Okay, someone asked about the time line... I do know that Team Seven weren't sent on any missions after Sasuke got his seal, but if he doesn't have his seal, the story doesn't really work... So let us step into our overly active imaginations and pretend that they were sent on a mission... (well that reason and the fact that I haven't watched any episode passed the whole Sasuke-in-a-barrel thing).

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter, or Naruto. If I had a choice of owning anything, I definitely would have dibs on Gaara... hmmm...my Gaara...

Sasuke was sitting on the floor of the potions classroom, experiencing the joys of detention for the first time. With a brush in one hand and a bucket of soapy water in the other he was currently cursing the teacher and the potion that had lead to this less than enjoyable situation. This was a magic school. Surely there were ways of cleaning up spilled potion magically. The greeny-blue mess in front of him was particularly nasty. It smelled and each time he seemed to get it off the floor, more would seep up from the cracks in the floor. He sensed Snape coming silently up behind him.

"Hurry up, Potter. I don't have all day. If I do not find this room immaculate by the time I return, you will have two more days of detention, instead of one." Snape said icily.

"I have another day of detention?" Sasuke glared up at him, and Snape held his glare.

"You arrived thirty minutes late. What were you doing, I wonder?" Sasuke could no longer hold his gaze. He blinked and turned away. "Now I must go. If I find that you have used magic in any way to aid you, you will have detention for a week." With a swish of his cloak he turned and left. Angrily, Sasuke went back to scrubbing the floor.

After an hour his arms were getting tired, and the water in the bucked was very murky. He heard quick footsteps, signaling the arrival of Snape. Sasuke looked around. He still had about a quarter of the room left to scrub. Snape stood in the doorway.

"Right Potter, you may leave. I will see you here on time tomorrow. Seven o'clock." He sounded slightly out of breath, and seemed to want Sasuke out of the room as soon as possible. Sasuke threw the brush back in the bucket and strode out the door. He found himself longing for a bath. The potions smelled awful enough on their own, but the result of having all of them lingering about oneself was awful.

He turned down a side passage to get the man's portrait. He hadn't taken it in the classroom for obvious reasons. The door from the potion's classroom slammed and Snape ran past. His curiosity got the better of him, and he followed, forgetting the portrait. He silently followed him through all the twists and turns of the castle's corridors, when suddenly Snape disappeared. He stood a moment, confused, until he heard a small snap coming from one of the portraits. Running to it he found that it was sealed with some sort of spell. He scanned it. The magic containing it was similar to the chakra of a binding spell. Concentrating his chakra he found the weakest spot, the bottom left hand corner of the portrait, and gave it a chakra-infused punch. The concealed door swung open.

Entering the passage, he saw that Snape wasn't too far ahead of him. These wizarding types don't run that fast do they? Sasuke thought to himself. Snape turned off into a side passage, which connected to a small room. Sasuke saw Snape go through, and he crept to the entrance.

The room small and cozy, quite similar to the Gryffindor common room. Snape strode up to a woman sitting in her desk. Sasuke recognized her to be the Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonnagal.

"Where has Dumbledore gone?" Snape asked. Kami-sama, I hate his voice, Sasuke thought.

"He's off with the Minister to deal with the messy business with the giants and those muggle hitch-hikers. He told everyone at the last faculty meeting Professor. Don't you remember." Professor McGonnagal replied.

"Yes, yes," Snape said. "but when will he be back?"

"Well, I really don't know. What's so important that you require the Headmaster's immediate presence?" McGonnagal questioned.

"Haven't you noticed? Harry Potter!" Snape said, emphasizing Harry's name. "There is an impostor, and a very bad one at that. He didn't even try to block me as I reached into his mind!"

Sasuke blocked a gasp that was about to escape his mouth.

"Right, Sasuke, throw this at the mark on that tree." Kakashi said, handing him a Kunai. They were in the forest, alone. Kakashi needed to know the extent of Harry's skills. Harry took the kunai hesitantly. He pulled his arm back and threw it at the tree. It not only missed the mark, but the tree completely. "I thought you said you could fight, or at least had some skills."

Harry thought this was a bit unfair. He had come face to face with the darkest wizard of all times after all. "I can fight," he replied. "Just not with knives."

"Incendio!" Harry yelled, and pointed his wand at the marking on the tree. A burst of flame came from his wand and hit the tree. It burnt steadily on the spot, but did not spread.

"Interesting chakra..." murmured Kakashi.

"What?"

"Your chakra. It's undetectable until it comes out of your wand. Then it becomes completely visible. Even someone who was not trained as a ninja would be able to see it."

"What's chakra?" Questioned Harry. Kakashi stared at him.

"How can you use chakra but not know what it is?" Kakashi said, disbelieving. Harry was getting rather tired of having Kakashi point out what he didn't know, and what he couldn't do.

"I know what I use. I use magic. Not this chaky thingy that you keep on going on about." Harry replied.

