Happy new year to everyone following the same calendar as I! Also, happy days to everyone not following the same calendar. For our New Years celebration, we watched SING!. Am I the only one who watched that show, saw the mouse (esp. when he's singing), and thought: it's Reborn! Anyways, I hope this new chapter continues to make some of you happy. I am well aware some of you will hate who I chose for lightning...but it had to be him. I'd say sorry, except I'm really not.

Disclaimer: I own only the plot and any original concepts/characters. I do not own the original stories this story is based on.

Ch 3: Nightingale

"I never see the forest for the trees
I could really use your melody
Baby I'm a little blind
I think it's time for you to find me

Can you be my nightingale?
Sing to me
I know you're there
You could be my sanity
Bring me peace
Sing me to sleep
Say you'll be my nightingale

Somebody speak to me
'Cause I'm feeling like h**
Need you to answer me
I'm overwhelmed
I need a voice to echo
I need a light to take me home
I need a star to follow" Nightingale Demi Lovato

"Sir!" A male voice came from a speaker sitting on a wooden desk in a dark room. A figure sitting in a large leather chair behind the desk raised one slender arm and pressed a button on the intercom with one long, slim finger.

"What is it?" the figure asked calmly in a male, musical voice. There was a long moment of silence as the person released the button and moved his arm back to draping over the armrest on his chair. Then, a moment of static before the speaker replied.

"Sir, facility zero has been completely annihilated by person or persons unknown. The recordings and all data on infiltration and consequent destruction is being brought to you by courier now." The first male reported, then hesitated once more. "Sir, not all bodies are accounted for. We suspect they took hostages. It is unknown why they took people, as no demands have been received. However, we suspect they will be interrogated. There is no sign we have a competitor as of yet, however." As the voice on the intercom spoke, the man in the chair leaned back and wove his fingers together, elbows still on the arm rest.

"Interesting. Most interesting." He murmured to himself, ignoring the rest of the other mans' rambling. He pressed the speaker button once more. "Thank you. I await the data eagerly. Good work. Hold off on the acquisition of more subjects for now." The man in the chair ordered as a nearby flickering fire threw shadows and light over him.

"Yes, sir." The man on the speaker replied.

"What will you next move be, my mysterious opponent? And who are you...?" The man in the chair wondered.

Mammon snarled to themselves as they allowed the limp figure in their hands to drop to the ground lifelessly. In a cage in the corner of the room, surrounded first by bars and just beyond that by swirling storm flames. From one corner of the room, Fon watched from behind half-lidded eyes as Mammon ripped through the minds of the prisoners in search of information. The "room" itself was very small, as they were currently in the Vongola plane. In order to spare the freed children from having to watch, Mammon had put up the illusion of a wall between the two sections of the plane. All the other guardians were up front in either the other half of the passenger section or the cockpit. When Mammon moved back a step, Fon stepped forward. One of the prisoners in the cage behind them whimpered. Neither Fon nor Mammon acknowledged the captives. Fon, flames of fury in his eyes, picked up the limp man from the floor and shoved him into a cell opposite the one the conscious unquestioned prisoners were in. While Fon shoved the unconscious man into a cell with two others, Mammon's indigo flames reached through the bars of the first cell and teleported another of the conscious prisoners into Mammon's hands. Mammon once more leaned forward slightly until his eyes met those of the frightened prisoner as a stench of urine filled his nose. His nose wrinkled slightly at the smell as his flames reached into the prisoner's mind. As Mammon ripped through this prisoner's mind, Fon carefully slipped some of his flames through the cell of the already-questioned prisoners. One of three had already started to wake up, and Fon enjoyed himself by starting to vaporize parts of the man slowly. He would have revenge for his Sky, and it wasn't going to be fast or pretty for the people he took out his anger on. Mammon actually finished questioning the last prisoner before Fon finished 'dealing' with the first prisoner he'd started on. Mammon left his compatriot behind to go see if their Sky was awake yet.

To Mammon's disappointment, Sirina still slept. He was grateful, however, that he came up to the group surrounding her in time to hear Miss Granger's explanations. Seeing the state both Reborn and Skull were in, Mammon let them know there were prisoners available for venting on. Reborn took up on the offer, but Skull remained holding their Sky's hand. Mammon turned to Skull as Tsunayoshi and Xanxus walked up. Mammon nodded a greeting to all three.

