A/N: Next chapter! Again, thank you for the reviews. I'm really surprised by how many are reading this and how many are keeping track of it. You guys are great! Well, enjoy!

Leshana Rae- thanks for expressing your confusion. I've been told before that I don't use the usual words or descriptions in my writing, but I guess I wasn't aware that it confused people. In the example you mentioned, I did actually mean "duck in the dark" (yes, I'm weird). I've never heard the expression "drank in the dark" before. Did you mean "drunk"? Could you perhaps give me an example from the text so that I can get a better idea of what you're referring to? Thanks for the review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Harry Potter.

Chapter 3- Arrival

We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. – Ray Bradbury

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Harry…Potter?" The man smiled again and gestured to the blonde woman behind him.

"And this is my companion Luna Lovegood."

"Hello," the woman said, rising to her knees and looking through the bars at Naruto with a look of intrigue in her eyes. Naruto blushed deeply at the look and hurried back to his feet. He fidgeted, scratching his cheek as he spoke in a mumble to the two caged travelers.

"Ano, I'm Naruto Uzumaki… S-Sorry for eavesdropping."

"No need to worry about it," Harry said. He sat down where he crouched and motioned Naruto to do the same. Luna came to the front of her own cell and made herself comfortable. Naruto obediently sat, crossing his legs in front of him before focusing on the two in front of him nervously.

"Ano…" Naruto trailed off, unsure what to say next.

"Whatever it is you want to say, feel free to say it." The blonde ninja looked wide eyed at Luna, a little in disbelief at what she'd said. His eyes turned downwards and Naruto's voice turned into a mutter.

"It's probably a stupid question anyway."

"The only thing stupid about a question is not asking it, Naruto." The reassuring tone in Harry's voice surprised Naruto. As he looked up, the young ninja took a deep breathe to gather up enough courage to ask what had been on his mind.

"You're not a ninja, are you," he said.

"No," Harry answered, shaking his head. "Neither of us is."

"Then… what are you? I mean, what you did when you took the sword, I haven't seen anyone do that before."

"That's a very good question. Do you really want to know?" Naruto was once again taken aback by the two before him. He was half expecting them to simply tell him that it was a secret, or that it didn't concern him. The last thing he expected was for Harry to ask him such a question. It set him off guard for a moment and he rambled as his thoughts tried to collect themselves again.

"I know it's probably none of my business. People usually don't tell me things anyway," Naruto couldn't help but think back to all the years he'd gone without knowing what was inside of him, why people hated him so much. His eyes darkened and he didn't notice the wizard and witch exchanging looks at his sudden depressed state. They seemed to have decided something in that second and turned to the orange clad ninja with serious expressions.

"How long have you been a ninja, Naruto?"

"Eh? For a while I guess," Naruto said, looking confused by the question. "I graduated from the academy when I was about eleven. I'm thirteen now."

"They train you that young?" Harry looked surprised by the answer, though Naruto didn't understand exactly why.

"Yeah, if you're really good you can graduate when you're seven or eight. You have to be a genius to pull that off though." The look in the older man's eyes was thoughtful. He seemed to find this information a little troubling.

"Are you considered an adult in your society then?" Naruto nodded in answer, watching Harry's reaction carefully. His gaze turned distant and Naruto wondered what the man was thinking about. Whatever it was, it expressed itself on his face in a mix of emotions.

"That's a lot of responsibility to put on someone so young," Harry finally said.

"Oy, are you saying I can't handle it or something?" Naruto felt himself getting angry at the thought that this man he'd just met might turn out to be like so many others he'd come across over the years. They always told him he couldn't help them, couldn't even wish to defeat them. He was nothing but some snot nosed kid to a lot of people or worse, a monster. The look in Harry's eyes made all the feelings boiling up inside of him die down though. Those green eyes looked sad, but they held nothing in them that suggested he looked down on Naruto.

"I wouldn't say you can't handle it. I actually envy you a little."

"Really?" Naruto was taken aback once again by this man. Harry nodded, continuing with his explanation.

"Where we come from, seventeen is the age when you are considered an adult. We don't even begin training until we're around your age, especially those of us that lived separately from our society before they were invited to school."

