A/N: I've decided to try a new story, since I have no more ideas for my other.As for any semi-important things worth knowing, Sasuke has been dragged back, and has even completed his due punishment. They are 17, and those in ANBU have been there for two years.

The usual disclaimer applies.

The location of the characters will decide the native language. So if they were in Europe, per say, it would be English, while in Konoha it would be Japanese.

"Blah" Native language.

"Blah" Foreign language/letters.

"Blah" Demon thoughts/words.

An Interesting Proposition

Ominous thunder rolled throughout the village. The Godaime Hokage jerked up, startled out of her slumber. "What odd weather for early August…" She mused aloud. The sudden downpour hit her window like thousands of kunai. She didn't even blink this time.

Looking down at her desk, she finds a letter she didn't recall being there when she nodded off. Tsunade opens the letter, wondering who could have sent it.

Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure,

I have a request for two of your warriors (she gave a rather unladylike snort at that) to be used for a political assassination. My master is rising up in out legal system, and his opponent only wishes to end our current way of life. It would be a favorable outcome if his opponent were to suddenly disappear.

If you are willing to here me out, simply burn this letter, and I will apparate (what a funny word) to your location to discuss the details.

Money is of no concern.

Yours truly,

Lucius Malfoy

Looking at the short letter with wide eyes, she quickly performed the need hand signs and burned the letter to a pile of ashes. It sounded rather simple, just assassinate one person. From the way the neat print became more flustered around the sparing mission outline, she could guess that this Malfoy was at his wits end trying to find a way to eliminate the other man. This meant that she could charge him unreasonably for the mission.

Not a minute had passed before a loud crack! was heard, and a tall man with hair befitting of a Yamanaka was standing in front of Tsunade's desk.

"What the--?!" She screamed, jumping out of her chair.

The man, Lucius, she presumed, merely smirked with an air of arrogance before replying in a snide voice, "Apparation, a simple task for any adept wizard."

A small vein ticked on Tsunade's head.

"What do you want here, civilian?" She growled, spitting the word out like it was contaminated.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "I don't like the sound of your voice, muggle." He spat back with equal contempt, his hand itching toward a long stick in the pockets of his ridiculous robes.

The Hokage herself was fingering a few shuriken on her desk; debating if this man's skull was thick enough to protect his miniscule brain from puncture wounds. "Funny, I was also of the opinion that your voice sounded quite whiney, and it is beginning to hurt my ears."

The man growled and drew his stick, pointing it a Tsunade and starting to say "Cr-" However, Tsunade was quicker and dispatched a singled shuriken, lodging the stick against the wall in less time than it took to blink.

"Give me one reason not to throw you out of here right now, punk!" She demanded of the now quivering adult, shaking her fist.

She laughed mentally as the man tried to regain his composure, failing miserably. This man was a coward. Just a pathetic coward. It was obvious that if any one showed the slightest bit of being more powerful than him in any way, he would crumble like an old pastry.

"My deepest apologies, Hokage-sama, I forget my place." He murmured, bowing low.

"One more mistake and you'll be apologizing to the fish." She threatened, still glaring at him. It almost sickened her, how quick he was to try to get on her good side. Too late for that.

"I understand, however, now we must begin business, my master will not be pleased if this is not done quickly." was the reply. He took the seat offered and pulled out another letter. "As I mentioned before, money is of no object, and what I have with me is a tenth of what will be offered upon the completion of the job."

Trying to change the subject now, Tsunade noted with disgust. No, she couldn't trust this man at all. He was too easily corrupted by stronger forces. She could probably turn him fairly quickly, with Ibiki's help of course.

He took out a medium sized bag and carefully set it on the desk. Whipping out a kunai, enjoying the slight flinch as the metal caught the light, Tsunade sliced open the bag. A mountain of gold coins poured out, clinking loudly. Tsunade resisted the urge to whistle softly, it looked like solid gold, which would fetch a pretty penny in the local market. Instead of looking as impressed as she felt, Tsunade demanded, "Is that all?"

Taken aback by the suddenness, Lucius quickly stammered, "I-I-I will be able to get more if needed!"

It was the Godaime's turn to smirk this time. She held out her hand expectantly, and looked meaningfully at the wizard. He dutifully placed the envelope in her hands.

She opened it and read:

Target: Albus Dumbedore

Time of Assassination: Before September 1st.

