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 10: A Mission's Bitter End
Fifteen, nearly sixteen, year old Aburame Satoshi landed lightly on his feet and did his best to ignore the brief flare of pain that snaked across his back as the portkey dumped him, his three teammates, a handful of friends, his brother's girlfriend, his godfather, and his honorary uncle in the middle of a warded clearing on the outskirts of Konoha. The four shinobi spent several minutes making certain that the area was clear of any immediate threats before leading the witches and wizards that had chosen to come with them towards Konohagakure. The bitter resentment, disappointment, and disgust that Satoshi had felt for the past several months faded away as the realization that he was finally home sank in.
As they walked along the road leading up to the main gate of the village, Satoshi discreetly studied the friends he'd made over the past five years.
First there was the vivacious Nymphadora Tonks; twenty-two year old witch, metamorphmagus, former Ministry Auror (for all of one year), and longtime girlfriend of Hatake Kakashi. Satoshi had met the bubbly (and often clumsy) witch during his first year when he'd experienced his first Christmas Holiday in over ten years. She'd been a seventh year at the time and had been very interested in the training she'd witnessed Satoshi and his teammates carrying out; she had actually begged Kakashi for lessons (repeatedly) before the Jounin had given into the witch.
She reminded Satoshi of Obito at times; a ready smile always on her face, an innate clumsiness, and a firm conviction in her beliefs. Satoshi had actually been shocked when he learned that Kakashi had started dating Dora (as she preferred to be called) sometime towards the end of his first year (something he hadn't found out until after his second year). His honorary brother had never before shown any interest in dating and most girls were put off by Kakashi's choice in reading material.
Next were Fred and George Weasley; eighteen year old twins, self proclaimed wizarding pranksters, and close friends of Kotetsu and Izumo. Satoshi's prank loving teammates had trained the identical redheaded menaces in the art of stealth and infiltration (building upon their already considerable talents) after the two trouble makers had tried pranking Satoshi and his teammates several times during his first year at Hogwarts. The two teens were also talented inventors that created their own line of magical products that they had shared with the four shinobi over the last four years. It hadn't been until Satoshi's second year, when he'd joined his house's Quidditch team, that he'd personally befriended the two Weasleys.
Then there was Neville Longbottom; a fifteen (nearly sixteen) year old powerhouse of a wizard, Herbology genius, and over all mild mannered young man. Satoshi had met the once shy teen during the first train ride to Hogwarts when another first year had dragged the distraught wizard into their compartment looking for a lost toad; a toad that Satoshi had nearly skewered with a kunai when it had attempted to eat some of his Kikaichu. It wouldn't be until Halloween night of their first year that Neville became his friend though, along with the same young witch that had been dragging him about on the train when they first met.
All it had taken was a damsel in distress and a troll loose in the castle to solidify that particular friendship despite the fact that he was in a completely different house than Satoshi (Neville had been sorted into the same house as the Weasley twins; Gryffindor).
Currently clinging to Neville's arm was his girlfriend (since the end of their fourth year) Susan Bones; a somewhat shy fifteen year old witch with once strong connections to the wizarding government and a fierce loyalty to her friends and family. She was also very good with both offensive and defensive magic; her family had a long history of producing exceptional law enforcement officers. Satoshi befriended the witch halfway through his third year, though he'd been on friendly terms with her prior to that since they'd been sorted into the same house; Hufflepuff. They probably would have been friends sooner if not for Susan's extreme shyness and Satoshi's rather reserved nature.
Walking next to Susan was Hannah Abbott; a rather outgoing sixteen year old witch with an overdeveloped mothering instinct that had her taking care of her fellow Hufflepuffs (especially those younger than her). She was also Susan's best friend (the two of them had grown up together) and she was the one that convinced the shy witch to accept Neville's invitation to the Yule Ball held in their fourth year. Hannah had formed the study group that Satoshi and the rest of his Hufflepuff year mates (and several students from other houses) took part in from day one. Hannah was also a genius when it came to using household charms and everyday spells in the most unique and often painful or embarrassing ways.
The last witch in the group was sixteen year old Hermione Granger; an outspoken young woman with strong morals, a near photographic memory, and a thirst for knowledge that rivaled Satoshi's. She was one of the most talented witches in their year with a solid grounding in Charms, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy; her spell repertoire numbered close to a thousand even if she could only perform around one-third of the spells she knew. She'd been the young witch that had taken a distraught Neville under her wing on that first train ride and whom Satoshi and his teammates had gone to save on the night the troll was let into the castle on that first Halloween night with a bit of help from Neville.
Out of all the witches that Satoshi knew and had befriended, Hermione was the one he was closest to and who'd been beside him during more than half of his adventures over the course of his five years at Hogwarts. They'd tried dating for a short period at the beginning of this past school year but quickly came to the conclusion that they considered one another siblings rather than love interests and so ended the brief relationship on good terms.
Next there was Brandon Summerby; twenty-one year old wizard, professional beater for the Montrose Magpies (going on two years now), former fellow beater on the Hufflepuff house team, and the one who'd talked (read forced) Satoshi into trying out for the house team in the first place. The older wizard had taken a keen interest in Satoshi right from the start when he'd seen Satoshi doing strengthening exercises on the first morning of classes during his first year at Hogwarts. Brandon had also been a House Prefect during Satoshi's first and second year.
After he'd graduated from Hogwarts, Brandon had kept in touch with Satoshi through his younger brother (who was one year younger than Satoshi) and by owl post. When Brandon had been picked up by the Magpies, he'd taken to sending Satoshi tickets whenever one of his scheduled Quidditch games took place over the two holiday breaks during the school term or over the summer holiday and had even gotten him tickets to attend the Quidditch World Cup in the summer before his fourth year.
Walking beside Brandon was eighteen year old Cedric Diggory who had just been picked up as a reserve seeker for the Montrose Magpies a few days before the end of term. Cedric had become close friends with Satoshi during his second year when the two of them joined the Quidditch team at the same time. Satoshi had often trained with the seeker during practices because Satoshi was fast enough on a broom to pose a challenge for the older boy. The two of them had also been selected as co-champions in the Tri-Wizard Tournament that were held at Hogwarts during Satoshi's fourth year.
And finally, walking just a ways behind Cedric, arm in arm with Hermione was Terry Boot; a sixteen year old wizard that Satoshi had befriended during the recent school year when the boy had began dating Hermione shortly before the winter holidays. Satoshi had known the rather intelligent boy since he'd joined Hannah's study sessions in their third year but it wasn't until he started dating Hermione that Satoshi had seen him as anything more than an acquaintance and study partner.
Terry actually got along better with Kakashi due to the fact that the young Ravenclaw was a potions prodigy (not that their professor for that class would have admitted that since Terry was a muggleborn); the one area of magical study that Kakashi found interesting. Satoshi, on the other hand, hated potions and hadn't actually attended a single Potions Class after his very first lesson due to Snape's vitriol and inability to actually teach. Kakashi had sat through those classes in Satoshi's place while under a henge since a magical core was not required to brew the various potions (bar some of the more advanced potions that weren't taught at Hogwarts).
