“So… should we hunt out this Potter-san now or wait till we get to the school?” he asked Sasuke.

Sasuke was the unofficial leader of their ANBU squad whilst Kakashi-sensei wasn’t present. Kakashi had agreed to transfer back into the ANBU black ops when the last of his team to be promoted (Sakura) had become a member of the elite ANBU. As Kakashi was supposed to be meeting them at Hogwarts this was one of those times when the other two turned to Sasuke for instruction.

“Hm, we need to get close to him so we had best start now. One of us should stay here though, Naruto, that should be you.”

“No. I’m coming with you. Sakura can stay.” Naruto may look to Sasuke for instruction but that didn’t mean he’d do whatever the bastard said!

“Naruto…” Sasuke growled at the stubborn blond boy who was glaring at him. “Sakura would be best, girls are good at pretending to be friendly.”

“I don’t need to pretend! I am friendly!” protested Naruto.

“Its okay, I’ll stay.” Sakura said quickly, it really wouldn’t be very good for their cover if the boys started drawing weapons (which wouldn’t be unusual for the two).

So Naruto and Sasuke made their way up the swaying train. Naruto frowned at the look on Sasuke’s face; the Uchiha wasn’t good when it came to motion sickness. The two shinobi peeked surreptitiously into the compartments they passed. They had only a brief description of who they where looking for: black hair, green eyes, glasses and something about a scar on his forehead.

Suddenly the train gave an extra lurch and Sasuke, already off-balance with his motion sickness, made a grab for a nearby compartment door to steady himself. Naruto quickly hooked his boyfriends arm over his shoulder, ignoring Sasuke’s proud glare, and pulled the compartment door open. He pushed Sasuke down on one the seats and knelt before him.

“Ano… excuse us,” Naruto tossed over his shoulder struggling only slightly with the English Kakashi had drilled into him. “He just needs to sit down for a sec.”

“Urgh, he’s not going to be sick is he? Because if so, you can get out right now!”

Naruto turned to the boy who had spoken, he had ginger hair, a lot of freckles and a rather long nose. Before he could answer, Sasuke spoke, but his reply wasn’t as cold as Naruto’s had been about to be.

“I’m fine.” He said simply with only a hint of his Japanese accent, no insult, no scathing remark, not even a sarcastic comment.

Naruto turned back to his boyfriend, with surprise written all over his tanned face. But Sasuke wasn’t even looking at the ginger boy he was staring calculatingly at a boy with black hair and glasses. Suddenly Naruto understood Sasuke’s unusual lack of attitude.

‘Way to go Sasuke! Always the professional! Already working on getting close to the target!’ Inner Naruto cheered his boyfriend on.

“Oh good,” said a girl with bushy brown hair sitting beside the ginger boy. “I’m Hermione Granger by the way, and this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, what are your names?”

“Uzu- I mean Naruto Uzumaki,” Naruto said, remembering the name order at the last minute, “and this is Sasuke Uchiha we’re new this year.”

“Foreign transfer students,” she said picking up on Naruto’s accent immediately. “Where are you from?”

“Japan.”

“Wow, that’s a long way!”

“Yeah and he wasn’t much better on the flight either!” Naruto said happily nodding at Sasuke.

“Shut up.” Growled Sasuke, hitting Naruto on the head.

“Why didn’t you just use floo powder? Or schedule a portkey?”

“A what?” Naruto asked before he could help himself.

“Uruse usuratonkachi! Think before you open your mouth, we covered all this magical stuff with Tsunade, remember?” Sasuke hissed in rapid Japanese, Ron raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

When Sasuke reverted back to English his voice was no longer hostile, though Naruto could tell he was still rather tense. “Those methods of transport would agree with me even less.” Sasuke told Hermione, pulling a face to exaggerate the point. “So you’re the famous Harry Potter, eh?” He asked turning to the, so far silent, boy by the window. Sasuke decided they needed a less dangerous topic than their origins and, of course, questions about Harry’s standing in the magical world would be expected.

Harry sighed. “Yeah.” He sounded tired and Sasuke could tell he didn’t enjoy fame.

“Cool!” said Naruto happily. “Well hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of you this year!” He smiled brightly and Harry couldn’t help but smile back.

“Yeah, depends which house you’re in though. I suppose you don’t know yet?”

“Yeah we do!”

Sasuke was close to hitting him again, he was revealing way more information than necessary. Kakashi had already talked to Dumbledore and worked out which houses they would be in. Dumbledore had explained that it would be suspicious if each of them didn’t display the correct characteristics for the house they were in. So Dumbledore had explained to their sensei how the students were sorted and Kakashi had chosen where they would be positioned. They had their bases pretty much covered. The three of them would be taking the same classes as Harry and, although they were not expected to learn magic, Sakura was already looking forward to learning some. The teachers had been informed of the true circumstances for their presence this year but the students believed that the three Konoha teenagers were there to observe in the interest of sending more foreigners to Hogwarts. It was a well formed cover but at this rate Naruto was going to blow it. They were allowed to tell Harry they were here to guard them but Sasuke had heard nothing about these other two.

“What he means is,” he cut in, setting a warning hand on Naruto’s shoulder, “that we know which houses we think we’ll be in. But of course we can’t be sure until we get there.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant!” added Naruto quickly.

“Which houses do you think you’ll be in then?”

“I’m going to be in Gryffindor,” said Naruto proudly. “Because I’m brave!”

“We’re in Gryffindor too.”

“Great!” Naruto pretended he hadn’t known already.

“What about you, Sasuke?” asked Hermione.

“Slytherin, most probably.” Sasuke told them.

He hadn’t, however, been prepared for their reactions. Harry frowned at him, whereas Ron immediately leaned away as though he might catch something. Hermione looked a little awkward.

“Problem?” Sasuke asked, his voice was polite but his eyes were deadly cold.

“Of course not,” Hermione said quickly. “But you might not be sorted into Slytherin after all.” She consoled.

“Hn.” Replied Sasuke.

“And I think,” Naruto continued, “that our other friend, Sakura Haruno, will probably be in Ravenclaw, because she’s really smart!”

