Chapter 4

Naruto stood in front of the bathroom mirror staring at his gaunt reflection. He was so pale it nearly frightened him. His eyes were grey and sunken in and his wan skin was jacketed with numerous angry-red blemishes. He could only surmount that they were the slowly healing remnants of his previous injuries and figured that they would be gone by the next day. Swallowing, he slowly, as his stomach was still healing from yesterday, made his way over to the shower and turned on the tap. He hissed as he stepped into the hot water. His body adjusted to the temperature and he began to relax, happy to get rid of the dried blood that was caked all over.

It was time to mull over his situation. He was trapped in a strange world with strange people (Kagome was alright, but the other two...) and no way home. His friends thought he was dead and Sasuke...they may have gotten him away from Orochimaru but Sasuke needed him now more than anything. Naruto still felt they were friends despite all that happened between them and he knew that the old Sasuke, the Sasuke who was willing to sacrifice himself to save Naruto from a mist-nin without a second thought, was still in that shell of a body waiting to be saved. He needed to get back to help him.

Sakura was a whole other matter herself. He was afraid that leaving her as he did would traumatize her; after all, since he returned to Konoha they had been steadily growing closer. They relied on each other to the point where they almost felt incomplete standing alone. The only consolation he got was that he had returned Sasuke and maybe, as much as it pained him to think it, she could move on with the avenger, like she had always wanted.

Once he was sure he was clean of any nasty substances he finished up his shower. With a towel wrapped around his waist he made his way back to the guest bedroom (the room he woke up in) and began to put on the clothes Harry left out for him. What was left of his training outfit was not wearable and Harry searched through his closets for something smaller that would fit Naruto.

He started with normal boxers and then put on the navy denim pants—jeans as he had learned they were called—that fit quite nicely on his hips for a guessed fit and was loose around the legs. Next was a normal long-sleeved shirt that was a bit tighter than he was used to (of course most of his clothes were pretty baggy) but didn't quite hug his body. He ran a hand through his still wet hair and sighed, feeling refreshed. His stomach tightened uncomfortably on him and he realized he was well due for some breakfast. Using his nose, he followed Harry's personal scent though the substantial apartment into the kitchen, where the young wizard was seated at a small table eating cereal and reading a newspaper titled The Bewitched Kibitz. Naruto quickly dismissed it as a trick of the light but for a moment he could have sworn he saw the headline picture move.

"Morning," Harry said brightly as the blond walked in. "You feeling better?

"Much, thanks."

Harry nodded, "Good. Well, I've got to run to the ministry, wanna come?"

Kagome would kill him if she knew he was letting the boy out of the house while still bearing injuries. But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"Uh...sure..." Naruto answered, not completely following him but found it was better than sitting in some stranger's home. Harry folded the newspaper and put it down.

"It would probably be good for you to see how this world runs anyway, since you could be here for a while. Coco puffs?" He picked up a brown box with a cartoon bird and shook it a little. "Do you have coco puffs where you're from?"

Naruto gave him a dark look at the slow tone he was speaking to him with.

"No, but we have cereal." He said shortly but sat down anyway as Harry got up to get him a bowl and spoon.

"So why are we going to the ministry?" Naruto asked before taking an unhesitant bite of the new cereal. A sudden explosion of chocolaty goodness went off in his mouth and he was eager to shovel in more. Harry seemed unaware of the new love connection before him.

"I need to drop off some reports about some demons I was hired to off. Before the ministry was reformatted I could just kill as I pleased, but noooo...now that they know what I do they have to know how I do it and for who I do it and keep records on everything. Bloody bitches. I do get paid more though..."

Naruto forced a large mouthful of coco delish down throat so he could speak, "Oh! Like us ninjas have to do after each mission!"

"Sure...if you say so. You're going to have to teach me more about your ninja culture."

"Fine, later, but why was the ministry reformatted?"

