Sorry for the wait. I'm allowed to use the laptop on weekends only. And my weekends are busy. Anyway, thanks for hanging in there!

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own Naruto OR Harry Potter.

People bustled up and down the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, some shoving others out of the way to make the best of the summer sales. Merchants called out from stalls, promising that their various amulets and such would bring customers good luck, with a hundred percent money-back guarantee, while Fanny Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor was raking in the gold, with people stomping in with loaded shopping bags, demanding sundaes to relieve themselves of the heat.

In a nearby alleyway between two buildings, Itachi and his three companions appeared with a small pop, startling a dark green cat that was foraging in a trash can. Naruto quickly leaned against a wall and hugged his stomach, breathing hard, while Jiraiya fell to his knees and clutched his chest right above where his heart was. Itachi had just dusted himself off calmly, while Sasuke glanced after the yowling green blur that had zoomed out of the alleyway.

'I think I'm having a heart attack,' wheezed the white-haired old man.

'What happened?' Naruto gasped, breathing hard.

'Apparition does that. It feels like you're being squeezed down a narrow tube, but it's worse when there is more than one person during Side-Along Apparition,' Itachi dismissed. 'And you're not having a heart attack,' he added to Jiraiya.

Naruto glanced up to meet with a smirking Sasuke. 'What?' he snapped.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away. Stupid dobe. He didn't want to be here. He sighed as he remembered how Itachi had dragged him along in the first place.

'I'm home!' called Itachi, as he shut the door quietly. Slamming it shut, like he wanted to, would have caused an annoyingly loud echo to resound through the house.

'Hn,' Sasuke said, moving up the stairs. He had just finished dinner, and wanted nothing more than to go up to his room, away from him moronic brother, and call it a night.

'Sasuke, come here for a minute,' Itachi said.

Sasuke sighed. Remaining where he was on the 8th step, he asked irritably, 'What?'

'We're going shopping tomorrow,' Itachi smiled, showing all his pearly whites. 'And we're taking a muggle-born with us. Be nice tomorrow, alright?'

Sasuke groaned. 'Why, pray tell, should I come along?'

'He's been accepted to Hogwarts,' Itachi said. 'I thought it would be best if he made a friend before he left. Besides,' he added, 'you'll need to get your school things as well.'

'You want me to accompany a first year?' Sasuke said, horrified. 'What are you, mad?'

'Sixth year, Sasuke,' Itachi corrected. 'He's your age.'

'So he transferred from somewhere?' Sasuke guessed. 'Don't tell me he's from Durmstrang?'

'Heavens, no,' chuckled Itachi. 'He's just recently discovered that he's a wizard.'

Sasuke stared at his older brother, dumbfounded. 'You're kidding.'

'Afraid not, little brother,' Itachi said. 'He'll be taking a lot of subjects to catch up with the rest of you, so help him out, alright?'

Sasuke grunted. 'Whatever,' he said, turning back around and continuing up the stairs.

'You'll be meeting him tomorrow, so be nice, Sasuke!'

'Oi, bastard,' Naruto said, nudging the raven. 'You coming or what?'

Snapping out of his reverie, Sasuke realized he'd been stationary for a good few minutes during his recollection of yesterday's events. Itachi was staring at him with an annoyingly pleased expression.

'Hn,' he replied, and followed Naruto out of the alley.

To put it mildly, Naruto was ecstatic. He cooed at all the different displays, and tried to wheedle Itachi into buying him a load of cockroach clusters being sold by the road side.

Saying that Jiraiya was as excited as a pack of jumping beans, though, was an understatement. The man couldn't get enough of what he saw. Pausing every five seconds to point at something new, the Uchiha brothers weren't sure whether to be amused or concerned.

'Gringotts is first,' Itachi said, leading them to the large, snowy white building that was near the intersection of Diagon Alley and another, dreary old alley.

