Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter

Can I just say before you read this chapter that this is before Sakura knows about the Kyuubi. Sasuke does though.

The Road to Forgiveness

Chapter Five:

"Well what do you think?"

Albus gazed at them all over steepled fingers.

"McGonagall?"

The stern woman hesitated.

"They're quick studies, even that blond kid who spent over an hour trying to get 'Wingardium Leviosa' to work."

"But what about them as people?"

He stared at her with those piercing blue eyes and she finally relented. She had been against the ninjas coming here.

"They seem nice enough. They act just like children, Mr Uzumaki and Miss Haruno arguing all the time. But Uchiha..." She trailed off, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Itachi.

There was a short silence as everyone turned expectantly at Itachi. He sighed.

"Sasuke's got a lot on his mid at the moment. He wasn't expecting my appearance here, and along with his probation and normal paranoia I imagine he's a little stressed. Just give him a chance."

McGonagall nodded looking slightly appeased.

"Yes, I've been meaning to ask, what is he on probation for? Is it anything serious?"

Itachi mentally winced.

"...betraying the village..."

There was an uproar.

"And you didn't see fit to mention this before?"

"A traitor? Albus please, you can't allow this?"

"What is he still doing alive?"

Everyone shut up and stared at Snape.

"Are you suggesting," McGonagall asked, her voice quivering, "That we kill him? We are not barbarians Snape."
Snape rolled his eyes.

"No, I meant why hasn't his village killed him? That's the normal practice in these villages isn't it?" He directed his last question at Itachi, who nodded and smiled wryly.

"He's an Uchiha, the last in their eyes. They can't afford to kill him. And Konoha was always the most lenient village."

"And what exactly," Snape sneered, "makes an Uchiha so indispensable?"

Itachi smirked and leaned back mockingly on his chair.

"Why Severus, someone would think you cared."

He was rewarded with an ugly look.

"The Uchiha clan was one of the oldest and well-respected clans in the village." He glanced around at their faces which had all turned solemn. "Everyone knew that if an Uchiha came you were saved. Because the Uchiha were granted a special gift. You know what I'm talking about don't you Snape."

He met his eyes and allowed a bit of the blood-red sharingan to bleed through. Snape flinched back as if struck.

"Moving on," Albus interrupted, glaring disapprovingly at Itachi, "Does anyone else have anything to say?"

No-one spoke.

"Right then. This meeting is over. Feel free to prepare for the student's arrival tonight."

Everyone stood.

"Ah Itachi, I would like a word with you."

He waited before everyone had left the hall before speaking again.

"Your brother." He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to.

Itachi ran his fingers through his hair, looking much older than his 20 years.

"I really have no idea if this 'peace' will stay. I used to be able to pretty much guess what he was thinking but now," he paused and glanced at Albus, "I don't know why he wants to stay in Konoha. I keep trying to think of a reason but each one is more unrealistic than the next."

The look Albus threw him was loaded. Itachi didn't like mentioning it but Albus knew he was a genius. And if he couldn't work out the motives of the one he knew best, well, that was something to worry about. What could have changed Sasuke's mind enough for him not to attack his worst enemy over a village he had already cut ties with?

Naruto whistled shrilly as he wandered aimlessly through the many corridors of Hogwarts. He still didn't quite know what to think of it, or even the situation. He wasn't going to ask Sasuke about it though. He may be a little dim at times but he did have a survival instinct thank you. It was all just a little overwhelming at the moment, but he was sure that would pass soon enough.

Meanwhile, he had to find something to entertain himself. He fingered his wand and glanced at the suit of armor to his right. Yes, that would do nicely. And conveniently enough, he'd heard the rest of the student body were to arrive tonight. A smile split his face and he scampered off to fetch his tools.

Sakura was not in a good mood. In fact she was furious. After all of the sudden revelations last night she hadn't really thought about it, but now it came to, she was spitting with fury. She may have decided that she was going to be a proper ninja now, but damn it that did not mean she was going to let herself go.

Sasuke hadn't even let her pack, all she'd had was the lipstick in her pocket. With out so much as a sorry either! He hadn't even explained what he was doing here. Unlike Naruto, Sakura wasn't an idealist. She didn't really believe that he actually wanted to come back, and she couldn't bring herself to forgive him. No matter how much she wanted to forget all about him leaving and hurting her, she couldn't. She knew that things would never go back to how they used to be. She only hoped Naruto would figure that out soon, so as not to hurt too bad.

Enraptured in her pessimistic thoughts, she failed to notice the very person she was thinking about sneaking up behind her.

"Boo!" Two hands suddenly appeared gripping at her shoulders. She screamed, high and loud, whilst simultaneously swinging around and punching out with her fist. Naruto flew backwards with a yell and crashed into the floor some feet away.

"Naruto! Don't you ever do that to me again!"

He groaned as he tried to stand, clutching his nose. A steady stream of blood dripped from underneath his fingers. Sakura winced in sympathy, she'd heard the bones snap.

"Naruto come here, I'll heal that..." she faltered as she watched him take his hands away from his face. He wasn't hurt. There was no sign of him ever having broken his nose and the once heavy stream of blood had already dried up. In fact, the only evidence that she'd ever hit him at all was the dried blood that covered his face and hands.

But that wasn't possible. She'd heard the bones snap, she hadn't pulled back at all. He'd flown backwards, how could he possibly be uninjured?

"Naruto?" she asked.

He stopped wiping his hands on his clothes and glanced up at her.

"What just happened?"

He looked confused.

"I snuck up on you and you hit me. Are you okay Sakura-chan?"

She waved away his question.

"Your nose was broken wasn't it?"

He seem to realise where this line of questioning was going because he looked down suddenly, busying himself with wiping his hands again.

"I heal fast," he mumbled.

"No-one heals that fast."

Naruto raised his head. "Well I do," he spat.

Sakura took a step back. She'd never heard him speak like that before. He seemed to notice her bewilderment because he forced a smile.

"Come on, we've still got the grounds to explore right?"

Her eyes raked over his face before she hesitantly smiled back.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm feeling a little weird." She must have imagined the flash of anger and frustration in his eyes. After all, this was Naruto, he never felt like that. Especially not towards her. He had no reason to. Not like Sasuke-kun.

She never even noticed his smile was fake.

So what do you think? I'm a bit hesitant about this one really because it was meant to develop Naruto's and Sakura's characters. Most other fanfictions including Sakura portray her so different from the manga and I wouldn't to try and get them as close to the manga as possible. Same with the Itachi, although I had to make him a little more open because he's no longer surrounded by criminals. Please review and tell me how well I did.

Also, I'm not really sure what pairings (if any) I should include in this story, so if you have a personal preference can you please review and tell me.