Quick update, just for you guys who reviewed. I will probably not be responding to most of them because of how little time I actually have to write (I do most of this from work). But please know that I do appreciate your comments! Keep 'em coming! They're the fuel that keeps my creative fires burning!!

There won't be many chapters in this, I think, but they will all be fairly long. I like those kind better anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter. Curses! D:

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Ch.2- Remember

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Two weeks later, Sasuke completed his assigned reading. It had been a surprisingly interesting venture, more so than he had originally thought, anyway. The mission was getting more and more intriguing by the day. He had been especially fascinated by the books on magical creatures. One of them had had an oriental section and he had found a reference to Kitsunes and Youkos. Sasuke knew that Naruto was the (un?)fortunate vessel for the Kyuubi no Kitsune, though he knew very little about Spirit Foxes in general. He spent an entire afternoon comparing what he new about Kyuubi and the information in the text. Surprisingly, most of it was spot on.

After he read all of the texts twice through, he began preparing to leave. He didn't think he would need much. Most necessities would be provided for them, like food, shelter, water, and, of course, hygiene. All he needed to bring were his weapons, armor, and a few changes of clothes. He filled his travel bag with extra kunai and shuriken, and a few exploding letter bombs, soldier pills, and summoning scrolls just in case.

One week before the deadline, Sasuke, fully packed and ready to go, made his way to Naruto's apartment dressed in a plain long-sleeved black turtleneck and slightly tattered jeans. He wore a silver chain around his neck with a little painted metal Uchiha clan symbol dangling at the bottom. In short he dressed as he thought a normal European Muggle teenager would, or at least how the books said they did.

He walked leisurely, in no particular hurry. Late August in Konoha was pleasant, warm, but not unbearably hot as early June and July were, and he fully intended to enjoy his time in his homeland as much as he could. The enormous trees surrounding the village proper would not change colors for some time yet, but when they did he knew they would be a sight to behold, as they were every year. It was a shame he would not be around to see the shift from green to red and gold this year, seeing as he would be at Hogwarts. He wondered idly if the trees around Hogwarts changed as brilliantly as the ones in Konoha did.

As he walked, his mind wandered. He thought back to that day seven years ago when he turned his back on this beautiful country. He had been so desperate for power that he was willing to give everything he had, the village, his friends, and his future.

But…Naruto had chased him all the way to the Valley of the End to bring him back. If it hadn't been for him Sasuke wold have probably never come back at all.

After Sasuke killed Orochimaru and his brother, he had been at a loss. His life's objective had been achieved…what was he to do? He had wandered the forests of the Fire Country in a stupor for days before arriving back at his village. He collapsed by the front gate, too weak, mentally and physically, to go on any longer.

Naruto found him lying there.

Naruto had called for the medics.

Naruto had bullied them into treating Sasuke when they initially refused.

Naruto had convinced Tsunade and the council to give him a second chance.

Naruto…was his savior.

It was Naruto who had nursed him back into stable mental health. He had kept Sasuke distracted from his suicidal tendencies with training, games, and pranks, and just by generally being there. After a year, things had gone back to normal, or as close to normal as they could be. Team seven carried out missions as a unit for a while, then disbanded when Naruto and Sasuke became chuunins at age sixteen, and then Jonins at seventeen, and life carried on. He still had the curse mark and all of its abilities, even if it was contained somewhat. It served as a constant reminder of what he was, and what he could have been.

A year later, a war broke out with the Akatsuki Organization. It was short and brutal, but the result was worth it. Thanks in large part to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, the remaining Akatsuki were eliminated. Naruto and Sasuke were promoted to ANBU status, and Sakura was made second in command of Konoha's medic-nin division under Shizune. The hidden villages had been relatively peaceful ever since.

Sasuke enjoyed that peace. It made him more relaxed, and a little more laid back than he was. He learned to appreciate the little things in life, like the smiles of his friends and the beauty of an autumn sunset. He liked to think he no longer that dark, angry little kid he used to be.

The passage of time had effected Naruto as well. Besides the obvious physical changes (the longer hair and tallness) he was also a little more laid back. Since he stopped being the center of the village's anger and ridicule, due to his effectiveness during the war, he had calmed down drastically. He was still childish, but not in an immature, prank-pulling, want-to-kick-him-in-the-face kind of way. He had retained his happy-go-lucky attitude even though he had matured. He was still the only person who could make aloof Uchiha truly smile.

Sasuke continued on toward Naruto's apartment, barely paying attention as the pushed past crowds of people on the main streets. He had walked this path so many times before, his legs took him where he wanted to go automatically. When he finally made it to the familiar complex, he gazed up at the tall building and debated climbing the stairs as usual, but decided to challenge himself. He was a top ninja after all.