“Hermione’s really smart, but she’s in Gryffindor with us.” Said Ron proudly, he talked directly to Naruto, taking care not to look at Sasuke.

Naruto saw Hermione’s cheek redden and turned to her, “Really? You might get along quite well then.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” said Hermione, with a smile, looking down at Naruto’s happy and open face where he still sat on the floor. Looking up at Sasuke she saw such a contrast it was hard to believe they were friends, yet they acted like it. Sasuke’s expression was guarded and sly, she could easily see him fitting in quite comfortably with the Slytherins. “Well we should all probably change into our school robes now. I expect we’ll see you at Hogwarts.”

Naruto and Sasuke took this as their cue to leave. Back in their own compartment Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura changed into their Hogwarts robes. It took them a while to transfer their weapons into the hidden pockets within their robes and Sasuke had to help Naruto with his school tie. Sasuke swung the shoulder strap of what appeared to be a musical instrument case, over his shoulder and Sakura pulled her small backpack on, it was full of medical supplies and she preferred to keep it with her.

When they reached Hogsmeade station they jumped from the train, Naruto and Sasuke wearing large rucksacks and Sakura with her small medical pack as she towed her heavy trunk down the platform. They followed the crowds towards a number of coaches pulled by skeletal looking, winged horses. Most of the students didn’t even spare a glance for the strange creatures so Naruto supposed they were just used to them by now.

Naruto pointed out the carriage that Harry and his friends had just climbed into and Sasuke nodded. “Time for you to meet and greet too, Sakura.”

Naruto stuck his head into the carriage with a wide grin. “Is it okay if we join you guys?”

Harry and Ron looked a little taken aback, but Hermione smiled nicely at the cute boy. “Sure,” she said cheerfully, Naruto seemed like a nice guy even if Sasuke was a little weird.

The Hogwarts trio watched as Naruto and Sasuke climbed into the carriage followed by a pretty girl with pink hair. Hermione put two and two together and immediately came up with ‘Sakura’. Naruto and Sakura talked with the English teenagers and Sasuke’s presence was pointedly ignored by Ron who seemed to have taken umbrage with Sasuke over the fact that he was to be a Slytherin. This annoyed Sasuke and he had to constantly remind himself that he didn’t have to like the jerk, just pretend to be friendly and… well, normal. The carriage was small with six people in it and Naruto found he was quite comfortably squashed against Sasuke.

“What are those weird horses out there?” asked Naruto suddenly.

Harry looked at him in surprise. “You can see them?”

“Of course we can,” said Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke nodded. “Why wouldn’t we be able to see them?”

“Because only people who have seen death can see the thestrals.” Hermione explained.

“Thestrals, eh?” Sakura said thoughtfully, glancing out of the carriage window at the bony back of one of the thestrals.

“Yeah, so you’ve all seen death?” asked Ron.

“Yeah! Of course we’ve seen death!” said Naruto lightly.

He was about to elaborate when Sakura hit him hard. “Yes, unfortunately we have.” She said with a sad smile.

Sasuke was thankful Sakura was so quick off the mark, he was going to have to remind Naruto (yet again) that they were supposed to be undercover. Of course it would be unusual for these people to see someone die, but as ninja you laid your life on the line everyday. However these people didn’t know that they were ninja, so far they just thought they were Japanese transfer students with tragic pasts. Well, Sasuke thought, they could live with that.

They passed through the high stone pillars topped with statues of wild boars and the carriages continued up the path to the main doors. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura gapped at the ancient castle (or at least Naruto and Sakura did whilst Sasuke was politely awed) and Harry, Ron and Hermione looked between the school and their new classmates with expressions of pride. Hogwarts never ceased to amaze.

Naruto gaped up at the hundreds of tiny lights glimmering from the castle windows. The huge main doors of Hogwarts reminded Naruto strongly of those at the entrance of the Hidden Village of Konoha. The three ninja of Konoha walked into the entrance hall, still trying to get used to the uncomfortable and impractical school robes. Honestly how did anyone expect them to fight in these stupid outfits? It would be as bad as trying to spar in a full kimono!

The three ninja were just about to follow Harry, Ron and Hermione through another set of huge doors, when a stern old woman in emerald green robes ushered them over and through a smaller set of doors into a room lined with paintings.

Naruto once again gaped and Sakura gasped whilst Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly. The people in the paintings were moving!

“Right then,” said the witch, drawing their attention away from the peculiar paintings, “I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and Head of Gryffindor House.” She said in a brisk tone that suggested she was not one to cross. “I know who you are and of your circumstances. You stand here now so that others will believe you were Sorted in this room.”

“Sorted?” asked Naruto, tilting his head on one side in a gesture that no one could deny was cute and very un-ninja-like.

“Yes, you will see what I mean when the first years are sorted in front of the school in a minute. I have very little time to spare as I need to take the hat,” Sasuke frowned and Naruto and Sakura looked puzzled, “into the hall when the first years arrive from the boats.” Again there was more frowning and puzzled looks: what boats? We came in carriages.

It was becoming quickly apparent to Sasuke that their briefing had not been nearly detailed enough. ‘Stupid drunk Hokage!’ First they’d nearly missed the train and now there was moving paintings and what was this ‘Sorting’ thing about? Sakura found the new surroundings amazing if not rather daunting and resolved to do some serious research on the magical world as soon as possible.

“You will kindly follow me into the Great Hall and sit at your house tables. Gryffindor’s house colours are red and gold, Ravenclaw’s are blue and bronze and Slytherin’s are green and silver.”

With that she turned and led them out of the small chamber and across the entrance hall to where loud and comfortable chatter echoed from the doors out of what Sasuke presumed was the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was filled with black robed students sitting along four long tables. The ceiling was another thing that Sakura immediately added to her list of things to research. Naruto didn’t know where to look, the weird ceiling, the hundreds of candles floating above them, the hundreds of students sitting around them, or the glittering golden plates.

‘That’s got to be the wizard equivalent to a genjutsu,’ thought Sasuke, looking at the ceiling which resembled the night sky outside, with his sharingan.

