Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), some moderate Dumbledore bashing (he's more manipulative than evil but mostly just stubborn), and who knows what else.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.


Chapter 6: Trials, Tribulation, and Tragedy

Over the course of the next year, Satoshi once again spent roughly three-quarters of his time out of the village carrying out missions with Team Twelve. What little time he did spend in the village was mostly spent training alone within the Aburame Compound. At least he trained alone right up until Kakashi began actively taking an interest in his life once more; the fifteen year old hauling the eight year old off to various training grounds in order to expand on Satoshi's elemental training whenever they were both in the village.

Throughout that first year after the Kyuubi's attack, Kakashi had further mastered the Sharingan that Obito had given to him and copied over three hundred jutsu during the numerous missions he'd taken outside of the village. Once he started training with the younger boy, Kakashi taught many of the earth and water based jutsu he had copied to Satoshi in order to increase the eight and a half year old's arsenal. The teen only held back those techniques that required more chakra than Satoshi currently had available.

Satoshi approached those training sessions with resignation rather than his former enthusiasm; his thirst for learning had been buried alongside of his emotions in the wake of the Kyuubi's attack. The only two reasons he put any effort into those training sessions was because he knew he needed to train in order to get stronger and because Kakashi refused to pull any punches when they trained together.

After hearing about how he'd created a concrete wall during the Tournament, Kakashi introduced Satoshi to Tenzou; one of Kakashi's AnBu Teammates who possessed the same affinities as Satoshi. Due to his Kekkei Genkai, Tenzou was better suited to teach the young Chuunin how to combine his two elemental affinities to reproduce the effect that most of the world now believed was Satoshi's bloodline limit. The first thing Tenzou taught Satoshi was how to change the nature of his chakra into each of his two affinities.

To help him, Kakashi taught him how to create the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and warned him to never make more than one clone at a time until Kakashi told him it was safe to do so (after explaining how the jutsu took half of the user's chakra to create a clone and the inherent ability of the shadow clones to transfer their memories when dispelled). With the single shadow clone, Satoshi was to then spend an hour at a time focusing on pulling water from a leaf with his chakra to master the change in chakra nature to water while his clone practiced turning a leaf to dust in order to do the same thing for his earth affinity.

Satoshi immediately ran into a huge problem; attempting to change the nature of his chakra automatically pulled on the wild energy within his body (which it hadn't done when he was just using jutsu based upon his affinities).

During the first attempt, he ended up creating a crater eight feet wide and three feet deep from the explosive backlash of the two energies clashing violently. Tenzou and Kakashi had shared a single concerned look before Kakashi sent a shadow clone to Shibi with an urgent message for him to join them as soon as he could while they fished Satoshi out of the crater and made certain he was alright. Shibi had taken one look at the still smoking crater and calmly asked the two teens what the hell they'd been trying to teach his son.

After listening to their explanation and confirming that Satoshi was unharmed if unconscious due to exhaustion, Shibi told them not to allow his son to attempt it again until Shibi could be there to monitor the lesson. Satoshi's second attempt three days later was nearly as disastrous, only this time he'd turned the moisture in the air into dirt and the four of them choked on the fine particles until Tenzou managed to clear the air with a torrent of water. When Shibi asked Satoshi what was going wrong later that night in the privacy of their own home, the eight year old said that 'it' was interfering because his affinities were linked directly to 'it' ('it', of course, referring to the wild energy inside of him).

That revelation led to a whole new slew of chakra control exercises that were geared towards finding the proper ratio of chakra to wild energy that would allow him to use both energies without them clashing and blowing up in his face. It took him three weeks to find that balance which would ultimately be based upon the ratio of altered Kikaichu to normal Kikaichu within his swarm (currently at an eleven to five ratio). Once he had the proper ratio, he next had to learn how to mold the two together in order to create a single energy that would then be used to perform whatever jutsu he was trying.

It took him another two weeks before he managed to learn how to wrap the smaller thread of chakra in a casing made from his other energy that allowed them to function together while still remaining separate (merging the two energies together ending up much like trying to mix oil and water but with considerably more destruction involved). The chakra would then act as the blueprints for the jutsu while the wild energy actually fueled the jutsu; almost tripling his stamina simply because his magical core was more than twice the size of his chakra reserves.

Changing the nature of the two energies at that point was a piece of cake since the month and a half of trial and error had given Satoshi a greater understanding of both his chakra and his other energy (which was still unnamed though Satoshi had secretly started calling it magic due to his older memories from before Konoha; memories that he'd revisited during his recent vigil). The first time he used the new combination of chakra and magic to form a shadow clone, Satoshi accidentally created three clones because he was a touch nervous; which shocked the two teens because he should not have had enough chakra to create that many clones and still remain standing.

He didn't, but Shibi and Satoshi hadn't actually told either teen about his other energy despite them helping the eight year old learn how to access it as if it was chakra.

After that it didn't take Satoshi long to turn a leaf to dust or pull water from a leaf. Next, he had to figure out how much earth chakra and how much water chakra (combined with how much magic) it took to create the concrete. Near the end of February, Satoshi finally managed to recreate the concrete wall that had saved his life and won the match against the twenty-three year old shinobi from Kiri (though the process used to create it was completely different).

Tenzou and Kakashi were impressed because it was solid, sturdy, and nigh impossible to destroy short of blowing it up with a couple hundred exploding tags or other explosive force. The next step was learning to apply the new 'bloodline limit' to other jutsu and fluctuating between wet cement and solid concrete objects like spears or the wall. The process of creating new jutsu using the new ability involved a lot of trial and error as they worked out the hand seal sequence that was required for each jutsu. It would also take a lot of patience since it took time to build a jutsu from scratch.

