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There was pain piercing Naruto's head as the growls and voices echoed around him. It sounded like they were fighting, but with each stroke of a sword, the claws gripped deeper into Naruto's being, causing him to jerk and groan in agony. He couldn't open his eyes to see what was happening, and he wasn't sure he wanted to. The monster the three adults were fighting sounded vicious and frightening.

A woman's voice, sounding close to his ear cut through the red-tinged fog in his brain. "Stay with us Naruto, we'll pull through. You're going to be fine."

The claws dug into his side, three spaced between his ribs with sharp tips grazing his lungs. Naruto heard a pitiful sound escape his lips. The woman's voice became more desperate.

"You're okay, Naruto, just hold on. Kakashi is almost finished patching up the seal, and Asuma is fending off the demon as best he can. I'm sorry you have to go through this, I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

She stopped talking for a minute, and Naruto immediately missed her voice and the distraction it provided from the pain. He heard a few more yells from the other two adults, presumably Kakashi and Asuma. The muscle fibers in his legs twitched as searing heat flushed through them and he bit back a scream. The woman's cool hands gently took hold of his face, her icy fingers resting on his temples.

"Look at me, Naruto. I can't help you if you don't open your eyes."

He had to think about how to perform a once simple task. Even has he commanded his lids to open, he could feel his eyes still rolling in the back of his head and saw nothing but flashes of red and black. The woman sucked in a sharp breath and rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks.

"Focus, Naruto, look at me."

Finally he turned his gaze to the lady. Her red eyes blended in with the red fog, but instead of being afraid he found himself looking deeper and deeper until his vision spiraled into black and his senses disappeared from his consciousness. The last thing Naruto heard was a sob and an angry mutter from the woman. "Curse the Nine. This isn't fair."

When he awoke, he again had trouble opening his eyes. His limbs felt heavy and there was an ache in his chest and a dryness in his throat. He would have preferred to go back to sleep, but he was suddenly aware of the ice running through his veins. He slowly looked around the room he was in. Naruto was laid out on a small bed in the corner. There was a door on the opposite wall from his head and a smaller one on the right wall that must have led to a closet. Sun was filtering in from a traditional window covered with paper stretching across the top half of the wall above his head, and to his right he also saw a small nightstand and a chair. The clock on the nightstand read 2:30 P.M. A wave of exhaustion passed through his aching limbs and he wanted to go back to sleep despite it being the middle of the afternoon. But, I'm cold. And this isn't the foster home…

Naruto forced himself to roll over and shuffle out of bed. Halfway to the door however, it opened abruptly and in his surprise he stumbled on his shaking legs only to plop his butt back down on the bed. A dark haired boy around his age stood in the doorway. He stared at Naruto for a second before leaning his head back into the hallway and yelling, "Sensei! He's awake!"

The other boy walked further into the room and sat himself in the chair. He dug a tissue out of a pocket and handed it to Naruto.

"Clean your face off, that's disgusting"

Naruto took the tissue; realizing just now that he did, in fact, have something sticky and half dried under his nose. Looking down at the tissue after wiping however revealed black goo and dried flakes that reflected the light like tiny, dark sparkles. The flakes would have been pretty if they weren't also gross and the sight of black blood wasn't freaking him out. He looked up at the other boy. "Blood… isn't supposed to be black?"

"It is after you've been possessed by a demon."

Naruto stared at the other teen for a long second. "W-what?"

A pink haired girl suddenly entered the room. "Sasuke! You can't just tell him that, he needs to be told gently." She turned green eyes on Naruto and looked him over before holding a cup of steaming liquid out. "Drink the tea; it will make you feel better."

Naruto tentatively took a sip. It was milky and sweet, but almost immediately began thawing the ice in his veins. He also felt sleepier than he already was. But the syrupy sugar slid down his throat and pooled warmly in his stomach, and he found himself taking another sip. The other two teens watched him creepily.

A creak of the floorboards was heard as a lanky man with white hair and a black mask covering the lower half of his face as well as an eye patch over one eye entered. He shot an eye smile in Naruto's direction.

"Ah, good to see you awake, Naruto-kun. I am Kakashi-sensei. This is Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Welcome to Team Seven."

The three of them stared at Naruto expectedly, but all he gave was another "What?"