They soon saw why she had told them their house colours. At each of the four tables sat students in black robes, but splashes of the house colours could be seen here and there. Stopping near the entrance the three stood together as Professor McGonagall walked up towards the end table which Sakura thought was probably the teachers table.

“We should go to our tables. Shame we can’t sit together without drawing attention.” Sakura said to the other two.

Sasuke cast a warning glance at Naruto. “Sit with Harry. Don’t do anything to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. Don’t reveal our ignorance of their ways. Think before you speak.” He spoke in short clipped tones. “And be friendly, that part you should at least find easy.”

Naruto smiled a genuine smile at the compliment hidden in a whole pile of insults towards his intelligence. He wasn’t stupid he just… well, didn’t tend to think before he spoke. “Yes Sir!” Naruto replied with a mocking salute.

Sasuke scowled and Naruto sobered a little, taking his boyfriends hand discreetly. Sakura shifted a little to hide the gesture from anyone who might be looking their way. “Don’t worry so much, Sasuke, I’ll be fine!” Naruto consoled with a small smile.

“I was more worried about our cover.” Sasuke muttered, but never the less he gave Naruto’s hand a small squeeze before letting go and turning away.

The three parted ways and headed for their respective tables. Sakura settled herself near some friendly looking Ravenclaw girls smiling nicely and introducing herself politely.

Naruto immediately sought out Harry, Ron and Hermione who didn’t seem to mind him settling himself beside them. He knew their attitudes would probably have been quite different if Sasuke had been with him and it annoyed him a little that they didn’t like his boyfriend.

Sasuke sat silently at the Slytherin table. After assessing the layout of the Great Hall and deciding on the best escape routes and defensive positions, he looked across at his team mates. Sakura was already talking and giggling with a number of Ravenclaw girls, one of whom was saying how much she loved Sakura’s hair, ‘So… individual!’, the girl exclaimed with a bright smile. Naruto was also smiling, talking with Hermione who seemed to have taken a liking to the cute boy.

Sasuke pushed back the stirrings of jealously. He wished he could be the one sitting with Naruto but instead he was a couple of tables away with his fellow Slytherins. He looked down the long table from where he sat near the exit. He was attracting a few curious looks from the boys and more than a few lusty looks from the girls. He sighed, he didn’t want fan girls here too. But if the worst came to the worst he supposed he could always reveal his and Naruto’s relationship. But that really was a last resort. From Ron’s reaction towards him, Sasuke guessed that Gryffindors and Slytherins didn’t tend to get along, let alone date.

Glancing at Naruto again, Sasuke supposed he should make some effort to socialise. It was against his nature but part of an undercover mission was the acting. He decided against voluntarily talking to any girls. There was a good looking boy nearby who looked about his age. He was blond with blue eyes but not in the cute, sunny way that Naruto was; this boy had white blond hair whereas Naruto’s was like sunshine, only brighter, and cold blue-grey eyes when Naruto’s were a deep sparkling cerulean blue. He was cold and refined, with an air of superiority and sly cleverness. He seemed to demand attention, the girls who weren’t busy looking at Sasuke were clustered around this boy and two heavy set boys sat either side of him like bodyguards.

‘That would be the ideal person to get close to in these circumstances.’ Sasuke thought. ‘He looks like he has a few connections to back up that confidence of his.’

At that moment the pale, blond boy appeared to sense Sasuke’s gaze and turned to look him straight in the eye. Sasuke felt he was being sized up and kept his gaze steady and cold. The other boy watched him for a few more seconds before realising Sasuke would not be the first to look away. He smiled. It was not a friendly smile, but it was approving.

“What’s your name?” he asked. His friends turned to look at Sasuke too. The boy sounded as though he usually got exactly what he wanted, Sasuke bristled.

“It’s polite to give your name first.” He answered coldly.

The other boy looked a little taken aback before recovering and scowling. “Alright, fine. My name is Draco Malfoy. What is yours?” He spoke rather stiffly.

“Sasuke Uchiha,” was the confident reply.

At that moment the students’ attention was called to the doorway where an unnaturally tall and wide man was leading a line of scared looking children down the hallway towards the staff table. Professor McGonagall had just placed an extremely old and worn looking hat on a three legged stool before the table. Naruto watched curiously as everyone’s attention was fixed firmly on the hat.

“Harry?” he muttered. “Why is everyone staring at the hat?”

“Just watch,” replied Harry with a knowing smile that made Naruto even more curious.

Naruto jumped in surprise when a rip near the hats rim opened and the hat began to sing. Naruto found he could understand most of the words and decided that Kakashi’s random English quizzes on the journey over here had done their job. Apparently threats of ‘A Thousand Years of Pain no jutsu’ really did help when learning a new language. The hat basically sung about the different qualities of each of the houses, but of course Naruto had heard about them already from Kakashi.

Speaking of Kakashi, he had just sidled into the hall through a side entrance and sat down at the staff table. ‘He’s late!’ thought Naruto with a certain lack of surprise. Kakashi sat took the spare seat beside a greasy looking man who gave him the most dirty look Naruto had ever seen. Kakashi appeared to be oblivious to the man’s glares but Naruto knew he wasn’t; that man had just been added to Kakashi’s ‘Threat List’.

When the hat was done with its song each of the new students were called up in turn. The ninja watched as a very short and nervous boy sat on the three-legged stool and Professor McGonagall dropped the hat on his head. It covered his eyes completely but Sasuke watched as the boys mouth opened a little, he seemed to be talking, Sasuke frowned.

Suddenly the hat shouted, “Hufflepuff!” the boy took the strange hat off and ran over to the cheering Hufflepuff table on the far side of the hall, almost tripping over but smiling brightly at the warm welcome he was getting.

Sasuke watched carefully as each of the first years were told their houses by a hat. He memorised faces and names for future reference. When the new students had all been ‘sorted’ by the hat the headmaster stood up. This had to be Professor Dumbledore, Sasuke reasoned, he was just how Tsunade had described him and gave off and aura of power, wisdom and… nuttiness?