"The information I have gathered fits with what Miss Granger has informed me of. It seems, however, that there are more than just the magical mundane born or raised amongst the former captives. Thankfully there are none of our people with the captives, which explains how Sirina was able to get out her message to us. There would have been nothing to stop her flames from reaching out to us. Thankfully." Mammon informed those present. "Since Reborn and Fon have the disposal of the scientists and security personal well in hand, I will coordinate with Verde in accumulating all data from people and documents. In the meantime, we should depart from here immediately. It will not take long before searchers come this way. I could keep up the mist barriers, of course, but it would be best if we got Sirina somewhere Verde and Lussuria can figure out if there are any harmful substances in our Sky's body." Mammon declared. There was no trading of words, or looks. Everyone simply acknowledged the sense in what Mammon said. Skull lifted Sirina into the air, and the mist construct underneath faded away. He gently carried Sirina into the plane with Hermione Granger, Mammon, and the Vongola Tenth following. Outside, Xanxus barked orders at elements until all the supplies and equipment was cleaned up. Once everything was packed back up, everyone else got back on the plane.

Mammon manipulated his flames until instead of a half-dome connected to the ground, there was a full dome around just the plane itself. As the plane rumbled into the sky, all the new guardians plus Tsunayoshi and Xanxus crowded into the cockpit behind Reborn at the controls.

"Where are we headed, Kora? Mafia Island has the facilities, but news of our Sky would spread far to quickly. She should be conscious, at the very least, before the wider mafia finds out about her." Colonello pointed out.

"You're welcome to stay on Vongola lands while your Sky is healed. All of the children and adults liberated from the labs are welcome." Tsunayoshi offered seriously, a frown at the thought of what had been done to all those children marred his face. "We also have therapists who are used to helping out people that have been experimented on, due to Mukuro being my guardian. He will want to be in on tracking down whoever is responsible for the experimenting, anyways." Tsunayoshi added thoughtfully. Reborn tilted the plane slightly to circle around so they were facing the direction of the Vongola Mansion. None of the other guardians objected, so the plane continued on in that direction. They all watched the setting sun as they flew into the sunset.

In the passenger seating, Hermione Granger worried her lip as she held Sirina's hands. It wasn't her first time holding an unconscious and injured Sirina's hand, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. Still, she wished that her friend was not so much of a trouble-magnet. Hermione was grateful, though, that once again Sirina had saved her from a fate worse than death. Hermione, herself, had not been tested on much, since Sirina took so much of the scientists attention. She continued chewing on her lip, wondering how badly she would be punished for giving away details on the magical world.

"Well," she thought bracingly "it's also not the first time we've had to break the Wizarding World's laws, and probably won't be the last for that either."

A darkness surrounded everything. There was no sound, and even the ground or sky could not be seen. The darkness seemed to swirl around, with only the slightest bit of light weaving through. Slowly pale eyelids covered in long dark lashes slid open. Emerald green eyes looked up blankly, and wondered where she was. The last thing she remembered was looking into purple eyes and begging for everyone to be saved. Had they not escaped? Did someone dump her into a sensory deprivation tank? Sirina sat up and then braced a hand against the darkness beneath her to help her stand. She mostly just wanted to see if she could stand, or if she was floating in water. It turned out she could stand, though she still couldn't see anything. At the thought of seeing, a blinding amber fire burst from her skin and surrounded Sirina. Normally this would have startled, or maybe even frightened Sirina. In this strange place, however, all Sirina felt was a sort of numb gratefulness at not being in the dark any longer. The swirling darkness now turned out to be some sort of fog surrounding her. She stepped forward, looking for anyone else or anything besides fog.

