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 2: Trials of a Genin

Satoshi had difficulty sitting still as he waited for class to start that day; he'd been attending the academy for ten months now and today would mark his first attempt at passing the Genin Exam. He'd spent the last nine and a half months working hard to train his body and his mind and he wanted nothing more than to make his parents and grandfather proud of him. The first few months had been especially difficult as the older children had avoided him like the plague or picked on him because of his age, his size, and his Kikaichu.

The only reason why the bullying never turned physical was because the instructors kept a close eye on Satoshi to insure that no harm came to him outside of normal training; none more so than his father's old teammate Genma (even though the Jounin was not one of Satoshi's actual instructors). The verbal abuse was bad enough though and there had been more than a couple of times when Satoshi had been on the verge of quitting the academy because it stirred up bad memories for the young Aburame.

Obito and Kakashi were the ones that actually helped him deal with the negative attention; Obito long used to being called names and put down (by more than half of his peers) and Kakashi had gone through something very similar when he'd started the academy at about the same age as Satoshi. By the end of his third month at the academy, Satoshi began ignoring the bullies and proved to his instructors (if not his classmates) why he'd earned his place in the academy two years early and attended what could potentially be a graduating class.

Around the second anniversary of his adoption, Satoshi actually made several friends among his classmates as he continuously proved that he wasn't getting special treatment and had actually earned his right to be in their class. His intelligence tended to intimidate the older children but his open and friendly personality (once he got to know a person) had more than made up for it. The fact that his taijutsu and weapon skills were only slightly above average for his age group helped them to relate to the not quite prodigy though his chakra control far exceeded that of most Genin due to the year and a half of extensive training his father and grandfather had put him through in order to help him expand his chakra coils.

The rest of his time at the academy had been relatively stress free aside from the usual school related worries such as completing homework assignments on time and passing various assessment tests at the end of each week.

Satoshi had, by this time, adopted the Aburame Clan's preferred mode of dress which included; dark sunglasses with rectangular lenses that completely hid his green eyes (much to Kushina and Rin's despair), loose fitting long pants, a comfortably snug long sleeved turtle neck, and a high necked, loose fitting hoodless jacket that hid the bottom half of his face and hung down to his knees. To keep his hair out of his eyes (since his hair was impossible to tame) Satoshi wore a headband tied around his forehead that also happened to completely hide the lightning bolt scar upon his brow.

Unlike the rest of the clan, who tended to favor muted shades of gray, green, and brown; Satoshi's pants, shirt, and headband were a shade of red so dark they appeared black while his jacket was the color of freshly spilt blood (almost the exact shade of his biological mother's hair). He also wore black opened toed boots that came up to his knees which he tucked the bottom of his pants into instead of wrapping the hems in bandages since he could never get the bandages to sit properly. The loose clothing helped to hide his pencil thin, wiry frame which made many people underestimate him since they couldn't predict his movements or gauge his true weight and body type (something that he'd learned to use to his advantage in a fight).

The arrival of their instructor, a twenty-some year old Chuunin by the name of Fuumi Yutaka, brought Satoshi back to the present and he sat up just a little straighter. Beside him, Hyuuga Tokuma (one of Satoshi's friends) rolled his eyes at Satoshi's behavior while Toriichi Kumade (another of Satoshi's friends) snickered in amusement. Behind them, Mitarashi Anko (not quite a friend of the three but friendly with Satoshi) huffed and kicked Kumade's chair which made Satoshi duck more of his face below the high collar of his jacket to hide the grin on his face when Kumade mocked growled at the kunoichi in response. As Yutaka-sensei brought the class to order, Satoshi focused his attention on their teacher as she passed out the written portion of the exam.

Satoshi was one of the first students to finish the test thirty-eight minutes later and he spent another ten minutes going over his answers to make certain he hadn't skipped any questions or put down a wrong answer by mistake. Yutaka-sensei collected his test two minutes after he set his pencil down and quietly directed him to head out to the practice field where they were holding the next section of the test to join the others who'd already finished. While he waited for the rest of his classmates to join him, Satoshi began warming up so that he'd be ready the moment they started the taijutsu test. He was actually nervous about this test because while he knew his stances and katas perfectly he wasn't a very strong taijutsu user because of his height, weight, and age.