“Welcome, one and all, from near and far, to another year of magical learning at Hogwarts. I have start of term announcements but I shall save them until you are all fed and watered. Tuck in!” Dumbledore said in a booming voice. He gave the students a kind smile before sitting down.

Sasuke barely had time to wonder what they we supposed to tuck into when the golden plates before them filled with everything from chicken drumsticks to mint humbugs. He glanced in Naruto’s direction just in time to see his boyfriend fall off his bench in surprise. Sasuke smirked; Naruto had never been very good at sensing chakra whereas he, Sasuke, had sensed… something just before the food had arrived. It was difficult to describe but ever since they had arrived at the castle Sasuke had sensed the continuous hum of power. Just before the food arrived he had felt a disturbance in this strange power from directly below them. It was not like their chakra and Sasuke supposed what he was sensing was what these people called ‘magic’. It would be interesting to see how they used it in combat. It troubled him to be able to sense this new power all around them but know so little of it.

Naruto was thoroughly enjoying the English food, even if there was a disgraceful lack of ramen. Maybe he could ask for some? ‘Damn, I knew I should have packed some instant ramen, but Sasuke-bastard wouldn’t let me!’ He glared towards the Slytherin table but Sasuke wasn’t looking at him, he was talking to a blond haired boy who was wearing what Naruto thought was a rather hungry look. Jealousy shot through him and Naruto turned his glare on the blond boy.

Harry caught Naruto glaring in the direction of the Slytherin table and followed his gaze. He grinned, the animated blond was glaring at Malfoy! Harry immediately decided he could grow to like this guy.

“Something wrong, Naruto?” inquired Hermione, catching the cute boy midglare.

“Who’s that blond guy talking to Sasuke?” asked Naruto his eyes not leaving his new rivals face.

“Draco Malfoy,” supplied Ron. “He’s a slimy git! Isn’t he, Harry?”

“Sure is.”

“His father’s in with You-Know-Who,” said Ron, with a significant look.

“I-Know-Who?”

“You don’t know who You-Know-Who is?” asked Ron in amazement.

“No, I don’t know who You-Know-Who is!” replied Naruto giving a little laugh at how silly they sounded.

“Well I suppose Japan is a long way away…” said Hermione doubtfully.

“How about you give me an actual name and I’ll tell you if I’ve heard of him?” tried Naruto.

Hermione and Ron both gulped and turned to Harry. Naruto ignored their strange behaviour and looked at Harry as well.

“His name is Lord Voldemort.” Harry’s voice was flat but several people nearby cringed as though they had been burnt.

“Oh, that guy! Yeah, I’ve heard of him!” said Naruto with a grin. “Why didn’t you just say Voldemort in the first place?” He said this quite a bit louder than Harry had and therefore got quite a few more reactions all of which went unnoticed by Naruto.

“Because,” said Hermione delicately, “it is not a name that one casually throws around.”

“Oh, right… why not?”

“Because of the fear the name alone inspires in the people of the wizarding community.”

“Ah, I see. Sorry.”

“You weren’t to know,” said Hermione with a kind smile.

“So that Malfoy guy is connected to Vol… You-Know-Who?”

Naruto scowled back at Malfoy. He would ask Sasuke what they had talked about later. A short while later the desserts faded from their plates. This time Naruto was ready for it, he didn’t jump (very much) and even felt a weird chakra surge though he couldn’t quite pinpoint it before it was gone again.

At the head of the teachers table the Albus Dumbledore stood up. Sakura sat up a little straighter.

“Well then now you have all eaten your share I have a few notices for you before I allow you to return once more to your dormitories. First years should note that the dark forest in the grounds is forbidden to all students,” Naruto made a note to remember to check it out, maybe if he could persuade Sasuke… “Mr Filch has asked me to remind you all that there is to be no magic in the corridors,”

‘Does that include jutsu’s?’

"We have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year by the name of Professor Kakashi,"

Kakashi gave a friendly grin from behind his mask and a small, 'Yo', several girls started giggling.

“And last but not least, we have three guests joining us this year…” said three looked up to find the people around them already giving them curious looks. “They come to us all the way from Japan in the interest of joining us in our quest for magical learning. Please welcome them kindly.”

At that several girls winked at Sasuke, much to his dismay, and Sakura was bathed in warm smiles from her fellow Ravenclaw girls. Naruto also got several smiles and caught one girl blushing furiously (she reminded him strongly of Hinata).

“And now off to bed with you all, for you must be at your best in order to make a healthy start to the term tomorrow morning!”

As one, the benches were pushed backwards and the mass of black robes began to flow towards the doors to the entrance hall.

Naruto was pulled up from his seat by Hermione's firm grip on his arm. As he was jostled out of the hall in a storm of Gryffindor students his eyes searched for Sasuke. He twisted and turned but couldn't see his boyfriend anywhere. Cursing under his breath he followed the Gryffindor witches and wizards up a huge staircase. Naruto soon found himself forgetting about finding his boyfriend as he walked past more moving paintings and them reached... a moving staircase!

The group of Gryffindor's stopped to wait for the staircase to move back to them and Naruto seized his opportunity to push his way to Harry. The dark-haired teen looked unimpressed by the stairs odd behaviour. When the staircase reached them again the students continued their assent to the floors above. As the continued upwards Naruto wondered just how tall this castle was. He saw a first year jump in surprise as one of the staircases decided to move whilst he was on it.

'Shit, Sasuke's going to hate these things!' Naruto thought to himself, though a part of him couldn't wait to play the hero and help his boyfriend out.

After leaving the moving staircases Naruto followed Harry through a tapestry and up another flight of stairs, along several corridors (all of which looked exactly the same) and finally down one corridor ending in a portrait of a fat lady in a ruffled pink dress that filled the entire wall.

"Password?" she enquired.

Naruto jumped a little, he didn't know they spoke too! 'This place is so cool!' Someone at the front of the crowd of Gryffindor's told the portrait the password. Naruto recognised the voice as Hermione's, a second later she told everyone they must remember the password. Naruto decided to ask her what it was later.

