'English'

"Japanese"

Thoughts

"Demon"

'To our newcomers,' said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, 'welcome! To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!'

By now Naruto had calmed down enough that his eyes were a sky blue again and he wasn't stirring with anger. He still didn't want to talk to anyone just yet, and he was still very upset that the hat went into his mind like that, and didn't listen when he told it to stop.

Not only that, but stirring up memories he thought he had blocked away, like all his birthdays. As well as how the villagers would beat him to near death, rape him, and carve the word "monster" on his back that started between his shoulder blades and ended at the base of his back. He was never seen without a shirt on, for this reason that and some of his more severe scars just wouldn't go away.

Sasuke was still annoyed at the hat for what it showed him, but seeing his friend go through all that pain again just about sent him over the edge. He also knew Naruto was hiding things even from him, he just hoped that one day they would be close enough that there would be no secrets.

As much as it pained him, he knew he would have to wait, or he could take this into his own hands and hope for the best. Then he remembered how Naruto's eyes went red and started looking around to see who all had noticed it, hoping that few to none had.

More people had seen than he would have liked. So far he could tell that Harry and his two friends had seen, that was obvious by the determined look in Hermione's eyes. There was a few others that had noticed it but he didn't know their names, nor did he care to find out.

Sasuke was too busy looking around to notice that a whole lot of food just appeared out of nowhere. That is until he saw Naruto jump slightly, that's when Sasuke too noticed all the food. This time looking around his table to see everyone else eating, seeing it wasn't poisonous. He watched Naruto as he too looked around to see if it was good to eat or not.

Naruto was more sceptical about the food.

That upset Sasuke a bit, but what really ticked him off was the blonde almost white hair boy. This was the same one from the train, if he was right, he was the boy named Draco. The boy was staring at his Naruto, yes Sasuke's Naruto, even if Naruto didn't know it yet, with hungry lustful eyes.

Naruto could feel someone other than Sasuke watching him throughout the whole feast. He tried to just ignore it, but near the end, Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He was about to see who it was, and do something about it but Naruto was soon interrupted by the old man standing up and walking to the front to talk again.

'Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,' said Dumbledore. 'First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes. As are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door. We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. We are now also home to some wonderful exchange students from another land, so please be kind to them.'

Both Sasuke and Naruto were told that there would be a room set up just for them. It would be located in the tallest tower just about where the Gryffindor's were.

To get into said room the ninja would have to release chakra into a brick on the wall, once that was done an unseen door would open up. [1]

Once through the door, there was a sitting area just like every other house had. There was couches, chairs and tables to do your studding at, and a big fireplace where one could warm up on cold nights. Off to the side there was the sleeping room with two beds and a fireplace in between the beds, just like in the sitting area only smaller. There was also some old chests at the foot of the beds, and some shelves to put their gear away.

Unlike the other houses there was no set color. However if one of them wished to, they could stay in the house they were sorted into.

'Try-outs for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the - 'Dumbledore broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat,

'Hem, hem,' and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech. Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk.

Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was thin.

No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

Thank you, Headmaster,' Professor Umbridge simpered, 'for those kind words of welcome. 'Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again, everyone felt a powerful rush of dislike, which they could not explain. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ('hem, hem') and continued.

'Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!' She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. 'And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!'

Sasuke glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

'I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!' Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

'I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan,' Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ('hem, hem'), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more business-like and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

'The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.' Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her.

Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawk like.

Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little 'hem, hem' and went on with her speech.

'Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation . . . . Because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited.'

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, although Sasuke noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping.

A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating,' he said, bowing to her. 'Now, as I was saying, Quidditch try-outs will be held . . .'

Sasuke didn't like what he was hearing, by the sounds of it this person was going to be trying her best to interfere with just about everything she could at the school. Things were just getting started and already he could tell that this mission wasn't going to be as easy as he thought, and was already getting ready to give word back to their home village to send backup if things got worse.

Once everyone was dismissed Sasuke looked around the hall to see if he could find Naruto, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not only that but he couldn't see that Draco boy, only serving to aggravate Sasuke more. Knowing his friend wouldn't really want to see him for a while, he went to follow his house mates to the tower. He followed them making sure he was close enough to hear what they were saying, but far enough not to be noticed by Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

'The new guys are very weird. Did you see what happened when they were sorted, it didn't seem right what so ever?' Ron said as he looked over at Harry.

'And here I was hoping we would have a quiet year.' Harry sighed and looked down.

