AN EDIT FROM THE FUTURE): It had been decided later in the story that there be no pairings.
AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Especially my regulars, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside when I know that someone is following along with this fic... you know... besides me...
And for those crossing their fingers for pairings... I have to admit that I don't know whether I should lean towards shounen-ai, or het. So in the mean time, I'm just going to give hints on pairings until I decide what to do. Strong, noticeable hints. That are extremely obvious. Maybe.
And guess what, Morena Evensong! I READ 179-197 OF BLEACH! I WAS ALL LIKE OMFGWTFOMFG! I died from the greatness! And I also watched episode 64 of Prince of Tennis… that anime is the SHIT, in the good way of course…
And hey! Why do I have more story alerts than reviews! D:
DISCLAIMER: Naruto-tachi are not mine. They are mimes.
x
"Talking in English" and 'Thinking in English'
"Talking in Japanese" and 'Thinking in Japanese'
x
Naruto had to admit that he was impressed… extremely impressed.
Mrs. Weasley-obachan used her stick, or wand, as Ron liked to call them, to tap the bricks and create a door to the alley of Diagons. Even Sasuke, who hadn't spoke a word since the Genjutsu Monster, looked slightly surprised.
Now that he thought about it, Sasuke had been more distant than usual after they fought on the hospital roof. And even though Naruto hated to admit it, he was worried.
He pushed the thought to the back of his mind when he spotted Ron comically running back and forth between two stores, shouting something about brooms. Sticks... brooms... Ron sure was easy to entertain, and when angry, fun to watch.
Diagon Alley, now that Naruto thought about it, sort of reminded him of the Main Market Square in Konohagure. It was loud, bustling, and crowded with people fulfilling everyday tasks. Except that here, they didn't "run down to the market for a few kunai," and there was no one shouting jutsu, also, no one was jumping from roof top to roof top, no familiar "clank! clank!" sound of distant sparing, and no Gai performing ridiculous self imposed punishments.
It was as then, trailing behind Mrs. Weasley-obachan down this strange, foreign alley, did Naruto realize his homesickness, and the thought of a yearlong mission in such a strange place didn't didn't ease the feeling in the least.
He sighed, and smiled. If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could feel just feel the fresh Konoha wind on his face, the smell of Ichiraku's Ramen Shop, and hear-
"Mendokuse..."
Shikamaru?
Mrs. Weasley-obachan had just announced their destination, an old, worn looking store, and entered with his team, leaving Naruto, who could have sworn he heard the newly appointed chuunin, outside. 'I mean,' Naruto thought, 'I'm not that home sick...'
With the glimpse of a green flak jacket and a pony tail full of tall, spiky hair, Naruto spotted Shikamaru, emerging from the crowd and looking slightly harassed.
"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled, jumping in the air and waving his hands to catch the chuunin's attention, despite the fact that he was less than ten feet in front of him. "Shikamaru, over here!" The other boy looked surprised, then indifferent, and sauntered over to the orange-clad blonde.
"Oi, Naruto! Didn't think our teams would meet up so soon." he said with a smirk, "but I think I lost Chouji and the others bumping into some idiot…" he looked around noticing something missing, and said, "And what, you lost your team too?"
"No," replied the grinning blonde, "they went into the wand store, and come on! We have to tell Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei that you're here" he grabbed the other boy's arm and pulled him in the direction of said store's entrance.
Shikamaru looked confused before asking, "Wand store? You mean the place where you get your sticks?"
"Yeah!"
"Ah, that's what we were looking for before we got separated." he said, adding a 'mendokuse' under his breath to emphasize the troublesomeness of the situation. "We only got here about two hours ago in the 'pub.' Hokage-sama said to acquire the 'magical sticks' on arrival, but we had no idea what she meant."
"How did you get here? Transportation Circle?"
Shikamaru looked as disturbed as his apathetic demeanor would allow, and said, "A Transportation Circle? Those are only used for summoning those huge, animal demon-spirits, we used that port key. How did you get here?"
Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head before saying sheepishly, "Heh... it's a long story."
Shikamaru shook his head, "Mendokuse..."
Sakura took this time to stick her head out of the wand store entrance, yelling for Naruto to "Get your ass in here!" before she saw Shikamaru, and yelling a "How did you get here!"