Slowly, one by one, the Gryffindor students climbed through a hole behind the portrait. Naruto waited for Harry to climb through before jumping headlong through the gap to perform a neat roll on the other side and stood up again to find Harry giving him an odd look.

"What?" he asked giving the wizard a puzzled look.

"Nothing," muttered Harry turning away. He figured what Naruto had just done was normal in Japan. Still the boy was going to be strange company if he thought that was normal.

Naruto glanced back at the portrait hole and Sasuke's words floated back to him, 'Don't draw attention to yourself.' Several people were giving him funny looks. He smiled brightly at them all and then hurried away up some more stairs after Harry.

The boy's dormitory was a round room with six four-poster beds crammed in. All his dorm mates were already there getting ready for bed. They introduced themselves as Neville, Seamus and Dean. Ron and Harry were also there, Ron complaining about all the maroon socks his mother had made him pack.

Naruto pulled off his outer robes being careful to hide his many weapons. A scroll fell out on the floor and rolled over to the next bed. Naruto watched tensely as Harry picked it up.

"You dropped your... erm scroll," he said uncertainly moving to hand it back when Ron grabbed it out of his hand.

"Woah, do you actually write on these things?" he asked examining it carefully. "How weird!"

Naruto just nodded. He felt relieved; it was safe, of course they wouldn't have a clue about the real use of scrolls, just like he didn't have a clue as to the idea behind the pointy sticks these guys had all placed carefully on there bedside cabinets. Sure Tsunade had explained that these 'wands' were the source of their powers but Naruto had trouble seeing how a flimsy piece of wood could be so powerful.

Naruto listened carefully to the breathing of his room mates until one by one they seemed to drift into sleep. He sat up and reached for the end of his bed. Pulling the covers off his feet he revealed the basic weapons he wore on a day-to-day basis. He fastened on his thigh holster and weapons belt, he still wore his ANBU stab vest under his pyjama's, as was regulation. Weapons secure he listened for a second to the breathing of his room mates before slipping through the curtains.

"Who exactly are you?"

Naruto froze. Before him stood Harry illuminated by the moonlight pouring through the open tower window. The boy brandished one of those ever so dangerous looking sticks. Naruto tried desperately to crush his instinct to fight the boy. Naruto's commonly suppressed 'Voice of Reason', that sounded suspiciously like Sasuke, reminded him that it was the height of idiocy to fight an unknown weapon when there were other options.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he answered quietly.

"Well I know that," snapped Harry, trying to keep his voice down to prevent waking the others. Naruto was grateful.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto an elite ninja from the Hidden Village of Konoha," Naruto said truthfully; they were allowed to tell Harry the real deal and now seemed like the perfect time to have that chat.

"... Did you say 'ninja'?"

"Yeah I did."

"Well this is new," Harry gave a bitter laugh. "That bastard's decided Death Eaters aren't enough and now wants to bring in some Japanese martial artist!" he paused, "Hang on that means... Sasuke and Sakura too? I can picture Sasuke as a ninja but not the pink-haired girl."

Naruto was a little shocked, who did Harry think had sent them? The name Death Eaters rang a bell, he was sure Sasuke would know. Speak of the devil, Naruto suddenly felt a familiar chakra close by, he would have felt it before if it weren't for the interference of this castle's weird chakra aura. Now if he could just pinpoint where Sasuke was...

He was at the window. Before Naruto could stop him Sasuke had slipped inside like a shadow. Harry caught Naruto's eyes flicker towards the window but he was too late. Sasuke had clamped his hand over the boys mouth using his other arm to hold the boys empty hand at his side. Harry's eyes widened behind his round glasses and Naruto took his chance to knock Harry's wand from his hand. Naruto quickly jumped to hold both of Harry's wrists and Sasuke turned the boys head so Harry was looking directly into sharingan eyes. His struggling was cut short as he fell unconscious. Sasuke let Naruto take the weight of the unconscious teen.

"On the roof," muttered Sasuke preferring to use Japanese.

Turning away Sasuke left the way he'd come with Naruto following close behind. Sasuke was already sat comfortably on the battlements when Naruto awkwardly carried the dead weight of Harry.

"Wasn't that a little harsh?" asked Naruto laying Harry down between where the battlements were and where the pointed roof began.

"It was necessary, besides it wasn't strong; he'll wake up in a few minutes. So tell me whilst we have the chance, what did you say to make him so hostile?"

"Why do you assume it was something I said?" asked Naruto feeling rather offended.

"Fine, what was it you did?" Sasuke asked calmly.

"I don't know!" said Naruto loudly. "I just got out of bed planning to come up here and get good view of the grounds, you know for strategic purposes, and he was there with his stupid wand nearly poking my eye out!"

"Keep it down a little," said Sasuke as Harry stirred. "Do you think he heard you getting all your weapons ready?" Sasuke motioned to Naruto's thigh holster.

"... Maybe," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "Damn I swear I listened so closely; I thought they were all asleep."

"Well I guess it's not the end of the world, since no one else heard, right?"

"Right," Naruto agreed, glad Sasuke was being so reasonable about this.

"Then I think we have some explaining to do," Sasuke looked down at Harry with a tired sigh; this wasn't what he'd planned on doing tonight.

"I already told him I was a ninja, and he said something about some bastard deciding Death Eaters weren't enough or something..."

"Kuso, so he thinks Voldemort sent us? Why didn't you explain that we're his guards?"

"Well he never mentioned that Voldemort guy and I couldn't remember what Death Eaters were..."

"Baka! They're Voldemort's army!"

"Oh... do you think we should hold him down so he doesn't attack us when he wakes up."

"To be on the safe side," Sasuke replied, the boy was unarmed but it would be easier if they could keep him from waking up the rest of the Gryffindor boys.

Naruto moved to Harry's side and rested his hands over the boys wrists. He felt rather stupid for a moment before, sure enough, the effects of Sasuke's sharingan wore off. Harry gave them pair a panicked look and opened his mouth only to have Sasuke's hand prevent him from shouting out again.