When Midori Kusaha (their other regular academy instructor) arrived to administer the taijutsu tests shortly after the last of his classmates joined the group outside (Yutaka-sensei remaining inside to grade the written portion), Satoshi was relieved to find that he only had to last two minutes in the ring against one of the four Genin that had been selected to help with the test. If he'd been required to knock one of them out of the ring, he knew there would have been a greater chance that he would fail this portion of the test.

While Kusaha-sensei was explaining the rules, Satoshi sized up the four Genin in an effort to determine the best strategy to use on each one and silently wished that Kakashi, Obito, or Rin could have been selected to help during the exams. He knew the only reason they hadn't been selected was because Team Minato was currently out of the village on yet another mission. Well, that and the fact that all three of them were officially Chuunin now.

"When I call your name, step forward into the marked ring indicated to face your opponent," Kusaha-sensei announced as he finished explaining the rules. "Aburame Satoshi you'll be facing Rokushou Aoi in ring one, Akame Mogusa your opponent is…"

Satoshi didn't hear who Mogusa would be facing or the names of his other classmates that had been called as the teal-haired male Genin he was to face made a disparaging comment and began complaining the moment Satoshi stepped up to the ring.

"A midget? I have to fight a little midget? Oh come on, no one said babysitting was part of this mission."

Irked by the casual dismissal in the teen's tone and his rather rude comments, Satoshi narrowed his eyes behind his glasses but didn't bother replying as he fell into a defensive stance while waiting for Kusaha-sensei to start the match. If not for the constant drilling by his father and grandfather over the past two and a half years to always control his temper and the advice Obito and Kakashi had given him in his early months at the academy, Satoshi might have responded verbally to the insults. As it was, he used his Kikaichu to drown out Rokushou's diatribe in order to make it easier to ignore the teen's attempts to rile him.

All he had to do to pass the test, was stay in the ring for the full two minutes and avoid taking more than five hits to pass; if he managed to land a few hits of his own during that time it would only add to his score.

The whistle blew signaling the start of the match and Satoshi allowed the teen to make the first move; waiting until the last second to duck under the teen's high kick. Light on his feet and quick as a whip, Satoshi dodged most every attack the Genin made and blocked those he couldn't while he ignored each taunt the teen vocalized. It was rather hard to pay attention to the other boy's words when you can't hear the other person's voice because your ears are stuffed full of humming beetles, after all. Satoshi knew that he was irritating the teen he was facing though, because it showed on the teen's face and in his attacks while Satoshi's face remained blank, unreadable, and well hidden behind the tall collar of his jacket and dark sunglasses.

At the minute and a half minute mark, Satoshi changed tactics and instead of keeping far out of range of the teen, he began working his way in closer all the while continuing to dodge and block Rokushou's angry attacks. Just seconds before the whistle blew to signal the end of the match, Satoshi lunched his only offensive move of the entire match and sucker punched Rokushou in the crotch as hard as he could; dropping the teen to his knees. The muffled guffaws and clapping in the background let Satoshi know that at least a few of his friends and classmates had been watching and listening to the teen insult him. As the whistle blew, Satoshi dispelled the Kikaichu blocking his ears and leaned down to address the Genin.

"I may be small but so is an exploding tag; a lack of size doesn't always indicate a lack of power."

"That was a rather low blow; don't you think Satoshi-kun?" Kumade inquired with a laugh as he pulled Satoshi over to where the rest of his friends had been watching the matches the moment the not quite five year old stepped out of the ring.

"Rokushou deserved it," Anko declared as she scowled at the teen in question. "I'm the only one here allowed to call Sashi-chan a runt. How is it that you managed not to let him get to you though? If it had been me I'd have walloped him but good for saying half the things he said to you both before and during the match."

"He was talking?" Satoshi asked innocently which set his friends off a second time as they all recalled how easily Satoshi had ignored (and therefore infuriated) the bullies in the class after a while.

"What did you say to him before you left the ring?" Tokuma asked as the next four matches began.