Location: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Details: A portkey will be supplied to take you to England; then use the provided directions to enter the school. Be warned: Hogwarts has protections on it to keep out unwanted guests and muggles. After completeing the task, return to a predetermined site to receive the rest of the pay and another protkey back to your lands.

Tsunade gasped in realization.

"You're from the Outside?"

The grass was still slick from the recent rain as the two teenagers danced around each other with such well-practiced ease that they could continue their light banter throughout the fight. Such insults were not taken seriously; such as the spar itself was just a way to keep reflexes sharp.

The blond boy's startling blue eyes were dancing as he flicked a shuriken at his raven-haired friend, who's own eyes were blood red at the moment. Instead of simply dodging, the other boy caught the weapon, stood still, and looked up from the clearing at the sky.

"Hey, Sasuke! What's up?"

Sasuke barely glanced in the other boy's direction before pointing up at the black hawk circling around them in the sky. "That's 'what's up'," he declared ironically.

"Oh. Which one is it?"

"The ANBU one." Sasuke sighed. They had just returned from a partnered month long mission last week, and another mission right after in a time of peace was unusual.

"I'm really beginning to hate that bird. Do you think Baa-chan would notice if it went missing?"

"Really, Naruto. She would just get another one. Idiot…" Sasuke replied before tossing the shuriken back to him. Toss being a relative term as the weapon moved to fast for the untrained eye to see.

Catching the shuriken on one finger and pocketing it, Naruto grinned. "We might as well go see what the old hag wants."

Fully outfitted in ANBU attire, white masks glowing eerily in the light of the afternoon, Naruto and Sasuke jumped through the window leading to the Hokage's office.

"No, really, the door's just there for decoration." The sarcastic reply came from behind the desk, where Tsunade sat, glaring at the two ANBU. The one behind the Falcon mask rubbed his head sheepishly, muttering, "It was faster this way…" The Godaime just rolled her eyes.

"You may take your masks off if you wish." She informed them. They did so, Naruto and Sasuke pulling off the falcon and wolf masks respectively. Then, without warning and in a commanding voice, ordered, "Listen up, ANBU Wolf and Falcon!" The two snapped to attention.

"I have a high priority mission for the two of you. You are to infiltrate a high-end establishment, and assassinate a political rival of the client's lord. The instructions are located here," he tossed a newly sealed envelope to Sasuke. "You are to follow the instructions—" "To the punctuation. We know Baa-chan." Naruto interrupted pertly, almost allowing himself to relax and slouch out of his pristine form.

Ignoring the jab, the Godaime continued on, "Wolf will be leading the mission this time," she began, continuing to disregard Naruto's cry of outrage, "and, most importantly, this mission will take place in the Outside."

Sasuke snorted in disbelief. "Please, Hokage-sama, those are tales for Academy students."

Tsunade just raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If you say so," she said cryptically. "Anyway, an object, called a portkey, will transport you past the barrier between our worlds, where you will have to learn to blend in, or simply not be seen. You will depart from my office at oh-five-hundred hours in five days. Up until that time, you will learn their primary language," she tossed an extraordinary large book toward Wolf, its spine reading 'The Oxford English Dictionary', "and study the mission scroll until you could successfully complete the mission without them. Any questions?"

"We have to read?" Naruto asked incredulously. "And memorize? Do you have any idea how unfair that is? Mr. Crazy-Eyes over there will skim over it once and have it down in minutes!"

"I believe even with my 'crazy-eyes', it would take me at least an hour to do what you're suggesting." Naruto could feel the smirk radiating from behind the mask at that point.

Tsunade sighed and reached for her hidden bottle of sake in her bottom drawer. It had been going so well too. She zoned out of the heated argument the two ANBU were having, sipping down sake in a dainty cup. After a few minutes of that, it seemed the end was near.

"Just use your cursed clones, for gods-sake!" Sasuke snapped.

"What are you…oh…" Blinking behind his mask, realization dawned on Naruto.

Seeing a solution had been reached, Tsunade glanced over her cup, and waved them out the door. Naruto looked at the door once and grinned cheekily before slipping his mask back on and jumping out the window. Sasuke followed suit, a light smirk adjourning his face. Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, smacked her head with the palm of her hand, and decided it would be a good time for a mid-morning nap.