"We need you to listen to us for a moment Harry," Sasuke began in a tone of perfect calm. "You seem to have mistaken us for the enemy. We are not in the employment of Voldemort, much the opposite, we are here on a mission to protect you under the order of Albus Dumbledore."

Harry looked at him suspiciously and instead turned to Naruto to confirm the Slytherin's words.

"It's true. You must have thought I was attacking you or something? I was only planning to come out here to get a scope of the grounds. Sorry if I scared you."

Harry still looked suspicious but Naruto noted he wasn't struggling anymore.

"Hey Sasuke I think we can let him speak now."

Sasuke frowned, "Don't go shouting out or I'll have to find a better way to silence you."

Harry's eyes widened, "What he means is..." cut in Naruto, "We don't want to blow our cover by being found up here with you."

Sasuke removed his hand and Harry let out a relieved sigh, "I suppose all this is simply to protect you cover?" he asked referring to the semi-kidnapping incident.

"Er... yeah, sorry about all this. Are you going to attack us if I let go?"

"I'm not stupid enough to try something like that against two armed... er... ninja."

Naruto nodded happily and let go of Harry's wrists. Harry rubbed the sore skin, "Strong grip you've got there and what the hell was the deal with your eyes?!" he said glaring at Sasuke.

"You don't need to know." Sasuke told him sternly.

"It's just a... skill of his."

"Great, just great. So Dumbledore hired you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't think I won't be checking up on that later. Bloody hell he could have given me a little warning!"

"He left that up to us, and I guess I didn't do a brilliant job there..."

"Hn."

"Uruse teme!" huffed Naruto reverting back to Japanese out of habit.

"Er... right. So anyway, do you think you could give me a hand getting back inside?" asked Harry looking dubiously over the edge of the tower. 'Seriously, how did they even get me up here? As a matter of fact how did Sasuke get up to the tower window in the first place?'

"Oh yeah, sure!" Naruto jumped up, hid fast movements this high up making Harry feel queasy, and turned around. "Get on my back!"

"What?"

"Or I could carry you fireman style like I did to get you up here...?" Naruto offered.

"I'll get on your back," said Harry quickly, he thought he caught Sasuke smirking but the next second the Slytherin's face was back to it's normal stoic mask.

The climb down was awkward and had to restrain himself from looking down. It wasn't the height he had a problem with, or he wouldn't be much of a Quidditch player. No, what he didn't like was the fact that his fate was in the hands of a guy he had known less than a day rather than his trusty Firebolt. How Sasuke had reached the window soon became clear to Harry as Naruto's feet seemed to stick to the wall. 'How does he do that?' Harry wondered as Naruto swung him off his back on the windowsill.

"Sleep well," said Naruto moving away from the window again.

"Don't ninja sleep?" Harry asked.

"Of course we do! We're human's just like you, we just train our talents differently. I need to talk to Sasuke so I'll go to bed later."

Naruto hurried back up to the roof to find Sasuke lying on the sloping roof propped there by his feet against the battlements. Naruto moved to sit on the flat between the roof and the battlements and Sasuke slid down the tiles to join him.

"Well that could have gone worse," said Sasuke.

"Since when are you such an optimist?" teased Naruto.

"Hn."

Naruto moved closer and Sasuke put his arm around him. Leaning his head on his boyfriends chest Naruto listened to the steady beat of Sasuke's heart. It was a comforting sound that soothed the anxiety that had built up within him since they had travelled across the world to a place where everything was a different as it could possibly be. Nothing was the same here, not ramen nor chakra. Naruto sighed heavily.

"What's wrong?" asked Sasuke immediately, it was unsettling for him if Naruto was not himself.

"I'm just thinking... how are we supposed to do this mission? Protect some 'wizard' from unknown threats. I mean we have no idea what we're up against!" Naruto's voice had risen as he spoke.

Sasuke sighed too, "I know... I think we need to have a really good talk with Harry as soon as possible. He's lived in this world so he can give us the information we need."

Naruto was only half consoled by Sasuke's logical answer so he cuddled closer taking Sasuke's hand in his, seeking physical reassurance. Sasuke ran his fingers through Naruto's blond hair in a gesture that calmed both their frazzled nerves. After a long time sat like this under the stars Naruto finally broke the silence.

"Where are the Slytherin headquarters?"

"Dungeons."

"Nasty! How did you get out of there?"

"It's called stealth, ninja have it."

Naruto scowled at the insult but Sasuke just smirked.

"Teme!"

Naruto and Sasuke had stayed out on the roof 'getting a look at the grounds' for a long time so next morning Naruto found himself being kicked out of bed by Harry telling him he'd missed breakfast and needed to get to class.

With much swearing and grumbling, most of which Harry didn't understand, Naruto dressed in his awkward new Hogwarts robes. As he turned to equip himself he found Harry sitting on the end of his bed examining his weapons. The boy was holding a shuriken between his fingers.

"Just like on the movies..." he murmured.

"There are movies about us?" Naruto asked as he fixed his leg holster on and took the shuriken from Harry.

"Of course! I'd show you but electronic stuff doesn't work around Hogwarts." He looked a little disappointed. "Anyway we really need to hurry or Snape will boil us alive."

"Who's Snape?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

As they left the common room Naruto wondered about these movies, 'If our villages are hidden how is it these people have movies about us?' When they reached the moving staircases again Harry rushed down them at speeds Naruto hadn't thought possible without the help of chakra. Naruto looked over the edge of the banister; it was a long way down and Harry obviously didn't want to be late.

"Hey, Harry, if you jump on my back again I can make the journey quicker."

Harry skidded to a halt to give Naruto a dubious look. He seemed reluctant but with another glance at his watch he consented. With Harry holding onto him with a vice like grip Naruto sent chakra to his feet and ran down the wall so fast that passing students barely felt a breeze.

When they arrived in the main dungeon corridor Harry lent against the wall his legs shaking.

"Next time I think I'd rather be late."

"Which way now?"

Harry led the way to where their potions class was filing into Snape's dungeon classroom.

"Potter! Uzumaki! Why are you late?" barked Snape as the two ran into the classroom behind the rest of the class.

