A/N: Hello! I would first like to thank everyone who reviewed, I'm really glad that you like it so far. The first couple of chapters might be a bit slow, but bear with me I'm just getting it started. It'll be a bit more interesting once they get to Hogwarts and this romance heats up XD.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or it's characters, or Harry Potter and it's characters.

From now on:

Not English

English

Rain

Chapter One

It was nauseating and dizzying and left her completely disoriented, which was decidedly Not a Good Thing for a Shinobi to Be. She never wanted to have to take a portkey again so long as she lived. They had just taken five of them in a row to be precise, the old man chattering on as they went from one to the other about this and that. Sakura trusted Sai to absorb all the information as she was preoccupied with keeping the contents of her stomach from spilling forth. Sai was a bit dizzied, but otherwise unaffected by the method of travel.

Lucky bastard.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Sai staring down at her with a flicker of concern. Sakura's heart lightened at the expression of emotion and she smiled brightly at him. Sai smiled back and Sakura straightened herself, taking a deep, soothing breath.

"It is a tad disconcerting the first few times," Dumbledore said, "But you get used to it after a while."

Sakura finally took in their surroundings, it seemed that they had appeared in a dark alley and Sakura immediately tensed, attempting to sense out any sort of danger. The only thing she could feel was a concentration of non-malicious chakra just a short ways away, as if there were a genjutsu in place there. Sakura relaxed, in part due to the reassuring hand that was still firm on her shoulder.

"Now, before we move on, there is one thing that will need to be addressed," Dumbledore said, "The issue of the language barrier – worry not I have a solution."

Dumbledore reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out two necklaces, simple silver chains.

"These are charmed to grant you knowledge of the English language so long as you wear them," The elderly wizard said, "They have a few protection charms on them as well, but still be careful with them, were they to break or be lost, it would take a bit of time and effort to make new ones. Of course, as they simply give you knowledge of the language, you may still speak in your native tongue should you so choose."

Dumbledore held the chains out to them and each Sakura and Sai took one. A bit hesitantly Sakura put hers on first and the air was knocked out of her as her mind was assaulted with a barrage of information.

"Thank you," Sakura said in heavily accented, halting English, "This is… odd… that I suddenly know an entire new language. The way you use chakra… is incredible Dumbledore-sensei."

Assured of the safety, Sai put his on as well, suffering the same gut-punch effect that Sakura did. Dumbledore smiled in satisfaction and turned away, gesturing for them to follow him out of the Alleyway. Sai dropped his hand from Sakura's shoulder as they were led into the street. The sidewalks were not extremely busy, but those who walked down them would gawk at Dumbledore openly. Sakura received a few strange looks; likely due to the color of her hair, but other than that she and Sai, after a successful excursion to several clothing stores with Ino, looked relatively normal.

Ino had been merciless with Sai, and he ended up with far more outfits than he really needed, but that's just Ino. Ino dragged them from store to store, shoving Sai into dressing rooms with a wide range of clothing, some just downright ridiculous. It was a good thing that she convinced Ino that no, he would not be needing a fishnet shirt with baggy black shorts and black and silver choker necklace and short black gloves, and neither would he be needing those black cowboy boots and skinny leather pants. Eventually – and with a pout – Ino settled for just getting him several t-shirts and collared shirts that looked good on him and some jeans and khakis. Sakura had been forced into buying a few tops and jeans, but other than that she deflected Ino's attempts at forcing fashion upon her by already having some civilian clothes.

Sakura was broken from her reminiscing by Dumbledore speaking.

"We will be heading to Diagon Alley, where you shall be purchasing your school supplies," He said as they made their way towards where Sakura had felt the gathering of chakra, a rundown pub with a sign that said "Leaky Cauldron," "I'll be leaving you with my good friend Remus Lupin when we arrive, as I should be returning to the school."

"Yes, sir," Sai responded, testing his English for the first time. It felt strange that the words so easily fell from his lips, but did not acknowledge it, "Have you a list of what we will need?"

"Ah!" Dumbledore said as he opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron and ushered them inside, "Yes, yes I do… somewhere."