"Eh, what sort of school is it?"

"Naruto!" The stern voice of Ibiki Morino caused the young ninja to jump. Quickly scrambling from his sitting position he stood stock still as the scarred man entered the dimly lit room. He carried a covered tray in one hand and a scroll in the other. The look on the older ninja's face was completely void of any lenience for the young ninja.

"Go find your teammates and inform them that we will be arriving in Konoha in the morning."

"Yes, Ibiki-sensei!" Naruto hurried towards the exit, only to be stopped a soft voice behind him.

"Naruto-kun." He turned to see Luna standing at the edge of her cell. He blushed at the smile she gave him and the familiar way she said his name. "Tell your friends that you're welcome to have more of my Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans if you'd like."

"U-Uh, okay," Naruto said. The look Ibiki was giving him hurried him out of the door after that. By the time his teammates came into sight Luna's words finally started to sink in and he stopped, suddenly confused.

"Bertie Bott's…Ehhh?" Naruto's eyes widened as he realized exactly what the strange woman had said. "How did she know?!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I've brought something for you to eat," Ibiki said as he stepped towards the doors of the cells with the tray and scroll. To the surprise of the cells' occupants, he set down the tray and proceeded to unlock each door and motioned them out. They calmly exited, thanking the older man as he motioned for them to sit. When the tray was uncovered and they were slowly making their way through the light meal, Ibiki spoke again.

"We sent notice to our leader, the Hokage. She has been informed of your request to study the sword and agreed to allow you a friendly entrance into the village."

"Has the Hokage agreed to my request?"

"That is to be discussed upon your arrival to the village. You have demonstrated that you have good intentions so far though, so she is allowing you a limited freedom. You will have an escort from here on out, but we will not contain you any longer if it is not necessary."

"Thank you. We both appreciate the trust your Hokage shows in us despite never meeting us."

"She is a reasonable woman," Ibiki answered. Honestly, Tsunade had also been curious upon receiving their message. The quick report of the situation had told her of the unusual circumstances surrounding the return of her great uncle's sword. It was not only in the hands of a foreigner, someone who didn't seem to even belong to any of the Hidden Countries, but also showed no signs of possessing the amount of chakra it should have taken to obtain such a weapon the way they did. She'd expressed in her return message to deal with the situation with caution, but not to do anything extreme if the strangers hadn't expressed hostility. They had enough enemies on their hands that another, especially a potentially powerful one, was the last thing their village needed.

Ibiki found himself agreeing with the decision only partly. If the man, Harry Potter, were powerful enough to take the activated Second Hokage's sword with ease, he could be a powerful threat. He hadn't even protested being held captive though, and hadn't made a single move that expressed violence towards them. It could simply be a display of honest peace, or the calm before the storm. Ibiki watched as the woman whispered something in Harry's ear. The younger man frowned and then turned to Ibiki.

"Can you tell us more about this sword? You said it belonged to a previous Hokage."

"Yes, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju. It's called the Sword of the Thunder God. He was a master at wielding that sword. It wasn't his strongest element, but he had a skilled hold on its electrical abilities."

"How did the sword come into his possession? Am I right to assume that he wasn't the maker of this sword?" Ibiki shook his head.

"Nidaime-sama didn't have the skills to make such a weapon. There are stories that it came from the Thunder God himself, but those are only stories." Harry appeared to think through the information he'd received, nodding to himself as if it confirmed something for him. His eyes then came back into focus to look straight at the ninja across from him.

"Do you think the Hokage would know more on the matter, perhaps more about these stories?"

"You will have to ask her that when we reach Konoha," Ibiki said. He paused as one of the guards entered the room. They exchanged nods and then the scarred ninja rose from his seat. "I will be back later to escort you out of the ship. We will reach Konoha soon, so I suggest that you get some rest."

"Thank you, Ibiki-san." Ibiki nodded to each of them and then headed above deck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That morning brought them to the gates of Konoha. The wall around the village was large and spanned off in both directions for what looked like miles until it curved. It was hard to believe that this was a village. Harry and Luna watched the expressions of their escorts as they faced the entrance. The look in their eyes seemed to tell the two what they needed to know about the village.

