They didn't get very far before they ran into Professor McGonagall and got the much needed assistance of a magical stretcher. Naruto had passed out and Harry and Ron wouldn't have been able to carry him the whole way, even if he was quite light. Reaching the Hospital wing in record time Hermione went to wake up Madam Pomfrey while the teacher helped her students place the ninja on one of the sterile white beds, making sure he was on his side in case he started coughing up blood again. The matron, quite annoyed at being woken up but still worried for the well being of the teen, ushered everyone back as she examined her patient.

It took a while for her to go through each and every possible cause and soon she was forced to say it was stress induced. She couldn't find anything else wrong with him. It was only after looking inside of his ears that she noticed the predominant whisker marks of his cheeks. Running her fingers along one of them it felt bumpy, like a real whisker was trying to break through. Her heart was beating faster now. Naruto let out a small whimper like cry and tried to curl himself into a ball in his unconscious state. Madam Pomfrey stopped him, drawing up his shirt and gasping at what she saw. Yanking the garment back down again her head snapped around to face Professor McGonagall, eyes wide. "Please take the young ones back to their dormitory and get Albus down here immediately!"

Harry and the others were of course not amused to be shunned off like this. "But we want to stay with Naruto!" Complained Ron loudly, earning him a humbling glare from the nurse.

Harry didn't complain and followed silently, deep in thought.

"Harry! Aren't you going to protest!" asked Hermione shrewdly. Harry just shook his head. He had been able to see what had made Madam Pomfrey on edge. All over Naruto's stomach had been dark lines, too precise to be tattoos, more like fresh ink lines. That was defiantly not normal and he had a feeling they would find answers in Ancient Monsters, pages 40 to 45.

"We have to do our Defence Against the Dark Arts homework." He whispered with a meaningful look at his friends. Comprehension dawned on both their faces and they too quieted down and went without a fight.

XXOO

Kyuubi thrashed against its cage, each impact causing injury both to itself and its vessel.

Naruto had wanted to stay awake but the demon hadn't let him, it had called him to its cage and that was where he stood, fighting off new waves of nausea and pain that threatened his real body.

"DAMMIT FOX! What are you doing this time? If you kill me then you die too!" he screamed, fear and rage mingling together.

Sickening laughter rang throughout the chamber and the Kyuubi stopped its thrashing for long enough to focus its blood red eyes on the boy it was sealed inside. "I'm trying to escape. If I weaken you then I'll have more of a chance."

Naruto, now quivering slightly, stood his ground as the huge fox rammed itself into the cage bars, trying to bite the seal that kept them closed only to receive a shock that made it reel back. "I'm the only one who can set you free remember. And I refuse to do so. We've been through this already so stop trying to break free!" He couldn't help but let out a small whimper of pain and double over as the Demon rammed particularly hard into the side of its cage. He knew the fox would tire itself out soon, then it would take a few weeks to heal from this because of the seal that also bound almost all of its power. It was just a matter of waiting it out and not giving in beforehand. Though he had to admit, some of Kyuubi's previous escape attempts had been worse than this one. When he was 14 he had almost give in to the attack on his insides. That had been the first escape attempt that he could remember, this was the fifth.

The youth assumed it was because it could sense that it was beginning to fuse with him, as his power grew, its declined and by the time he had grown fully he presumed that the Kyuubi would just be an almost useless shell. When he died it would disappear too. Cursing puberty, the Kyuubi, and the fourth Hokage who put him in this situation in the first place he sat down to wait out the rest of the attack.

OO

"Kyuubi no Kistune, the nine tailed demon fox, is the first of the Japanese elemental Demons covered in this section of Ancient Monsters. Containing the power of fire it lived in the hidden leaf territory of the lost ninja continent." Read Harry. He was pretty sure by now that this was what had set Naruto off.

"That's were Naruto's from!" Exclaimed Hermione. "So this does have something to do with him. You were right Harry!"

Nodding he went on. "'Staying in hiding for years, the reason for it to finally surface and attack the Hidden Village of Leaf sixteen years ago is unknown…' Almost seventeen now by the publishing date." Skimming down past a description of the battle. "'…when it was finally defeated by the great Fourth Hokage, co leader of Konohagakure at the time. The full details of the defeat are undisclosed, on the insistence of the Third Hokage. It is just known that the Fourth used a forbidden Jutsu (ninja technique) that sacrificed his own life in the process…" Harry bit his lip. "Maybe his parents were killed in that attack and that's why he's an orphan." like me… he added mentally.

