Chapter 3: Transformations

Tsunade peered at the ninjas assembled in front of Konoha's gate. She let out a disgruntled sigh as she saw that Kakashi was missing, but she couldn't say she was surprised. The hokage cleared her throat and boomed out in an authoritative tone, "Although this may be a mission that is more laid back, I expect the same amount of effort and focus and concentration. Any slip up could lead to the endangerment of your comrade's lives." She spoke severely.

The ninjas nodded solemnly and held her gaze. "Of course, Tsunade-sama." They murmured.

Tsunade nodded satisfied, "Good. Anko will personally pay you a visit if you remember otherwise." She smirked as she saw Naruto's face go pale with fear. "Now," she narrowed her eyes, "You may now take a SINGLE pill. They've been designed to taste good when you first swallow them, however, the effects as they physically shrink your body will hurt a bit when you first take them. As you have to take them twice a day, you'll see that that the pain wears off gradually."

Kiba raised an eyebrow, "You seem to know a lot about these pills Tsunade-sama."

Naruto sniggered and muttered to Kiba, "That's because the old hag takes them daily. How else does she manage to look so young?" Kiba let out a chortle and then was immediately silenced when Tsunade shot him a disapproving glare.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Just take the damn pill, Naruto." She in turn, hesitated for a brief moment and then swallowed down her pill first. The other ninjas watched apprehensively, seeing if anything bad would occur.

Her face was at first, an expression of pure curiosity and then her face contorted and she dropped down onto her knees, clutching at her throat. "Ungh!" she choked out, her eyes narrowed in acute pain.

Sasuke dropped down beside her in concern as well and then looked up at Tsunade half snarling, "She looks as if she's about to suffocate!" He smoothed her hair back while she shuddered in little spasms of pain.

Tsunade looked on calmly, "Cool it Uchiha. She'll be fine; it's a natural effect of the drug. Just watch." She commanded sternly.

Sasuke looked dissatisfied and opened his mouth, "Are you sure—"

Ino interrupted him with a shriek, "Oh my god! Look at her!" she pointed a waved finger at Sakura's quivering body. Sakura's arms, which were draped feebly at her sides literally shortened back into her shoulders before their eyes. Her long, lithe legs curved back and were also shortened. The length of her body parts disappearing magically back into her body. Sakura shook even harder and let out a little moan and then finally her head was thrown back in a final spasm of pain. Sasuke looked on awestruck as his eyes caught sight of her face. She actually looked like her fifteen year old self again! Her eyes were back to their doe-eyed innocence and her face seemed rounder and a little bit more youthful.

"S-Sakura…" Ino breathed out. "Y-you actually…" she trailed off, lost for words.

Sakura was curious and she extended her fingertips trying to feel the change in her face. "I feel the same, to be honest." She stated in some confusion. "My body, it's tingling all over." She examined her body in a child-like manner.

Tsunade smiled, "Of course. Only your body changes, you see, the drug does not work to make your mind go back in maturity. You are the same Sakura except in a more youthful appearance."

Naruto crouched close to Sakura, "What does it feel like? You were literally on the ground moaning and groaning." He let out a loud chuckle, "For a second there, I thought you were possessed or something!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "It hurt in my throat while the pill was going down in the beginning. Later on, it felt like my limbs were on fire and there were little pops of pains when my body was shortening." She paused. "However, I feel totally normal now." She tilted her head back in thought. "It's an interesting drug." She mused.

Naruto held his own pill up in the air, tossed it up and caught it in his mouth. Hinata looked on worriedly as she had just witnessed Sakura's transformation. Naruto seemed expectant, waiting for the pain to hit him but he remained standing and then his arms withdrew back into his sockets slowly and they heard a little pop and his legs had shortened as well. His face was the last to change as it slowly morphed back into his younger self. He looked over his body, "Either Sakura's a wimp or that didn't hurt at all." He shot his pink haired teammate a wry smile, "I'm guessing it's the first one." He rolled his shoulders to produce a resounding crack.

Sakura glared at her teammate who seemed even more immature than usual.