Dumbledore began patting all his pockets and Sakura and Sai surveyed their new surroundings. It was as shoddy inside as it had been outside. The bartender himself looked like something out of a bad horror film, but also looked to be friendly enough. Most of the patrons began immediate whispering amongst themselves at their entrance, but a few smiled and waved at the Headmaster of Hogwarts. One man who had been sitting alone at a table dropped some coins on the table and stood up, walking over to them. He had russet brown hair with a few streaks of grey in it, and his face was very tired, though he seemed to be very young. Yet, knowing Kakashi, their twenty-nine year old, grey-haired – excuse me, silver-haired – sensei the strands of grey hair were really nothing. They seemed to be here, however, signs of stress.

Dumbledore finally pulled out a piece of paper with a short "Ahah!" The man with the brown hair came up to them and shook hands with Dumbledore, smiling slightly.

"Ah, Remus!" Dumbledore greeted, "Thank you again for doing this for me. Are you alright? You look a bit pale."

"Yes, yes, quite alright Albus," He said, eyes shifting nervously to Sakura and Sai, "It is simply nearing that time of the month again."

Sai's brow creased and he opened his mouth. Sakura's face met her palm as she knew he was about to say something very, very wrong.

"That time of the month?" Sai asked, Sakura cringed, "I thought that was a woman's thing. Are you a woman, Lupin-san?"

Sai opened his mouth again as Remus and the Headmaster looked at the boy in pure shock and Sakura quickly slapped her hand over his mouth, patting his should looking at the struck pair with a sheepish laugh.

"Don't mind him!" She said quickly, "He doesn't know any better!"

Sai took hold of her wrist and struggled to pull it away from his mouth.

"I am simply curious, Hag," he said, "Your 'time of the month' is what Naruto calls it when you are hitting us even more than normal. He said it was a 'woman's thing'. I was simply wondering if Lupin-san here was-"

Sakura saw red and raised her fists, punching Sai repeatedly in the arm, chest and face, fully aware that she would likely be required to heal it later. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started shaking him violently.

"You stupid, emotionless, insensitive bastard!" She screamed. The establishment's patrons looked on with worry and amusement.

"Haruno-san!" Dumbledore said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sakura stopped, breathing heavily, and looked over at the Headmaster with murder in her eyes. He put up his hands in a sign of innocence and looked pointedly at Sai. Sakura followed his gaze and saw Sai, bruised and a little bloody, smiling up at her, even through his busted lip. Sakura let go of him and he stumbled back a bit.

"Why'd you let me keep hitting you?" She asked, walking towards him, the old wizard's hand falling from her shoulder and taking his chin in her hand, inspecting the damage to his face.

"You would have only gotten angrier had I dodged," He said, smiling, "It seems that curiosity is, indeed, a dangerous thing."

Sakura huffed and put her hand on his busted lower lip, brushing over it lightly.

"I'm sorry for causing a scene, Dumbledore-sensei," She said, eyes flickering to him, "Sometimes my anger gets the best of me."

"That's… alright, Haruno-san," Dumbledore said as the people in the pub turned their attention away from the strange group, a hint of amusement in his eyes, "I have a feeling that this will be the most interesting school year yet."

Sakura smiled nervously at him as he bid them farewell, handing the list to Remus, walking over to the fireplace and taking a pinch of powder from the jar on the mantle, throwing it in and yelling "Hogwarts!" He disappeared in a flurry of green flames and Sakura turned her attention to the brown haired man that was frowning and looking at Sai without pity.

"Eto…" Sakura said, nervously through the tension, "Might we get going? I am sorry about Sai" – Sakura shoots a glare at the artist, who merely smiles back at her – "It's a… long story, but to make it short… just try not to be offended by anything he says."

Remus turned his attention to Sakura and with a small smile nodded.

"Ah, yes, of course," He said, eyes flickering to Sai for a second before returning to the pink haired kunoichi, "Sakura, yes?"

"That's right," Sakura replied with a smile as Remus gestured for them to follow him out what seemed to be a back door, "Sakura Haruno" – the automatic swapping of surname and personal name shocked her a bit, the charm would take some getting used to – "And this is Sai."