Out of curiosity, Tenzou talked Satoshi into learning and then attempting to perform a Mokuton Jutsu just to see if he could do it; he couldn't. On the other hand, Satoshi could neutralize any Mokuton Jutsu that Tenzou used; turning the chakra fueled wood into concrete (effectively stopping whatever Tenzou was growing), breaking the wood back down into water and dirt, or in the case of the living trees instantly vaporizing them into dust and mist with a touch. It was almost inconceivable that Satoshi could easily and effectively counter what was considered one of the strongest Kekkei Genkai in existence (if not the strongest) using the same base elements (though not without exhausting himself).

All he was really doing was disrupting the chakra in the various jutsu with his magic in order to break them down into their base elements or transforming them into a form other than wood to stop the growth; not that any of them actually knew that though.

That knowledge was immediately classified as a clan secret to protect Satoshi from those who would seek to use him against Konoha for that ability or experiment on him to recreate it (Orochimaru's name topping both of those lists). The two Jounin even went so far as to swear an oath to not mention it to the Sandaime until the young Chuunin could better protect himself in order to prevent attempts to turn Satoshi into a weapon. It wasn't that they thought the Hokage would intentionally harm the younger boy; it was that they didn't trust Shimura Danzou (one of the Hokage's advisers).

Danzou had already made several attempts to recruit Satoshi into his Root program through the years since Satoshi had first earned his hitai-ate but Shibi, Shoichi, and Kushina had blocked the crippled shinobi at every turn. And even though he no longer had his father and Kushina to help him outmaneuver Danzou, Shibi still managed to stonewall the older man at every turn. However, the last thing the young Clan Head needed was for Danzou to redouble his efforts to recruit his son in an effort to get his hands on Satoshi's 'Kekkei Genkai'.

Kakashi spent another month working with Satoshi to help him create a new type of clone based upon his bloodline limit that they were calling Konkurito no Jutsu or Concrete Release. They ended up creating two types; a soft clone (Konkuri Bunshin no Jutsu) and a solid clone (Konkurito Bunshin no Jutsu). The soft clone was much like the Mizu Bunshin only slightly more difficult to dispel as it could endlessly reform itself out of the wet concrete that it was made from (like some of the more advanced water clones) but didn't lose bits of itself through evaporation like a water clone would when injured.

The solid clone, on the other hand, wasn't that much different from the Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu which created clones from rocks. The only difference was that the Konkurito Bunshin could be created in any kind of environment whereas the Iwa Bunshin needed rocks to be present (or for the user to be able to transform his chakra into rock). It was also extremely difficult to destroy because even if you cut off a limb, it kept on fighting unless you killed its 'heart'; that meant that a headless concrete clone could still fight on until put down (something that was both creepy and fascinating to watch and entirely due to the magic animating the clone).

Satoshi mastered the new jutsu around the middle of May, bringing the number of different clones he could produce up to six; the standard clone (which was just an illusion), the insect clone, the water clone, the shadow clone, and his two concrete clones. Tenzou would later teach him how to make a mud clone and he'd create a variation of the mud clone that he called a dust clone that was made from dry dirt (not related to the dust release bloodline limit that the Sandaime Tsuchikage used) which would bring his single element clone arsenal up to eight. By the time he turned twenty-five, he'd have learned how to combine two or more elements to create multiple variations on those eight clones but that was beyond his current abilities.

One of the positive benefits of Satoshi now accessing and using the wild energy inside of him was that his chakra coils nearly doubled in size since his magic was no longer restricting the growth of his chakra coils due to him creating a way for them to work together. It was Nanami that discovered the sudden leap in his chakra reserves during one of the rare team training sessions that Aoba insisted on Team Twelve holding around the first of June. The increase of his chakra coils coincided with an equal increase of his magical core since he was now exercising said core whereas before he'd left his magic completely alone (bar the amount of magic that the Kikaichu continuously feasted upon) due to its wild and seemingly uncontrollable nature.

The negative impact of Satoshi actively accessing his magic on a regular basis wouldn't be discovered for another year; after the young Chuunin's tenth birthday.

Near the end of June, Shibi would take Satoshi into the forest of death in order to allow the almost nine year old to increase his swarm once again. He ended up adding three new species of Kikaichu to his colonies (two new wingless types and a type of Kikaichu with thicker shells that were well suited for defensive techniques); which brought the number of species he hosted up to seven. The total size of his swarm also jumped to eighteen thousand; more than doubling the current size of his swarm (which had been below nine thousand ever since Suna's Chuunin Exams as he'd not bothered visiting the forest or the clan greenhouses during the past year).

For Satoshi's ninth birthday, Kakashi had talked (more like bribed) Jiraiya into hunting down an insect related summoning contract for the young Chuunin. The Gama Sennin actually managed to find two contracts that he thought would potentially appeal to the young Aburame. The first one he managed to locate was the long lost summoning contract for scorpions; an arachnid that was closely associated with the earth element and while scorpions were not exactly insects, they are often misclassified as such by many people. The second contract was a little known contract for summoning dragonflies; an insect closely associated water and wind due to its life cycle.

Normally, a shinobi was only allowed to sign a single summoning contract; a fact that Satoshi was completely unaware of at the time Kakashi had handed him both contracts (the nine year old had never paid much attention to summoning contracts because his chakra reserves had previously been far too low to summon even the smallest of summons). Not knowing that it should have been impossible (Kakashi had expected the nine year old to sign the contract he preferred), Satoshi went ahead and signed both scrolls in blood and channeled a thread of magic encased chakra into his signatures effectively altering the nature of the summoning contracts as they pertained to him; which would allow him to hold both at the same time.

Kakashi wouldn't learn of the mistake until after he taught Satoshi the hand seals needed to perform the summoning a week later. Instinctively, Satoshi summoned a small scorpion first with his right hand before he immediately summoned a small damselfly with his left hand; further cementing his right to summon individuals from both contracts because he altered the summoning string just by changing hands. Kakashi had been completely caught off guard by the fact that Satoshi had not only signed both contracts but had successfully summoned one of each species after only a few days of practice.