Gaara looked at Naruto with interest, "It's probably the kyuubi inside of you. It protects your body from that pain as its already healing it before the pain even begins. It most likely has nothing to do with the amount of pain Sakura can handle."

Sakura smirked and shot him a smug smile, "See it has nothing to do with it! The kyuubi is the one helping you out." She declared triumphantly and then turned to Sasuke, "Your turn."

Sasuke shrugged and swallowed the pill reluctantly. Almost instantly his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Sakura looked on sympathetically and grasped his hand while he let out the same spasms of pain.

The rest of the ninjas took out their own pills and began to swallow the substance reluctantly. It was reminiscent of a horror movie when they all started to clutch at their throats and let out strangled cries as their bodies began to reform and shape into younger versions. Ino let out a high pitched blood-curdling shriek while Gaara bowed back, silently in pain, a single drop of sweat running down his face.

Naruto and Sakura stared in amazement as they watched, one by one, their friends revert into their younger bodies. Tenten was the first to recover and she poked her leg in childlike interest, "This is so creepy." She muttered with a comedic shudder.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and growled, "No kidding. I feel like shit." His onyx eyes narrowed moodily and Sakura let out an amused laugh at his reaction.

Tsunade examined all of them in their teenage states and nodded to herself. "Good, good." She muttered quietly. "Now all I need to do is…" all of a sudden she flung herself at Sakura and moved to do a drop heel kick but Sakura quickly moved out of range grasping Sasuke and Naruto by the arms to move them out of the targeted area. Tsunade's kick hit the ground, spreading a tremor that didn't injure anybody.

Naruto let out a screech, "Baa-chan! What the hell was that for?" he stuck his nose up at her questioningly.

Tsunade flicked a blond ponytail over the back of her shoulder, "Testing your reflexes. I need to make sure that you still have all of your skills intact." She replied simply. Naruto scowled and murmured under his breath.

Neji activated his byakugan, "It doesn't seem to have lost its potency." He reported.

Tsunade gestured to Sasuke to do the same thing. He started back at her questioningly, "What you want me to set Amaratsu on Naruto to see if it still works?"

Temari let out a laugh, "Please do."

Tsunade snapped at Sasuke, "You know what I mean."

Sasuke, with a smirk on his face, obliged and activated his blood red eyes. "It seems fine." He replied. "Nothing seems to have diminished in power."

"Everyone else feel okay?" Tsunade asked with mild concern. They all nodded slowly and moved around, testing out their new body. "Good! Now, remember, these pills only last for 16 hours. It's CRUCIAL that you remember to take them. One slip up and its game over, and—ah! There's Kakashi now." She gestured to the mysterious figure coming down their way, his recognizable silver hair flashing in the light.

Kakashi let out a sheepish smile, "Well you guys are here early!" He let out a deep chuckle, shoving his orange book into his vest pocket. He did a double take as his eyes landed on Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and everybody else. "Wow. That potion's pretty handy!" He examined the ninjas with great interest. When his eyes landed on Sasuke he noticed Sasuke's scowl and added in teasingly, "Its fine Sasuke, going through puberty again won't be THAT bad."

"PFF—"Sakura clasped her hand over her mouth immediately trying to conceal her laugh and looked ashamedly over at Sasuke whose scowl had deepened further. She let out a tiny giggle and then murmured a quick "sorry" and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Tsunade pursed her lips and spoke severely, "Kakashi. How nice of you to join us. She handed him a scroll which he merely glanced at, then put away. "Please don't lose that." She advised him and then looked at him directly, "Do you have it?"

He nodded once and then took out a small leather boot that had wrinkled edges. "Right here." He handed it to Tsunade-sama.

Shikamaru tilted his head, "Is that what I think it is?" he asked with some dread in his voice.

Naruto snickered, "If you're thinking it's a boot, then you're correct." He stuck his tongue out boyishly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes; it seemed that Naruto's appearance wasn't the only thing that had become less mature. "Naruto, it's called a portkey, which if I'm right, Sakura knows a bit about."

Sakura interrupted with a smile, "It's a wizard mechanism that allows you to transport to the location it is magically linked to if you are touching it a certain time. It's just one of the many wizarding transportation devices."