Shikamaru, despite the troublesomeness, told her.
Sasuke came out a little while later, arms crossed, and aggravation obvious, not even giving Shikamaru a glance, much less a greeting. Naruto couldn't help but wonder what the hell was his problem. The lazy chuunin didn't seem to notice, or most likely, didn't care, as he asked Team Seven for their assistance. And also, how in the hell did they learn English.
The blonde ignored the raven haired Uchiha as he happily explained to Shikamaru their side of the story, leaving Sakura to tell Mrs. Weasley-obachan and Kakashi-sensei that their wand fitting would have to be delayed an hour or two.
With all the preparations completed, Shikamaru went over the expectantly brilliant, last minute mission plans, and they were off. Sakura to the pub, Sasuke to where ever he wanted, (he seemed too irritated to participate), and Naruto to everywhere imaginable.
With the echo of "Taju! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he multiplied. People gasped as at least a hundred blonde, orange clad figures exploded onto the street, roofs tops, flag poles, store signs, and the occasional innocent bystander. A battle cry of a hundred identical voices rang in the air, and the makeshift mission commenced.
x
Harry sighed in a less crowded part of Diagon Alley, he had successfully gotten away from Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and the strange shinobi. Or at least, he thought.
He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Naruto run past him, first one time, then a second time, again, and again, and again...
And again and again and again.
Harry had more than enough by then, stopping the blonde the next time he ran past, and grabbing him by his white, cotton collar. From what he knew about Naruto, he was probably training, doing laps around the Alley from lack of ninja action.
But even though Harry had him firmly in his grasp, another Naruto ran past him again, and again, and again.
The Boy Who Lived nearly gasped out his lungs in surprise when three more Narutos tapped him on his shoulder and politely asked him to let them go …If that made any sense. Harry immediately did, and the foursome dispersed, jumping on roofs, shop signs, and the occasional witch or wizard.
'What …in the hell, is going on?' thought Harry frantically, running to the more populated areas of Diagon Alley. His mind was sent reeling when his eyes laid upon yet another candidate for a spot in the "Worst Shocks of My Life" list.
Naruto was everywhere. There weren't just the three or four that he had encountered earlier, there were at least fifty, maybe even sixty. They seemed to be looking for something, or someone, and all around, witches and wizards pointed, gaped, and discussed the amazing sight to anyone in earshot.
"What on Earth is going on?" said Harry to no one particular, or so he thought …again. Harry decided to stop that kind of thoughting.
"It's just a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Harry! Can't you guys do it too?" said a Naruto that appeared beside him.
Harry, for a brief moment, wondered if they did have a spell that could do such a thing, of course, there were spells that did everything from creating daisy chains to resurrecting the dead into walking, soulless, zombie slaves. So of course they had some ... Cage-y BunBun Juice.
"Uh... Naruto, what did you say you did?" asked Harry, convinced he got the name completely wrong.
"Kage Bunshin, its a multiplication technique."
"Ah."
Harry thought about it. If Voldemort had such a spell, then he could easily resurrect an army, of himself. And if there was such a spell, which Harry knew there was, then wouldn't he know about it? What other things could shinobi do?
Harry watched a group of Narutos walk out an ice cream parlor, and a pair jump on the roof of a broom store. One that Ron was probably in...
Harry instantly was over came with that horrible jealousy, and hated himself, but shook it off. He needed to know what in the world the Narutos were doing.
"Hey, uh... Naruto?"
One of the Narutos, Harry didn't know if it was the same one from before or one that had just stopped by, but the shinobi acknowledged him anyway.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
The blonde boy seemed to pause with a blank look on his face, as if he had forgot what he put forth all this effort for. Then his face lit up in what could be remembrance, and said with a big confident smile:
"I forgot!"
x
Shikamaru watched with bored, narrow eyes as Naruto, someone he guessed he could call a comrade, or maybe even an actual friend, ran past him several times.
He and Sakura had given up after the first five minutes, seeing as how Naruto seemed to have the situation under control. The blonde idiot pulled a Kage Bunshin, succeeding in scaring all people and wildlife blessed with sight, and even some that didn't.
But what could Shikamaru do? Besides stretch out on the nearest bench and search for his team in the clouds.