'It would have been nice if that other guy was placed in Gryffindor, so we could have been friends. But what was up with him why did he get so mad like that, I've never seen or heard of something like that happening before. And the way he just up and disappeared, it just can't be done, it's not possible. I'm going to the library tomorrow.' Hermione ranted.

Sasuke couldn't listen anymore, the more he listened the more he wanted to hit them over the head. What did it matter what house you were placed in, shouldn't they all work together. What was really up with the Gryffindor's and the Slytherin's? So much for the friendly and welcoming place Dumbledore told them about.

Sasuke slowed his pace and walked over to the hidden house that he and Naruto would be sharing, he didn't want anything to do with anyone that wasn't Naruto. Sadly he knew deep down that he would have to be the one to befriend Harry Potter and his friends.

This thought brought his mind back to his friend. Sasuke knew Naruto would most likely be in the woods, as it was the closest thing here that would remind Naruto of home.

Naruto got the feeling he was being followed by someone, he just didn't know who or why. He thought about whether he should stop to find out who it was, or if he should just run and lose the person and head to the woods. He didn't need to think too much about it as he soon found himself running and not jogging to the closest window he could find. He didn't care the window was closed he just jumped foot first and landed not too far from the castle.

Still kneeling on one knee with one hand on the ground he looked up to the fifth story to see someone looking down. The person was too high up for Naruto to see if they were male or female, but he could at least tell they had very blonde hair to the point it was almost white.

Draco knew he was close to the mysterious Naruto, he just wished he would stop running. He thought the other blonde boy was going to stop since they were heading to a dead end that only had a window.

Draco smiled to himself thinking he had had in a way won. That was until he heard the glass braking. He ran as fast as he could to the window and looked own just in time to watch Naruto land safely on the ground and look back up then run towards the forest. He just stood there and watched as Naruto disappeared as he ran faster than any person should be able to possibly move. Now he felt he had even more reason to get to know and befriend the bright blonde.

As Naruto ran off his mind was racing, going in all different directions he couldn't see where he was going. He hadn't even noticed that he had made it to the forest until he ran into to something. Doing a back roll as he started to fall he ending up kneeling on one knee again with both hands on his knee. He looked up at what he had run into but all he could see was a wall of what looked like brown fur.

Naruto jumped back a few feet to get a better look, and was more than shocked to be face to, well, faces. What shocked Naruto the most was that this odd three headed didn't seem to be even remotely afraid of him. Then it hit him, he knew who this dog was.

For there was only one three headed dog in the world. "Cerberus is that really you, wait it has to be you. But how on earth did you get here?"

Upon hearing his true name Cerberus leapt over to Naruto and attempted to lick Naruto at the same time with all three of his heads. In the end there was a small fight over which head would give the first lick to the face.

Naruto still wasn't used to animals liking him so it took him a few moments before he noticed what was happening. Once he did he stepped back.

"Cerberus calm down boy, wait you are a boy right?" he asked as he took a quick look by tilting his head to the right a bit, then went back to looking at Cerberus. "Yup you are a boy. Now what to do with you?" Naruto asked more to himself then anything. He really wasn't sure what to do, he had never had a pet before. Let alone an animal that wasn't terrified of him. He also didn't notice that he had calmed down, or how much time had passed as he talked to Cerberus, even playing a few games with the dog.

As Draco walked back to his dorm room in the dungeon, he kept thinking about the new boy and how he could possibly be able to jump out a fifth story window and not be hurt in any way. Yet Naruto looked unharmed as he ran to the forest. Why he was running there, Draco didn't know, and he didn't think he wanted too.

Draco said the password and passed throw the door. He didn't hear anyone who tried to talk to him, he just walked passed them all with a blank look on his face. Still lost deep in his thoughts he didn't think to look at his room door, even if he wasn't lost in thought he most likely still wouldn't have looked.

All the houses had different dorm room sized. The Hufflepuff has the largest dorm rooms with around eight. The Gryffindor has the second biggest with four in a dorm. Slytherin however only had two in a dorm. The only house to have one to a dorm was the Ravenclaw.

Every year before he had always had his own room. Draco was sure it had to do with his father somehow, but he never cared to ask in fear of what the answer might be. However if he did look he would have seen a name. Not just any name but the name of the boy he wanted to meet.

Once in the room Draco changed into his night clothes and sat on his bed. 'Well this will be an interesting year with him and his scary friend, but how will I get close to Naruto without Sasuke killing me. The way I approached Harry won't work so I will have to try something I have never done before.' Draco said as he lay down on his bed and fell asleep.