"You need to ask?" Tatami Iwashi (a nine year old that had joined Satoshi's group of friends just two months earlier) countered incredulously. "Come on Tokuma-senpai, you know he always gives the 'exploding tag' analogy when someone picks on him because he's short!"

"True," Anko agreed as one of the civilian students was knocked out of the ring; ending the girl's match against the only female Genin present (whose name Satoshi had not caught)

Satoshi grinned up at his friends before he returned his attention to the rest of the matches; paying close attention to the three Genin he had not faced since he'd seen most of his classmates spar over the course of the year. He also paid close attention to the matches that his friends fought in, cheering for each of them as they managed to remain in the ring for the full two minutes and in most cases land at least two solid hits (or three to four times more in Tokuma and Anko's cases) on the Genin they faced. Two hours later (after the entire class had taken the taijutsu test), they were led over to the target range where they were required to demonstrate their competency with kunai and shuriken while the Genin were dismissed.

That test was only slightly better for Satoshi as he wasn't allowed to use senbon and while he no longer cut his hands whenever he handled shuriken he still disliked using the throwing stars. He still managed to pass since his kunai throws were textbook perfect while his shuriken hits were about half on target and half near to target. Once they were finished with their target test, each student was dismissed and told to return to the classroom after lunch to collect their graded written test and take the final test; the ninjutsu test. Satoshi waited off to one side for the rest of his friends to take their test before their entire group headed over to the tree where they'd been sharing their afternoon meals together for close to seven months now.

Their meal was interrupted midway through by Rokushou Aoi who attempted to threaten Satoshi with a beating for embarrassing him like that in front of an audience. Satoshi's friends were quick to stand up for him though and the Genin soon stormed off in a tizzy while Kumade warned Satoshi to watch his back because it looked like Rokushou was the type to carry a grudge. The rest of their meal passed peacefully enough and as the five of them headed back inside to their classroom, Satoshi's earlier excitement returned due to the knowledge that he only had one more test to pass in order to gain his hitai-ate.

"You're vibrating again," Anko teased as the five of them entered the classroom. "I can practically hear your Kikaichu humming with excitement as well."

"I can't help it," Satoshi replied as he gave the young kunoichi a wide grin. "Only one more test and I can make otousan, okaasan, and ojiisan proud of me."

"I'm certain they are already proud of you, Satoshi-kun," Kumade murmured as they slipped into their seats and waited for Yutaka-sensei and Kusaha-sensei to arrive.

Satoshi just shrugged uncomfortably, he still hadn't told his friends that he was adopted since he didn't like to think of the year he'd spent with the Dursleys because it wasn't a very pleasant memory. It was his only unreasonable fear; that if he ever failed to be a good shinobi or if he disappointed his adopted family, then he'd be sent back to his aunt and uncle. Logically, he knew his father loved him too much to send him away but that didn't stop Satoshi from being afraid of disappointing both of his parents and his grandfather. Before he could sink too deeply into his worries, their instructors arrived and their written tests were handed back to them; Satoshi was pleased to see he'd gotten a perfect score (no real surprise given his eidetic memory).

"Please take your seats and quiet down. In just a few minutes, we will be calling each of you individually into the next room to take the final portion of the Genin Exam; the ninjutsu test," Yutaka announced after she called the class to order. "While you are waiting your turn, we ask that you remain seated and keep the noise to a minimum so as not to distract those who are testing. After you have demonstrated your grasp of the three basic academy jutsu we will let you know whether or not you have passed the Graduation Exam and earned your hitai-ate. Those of you who do not pass will, of course, be offered another opportunity to pass when we administer the exam again in six months; giving you time to review those areas in which you need improvement."

"We'll be going in alphabetical order as usual; starting with Aburame Satoshi," Kusaha declared as Yutaka slipped into the side room where the testing was to take place.

"Good luck, Satoshi-kun," Iwashi murmured as Satoshi climbed shakily to his feet.

The rest of his friends wished him luck as well as his feet mechanically moved to take him across the room as a lump formed in his stomach. It had been said that the ninjutsu test was the one test to pass in order to graduate and become a Genin and that more than one hopeful student had failed because they couldn't perform one of the three standard jutsu that were taught at the academy. Satoshi knew he could perform all three; his entire class had been endlessly drilled in those particular three jutsu for the last four months. He just worried that his growing nervousness would affect his chakra control and that he'd flunk the exam and therefore fail to pass the Genin Exam.