"Yes," Remus said with a short grimace as he led them out into a back alley. They were directly on the spot where the gathering of chakra that she had sensed was, the brick wall in front of them practically pulsed with energy. Sakura walked up to the wall and placed a hand on it, brow furrowing.

"Miss Haruno, allow me-" Remus grasped her shoulder as with her other hand she formed the tiger seal.

"Kai!" She sent a burst of energy into her surroundings willing gathering of chakra to disperse. Sakura stepped back as the wall before her began to shift, the bricks rearranging themselves. Remus looked on with shock. Sakura looked on in amazement as the bustling streets of Diagon Alley revealed themselves.

"Sugoi!" Sakura exclaimed stepping towards the street when she felt a tug at the hem of her shirt. She turned to see Sai looking at her, one hand touching a purpling bruise on his face, wincing a little, "Ha-…Sakura-san, could you perhaps…"

"Oh!" Sakura said and pulled him over so that those out on the street could not see them. She gathered healing chakra in her hand and placed it gently against his lip first. Remus seemed to shake himself out of his stupor.

"How did you do that?" He asked incredulously, "You didn't even use a wand, or do the proper movements…"

"I released the illusion by sending a burst of chakra into my surroundings, dispersing the gathering of chakra that formed the illusion," Sakura said, brow furrowing in concentration as she moved from Sai's lip to his darkening eye.

"That's incredible," Remus said, shaking his head.

Sai flinched as she pressed a bit too hard against a bruise.

"Sorry," she mumbled, finishing off the healing of his face. She looked up at him, their eyes meeting and she realized how close she had brought her face to his. He looked back at her impassively as she blushed. She didn't realize how long she just stood there looking at him until she heard Remus clear his throat from behind her and she stepped away, and glanced over at him, seeing him shift nervously and looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Eh?" Sakura said in confusion, then realizing what he must have been seeing, her blush deepened, "Eh? No, no, no! It's not… I mean…"

Sakura took another step back from Sai, laughing nervously, rubbing the back of her neck in a decidedly Naruto fashion. Her eyes flicked to Sai who looked on in confusion. Remus raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"I am… confused," Sai said, "What has happened to make you both so strange?"

Nervousness left Sakura and at the moment she couldn't find Sai's lack of understanding anything but endearing. She smiled at him.

"It's nothing, Sai," She said, he smiled back at her and her stomach did a small flip-flop, "Is there anything else I should heal before we get going? Anything that's making you at all uncomfortable?"

Sai shook his head, "No, the rest can wait," He paused, "Thank you; even though you were the one to inflict these wounds, hag."

"You were asking for it," Sakura shot at him with a huff as she turned back towards the open path into Diagon Alley.

"I am still confused about-"

"Just shut up, Sai," Sakura said sighing.

"In the interest of not being hit again, I believe I will do that," He said, falling in step with her as Remus took the lead and started chattering away about this and that as they walked down the busy street. People wore very strange clothing and in her jeans and red top, and Sai's white collared shirt and black pants she felt very out of place amongst the brightly colored robes. The gentle hum of chakra surged all around them, not one of the people masking their chakra. It was certainly as they were told though; none of these people had nearly the amount of chakra necessary to perform the simplest genjutsu or ninjutsu. Had they the drive that Lee did, perhaps they could learn a significant amount of taijutsu to make up for it, but from how the robes hung from these people's forms, it seemed that none of them had the physical fitness that would allow them even that. Sakura felt rather than saw Sai draw a bit closer to her side, the large crowd making him uncomfortable. The elderly Headmaster had seemed to have a much greater amount of chakra, likely due to years of performing magic, but still the growth was stunted, likely due to the use of their wands which makes growth more unnecessary. It was difficult to hear over the noise, but Remus' distinct voice, close in front of them, was clearly audible.

"Just up here is Olivader's," He said pointing to a shop on the corner, "That's where we'll be getting you your wands."

They stepped into the shop, and Sai visibly relaxed as the door shut behind them, leaving them in the quiet, empty little shop. There was a small counter on the other side of the room and to the right there were several long shelves with boxes sticking out everywhere.

"Olivander?" Remus called to the back.