Satoshi's thoughts next turned to the final two wizards in their group.
Remus Lupin, fondly known as Uncle Moony by Satoshi and the children, had been a permanent fixture in his life for just over six years now. The werewolf had become a close friend of Satoshi's father and had spent a good portion of the past six years in Konoha bar the year he'd spent teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in Satoshi's third year. As far as Satoshi was concerned, Moony had been the only competent wizard to teach that class during all five years that Satoshi had attended the school. He was also responsible for thirty percent of the N.E.W.T. level spells that Satoshi had learned over the past three years.
Then there was Satoshi's godfather, Sirius Black, or as he preferred to be called; Uncle Padfoot. The former convict had joined their patchwork family on Halloween of Satoshi's third year when the true traitor had been unveiled. The wizard had escaped from Azkaban Prison during the summer after Satoshi's second year and had been caught by Team Kakashi the instant he set foot on the school grounds. Using his Sharingan, Kakashi had drawn the truth from the gaunt wizard at Satoshi's urging after the younger shinobi had demanded answers because his memories of Padfoot had hurt whenever he thought about the betrayal Moony had been certain Padfoot had committed.
The man's innocence had been proven to both Satoshi and Kakashi in less than twenty minutes. The haggard wizard had been shipped off to Konoha with Buru and a pair of Satoshi's scorpions less than thirty minutes later so that he could receive the medical and mental care he desperately needed. Team Kakashi had then spent the rest of the year stalking the hidden Pettigrew (who'd escaped from the young wizard whose pet he'd been posing as) and gathering the evidence necessary to clear Black's name.
After capturing and interrogating Pettigrew, they had turned him over to an auror so that he could face wizarding justice only for the rat to escape (or potentially set free) somewhere between Hogwarts and the Ministry's holding cells. The result of that was that Minister Fudge refused to clear Sirius's name and refused to rescind the kill on sight orders that had been issued in regards to his godfather. Konoha had granted the man asylum at Satoshi's request and Remus moved to Konoha permanently at the end of the year in order to protect his old friend and help Sirius integrate himself into Satoshi's life and family.
To the surprise of those who'd watched Satoshi grow up (and close himself off after the Kyuubi attack), Sirius was the only adult that Satoshi accepted unconditionally outside of his adoptive family. The only one it didn't surprise was Kakashi; who well remembered the day when Satoshi had first seen Buru and called the huge bulldog Padfoot. The gray haired Jounin had also recalled that the first thing Satoshi had ever asked Remus (after the magicals had tracked him down) had been in regards to Padfoot's whereabouts.
Uncle Padfoot, as Satoshi had called him from the moment they'd captured him, was also the only wizard that Satoshi ever allowed to call him Harry; though the older wizard had taken to calling him Satoshi recently, now that Sirius had finally recovered from his twelve year sojourn in the wizarding prison. The one time Kakashi had asked Satoshi why he allowed the older man to call him by his birth name, Satoshi had stated that Padfoot was his godfather and that the older wizard had suffered far too much for Satoshi to begrudge him the one piece of his past that he'd desperately clung to during his imprisonment; his memory of his godson, Harry Potter.
Satoshi pulled himself from his thoughts for a moment and scanned their surroundings as the protective wall surrounding Konoha came into view. Once he was certain that there was no danger, he allowed his thoughts to wander once more while keeping a portion of his attention on his Kikaichu. This time he considered those friends he'd left behind or that had chosen not to follow him and the others to the Hidden Countries.
There was little Adam Summerby who was by no means little; he towered over Satoshi by more than nine inches (the fifteen year old shinobi currently topped out at a whopping five foot one inch). Adam was Brandon's younger brother and an excellent chaser; he also fully intended to follow Satoshi and the others to Konoha after he completed his fifth year. Then there was Ernie McMillan and Justin Flinch-Fletchley; two of Satoshi's Hufflepuff dorm mates during. Both fifteen year olds were obligated to follow in their fathers' footsteps and therefore would not be moving to Konoha with the others (though they had promised to keep in touch and visit when time permitted).
Next there was seventeen year old Cho Chang; Cedric's girlfriend from Ravenclaw whom Satoshi had actually had a small crush on at one point during his fourth year. She'd stayed behind to finish her seventh year and put herself through Mediwitch training before she followed her boyfriend to Konoha. Then there was Demelza Robins and Luna Lovegood; both of them one year younger than Satoshi (the same age as Adam) and in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively. Both girls had been outcasts in their houses right from the start and had been bullied during their first year at Hogwarts until Satoshi had put the fear of shinigami into their tormenters when he'd caught the bullies red handed.
Finally there was David Harper, the only Slytherin in their group, who was the same age as Adam, Luna, and Demelza. Like the two younger girls, David had been the victim of bullying within his school house due to his status as halfblood that had far too many muggles and muggleborns in his family tree on top of coming from a poor family. All three of the younger magicals fully intended on joining those in Konoha in order to escape the constant prejudice they faced within the wizarding society.
Satoshi had given all seven magicals that had remained behind permission to call upon Dobby (Satoshi's stolen house elf) in the event of an emergency so that they could contact him quickly if they needed to. Demelza, Luna, and David also each had a half dozen animated cement scorpions the size of dinner plates that Satoshi had created and given them to protect their belongings from bullies at the start of his third year (their second year). That was in addition to the magic oriented Kikaichu that Satoshi had left behind to watch over the school, his friends, and his enemies.
Kikaichu that would be collected and replaced every couple of months courtesy of the overenthusiastic house elf that had managed to trick Satoshi into bonding with him during Satoshi's second year (after Satoshi had worked out a way to free the elf through trickery at the elf's request). In that way, Satoshi would constantly be able to keep up with everything that was happening in Great Britain without having to rely solely upon the wizarding publications that he'd subscribed to over the years.
Thinking of those who'd been left behind brought back the memories of his fifth year which in turn brought back the bitterness Satoshi had been feeling for several months and he scowled behind his jacket collar.
Five minutes, their small troop of magicals and shinobi reached the main gate leading into Konoha and Satoshi shoved the unwelcome memories to the back of his mind as he presented his traveling papers to the Chuunin on duty and signed the gate register. He then focused on helping his friends through the check in process to insure that there would be no hassles with them entering the village. Once everyone in their group had been processed, they entered the small city and made their way to the Hokage Tower to report their return to the Hokage.
Just before they passed through the gate leading into the Hokage's Compound, Satoshi sent out a dozen Kikaichu to let a handful of individuals know that he was back. A single bug flew off towards the T and I Facility to inform his father while the rest split up to search the village for Shino, Hinata, and Naruto (who were more likely than not hanging out together). He then hurried to catch up with the others. Fifteen minutes later, their group was given permission to see the Hokage and Satoshi hesitated for a split second before he squared his shoulders and led the group inside of the large office.
"Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama," Satoshi, his two honorary uncles, and his three teammates greeted in concert as they all bowed respectfully towards the Sandaime. The rest of the witches and wizards with them followed their example a heartbeat later; though their bows were far less formal and more than a little shaky which put their current nervousness on display for all of the shinobi present (including the hidden AnBu).
"Konnichiwa," Sarutobi replied with a head nod as he glanced up from the stack of paperwork he'd been working on and smiled at the group. "Welcome home Team Kakashi and welcome to Konohagakure no Sato young witches and wizards. I trust your mission ended well enough and that your journey home from Britain was pleasant?"
"Not precisely, Hokage-sama," Kakashi hedged as he cast a sideways glance at Satoshi who'd tensed slightly at the question.
The next ten minutes were then spent introducing those witches and wizards who had never stepped foot in Konoha previously (Dora, Neville, and Hermione had visited for a week or two each summer after Satoshi's second year at Hogwarts). Kakashi then provided the Hokage with a brief summary of the events that led up to the small handful of magicals arriving early when the original arrangements had been for them to show up in two weeks in order for the village to prepare for their arrival.
The Sandaime Hokage had given Satoshi a sharp, searching look before studying each of the ten young witches and wizards that had followed Satoshi home as he carefully considered their request. After a couple of tense minutes, the Hokage granted them temporary visas that would allow them to remain in the village until their citizenship applications could be approved. His friends were well prepared for that process; Remus and Sirius had both warned them what to expect once they had arrived with Kakashi offering further insight from Konoha's prospective.
To that end, each one of the magicals had given some hard thought in regards to their futures since they had a chance of being granted citizenship if they could provide an unusual or highly sought after good or service. The fact that all of them were or soon would be qualified witches and wizards helped since it could be said they each had a rare Kekkei Genkai which was reason enough for them to be allowed to stay.
The twins planned to open a store that would sell harmless pranks and other unique inventions to civilians and their more serious (and therefore more dangerous) products to shinobi. Hermione and Terry planned to brew and sell an assortment of useful potions. Neville wished to cultivate magical plants (which would negate the need for Hermione and Terry to purchase plant based potion ingredients in bulk from the Outer Countries). Hannah intended to open a combination day care/pre-school center or an orphanage (she was quite fond of children).
Susan aimed to either go into law enforcement or help Hannah and Neville. Dora also preferred to continue on in law enforcement and brought with her a year's worth experience as an auror and three additional years of auror training that put her on even footing with a Chuunin. Brandon hoped to be allowed to coach muggle sports once he retired from Quidditch or if he was forced to quit at some point; the twenty-one year old was a halfblood that had been raised in the muggle world and a lover of all sports.
Cedric was the only one who didn't have any set plans; he was both powerful and intelligent and could have easily taken a job within any department in the Ministry of Magic once he'd graduated but he preferred to play Quidditch because he loved to fly. He also hadn't wanted anything to do with the Ministry after everything that had happened during the past year despite the fact that his father was the current Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
Of those who had not yet joined them but intended to follow in a couple of years, Luna was very knowledgeable about and exceedingly good with animals (even the non-existent ones she diligently sought to track down) and hoped to open a magical creature reserve (which would sell animal based products for consumption and potion making). Cho intended to become a certified Mediwitch (a profession that would later see her application to join them in Konoha granted with little to no hesitation). Demelza was also interested in healing but because she was a muggleborn there was little chance of her scraping out the potions grade necessary due to Snape's prejudice and poor teaching methods (though she was a skilled potioneer).
Adam was well on his way to becoming an Enchanter (his strengths being Charms and Runic Magic) in addition to having his brother's love of all things sport related. And lastly, David was interested in law (both muggle and magical) and intended to either open his own practice (though there wasn't much of a call for lawyers in the Hidden Countries) or work as a private investigator attached to the local law enforcement.
The only possible reason any one of them would be denied at this point was if they didn't pass the mental evaluation that all ten of those currently applying for citizenship would be required to undergo; in order to confirm that they didn't pose a threat to the village. Since mental intrusions could trigger an episode of accidental defensive magic (depending on the individual's age and the reason for the intrusion) the ten of them had been warned ahead of time that they'd have to go through a mental evaluation that included a scan of their intentions. Remus and Sirius would both be on hand to deal with any magical complications that arose despite the warning and advance preparation.
A pair of AnBu guards arrived at that point to escort the ten magical refugees to the hotel where they'd be staying during the approval process. Satoshi promised them that he'd swing by to see them once he was finished and to show them the way to the restaurant district. Izumo and Kotetsu were dismissed shortly after and given a reminder to have their written reports on the Hokage's desk within forty-eight hours. Once it was just Satoshi and Kakashi left in the office with the Hokage, Sarutobi dismissed his hidden AnBu guards as a small handful of high ranked Jounin filed into the office from Hokage's private chambers (the Jounin had been sent for the moment word reached the Hokage's Tower that Team Kakashi had returned with outsiders in tow).
Sarutobi raised the privacy barrier a minute later and Satoshi grew tense as he studied the faces of those who'd just entered the room. There was Akimichi Torifu (current AnBu Commander, code-name Kasai), Mimura Hamaki (Jounin Shinobi Commander), Nara Shikaku (Sarutobi's Chief Strategist), Yamanaka Inoichi (newly named head of Konoha's T and I Department), Hyuuga Haruto (Head of Village Security and father of Hiashi and Hizashi), and Mitokado Homura (Head of Intelligence). The only department heads that were missing were Jiraiya (Konoha's Spy Master), Umeboshi Nigiri (Head of the Cipher Division), Sato Furofuki (Director of Konoha's Hospital and renowned medic), and the deceased Uchiha Fugaku (former Chief of Konoha's Police Department).
Facing those six powerful individuals in addition to the Hokage wasn't easy and if not for Satoshi's past dealings with each of those individuals, he would have been shaking in his boots right about then.
"Shall we begin gentlemen?" Sarutobi asked rhetorically as he leaned back in his chair once his most trusted advisors made themselves comfortable.
"While the completion of the fifth contract with the wizarding world could be considered successful, the current political unrest plaguing Great Britain's wizarding community poses a problem for the final two contracts," Kakashi stated after casting another brief glance at the silent and tense Satoshi. "The rising hostility from the general public throughout the course of the year coupled with the actions of a handful of individuals within the magical community (most of them associated in some form with the magical government) make returning to Britain and Hogwarts risky at best and suicidal at worst."
"Can you give us a few examples?" Shikaku inquired from where he was leaning lazily against the wall to the left of the Hokage's desk.
Kakashi shot another brief glance in Satoshi's direction before he began explaining those things they had been unable to put into a written report during the course of the year. While the older Jounin's voice rose and fell rhythmically in the background, Satoshi found himself drawn into the memories of the past five years. All five years spent within the walls of Hogwarts had been illuminating but difficult and if not for Kakashi, Izumo, and Kotetsu's presence within the castle; Satoshi doubted he would have survived his first year, let alone all five.