"Relax, Satoshi-kun; just do the best you can," Yutaka murmured the moment he stepped inside of the classroom. "I know you know how to perform all three jutsu and this portion of the test is just a formality."

Satoshi nodded at his sensei of the past year as he stepped into the painted circle where Kusaha indicated he should stand. He was then told to perform the Kawarimi no Jutsu with a log that was sitting in another circle some eight feet away and then switch back. Once he'd done that, he was asked to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu with a stipulation that he form at least two clones minimum – Satoshi created five because he was so nervous he poured a bit too much chakra into the jutsu and didn't limit his number. Lastly, Satoshi was asked to transform into a person of his choice (preferably someone well known and easily recognized) using the Henge no Jutsu and Satoshi chose to henge into Kushina since she was both familiar to him and well known amongst the academy staff.

"Congratulations, Satoshi-kun; you have passed the Genin Exam and are the first of your class to gain your hitai-ate," Yutaka announced with a smile once he released the henge.

"I passed?" Satoshi parroted uncertainly as Kusaha handed him one of the blue hitai-ate from the box on the table that Yutaka was sitting at. A huge grin then split his face as he repeated, "I passed!"

As he headed for the classroom door, Satoshi couldn't help but overhear the comment that Kusaha made to Yutaka, "You do realize that you just passed the youngest ever student, ne? Not even the Hatake prodigy graduated before he turned five."

"He earned it and it would not have been fair to hold him back…" Yutaka started to reply before her voice was cut off by the closing of the door as Satoshi entered the classroom.

Grin still plastered on his face, Satoshi's eyes immediately searched out his friends as he proudly held up his shiny new forehead protector. A round of applause, cat calls, and whistles broke out from his friends and those who were friendly with the not quite five year old genius. Satoshi practically bounced back to his seat, his Kikaichu humming quite loudly in response to his extreme joy at passing. He spent the rest of the class period alternating between staring at his hitai-ate, giving encouragement to his friends, and applauding as each of them passed as easily as he had.

By the time the last person had been tested, more than three-quarters of their class had successfully passed the exam. Before they were dismissed, they were advised to return to the classroom one last time at eleven o'clock sharp on Monday, June seventeenth, to receive their team assignments. The moment they were dismissed, Satoshi was out the door in a flash; his little legs carrying him through the halls of the academy and down the stairs as excitement filled him from head to toe.

He hit the front doors so hard that they snapped open with a bang and hit the outer wall hard, startling more than one waiting parent. Satoshi didn't care though; his eyes were too busy searching for his father amongst those waiting for their children. It only took him an instant to locate both of his parents and his grandfather and the grin on Satoshi's face grew so wide it practically split his face in half as he bolted towards his family. He never saw the hand that tried to snag the back of his jacket and missed (due to how fast he was running) but both his father and grandfather noted the attempt and frowned.

Two seconds later, Satoshi was in his father's arms proudly displaying his newly awarded hitai-ate; his green eyes sparkling brightly in triumph behind his dark glasses. While Shibi and Mayumi congratulated Satoshi, Shoichi marked the scowling teen that had attempted to waylay Satoshi with a queen from his swarm so they could keep track of the disgruntled shinobi. Satoshi's friends joined them five minutes later along with their parents and words of praise were offered all around before they split up to return to their various homes to celebrate their success.

Unseen by Satoshi, Kumade passed a folded note to Shibi informing the older Aburame about Rokushou Aoi's lunchtime threats after Satoshi's taijutsu exam; the older teen long used to keeping an extra eye on the excitable four (nearly five) year old for the older man.

The Aburame Clan celebrated Satoshi's success late into the night (after Shibi took Satoshi to register his new status at the Hokage's Tower); Satoshi officially the youngest Aburame to pass the Genin Exam on the first try. There might have been a grumble or two from Shibi's older brother, Shikuro (who'd spent most of the past two and a half years out on the front lines of the war), about Satoshi not being a true Aburame but they mostly went ignored since no one else in the clan felt the same way.