"Hello?" She called out. Nobody answered her, but after a few minutes there came a bright green glow. The glow seemed to be really far away, and she could only see the tiniest prick of light. Since everything else was all one color, though, it really stood out. Sirina at first started walking towards the little light, but never seemed to get closer. She broke out into a run, a frantic feeling filling her chest. She willed herself to run ever faster, and kept getting faster each second. The mist seemed to stand still at one point, and then she was moving so fast that everything blurred around her. The amber flames around her left streaks behind her, looking more like trails of light than fire. Still she continued speeding up, going even faster than she knew should be possible. At last the tiny green light started to get closer to her. It felt like Sirina had run the distance of entire planets before she got close to the light. When Sirina was really close, she tried to stop, only to find she couldn't. A sort of invisible pressure had built up behind her, and she was catapulted into the static-like green light. For a moment all she could see was green light, and then she had a feeling like a nail going through a rubber band wall. With an almost audible 'POP!', Sirina fell through a wall and into a room that looked much like a sewer. Her arms pinwheeled as she fell through the air. With a shriek, Sirina fell face-first into a foot of murky water. She sat up and spat the icky water out of her mouth. The amber fire seemed to recede into Sirina, but she paid little attention to this as the room she was in now had light of its own.

"Great. First nothing but fog, and now I've ended up in the sewers some how. Even for my luck...this is really pushing it." Sirina grumbled to herself.

"Who dares intrude here?" A voice like thunder rumbled warningly. Sirina looked up to find a huge red beast before her. The beast seemed to be made of a cross between fur and flames. Sirina stood carefully and combed her hair back from her face using her fingers.

"Hello, I'm Sirina. I'm sorry for intruding, but I'm not quite sure how I got here. May I have your name?" Sirina asked, thinking privately that it was a good idea to be polite to anyone as large, fiery, and toothy as the creature before her.

"Who am I?! Who am I?! I am the nine-tailed demon fox of legend! Mortals tremble before me, villages fall behind me, and...!" the creature started to snarl, flames leaking off of it and licking the walls behind it and the bars in front of it. Sirina sort of tuned out the rest of the rant, recognizing a monologue when she heard one. After all, Voldemort had certainly treated her to enough of them.

"Are you listening to me, puny mortal?!" the supposed 'demon fox of legend' demanded when it noticed Sirina inspecting the surroundings.

"Not really. I was just trying to figure out where I am, and find a way out." Sirina hummed absently. She stepped up to one of the walls and poked it softly, wondering why there seemed to be no way in or out of the sewer room she found herself in. The wall rippled slightly, and then went back to it's original shape.

"Stop that! Are you trying to kill us all?!" The demon fox demanded. Sirina waved off the fox's words and continued to probe at the flexible wall. "I'd better summon the idiot snack...that idiot girl is likely to kill us all." The fox muttered to itself, irritated. Suddenly Sirina felt another presence behind her. She whirled around as she heard a boy say:

"Hey Fox, what gives?! I was in the middle of Ramen!" The boy growled. Sirina ran her eyes over the figure before her thoughtfully. She was excited to note that she'd finally found someone with messier hair than her own. He had blond hair that seemed to defy gravity, and seemed to be just as skinny as Sirina herself.

"Probably an eating disorder or starved as child." Sirina thought. Or at least, she thought that she had thought it. She must have spoken aloud, though, because the boy whirled around as the fox answered the boy's question.

"You seem to have an uninvited guest. And she keeps poking at the walls. I am not certain how, but she seems to be making them flex. We were in danger of this place collapsing and killing all three of us." the fox snarled.

"Who're you? What are you doing in my head?!" the boy demanded as he took a step towards her. And then... "and I don't have an eating disorder!" he added angrily. "Not my fault I've never had enough to eat. Not that it's any of your business." He snapped. Sirina raised her hands in the universal peace/ I am unarmed gesture.

"My name's Sirina Potter-Black. I don't know how I got here, actually. I was just trying to find a way out." She explained softly. The boy relaxed at her words.

"So you aren't here to steal old fox-face back there?" he asked. Sirina shook her head.

"No. I was lost in the mist, and I ran to the only thing I could see, a green light. When I got to it, I was pushed through and found myself here. May I have your name?" She replied. The boy took a proud stance.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be Hokage! Believe it!" the boy announced loudly as he thrust his pointer finger towards her.

"Okay." Sirina agreed. "But what's a Hokage?" She wondered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head softly. This seemed to take the wind from the boy, Naruto's, sails. He relaxed slightly.

"A Hokage is the leader of a village like mine. A ninja village, that is. Don't you know anything about Ninja villages?" He asked, as though the very thought was mystifying. Sirina shook her head.

