It took less than a minute for everyone to get inside and assemble in the small classroom off the side of the entrance hall. The moment the other three ninja were out of danger Sakura had released the jutsu she had been creating into the wall. Naruto could tell it was the strongest defence technique she knew. That coupled with the two thousand or so clones he had created should serve to buy them a little time. He could feel the drain when he divided himself that many times but it wasn't much and he could still hold his own against most anyone.

"It's the stupid paedophile snake freak!" He exclaimed, confused when everyone in the room looked horrified. Most of them shouldn't have known who he was talking about. Then something hit him - well two things actually. The first was the knowledge that the wizard's enemy (what was his name? Voldymort?) was also very fond of snakes, the second was much more horrifying.

"Holly Shit!" He yelled, rushing to the window which now had a pink glow making the view hazy. Not that looking out would accomplish anything; the battle was in the forest and his eyesight wasn't that good. Neji and Hinata were already staring out there, trying to see what was going on with their Byakugan.

Squinting in his effort to see he almost didn't hear Harry asking him a question, as it was he had to ask him to repeat it. "Which snake freak? Naruto, which one?"

Naruto growled low in his throat in frustration, it was hard to try and answer he was so angry…and scared. "Both of them."

A collective gasp ran through the crowd. This was much worse than anyone could guess. They had to hold them off until the ministry of magic reinforcements arrived and then the Ninja would have to fight an army on their own otherwise their side had no chance.

As Naruto felt more and more of his clones return to him the sweat began to bead on his brow. They were getting through much too quickly, faster then he'd expected with so many to hold them off. He would need to go out there again and create more if they hoped to survive.

Harry watched Naruto run up the stairs, wondering why no one was trying to stop him. Then again, if he had a plan to stall them a little longer it wouldn't do to hinder him. Harry growled himself, he hated feeling so useless. His fist clenched tighter around his wand before he forced himself to relax it. He couldn't afford to snap his wand right now.

"You know," Sakura began, "we all know." She was smiling, abet tensely.

Harry was confused. "You all know what?"

"What he carries. Kakashi-sensei told me the first time I saw it completely take him over. I didn't tell Naruto I knew because he had tried to kill me while he was like that." Harry noticed she was alternating from crossing her arms and letting them fall to her side, as if she couldn't decide which she wanted them to do. She must have been really nervous to let something like that happen.

Harry let out a small sigh of relief. At least he hadn't spoiled the secret; he could even convince them all to tell Naruto. He knew it would be a big weight off his shoulders to know that his friends didn't hate him and treated him exactly the same. "How did everyone else find out?"

"You can probably guess Shikamaru's known the longest, he guessed way back when we were still gennin. The rest of them just worked it out on their own eventually. The Kyubi takes control much more often than he would like to think and after Gaara of the Sand we knew it was possible to be the container of a demon." Some of the tension slipped from her expression to be replaced by determination. "He's a bigger idiot then I thought if he thinks we'll give up on him because of something like that."

Harry snorted. "We were assigned a book in Defence Against the Dark Arts that told us all about it. We put two and two together when the Kyubi tried to escape. He exploded at me when I confronted him about it and then when the whole school was told… It's been better since you guys came though."

Her hands settled on her hips, seeming to find a compromise and she grinned. "I'll protect him to the end, as I will with all my friends. Nothing's going to change that ever."

"Nothing's going to change what?" Naruto had returned so suddenly Harry nearly jumped ten feet into the air. He looked haggard and a glance outside told him why. There were at least as many fresh clones now as there were at the beginning, though they were quickly being destroyed. The army was out of the forest now, coming up the grassy hill.

"That I'll protect your thick head no matter what, idiot. Goodness knows it needs protection. Any more hard knocks and you won't be able to use it at all."

Naruto pouted, though it was a mock expression, this was obviously standard barter for the two. "Aw Sakura-chan! My brain works just fine."

She raised one elegant eyebrow. "I suppose your head is rather thick, maybe it will take more than one more massive hit to put it out of action. You're lucky, people seems to aim for it."

Harry was glad both glad and disappointed that Ron and Hermione weren't here. On one hand having them here would comfort him. He'd be able to talk to them like Sakura did with Naruto (though not quite like that) and have their support when battle came. But he much preferred that they weren't. They weren't in danger of being maimed or killed in the fighting if they'd stayed. He couldn't lose any one else he care so much about; it would break him beyond repair.