Satoshi heard the comments, thanks to his excited Kikaichu wandering, but he paid them no mind since he hadn't really gotten to know the man all that well because the man was almost never around. The almost five year old also knew that the rivalry between the two brothers was fairly fierce since Shikuro had been passed over as clan heir by their father due to Shibi being a natural born leader with an even temperament while Shikuro tended to be a touch selfish and had a bit of a mean streak when angry or drunk (something that was frowned upon by the clan in general).

The rest of the weekend Satoshi spent buzzing around the Aburame Compound in high spirits as he speculated who his new teammates would be and who would be assigned as his team's Jounin sensei. On Sunday, Team Minato returned from their mission looking exhausted but unharmed. All three Chuunin (Obito and Rin had received field promotions just a few months earlier) and the perpetually cheerful Jounin congratulated Satoshi on passing the graduation exam and gaining his hitai-ate.

Obito would pull him aside later and quietly explain about the last test he would need to pass; the boisterous teen wishing to insure that Satoshi didn't get sent back to the academy after all of his hard work. Obito then swore Satoshi to secrecy because the final test was supposed to be a surprise for all Genin and the teen didn't want the newly minted Genin to get in trouble.

Satoshi was up before dawn on the seventeenth and Shibi sent him to run laps around the compound to burn off his excess energy; the older shinobi amused by his son's excitement and saddened because Satoshi didn't quite understand how dangerous being a shinobi was. At least he knew his son would not end up on the front lines of the war anytime soon due to his age (the Hokage had already promised that his son's team would be remaining close to home to take care of a good number of D Rank missions so as to free up a more experienced team to send out to the field).

By the time Satoshi was called in for breakfast, he was no longer bouncing off the walls and he'd worked up quite a sweat from the number of laps he'd run over the hour and a half he'd been outside. He was still filled to the brim with excitement though and his father's and mother's Kikaichu (Mayumi having gone through a similar ceremony to the one Satoshi went through when he was adopted just before she married Shibi) easily picked up on the endless swirls of his elation and anticipation floating in the air.

To pass the time until he was due to arrive at the academy for his team assignment, Satoshi took a shower, read through a pair of jutsu scrolls that his father had given him for passing his exams, and completed the English writing assignment Kushina had given him at the start of the week.

At ten-thirty, his mother finally told him to get ready to go so she could walk him to the academy and by ten-thirty-five Satoshi was dressed and ready to go with his new utility pouch (a gift from his parents for passing the Genin Exam) hooked onto his belt over his left rear pocket beneath his jacket and a senbon holder secured to his right thigh. His hitai-ate was secured just above his left knee where it was half hidden by the hem of his jacket (he'd not wanted to give up his usual bandana because it was a birthday gift from Obito a year earlier and he couldn't tie the forehead protector to an arm one handed so he'd gone with his leg instead).

His mother smiled affectionately at him the moment she saw him and passed him the bento she'd made him for lunch as they headed out of the Compound together. Iwashi, Kumade, and Tokuma were waiting outside of the academy when Satoshi arrived ten minutes before eleven and Satoshi hugged his mother good bye before he disappeared into the building with his friends. His earlier excitement was now mingling with slight nervousness over who he'd be paired with and who would be assigned as his new sensei.

Once seated inside the classroom, Satoshi could barely sit still as he practically glued his eyes to the door to watch for their Chuunin instructors in an effort to avoid staring at the clock. He endured much teasing from his friends over his continued excitement but he didn't mind too terribly much.

The moment Yutaka and Kusaha entered the room, Satoshi went taut and practically stopped breathing as they brought the class to order and congratulated them all once more on passing the exam. They were then given a short lecture on the responsibilities that came with their hitai-ate and how important it was that they conduct themselves with dignity because they were now representatives of Konoha. Yutaka-sensei then began calling out the various team assignments.

"Team One: Akame Mogusa, Mitarashi Anko, and Touji Mizuki; your Jounin instructor will be Orochimaru," Yutaka announced and Satoshi breathed a sigh of relief both at not being paired with Mizuki (whom Satoshi had never really liked because he'd been the most persistent of the bullies that had picked on him) and because he wouldn't have Orochimaru as his sensei (he had always felt uneasy around the Snake Sannin for some inexplicable reason). Many of the other new Genin were jealous over Team One being trained by one of the three legendary Sannin though. "Team Two: Fujita Kaori, Inoue Kitou, and Toriichi Kumade; your Jounin instructor will be Uchiha Yashiro."