"No, there's no more ninjas where I come from. There used to be, like, a thousand years ago or something. But not anymore. At least, not that I know of." She replied. Sirina flicked her right hand out in two quick circles and a cushy arm chair appeared next to both of them. "Can we sit while we talk? I feel strangely tired." she offered, taking her own chair.

"Whoa! How did you do that?!" Naruto demanded, poking his own chair suspiciously.

"Family Gift. Magic." Sirina replied shortly. Eventually, after thoroughly inspecting the chair, Naruto sat in it.

"I've never heard of accidentally ending up in someone else's mind before. I'm not quite sure how I did it...the last thing I remember was looking into someone's eyes and being told I'd been rescued from the labs..." Sirina thought. For the next couple minutes Sirina and Naruto went over everything they could think of that might have caused the problem. Eventually, though neither would be able to remember quite how, they started to talk about their lives. To the surprise of both of them, they found that their lives were quite similar, despite living in different societies. They were even beginning to suspect they were from different worlds. Both of them discussed being raised by people who hated them and would be glad to see them dead. They talked of how parents and others kept other kids away from them for a long time. They spoke of being kept in small, cramped, dirty spaces. They spoke of never having enough food, and what little food they did get usually being spoiled. Both of them shared about burdens beyond belief on their shoulders.

Naruto spoke about the nine-tailed fox, and how his entire village expected him to be a good little ninja and keep them all safe despite the fact that not one of them had ever lifted a hand to help him. In fact, most of his village still tried to hurt him or deprive him of things even now that he'd had his headband for a little while. For her part, Sirina shared about being nothing, then being "the girl-who-lived", and still being loved and hated by turns. She spoke of how she'd been able to trust almost no-one. Haltingly Sirina told Naruto about her best friends, how Hermione had always stood by her once they'd become friends but Ron still couldn't always be trusted. She loved both of them, but with Ron it was a kind of like hugging a cactus. Painful. In turn, Naruto shared about his "Hokage-jiji" who always tried to help him out but couldn't always help Naruto out due to politics. He told Sirina about his team, that he'd only been with for about a year. With exasperation, he told her about 'Sasuke-teme,' the last Uchiha that the village practically worshiped. The emo-boy who couldn't see past his family, and seemed almost incapable of admitting his teammates could have worth. It was with even more exasperation that he told her about Haruno, Sakura. Unlike the Uchiha boy, she didn't have much to recommend her as a ninja. Originally Naruto had declared his 'undying-love' for the girl. He'd done this as a sort of a cover, trying to prove he was just like every one else. That was before he'd found out about the fox, though. He'd stuck with the charade, though, thinking it might prove useful one day. Plus, he'd never really been interested in any of the girls in the village. Too often had Naruto liked a girl, only to have her treat him with scorn at best and far nastier behavior at worst.

"You know, I hate to be helpful, but it sounds like you two puny mortals are soulmates." the fox grumbled from where he lay on the ground behind his bars.

"Soul mates?" Naruto asked hesitantly. Sirina tilted her head to the side and thought about it.

"People whose souls are part of each other. They often have some parts of themselves in common. They're not always born on the same world or at the same time, so it is possible... but I've never heard of soul mates being drawn into each others minds uncontrollably. Of course, that's not counting the Potter effect..."Sirina mused.

"So how do we find out if we really are soul mates?And if we are...what do we do about this. I don't want you to go away, but I don't want you to be stuck in my head forever." Naruto wondered.

"I'm not actually sure...I didn't think I'd ever be lucky enough to have a soul mate. Fate seems to hate me, after all. Plus, even if I did have a soul mate on the same world... finding your soul mate is super rare. So I never bothered to learn the way to tell. " Sirina shrugged ruefully.

"Ignorant mortals. You owe me for this information. Simply touch your hands together and push your chakra together. If you are soul mates, you will be able to feel your bond." the fox snarled at them both.

"I don't have chakra...at least, I don't think I do...maybe my magic will work? It's mostly about will, so if I will it to tell me if we are soul mates when it touches your chakra...maybe that will work?" Sirina decided hesitantly. In reply, Naruto made his chakra flow into a sphere in his palm. Sirina copied him with her magic. To the surprise of both of them, the energy in their palms were suddenly surrounded by colorful fire. In Sirina's palms the amber flames reappeared and mixed with her magic. Naruto's chakra, though, was surrounded by what looked like sparking green fiery lightning. Before they could think about it too much, and hoping it was part of finding out about one's soul mate, they thrust their energies towards the other's energy. The fiery chakra swirled together with the fiery magic. They formed a sort of swirled bar between the two of them, and then fused together. Suddenly both could feel each other.

