"Well that wasn't so bad after they cleaned up the mess." Commented Naruto as they met Hermione and Ron for the morning break.

"Don't ask." Rushed Harry before he even received the questioning glances. The day was nippy and Naruto was rugged up so tightly that you could barely see his eyes behind it all. Konoha was a warm place and he was used to wearing sandals all year round. These closed in shoes where hurting his toes since he still hadn't gotten used to them. The robes he could deal with. They reminded him of the Hokage ones and that brought about thoughts of Tsunade. Briefly a pang of homesickness made him bite his cheek but he shoved it back down and continued to grin as if nothing bothered him, but it did.

He didn't notice it at first but most of the teachers seemed to be scared of him now that they knew about the demon sealed inside him. They avoided him at almost all costs and if he wasn't mistaken Snape had subtlety threatened to expose his secret if he didn't keep his yap shut. He knew he wouldn't be able to deal with this place anymore if all the students started to shun him too.

"We all have Defence Against the Dark Arts next, don't we?" Asked Harry and Naruto bit down harder on his cheek, drawing blood but otherwise not reacting. They'd be starting their study on the Kyuubi today and that was not something he wanted to do. But his mission was clear cut and if he didn't want to disgrace his honour then he'd have to follow his charge into the foul classroom and learn what he already knew better than almost anyone else. He wasn't about to read the book but he would sit through the discussion and work.

Harry was still intent on his little chat with Naruto and had even set a time. During their spare after Defence Against the Dark Arts they had bargained that Naruto would train and Harry would watch. He intended to question him then, away from prying eyes of other students. They already had permission to use the room of requirement for Naruto's work out.

"Yeah…" muttered Naruto, scratching the back of his neck.

Ron grimaced. "Well it won't be too pleasant for you will it... With us learning about the Demon that attacked your home."

Naruto merely nodded. "It's really cold." he said to change the subject and emphasized it by wrapping his arms around himself.

Hermione laughed. "It's not nearly as cold as it will be in a month. You're going to need heat spelled clothes if you're cold this early in the season. Summer only just ended."

Naruto was about to retort when the bell went for them to go to class and the conversation was dropped as they made their way up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Naruto dragging his feet.

XXOO

It was a blur how Naruto had ended up in the room of requirement and was now kicking air, his leg a stream of colour instead of a solid shape. He wasn't thinking about what he was doing. The drills he had learnt where programmed into his brain and training had become a time to think if he wanted, rather than concentrate.

His mind wandered back to Konoha and to the various people he considered friends. Sakura would be frantic by now; he hoped that was the case at least. The shadow of doubt that he was just being humoured and no one really liked him was always in the corner of his mind because of his childhood but he had learned to repress it even more as he grew with the other children of Konoha his age.

"Naruto." Harry said firmly, the word only half registering in the ninja's brain.

"Hmm?" He asked, ducking down to trip an invisible foe.

"I need to know the truth about your illness yesterday."

At this Naruto lowered his foot and arms to turn and focus his deep blue eyes on Harry, trying out one of Sasuke's scare tactics. Unperturbed Harry just glared back. Naruto was the first to get bored with the staring match and looked away, angry. "Why do you think I wasn't telling the truth?"

"Because I don't believe something like losing your parents as a baby would make the whole of your village hate you and you get so sick over the demon that killed them being in a book!"

Naruto huffed. Where else did he have to go but the truth now? But he had been harbouring the truth for so long…"I don't want to say. You'd hate me…be scared of me…like the teachers are now…"

Harry was getting impatient, his short temper flaring. "Bull shit! Naruto, I don't care what the hell is wrong. I don't fear Voldemort and I won't fear whatever you can dish out!"

"You don't know what I've been through!"

"Well my childhood wasn't exactly peaches and cream either!"

"You have people who care enough about you to know if you disappear and be unhappy about it!"

"You try living with an angry fatass for ten years!"

"Try living alone for that long with hate filled glares wherever you go outside!"

"And constant mistreatment by your carers doesn't add up to that!"

"NO!"

"Well then tell me why they bloody hate you!"

"I AM THE DEMON!" Naruto roared, fed up. "Alright! Happy now Mr Ihavetoknoweverything. I'm the damn demon that killed half the village of Konoha and one of its heroes…He sealed it inside me and its melding with me as we speak. Say hi to the Kyuubi, he can hear you clearer than day!" Naruto went back to throwing kicks and punched at nothingness. "Congratulations for being the first person my age I've told." His voice was like ice now, lacking all of the cheerfulness and warmth it usually spilled in vast amounts.

Harry stood frozen. Not because of the information, but because of the pure venom in the other's voice. He dropped down into his chair, having stood up in their shouting match. And then he did something he didn't think he was going to do, he laughed. Full blown laughter like he hadn't for months. Naruto stopped his training and glared at him, hands balled into tight fists. "What the hell is so funny?"

It took Harry a few moments to compose himself enough to answer, doubled over and out of breath. "Th-that was what you were hiding!"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, confusion etched into his features. "Hu?"