Naruto shuddered slightly as they passed a barely noticeable lane, with a sign that said Knockturn Alley proudly pointing it's way, and then tore his eyes away. He hastily caught up to the group, which had moved away from him and had entered the bronze doors.

Enter stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn,
So if you see beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there

'Woah!' Naruto exclaimed, reading the notice hung on the doors. 'These guys really are something, huh?'

No one answered him, having already entered through the silver doors ahead. Naruto hurried up to them, then blinked and stared in awe at the several, spindly-fingered goblins. He shivered involuntarily as they all turned their impenetrable gaze on him.

Half an hour later, the group left, Naruto happily jingling the gold that he kept securely in his pocket, his earlier discomfort with the goblins forgotten.

'I think we'd better get your robes, first,' said Itachi, leading them to a large shop claiming to be Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

'Sweet!' exclaimed Naruto. He dashed into the shop, with a pained-looking Sasuke following slowly after. Itachi decided to get their books while they were in there. Jiraiya followed him immediately, calling to Naruto that he'd be right back.

A bell tinkled as Sasuke pushed open the door. Naruto was already shoving racks aside as he looked through the different robes.

'Is there any other color here besides black?' he asked, feeling frustrated. 'What, orange is illegal?'

Sasuke, in an exceedingly bored voice, said, 'Dobe. School robes are black.'

'Oh.' Naruto faltered, and then backtracked through the piles he'd discarded. 'Guess I'd better look for my size, then.'

Sasuke didn't turn as he heard the bell tinkle again. Knowing his luck, it'd be someone just as loud and annoying as the irritatingly boisterous dobe.

He was right.

'Sasuke!' a cheerful voice called. Sasuke closed his eyes and counted to ten, willing this to be a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. Naruto, on the other hand, looked up curiously at the newcomer.

'Oi! Sasuke!' A hand grabbed his shoulder and twisted him around. 'What's up?'

'Hn. Dog breath,' Sasuke acknowledged with a small grimace.

'Haha! Good to see you too, Ice Princess,' the shaggy-haired boy grinned. A jacket with a hood covered his head for the most part. His brown hair stuck out from under the hood, framing his boyish face. He pulled his hood down and ran a hand through his hair.

Naruto snickered. 'Ice Princess. I should have thought of that.'

The shaggy-haired boy glanced up, noticing the blonde for the first time. 'Friend of yours, Sasuke?' He nudged the raven, nodding at Naruto.

'Hi, I'm Naruto,' beamed the blonde, walking forward and holding out his hand.

'I had a friend called Naruto, once,' Kiba grinned, grabbing the hand. 'A long time ago. He had blonde hair, too. My name's Kiba.'

'Kiba Inazuka?'

Kiba paused, stunned. 'Na-Naruto?' he asked hesitantly. 'Uzumaki? That you?'

'Kiba!' Naruto shouted gleefully, throwing himself at the larger boy. 'I haven't seen you since you left that day! How long has it been, six years?'

Kiba laughed and hugged the boy tightly, his arms slipping around his waist as he held the thinner boy up. 'I can't believe it's you! Why are you so thin? Hasn't that pervert been getting you anything to eat?'

'Stupid old Jiraiya's going to be thrilled to see you, you know,' Naruto smiled. 'You were always his biggest fan.'

'What can I say? The man is a literary pornography genius.'

Sasuke watched the exchange, just slightly surprised that the two annoying idiots knew each other. He felt an irrational twinge of irritation, as his eyes glared at the arms Kiba had locked around the dobe.

'So you're a wizard?' Kiba asked incredulously, looking down at his friend. 'And you found out just yesterday?'

'Yup,' nodded Naruto. 'The Teme here is supposed to show me around school when we get there. His brother's helping me get the hang of all this magical stuff.'

'Sasuke, I can do it if it's too much trouble,' said Kiba, turning to look at the raven. 'I don't mind showing him around.'