"They look so happy. It's as if they haven't seen this place in years." Harry nodded in agreement, glancing over at Naruto who was practically bouncing as he walked through the gate. He almost laughed at the overly excited expression on the boy's face. His gaze turned forward where he could see more of the village as they walked further in. A crowd of villagers shopping could be seen a little in the distance and an expanse of the mountain straight ahead of them was carved to depict the faces of four men.

"Even if it was a few days, I'm not surprised they're so relieved to be home. It's a beautiful place."

"Ramen!" Harry and Luna turned at the shout from Naruto. He was practically drooling, eyes brightening as he pumped a fist into the air. His teammates were rolling their eyes, making it obvious that they'd gone through this many times before.

"Oy, Harry-san, Luna-san! I'll take you guys to the best place for ramen in Konoha, and since you're guests maybe you could pay-" Naruto was interrupted by a strong fist to the top of his head. The boy collapsed from the blow while an angry Sakura hovered over him.

"It's the other way around, Baka!"

"Team Seven, if there are no serious injuries to be tended to I suggest you report to the Hokage's tower to deliver your reports. You can all relax afterwards. I suggest you hurry," Ibiki said firmly. His voice stirred the three genin to attention and then they were hurrying down the quickest path to the Hokage's tower. Naruto took a second to wave goodbye to them and then he was off running with the others. Sasuke scowled at the energy from his teammate and pushed forward, passing both his teammates and going ahead. He ignored any shouts from the two behind him and quickly leapt onto the nearest roof to continue towards the tower in the distance.

Harry and Luna watched with interest at the super-human feat, taking note of the lack of reaction from the villagers whose heads they soared over. Apparently this was normal for the ninjas of this world. When they saw two approaching figures, Harry and Luna put aside their thoughts to focus on them. One was a dark haired woman in a black and white kimono. The other was a brown haired man with a senbon carefully clenched between his teeth. A small, pink pig wearing a vest followed closely behind the two. When they reached their group the woman bowed formally.

"I am Shizune, the Hokage's assistant. We will be escorting you to see Tsunade-sama."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Harry said, bowing in answer. Luna did the same as they exchanged quick introductions. Then, they slowly made their way towards the largest tower in the village.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I wish we could have eaten first. Ibiki-sensei's scary." Sakura gave Naruto a disapproving look but grudgingly agreed with his assessment of the frightening man. They were finally making their way out of the Hokage's tower after going through every detail of their mission, as well as what they could tell about their unusual guests.

"Eh, they seem nice enough. Weird, but nice. I don't see why we have to keep them guarded all the time."

"That is not something for you to decide, Naruto-kun. You three are dismissed."

Since they had exited the Hokage's office, Sasuke had stared pensively at Naruto. The blonde seemed oblivious for a while until an irritated frown pulled on his lips and he scrunched up his eyes suspiciously. He spun around to face his teammate like he was a battle opponent and raised his fist.

"What's with the staring?" Sasuke stared intensely for a few more seconds before turning his entire body away from Naruto. This drew a growl from the orange clad ninja. Sasuke merely snorted and turned his head towards his teammate.

"You seem to trust those strangers a lot, Naruto. Are you friends now or something?" Naruto was building up to start an argument when her heard the sarcasm, but quickly calmed down as he saw the seriousness in Sasuke's eyes. The anger drained from his face to be replaced by an expression of concentration and confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on with his teammate.

"They seem nice. You heard what I said to Granny Tsunade. Why are you getting worked up about it anyway?"

"That guy's powerful. You should try to be a little smarter about who you trust." Naruto growled again stepping towards Sasuke who looked indifferent to his teammate's anger.

"What did you say, Teme!"

"Dobe…" The blonde ninja finally snapped and jumped at his teammate. The Uchiha didn't react to the rough confrontation, simply looking blankly at the angry blue eyes inches away from his own face. Sakura stood hesitantly on the balls of her feet, wondering who would throw the first punch between the two. Naruto grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt, initiating the first contact. Sasuke slapped the hand aside and stepped back to put some space between them. He fixed Naruto with an intense look before smirking darkly and dismissing the blonde shinobi's anger.

