In Privet Drive, things had gone from the usual awful, to dangerously horrific. Today, it was Harry's fifth birthday. Most children would celebrate their birthday by eating cake, playing games and spending time with friends and family. Harry spent his birthdays suffering the worst beatings he had ever experienced in his life.

His aunt and uncle seemed to want to make him regret the day he had ever been born, so they planned year round for ways to torture their nephew. From burning him on the stove, to making him drink chemicals, even buying a whole bunch of expensive toys and clothes for him to let him play with for the whole day, only to take them and burn them right in front of his face. He had cried himself to sleep after that last incident...

Harry whimpered, cradling his broken arm, not that he knew it was broken; he just knew it hurt a lot. As he sat there, in his cupboard, he couldn't help but want to cry, but he had been beaten in the past every time he did, so, out of reflex, he stopped himself from crying, as much as he wanted to break down completely and let out all of his pent up misery. Instead, his emotions got the better of him, and responded by activating his magic, causing it to swirl around him without realising it. He knew his name for the first time in his life now though, he was called Harry, as part of his torment from his aunt Petunia, she had told him he had been named Harry by his mother, but, then he was told that they would never tell him his last name, so that he would always wonder.

Harry was tired of his life. He wished he could be happy...But it wasn't possible. Freaks don't get happiness, after all. They get the hatred and scorn that they deserved... Harry hated being a freak. Why couldn't he have been born normal?

In response to his wishes, his magic was beginning to respond to his desire, and, with a flash, he disappeared from the cupboard, without a trace, well without a physical trace anyway. As a side effect of Harry's magic removing him from the cupboard under the stairs, along with his few possessions he had, such as the baby blanket he had had as long as he could remember, and the little stuffed dog, wolf, stag and deer he had apparently had when he was taken in by the Dursleys, and a small toy soldier he had rescued from the trash after Dudley had broken its one leg off. The displaced space was filled with the air surrounding it, causing it to collapse the staircase due to sucking in the stairs from underneath.

~~~A strange and ancient forest full of life, location, near a river deep inside the forest~~~

Harry felt himself on...dirt. Eyes wide, the little boy shot straight up and snapped his head around the area he had appeared in. How had he arrived in a forest?! Where was he?! Did he do the freaky stuff again?! What if Uncle Vernon was here too?! Would he kill him for taking him to an unfamiliar land?! Harry grabbed his meager possessions and ran into some nearby bushes so he wouldn't be seen, and buried his face in his knees, trembling in fear. Was this the end for him?

Unaware to Harry, not far from him, was a river, and in that river, a beautiful woman with a feline mixed with humanoid face, and fur, and long red hair. She was currently bathing in the river, after having had a very long, and very sweaty, training session. As she cleaned herself, she suddenly heard something come from the bushes not far away, Instantly on alert, she drew her clothing to her, and got dressed on the bank of the river, trying to keep as out of sight as possible, before getting up and slowly making her way to the location of the sound that had put her on alert.

The cat woman approached the rustling bushes silently and stealthily, then, when she deemed herself 'close enough', she pounced. The sounds of screaming were heard, and Intress had her stalker pinned down by the throat. The woman's eyes quickly transitioned from glaring *menacingly, to widening in surprise as she looked down at the form of a tiny, terrified human child.

-Naruto Road to Ninja OST: Rainy Day starts here-

Harry whimpered. One moment he was huddling in a bush, hoping that Vernon would not find him, and feeling fear like never before, and the next, he was held against the ground by his throat, by the strange cat woman the likes of which he had never seen before. Needless to say, it was too much for him, and he began to sob and cry, letting out years of pain as he honestly believed he was about to die finally. Needless to say, seeing a five year old boy, with a broken arm, numerous bruises and cuts, and even a few scars, holding onto a very old and tatty baby blanket, and four stuff animals that had clearly seen better days, and a toy soldier missing a leg, and wearing clothes that were clearly at the level of being seventh generation hand me downs, and at least four sizes too big for the boy, it would have broken the heart of even some of the toughest warriors around. Especially since he had a defeated air around him, like as if he expected he was going to die in an instant, and that he accepted this fact with open arms.

In that very instant, Intress's feline maternal instincts overwhelmed her. Without saying a word, the cat woman scooped the child into her arms and held him tightly. What had happened to him? Why was a child all alone in the forest? How had he gotten so injured? The cat woman found herself tearing up a little bit herself at the absolutely pitiful *condition the child was in. The feline gently stroked his back. "It's okay." She said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you any more...I'm sorry I attacked you unprovoked...If I had known who it was, I would never have done such a thing...Just calm down...Relax...Please..."

Harry sniffled and began sobbing uncontrollably, he was not used to affection, and so it confused him greatly, "W-W-Why are y-y-you being n-nice to m-me?" he asked, sobbing and causing him to have to repeat several words every so often as he was also hiccupping from his sobs, "I'm a-a-a fre-freak!" he said, crying and trying to understand why someone who his uncle would have no doubt called a monster, would be nice to him, when everyone who looked like Harry and normal people, had always be mean to him before.

"Shhh..." Intress whispered into his ear. "That's enough of that. It's okay. You're safe now..." The tigress pressed the little boy's head against her chest.

Harry still sobbed...but he heard a sound that gradually caused his sobbing to cease. It seemed to be coming from the cat woman's chest...It sounded like someone softly tapping on a drum. It was a soothing sound to Harry. Wide-eyed, the little boy, tears still staining his face, wordlessly moved his head off of the cat woman's chest, and placed his hand over it, feeling for the sound of the heartbeat.

Slowly, Harry began to calm down, still *hiccupping from time to time, and letting out the *occasional sob as well, he then, *managed to look up at the woman, tears still shining in his eyes and on his face as they still flowed, but not as much as before, making their way to his chin before dropping off and to the ground below. "S-s-so you r-really don't mind me b-b-being a f-freak?" he asked, *genuinely *scared she would reject him.

Intress placed his head against her chest again. "What in the world make you think that you're a freak?" She asked softly.

"I-I do freaky stuff..." Harry replied. "I'm not s-s-supposed to do freaky stuff..."

"Shhhh..." Intress whispered in his ear once more. "Shhshhshhshhshhshhshh..." Harry was finally beginning to fully relax. He looked up at the cat woman with tear-stained eyes, and gave her a genuine smile. He liked her...She was so nice...

As she watched him, Intress could see the little boy was fading in and out of consciousness, it wouldn't be long till he was out cold. As she was watching him slowly loose the battle she was taken by surprize as he said something quietly that she almost missed as he passed out in her arms, it was one word, but one she never thought she would ever hear it said to her, "Mommy..." he said as he finally found unconsciousness. Intress was unsure of how to react, the little human had just called her mommy, did that he mean he thought of her as his mother, or that he was thinking of his mother, what had gone through his mind as he had passed out? She decided that could wait till later and remembered that he had a broken arm, and numerous injuries, needless to say, he had to see a healer, and the best one she knew, would be Najarin, so, looking down and seeing what few possessions the boy apparently had, she put them in the blanket, wrapped them up, tied the blanket with some string she had, and put it in her pack, before picking the boy back up, and running off to Najarin's tower with the boy secured safely in her arms.