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PART ONE
"You weren't kidding when you said that was going to be uncomfortable," Sasuke gasped, nausea rolling over his body. Next to him, the contact laughed, although, he noted with vindictive pleasure, her hands were shaking.
"Yeah, I feel like throwing my guts up every time," she agreed. "But that's water under the bridge," she said with a little laugh. "You need somewhere to stay, so I took the liberty of booking a room. Hogwarts -" the black-haired shinobi resisted the urge to snort at the ridiculous name "- is paying. It's the Leaky Cauldron, the pub-inn-thing that leads to Diagon Alley," she continued.
Sasuke rose to his feet, about to follow the contact out of the dark, dirty alleyway, when suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. "Oh, I nearly forgot!" she explained. "We're going to be traveling through the normal part of town, so you might want to change into something a little less… revealing." She tossed him a bundle of clothes and turned her back towards him. "Keep your mask in your hand, though, and put it on when we arrive," she said.
Sasuke nodded, although he couldn't be seen, and changed.
His clothes, and in particular the dark fabric and purple rope he customarily tied around is waist, had attracted a lot of strange stares, but nobody paid much attention to the two. Sasuke pulled at the zipper to the simple, longsleeved black shirt that hung loosely over his body, the color a contrast to the white-gray-blue fabric he usually wore.
He found himself a little homesick, surprisingly. He hadn't experienced the feeling since joining Orochi -
"We're here!"
He pushed the memories out of his mind, and looked up. He was about to point out that there was nothing there, but then he noticed the slight shimmer hanging in the air. He hissed out a forceful "Kai!" under his breath, and the illusion dissipated like mist.
"Just go in there and ask for room thirty-seven," she explained, holding out a key and a sleek black device. "The thing here is a cell phone. The only two number on it right now is mine and the Hokage's, and it's charmed to work in magical surroundings. If you need me for anything, call."
Sasuke took the two items and slid the mask over his face.
"The mask itself is charmed to translate, but I would learn English as soon as possible," she suggested.
Sasuke nodded absentmindedly, adjusting the straps. After he was satisfied with the mask, he stepped up to the Leaky Cauldron's entrance.
"Stay alive, friend!" the contact called out, laughing. "It's like I'm sending my child off to school," she murmured when she thought she was out of earshot.
Behind the ceramic, Sasuke frowned.
However strange he thought non-magical Britain was, the wizarding part of it was far stranger. Everything from the sheer impossibility of magic and the robes (the worst, and most impractical fashion choice, in his humble opinion) and just the way the society was run just rubbed him off as weird and highly unnecessary.
The talking mirror was just the cherry on top, and he ended up breaking it. For a moment, he felt bad for whoever had to clean and fix the mess, but in the end, he discarded the thought. House elves, he reminded himself.
He had read about the creatures in one of the books that the contact had left lying around for him to see. Books on English, books about spell theory, wizard society, the castle he would be spending most of his time in, books on the relationship between the Ministry and the Hidden Continent (Shaky at best, although usually hostile. Wizards have a affinity for bad relations, it seems). And, interestingly enough, books on the "Muggle" side of the spectrum. That, he found, was truly interesting.
No magic. No chakra. No power but their own two hands.
And apparently that was enough.
Uchiha Sasuke had no idea when he fell asleep, but one second he was reading over a surprisingly interesting text on Muggle science (hoping it would give him insight on chakra, and thus illuminating how to improve his jutsu), and the next, he had an iron-tight grip on the wrist of a strange, wrinkled… thing… kunai in hand.
He blinked the traces of sleep from his eyes and forced himself to relax. "How long was I asleep?" he asked, in the little English he knew.
"Ah - uhm - oh, sir -"
"Nevermind, doesn't matter," he said, ignoring the well-intentioned sputtering. "What do you need?"
"Dumbledore is here!"
At this, the Uchiha heir perked up. "The Headmaster?" he breathed, although he was already on his feet and rushing towards the door, pulling the mask on over his head, cursing under his breath all the while.
However, as soon as he stepped out the door, he collected himself and walked down to the pub part of the building normally, trying to exude an atmosphere of cold, ruthless strength. Which wasn't that hard, even when he'd just woken up, as he realized when the patrons suddenly quieted at his arrival.
Sasuke assumed the mask, and the little bits of killing intent he was shooting off here and there helped.
"Headmaster Dumbledore?" he asked, approaching a man that fit the bill perfectly, with a long white beard and strange robes - even for wizarding standards. The mask translated his words perfectly, taking away all traces of accent with it, until all that was left was the careful monotone of his own voice, although slightly muffled and warped through the ceramic.
"Yes, that's me," the man replied, a genial smile on his lips and a twinkle shining in his eyes. "And you are the shinobi that the Hokage lent us?"
"Yes," the shinobi in question replied.
"Code?"
Sasuke paused as the words bubbled up from the back of his mind. "Hebi," he said, waiting.
The Headmaster nodded, satisfied, and returned the gesture. "Taka. That means 'hawk', doesn't it?"
A slow smirk spread across the Uchiha's face, and he nodded, although he was pretty sure that the other man already knew the answer.
Dumbledore hmmed thoughtfully. "Do you mind taking off the mask?" he asked, almost out of the blue. "I'd like to see your face, if that's alright with you."
It honestly wasn't, but Sasuke complied after subtly turning his body so that no nosy patrons could see his face. After a moment of studying his face with solemn intensity, the aged wizard nodded, and he returned the cool white ceramic to his face.
"My apologies," Dumbledore said, "But I couldn't get around to meeting you before today - I'm quite busy during the breaks, you see - and I didn't want to bring you to Headquarters before I checked. Constant vigilance, you see," he smiled.
The Uchiha agreed wholeheartedly.
nothing to say here, but as always,
thanks for reading.