"You're getting worked up over nothing again. Why don't you just go spend some time with the foreigners? You seem to get along with strange people anyway." The dark haired ninja didn't say anything more but Naruto got the feeling that he was laughing at him as he walked away, hands carelessly stuffed into his pockets as he maneuvered through bodies. When he disappeared from view, Naruto let out another frustrated growl before sighing and slumping over.

"I don't get him," Naruto mumbled. Sakura opened her mouth to say something but paused as Naruto turned his head suddenly at a noise. She recognized it after a second as the sound that Tsunade-sama's pig, Ton Ton, made and soon heard a collection of footsteps following the small scuffle of pig legs. Soon the footsteps were revealed to be Shizune, the ninja Genma and the visitors. Harry and Luna looked like children who had walked through a candy store. The expressions on their faces were of lingering fascination and excitement. As they caught sight of Naruto and Sakura, their eyes came back into focus as they smiled in greeting to the two.

"You two got here fast," Luna said.

Naruto shrugged dismally as he muttered, "We had some motivation."

Sakura nodded, silently agreeing. Harry and Luna each gave them sympathetic looks before turning their attention towards the two escorts off to the side. Shizune looked anxious to continue towards the Hokage's office and Genma looked as if he didn't want to be an escort for any longer than he had to. It was obvious that they were curious about the two foreigners though, especially Harry as he still had the Second Hokage's sword in his possession. Every movement Harry and Luna made was carefully watched, both to assure the security of the sword and to figure out what sort of people could take the powerful weapon so easily. They had created an image of two very powerful people before they'd met, which was why the reality of this odd woman and messy haired man confused them. The two shinobi watched in mild surprise as Harry leaned forward and placed a hand on top of Naruto's head only to dishevel the already wild hair in an affectionate manner.

"When we get out of this meeting with your Hokage would you mind taking us to that ramen place you were talking about, Naruto-kun?" The young ninja seemed surprised for a moment before a grin overtook his face.

"All right," He shouted, excited about both the company and the food. Harry's hand remained on Naruto's head as he bent further down to meet the young boy's eyes to make sure he was paying close attention.

"And then we'll continue our conversation from earlier, all right?" Naruto's eyes showed interest at those words and the boy calmed down from his previous exuberance to nod in a serious manner to the dark haired man. The seriousness was lost though as Harry's hand remained perched atop his head. Harry gave Naruto's hair one more tousle and then straightened. He and Luna bid the two genin farewell and they continued up to the Hokage's office.

"What did Harry-san mean by that, Naruto," Sakura asked, confused by what the man had said. Naruto didn't answer though as the same words that confused his teammate had his mind racing with possibilities. He left Sakura standing alone, unsure of what was going on as he hurried off to his apartment to drop off his things and then return to the Hokage Tower to wait for Harry and Luna.

Sakura stood in the same spot for a few minutes, feeling as if she'd missed something. Sasuke seemed upset that Naruto was so welcoming to Harry and Luna and Naruto was ignoring her because of something Harry wanted to talk to him about. She didn't even remember when Naruto had spoken to the two about anything other than Konoha as they left the ship. What had they talked about that had Naruto so eager to leave her so hastily? Sakura shook her head, trying to clear the questions and ideas running through her head. Since when had she been interested in anything that Naruto did anyway? She'd rather figure out why Sasuke was so upset, she thought. The young kunoichi balled her hand into a fist in front of her, showing determination in her expression. With a deciding nod she was off in the direction Sasuke had left, forgetting momentarily her confusion concerning Naruto.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: So far the words used to describe this story have been "interesting", "unusual" and even "extremely strange". A little part of me giggles insanely every time I read a review that says something like that. I'm not sure yet if that is a good thing or not. So, reviews are greatly appreciated, insane giggling or no insane giggling. Also, I'm saving the Hokage meeting for the next chapter. I'm busy with school stuff now so I'll try not to keep you waiting too long. The next chapter might be a little later than the other ones though since I have to finish some papers within the next week. K, luv ya lots everybody!