"Huh... that one looks like Chouji."
It wasn't long before a Naruto confronted his 'lazy ass,' asking him if he found anyone yet.
"Kind of." replied the chuunin.
The annoyed replication, or the real Naruto, only possible in a one out of a hundred chance, then averted his attention somewhere else. To the sound of crunching chips.
"Shikamaru, I found Chouji." he stated in an aggravated monotone.
Shikamaru did his equivalent of snapping to attention by slowly getting up and turning towards his team mate, giving him a half hearted greeting, and then laying back down. It was followed by the synonymous sound of a hundred Bunshins "popping" in fluffy white clouds of smoke, and the collective sounds of numerous surprised witnesses.
The only Naruto that didn't disappear seemed to be the one standing a few feet from Shikamaru's bench, so apparently, he was the real one. 'Just my luck'
Asuma, followed by his only female team mate, appeared soon after, frustrated and annoyed. They accused him of day dreaming again, getting himself lost. Scolding him on his lack of alert...ness.
Shikamaru, of course, shrugged it off, and wondered if he could find Temari in the clouds... without her brothers, of course.
x
Sasuke had been Sharingan-ing the hell out of everything and everyone he could get his red eyes on.
There was one man that appeared to have three heads, but was hiding the other two under misshapen, lumpy bags, an unbelievably ugly old woman advertising love potions (with Sasuke thinking she was the only person in need of love, and shuddering), strange fuzzy pink creatures, enchanted ice cream, various shops that had people lining up to get in, and some that people were quick to pass up...
And then there was an invisible man that Sasuke punched in the head for trying to rob him; he didn't hold back either. Right now, Sasuke expected him to be in the same place he fell... in the middle of a busy walkway and mercilessly trampled upon.
But the senseless act of violence didn't lift his spirits, in fact, it reminded him of home, which reminded him of his weakness, which reminded him of Itachi, which made him angry. That also reminded him that he had to get back home somehow, the incident involving his brother caused him to reawaken those feelings of Naruto that he was trying to suppress. What was it called?
Oh right, hatred.
And the fact that about a hundred Narutos were running around in front of him acting like idiots didn't help in suppressing the feeling in the least.
Sasuke sighed and amused himself by glaring murderously at anyone that dared to look his way. A frightened little girl in huge glasses turned from his gaze... a Naruto replication that walked away, flipping the Uchiha off as he went ...a disturbed woman with a tall, pointy hat hurried past him... and a sour looking boy with silvery-blond, slicked back hair... just glared back.
"What are you looking at, freak?"
Sasuke bristled at the insult, like a provoked cat. Was this guy really picking a fight? Seriously?
"I'm not sure, but it's looking back." snapped Sasuke, his Sharingan flashing and body tense, ready to strike out in defense, or most likely, annoyance.
"Let's see who's 'looking' after I get through with you! Caecus!"
Sasuke barely dodged a bright green flash of light that projected towards him, slightly taken off guard by the wand hidden in his opponent's sleeve. Behind him, the attack hit someone with the same sound a chakra blast would, (sort of like the random love-child of the sounds "crack" and "zap") causing the person to yell out, "MERLIN I'M BLIND!"
Sasuke didn't know who Merlin was, but knew what an attack attempt at his sight sounded like.
The Uchiha prodigy had extracted, readied and positioned six kunai in his favorite throwing stance by the time the obnoxious blonde bastard could even form the mental image of flicking his stick. Sasuke smirked, reveling in smugness.
Until a curly white puff of smoke 'popped' behind him, materializing a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke sighed, and sarcastically wondered who that could possibly be.
"Sasuke, Naruto found Cell Ten. Don't waste your time here."
But the kunai didn't budge, reluctance and stubborn pride freezing them where they were held. Sasuke felt malicious red eyes pierce through his attacker. Oh yeah, he will kick his ass. It may not be now, it may not be tomorrow, but it would be soon.
Another man appeared, except not in the literal sense in the way Kakashi did, behind the pale haired, pale eyed boy that Sasuke had recently sworn to kill on his honor. He suspected them to be father and son, they were practically identical, except that the man had longer hair and was obviously older.