"Whoa." they both breathed in sync. Emerald green eyes met bright Aquamarine in wonder. "We are soul mates." They added, stunned.

"So...what do we do now?" Naruto wondered.

"I have no idea." Sirina admitted. "But I don't want you to be away from me." She added softly, shyly. Her cheeks pinked slightly at the admission. Naruto also blushed at her words.

"Save me from awkward, mushy mortal idiots." The fox groaned in the background. Both of them ignored the grumpy fox demon in the background. Suddenly a touch of the foxes red, fiery flames slipped away from him, and he yelped in indignation, as they were pulled towards Sirina and Naruto's bond. The red flames swirled into their own flames and energy. The flames suddenly separated from the first bond to form a bond between the fox and Sirina directly. Both humans stared dumbly at the flames. "Don't think that makes us soul mates, pathetic mortal. It's probably because my energies are tied to the idiot brats that they bonded to you, girl." the fox snapped defensively, showing his huge teeth in a threat display.

"No, I can feel you're not my soul mate. We are bonded, though. We might have big problems if the three of us separate..." Sirina rushed to agree. She nibbled on her lower lip as she contemplated what courses of action they could take.

"Brat. Someone is shaking you outside, and they are warning that they'll take you to the hospital if you don't wake up and stop being on fire." the fox warned, irritated.

"I'll take care of it, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto declared, taking his 'dynamic pose' once more.

"I do. I believe in you, Naruto." Sirina whispered softly, cheeks pinking once more. Naruto dropped the stance and rubbed the back of his head.

"Thanks. No one's believed in me before." Naruto confessed, and then he vanished. Gone as quickly as he'd come. Sirina was left staring at the spot he'd been in blankly, still wondering what they were going to do.

Well, there's chapter three! I hope this chapter continued to satisfy. :) Before any one points it out, yes the conversation being in italics once we switch to Sirina's POV was on purpose. She's in first her mind and then Narutos. They're thinking, even if it seems like talking to them. Let me know if you have any other questions. :) Thanks.

I had someone tell me they found the bonded diagram really helpful in my other story, and request one for this story as well, so I have posted a new folder on my deviantart account (under the name wingzrooke), and made a board for it on pinterest: pinterest dot com (forward slash) pictoralinspire (forward slash) fanfiction-story-chemical-burns (forward slash). If you are interested, I will post all inspiration pieces, any diagrams, and any pictures I do in these two places. If any of you like to do fanart for this story, I would love that! Please let me know if you do! Thanks.

Q&A:

Well, I got some questions that others might want the answers too. So I will post the basic answers at the end of each chapter (if there are any reviews with questions that I think others will want the answers too). This way if not everyone wants to read them, they can just skip the notes. :)

First question: What does Sirina mean, and how is the name pronounced? Answer: I'm guessing this is in reply to my comment at the end of the last story about wanting to reuse the name Sirina from my other KHR/HP crossover story. In my two stories, the fem!Harry was named after Sirius (in these two stories because James Potter lost a bet with Sirius at some point before Sirina was named), and ended up having to name his firstborn child after Sirius, as well as making him godfather. So, Sirina was named after Sirius (and in a roundabout way named after the dog star). It is also a Greek name, and is for one named after the Sirens. It is pronounced "Suh-ree-nuh". :)

Second question: who flipped? Was it Dudley, an angry squib, some random muggle? Answer: I think the reader who asked this meant who sold the muggleborn/raised children to be experimented on. The answer to that question is pretty much: Yes (or, all of the above). It wasn't just one person who sold the children. If the you meant: who runs the organization? Then the answer is: you'll have to wait and see. Sorry.

3rd: What year are they in? Also, what about Voldemort & Co.? Answer: this story takes place post both original stories (KHR & HP).

4th: what's going to happen to the other experiments (besides Sirina/Ri)? Answer: hopefully this chapter already answered that question.