"Chakra is the energy that one possesses inside oneself. You can use that chakra to fight or heal. Observe." Kakshi then went through a series of hand motions. Harry heard him mutter something about a tiger right before a large flame erupted out of Kakashi's mouth, and hit the target directly. Harry blinked a few times.

"When you learn to control your chakra properly, this is the sort of thing that you should be able to do. You have the capacity, and a great amount of chakra stored within you. And you'll have to learn this fireball technique. It's one of Sasuke's." Harry nodded dumbly. He then noticed that Kakashi's fireball had consumed his own little flame, and all that was left of the marking on the tree was hollowed out and smoldering.

"Well, I saw how weak you were when the enemy ninja attacked, but you know, as they say, 'It's never too late to start.' You need to become stronger. Do five-hundred push-ups."

"WHAT?"

Sasuke was shocked. He hadn't even noticed that Snape had been reaching into his mind. What was he going to do now? Dumbledore had made it clear that no one should find out who he was.

"Professor," McGonnagal was saying, "Dumbledore informed me of this boy's presence. He will remain here until The Powers-That-Be deem it time for him to be sent back."

"The Powers-That-Be? What is this? Why wasn't I informed?" Snape asked, obviously furious.

"As far as I know, the less people know the better. I don't even know who the boy is." Replied McGonnagal.

"And don't you care? Don't you even want to try to find out who it is? How do we know that Dumbledore really wants this quiet? It sounds suspicious to me." Snape said.

"Trying to find out who is is, will be going against Dumbledore's direct wishes!" McGonnagal replied.

"How do you know that those were against Dumbledore's direct wishes?" Snape asked, icily.

"Look, I'm just as suspicious as you are, but I do not think that gives me permission to go poking into business that is not my own. Dumbledore made that quite clear to me."

"Well, stay put if you like, but I'm going to make it my business. I want to know what's going on. I shall talk to the Headmaster as well. Goodnight." And with that Snape turned around and headed back to the concealed entrance to McGonnagal's office. Sasuke turned and ran as fast as he could until he could find a safe place in the shadows to hide. Snape came along, stooping a little because of the low ceiling. As Snape passed he turned and looked directly into the shadows where he was hiding. Sasuke felt pierced by the stare. He did his best to erase his presence. Snape turned, and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.

Sasuke was still a few minutes, his heart hammering. As far as he knew, none of these people had ninja abilities. How did he know he was there? Or did Snape just guess? Sasuke pondered this all the way back to the dormitory where he was met with a chastising Hermione (he'd been out past regulatory time again. "Honestly Harry, just because you were in detention..."), and an indifferent Ron.

The next day in transfiguration Sasuke couldn't help but feel that he was being heavily scrutinized by Professor McGonnagal. Trying to ignore it, he went back to attempting to turn a candle into lampshade. He'd almost given up trying to even pretend that he was a student learning magic, when he suddenly remembered the door that had almost blocked his way yesterday. The thing sealing it was very similar to chakra, and perhaps this was all that this 'magic' thing was. A different way of using chakra. Trying to inconspicuously do a few hand motions, he concentrated on the energy flow of those around him.

Aside from the visible effect of the magic through the wand, the energy didn't seem to be coming from one particular place. He focused on Hermione who was sitting next to him. She'd given up on trying to get Ron speaking to 'Harry' and now had to suffer the uncomfortable silence that lingered between the two. Sasuke was slightly glad as it kept her from really noticing that he hadn't been able to perform any magic. Yet now as he was studying her, and studying her chakra flow, he saw that shortly before she attempted the spell it would collect momentarily in her chest before traveling through her wand and out of her hand.

And something about the chakra surrounding him... it had a kind of tingle... something that was not quite the same as regular chakra.

Trying to focus himself again he felt for his chakra. He collected it inside himself for a moment before sending it down his arm, saying "Lihtanimos!" at the same time. Finally! He'd done some magic! Although, admittedly the was-to-be lightshade was more like a piece of melted wax than a lightshade, but it's the effort that counts, right?

"Potter." A voice called.

"Yes, Professor...?" Sasuke answered. He was really getting used to being called 'Potter' now.

"Clean up that mess, and I want to see you after class." Professor McGonnagal said.

"Yes, Professor." Sasuke replied, trying to ignore the snickers that came most notably from the Slytherin tables.

After class Sasuke saw Professor McGonnagal in her office. She looked at him sternly over her glasses.

"Am I to understand that you don't know any magic at all." She asked.

"Well, not your sort of magic." Replied Sasuke, wondering whether or not his fighting techniques counted as 'magic.' "We don't use wands."

"I see. Well Harry, you have the aptitude for wizadary, but if you carry on like you have been for these past couple of days, people are going to find out that you are not who you say you are." She paused for a moment, considering. "There's no choice. You will have to learn how to use magic properly. I shall tutor you."

"Umm, alright." Was all Sasuke could think to say.