In his first year, there had been the glory seeking and self-serving Minister of Magic, a rogue troll on Halloween night, and several attacks on the unicorns in the forest until Satoshi and Kakashi caught the culprit in the act during a training exercise and created a refuge for the unicorns. There had also been a highly coveted magical artifact that had been poorly protected (and subsequently removed by the four shinobi), an illegal dragon, and a trio of kidnappings. And lastly there had been a professor possessed by Voldemort's undead shade and a long and bloody battle in the bowels of the school against the Voldemort possessed Quirrell while trapped inside of an ancient chakra suppression barrier.
On top of all that, he'd had to deal with his homesickness, hide the full extent of his abilities, put up with the prejudiced attitudes of several staff members and a good portion of the students, and try to stave off the growing boredom because the classes just weren't challenging enough (mentally, physically, or magically). That he had managed to make friends at all that year had been surprising. That they hadn't run in fear or disgust when they learned about his swarm or turned on him in anger when they learned his birth name had been a miracle.
His second year had been worse with a troublesome house elf (that he eventually 'stole' from his owner), a dead cat, the loss of two thirds of his swarm (to death and petrification), and multiple attacks on students that left them petrified. He'd also had to deal with an idiot of a teacher that didn't know squat about his subject, the return of the annoying Minister, a deadly basilisk large enough to swallow an ox whole, and another long and bloody encounter with the undead shade of Voldemort down in the Chamber of Secrets. At the end of the year, he'd discovered that Voldemort had split his soul to create horcruxes in his quest for immortality after he discovered the tainted magic clinging to an old diary and to the scar on his forehead (both of which resonated weakly with Voldemort's magical signature).
That was the year he'd joined the Hufflepuff Quidditch team as a beater. The captain had really wanted him to try for seeker but Satoshi had had no desire to sit on a broom hunting for a tiny gold ball when he could bash the bludgers about and build up his upper body strength at the same time. It was also the year that Nicolas Flamel had sought him out to question him about the fate of the Philosopher's Stone that Team Kakashi had stolen the year before. An artifact that he'd surprisingly been asked to keep safe after he'd attempted to return it to its proper owner.
Third year actually gave him a slight reprieve as the worst he'd had to deal with were demonic beings that fed upon emotions, an innocent godfather, a hidden traitor, and a third encounter with the bumbling Minister. While he'd studied far ahead in both first and second year to help stave off the boredom, third year saw him pushing himself even further along in his magical studies since he wasn't trying to solve a mystery or stop the magical equivalent of a bijuu. In addition to signing up for all of the offered electives (alongside Hermione), he had taken numerous extra lessons with Uncle Moony and sent camouflaged shadow clones to sit in on the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classes for all of the upper years.
He'd also spent endless hours reading and copying every single spell book he could get his hands on and practiced his spell casting for hours on end down in the Chamber of Secrets where he wouldn't be caught or disturbed. The two most important spells he'd learned and mastered that year were the Patronus Charm (to defend himself from the affects of the dementors) and the Fidelius Charm (a high level secrecy charm). The six time turners he'd stolen with Kakashi's help at the end of that year had just been icing on the cake.
His fourth year was nothing but one miserable disaster after another, starting with the madness that occurred after the Quidditch World Cup; when Death Eaters had attacked the spectators and the muggle caretaker of the moor where the game had been held. Then came the disastrous Tri-Wizard Tournament he'd been forced to compete in, the hostility of more than half of the school's population, Death Eaters masquerading as school staff, an insane criminal throwing about all three Unforgivables, a deadly plot to bring Voldemort back to life, corrupt Ministry officials (including the idiotic Minister), and another kidnapping.
At the end of the year, there'd even been a final long and bloody battle that saw the end of Voldemort once and for all; thanks to Satoshi's Kikaichu scouring the entire country for each and every one of Voldemort's remaining horcruxes by hunting down traces of his tainted magic. That had been a mission he'd been assigned after reporting the discovery of the portion tied to his scar at the end of his second year. Destroying the horcruxes to break the link that kept Voldemort alive was easy.
All he'd had to do was have his Kikaichu drain the tainted magic from the objects that Voldemort had used to store the soul fragments. Objects that were valuable magical treasures that Satoshi had readily kept after they'd been purged of Voldemort's tainted soul pieces and corrupted magic.
The Death Eaters that had died or been permanently maimed during that final bloody battle were what sparked the disaster that had been his fifth (and what would inevitably become his final) year at Hogwarts. Minister Fudge had lost a considerable amount of face when Team Kakashi had returned to Hogwarts bearing the body of the newly reborn and now deceased Voldemort, several dead Death Eaters, and a handful of injured purebloods all decked out in Death Eater regalia. The man's reputation had taken a further beating when Pettigrew, Dawlish, Malfoy, and several other Ministry personnel had been uncovered beneath the masks. It became even worse when Barty Crouch Jr., a man who was supposed to have died in Azkaban many years earlier, was found to have been impersonating Alastor Moody (that year's Defense Professor).
In retaliation for making Fudge look like the corrupt idiot he was, the man had begun a smear campaign against Satoshi and his teammates. The man started by labeling the four shinobi as vicious savages and blood thirsty murderers before he accused Satoshi of being a dark lord in the making. As such, one Delores Umbridge (the Minister's lap dog) had been sent to Hogwarts to 'reform' Satoshi and make certain that he couldn't 'raise an army of cold-hearted killers' during his final years at Hogwarts.
The first thing she'd done, once she had spent two months studying Satoshi, was bar Kakashi, Kotetsu, and Izumo from any classroom, prohibit Satoshi from training on the castle grounds, and attempt to confiscate their weapons. The four shinobi would have simply ignored her if not for the fact that Dumbledore had urged them to comply. At the time, the bearded wizard had claimed that he couldn't overturn her new rules and that their cooperation would see a quick end to the conflict.
The moment they gave an appearance of following those rules (his guards working under a camouflage jutsu, training sessions moved down into the Chamber of Secrets, and their weapons safely sealed into scrolls with fakes handed over), Umbridge had imposed further restrictions upon Satoshi.
She'd gone so far as to ban him from the library and had him kicked out of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy (not that he needed those classes thanks to the clones he'd had sit through all fives years of classes in both his third and fourth year). She had then gone on to ban him from all future Hogsmeade visits ' out of concern for the other students' and to prevent him from 'recruiting' adult wizards into his non-existent army. And lastly, she had prohibited him from carrying his wand between classes; forcing him to hand it over to a prefect or a professor after each lesson (though once again he hid his real wand and handed over a fake).
When he filed a formal complaint with Dumbledore through Professor Sprout, the man had once again told him to just follow along like a good boy until everything blew over.