"Yes, yes, I've been expecting you," The mystical voice came from off to their right as a man emerged from the stacks, white hair spiking out in all directions. Sakura and Sai started at not having sensed his approach. They exchanged a suspicious glance, before watching the man warily. The man, Olivander, fixed both of them with an oddly contemplative look before smiling at them brightly.

"Ah, I see now," He said, "I knew there would be an odd pair coming in my shop sometime but now I know exactly… How delightful."

Before either of them could respond the man pulled out a stick and waved it. Suddenly all sorts of measuring instruments were flying around Sakura, and she was being tugged this way and that. She futilely and rather ungracefully swatted at the darting objects, and a chuckle came from behind her. Sai was suddenly at her side hand reaching for a hidden kunai, face serious but just as he did the flying things finally let her be and Sakura turned to fix a glare at Remus, who continued to laugh shamelessly at her discomfort. With a huff she turned back around to find the man had disappeared. Sakura felt Sai tense at her side as the man came out from behind another shelf with a box in his hand. He smiled and lifted the lid.

"Ten inches, redwood, unicorn hair core, very swishy," He said holding out a stick not unlike the one he had used on her before, "Give it a wave!"

Sakura examined the object carefully as she picked it up out of the box. It did not have any concentration of chakra in it but as she held it, it almost felt as if it became an extension of herself, an extra pathway for her chakra, an open ended one. It felt a bit awkward, as if the pathway were too wide and did not match up with her chakra paths. Sakura frowned at the strange feeling and pointed it towards where it would do little damage should something go wrong, giving it a small flick while focusing chakra through it. The wood wall splintered and Sakura jumped back a bit, bumping into Sai who had been also transfixed on the effect of waving the wand and did not side-step her.

"Uh, no, no," Olivander snatched the wand from her and disappeared among the stacks again.

"That was… incredible," Sakura said, inspecting the damage done. It was as if she had punched it with a small bit of chakra behind the blow.

"That thing molded your chakra into a force," Sai observed, "Without any hand signs, it shaped your chakra. How interesting."

"That must be how they can perform such feats with such little chakra."

It took two seconds of silence for Sakura to realize that neither of them had moved and her back was pressed firmly into his chest. She felt Sai's heartbeat, normal as ever, even as her face quickly heated. Sakura didn't know what to do. Sai wasn't moving, which meant he wasn't uncomfortable, or maybe he didn't want to acknowledge that they were too close and hadn't moved yet so he won't move. Should she stay still? Sakura let out a small 'eep' when Sai's hands came to her shoulders and turned her towards the wizard returning with another box, then so quickly that she nearly stumbled, he was standing next to Remus, who was looking quite decidedly anywhere but at them.

He just… in a flash quite basically pushed her away and went as far away as possible. Suddenly Sakura saw red.

Sai had immediately been suspicious of the strange old wizard who seemed to appear and disappear and know far more than he ought, a feeling that he saw was mutual with his teammate. Sai was… glad that she was his teammate on this mission. She was levelheaded and rational – when it came to missions at least – even in the pursuit of Sasuke, much unlike Naruto. He could certainly tolerate her for this lengthy mission. She was also familiar, which he liked. She was predictable, as well. He knew she was going to hit him for making that comment about her time of the month, but he did it anyways because it was fun to see the flush of anger come to her cheeks and the burning in her eyes just before she exacted her vengeance.

Call him a masochist if you will.

He also knew that she would always be angry whenever he called her 'hag' or 'ugly' (he was beginning to think that book that told him women like to hear the opposite of what you think had lied to him, but no matter) and again, he still did it. When he did that she would refrain from punching him, but still have that flash of anger he enjoyed to get out of her.

She was such a flamboyantly expressive person and it fascinated him. Emotions were confusing and annoying and complicated, but they are always so interesting to see in a person.

There were still many things he did not understand and believed he never would understand; such as when he had seen Olivander returning with a second wand and he turned Sakura towards him to alert her to his presence and then stepped out of the way and she… snatched the wand and turned on him, anger flashing in her eyes as she flicked it in his direction.

Emotions were so puzzling.

Tell me what you think XD