Hermione nodded. "That seems plausible. Maybe he was mistreated because he had no parents to look after him."

"But that doesn't explain why people hated him so much like Harry said they did." Said Ron, flipping through his own copy of the text book to the last page on the Kyuubi. It was mainly filled with information on why else it was famous, what it ate and some more information about the lost ninja continent. How they managed to fill up five page on it they did not know.

"Maybe…" muttered Harry. He was getting tired and they had school tomorrow. "Hey, let's sleep on it, alright."

"You're right, it's getting quite late and I don't want to be tired on a school day." Hermione stood up, fixing her robes and made her way to her Dormitory.

"C'mon Harry, I'm sure Naruto'll be fine after a good nights sleeee-" Ron Cut himself off with a gigantic yawn. Harry followed him up to their dorm and careful not to wake the other boys sleeping there they too went to bed.

XXOO

The moment Naruto opened his eyes he closed them again, scrunching himself up into the smallest ball he could. It was dark outside, indicating that it was still night, which night he didn't know but he assumed too much time hadn't passed. The waves of sickness that followed the Kyuubi's futile trashing were slowly beginning to pass and were down to bearable levels while he was awake now. What made him assume a fetal position and hold back tears though was the group of adults gathered around his bed. He could feel their eyes boring into him, fear and anger radiating around them. Now that the Kyuubi was starting to merge with him he was starting to gain sharper senses and somewhat of a sixth one which allowed him to tell the aura of his surroundings to a point.

His strategy wasn't as effective as he would have liked. All of them knew he was awake the moment his breathing started to speed up and he moved. "You know I have a seal then…" He asked almost inaudibly, but in the silent room they all heard.

"Yes." Came the sharp reply from Madam Pomfrey. "And it's in the breaking down process when whatever is sealed starts to merge with its host."

"So I s'pose you're going to ask me to leave…or kill me like all the people back home who know want to…?" If they did try to kill him he knew he could evade them, but then he would be in this strange world all by himself. For a moment he struggled with himself as to whether or not he would run if they attacked but then he remembered Sasuke. He had to save him from Orochimaru's influence.

There was a startled gasp from one of the women present at his comment, but Naruto couldn't recognise the voice. There was a long pause before anyone chose to reply. "Not if you co-operate with us and take a small test. We need to make absolutely sure you tell us the truth."

Naruto laughed dryly. "Don't trust me so much now, do you Old Man…? It's always the same, but I'll take whatever damn test you want." He sat up, fixing his bright blue eyes on the equally bright pair of Dumbledore. "If it means I can throw it back in your faces when I pass and prove to you all that I'm not a monster like you all believe me to be now. I know that's what you're thinking, you all reek of fear and anger. Thinking I could get away from those eyes, I truly am a Baka…"

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment with some unknown emotion before he handed a small bottle of some clear liquid to the teen. Naruto downed it in one gulp and settled into the trance it induced.

"What is your name and where do you come from."

"I am Uzumaki Naruto and I come from the Hidden Village of Leaf."

"What is sealed inside you?"

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine tailed demon fox."

"Why?"

"It attacked Konoha the day I was born. The fourth sealed it inside of me because he couldn't destroy it."

"Do you intend any of the students or teachers at this school harm?"

"Only if they try to kill my important people or charges."

"How deep is your bond with the demon?" Someone who Naruto guessed was Professor Sprout asked a little jittery.

"It can call me to its chamber when it has enough power. I can also bring myself there when I am in great peril. I can call forth and use its Chakra freely when I want, but do not like relying on it. It is beginning to merge with me. It also sees what I see, feels what I feel. It lives my life as a passenger."

"What happened tonight to cause you to collapse?"

"It saw its name in the text book and tried to escape again. If it thrashes in its cage it can cause physical damage to me. My stressed out body couldn't fight back very well so I gained more damage than normal, causing me to actually bring up blood. It thinks if it can hurt me enough it can escape. If it kills me it will die too but it can try to make me break the seal by causing me great pain…" His gaze turned even more far away then it already was.

"And finally, why didn't you tell me at the beginning?"