It was at that point that Satoshi had begun to suspect that Dumbledore was encouraging Umbridge's efforts to 'reform' Satoshi. He knew the old wizard had been extremely shocked and disappointed that Satoshi had killed so many Death Eaters during that epic battle in a remote graveyard at the end of his fourth year. The man had lectured Satoshi for hours about second chances, mercy, and repentance during the final week of his fourth year.
He knew without a doubt that Dumbledore supported the Ministry's stance when Satoshi had approached the man to file yet another formal complaint after the first detention he had served with Umbridge on December first. The woman had sadistically ordered him to repeatedly write the words 'I am a murdering disgrace to wizardkind' with a cursed quill that used his blood for ink and carved the words into the back of his hand. If not for his Kikaichu drawing the dark magic from the wound, his hand would probably have scarred.
Satoshi hadn't been bothered by the pain or the blood but he had known that few of the other students could handle the borderline torture and so felt obligated to report the woman. The ancient wizard hadn't cared one wit that the vindictive woman was ultimately torturing children. In fact, the man had even gone so far as to say that it was entirely Satoshi's fault and that he needed to learn that actions had consequences. Satoshi had begun making plans to leave the wizarding world permanently at that point.
He started by reviewing the laws that applied to underage wizards and made it a point to consult Remus (who'd taught him wizarding law) about what options were available to him. He'd then made arrangements with the goblins to convert half of his wizarding fortune into ryō, empty his vaults of artifacts and heirlooms, and sell off any private property he owned throughout the British Isles. Arrangements were also made to purchase everything he would need to raise, grow, or make his own potion ingredients (since magical plants and animals did not occur naturally in the wilds of the Hidden Countries).
Additional plans were made to have the goblins purchase two copies of every book ever published in the wizarding world (minus the books he'd already purchased or copied; a list of which he'd provided them). Next he'd contacted his father and asked him to purchase a large plot of land outside of Konoha (using the money he'd saved up since he first earned his hitai-ate) on which he could build a large magical creature reserve. Lastly, he began gathering all of the dirt he could find on Cornelius Fudge, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Delores Umbridge, and a handful of other corrupt individuals with the help of his Kikaichu.
Shortly after setting his plans into motion, the friends he'd made during his time at Hogwarts confronted him about what was going between him and Umbridge. He'd been shocked when more than half of them declared their intentions to go with him because they couldn't live in a world that vilified him for ending a threat that the wizarding society had allowed to flourish for decades. They'd quickly put together an intense study program that would prepare all of those who were in fifth year or above to take their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year regardless of what year they were in. Those few who were in fourth year trained with them so that when they finished their fourth and fifth years they could take both tests as well.
Remus and Sirius had both returned to Britain on the sly and snuck into Hogwarts at that point to help them train and file the necessary paperwork with the Ministry that would allow the sixth and fifth years to take their N.E.W.T.s one and two years early respectfully. Clones took the place of the entire group during classes and meals so that they were free to cram all day long with few interruptions while Dobby provided food that they knew was potion and poison free (after the second attempt to poison and drug Satoshi during meal times). The stolen time turners were a huge help during those training sessions since they allowed the teens to make enough time to cover all of the material covered on both sets of exams.
When Brandon and Dora had both learned what was happening (through Adam and Kakashi respectively) they too had snuck into Hogwarts on their days off to help. Professors Sprout, McGonagall, and Flitwick had helped too; the three of them providing study materials and assigning them mock detentions to test them on their progress. And through the connection he'd established with Nicolas Flamel during his second year, Satoshi was able to insure that the Ministry couldn't interfere with their ability to sit for both the exams or the emancipation paperwork they'd filed at the same time.
That had not stopped Dumbledore from arranging to have Satoshi kidnapped right after he'd taken the final test. The wily old wizard had only managed the feat through trickery (using an Imperiused examiner, a point blank stunner, and a touch activated portkey) and because Satoshi couldn't send a clone to take the tests. He'd been dumped in a sealed room with Snape, Filch, Umbridge, and Scrimgeour. The four of them had then attempted to interrogate him about his future plans, his life outside of Hogwarts, Konoha's defenses, and Team Kakashi's weaknesses.
They had failed in their endeavors but the encounter had left its mark on Satoshi.
Permanently.
Nor had it stopped Dumbledore and the Ministry from trying to bind his magic the moment he stepped off of the train at the end of the term. If not for Fawkes interfering at the last moment (to the shock of Dumbledore who'd been there to carry out said binding), his magic would have been bound permanently.
The memory of Fawkes flashing in behind him to take the binding spell that would have sealed away his core brought Satoshi back to the present and he slipped his hand into the deep pocket of his red jacket and let his fingers gently dance over Fawkes's featherless form buried beneath the ashes of his former body. He felt absolutely no guilt over stealing Dumbledore's familiar; knowing that if the phoenix so desired, he could return to the older wizard the moment he reached maturity once more. Something told Satoshi that the bird would stay though and Satoshi found he didn't mind the idea of having a bird hang around for the first time (of course, it helped that said bird ate fruits and nuts; not insects).
There had been a number of injuries that resulted from that failed ambush but thankfully all of those injuries had been incurred by their attackers. Dumbledore had been disarmed as had the six aurors, two hit wizards, and one Obliviator that had been standing by to erase his memories, arrest him, and kill his three teammates. That wasn't surprising though, since Dumbledore's group had not counted on Satoshi's friends stepping up to defend him after Satoshi's popularity had taken a steep nosedive that year thanks to the Ministry's smear campaign.
Team Kakashi had confiscated their wands and personal effects after the short fight; scavenging was a well honed skill that all shinobi learned fairly early on in their training, after all. The wizards might call it thievery but then the English equivalent of the word shinobi was ninja which itself was translated as thief or assassin. And Satoshi prided himself on being a very good shinobi; regardless of what meaning was assigned to the word.
Thoughts of his shinobi career turned Satoshi's thoughts to the past five summers and he allowed himself to review those memories after taking the time to make certain Kakashi was still giving his report.
The first memory to float through his mind was the memory of learning that his adopted aunt had been murdered in her home and that his little cousin had vanished without a trace upon returning to Konoha at the end of his first year; the millions of dead Kikaichu littering the floors of their small home had not boded well for the missing seven year old. Shinichi was presumed dead when no trace of him had been found by the end of the summer but Satoshi refused to stop looking for him every chance he got.
Next came the memory of his twelfth birthday; when the Sandaime had personally given him an invitation to join the AnBu after promoting him to Tokubetsu Jounin based upon his performance during the first year of his Hogwarts mission. His first inclination had been to turn the invitation down but the discussion Team Kakashi had had with Dumbledore at the end of his first year about a prophecy concerning him and Voldemort (a discussion that Kakashi had bullied out of the bearded wizard) made him reconsider.
And oh what hell had found him before the words of his acceptance had completely faded from existence.