Naruto had a bit of trouble finding the Slytherin house, but once he did he was able to find is dorm room much easier. Naruto did look up at the doors to see which door had his name on it. He did wonder who this Draco person was. That was until he opened the door, to see the other boy in one of the beds. [2]

There were two beds in the room, one on either side on the room with a fireplace on the opposite side of the room as the door. To the right was the bed with the blonde he had seen in the window. At the end of the boys bed was a chest, where his clothes must be and past that was a nice size desk for one to study at.

The same set up was on the left. So he went to his side of the room and started to unpack some of his clothes into the chest, the rest he would keep in his shared ninja house. He had talked to Sasuke earlier about how they would keep their ninja equipment in their shared dorm.

Naruto then unpacked his school stuff, he knew they wouldn't need it tomorrow. As the first day back was meant for friends to talk about whatever they wanted.

By the time he was done it was just about four in the morning, he flopped on his back. Still in the school uniform Naruto crawled up to his pillow not bothering with the blankets he faced the wall and passed out on his stomach.

Sadly Naruto didn't get to sleep for too long, until his nightmares came flooding back. He started whimpering and quietly crying for help in his native tongue.

That's when Draco woke up to the sound of crying. He sat up and looked around the room in fear, for as far as he knew he was alone again for another year. That's when he seen the other four post bed on the other side of the room.

Draco wasn't sure how he could miss that last night. As he walked over to the boy, he could see blonde hair the closer he got. Is that him? Draco thought as the blonde rolled over covered in sweat.

Draco was sitting down on the bed to wake Naruto up from his nightmare. Right as Draco was slowly reaching out to him, Naruto jumped to a sitting position. "DON'T HURT ME!" Naruto yelled as he flung his eyes open in fear. Draco was taken back as he saw how scared Naruto looked, he wasn't sure what to do.

Naruto was panicked as he looked all around the room trying to figure out what was happening.

'It's ok I won't hurt you, you are safe here. I promise no one will ever hurt you here.' Draco softly spoke to the frightened boy.

'How can you be so sure nobody will hurt me?' Naruto hesitantly asked as he looked at Draco. For some reason Draco didn't fully look at him, as if he was ashamed of something.

'Let's just say most people ether try and stay on my good side or just stay away from me at all times, because of my family name. So no one in their right mind would even think to come into my room. So again, you will be safe here.' Draco plainly answered.

Naruto had mostly calmed down by now, but he was still trying to comfort himself by wrapping his arms around himself. Draco cautiously moved closer to Naruto, and when Naruto didn't move away, he took it as a sign that he could continue. When he was close enough to put his arm around Naruto he stopped, and looked over at him.

Naruto just looked back completely shocked with a hint of curiosity and fear. If Draco was right he saw what he thought was just the smallest glimmer of trust. No it wasn't trust it was more like hope, yes hope was right.

Draco didn't wish to frighten the smaller boy [3] any more, but he also knew he wanted to comfort him. As Draco was about to place his arm around Naruto, the smaller boy jumped up and away from him.

'We should go down for some breakfast before it's all gone.' Naruto stated. Draco was shocked by what had just happened, he couldn't believe how difficult it was to comfort someone.

'Naruto are you sure you are ok? That seemed like quite the nightmare you just had. Are you sure you wouldn't want to stay here? I could always bring some food up for you, if you wanted.' Draco was slightly shocked that he had just offered to do something for someone else, but it felt oddly good at the same time.

Naruto just looked at Draco with uncertainty. 'I can't just run away from one little nightmare, if I did that then I would never accomplish my goals in life. Plus Sasuke would have my head if I didn't show up.' [4] Naruto half joked as he scratched the back of his neck.

'Since you put it that way, let's go down and get some food. Just let me change out of my night clothes first.' Draco agreed and started to change.

Once he was done they both walked up to the great hall.

[1] The door would only open with chakra, and not just any. Only Naruto and Sasuke's chakra would work to open it.

[2] Naruto didn't want to go to the shared room with Sasuke, even if Sasuke was there he didn't want to face him. He was still mad that he was knocked out on the train. But he knew if he saw Sasuke, he would forgive him right away and he wanted to stay mad for a bit longer. That's why Naruto went to the Slytherin house for the night.

[3] Naruto is smaller than most boys his age, because he never got the right vitamins and nutrition he needed.

[4] What Naruto means to say but can't or he would blow their cover, is that if he didn't show up to do his job and help watch over the kids Sasuke would kill him.

Hope you like, please write a review and tell me what you think so far. Also comment who you think Naruto should be with, and what you think of the new nice Draco. Last but not least comment if you got the one reference and if you would you like to see more of the cute little Cerberus?