At this there was a hesitant pause, even if he was under the influence of the potion. "I fear that those eyes, the ones filled with hate will follow me wherever I go because of this curse…I grew up neglected, without a friend in the world and when I finally found out why I wanted to keep it a secret to everyone who didn't already know. It is my one hope that my friends never find out what I carry within me so that they will never look at me with those eyes. My friends are everything to me…"

He was given the anti potion but remained staring off into space, a glare planted firmly on his face. "Happy now? You all know my secret and it won't take long for the word to spread that I'm a demon. I'm not going to hurt any of you so leave me alone now. You've all had your fun, leave the demon alone…" Naruto pulled his legs up to hug his knees and buried his head in them. He wasn't going to cry, he had made the decision long ago, even before he became a ninja that he wouldn't cry about it anymore. This was just the most comforting position he had discovered. He could block out the world so it was just him and he couldn't see any of them. He couldn't be despised.

He heard the teachers depart him, the mood heavy but Naruto couldn't tell what with. He felt a hand on his shoulder but didn't look up. "You're not what you carry. Please, take care of Harry for me. This old coot has made too many mistakes in his lifetime, help me not to make another one." And with those words the hand was gone and he was left along.

XXOO

"Good morning!" Was the ecstatic greeting the worried trio received when they went down to breakfast the next day. The source of their worry being the greeter. He looked in perfect health as he bounded over to them, blond hair as wild as ever. "Sorry about collapsing like that last night. They thought that I had something seriously wrong with me when they sent you away but it was just that the Kyuubi almost destroyed my village and killed my parents…at least I think it did, no one actually told me who they were, anyway that coupled with all the stress I've been under lately my body just couldn't take anymore and decided to crap up." Naruto explained hurriedly, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I scared you three and made you worry about me. But I heal quickly and am fine now."

Hermione smiled, just glad he was back to full health. Ron laughed and patted their new friend on the back. Harry forced a smile too but inwardly he was doubting the story they were being told. It didn't explain the odd lines on his stomach. He'd ask later, when they were alone.

"It means more classes today though. Man those are boring. I've never had to sit still for so long while paying attention, though I can bear it because of all the training I got back home. Speaking of which Harry I have to train today, is there a room inside the school I can do it since we aren't allowed to go outside after classes are done for the day?"

Absently Harry nodded. Naruto was back to his normal self, though Harry now suspected there was much, much more to the hyperactive blond then he first suspected and he was going to find out just what.

XXOO

"Well, well looks like Potter got himself another stooge. What's wrong Potter, old ones not good enough?"

"Look who's talking crony-boy. Didn't see you in Potions yesterday, your mother drive you here instead of catching the train?" Naruto knew that was quite impossible. Most the students didn't even know what a car was let alone had parents who owned ones. In fact Naruto himself had only ever seen one car in his life and it hadn't stayed in Konoha very long. Ninja could run faster than they could move anyway so there really wasn't much point for mass distribution of the pollution machines. It was far more likely he had taken a port key here but he wasn't about to ruin his perfectly good comeback with facts.

The boy twitched and Naruto smirked, he had hit a nerve, even if the disturbance was covered up within moments. Oh this boy was going to get so many pranks pulled on him this year. Maybe he could be the 'culprit' in his slimy thing down Snape's back project.

"Leave us alone Malfoy!" Harry groaned. He knew that no Malfoy this year was too good to be true. "I make new friends not replace old ones."

Malfoy gained his own smirk, looking positively pleased with himself. "You're going down this year you know Potter."

"Smug bastard…" Muttered Naruto. He wasn't about to let some snot nosed pretty boy insult them and get away with it. With his back to the wall to hide them he made a series of one handed seals he had picked up on one of his ventures to get back Sasuke. A minor genjitsu should do the trick…make him see something really horrid. Leaning over to Harry he whispered "What's pretty boy scared of? I'll make him see it."

"Anything that lives in the forbidden forest. How about you set a bunch of wild wolves on him. Their howls freaked him out pretty bad when we were made to serve detention in it in our first year. Though he might have gotten over that by now."

"Only one way to find out."

"I hope you are not planning anything that breaks school rules Mr. Uzumaki." Drawled Snape finally showing up to let them in to class. Naruto gave him a death glare worthy of the teacher's admiration but he merely waved a finger at the boy. "Now, now Mr. Uzumaki, that is no way to look at your Professor and at your age too. Anyone would think you were a monster. Five points from Gryffindor."

Harry didn't know whether to be glad that the Potions master had seemingly forgotten all about him or be worried for his newest friend who now had to face the wrath of his most hated teacher. Deciding to be both, he clamped his hand onto the seething ninja's shoulder and guided him into the dank classroom for the double session of hell.