There were times when he'd thought Kushina had been a slave driver and Kakashi, Gai, and Tenzou were often harsh taskmasters during their training sessions but they all had nothing on Kasai who'd personally chosen to oversee every aspect of Satoshi's AnBu training for some inexplicable reason. The man was ruthless, unforgiving, and unyielding and yet at the same time inspiring, encouraging, and caring. That first summer saw Satoshi cramming six months worth of academic material into one month in addition to being put through physical hell. Kasai had run him into the ground repeatedly during those training sessions in order to push him past his current limits.
He got an up close and personal preview on why it was so important for him to increase his force, speed, stamina, and endurance a week before he was due to return to Hogwarts for his second year when he uncovered a traitor in the form of Rokushou Aoi. Satoshi had constantly kept tabs on the teal haired Jounin ever since the man had attempted to waylay him on the evening that Satoshi had been promoted to Chuunin. At the time, Satoshi had been monitoring Rokushou on the off chance that the man had been involved in Shinichi's disappearance (not putting it past him to attack his family to get revenge); which was how he'd overheard the conversation the man had held with a disgruntled Genin.
The Jounin had tricked Morino Idate (Ibiki's brother and a member of Rokushou's Genin team) into stealing the Nidaime Hokage's Raijin Sword and a scroll filled with village secrets pertaining to the sword. After witnessing the set up, Satoshi had immediately informed Kasai. His commander had then sent him out with a hastily assembled AnBu team to hunt down the traitor and retrieve the stolen artifacts; Satoshi's ability to track him through his swarm meaning they'd waste less time trying to find and follow his trail. It didn't take them long to discover that the traitor had been working with Amegakure and selling secrets to the rival village for years before finally deflecting.
They had managed to capture Rokushou and five Ame shinobi while killing another three Ame shinobi during the resulting battle. They also rescued Morino Ibiki and Idate; the former of which had gone in pursuit of the latter when he'd thought his brother had run away simply because he'd failed the written portion of the Chuunin Exam earlier that morning. Satoshi had been injured during the battle; Rokushou had sliced him open from armpit to hip on his right side with the Raijin and while the cut itself had been shallow, it was the chakra burns from the sword that made it a rather troublesome and irritating injury.
Ibiki and a couple of the AnBu operatives had been injured as well though only Ibiki had needed to be hospitalized due to Rokushou torturing the Jounin for a half an hour before the AnBu team finally caught up with them. Satoshi had been given five days off and ordered to resume his training once he'd gone back to Hogwarts when the urgent mission had been completed.
Somehow he'd also ended up knocking some sense into Ibiki's younger brother when he'd heard the younger boy (who was only a year younger than Satoshi) arguing with his brother about the failed Chuunin Exam (which Ibiki had presided over). The twelve year old had slapped the eleven year old upside the back of his head (no easy feat since he was a good five or six inches taller than Satoshi) and lectured him for thirty minutes straight on exactly what it meant to be a shinobi while at the same time reminding the Genin that the world didn't revolve around him; all without raising his voice above a whisper.
The two AnBu guards monitoring the boy (because he had unwittingly helped Rokushou to betray the village) and Ibiki were shocked at how Satoshi finally managed to get through to the other boy. He had done so by first speaking of his own failed Chuunin Exams and then by unzipping his jacket and pulling up the hem of his shirt enough to allow Idate to see the scars that ran diagonally across his stomach and disappeared beneath both his pants and the rest of his shirt. His parting words before taking his leave that night were that there were things far worse than failing to look beneath the obvious meaning of a single question.
His second summer as a member of the AnBu had been no cake walk either. He'd come home only half healed from his latest near death experience with Voldemort's shade and the magical equivalent of a tailed beast but that hadn't stopped Kasai from testing him his first day back and throwing him to the wolves as he was assigned to his first AnBu Squad and once again driven into the ground. The fact that he personally knew all three of his teammates (or at least knew of them) didn't help as they in no way went easy on the almost thirteen year old.
If he had previously thought Kakashi was a harsh taskmaster when it came to training, it was nothing to how ruthless the older Jounin was when he donned his AnBu mask.
As captain of their squad, Kakashi demanded nothing short of perfection and settled for nothing less than instant obedience, complete adherence to the rules, and impeccable teamwork. The only concession he was willingly to allow Satoshi (once he knew the new recruit was the thirteen year old beneath the mask) was to grant the younger shinobi five extra minutes of rest from time to time and that was only because Kakashi was well aware of how serious Satoshi's recent wounds had been.
The other two members of their four man squad were Panda (Tenzou) and Neko (Uzuki Yuugao). Satoshi had known and trained alongside Tenzou for years and known of him since the day he'd been assigned as Naruto's AnBu escort shortly after Satoshi had picked the little mite out of the dumpster on his second birthday. He knew of Yuugao for the same reason (as she'd been another of those assigned to watch over Naruto). He had also frequently seen and sensed her around the Hokage Tower when he picked up a mission but had never actually met her until the day he was placed on Kakashi's squad.
Being placed on a squad meant that Satoshi had finally earned his mask and code name; his months of training the previous summer had been spent beneath a blank mask with a number assigned to him instead of a name. He was almost offended when Kasai had dubbed him Gaichuu and handed him a mask painted to look like an insect's face. Satoshi probably would have protested against the name if not for the fact that his larger scorpion summonses often called him that when he called on them.
The alternate persona that he'd been required to create in order to prevent himself from being recognized when wearing his mask (since he had been both the shortest and youngest Jounin on the payroll at the time and his face and preferred style of dress were easily recognized) was tailored to reflect that name.
The first step to creating his alter ego had been to learn the Kage Henge no Jutsu, which was a far more powerful and far more stable version of the Henge no Jutsu that had been taught at the academy. The Kage Henge formed a dense layer of chakra over a person's body rather than just an illusion (much like the shadow clone technique produced solid clones) and was therefore much harder to dispel than the common Henge no Jutsu that was taught in the academy. Once he'd mastered that jutsu (which hadn't taken him very long) the next step had been to create the physical aspects of his new persona.
He'd chosen to keep the alterations simple; increasing his height by six inches and changing the color of his hair. The height increase put him at a whopping five feet two inches at the time (a far cry from his actual height of four feet eight inches). The change to his hair color was just as drastic as he turned it a deep red in honor of Lily Potter and Uzumaki Kushina that he swept up and spiked to give it a semblance of order.
The last change was actually a physical alteration rather than a henged alteration in the form of solid black contacts (that covered even the whites of his eyes and looked more than a little creepy when he wore them) that replaced his usual sunglasses and the long white bandana that replaced his short red one that he always wore (to protect his eyes from the light and hide his distinctive lightning bolt scar respectfully).
At some point during the process of creating his alter ego, Satoshi had decided to create two personas. They both had nearly the same exact appearance though the second one was decidedly female (complete with budding breasts) while the first one was male. The reason for the gender swap of his second persona was to confuse those who that would attempt to uncover his actual identity and he was both young enough and short enough to make it believable.