Satoshi would secure the cooperation of both creatures by using a clan jutsu to capture their preferred prey (mosquitoes for the damselfly and crickets for the scorpion) and helped in no small part by the fact that the two species had no issues working with one another.

Shibi was proud of his son for doing something no other shinobi had been able to do (not counting a former student of Jiraiya's who through the ability of the Rinnegan had the ability to summon numerous creatures). It didn't hurt that in doing so he'd completely stumped Hatake Kakashi; something that very few people could claim they had done no matter how long they'd known the Hatake prodigy and that Satoshi had done several times through the years since Shibi had adopted him. Like his ability to neutralize the Mokuton and the presence of his alternate internal energy, Satoshi's second summoning contract would be classified as a clan secret after Shibi asked his son to choose one contract as his main summons with the second contract being a hidden trump card.

It had been a difficult decision but Satoshi eventually went with the scorpions as his main contract since they were powerful, quick, and deadly. The dragonflies, on the either hand, made the perfect secret weapon and the larger summonses would allow for a quick escape because of their ability to fly. They also made great messengers for the same reason. He still summoned both every time the opportunity arose but only summoned the dragonflies when he was certain that no one but Kakashi or his father would stumble upon him summoning them.

When he registered his new summoning contract with the Hokage's Tower, Satoshi only listed the scorpions as instructed by his father. Sarutobi had been ecstatic to learn that a new summoning contract had been brought into the village and promptly earmarked Satoshi for entrance into the ranks of the AnBu once he reached twelve years of age due to his eidetic memory, his new summoning contract, his growing knowledge and understanding of fuuinjutsu, and his Konkurito no Jutsu.

Before Satoshi knew it, an entire year had passed and the second anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat was nearly upon him. Like he had during the days leading up to the first anniversary, Satoshi began gathering those supplies he would need to hold his twenty-four hour candlelit vigil on the eighth. This included making a trip to the Yamanaka's Flower Shop to pick up the lilies, roses, tulips, snapdragons, carnations, and chrysanthemums he would leave on the graves of his loved ones (the number and types of flowers selected due to each one representing the characteristics of one or more of the people whose deaths he was honoring).

On the morning of the ninth, Shibi informed Satoshi that if he planned to disappear on the tenth again, he needed to take his brother with him since Shibi would be required to work and there was no one else to watch Shino. Satoshi hesitantly agreed to watch his brother and gathered up a large selection of healthy snacks and drinks for the toddler since he would not be able or willing to fast as Satoshi intended to do (his little brother far too young to go an entire day without food and water). He also packed blankets, extra clothes, extra diapers, bottles, toys, and a playpen for his brother to nap and play in.

After an hour of internal debate, Satoshi went back to purchase additional flowers for Shino to place on the graves of their grandfather, mother, and uncle as well as another two for Minato and Kushina since they had known Shino even if Shino had no memory of them. Shibi watched his oldest son the entire time, a small triumphant smile on the older man's face over his successful ploy to get Satoshi to start interacting with his brother once more (since the nine year old had unintentionally ignored the younger boy in his grief over the past two years).

That night, Satoshi bundled his brother up warmly, tucked him into a sling, and left a half an hour earlier than he had originally planned in order to give himself extra time to settle his brother into the playpen before he started his vigil. His early start proved to be fortuitous for one little blonde two year old that had been tossed into a dumpster just outside of the orphanage by the drunken proprietress of said orphanage. Satoshi had been passing over the ally where the dumpster was located as it was the shortest path between the Aburame Compound and Konoha's graveyard when he heard the toddler crying fitfully as he tried unsuccessfully to climb out of the large trash bin.

The moment Satoshi got a good look at who had been tossed into the trash, he'd felt his first true spike of rage in just over two years as he instantly recognized the blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, and whisker marks. He considered returning the boy to the orphanage but a glance at his watch let him know that he'd have a hard time getting anyone to answer the door because of the time. He'd also be late for his vigil if he did and he doubted anyone would miss the boy for a day or two given the rumors he'd done his best to ignore over the last two years. Decision made, Satoshi fished the toddler out of the trash, shushed him gently, and took the child with him.

In the graveyard, Satoshi gave little Uzumaki Naruto (Kushina and Minato's son) the extra flowers he'd bought for Shino to give to Minato and Kushina knowing that the couple would understand if he was short a pair of flowers this one time. Satoshi also helped Shino give a flower to their mother, grandfather, and uncle as he whispered to both boys the names of the lost and how special they all were. Lastly, Satoshi placed the flowers for his biological parents, Rin, Obito, and his three missing 'uncles' from his childhood in front of the stone flame that stood sentential in the center of the graveyard, though separate so that it was clear they were each for different people.

Shibi and Kakashi had both witnessed Naruto's rescue and the late night visit to the graveyard before they lost track of the three children (not that Satoshi acted like a child any longer) ten minutes later as they vanished into the forest and slipped through the barrier that protected his sanctuary.

Once safely tucked behind his barrier, Satoshi quickly set up the playpen and deposited his brother inside so he could get Naruto cleaned up and dressed in clean, warm clothes (taken from the supplies he brought with him) before placing the blonde in the playpen with Shino. Satoshi then warmed up two half cups of milk for the two boys to help them get back to sleep after their late night adventure (or misadventure in Naruto's case). The moment they were taken care of, Satoshi set up the rest of his supplies so that when the clock struck midnight, he could begin lighting the candles as he began his vigil.

Near dawn (about the time his tears dried), Satoshi took a small break from the ritual he'd began the previous year to prepare a light meal of sliced pears and watered down apple juice for the two boys. Once that was ready, he woke up his brother and changed his diaper before sitting him back down in the playpen with his food and sippy cup before giving Naruto the same treatment. The tiny blonde toddler (who was nearly half the size of Shino) was frightened of Satoshi at first (the child had been far too stressed and exhausted to care when he'd first been picked up) but the nine year old did his best to calm the skittish child.