He scouted out the most difficult route on the surrounding rooftops and, after adjusting his travel pack, leapt high into the air, purposefully putting more spin into it than usual so that he could practice his flips. He jumped and flipped all the way to the tenth floor and landed right in front of Naruto's room without even breaking a sweat, exactly as he had planned. Perfect, he thought smugly.

It was mid afternoon, so Naruto was likely to be home. He let himself in (the door was unlocked as usual, Naruto had a bad habit of forgetting to lock it) dropping his luggage by the front door as he crossed the threshold.

"Oi, Naruto!" he called out, "I'm ready, let's get a move on."

Naruto poked his head sleepily around the corner from his bedroom, his hair slightly messier than usual and wearing a baggy black nightshirt and orange sweatpants. "Sasuke? Whatchoo doin 'ere so early?"

He sighed. "Naru, it's three in the afternoon."

Naruto scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, "…Huh. Really?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Figures." He shook his head so that his long unbound hair shifted back into place. "So, you're ready to go, right? Lemme just get changed an' I'll be right out." He turned back to his room to do just that.

Sasuke sat patiently on Naruto's ratty old couch. Actually, the couch wasn't all that bad, aside from the tattered upholstery. In fact it was downright cozy. The years of wear and tear seemed to have tempered the seats into the softest and most wonderful things he had ever had the privilege to sit on. Still sore from his month-long mission, Sasuke reveled in the comfort it provided. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and fully relaxed, taking in the sounds and smells of Naruto's apartment. Rustling from the bedroom (Naruto getting dressed), birds chirping outside an open window (how naïve of him, to leave a window open all night), and the lingering smell of cooking wafting lazily from the kitchen (last night's ramen, probably).

A few peaceful minutes passed before Naruto emerged.

"So, whaddya think? Muggle enough for you?"

Sasuke, who had almost fallen asleep on the most awesome couch in existence, lifted his head up lazily to inspect Naruto's "disguise."

The fist thing he noticed was the complete lack of anything orange, which by itself was a shock. But even more interesting was that it had all been replaced by black. He wore a black hoodie, black combat boots, and torn baggy jeans that were so dark a blue that it didn't matter. His sunny blonde hair was tied back in to a low ponytail, and to top it all off he had a black beanie with the kanji for "Red Fox" sewn in silver on the front.

Sasuke raised a dark eyebrow. "Hm. Black. Going emo, are we?"

"Tch, you're the emo one here, not me, dumbass."

Sasuke lifted his hands in defeat. "I stand humbly corrected. You don't look emo, you're gothic. Though how you, of all people, pulled it off is something the I may never understand."

"Teme…!"

"It was a compliment, usuratonkachi. It translates roughly into 'good job'," Sasuke said, amused. "Seriously, though, what brought on this rather abrupt and drastic change in wardrobe? Uzumaki Naruto without orange? It must be the end of the world as we know it."

Naruto glared a little with those piercing blue eyes of his, but surprisingly didn't answer.

"Fine. Be that way." Sasuke stood and stretched, and added a yawn for good measure. He glanced briefly around the apartment. "Have you packed your things yet? I don't see your luggage anywhere."

A wide grin suddenly appeared on Naruto's face. "Oh, yeah! I forgot, I've got something cool to show you! C'mere for a sec…" He ran off back into his bedroom. Sasuke followed belatedly, opting to hover in the doorframe rather than enter the room entirely. He didn't like it when others went into his room without explicit permission, so he did not assume Naruto's preferences would be any different.

"Yo, Sasuke, are you deaf? Get your ass in here, I want to show ya something!"

Then again, I could be wrong…

He did as he was told, noting with some surprise as he entered that the bedroom was well kept. The floor didn't have clothes piled sky high as one would have expected from a teenager. Books and scrolls were neatly organized on bookshelves near the open window, and a line of pictures adorned a small wooden table. The only thing that looked out of place was the unmade bed, but that was understandable since Naruto had been awake barely fifteen minutes. Overall it was not something Sasuke would have expected out of someone as active as Naruto.

The blonde ninja himself was currently digging around in his closet, shifting boxes and looking through containers. He mumbled under his breath, "Crap…where'd I put it…"

Sasuke, figuring it would be a while before Naruto found…whatever it was, decided to take a seat on the end of the bed. So he sat, but immediately jump back up with an undignified yelp as something small and sharp clamped itself onto his backside. He staggered awkwardly into middle of the room, but the thing did not release him. He reached around to his rear end cautiously and jumped slightly when the tips of his fingers met soft fur. Fur? An animal? He grabbed the offending creature gently where he thought the scruff of its neck would be and pulled. It released it grip, and Sasuke was free to get a good look at it.