Sasuke appraised the larger boy's face coldly. 'No.'

Kiba rolled his eyes. 'Possessive Ice Princess,' he muttered to Naruto, who smirked.

Sasuke reached into his back pocket for his wand. He had no idea why he felt like he wanted to kill Kiba all of a sudden. Well, the need to kill him was stronger than his usual urge, at any rate. He sighed. Whatever it was, he'd think about it later. Right now, he just wanted to wipe that smirk right off the mongrel's face.

'Hogwarts students?' A plump old lady in flowing, lavender robes appeared from the back of the room. 'Right this way, please. I'll have to take your measurements.'

Sasuke indiscreetly stowed his wand in his jeans. There'd be time for duels later.

Sasuke walked side-by-side with Naruto, staring moodily at his shoes. Up ahead, Kiba was chattering away excitedly with Naruto's guardian, while Itachi listened in on their conversation with a slightly amused expression. The sun had already gone down, and bright street lights lit up the streets of Diagon Alley.

'So, what wand do you have, teme?' Naruto asked curiously, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

Sasuke sighed. Ever since Naruto had gotten his own wand—a 11" Mahogany, with a chimaeras' scale core, which, according to Ollivander's nephew's daughter, is extremely rare, and very powerful—he had been bent on finding out how strong other's wands were. He already knew that Kiba had a 12" Yew wand, with a hippogriff talon core.

Sasuke still hadn't told him about his wand, though. And Naruto was getting impatient.

'Come on, Sasuke. Please?' Naruto pouted, looking at the raven's face with huge, cerulean blue eyes.

Butterflies invaded Sasuke's stomach. He heard a roaring in his ears. He hadn't felt this nervous…this alive…since when he first got his Hogwarts letter. What in the world was happening to him? Was it that stupid look on Naruto's face that had him so flustered?

Naruto seemed to realize that he was breaking through the raven's barrier. He quickly reached out and took the onyx-eyed boy's hand, squeezing it coaxingly. 'What's the wand, Sasuke?' he whispered huskily.

'Dr-Dragon Heartstring core,' muttered Sasuke, his face on fire. 'Willow.'

Naruto immediately dropped his hand, beaming. 'Cool! Wait till I tell Kiba I found out. He owes me a hundred!' the blond said laughingly.

Sasuke's heart didn't resume its normal pace. It continued to hammer erratically against his chest. His hand felt cold, even though Naruto had held it for just a few seconds.

'We Apparate here,' Itachi said suddenly, stopping in front of a sign that said The Leaky Cauldron.

'Oh,' Naruto said, his face falling slightly. He had had so much fun today. 'Well, I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts, eh, Kiba?'

'Definitely,' Kiba smiled, revealing his pointed canines. 'I'll even introduce you to my girlfriend. She's the best.'

Sasuke felt extreme relief wash over him. He felt strangely at peace, now that he knew Kiba was taken.

What is wrong with me? he thought suddenly. Why in the world do I care that Dog-Breath is dating?

Because he won't date Naruto, a small voice in his head piped up.

But I don't like Naruto, he thought desperately.

The voice in his head snorted. Sure you don't.

'Sasuke?'

The blonde's voice snapped him out of the little argument that was going on inside his head.

'Come on,' he blonde smiled, offering his hand. 'We've got to Apparate.'

Sasuke stared at the hand. Naruto, mistaking the look, quickly took it back.

'Sorry,' the blonde mumbled. 'Don't know what got into me. Just grab Itachi.'

Sasuke nodded. He reached out to his older brother and snagged a piece of his robe.

'See you, Kiba!' Naruto called out, as Itachi started to slowly turn on the spot.

'I'll save you a seat on the train, Naruto!' Kiba called back, waving enthusiastically.

Not if I can help it, Sasuke thought sourly. Fine. He'd admit it. He had a thing for Naruto.

With a small pop, the group disappeared.

A/N: Read and Review, Please!