"Well...we had a close brush with the apocalypse a few years back...demons were exposed to humans because before then the majority of humans were unaware of their existence. Also the wizarding world, which used to be hidden from muggles—er, non-magic people that is—that was exposed too. There was a lot of controversy then...well there still is today really...things are still kind of messy and I don't think we'll have any real stability for another couple decades. That's how bad it was. And Inuyasha died."

Naruto choked a bit on a coco-puff. "What? The Inuyasha from yesterday?"

"Yeah. Anyway," Harry said, clearly planning on not explaining, much to Naruto's annoyance, "we should get going since these were due...eh, about two weeks ago I'd say. You know what shadow walking is?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Of course you don't. Well stand up and hold onto my arm. And no matter what you feel don't let go and run away. Merlin knows where you'll land."

"Where is the ministry?" Naruto asked as he pushed away from the table. "Is it far?"

"In Boston. An hour's drive from here I'd say, but this will only take a couple seconds."

"Boston?"

"It's the capital city in Massachusetts...Okay, you know what? We're just going to get you a map and we'll spend an entire day going over the geography. You'll like Boston. It's loud."

"Cool—wait...hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto never received an answer as the room around him swirled out of existence. His vision clouded and his body felt weightless, but he was fully conscious. He could still feel Harry's arm underneath his fingers but he couldn't see anything let alone the man besides him. And then suddenly the world came back into focus again, gravity returned and connected his now solid body to the ground. People surrounded him. Chatting and honking filled his ears. Every scent imaginable reached his nose, smoke being the most perceptible.

"Welcome, to Boston...the city of beans." Harry giggled a little at himself but Naruto was hardly paying attention.

"Wow..." Naruto breathed at the huge skyscrapers and hundreds of noisy metal and glass boxes with people in them that surrounded him. Harry turned his vision from the chipped green lamppost a block away, the one that would take them to the American Ministry of Magic, to the completely awestruck teenager besides him. Something told him this would be the longest block of sidewalk he would ever have to walk.

"I'm going to have to explain absolutely everything to you, aren't I?"

Naruto managed to tear his eyes away from a Hotel's revolving doors and focused on Harry with a very fox-like grin.

"Believe it."

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Inuyasha stepped away from the closing ground beneath his feet; the chilling foreboding air that rose from the pits of Hell was cut off and left to melt into the warm air of fire country. In truth he was a bit surprised that it worked; going into to Hell and exiting via another dimension. It was a dangerous way to travel...the couple centuries of guardian experience had really pulled through—Harry certainly wouldn't be able to pull that off. But he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The hanyou took in his surroundings appreciatively, noting the full foliage and clean air. He knew right off the bat that this world's ozone was perfectly intact.

"And Konoha would be..." He spun on his heel, his nose twitching, and stopped as he face southwest, his arm outstretched and finger pointing to a throng of trees, "that way."

0o0o0o

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"I want to drive a car! They look so cool and they go faster than I've ever seen a ninja run. Do you have a car? You can drive, right?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair as the blond next to him chattered incessantly. They were currently walking down the pristine halls of the ministry to the Office of Demonic Liaison and Control.

"I have a motorcycle that I inherited. I hardly ever use it though."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, making his trademark fox face. "Motorcycle...oh! Those two wheeled ones?"

"Yeah," Harry replied turning left, "maybe I'll show you how to drive it, if you stop talking for five minutes."

"Okay."

"I mean starting now."

"Okay," Naruto whispered, ducking his head as if that would make his voice even smaller.

"Whispering is still talking, idiot!" Harry near shouted as he shoved open a plain office door. The secretary present jumped a bit at the extreme entrance then quickly regained her composure at the sight of the first man.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," she said overly-kindly with a soft blush. Harry merely grunted the return greeting and dropped the stack of papers on her desk.

"Sorry they're late," he muttered casually; the line slipped from his lips as though it were well versed. The secretary seemed unfazed by his lack of professionalism and continued to admire the famous man.