The offer of food and juice went a long way towards putting the child at ease and Satoshi watched him closely for a minute before he took out some of the toys he'd brought for his brother and made certain that they were placed where both boys could reach them. When Satoshi settled back down inside of the semi-circle of candles, he made certain to sit so that he could watch the two boys out of the corner of his eye and ordered a portion of his swarm to watch over them. The nine year old then began addressing his long absent birth parents by introducing both toddlers to them.

The two boys in question were greatly intrigued by the sound of Satoshi's voice; Shino because he recognized his brother's voice even if he hadn't heard it often over the past two years and Naruto because Satoshi's voice held none of the malice that was usually directed at the young Jinchuuriki. As if the two toddlers realized the serious nature of Satoshi's one-sided conversation, they sat quietly watching and listening to the older boy as they absently nibbled at their food.

Two hours later, Satoshi took another break to tend to the boys before he took Shino out to hold his brother while he spoke to their mother for about an hour. The Chuunin then returned Shino to the playpen and lifted Naruto out and spent an hour talking to Kushina as he simply cuddled with the attention starved blonde. At the end of the hour, when Naruto didn't want to let him go, Satoshi simply lifted Shino back out and held both boys while he talked to Minato and then to Shoichi.

While he spoke, Satoshi noticed Naruto trying to squish a couple of the Kikaichu that had migrated to him due to the toddler's large chakra reserves that were augmented by the Kyuubi's chakra and Satoshi gently stopped his questing fingers each time and coaxed the destruction bugs to return to him. After doing that a couple of times, Naruto quickly learned not to try and squash the bugs and Satoshi praised him and gave him a smile that set the toddler beaming in return. Near noon, Satoshi returned both boys back in the playpen, cut up a couple of bananas and got out a couple of teething biscuits for them along with a full cup of milk for their lunch.

For the next two hours, Satoshi then spoke to the two boys, telling them stories about the various people that were no longer with them while they ate. Once they crashed for an afternoon nap, Satoshi returned to the circle of candles and sat silently for nearly an hour before he hesitantly spoke of everything that had happened over the past year that he hadn't covered earlier. He even spoke of the guilt he'd been feeling since the night before when he realized he'd been ignoring his brother and that he'd somewhat intentionally forgotten about the living legacy that Kushina and Minato had left behind when they died because he'd been so wrapped up in the pain of loosing them.

Just before the two toddlers woke up from their nap, Satoshi gave his solemn vow that he'd never forget or ignore either boy ever again. He felt the wild energy he'd secretly started calling his magic shift in answer to his oath and instinctively knew that his magic would never allow him to forget or break his promise. He made careful note of the phenomenon and made a mental note to be very careful with future promises because he didn't know what would happen if he broke a promise that was linked to his 'magic'.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making the two toddlers laugh since he finally remembered that those watching over them from the afterlife would want to be honored with laughter and not just tears. Satoshi even took off his sunglasses and jacket and allowed a small smile to cross his face for the first time in two years (though it was tinged with a small measure of grief). Both younger boys squealed with pleasure over the attention and grinned happily each time they caught sight of Satoshi's smile.

In that moment tradition was born; a day of fasting and remembrance where there would be no hiding behind any mask (either figurative or literal). It would become the one day a year where Satoshi would allow his emotions (both positive and negative) free reign, a day where he told stories about those who had been lost and about the things he'd seen and done over the year. It would also be a time for family, a day when there were no missions, no training, and no outside distractions pulling them in different directions. It would become a ritual that he would follow religiously no matter where he was, who he was with, or what he was doing; one that he'd introduce to both his father and Kakashi the following year.

At the stroke of midnight that night, Satoshi slipped back into his jacket, sunglasses, and emotionless mask as he diligently cleaned up their messes and packed away their supplies. The nine year old then tucked Naruto into the sling and settled him across his chest before settling Shino onto his hip so he could carry him. He headed home once the two toddlers were settled; his thoughts swirling endlessly as he considered how he could insure that Naruto would be taken care of properly when he was training or out of the village on missions.

It was the memory of Kushina threatening bodily harm to the Nibi's host after learning Yugito had injured Satoshi that gave the nine year old a tentative plan. By that time, he'd reached the Aburame Compound where he was met at the entrance by Kakashi, his father, and an expertly hidden observer. Upon seeing the small welcoming committee, Satoshi suspected that his good intentioned kidnapping of Naruto might cause problems.

"I found him crying in a trashcan wearing nothing but a dirty diaper and filthy rags," Satoshi declared in his now usual whisper as he clutched Naruto protectively with one arm. "He was hungry, cold, and scared and I refused to leave him there like that. No child deserves to be treated like that; not even I was thrown out with the garbage before you found me in the forest."

"I see you found your tongue," Shibi commented blandly as he relieved Satoshi of the heavier Shino and led the way to their house. "I'm glad to see you managed to survive an entire day with your brother and found him a friend; maybe now you won't avoid him during the rest of the year."

"I gave my word to never again forget or ignore either boy from now on," Satoshi quietly stated before his tone turned hard as he added, "And first thing tomorrow I am going to speak to the Hokage about little 'Ruto. I will see to it that he is allowed to stay with us from this point forward so that I can take care of him and then I'm going to teach the woman who runs the orphanage a lesson she won't soon forget; Akai Chishio no Habanero style."

The two Jounin (and the unseen watcher) actually tripped over their feet at the quiet venom that simple statement held; the first trace of open emotion that Satoshi had openly displayed in two years (not counting his vigil the day before or the first one held the previous year). It was also a rather abrupt reminder that Kushina had not only been Satoshi's tutor since he'd arrived in Konoha (teaching him both English and Japanese) but that she'd been his Jounin sensei for just over two years and an older sister in all but blood.

It was also a sharp reminder that she had taught him more than just how to fluently speak, read, and write two different languages or how to be a good shinobi; something that made all three older individuals shudder briefly.