Kakashi only blinked at him before humming. "Finish your tea and sleep; we'll talk in the morning. Sasuke, Sakura, get out."

With that the three of them left, Kakashi shutting the door behind him.

Naruto woke up at 3:30 A.M. the next morning, with the remembrance of fire in his limbs and growls in his ears. He also remembered several names: Asuma and Kakashi. Whatever had happened to him, Kakashi had been there. Naruto wanted answers.

He found a bathroom down the hall from the bedroom and almost yelled when he looked down into the toilet bowl and realized his urine was black, before recalling that Sasuke said something about how being possessed by a demon turned your blood black. But urine? Gross. When Naruto looked at his face in the mirror, he found that not only had he had a nose bleed again, there was black goo leaking out of his ears too. What he had previously thought was just crusty eyes from allergies turned out to also be black flakes. His skin was pale and grey, his cheeks were slightly sunken, and the dark bags under his eyes gave him the appearance of a ghoul. He turned the water on as hot as it would go and washed his face, hissing at the pinpricks the heat caused in his cold fingers.

After stumbling downstairs and finding his way to the kitchen, Naruto found Kakashi sitting at the head of a large table. The ceiling light seemed to only brighten directly above the table, leaving the shadows to dance in the corner of the room. Kakashi was reading a suspicious small orange book. When Naruto sat at the corner next to the man, he slid another steaming cup across the wood without looking up from the book. Naruto squinted his eyes at the mug before turning his gaze to Kakashi. The man sighed.

"It's not doused with a sedative this time, just tea, milk, and caramel. Drink up; it'll help with the chills."

Naruto pondered that for a second before acquiescing and taking a large gulp of the sweet liquid, enjoying the warmth and sugar. "So…what on earth is going on?"

Kakashi snorted and finally placed the book on the table. "Sasuke was correct; you were possessed by a demon. Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and I sent the little turd back to the Dark World. Possession happens to about 0.0026 percent of the population each year, and only about 60 percent of those exorcized survive."

"Okay." Naruto nodded, trying to take it in. "Is it always like that? Painful?"

Kakashi's eye cut across Naruto, boring into him. "You remember it?"

"Yes. All of it."

"Hm. Well, it is a painful process. Possession fundamentally changes a person. You won't be able to leave this house until you can manage yourself. I mean you'll be able to see ghosts and demons now. Some people have a gene that lays dormant within them that doesn't appear unless they have been possessed, a sort of defense mechanism. You'll also need lots of tea and sugar to keep the cold away."

"And the black blood?"

"The leaking of the excess demon blood should disappear within three to eight days, but you will carry the taint with you forever now."

"What about the whole Team Seven thing you mentioned?"

Kakashi gave him another eye smile. "Ah. As there are so few members of the population that are possessed and survive, everyone that does is required by law to complete training and serve three years in the Supernatural Defense Army. A team must have three members and a sensei. My team, Team Seven, has been waiting for its last member."

Naruto glared at the man. "I am that last member? I don't want to join the army. I've never even heard of the Supernatural Defense Army."

"Well that's because its top secret, and most of the population wouldn't believe you if you told them there are demons out there waiting to feast on their souls. I don't make the laws, Naruto. You have been possessed; you will go through training and serve your time to protect the ignorant innocent." The man turned in his seat to face him completely. "Besides, the SDA is the safest place for you now. Once possessed, your chances of being possessed again increase by 90 percent."

Naruto put his mug down loudly. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Kakashi picked his book up again and Naruto folded his arms on the table and rested his head on top.

"I thought you said there was no sedative in the tea this time."

"Hm. Exhaustion is another side effect of possession."

"I have no choice about any of this?"

"None. Deserters are executed."

"This is crap. I don't like being told what to do."

Kakashi turned a page. "I would imagine most fifteen year old rebels feel the same way."

"Do I still have to go to school?"

"Yes. Now shut up and go to sleep, it's five in the morning."

Naruto scowled and turned his head away, content to just take a nap at the table. Just as he was dozing off, he remembered another question.

"Who are the Nine?"

At the slamming shut of Kakashi's book, Naruto jerked his head up and stared startled at the man. Kakashi leaned in close and gazed at Naruto with his single eye. "Where did you hear that term?"