"It also hurts like hell." Shikamaru added with a frown.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and waved his comment away, "Shikamaru is exaggerating. The only thing you'll feel is a slight tug on your navel. When you get to London, I expect all of you to be concentrated and not fool around." She frowned at Naruto, "This is a high-profile mission and I expect excellence. When you arrive, you will be in an area called Diagon Alley. A man, by the name of Hagrid will meet you there and take you to buy supplies and necessities. From there, he'll take you to the train station and you'll be off to Hogwarts!" she grinned. "Sound like a plan?"

They all nodded uneasily. "Sure."

"Good. Now, we're getting closer towards 3 PM." Tsunade checked her watch. "I need everybody to be touching this boot and keep touching it. You let go of it and you'll miss your window."

They all grasped onto the boot and stared at each other in slight apprehension. Tsunade counted off, "5…4…3…2…1…"

Sakura felt a sharp tug at her navel, as if a hook had latched onto that sensitive skin and managed to suck her entire body into a whirlpool. The feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant but it was an unfamiliar sensation and she wasn't used to not being prepared for situations. It was her job as a ninja to always be prepared for any circumstance. She felt herself falling through space and then in a flash she felt herself hit solid ground. Sakura pushed herself upright and looked around cautiously. All around her were her teammates on the ground as well.

They were in some kind of alleyway with a brick wall to the left of them and to the right was the back of what seemed like a rowdy pub.

Shikamaru growled, "Oh great. Where are we? When she said Diagon Alley I wasn't expecting an actual alley."

Hinata activated her byakugan and touched the brick wall with great interest, "There's something behind this wall, a great amount of chakra." He mused.

Ino shrugged, "So what do you suppose we do? Have Sakura knock down the wall?" she suggested sarcastically.

Neji shook his head, his byakugan activated as well, "From the looks of this wall, there's a great amount of chakra concentrated in the wall. If Sakura were to knock down the wall, there would be a great explosion that would knock us all off our feet. Something that we do not want to have happen."

Tenten pursed her lips in slight irritation, "Well, this wouldn't be a problem in the beginning if our guide was here."

"Right behind ya!" A gruff voice exclaimed with a hearty chuckle. Tenten paled and literally jumped up into the air at the sudden noise.

They all turned to face the tallest person they had ever seen. A man with a long scruffy beard and long tangled hair stood, looming over them. He wore an oversize trench coat and held in his right hand a tattered umbrella. He extended a large hand, "Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service."

Naruto's jaw dropped, "You're Hagrid?" he asked in astonishment.

The man shrugged with a grin, "Well who else did ya expect?"

Sakura interrupted, "What my friend here means is that he didn't expect you to be so tall."

Hagrid smiled knowingly, "Oh well, no worries. I get that a lot. To be honest I didn't expect such kids to be elite assassins." He admitted.

Temari let out a small hiss, "We are more than capable, despite our appearances. After all we took that pill that allows us to take a younger form. A new wizarding invention I believe."

Hagrid eyes lit up, "Ah! You mean Veela Vitality Vitamins? Yes, they're quite the invention." His grin broadened and an awkward silence ensued. "Er, well, let's get going, shall we?" he held his umbrella up and tapped three bricks up and across."

Neji muttered aside to Hinata, "Do you see that? His umbrella emits chakra." Hinata nodded in wonder, her eyes transfixed on the brick wall.

A split second later the bricks began to tremble and turn. The foundation turning and shifting so that an archway was formed, revealing a gap in the wall. All the ninjas peered into the entryway and saw a bustling marketplace. Sakura held her breath in surprise as she viewed the wizards moving all around from place to place.

Hagrid's eyes twinkled as he saw the ninjas look upon the scene with wonder, "Let me be the first to welcome you to Diagon Alley."

A/N: Oh gosh. I have not updated in forever and a lot of people probably hate me for that. HAHA but anyways I have a feeling that I'll be able to update more so please continue to support this story.

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU THAT REVIEWED AND STORY ALERTED, AND FAVORITED! It means SO much to me :)

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