Naruto looked from the blushing woman to Harry's clear indifference and was reminded of how Sasuke used to act around his fan club.

"Hi ma'am," he spoke up with a sweet smile on his face. The women blinked out of her stupor at the sound of his voice and seemed to notice him for the first time.

One of the things about traveling with Jiraiya that he would always love was the complete lack of ignorance regarding his presence. He could intermingle with people, hold small conversations with strangers, waitresses, shop owners...and be treated like a human being. When no one knew of the Kyuubi, he felt like he belonged with that race.

"Hi there, cutie," she replied graciously causing him to sweep a hand behind his head and grin bashfully, "are you here with Mr. Potter?"

"Eh? Oh, Harry. Yeah. He's showing me around since I'm new around here."

The woman's face, which at one point seemed genially interested, rapidly brightened. Her eyes widened with glee as she fixed her gaze on him, sizing him up.

"Oh my God!" she suddenly gushed, leaning so far forwards across the desk that her butt was lifted from her seat. "Are you his apprentice?"

The sheer, abrupt attention that she was showering on him was enough to knock him a step back. Her look was almost predatory. He recognized that particular hunger in her eyes—it was the same Ino got when she was about to learn a new piece of particularly juicy gossip.

"Apprentice...what? I don't—"

"I don't have an apprentice, calm down," Harry cut in dully, saving Naruto from a very confusing situation. Naruto witnessed the woman's excitement die into a hearty face of disappointment and she settled once more in her chair. "Come on, it's time to go Naruto."

"A-alright, it was nice to meet you ma'am," Naruto said as he gave a quick bow to the woman and sped out the door behind Harry. He pulled himself along stride with the man, making sure to stick close. These people were freaking crazy in this world! But hey, it wasn't his fault he never had any parents to tell him not to talk to strangers.

"She was, uh, nice..." Naruto said a little awkwardly. "What was her name again?"

"I dunno."

Naruto frowned. Yes, the woman terrified him, but she seemed to be friendly enough and knew who Harry was obviously well.

"How many times have you spoken to that woman before in your life?"

"Oh, a couple times a month for the last two years or so. Why?"

"And you didn't even know her name?" Naruto asked displeasingly. Harry just shrugged indifferently and continued walking.

"Then can you at least tell me what the hell was up with that?" Naruto burst, waving an arm back behind him in the direction of the office they just left. Harry grinned uneasily at him.

"Er, yeah...you know how I told you that demon hunting was relatively new...well demon hunting is taught through apprenticeships. Most demon hunters work with an agency and are taught the basics and such—but they're pretty much mediocre. They don't cost as much to hire as the really good ones. The really elite demon hunters are known for being extremely picky about whom they deem worthy to train—which they should as very few people have what it takes to excel in the job. What you need to know is that Inuyasha and I are the best of the best. I was Inuyasha's apprentice. Still am, really. Anyway, we're pretty notorious around the world after the incident with the apocalypse and everything a few years back, and if one of us were to actually take on an apprentice...well...you can imagine how big the press would make that out to be."

He looked over to his left to see Naruto staring at him wide eyed.

"Wow..." the younger whispered, swallowing the information that the people who rescued him happened to be so powerful and eminent.

"Heh, yeah."

"You need to tell me more about that." Naruto demanded, "What about your apprenticeship with Inuyasha? How did that happen?"

"Uh..." Harry ran a hand through his hair, "It involves a prophecy and, well, I'll tell you about that some other time. We'll talk later and exchange some stories. I have a feeling there was plenty you left out last night."

"Eh...heh heh heh..." Naruto laughed weakly at his pointed look as he scratched his birthmarks with his forefinger. He had tried to stick to the facts and leave out the reasons to why things happened, such as the feelings of betrayal, revenge, unrequited love, and jealousy that spurred so many events. "So are you going to show me that motor-thingy or what?"