Naruto broke off mid-sentence, his head whipping around to the window as the Hyuuga called out the alarm for everyone to brace themselves. Only a moment later an explosion rocked the castle to its core. It felt as though the whole place should have come falling down about their ears but it held and when the shaking stopped Sakura's jutsu was still in place, abet a little less vibrant.

A giant puff of smoke erupted outside and Naruto stood up straighter. "I've managed to take out about two hundred if their men, mainly wizards. There are roughly three thousand of them left though, which is big trouble against just us. If reinforcements don't get here soon we're screwed, my clones are gone." With his clumsy and loud act gone Naruto looked every bit the excellent warrior he claimed to be; he stood straight and proud, an intelligent glint to his blue eyes.

There was another explosion that unsteadied him on his feet and the pink faded even further. Whatever spell or Jutsu was being used was very strong to be whittling it down so quickly. Through the haze of smoke caused by the destruction of the rest of Naruto's clones, scores of people began to climb the bluff, cresting the hill and beginning to cross the courtyard towards the main doors. To have so many siege the castle while there were so few people here...

Half the shinobi went to the doorway, the other's to the window, intending to use them to their advantage in defending their position. The teachers raised their wands; shifting into defensive positions just as the Ninja readied their hand signs or weapons. Harry raised his wand but copied the stance Naruto was currently taking. He had the advantage here, knowing how to fight both ways, as did his tutor. They had been trying to find a way to fight with both wand and ninjutsu over the last few weeks.

Spells began to fly at the front door, trying to get it to open despite the guards woven into its making. Hogwarts had its own defences but they wouldn't hold for long. The tension in the air as the door creaked, wood snapping, metal bending – and then the ground began to shake again, though this time it formed a rhythm.

It reminded Harry of footsteps.

Naruto ran from the door to the window, Hinata swapping with him so that they weren't uneven in power at the weaker vantage point.

"Reinforcements have arrive!" He cheered. As much as he had grown out of his loudness, it was still a part of his real personality. Sakura's barrier shattered as the cry of battle rang out. Metal clashed against metal and spells hit or flew wide. In the chaos all but a few turned back to fight the new army at their rear. Those that remained were quickly felled by Neji, Hinata and Lee, no one tried for the window just yet.

Sakura seemed just as elated as Naruto. "Hokage-sama must have gotten our letter!"

"I'm going to feed Mizu different flavoured owl treats every day for the rest of her life when this is over! What are we waiting for? Let's get out there and help them!" Naruto pushed at Shikamaru to move until he did, by that point most everyone had already left.

Harry was at the door when he heard a soft voice call him back. Both he and Naruto stopped, turning to face Professor Hino.

"I doubt it wise for you to dash off to battle, Mr. Potter. You are the reason they are here in the first place." Her smile looked anything but grim, as the other teacher's expressions had been. She looked perfectly content to be at the edge of war. Harry noticed her eyes didn't quite focus on them, the way they usually did. The deepest brown, almost black had turned milky.

Harry realized he hadn't seen her outside of classes for a very long time. She had stopped coming down to the great hall for meals and even in the hallways she seemed to avoid him. Still he was certain her eyes had not been like that their last lesson of term. She had looked right at him to ask a question.

Beside him Naruto stiffened. Harry dared a glance to see his face had gone white under his tan, eyes wide before they narrowed and he moved forward, shoving Harry behind him. Too shocked by his reaction, Harry didn't protest the treatment.

"So you finally noticed?" the soft, aloft tone of Professor Hino's voice had changed into something more cold. She smiled icily, only looking in their general direction instead of her usually perfect stare. Her movements too, had become quicker, though she stood stock still. "I was worried when you looked at me like that on the first day of school. Looks like you're thicker than I thought you were, Dobe."

An explosion of smoke surrounded the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and when it cleared, as if in slow motion, there was someone else standing there. His dark hair pointed out behind his head and his fringe framed his perfect, pale face. He was every bit as beautiful as the woman he had assumed but his eyes now stared milky and unseeing somewhere over their shoulder, now that he didn't have to pretend.

The teen adjusted his clothing, brushed his fringe out of his face and settled into what someone who didn't know any better would think was a casual stance. "One would think you'd have gotten it right away; it was your technique I was using, after all. And to think I called oiroke no jutsu a foolish technique."

Harry felt his blood run cold as he stared openly at the beautiful, blind boy now standing before him. Harry knew exactly who this was and what this meant.

Beside him Naruto growled and uttered but one word which rang throughout the entire room as if he'd shouted it.

"Sasuke."