"We're not!" shouted Naruto immediately. He then yelped as Harry stamped on his foot.

"Are you arguing with me Uzumaki?" asked Snape quietly as he swooped down on the indignant ninja.

Harry was now glaring pointedly at him but Naruto seemed not to notice. "No, I'm just saying that we are here and therefore not late!" Naruto continued, glaring up at the scowling potions master. 'What is with this guy? We were so on time!'

"You must think being new here is an excuse for tardiness, hmm? Well it is not! Ten points from Gryffindor each for being late and an extra twenty for your cheek." he breathed in Naruto's face.

Naruto opened his mouth to complain about the unfairness but Sasuke was at his side in an instant with a warning hand on his shoulder. Naruto huffed, unconsciously pouting as Sasuke forced him to turn towards his seat. Naruto tried to turn back when he caught sight of Snape's smug face but Sasuke growled warningly at him.

"Dobe..."

"Yeah, yeah."

Sasuke sat next to him with Harry, Ron and Hermione on the Gryffindor side of the room. Naruto appreciated the small gesture of support that would surely get him on the wrong side of the Slytherin's. But when he glanced over he saw mostly shocked expressions.

*

Naruto and Sasuke left the potions class after their double lesson in confusion. One thing was certain; potions made no sense whatsoever. Naruto didn't understand how stirring once clockwise then twice anticlockwise, could produce completely different results from stirring once each way. It all seemed so ridiculous!

Sasuke left the Gryffindor's at the entrance hall to follow Malfoy into the courtyard. He knew Naruto would understand; he had already spent too much time in the Gryffindor's company. Sure enough Malfoy sought him out during morning break.

"What is he to you?" the blond boy asked, leaning against the wall beside Sasuke.

"I assume you mean Naruto," replied Sasuke coldly.

Malfoy nodded, "You two seem... close."

Sasuke stiffened, "He is my friend."

Malfoy nodded again.

*

For the rest of the day Naruto stayed with Harry and Sasuke with Malfoy. They talked to Sakura at lunchtime and it turned out she was having a brilliant time with the Ravenclaw girls.

"They all seem really nice and I've learnt a lot about the wizarding world! And... about the houses." she said giving Sasuke a pointed look.

"What did you learn?"

"A little about why Slytherin is such an unpopular house to be in. Apparently it has a reputation for turning out 'dark wizards' just like this Voldemort guy."

Sasuke nodded in understanding casting an eye over his fellow Slytherin's. The three stood near the doors to the great hall as the students ate their lunch. Sasuke fingered his necktie with a frown; the symbol of Slytherin, which was embroidered on his uniform tie, was a snake and it reminded him forcibly of Orochimaru.

Their last lesson of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts and both Sasuke and Naruto were pleased to discover that Slytherin's and Gryffindor's took this class together. The students arrived to an empty classroom and Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones not surprised at their missing Professor.

"What kind of pathetic teacher can't turn up on time for his first lesson?" complained Malfoy from his seat at the back.

"Expect it on a regular basis," drawled Sasuke taking a seat next to him.

Ten minutes into the lesson there was a poof of smoke at the front of the classroom.(1) It cleared to reveal Kakashi-sensei sitting at his desk as though he'd been there for hours.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're late!" shouted Naruto jumping up to point accusingly at their teacher. Several girls giggled, although they didn't know what he had said it was a funny sight to see the vibrant new boy shouting at their masked Professor.

"Ah... Sorry I was late I had to save the caretaker's cat from the giant squid."

"Liar!" shouted Naruto whilst the Hogwarts students looked puzzled at the crazy excuse.

"Expect excuses like that too," muttered Sasuke to Malfoy who raised a barely visible eyebrow in response.

"So let us begin. I am Professor Hatake your new Defence teacher. I am also from Japan so go easy on me, ne?" Kakashi fixed several girls at the front with a warm smile from behind his mask causing them to blush.

Whilst Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had been brushing up on their English on the journey here Kakashi, between threats of 'A Thousand Years of Pain' to Naruto if he didn't stop trying to mess around with Sasuke, had been studying the syllabus. He knew enough to set the students a task for the remainder of the lesson.

*

As soon as the lesson was over the students rushed from the classroom and headed for their common rooms. Naruto slipped away from Harry, Ron and Hermione, trusting that they would be safe within the walls of Hogwarts. He hurried down the stairs and hid behind a statue as the Slytherin's walked past heading for the dungeons. Sure enough his target strolled along at the back of the group. As Sasuke passed the statue Naruto reached out, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the dark alcove. Sasuke reacted instinctively; with one hand at Naruto's throat and the other grasping his wrist Sasuke had him pinned against the wall before he realised who it was.

Looking into cerulean eyes Sasuke sighed in relief. He let go of Naruto's neck to rest his hand on his boyfriends chest.

"Nobody sneaks up on the Uchiha genius, eh?" taunted Naruto.

"Hn, I'm sure you must have noticed it too; this castles strange chakra aura makes it difficult to sense each other."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I can sense you if I concentrate but I can barely sense Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei at all."

"Mmm, same here, probably because we're more in tune with each other."

Naruto laughed softly, pressing closer to his boyfriend, "We sure are."

Sasuke leaned down stealing a quick kiss before pulling away. Naruto made a small noise of disappointment.

"Want to go train?" asked Sasuke, his lips hovering near Naruto's.

Naruto leaned up capturing Sasuke's lips once more. He nipped gently at Sasuke's bottom lip drawing a small gasp from his stoic boyfriend. Satisfied, he pulled away and stepped out of the alcove, Sasuke trailing after him slightly flushed.

"Where?" Naruto asked, looking out of a nearby window at the grounds.

"Remember that grassy pitch we saw last night?"

"With those big metal hoops? They did look fun..."

"Good for practicing balance..."

"Race you there!" yelled Naruto making a leap for the open window.