"While I admit the idea is appealing; I'm not certain that's going to work," Kakashi murmured as he started walking again and caught up to Satoshi who was still cradling the sleeping Naruto protectively.

"Little bug, how do you expect to care for a child when you have missions that take you out of the village frequently? What will you do with him while you are training?" Shibi inquired softly after he regained his equilibrium. "You can't exactly take him with you when you leave the village and while I know you have been saving up your mission pay, I also know you can't afford to pay someone to watch over him on a daily basis for the next five or six years. You are also only nine years old and ill-equipped to take care of a child full-time; no matter how mature you may be."

"What am I supposed to do then, tousan?" Satoshi asked with just a hint of despair lacing his tone this time as he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at his father. "I can't just walk away and leave him to be treated like garbage again."

"Why don't you let me take him back to the orphanage tomorrow? I will speak to the proprietress about taking proper care of the little mite and make arrangements for you to be allowed to visit him on your days off and bring him here for the occasional play date with your brother. And while I'm confident that you could put the fear of kami into the woman; I think it will be far more effective if she was approached by another adult."

"But I… I… al…alright, tousan," Satoshi agreed reluctantly as he saw the logic in his father's suggestion.

"Why don't you take our little tick and your new little mite and go get some sleep, Satoshi-kun," Shibi suggested as they stepped into the house and noted that it was just a few minutes after one in the morning.

"Hai, tousan," Satoshi replied as he accepted his brother back from his father and disappeared into the back of the house.

"Hokage-sama?" Shibi asked softly once he was certain Satoshi and his Kikaichu were well out of hearing range.

"You have my blessing to encourage his association with little Naruto," Sarutobi agreed as he dropped the stealth jutsu he'd been hiding behind. "Inoichi-kun already mind delved the proprietress and learned that she'd intentionally dumped him in the garbage in the hopes he'd permanently disappear. I never would have known he was even in trouble if you hadn't come to me first thing this morning to let me know that Satoshi-kun had him safe and sound and would return with him shortly after midnight tonight. Do you know where it was they spent the day? I could not find them in my viewing sphere at all."

"Tch, I'll leave some of my Kikaichu to watch over him and I'm willing to bet that my son will as well. And no, I don't know where Satoshi disappeared to; though, like I mentioned this morning, we'd lost track of him right around the cemetery so I imagine that he made himself a small shrine or just a small hideout where he could spend the day in peace not far from there. He did the same thing last year and I suspect his vanishing act is going to be a yearly ritual from this point forward; one I am willing to support since whatever it was they spent the day doing has rekindled a spark of life in my oldest son."

"I will keep that in mind when scheduling missions around this time each year to make certain he is free to continue his new tradition," Sarutobi promised after a few minutes of contemplation. "Anything that helps one of my shinobi find a measure of peace can only be a good thing and I did worry about Satoshi-kun. Kushina used to call him a bubbly delight to be around because he was always so full of energy and forever smiling; seeing him close himself off after her death was hard."

The next morning, Shibi reminded Satoshi that Naruto's parentage was considered an S Class Secret and that he was not to speak of it in public. Satoshi immediately understood the implied order and unspoken permission; if he was going to tell Naruto about his parents he needed to do so behind a privacy barrier and he had to be sure that Naruto knew not to tell anyone. Shibi had then taken Naruto back to the orphanage and asked Satoshi to wait at least an hour before dispatching the Kikaichu he knew the nine year old would be sending to watch over the boy to give Shibi time to make the arrangements with the woman in charge of the orphanage.

From that day forward, Satoshi diligently visited Naruto at least once a day and brought the excitable two year old home to play with his little brother three and four times a week; except for the times when he was out of the village on a mission. Each night he was home he'd also spend at least an hour softly reading to his brother or quietly playing on the floor with Shino, his Kikaichu freely mingling with Shino's Kikaichu as their swarms wandered back and forth between the two of them.

Near the end of the month, Satoshi began teaching the two toddlers English in memory of Kushina; so that he could pass on her knowledge to her son as he was certain she would have done herself had she lived. Teaching Shino at the same time meant his brother and Naruto could share something special between the two of them that would hopefully bind them together as friends. It would also allow his baby brother to share in his own legacy since English was Satoshi's native language – though only a handful of people were aware of that fact.

The intense training Kakashi and Tenzou had started a year earlier would continue as nineteen-eighty-nine seamlessly melted into nineteen-ninety with both teens pushing the nine and a half year old to his limits. Shortly after the turn of the year, Satoshi was introduced to one Maito Gai; a young Jounin that had proclaimed himself Kakashi's eternal rival a few years earlier. Gai in turn introduced Satoshi to the concept of wearing weights to increase his speed and stamina after he had watched Satoshi struggle in keeping up with Kakashi speed-wise during an afternoon spar.

The young taijutsu master also taught Satoshi a modified version of his Gouken Ryuu that would allow the diminutive Chuunin to use his speed to double the force of his physical attacks; unfortunately, due to his slight weight and stature, taijutsu would always remain one of Satoshi's weakest skills. He more than made up for it with his other skills and talents though.

Not long after Shino's third birthday, Kakashi took Satoshi to AnBu Headquarters and had the nine year old formally tested because he was curious as to where Satoshi stood skill wise. The AnBu trainers put Satoshi through his paces for three days straight, pushing him to his limits and then beyond them in order to test his potential. When all was said and done, the nine and a half year old was ranked as a high Chuunin with a stat total of twenty-nine point five with a latent potential of four point five and his luck set solidly at five.

Individually, his skills were rated as; ninjutsu three, taijutsu two, kenjutsu three, genjutsu three point seven-five, force two point seven-five, speed three, stamina two point seven-five, intelligence at a solid five, and fuuinjutsu four. The only reason his ninjutsu was so high despite his limited number of mastered jutsu was due to his 'Kekkei Genkai'. When it came to his potential, his overall ratings for his taijutsu, speed, and force were expected to increase once he had a couple of decent growth spurts and put on some weight and his stamina would increase naturally with age.