The man seemed to give them a passive snarl, if that was possible, and lead the little spawn of Satan away into and under the dark cover a nearby store. Sasuke scoffed, the little encounter didn't nearly satisfy his fix for daily violence. If he didn't hate Naruto so much at the moment, he would take a few minutes to kick his ass.
Now that he thought about it, the hundred Naruto replications were gone, leaving the Alley extremely silent. Sasuke couldn't believe he hadn't notice that before, he was being about as alert as Shikamaru. And speaking of Shikamaru...
"Why is Cell Ten here?" asked Sasuke, talking to one of his team members for the first time in a whole day and a half.
"Ah, Sasuke… uncharacteristically unalert and unobservant." said Kakashi, removing his hand from his student's shoulder and walking to where Sasuke suspected to be the direction of the wand shop. "Hokage-sama did say that she would send as many available ninja as she could."
'So that was why Shikamaru and his team were here,' thought the raven-haired genin as he followed Kakashi down the Alley, it was more crowded in this area, and he could hear snippets of people's conversations.
"Could you believe it?"
"A boy multiplied two hundred times! The whole Alley was orange and yellow!"
"They were jumping everywhere..."
"I can't find the bathroom, mom!"
Sasuke sighed...Ha, and the Hokage had warned them not to attract any special attention. Leave it to Naruto to blow the little bit of cover in their possession, they stood out enough as it was; their clothes, hair, eyes, everything. Sasuke looked down at his current attire, deeming it more acceptable that of his rival's, but still eye catching in a crowd of witches and wizards wearing those movement-hindering dresses... uh, robes. But he was sure the Hokage had that covered already, they didn't have the time to go shopping.
Kakashi and Sasuke arrived at the wand-fitting store they had abandoned awhile ago with Mrs. Weasley-san, her son, Granger, and Potter, along with his cell and Cell Ten waiting at the entrance.
"Sa-su-ke-kun!" purred Ino in what the boy thought could have been seductively, much to Sakura's displeasure,
"I'm so glad to see you! Mrs. Weasley-obachan just gave me an enchanted button like yours! Isn't it cute?"
It had a lime green trout on it. Adorable.
"Mm." Sasuke answered, it could have been a 'yes', or it could have been a 'no'. It was most definitely a 'no.' Ino of course, took it as a 'yes' and giggled.
Potter and the Weasley boy both watched the spectacle, amused. Sasuke walked past them and into the store, annoyed. And Shikamaru yawned, tired.
It was when Sasuke entered the shop, followed by the rest of his cell, Cell Ten, and the two pairs of witches and wizards, did he realize that the shop was quite small and crowded when crammed with twelve people, also loud.
They made quite a commotion, the Weasley boy and Granger were going at it, Ino was yelling at Chouji, Naruto was chattering on and on with Kakashi (or more like chattering 'at' Kakashi... Kakashi wasn't chattering back), and Shikamaru was yawning. But Sakura was surprisingly quiet.
Besides the store being small and dusty, it was also filled with little, long boxes piled high and in the strangest and most random places. Behind the counter that Sasuke was standing in front of, shelves filled with more boxes and more dust crowded up more of the shop. Sasuke impatiently rang the bell.
A man with gray, wiry hair riding a latter on wheels immediately slid into view, surprising Sasuke and the rest of the cramped shinobi, he hadn't felt the older man's presence at all. It was strange, but strange had no definition in the wizarding world.
"Ah," smiled the shop owner, "Some new faces... and some old."
"Ollivander, we've got some newbies for you," said Weasley.
"Is that so, Ronald? Well then, who's up first?"
If it was even possible, all the shinobi behind Sasuke stepped back a full step, except Shikamaru, who probably felt the action too troublesome, leaving the Uchiha standing alone in front of the counter.
"My, my... eager, aren't we?"
Sasuke's response was the silence of the room.
Ollivander laughed as if the boy had told him an amusing joke, and moved to the back of the shop, rummaging was heard, and he reappeared holding a box.
"Try this then, twelve and a half inches, willow wood, essence of dragon scale." he said, opening the box and handing him a black stick, Sasuke held the long piece of wood, and to his great, sarcastic surprise, nothing happened.
"Don't just stand there! Give it a wave."
Sasuke grudgingly did as he was told, and waved it almost mockingly.