As predicted, it didn't take long for Sasuke to memorize the great dictionary, but what was surprising was that it only took Naruto a day, and, although he and his clones grumbled quite a bit while reading, he was very happy when he was done.

Sitting on top of the Sandaime's head the day before the prepared departure, the two young ANBU captains were crouched over a map, arguing once again.

"Look here, you idiot! We will appear in Carlisle, you with me so far?" Naruto nodded. "Then we will go north until we hit Lanark. Right?" A grunt of affirmation was all he needed to continue. "Now, the directions say that the castle where are target should be is only a few hundred miles directly south from Inverness. So, if we head due north from Lanark, heading a little west, we should run into the 'Forbidden Forest' that will be our entrance point."

"Wait, is that like our Forest of Death?"

"I would think so, but it is indicated that they have mythical beasts there."

"Does that mean we'll see a dragon? Or a unicorn? Maybe even a phoenix!" Naruto was almost jumping up and down in anticipation.

Ignoring the hyperactive blond, Sasuke rolled up the scrolls and stuffed them in his backpack. "Yeah, sure, whatever." He mumbled, not really paying attention.

"Huh, what? Oh, see you tomorrow, bright and early!" Naruto called to Sasuke's retreating form. Sasuke merely raised a lazy hand, then Body Flickered away, as Naruto jumped down to the streets, detemined to get at least five more bowls of ramen in before leaving.

At precisely five a.m. the next morning, standing in Tsunade's office, were Sasuke and Naruto, decked out in full ANBU regalia, complete with their favored katana strapped on their backs; Sasuke's Kusanagi, with is pitch black hilt protruding from the equally black sheath, and Naruto's fairly new katana, with a blood red hilt and sheath, matching the intricate falcon design on his mask.

"All right you two, now you take a hold of this," the Godaime tossed them an old cleaning cloth, "and you wait for a few seconds. No, both of you have to hold it, Naruto. Anyway, am I forgetting anything? Right! Good luck, bring honor and glory to out humble village, etcetera, etcetera, and….Oh yeah! Don't die! See you both in a month or so!"

The last words were lost on the two shinobi, as an unseen hook seemed to grab their insides behind the naval, and a whooshing sound filled their ears. Spinning around like they were in a hurricane, faster and faster until suddenly it stopped, dropping them from almost two stories up in the air, sending them plummeting down toward a small lake.

Remembering their training, they adeptly twisted in midair, applied extra chakra to the bottoms of their feet, and landed with a slight splash on top of the water.

Luckily enough, the full moon was already high in the night sky, giving them the perfect camouflage with their ANBU uniforms.

Standing for a while, each caught up in his thoughts about the Outside. They had only heard of speculation of the supposed world that coexisted alongside theirs, and now the truth was staring them in the face.

"So we're in," Naruto checked the map. "Carlisle now?"

"We should be. Lets head north, confirm that along the way, and stop in Lanark." Sasuke looked up in the sky. "It should be about eleven p.m. right now, so if we travel until sunrise, we should be able to at least make it at least halfway to the forest from Lanark before we stop and rest. We'll formulate a new plan once daybreak arrives."

Naruto nodded once before checking his bearings and speeding off in a blur toward the north, Sasuke even with him.

"Face it, we're lost." Naruto moaned a day later, standing in the center of a park in what could pass as almost normal clothes. After finally making it to Lanark, heading north, and reaching Inverness with no sign of the Forbidden Forest, he was convinced they were totally lost.

"We are not lost!" Sasuke snarled. "We merely do not know exactly where we are!"

"We should ask for directions."

"No respectable shinobi asks for directions!"

"Who cares how respectable we are when we have no clue where we are!" Naruto growled back, waving the map under Sasuke's nose.

Watching the two teenagers with amusement, a kind lady took pity on the two boys.

"Are you two lost?" She asked, eyeing the messy and wrinkled map in one boy's hand.

"Yes."

"No."

The two answers came at the same time, and the lady stifled a laugh. Men and directions.

The blond scowled at the dark haired one, and then turned to her. "Have you heard anything about a dark and mysterious forest to the south of here?" He asked innocently.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, the other boy mumbled something in another language.

She wasn't sure what he said, but it sounded sarcastic.

"Why not just ask her if she knows where this Dumbledore person is so we can find him faster."

The blond just scowled at him again.