"You shall have to tell your friends that you've landed yourself in detention again. The first tournament is just over a week away. We'll have that much time to prepare against the dragon." Sasuke had forgotten all about the dragon. Again he wondered who would want to fight such a thing, but decided not to question it. "We might as well start now. I will explain to Professor Snape about missing his detention."

"Thank you!" Sasuke said, hearing the first real piece of good news he had, ever since coming to this world.

"Of course, I will make sure he reschedules it for another date." Sasuke's gratitude disappeared almost completely. "Well, might as well get started then." She conjured up a box of matches. "The art of Transfiguration is the most complex of magic. I will give you a set of first year books that I expect you to study. Now, this matchstick, if you are as apt to magic as you appear to be, you should be able to turn this into a needle by the end of the hour..."

Harry walked in later that evening feeling like he was about to fall apart. Everything ached. After Kakashi found that there was no way that Harry could do five-hundred push-ups he sighed in exasperation and set Harry simpler tasks... like doing only one-hundred-and-fifty sit-ups, running for seven miles straight ("If you even think about stopping you'll run for eight more..."), and finally chakra control practice. Harry had to concentrate and try to locate his chakra. The concentrating part was the hardest, and Harry thought he might have only felt his chakra only once. The other few hours he spent on it were futile.

The next few days were spent like this, with little progress and aching muscles. It was at meal time however that he was first able to control his chakra slightly. They were eating mashed potatoes, peas, and sausages (A/N: I know this isn't a very Japanesy meal). Harry had felt his chakra twice more that day, but hadn't been able to reach it. It had been annoying him. It was like a tingling itch that he couldn't reach. The more he sought it, the more effusive the feeling became, until it evaded him completely and disappeared. He knew he had this power inside him, yet he couldn't tap into it. Poking at his food, he blocked everything out, trying to reach for his chakra, until Naruto's voice came through his thoughts, noise interrupting silent meditation.

"What's the matter Sasuke-teme? Loosing your appetite like you lost your will to fight. If you continue to fight like you did back then, you will make it really easy for me to become Hokage." Naruto's voice grated on Harry's ears. Every moment he wasn't training with Kakashi, he was around Naruto, whose loud voice and annoying habits were starting to wear him thin (even though he was having a hard time trying to keep up the stoic mask that was Sasuke's trademark. He found Naruto to be a funny and occasionally congenial person). Although Naruto mainly wanted to find out what had bothered his friend so much that he would fight in such a way and was just going about it in his Naruto-like way, Harry had no idea and was getting sick of his inane insults.

Feeling his anger rise just a little he managed to reach inside himself that little bit further. Instantly he made contact. It was an amazing feeling. He could feel the chakra circling round his body, like blood. He felt its rhythm and grabbed hold. He collected it for a moment and not really focusing on what he was doing, picked a pea from his plate and flicked it at Naruto. It hit him in the centre of his forehead.

"Naruto, you're going to have to learn how to block better than that." Harry said, trying not to grin, or look proud of himself in any way.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto yelled, reaching over the table to punch Harry. He was glad (although he didn't show it) that 'Sasuke' seemed to be back to normal. Luckily for Harry, Kakashi blocked the blow before it could land.

"Boys, we are guests (almost) in this young lady's home. You need to act as though you have some respect for her." Kakashi intervened. It wasn't as though the girl would have cared, or at least acted as though she cared. She hadn't changed her expression since the day they arrived. When spoken to she would reply with one word answers, or not at all. Sakura had tried to coax her into talking a bit more, but soon gave up. She refused to look anyone in the eye.

"Right." Sakura said. "Someone help me with the dishes."

"Not ME!" Naruto yelled, and jumped out of his chair. "Gotta train!" And with that he was out the door. Kakashi, being the lazy tutor he was mumbled something about surveying the area and disappeared in a poof of smoke. Harry sighed and started to help Sakura clean the dishes.

"You know Sasuke," Sakura began. "You don't seem to be yourself lately..." Harry didn't make any comment. "I mean today, at dinner, you actually called Naruto by his name, and not 'dobe'"

"Well," Harry said, reaching desperately for something to say, "I, uh, it was a slip of the tongue. He'll always be dead-last."

"Ummm... Sasuke?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think when we get back... well, will you go on a date with me?"

"Errrr..." Harry didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether or not Sasuke liked the girl. She was rather pretty, he admitted. Her pink hair set off her green eyes marvelously. Before he could reply however, there was a crash from the dining room. Running in to see what was the matter, they found the girl standing up amidst remnants of the broken table.

"It's time..." She said.

Hi guys! Sorry that it's taken me ages to write this. My mum's been making me do evil SAT practice... grrrrr... I have no free time... Mid-terms and the like. This chapter was way shorter than I intended it to be, but if I don't just go ahead and post it up, it'll be sitting in my computer for another couple of months...

This was more episodal than what I usually write, but it just was easier this way.

Thanks to those of you who reviewed! It's always nice to get feedback!