A cataclysmic shockwave of chakra threw the small shop into chaos, boxes flew, glass exploded, lightening flashed, and thunder roared. Ollivander ducked for cover behind the counter, and the shinobi escaped out the front door fearing for their lives, except Naruto, who was thrown twenty feet out a window by force.
After a minute or two of horrific hell the tinkling of glass and the great, heaving pants of Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, and Harry hiding under a table were the only sounds in the shop, with Sasuke smiling sinisterly in front of the counter.
"I like this one!"
Ollivander jumped up from his makeshift shelter and snatched the wand from Sasuke with the agility that an old man shouldn't posses. "No, no, and definitely not!" he cried, throwing the wand at the back of the shop in the same fashion you would a poisonous snake. Sasuke thought he would have stomped on it, if given the chance.
"Here, try this one then, eight inches, red oak, essence of unicorn mane."
Sasuke grudgingly accepted it, and gave it a wave. The result was almost as catastrophic as a small hurricane. But this time, the shinobi and their hosts were prepared. They refused to enter the shop, and opted to watch the destruction from a safe distance, except for Naruto, who re-entered, and was blown out again through the second window.
"Can I keep this one?" asked an agitated Sasuke, the wands he had received so far were all perfect. But the old man took it away, none the less.
"Here," said Ollivander, slightly shaken, "Eleven inches and eleven centimeters, blood wood, essence of dragon scale. And please," he added, "give it a small wave"
Sasuke waved it again, everyone watching seemed to cringe. They didn't want a repeat of the previous two attempts...
But nothing happened this time, at least, nothing disastrous happened, this time he was enveloped in holy light as angels sang and happy birds twittered. Sasuke could have sworn he could hear a harp playing in the background. He quickly put it back on the counter.
"Take it back!" he cried.
"Ah, strange... strange." mumbled Ollivander, "This particular dragon was a naga mix, been sitting in the back for centuries..." Sasuke choose to ignore him.
"Me next, me next!" Naruto had appeared out of nowhere, pushing the other boy out the way, and jumping up and down in excitement. "Give me something to wave, jiji!"
Ollivander complied as Sasuke gave his wand a few more test waves, the elderly man cringing each time.
And like Sasuke, Naruto attempts at wand fitting could only be described as calamitous. The first one spat fire, the second one triggered lightening, the third one conjured a hive of bees, the fourth one caused an earthquake, the fifth one induced a black out, the sixth summoned Gama Bunta, the seventh brought upon a flash flood, and the eighth mechanized a flaming tornado.
But the ninth produced music and light similar to Sasuke's, much to Naruto's displeasure. He had found the destruction to be extremely entertaining. Ollivander, on the other hand, did not. He was singed, rumpled, wet, and part of his sleeve was still on fire.
He sighed tiredly, and said, "I figured this much. Nine inches nine millimeters, Indian FoxWood, essence of Phoenix ash from its ninth death... and on your ninth try too..."
Naruto froze, his smile slightly dropping around the corners before he plastered on a bigger one in an attempt to hide it, but of course, Sasuke saw.
For some reason, he was thinking back to the encounter with the Genjutsu Monster. Hadn't his fear been the Kyuubi? The Kyuubi that was dead; killed along with the YonDaime? Huh... strange.
Naruto thanked the man and exited the store to join the rest of group, who were safely across the street and away from impending doom, to tell Sakura it was her turn. When they entered the shop, Ollivander smiled and offered her a wand, then said, "Ten inches, cherry wood, core of unicorn mane."
Sakura took it as Ollivander took cover.
Unlike her team mates, Sakura's first wand fit her perfectly, the sound of a Japanese flute flitted through the air as she was enveloped in pink, sparkly light. Sasuke rolled his eyes... who didn't see that coming?
Shikamaru was next, and obtained a wand in his third try, followed after Ino, in her fifth, and Chouji, in his second.
By this time, Ollivander bid then "adieu" from the inside of a shop in ruins.
And Sasuke left, along with the two Cells, two witches, and two wizards.
Diagon Alley was never to be the same again.
x
My longest chapter yet, and I cranked it out in five(?) days!
So yeah, I know I didn't push you to review before, but now I am. SO DO IT!
Um... I meant... please?