There were several people that immediately began drooling over the young Aburame's results (in combination with his other known skills) and making plans to get their hands on the young prodigy; the Head of the AnBu Division, a number of AnBu captains, the Head of the Torture and Interrogation Department, the Head of the Cipher Division (due to his intelligence and skills in fuuinjutsu), and Shimura Danzou (even more so than he had previously) just to name a few.

The Hokage hadn't really needed to know the results of the formal test since he'd already earmarked the child's file to be watched and the wily old man eyed his rival with distrust when he saw the crippled man eying Satoshi with far more interest after the child's stats had been leaked by someone within the AnBu Division. Sarutobi suspected the leak had been one of Danzou's Root Operatives that had somehow infiltrated the AnBu but he had no proof as of yet. Shibi was understandably upset when Satoshi's potential was made semi-public knowledge but knew it would have happened sooner or later anyway given the nature of living within a shinobi village.

To those watching the child, Satoshi was apparently oblivious to all the scrutiny he was now receiving though that could not be further from the truth. Satoshi's grandfather, father, and Kushina (the latter most especially) had trained Satoshi to always be aware of his surroundings even when it looked as if he wasn't paying the least bit of attention. His Kikaichu were an extension of his senses and they continuously filtered everything they learned back to their host with minimal delay (unless he temporarily tuned them out) so that it was as if Satoshi himself had millions of eyes, ears, and noses watching his back at all times.

Satoshi's connection to his swarm surpassed even his father's (and when he had been alive, his grandfather's as well) as his magic had boosted the intelligence and lifespan of those Kikaichu associated with his magical core and initiated a type of familiar bond with the tiny bugs. On top of that, his magic allowed him to infinitely split his perception between large numbers of his bugs at the same time while his photographic memory recorded everything in an instant (though that didn't help him process all of those memories instantly since he still needed to view them individually – which he didn't always bother to do).

It was that connection to his swarm that had seen him throwing himself between Izumo and Ni'i Yugito just in time to protect his teammate, allowed Team Twelve to move through the Caverns in Suna in record time, and would continue to protect him in the future.

On the first day he'd taken the nine year old to be tested, Kakashi had warned him that his scores (good or bad) would generate a considerable amount of interest from various individuals before giving Satoshi a chance to back out of the testing. Satoshi had merely shrugged and walked into the building; the nine year old not in the least bit worried. His promotion to Chuunin and the revelation of his supposed bloodline limit had already thrown him into the spotlight; a few mere numbers would not make that much difference in the long run.

That didn't mean that Satoshi would discount the unspoken threat that Kakashi had warned him about. A shinobi was raised to be paranoid because a trusting ninja was a dead ninja when he trusted anyone but his teammates and fellow shinobi (and sometimes not even they could be trusted). When no one was watching, the small Chuunin set up eleven more sanctuaries throughout the village. Each one of them was equidistant from one another and from his house so that he could have a place he could flee to should the need ever arise; all of them placed so that no matter where he was in the village he was within a two minute run of at least two of them.

He would not be caught unawares through his own ignorance and if someone still managed to get the drop on him after that, then may kamisama and the shinigami have mercy on their souls; because his father would not. Satoshi was also fully aware that the number of Kikaichu constantly hanging about on him had jumped recently and the new additions were most certainly not part of his personal swarm or from the wild Kikaichu populations since most of them carried the faint taste of his father's chakra; meaning that his father was watching over him as well.

After a couple of months, the interest in Satoshi from various high placed shinobi faded when the nine and a half year old did nothing further to stand out in any way; even if it didn't disappear completely. Satoshi noted the difference but focused on his training and on the missions he was given as best he could.

His position within Team Twelve turned shaky about the same time as the interest in Satoshi had first spiked; when Nanami initiated a rather fierce competition for a position of leadership of their team with Satoshi out of the blue. Aoba stepped back to let the power struggle play out on its own, knowing the moment he stepped in one or both Chuunin would turn resentful; fracturing the tentative teamwork they'd built over the previous two years. It didn't help that Toshiro had grown more than a little bitter about being passed over for promotion and his failure to make it through the preliminaries leading up to the third round; the Inuzuka Clan males long known for their alpha mentality and superiority complex.

The conflict within the team came to a head during a B Ranked mission (of all places) late in April when they'd been sent out on their own while Aoba was out of the village on an A ranked mission with a pair of Jounin.

They were tracking a group of bandits that had been harassing passing merchant convoys and Satoshi's swarm had quickly located and infiltrated their base after Kariudo had sniffed out their trail. Satoshi had promptly shifted through the information his Kikaichu related back to him and warned Toshiro and Nanami about the traps his Kikaichu had found scattered about the bandit camp.

The nine year old had then offered a tentative plan to deal with the higher than expected number of bandits (and the suspected missing nin leading them) that would pose the least amount risk for their team (one that involved requesting backup). Nanami shot his plan down before he'd even finished explaining it and refused to listen to another word from the younger Chuunin. She then put forth her own plan and Toshiro had immediately agreed to Nanami's plan (the other teen harbored a huge crush on the pretty and talented Hyuuga); leaving Satoshi outvoted three to one (Kariudo had automatically sided with his human partner).

In that moment, the fate of Team Twelve was sealed.

Eleven days later, Satoshi returned to the village covered from head to foot in fresh and dried blood and barely able to stand on his own two feet while his gravely injured and still unconscious teammates were being hauled by four of his Konkuri Bunshin. Toshiro had lost his right leg from just below the knee in the same explosion that had taken the life of Kariudo and Nanami had lost her left eye and her left shoulder had been seriously mangled when she'd overestimated the abilities of her Byakugan and grew careless. Kariudo's body, the bodies of the bandits, and the bodies of the rogue shinobi he had ultimately faced alone had been sealed into a special storage scroll while the recovered stolen goods he'd diligently collected had been sealed in a second scroll.