But Sasuke was one step ahead of him. Producing a kunai from his sleeve he pinned Naruto's robe to the floor. Naruto fell forward with a loud curse and set about freeing himself as Sasuke leapt out of the window ahead of him. The two boys ran at top speed down the castle wall being careful not to run over any windows for fear of being seen. Naruto returned Sasuke's kunai to him as he caught up with him at the ground. Sasuke caught the knife neatly and they continued their race across the castle grounds towards their new training ground.

As they were nearing the colourful stands Naruto made a mad flying leap, tackling Sasuke to the ground. The two skidded nearly ten feet wrestling each other fiercely. When they leapt back up Sasuke was once again in the lead with Naruto hot on his trail.

Naruto saw Sasuke smirk as he ran into the stadium. Sasuke's face immediately fell at the sight of Naruto standing on the right hand hoop high above him. Naruto grinned widely.

"And Uzumaki Naruto wins again!" he shouted triumphantly.

Their was a poof behind Sasuke as one of Naruto's clones dissipated. Naruto jumped in the air whooping loudly and landing with perfect balance back on his hoop.

"Again Dobe? Since when do you win?"

Naruto spun around so quickly he nearly fell off his hoop. "NANI!?" he screamed.

Behind him, on the middle and highest hoop stood a smirking Sasuke, eyes red with the Sharingan. Naruto flicked his gaze back to where the losing Sasuke had been standing in time to see several snakes slither away.(2)

"You cheated with your stupid Sharingan!" shouted Naruto accusingly.

"We didn't set out any rules, therefore it was not possible to cheat," replied Sasuke with a smirk.

"Whatever!" Naruto huffed turning away with his arms crossed. Next second there was a sly smile on his face as he flung several shuriken at Sasuke. "Think fast!"

"I always think fast!" replied Sasuke, deflecting the shuriken with his own kunai before performing a backwards flip onto the far goal hoop.

The two ANBU simultaneously launched themselves towards each other. Jumping between the three hoops they maintained a fury of attacks towards the other. The two were very evenly matched but after 15 minutes Naruto managed to push Sasuke back onto the right hand hoop, with a cry of triumph he made to knock Sasuke off balance. But at the last second Sasuke pushed off hard, performing another back flip towards the stands. Naruto watched as he hit the green Slytherin hangings and fell nearly twenty feet before managing to stop his descent.

Sasuke took a moment to recover from the pain in his hands before clambering up to the seating at the top of the stands. He took a fighting stance as Naruto followed him into the stands. Naruto was preparing to attack again when he caught sight of Sasuke's hands. His skin was ripped up and bloody from trying to get a grip on the rough material of the stand's decorative hangings.

"Cease?"

Sasuke glanced at his hands before nodding reluctantly.

"Why weren't you using your Sharingan?" Sasuke's eyes had been their usual black since Naruto had accused him of cheating in their race.

"Makes it fair, doesn't it." Sasuke muttered as he examined his hands.

Naruto growled at him, "You don't need to make it fair with me."

"Next time I won't bother."

"Good! Come on lets find Sakura."

*

The two boys walked up to the main entrance at a normal pace both exhausted and sporting many small injuries, Sasuke cradling his sore hands and Naruto limping. They were just wondering how they would find the Ravenclaw common room when they walked past the Great Hall to find dinner in full swing. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other before making their way over to the Ravenclaw table trying to draw as little attention as possible. Sasuke tried to hide his bleeding hands behind his back but the rips in their robes and the cut on Naruto's cheek were harder to hide.

They walked up behind Sakura, "Ano... Sakura..."

She turned to find the beaten up pair and her face changed to crimson in a matter of seconds. "What the hell have you two been doing?!" she hissed angrily.

"Sparring." said Sasuke shortly.

"Oh my God! You two should go to the hospital wing!" squealed a girl to Sakura's left.

"You're right Katherine, I'll take them right now," said Sakura quickly, standing to usher the boys away before they could attract any more attention.

"But you don't know where it is, do you?" Katherine said, standing up with Sakura.

"Er... I'm sure we can find it," said Sakura awkwardly; they didn't need to go to the hospital wing! They just needed to find somewhere private so she could heal them.

"Don't worry, I'll take you!" the short girl took hold of Sakura and Naruto's elbows leaving Sasuke to follow them. He glared at her back but she didn't seem to notice.

When they got to the hospital wing a fussy woman called Madam Pomfrey ordered them to sit down on the beds. Sakura watched closely as the woman cleaned Sasuke's hands with an oily yellow liquid. Naruto watched his boyfriends expression carefully as Sasuke refused to flinch.

"I can heal the worst of it but your hands will be sore for a few days. I can't imagine how you got such nasty friction burns!" she gave him a pointed look and seemed quite disappointed when he didn't offer an explanation.

With Sasuke's hands bandaged up the matron turned her attention to Naruto's leg. She pulled up his trouser leg to reveal a long gash running down his calf. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Sasuke who looked quite smug. But his smirk disappeared when Madam Pomfrey healed Naruto's cut easily.

"I can heal a clean cut like that but it'll be sore just like your hands," she explained to Sasuke.

When they left the hospital wing Sakura managed to shake Katherine off, thanking her for her help. As soon as the persistent girl was gone, Sasuke turned to Sakura.

"Can you heal these a bit more?" he asked, holding out his swollen, red hands.

"I should let you suffer to teach both a lesson!"

"But you wouldn't," said Naruto pleadingly as he limped over to her.

"Anyone could have seen you two and it would have led to awkward questions!"

"But we didn't use any big jutsu!"

Sakura scowled for a moment before giving in. Her hands glowed green as she healed the last of the swelling. Sasuke flexed his fingers as Sakura healed Naruto's leg so that it was more comfortable to walk on.

"You two should be more careful! You don't know who could have seen you!" Sakura reprimanded.

"Well we can't just not train!" replied Naruto stubbornly.

"Where were you training?"

"Did you see that big stadium in the grounds?"

"You were at the Quidditch pitch?! That place is really open! Anyone could have found you!"

"What's Quidditch?" asked Sasuke.

"Some crazy sport they play. But seriously you two, you need to find somewhere a bit more secluded to train."

"How about there?"

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Naruto pointing out of the window at the dark sprawling forest bordering the castle grounds.