The woman chuckled at their childish antics, then motioned for the map.

"I have heard of a haunted forest, no one who goes in is ever seen again. I, for one, think it's a load of rubbish," she added as she scanned the map over. "The rumors hint that it should be some where around there, you know, the usual tales of strange creatures and people disappearing." She circled a section of unexplored land. "Hope this helps."

"Thanks lady!" Naruto exclaimed, flashing a blinding smile.

"No problem," she replied, and then headed down the street, not bothering to notice that as soon as her back was turned, the two boys had disappeared without a sound leaving behind swirling leaves.

August fifteenth, and two dark shadows streaked through the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, moonlight reflecting off the white porcelain masks covering their faces. They were growing closer and closer to the castle with every second. Stopping a mile out, they reviewed the plan one final time.

"Remember, sticking together will be the best plan, the castle is too big to learn the exact lay-out and worry about extra escape routes. We will enter through the tallest tower," glancing down at a map, he added, "the Astronomy Tower. From there we drop two stories, then hang a right, three doors; left, two doors; left, four doors; one last right and then at the end of the hallway there should be a stone gargoyle that leads to Dumbledore's office. You got that?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, right, five doors, left then a gargoyle." He replied unconvincingly.

Sasuke sighed. "Just follow me and don't get lost."

Naruto nodded with affirmation, and followed Sasuke as he blurred across the open field in front of the lake, both appearing almost simultaneously at the base of the Astronomy tower. Still in time with each other, they raced up the side of the building, footsteps not making a sound on the stone. Stopping right by then window, Sasuke pulled out a kunai, and silently cut the glass along the frame. Like black cats of death, the shinobi slinked into the room, Sasuke setting the glass softly on a desk while Naruto glanced out the door, checking to make sure not a soul was around. After Naruto confirmed the coast was clear, Sasuke darted out of the room, sticking to the shadows cast by the torches hanging on the wall. Naruto followed, staying on the other side of the hallway.

They moved as one, using the Body Flicker Technique to reappear back in the shadows. This caused them to make good time, and they were soon staring down a long, scantily lit hallway at an ancient stone gargoyle.

After Flickering toward it, they stopped feet away.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Naruto asked.

"There's some sort of password required, but we weren't told what it was." Sasuke whispered with annoyance.

"Well, then, let's start guessing passwords!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Open Sesame!"

"Hogwarts."

"Abra Kadabra!"

"Forbidden Forest."

"Alakazam!"

"Scotland."

"Ramen!"

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Sasuke snarled, patience wearing thin. "How are we supposed to get in without the password? That client is mental!" Throwing in some colorful language for good measure, Sasuke started to pace in front of the statue. Naruto was just standing there, head tilted to one side, thinking.

Suddenly, a strange voice was heard from above them, and both ANBU jumped back, drawing kunai and a handful of shuriken.

"Lookie here! Ickle men in black outfits in front of the Headmaster's room with pointy ickle knives! Me thinks I should report you!"

"The heck?!" Naruto cried, clearly thinking his whole world had just exploded, now that there was a small man in odd brightly colored clothing, clearly floating a good twelve feet above the ground.

Sasuke, however, was more angry than anything else. "Screw this!" he screamed as his normal dark obsidian eyes turned blood red with three spiraling tomoe in each eye. The apparition made the mistake of looking directly into the small holes outlined by the mask, and was soon dashing away, screaming in terror. Sasuke smirked triumphantly.

"That was awesome!" Naruto raved. "I so wish I could make a genjustu to send my enemies running away in fright!"

Yes sir, Sasuke was feeling pretty good about himself; that had gotten rid of a lot of stress. Then the truth of what had just happened hit him head on.

"Falcon, we need to leave immediately! Someone probably heard the noi--" He was cut short, however, as a red beam of light hit him square in the back. Naruto didn't have time to comprehend what had happened before he too was struck. Walking to stand over the two unconscious ANBU, a pale man in a black cloak with rather greasy hair scowled in disgust before muttering "Lemon drop," and walking calmly up the stairs to inform the Headmaster.

A/N:

I made up where I wanted Hogwarts to be, just sticking it in central Scotland. I hope those cities I used are real as well; I just glanced at a map I found on Google and guessed distances and stuff.

Anyways, tell me what you think, if I should continue the story or whatnot. Read and review!!