Satoshi by comparison had escaped with a dislocated right elbow, three cracked ribs, numerous lacerations peppering his left side and the left half of his back (several of them infected), several burns (including a few chakra burns), numerous bruises, a severe case of chakra and magical exhaustion, and missing nearly his entire his swarm. Kotetsu and Izumo had been on duty at the gate at the time and he'd barely taken one stumbling step through the open gates in their direction before he'd keeled over from exhaustion, blood loss, and pain; sending his former teammates into a bit of a panic.

Five days after Satoshi's dramatic and frightening return, the young Chuunin finally regained consciousness and was grudgingly released from the hospital since his injuries had been mostly healed. He stopped in to see both of his now permanently disabled teammates when he learned that Toshiro still unconscious and barely clinging to life while Nanami had woken up two days earlier but had yet to be released due to the severity of her injuries.

When he visited her, Satoshi asked the despondent Nanami if it had been worth it; referring to the need she'd developed to prove herself better than the younger ninja. The half blind Hyuuga simply hung her head and replied with a hoarse no but Satoshi had not stuck around long enough to hear her reply; instead making his way to the Hokage tower to give his mission report. He ended up waiting just outside of the Hokage's office for close to an hour (due to a council meeting) before he was ushered into the room by the Hokage's secretary.

"Ah, Satoshi-kun; it is a relief to see you up and moving about at last. How are you feeling?"

"I am… fine, Hokage-sama," Satoshi replied in his soft monotone as he automatically took note of the concealed AnBu present through the small handful of Kikaichu still with him. "I came to deliver the report from Team Twelve's previous mission."

"It could have waited until tomorrow but since you are here now I might as well hear it," Sarutobi sighed as he critically eyed the young shinobi, noting how pale he still looked even as he pulled out a blank scroll and readied his pen. "Have a seat and begin when you are ready."

"Mission number bee three-two-four dash zero-nine-seven-five assigned to Team Twelve on April nineteenth; objective was to locate and detain group of rogue bandits plaguing merchant trains entering Hi no Kuni at the northern most point of the border between Hi no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni and recover the stolen goods if at all possible. The leader was suspected to be a low level rogue shinobi from Iwagakure," Satoshi promptly began in that same emotionless tone as he stubbornly remained standing despite the Hokage's order to sit and in spite of the lingering pain and weakness he felt.

"After three days of hard travel, our targets were located just within the border of Fire Country within a strategically placed hideout guarded with advanced barriers and surrounded with deadly traps that were obviously created by someone trained in the shinobi arts. Through the use of Nanami's Byakugan and my Kikaichu we confirmed the presence of three missing nins from Ishigakure and two more from Iwagakure in addition to fourteen civilian thugs."

Satoshi paused for a brief moment as he moved his focus from the Hokage to a point just beyond the Hokage's shoulder, the only visible sign of his internal distress, before he continued on in a voice that sounded just the slightest bit strained though few people would have even noticed the slight change, "Infiltration was attempted after all activity within the camp ceased for the night. Using my knowledge of seals, I created an opening in the barriers surrounding the camp and we slipped inside. We made it as far as the main building before an alarm was triggered."

"During the ensuing battle, Toshiro and Kariudo were caught in an explosion that killed the ninken instantly and shattered Toshiro's lower right leg beyond repair. Nanami attempted to face all five of the missing nin present alone after ordering me to tend to Toshiro and deal with the thugs. Nanami was easily overwhelmed and her Byakugan neutralized when one of the shinobi present destroyed her left eye and injured her left shoulder with a stone based ninjutsu while her attention was focused on two of the other rogue nins."

"Due to both of my teammates being critically injured and the fact that I was still outnumbered by fourteen to one; I made the decision to use lethal force to subdue the enemy. Once the enemy had been disabled, I proceeded to provide emergency first aide to both teammates. Due to the severity of the damage, I was forced to amputate the mangled remains of Toshiro's right leg in order to prevent him from bleeding to death and to keep the injury from becoming infected due to the dirt and debris lodged within the remaining flesh."

"After tending to my injured teammates, I proceeded to seal the bodies of the dead into a storage scroll for ease of transportation and to prevent deterioration. The recovered stolen goods were also quickly stored before I disabled all traps in the area, dropped the existing barriers, and set up a new barrier to protect and preserve the location pending a full investigation."

Another brief pause and Satoshi's left hand twitched imperceptively as his gaze returned to the Hokage. This time it took him a bit longer to continue and when he did there was an obvious tension about his small body.

"Believing the mission to be complete to the best of my abilities, I used my concrete clones to transport my injured teammates back to Konoha. Twelve hours after starting on the way back, it became obvious that someone was tracking us and by dawn of the next day, the remaining eight bandits caught up to us. Leading them was another missing nin from Iwagakure by the name of Gari who possessed a Kekkei Genkai that allowed him to create explosions on demand. They chased us relentlessly over the course of the next three days as I tried to lose them again with the help of my summonses and my swarm."

"On the fourth day I was forced to face the eight of them in battle; when it was over I sealed their bodies into the scroll with the others. I then set up a temporary camp to treat my injuries and re-treat those of my teammates as best I could and to make certain that there was no one else following our trail. After resting for as long as I dared due to the fact that my teammates were in need of immediate medical attention; I set off towards Konoha once more. It took me roughly six days to reach the safety of the village."

"You've left out a considerable number of details, Satoshi-kun," Sarutobi pointed out as he frowned down at the notes he'd taken. "What exactly happened when you faced the second group in battle? What happened to that final missing nin? Did he escape?"

Satoshi bowed his head for a moment before he slowly tipped his head up just enough to meet the Hokage's eyes over the top of his sunglasses revealing tormented green eyes as he uttered four words in a hollow, haunted voice that sent shivers down the spines of those who heard him, "I destroyed his soul." A second later, Satoshi's emotionless mask was back in place; leaving the Sandaime Hokage feeling far older than his fifty-nine years.