Harry rolled his eyes at the abrupt change of subject.

"You weren't quiet for five minutes."

The wizard smirked while enjoying the aghast look on the younger boy's face.

"Aw, come on! Gimme a break here. I'm new to this world, remember? I can't be calm at a time like this! Especially with you crazies jumping at me and hugging me all the damn time!" Naruto whined. Maybe if he whined enough Harry would concede. It usually worked on Baa-chan anyway. Harry sighed and blew his bangs up and out of his eyes. Naruto caught a glimpse of a lightning shaped scare across the smooth skin of his forehead before the hair settled once more.

"Aren't ninja's supposed to be silent?" Harry grumbled.

"They are?" Naruto asked in the perfect imitation of bewilderment. "Since when?"

Harry shook his head seeing the impish glint those cerulean eyes. This kid was quite a character.

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

Naruto grinned. "Yep. So what are we gunna do next?"

"Well, I suppose Bridget wants to meet you."

"Ah, the infamous Bridget." Naruto muttered, rubbing his chin as he thought back to the few time she was mentioned yesterday. From what he gathered she was around his age and had Harry whipped.

He liked her already.

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"Sakura...Sakura...open the door right now Sakura." Haruno Yori demanded half-heartedly. "Please."

She had spent the better part of that morning trying to coax her daughter out of her room. The girl had been holed in there since she returned yesterday evening and it was nearing lunch time. She had briefly heard through rumor that the Uchiha was returned and that the 'demon boy' had died in the process. Of course it was just one of the many rumors flying around this morning. Some say Uchiha killed the jinchuuriki, while others say Naruto died rescuing Sasuke from Orochimaru. Respect, fear, relief, anger...mixed emotions were running high in the village of the leaf, no one could argue that.

Sakura sat with her back pressed against the other side of the door, listening to her mother's fruitless attempts to talk to her. Her knees were pulled to her chest, her hair sloppy and face chapped from too much crying. In her hands was a long black cloth laced through a metal plate engraved with the leaf symbol. Jiraiya had given it to her on the way back, having picked it up from the battle scene. She blinked at the tear stained face which was reflected back at her and fingered the hitai-ate fondly. There were a couple strings of blonde hair stuck in the smooth cloth. She buried her face into the material; it still smelled like him...

She knew she was being ridiculous. Here she was wallowing in her own pity, making her mother worry about her, skipping her training...Naruto would have been horrified to see her like this. She should visit Sasuke...maybe...maybe he'll be better now, now that he's back in Konoha.

Her fingers clenched around the hitai-ate. No, seeing him would reminder her of what they lost...of what he cost. She shouldn't blame him really, as it wasn't him who killed Naruto. But the irrational part of her wanted to blame him, because it was him who caused her so much grief, him who blinded her from what was right in front of her the whole time, and him who they spent so much time worrying over when he didn't even give a damn.

'Forgive him,' she thought to herself, 'Naruto would have. He'd want you to too.'

Easier said than done.

She almost still couldn't believe that she had finally let him go; that she had gotten past her infatuation with the handsome avenger—one of the only things left in her life holding her back from her true potential. Naruto would have loved to have seen that. He would have given her one of those huge grins and squinted his eyes and told her how proud he was of her. But he hadn't. And that was the reality she would have to face.

A part of her even blamed Naruto, which was the most stupid thing she could think of doing. She remembered the night before they left on that mission, the one that would decide the fate of Sasuke. She knew—she told him—something bad was going to happen. Call it woman's intuition, but she had known in her gut that Naruto was in danger. And he wouldn't listen to her. No matter what she said, no matter how she pleaded, he only continued to brush her off, allocating all sorts of comforts: he would be fine, they'd get back Sasuke no sweat, it was just nerves...

Jerk.

That night...he promised her that he would never leave her...that he would always come back to her.

He had promised her.

"Sakura, please, you can't do this to yourself again!"