Once he had his new looks memorized, he worked on changing his voice to match his new faces. Both were far louder than his normal whisper; the male's voice half an octave deeper and a touch arrogant while the female's voice was half an octave higher, bubbly, and just a touch breathy.
The next two steps of creating the two personas was a change of attire and creating personalities. His male persona was a bit arrogant and a shameless flirt that lived to annoy those around him. His female persona was a bit of an airhead that was constantly in motion, loved to gossip, and constantly threw herself at every person she ran across (regardless of gender). Additionally, both personas were avid pranksters and far more outgoing than Satoshi as a tribute to his longtime friendship with Kotetsu and Izumo and the new found friendship with Fred and George Weasley during his second year.
Both personas wore form fitting clothes that were fairly revealing (which was without a doubt far from his usual attire that covered ninety-five percent of his body from view and made it difficult to judge his abilities based upon his physical appearance alone). To start with, he wore a flesh-toned spandex bodysuit that was two shades darker than his natural skin color to protect his swarm from direct sunlight and hide his scars. Careful stitching, fabric die, and a minor genjutsu was also layered over the spandex bodysuit to give the appearance of a belly button and mimic the texture of skin so that it wasn't readily apparent that he was wearing the bodysuit.
Over top of that, both personas wore snug fitting white shorts that ended just above the knee, white leg warmers on his lower calf and ankles (to hide his ankle weights), and white shinobi sandals. His male persona then wore a skintight white tank top that ended an inch below his ribs, white gloves that ended two inches past his wrist, and a loose sleeveless pale gray haori that ended at the hips. The female persona, on the other hand, wore a white halter top, elbow length white gloves, and a pale gray mini skirt over top of her shorts. When on active duty, both personas would naturally wear the standard AnBu uniforms overtop of their 'civilian' clothes.
Their individual fighting styles and Gaichuu's overall fighting style were as different as day and night when compared to Satoshi's normal style. His male form tended to fight slightly more aggressively and used technique to block and counter attacks while his female form favored a more defensive form and used evasion and acrobatics to avoid taking hits; both of them tending to show off at every opportunity. His normal fighting style, on the other hand, was a combination of offensive and defensive moves in conjunction with his Kikaichu and a tendency to expend the least amount of energy so as not to tire himself out (and no where near as showy as those his alter egos used).
His alternate personas also made innovative use of two of the academy's basic three jutsu; the Bunshin (specifically the Kage Bunshin) and the Kawarimi in order to confuse and unsettle his opponents. The adeptness that he gained at using the replacement technique while in the guise of his two alter egos would eventually see the pair earning the nickname Kawarimi Twins. That was in addition to making whoever he was facing feel utterly and completely uncomfortable by hitting on him or her in both forms.
To avoid having someone recognize Satoshi through his chakra (and magical) affinities, Gaichuu was registered as having no elemental affinity (a rarity since most everyone was born with at least one affinity, even if it was weak). Their Kekkei Genkai was listed as matter manipulation (alluding to his ability to transfigure objects and creatures through his magic). Gaichuu was also listed as having the dragonfly summoning contract (something that had shocked the Hokage, Kasai, and Tenzou) which further separated Satoshi from Gaichuu since most shinobi believed a person could only hold one contract. Lastly, his AnBu personas were listed to be skilled in kenjutsu and chakra sensors while Satoshi's shinobi file listed him as skilled in fuuinjutsu and genjutsu and host to the Kikaichu.
The first mission he had been given after developing his two new personas was to establish both of his personas as long time residents of Konoha. This meant that he had to create a complete background for his personas, create a paper trail and official documents for them, and come up with a believable reason as to why no one recalled ever seeing them around the village before.
He started by naming both personas and establishing them as identical twins that had been born in Tsuki no Kuni (a small and relatively unknown country that had little to no contact with Konoha) and orphaned at age five. Their parents were refugees from the former nation of Uzu no Kuni (which Satoshi knew well enough due to the stories that Kushina used to tell him about her birth land) which would explain why their parents weren't well known or remembered if someone actually traveled to Tsuki to inquire about them. Finally, the two of them had stumbled into Konoha at age eight (after living on the streets for three years and constantly being chased from village to village across an uncountable number of countries).
They were made Genin at age nine, promoted to Chuunin at age ten, and inducted into the AnBu at age fourteen (their registered age at the time of creation; which was intentionally a year older than Satoshi's true age). They were never placed on a Genin team because their presence was hidden due to their link to Uzushio, raised and trained in secret by Kasai (which would account for his interest in Gaichuu's training), and their unique skills saw them taking numerous long term infiltration missions since they were easily able to blend in with the locals due to their Kekkei Genkai. The reason they were treated as a single person instead of two individuals was due to how close the two of them grew after their parents died and the fact that his male persona desperately wanted to protect his female persona.
New identities firmly established, Satoshi spent the rest of that second summer training as both of his personas in order to get him comfortable with his role as Gaichuu. This included working extensively on his sword work (with a single katana instead of the pair of wakizashi swords he normally preferred), further improving upon his chosen taijutsu styles, improving his throwing accuracy when using shuriken (since Satoshi was well known to hate using the throwing stars), and adding a wider assortment of non-elemental and elemental jutsu to his arsenal to avoid outing himself with his water and earth based jutsu. That training would be continued with the help of Kakashi over his third year at Hogwarts.
His third summer as a member of the AnBu Corps saw him being assigned as one of Naruto's unseen guards; an assignment that Satoshi took seriously. After two weeks of watch duty, he approached the Sandaime with a suggestion for securing Naruto's safety, hiding the knowledge of his parentage, and easing the hostility that the village directed for the child. He spent close to three hours sequestered in the Hokage's office with the Sandaime, Kasai, and the other heads of the other departments and divisions as he outlined his idea and listed both the pros and cons of the plan.
On the second of August, he was given permission to carry out his suggestion (after the kid had been mobbed by civilians for the third or fourth time when traveling alone through the village) and Satoshi sealed the knowledge of Naruto's status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and the fact that Naruto was Minato and Kushina's son inside of himself using the Fidelius Charm he'd had Remus teach him alongside the Patronus Charm over the course of his third year.
The reason someone else wasn't chosen as the Secret Keeper was twofold; first the Keeper had to have magic to seal the secret inside of their soul and second the Keeper was also the caster of the spell since a person could only seal a secret inside of their own soul and not the soul of another. It was because of the second reason that most people easily believed the ruse that Sirius Black had been the Secret Keeper for the Potters since few people believed that Pettigrew had been powerful enough to cast a Fidelius Charm.
Two weeks after sealing away Naruto's secrets, once it became clear that the sealing had worked, one Uzumaki Naruto became an official ward of the Aburame Clan and the not quite six year old happily moved into Shino's room.