"…A fox?" Sasuke asked, bewildered. Indeed he then held in his hands a small innocent-looking kit with tawny fur and a mischievous grin on its face. He scowled at it. "Naruto, since when do you own a pet fox?"

"Huh?" was the intelligent reply. Naruto, distracted from his search, turned to see what all the ruckus was about. "Ah! Neru! Why is Sasuke glaring at you? Did you do something bad?" The kit -Neru- squirmed and wriggled in Sasuke's grasp. Sasuke set it down on the hardwood floor and it scampered over to his owner and jumped lightly onto his shoulder. It growled and yipped into Naruto's ear, Naruto nodding as if he understood. Then he gasped suddenly, "Sasuke! You sat on Neru! You meanie, what did he ever to you?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Then say you're sorry!" Naruto held little Neru up to Sasuke's face so that they were nose-to-snout. "Now," he demanded. Neru looked at him with those cute, sad eyes, and Sasuke's heart melted. How could anyone say no to that?

"Fine, I'm sorry…"

Neru gave a happy yip and licked Sasuke's nose. He promptly sneezed.

"There, all better now," Naruto said cheerfully. He replaced Neru on his shoulder while he resumed his search. "About Neru…" he began, "I found him in my refrigerator a few months ago."

Sasuke stared. "In your refrigerator?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, weird isn't it? Having foxes come to visit every once in a while isn't really that strange, with the Kyuubi and all, but having one stuck in the fridge is a first for me. I still haven't figured out how he got in there. It must've been cold in there, right buddy? " He paused to scratch Neru behind the ears. "This little guy is an orphan, like me and you. He said his parents were killed in a territory dispute." Naruto sighed. "He was too young to look after himself, so I took him in. But now that he's older he refuses to leave, so I've decided to keep him." He went back to rummaging furiously through the closet. "I thought about it for a long time, and I've decided to take him with us to England."

"What? Why?"

"Because he's useful. He can get into places we can't. And no one would pay much attention to him, because he's an animal, so I could have him eavesdrop on people and relay the info to me."

Sasuke pondered that for a moment, then asked, "So you can understand Neru perfectly, then?"

"Yup! Just one more thing the Kyuubi's good for! I can talk to birds and cats, too. I haven't tried any others, though… who knows? Maybe I can talk to all kinds of animals."

"Hmm…that could come in handy."

Naruto just sighed, "Ugh, but sometimes they just don't shut up. Birds can go on for hours… Oh, here it is! Finally!"

Sasuke perked up. It seemed that the search was over. Naruto stood and presented his findings proudly, but Sasuke was a little disappointed.

"That's just a bookbag, Naru. You spent ten minutes looking for this?"

Naruto just smiled, "It's not just any old bookbag, my friend. It's a magical bookbag!"

"…"

"Aw, c'mon be a little excited! We got this in the package Dumbledore-san sent us! It's legit! Here, I'll show you…" He hurriedly unzipped the top flap and reached in. A second later he pulled out his ANBU katana.

Sasuke's eyes flew wide open. The full-length katana was far too long to fit in the small bookbag. It should not have been physically possible, and yet he had seen it happen right in front of him. He snatched the bag from Naruto's hands and peered inside. Nothing. He couldn't see anything, not even the bottom of the bag itself. It was dark, like some kind of miniature black hole. Naruto laughed, "Now you're interested. There's a separate dimension inside that can hold as much as you want, so there's no limit on how many things you can carry with you at once. As long as it is big enough to fit through the hole, that is. To get stuff out you stick your arm in an' think about what you want and it will appear in your hand. Cool, right?"

"Y-yeah…" was all Sasuke could manage.

"This one has all of my stuff in it. We'll get you one later." Naruto retrieved the bookbag and slung it over a shoulder the one opposite of Neru. "Okay, I'm ready to leave when you are," He said.

Sasuke came back to his senses. "Sure, my stuff's by the door. Where exactly are we going, anyway? How are we going to get to England?"

Naruto thought about it as they walked to the main room of the apartment. "Ya know, I'm not really sure how were going to get there, but Tsunade-baa-chan said she had something in mind, so we'll stop by there first."

"'Something in mind?' Coming from her that doesn't sound good."

"Tell me about it."

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The trip to Tsunade's office was uneventful. Sasuke only had to carry a travel bag and a small suitcase that held his weapons, but he was still eager to get one of those "separate dimension" carry-alls. They talked about the mission on the way and Sasuke learned that Neji, Sakura, and Shino had already left to follow up a new vague lead in Bulgaria and Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru would be leaving for Scotland in the next few days.