Sakura scoffed bitterly at her mother's newest line. The last time she went through this she had someone here to comfort her, someone who knew and shared the same pain she was feeling, someone to make her smile again, to give her ambition—someone who clearly wasn't here this time around.

"I got it Haruno-san," an unexpected voice said from somewhere in front of Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi cursed herself for her lack of vigilance and soon found that she was staring into a pair of concerned, pupil-less eyes.

"You really need a latch on that window of yours, forehead."

"Go away, Ino." Sakura said quietly, curling into herself more. She could hear her mother's heavy sigh from beyond the wooden door and the fading footsteps as she walked away in defeat. One down, one to go.

"Sakura," Ino crouched down in front of the girl, looking at her pitiably. "You need to talk to someone about it. It's not good to mourn like this."

"Shut up Ino..." Sakura mumbled. Her eyes burned, not with more tears, but from being so dried out after hours upon hours of crying. "It's been hardly a couple days—it's perfectly normal to m-mourn like this."

Judging by the insecurity of her voice, Ino knew she didn't mean it. She knew Sakura better than most—save for maybe Naruto—and Sakura was a girl who would say one thing and hope you knew that she really meant something else. What Sakura really wanted was a hug—but not from her. Unfortunately the one she wanted to hug couldn't be here so she'd just have to deal.

Ino peered down at the hitai-ate Sakura had clasped in her hands and frowned. Naruto dying like that...his life...the kyuubi...sometimes she felt like crying herself. But she knew she didn't deserve to cry, didn't deserve that sort of relief, because she had never known Naruto as she should have known him. She never gave him a chance to prove those awful things her classmates and adults said about him wrong. And because of that she didn't feel worthy to call her his friend. For the 'dead-last' of the class he sure accomplished some amazing things...things the Hokages themselves couldn't do.

Ino lowered herself down to her knees in front of the girl, the skin over the joints pressing uncomfortably into the hardwood floors. She reached a hand forward and brushed a tangle of pink strands away from Sakura's prominent forehead.

"What did I tell you about covering this up, huh?" she asked jokingly. Sakura gave half a laugh and sniffled. Ino leaned forwards and granted the other girl the hug she had been silently yearning for. Sakura accepted it, her hands fisting in the purple material over Ino's shoulder blades, and buried her face into her neck. She had sworn that she was done crying, but the added comfort that she so intensely needed broke whatever resolve she had built up within the latest hours.

"It's so hard!" she wept, soaking Ino's shirt with tears that should have run out long ago. Ino rubbed her back with one hand and laced the fingers of the other through her hair.

"Shhh...I know..."

"I was right there but I couldn't—I didn't—"

"It's alright, let it out hunny."

"He—I—he was such a great guy...it shouldn't have been like that...he was supposed to be the h-hokage..."

"You'll be okay Sakura," Ino whispered, tears of her own welling up, "you still have me and your parents and Kakashi-sensei and the Hokage and the entire rookie gang. You're not alone."

"I know," she croaked as her tears subsided, "I know. But it's not the same...it won't ever be."

The two girls remained there on the floor, holding each other with wet faces and sore throats. Whatever damage remained of their friendship from that fateful day they declared each other rivals was restored at that exact moment as they allowed a comfortable silence to blanket them.

"I tried to tell him I loved him."

"Sasuke?"

"...no."

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yaaaayyyy, I have tests up the wazoo and I still decided to post this.

So Sakura is obviously in still distress about this, and Naruto is trying to play it off cool and reason off that Sakura will be fine without him, but he's still in shock and the seriousness of his situation and it hasn't quite hit yet. And Harry gives a bit of background to what's happening in that world.

Order of stories: (Road to Remember can go before this) Demon Hunter -- Millennium -- Troika Parallel (Experiments is just on the side of this)

Next up: Inuyasha in Konoha! Oh noes!

Thanks for the reviews!! They make me happy :)