At the end of that summer, just before he returned to Hogwarts for his fourth year, Satoshi was ordered to seal away the knowledge that he and Gaichuu were one and the same using the Fidelius Charm after confirming that he could seal secrets about himself inside of himself. He could, but only if he wrote out an extra copy of the secret that he was sealing before hand so that he could remind himself what it was he had sealed away; otherwise that information would be lost forever. He also sealed away the knowledge that he held two summoning contracts, that his magic could subdue a partially transformed bijuu, and that the Kawarimi Twins hosted a swarm of Kikaichu.
His fourth summer was as terrible as his fourth year. It started the day Team Kakashi returned to Konoha and they learned that the entire Uchiha Clan bar Uchiha Sasuke had been brutally murdered by Uchiha Itachi just two months earlier. A week later, through the Kikaichu that watched over a friend, Satoshi witnessed the betrayal of an AnBu team that had been sent into Kirigakure to assess the growing unrest and increasing rumors of carriers of Kekkei Genkai being persecuted.
Even worse than the fact that Konoha had once again been betrayed by someone inside of the village (since that was the only way the information could have been leaked) was the knowledge that Toriichi Kumade had been on that team as had Hyuuga Hizashi (Neji's father), Maboroshi Kisuke, and Sasaki Ayaka (the latter two both AnBu members that Satoshi had only met in passing after joining the AnBu Corps). Satoshi had grown close to Kumade once more after the older Jounin had been one of the four guards assigned to watch over him when the wizarding world had been attempting to kidnap him and it hurt to lose him once more.
A short and bloody civil war was incited that same night when Root Operatives kidnapped Satoshi's clone out of his assigned room at AnBu Headquarters when he'd sent the clone to report the betrayal to Kasai while the real Satoshi was reporting the same information directly to the Hokage. It had been the annihilation of the Kikaichu that had been sent to watch over Satoshi's clone with an insecticide bomb that had alerted him to the kidnapping.
Satoshi played a huge role in the twenty-four hour conflict as he first provided proof of Root's continued existence (an organization that was supposed to have been disbanded while Minato was still Hokage) and then gave them a point of reference for locating Root's Headquarters through the locator seal on his captive clone. Additionally, he'd helped Jiraiya neutralize and remove a number of the seals Shimura Danzou had applied to all Root Operatives to prevent them from betraying him in order to allow the operatives to be interrogated. The removal had been accomplished through his and Jiraiya's extensive knowledge of fuuinjutsu in combination with a spell that he had converted into a jutsu.
He'd worked out the conversion back in his third year in order to make it easier to fix mistakes in a newly drawn seal or remove an unwanted seal without risking it blowing up in his face and easily modified it with Jiraiya's help to work on living seals (such as those embedded in tattoos). The same technique also allowed him to remove the alterations that had been made to the seals hidden within the AnBu tattoos of those Root Operatives that were also a part of the AnBu Corps (seals that were supposed to prevent the AnBu members from going against the Hokage or betraying the village amongst other things).
The village had still been cleaning up and recovering from that mess when Satoshi had returned to Hogwarts for what would become his final year at the magical school.
Translations: Japanese to English
Konnichiwa – good afternoon or hello
Nani – what
Tsuki no Kuni – Moon Country (from 3rd Naruto Movie)
Notes:
AnBu Commander: Akimichi Torifu
Jounin Shinobi Commander: Mimura Hamaki
Chief Strategist: Nara Shikaku
Head of Intelligence Division: Mitokado Homura (Sarutobi's teammate)
Head of Cipher Division: Umeboshi Nigiri
Head of Torture & Interrogation: Yamanaka Inoichi
Chief of Police: Former – Uchiha Fugaku (deceased), Current – N/A
Head of Village Security: Hyuuga Haruto (Hiashi and Hizashi's father)
Medical Director: Sato Furofuki
Spy Master: Jiraiya
AN: I had originally set out to write through all five of the years that Harry/Satoshi attended Hogwarts and the summers in between but after getting through the first two years and first two summers after, I hit a roadblock. Harry's years at Hogwarts are overdone and trying to write something new and different is exceedingly hard without offending the canon purists. (Not that that matters to me, seeing as how I have far too much fun playing fast and loose with canon when the mood suits me.)
So, anyway, after getting stuck I decided to fast forward and then gloss back over those years in a reflection to highlight the major events. I do still have close to sixty thousands words from the years I did write though as well as the basic plot outlines for another three years that I eventually plan to post as a side story of omakes just to give a bit more detail to some of the more important events that shaped Satoshi's life in this story.
I make no promises as to when those will be posted though as I've still got plenty of other projects in progress that are waiting for my attention and still need to rewrite what I have so far into a series of self contained omakes for each event. When I do post it, it will be called 'Bug Boy Reports: the Missing Years' or something similar. It will definitely have the words Bug Boy and Reports in the title somewhere though.
Next: the Poll Results… (includes those sent by review/pm)
Satoshi/Fu - 371
Satoshi/Temari - 251
Sakura Sidelined - 138
Sakura Un-fan-girl-ized - 326
Pairing Doesn't Matter - 131
Sakura's Fate is Unimportant - 287
That is the final tally and I won't be counting any review votes that were sent after I closed the poll this morning; which basically means that I won't be counting any votes sent after 10/29 because that was the most recent review submitted prior to my posting this chapter.
So, this version of the story will have Satoshi/Fu w/ Sakura un-fan-girl-ized while an alternate version (which will most likely be unimaginably titled 'Bug Boy: Temari Edition' or something similar) with the Satoshi/Temari w/ Sakura sidelined will be uploaded when I reach the divergence point around chapter 31/32. For those who were confused, Sakura's role in either version of this story is very minor. However, one version barely mentions her in passing a couple of times while the other one has her playing a slightly larger role that allows her to interact w/ the main characters.
Sakura was never a viable love interest for any of the main characters. I never even hinted that she was a possible love interest; I just wanted to know if my readers wished to see her play a minor role as opposed to writing her out completely since she is a major supporting character in the Naruto Verse. I'm personally not very fond of Sakura or her treatment of Naruto but I am not going to go out of my way to bash her. Nor am I going to have Naruto hung up with an unrequited crush on her in this story.
Anywho, the alternate version will be updated at a slower rate than this version but it will still be updated regularly; or as regularly as I can manage it since there are times when I disappear for a while.
Speaking of which, this chapter was originally supposed to be up last Wednesday or Thursday but after the initial delay in fixing a small section on second half of the chapter, I had to deal with a minor plumbing emergency, get through a small bout of food poisoning, deal with the hullabaloo over Halloween, and catch up on a few other things. On top of that, I have to get my babies ready for their winter nap and give them their last meal of the year; so my updates may be a bit spotty for the next week or two.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter or that it was at least was enough to tide you over until the next chapter is posted. I'd also like to thank everyone that took the time to vote; I appreciated the input even if I wasn't giving you very many options to choose from. *passes out left over Halloween candy and snacks w/ a few pranks interspersed* ~ Jenn