The official order to disband Team Twelve would be issued the next morning due to two of the four members being permanently disabled.

The AnBu medical staff that had been given the unpleasant task of performing the autopsies on the bodies of the seven missing nins and the twenty bandits were more than a little disturbed when they began unsealing the bodies. The thirteen corpses that had been killed by more conventional means (fatal kunai wounds, obvious sword wounds, and a few completely drained of chakra) and the three whose hearts had been damaged by a chakra enhanced hit to the chest were nothing new and those bodies had been dealt with in short order.

The ten bodies that had been completely transformed into statues (the cells in their bodies converted into concrete) were disturbing enough but what truly frightened them was the condition of the final body. That single body also confused the medical experts that examined it because they found absolutely nothing wrong with the body other than the fact that the man was without a doubt well and truly dead and the only clue as to what killed him was the look of sheer terror on his face.

A Ranked shinobi criminals don't die of fright; they die in bloody battles taking down as many of their enemies as they can before they give up the ghost. Frighteningly powerful A Ranked shinobi criminals with destructive Kekkei Genkai don't just keel over because they were scared. In fact, A Ranked shinobi criminals don't get scared because they are too busy filling those around them with fear. And yet, Gari (an infamous missing nin from Iwagakure well known for his devastatingly explosive attacks) had apparently died of fright.

If that wasn't shocking enough, the fact that it was a rather runty, soft spoken nine (soon to be ten) year old that had terrified the well known criminal to death left those who saw the body feeling more than a little uneasy.


Translations: Japanese to English

Akai Chishio no Habanero – Red Hot-Blooded Habanero
Chiri Bunshin no Jutsu – Dirt/Dust Clone Technique
Doro Bunshin no Jutsu – Mud Clone Technique
Gouken Ryuu - Strong Fist Style
Hai – yes
Hi no Kuni – Fire Country
Ishigakure (Ishi) – Hidden Stone Village
Iwagakure (Iwa) – Hidden Rock Village
Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu – Rock Clone Technique
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique
Kami/kamisama – god/spirits
Kawa no Kuni – River Country
Kekkei Genkai – bloodline limit
Konkuri Bunshin no Jutsu – Soft Concrete/Cement Clone Technique
Konkurito Bunshin no Jutsu – Solid Concrete Clone Technique
Konkurito no Jutsu – Concrete Release
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water Clone Technique
Mokuton no Jutsu – wood release
Nani – what
Otousan/tousan – father
Sensei – teacher
Shinigami – soul reaper/death god (grim reaper)

Notes:

Gari – okay, I'm not one hundred percent certain whether or not Gari's ability is a Kekkei Genkai or a secret technique that was taught to all members of the Explosion Corps. After much debate, I chose to label it as a Kekkei Genkai because I have not yet seen anyone else use the same ability and could not find any more information on-line. I'm also certain that a number of readers can guess how Gari died but for those of you who haven't figured it out, it will be fully revealed in the next chapter.


AN: And we finally have a meeting between Naruto and Satoshi/Harry, Satoshi is starting to finally explore the possibilities that his magic represents, and trouble managed to find Satoshi once again. The next two chapters will deal with the fallout from Satoshi's FUBAR'd mission, cover another major canon event that can't just be nixed, and set up a planned time skip.

Now, before I sign off here, I have a favor I'd like to ask of all my readers. I have, since I first started writing this story two or three years ago, been bouncing between two specific pairings for Satoshi/Harry. I have written out well over 300,000 words for both pairings and fully intend to post one pairing as a deviation of this story once I reach the divergent point. The deviation will also have a slightly different plot-line (though there will also be some scenarios that play out similarly in both), so it won't just be a matter of replacing one name with the other in the story.

On top of that, I have two subplots that revolve around future Genin teams and I'm still dancing between which sub plot I want to work into the main story and which one will end up as part of the deviation or as a second deviation (it depends on which pairing ends up being more popular). One subplot has me sidelining Sakura while the other subplot has me un-fan-girl-izing (yes, that is a word; I made it a word) Sakura. I did my best not to bash Sakura in either subplot since there are plenty of Fics out there that already do that.

So, the favor I'm looking for is for you to tell me which pairing you want to be part of this story and which subplot will end up in the main story (which is this story). The two pairing choices are Satoshi/Temari or Satoshi/Fu (the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi - not Yamanaka Fuu: and yes, the different spelling is intentional so as to keep the two characters straight in my mind and in the story). Please don't tell me you want a different pairing because it ain't going to happen - like I mentioned earlier, I've already written 300,000 words plus for these two pairings and I'm not going to go back and try to rewrite any of that just to throw in a different girl. Nor do I write slash (mostly because my attempts are rather flat and forced).

I've put up a poll on my author's page with these options:

Satoshi(Harry)/Temari - Sakura SidelinedSatoshi(Harry)/Fu - Sakura Sidelined
Pairing Doesn't Matter - Sakura Sidelined
Satoshi(Harry)/Temari - Sakura Un-fan-girl-ized
Satoshi(Harry)/Fu - Sakura Un-fan-girl-ized
Pairing Doesn't Matter - Sakura Un-fan-girl-ized
Satoshi(Harry)/Temari - Sakura's Fate is Unimportant
Satoshi(Harry)/Fu - Sakura's Fate is Unimportant

Pairing Doesn't Matter - Sakura's Fate is Unimportant

If you don't have an account and are voting via an anonymous review, please use one of the above options so that I can keep track of everyone's opinion. Any option that is not one of the above will be ignored; that is especially true of any reviews that request a different pairing or that ask me to bash Sakura because that person dislikes/hates her for whatever reason. Also, no other pairings are open to debate, so please don't include them.

Anyway, that's all, thank you in advance for all of you who choose to participate. The poll will stay up and open until I post chapter fifteen or the end of the month; whichever comes first. And just so you know, even if your choice does not end up as part of the main story, it will be posted as a deviation when the story reaches the point where the split occurs. =) Jenn