As they walked through the crowded streets of Konoha Sasuke noted how differently he and Naruto were treated by the general public. The look in their eyes said it all. In the beginning it had been "Naruto the Troublemaker" who had received nothing but hatred, and "Sasuke the Tragic Prodigy" who had gotten nothing but pity. Now it was "Naruto the War Hero" and "Sasuke the Traitor." Their eyes screamed anger and distrust even then, four years after his return to service. Sasuke sighed. And I deserve every ounce of it.

When they neared the Hokage building, they veered off the path into the sparse trees to the right, around to the rear. Then, using a form of the tree-climbing jutsu, they scaled the wall leisurely until they came to the ledge beneath the window to Tsunade's office. From there it was a simple matter of swinging oneself over the ridge and tapping on the glass for admittance. This particular attempt was somewhat clumsy on their part, because they were not used to their new baggy clothes, and because of Neru clinging desperately to Naruto's shoulder.

"Ouch! Sasuke, look out, stupid, you almost knocked me off!"("Yip yip!" Neru agreed.)

"You shouldn't have come up when you did. I thought I was going first."

"Why do you always have to do everything first!?" ("Yip! Bark!?" said Neru angrily)

"Because I'm older than you."

"Only by three months!"("Bark!")

"I turned twenty last month. You're still nineteen. "

"What!" Naruto gasped. "Your birthday was last month?"("Arooo?" said Neru curiously)

"July 23rd," Sasuke confirmed.

"Gah! That's right! I didn't even get you a present!" He slumped. "Some friend I am…I can't believe I forgot your birthday."("Whine…" Neru sighed sadly.)

Sasuke patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Getting away from recon for nine months is enough of a present for the next ten years combined."

"Yeah, but still…"

A loud rattle interrupted them as Tsunade opened her window. "Oi, you guys gonna sit out there all day? Do you want something or not?"

Naruto, startled by her sudden intrusion, nearly fell off of the ledge again, but Sasuke caught him by the front of his hoodie before he completely lost his balance. "Y-yeah," he stammered, "we're ready to leave for England."

"Fine then," she said, beckoning them inside with a wave of her hand.

Sasuke pulled Naruto up to a more level spot on the ridge, but he didn't let go until he was sure he could stay up. Satisfied, he climbed silently through window, Naruto trailing behind him. He touched down gingerly, careful not to step on any paperwork. The unruly mess seemed to have migrated from her desk and was now forming mountains across the room.

Tsunade made her way to her desk and sat. "Why can't you just use the door, like normal people?" she sighed.

"Were ANBU, Baa-chan," Naruto answered, "we don't use doors. It's un-cool."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you miscreant." She shifted through the papers and packages in front of her and produced the letter that Dumbledore had written. She tossed it to Naruto, who caught it easily. "Look on the back. There are instructions on how to get to Europe."

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Naruto scanned the reverse of the thick paper (parchment, he corrected himself, like the kind we use to make scrolls) for said directions. Indeed, there was more of the emerald green ink scrawled on it. Naruto wrinkled his nose. Ugh, more English. Oi, Kyuubi, help me out, would ya?

Kyuubi stirred tiredly. Oh? The little Taicho needs help reading? He made a show of yawning. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Perhaps eventually, perhaps never.

Aw, come on! Don't be such a lazy bum. He turned his tone high pitched and childish. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

The Fox Lord grunted Augh, fine, if only to save my own ears from your incessant badgering

Yay!

Now hold it up so I can see it, idiot. And read aloud as I translate so the Uchiha brat can hear, too. I don't want to do this more than once. Naruto did so, Kyuubi looking through his eyes via their chakra connection, and Kyuubi recited, his host echoing out loud:

To the Receivers of the Request,

It is my most humble pleasure to thank you for accepting my plea. However, I expect you to have some difficulty finding the magical community on your own, as you have little in the way of physical ties to us. I would have liked to have sent you a Portkey, but as this is not a Ministry approved transaction, I will not risk making my own and getting both parties into political peril. I would like your arrival to be conducted as secretly as possible. Though for people such as yourselves, this should not be difficult. You should consider the first phase to be one of the "under-cover" variety.

In the package you have received along with the letter, there should have been a small pouch containing Floo Powder. This will be the means by which you will arrive in a pub interestingly dubbed "The Leaky Cauldron." Simply add a pinch of the powder into any active fireplace, step into the flames, and call out the name of your intended destination, and you should get there in one piece. Someone will be waiting for you to give you further instructions.