"You're not a demon Naruto! You just think you are! Oh and you thought I'd be scared of you after I've gotten to know you! I can't breathe!" Harry bit his cheek in an effort to inhale enough air to stop himself from passing out. The hilarity of the situation faded into just a small sniggering and a soft smile replaced the large grin on Harry's face. "Idiot…Friends shouldn't care about the fact that you carry a demon. Actually I'm glad that you are keeping it captive from what I read about it. That people hate you for protecting them is despicable."

Naruto's face was shadowed again by his unrestrained hair and Harry raised an eyebrow. With a sudden yell Naruto launched himself at the boy who lived, wrapping his arms around Harry's torso and knocking the chair over in the process. Naruto, now straddling the other boy, rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Gomen, gomen, Harry. I didn't mean to use that much force. It's just I…I'm not used to someone being that nice to me, ya know…It's not exactly something I get a lot of…even if I do have friends now."

Playfully Harry pushed Naruto off of him and chuckled quietly. "Well then you'll like it here I think."

Jumping to his feet Naruto looked as if he had just been asked to be the next Hokage, barely able to keep still and for once, Harry noted, his grin did not hide something behind it but was the truth. "Ne, ne! Harry. Help me train! You can throw some hexes at me to dodge!"

Nodding Harry raised his wand. Naruto had seemed grown up enough when they had first met but most of the time he acted like he was a kid. Maybe it was just the other's way of coping with all the pent up emotions that seemed to escape when provoked; though he had a level enough head in a dire situation. Harry smirked; he'd give Naruto a run for his money in this. "Expelliarmus!" He yelled and so started their sparing match.

XXOO

Both were laughing, slightly giddy, as they stumbled through the portrait-hole to collect their things for afternoon classes before going to lunch. Their training had turned out to be good fun; Harry had even managed to hit Naruto once or twice in the good hour they played, though the minor burns had healed almost immediately as if they had never been there in the first place.

"You have good reflexes Harry! You would have made a great ninja!"

"Why 'would have'?" Harry asked.

Naruto stumbled over the question "Well…er…"

"Train me." At this Harry looked Naruto dead in the eyes, conveying his seriousness. "I don't want to have to rely just on my magic when I fight…the man I have to kill. It is stupid to just have one set of skills to depend on and being able to move like you do at the very least would be more than an advantage."

Naruto stared at him for a moment with his large blue eye that gave away nothing of the tormented soul beneath them and Harry presumed he was thinking over the request. Before he was able to speak again and further argue his case though Naruto began to chuckle, almost tinted with bitterness. "You remind me a lot of him…'the boy I have to save' to use your terminology…and his…" The common room was empty; everyone was already down at lunch as their session had gone overtime. Naruto moved forward and sat himself down in one of the plush chairs closest to the fire and Harry sat in one opposite him. "He wanted revenge, you see. Used those words, 'The man I have to kill', more than once to refer to the one who killed his family. Though that would be a translation since it would have been in Japanese obviously." There was a light mature smile on the shinobi's tan face now, as if he were thinking of a fond memory. "I've talked about Sasuke before, ne? That day at Daigon Alley…the one who hates his brother."

Harry froze in shock, surely Naruto wasn't hinting at what he thought he was. "His brother killed his family?" He asked, unable to stop himself.

Naruto merely nodded, looking grim now. "Every single one of them. All the clan but two was wiped out in a single night. He told me that his brother had liked to kill them all. He had been 'testing his power' against the strongest family in fire country, his own. Sasuke told me he had gotten home late that day. That bodies had littered the streets of the Uchiha compound and when he had found his brother, the same one he had looked up to all his life, over the bloodied bodies of their okaa-san and otou-san he had made him watch as he killed all of them all over again in the illusion world the sharingan, their special power, their bloodlimit,can create…"

Naruto paused here, as if pondering if he should continue or not. "He tried to obtain this power too, in his search for revenge…and almost did…For you see, to obtain the highest power of the sharingan one must kill their most precious person…their best friend…He tried to kill me…but he left me alive...What I cling to now is that he still has a heart left after a man who offered him the power he needed to defeat his brother has had him for so long. That once I am able to find him I can uncover his good side again…bring him home like I promised I would when I was twelve. That was what I was doing the day I was sent here. No doubt Sasuke was the one meant to be sent to you room, to kill you with the poisoned kunai portkey…" Naruto trailed off, eyes glazed and not really focusing on anything, though they still lay on Harry. "It would appear that now you know my deepest darkest secret you have become my confidant. I haven't really told anyone these things but I feel I can trust you not to tell anyone. Though I'd have to hex you to death if you let slip."

With the last sentence Naruto's mouth split into a grin and like the conversation had never happened Naruto slipped back into his immature state of blissful cover. "Of course I'll train you if you can handle it." Harry thought he caught an evil glint in his newest friend's eye. "But in exchange you have to teach me English and help me with my subjects. This spell is really annoying! And the time between having to reapply it is getting shorter, I'm beginning to wonder if eventually I'll end up being completely muddled up, not being able to speak either language."

At this Harry lit up, a bit put out about the story of the Uchiha clan's remaining members. "Nice. We can start tomorrow if you like, after classes finish for the day. We can do homework during the spares. We have to write an essay by Friday which I'll get Hermione to help you with since I'll have enough trouble with my own."

Naruto nodded an affirmative and both went to do the task they had come to do before heading down to grab something to eat in the last 15 minutes they could.