Good luck to you and best wishes,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Great. Floo Powder," Sasuke sighed as Naruto finished. "From the books we read it doesn't sound pleasant."

"I think we have a bigger problem than that, Sasuke," Naruto said, worried. He removed the Carry-All Pack (as it was now called) from his shoulder and extracted a small red velvet drawstring pouch. "We have the Powder here, but what about the fireplace? They aren't exactly a common sight around here, y'know."

Sasuke brushed that off easily. "Oh, I think any open flame will work. It should work, in theory, anyway. The fireplace part is probably just traditional."

"So, we'll start a bonfire?"

"Yeah, that should do it. But it should be big one."

"Why don't we do Baa-chan a favor and use her paperwork as kindling?" Naruto suggested, grinning. "There's plenty of it just lying around, and the office could use a little cleaning out."

Tsunade growled threateningly behind him, "Do that, and I'll kick you into the next century."

He just laughed at that. "That's if you can catch me first, granny!"

"Why you little-!" She lunged at him, but Naruto was too quick. He dodged to the side and up onto the windowsill, Sasuke following just as swiftly with a small smirk on his face.

Naruto stuck his tongue out mockingly at the Godaime. "Nya! See you next summer, you old fart!" And with that, he and Sasuke jumped off the sill and out of sight.

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Roughly ten minutes later the two ANBU had created a rather large, strong bonfire, courtesy of the local forest and carefully controlled fire jutsu that was Sasuke's specialty. He had designed the jutsu so that the fire would fizzle out immediately if he was more than ten meters away from it, so that when they left there would be no danger of a forest fire in their wake. But that was the easy part…

Naruto stared into the fire with a serious expression, and said slowly, "So, how should we do this? Who'll go first?"

The Uchiha thought it over before answering, "Actually, it would probably be best if we went at the same time. There are no rules against it, from what I've read. And that way if we got lost, at least we would still be together."

Naruto saw the logic in that reasoning. He did not want to be alone in a strange, foreign place.

"And," Sasuke continued, "even though it's ANBU policy to hide our identities, if were going to blend in, I think we shouldn't cover our faces much, and definitely not with our masks. It'll look suspicious. No one in Europe will know us anyway, so it shouldn't matter in the long run."

"Gaaah," Naruto said in exasperation, "You should have been promoted to Taicho, not me. You're so much better at this kind of thing."

Sasuke shrugged.

"Okay, let's get going." The blonde ninja pulled the bag of Floo Powder from the pocket of his hoodie. "Neru, c'mere." He picked up his little friend and slid him gently into the large pocket. It was a snug fit, but it was safe. "Hold on tight, buddy."

He turned to the bonfire and tossed a generous pinch of Floo Powder into the heart of the flames. They immediately turned an eerie green and danced even higher than before.

Naruto turned to his best friend, who was eyeing the fire apprehensively.

"Ready?"

Sasuke took a deep breath to steady himself. "Yeah. Let's go." He placed a hand firmly on Naruto's shoulder and gripped the dark fabric. "Now or never."

They stepped into the surprisingly cool flames together and shouted clearly, "Leaky Cauldron!"

The trees around them spun into blurred shapes with blinding speed. Sasuke's grip on Naruto tightened slightly, and they were off.

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Okay, a few things to touch on here, in case it wasn't clear.

Firstly, my storyline stops following cannon after the events at the Valley of the End. In my little world, Sasuke kills Orochimaru and Itachi on his own, and returns to the village. Then there's a big war with the Akatsuki, and Naruto and Sasuke are promoted to ANBU as a result.

I think older-Naruto would ditch the orange eventually. It's not exactly a good color for an ANBU. Or any successful ninja for that matter.

I don't think I recall Naruto's room being all that messy in the anime or manga. It must be because of all the time he spends outside.

Hee, hee, Sasuke got bit on the ass. Naruto needed a pet, so why not a fox, even if it's reeeeally cliché?

And because of Kyuubi (who is super old, like 1000+ or something) Naruto understands lots of languages, including those of animals.

Writing Neru's dialogue was hard. I don't speak fox. Dumbledore's letter was hard, too, for some reason. His name is cool.

Has anyone seen an enormous wizard-style fireplace in the Naruto universe before? I haven't. But please, correct me if I'm wrong.

And finally, if Sasuke seems like a wuss about the Floo Powder thing, there is a good reason. He's going into an uncertain situation where he won't be in much control. So naturally, for someone who is used to being in control of most everything he does, he would be a little tentative.

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Also, who do you think they should meet in the Leaky Cauldron? Lupin? Mr. Weasly? I need ideas, people. (Not Harry, though, I'm using him for something else. Egad! A spoiler!)