Satoshi had a small pout on his face this time as that was now two of his friends assigned to different teams and he missed hearing who was assigned to team number three. He probably would have missed those that had been assigned to team number four too if not for the fact that he heard his name called right after the team number was announced. "Team Four: Aburame Satoshi, Hagane Kotetsu, and Kamizuki Izumo; your Jounin instructor will be Uzumaki Kushina."

A frown marred Satoshi's face over his newly assigned teammates since he really didn't know either boy all that well but he at least found comfort in the knowledge that Kushina would be his Jounin instructor as he was very fond of the redhead. There was some murmuring amongst the older Genin present due to Kushina's reputation as the Akai Chishio no Habanero and her skills in fuuinjutsu, kenjutsu, and taijutsu were well known throughout the village.

That wasn't even taking into consideration her hidden status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi or her ability to manifest and manipulate her chakra outside of her body. More than one of his classmates were jealous of their team due to their sensei (much as they'd been of Team One) but Satoshi didn't even notice as he turned his attention back to the front of the room to find out whose teams the rest of his friends were on.

"Team Five will be Matsumoto Dajimu, Okada Kanpou, and Tatami Iwashi and your Jounin sensei is Mimura Hamaki."

The next eight teams were all classmates that Satoshi never really got to know that were assigned to various Jounin that Satoshi never heard of. He did note that all four of his friends had each been placed on different teams; Tokuma had been placed on an existing team that had lost a member during a mission (the boy in question had been permanently disabled during a confrontation with a group of older Iwa shinobi).

It was five minutes after twelve by the time the final team had been announced and they were advised to spend lunch time getting to know their new teammates (if they didn't already know them) and return to the classroom by one-thirty to meet their sensei. Tokuma, on the other hand, was advised to meet his new team out front since he had been assigned to an existing team.

Satoshi watched his friends all disperse and held back the sniffle he felt creeping down his nose at the thought that he'd not be able to spend much time with his friends after this (knowing their individual teams would be training and doing missions most every day). All of his earlier enthusiasm gone, Satoshi gathered up his bento and trudged out to the tree where he and his friends had taken to eating during the school year; completely forgetting that he'd been advised to spend the time getting to know his new teammates. He'd barely opened his lunch box when a shadow fell over him and Satoshi looked up to find two older boys grinning down at him.

"Sorry to bother you but we seem to be missing the last member of our team and we wondered if you've seen him around," the boy wearing his hitai-ate like a bandana over his entire head began.

"We'd really appreciate the help, 'cause it's bad form to lose a teammate before we even perform our first mission as a team you know," the other boy added as he nodded his head, his spiky black hair (which stuck up worse than Satoshi's) bobbing wildly with the movement.

Satoshi blinked up at the two ten year olds that had been given the title of class clowns long before he joined the Academy and couldn't help the soft snort of amusement that escaped him. Ducking his head slightly, to hide the small smirk tugging at his lips, Satoshi innocently replied, "I heard that he ran in fear for his life after being assigned to your team. Have you checked at the gate to see if he managed to escape completely?"

"Izumo-kun, I suddenly have a very bad feeling that we're in serious trouble now."

"I think Yutaka-sensei and Kusaha-sensei might have finally found a way to pay us back for the last four years of pranks that we'd played on them."

"I think maybe Aburame-kun has been holding out on us these past ten months," the spiky haired boy added with a laugh as he dropped down to sit a few feet away from Satoshi. "Name's Hagane Kotetsu, troublemaker extraordinaire and this here is Kamizuki Izumo, my partner in crime and pranks. Together we're the Chuunin instructors' worst nightmare."

"You might just be right… he's pretty sneaky; you remember how he laid Rokushou out with a single hit on Friday after doing nothing but blocking and dodging for nearly the entire two minutes of his test?" Izumo countered as he dropped down beside Kotetsu and leaned back on his hands as he sprawled his legs out in front of him. "And you are Aburame Satoshi; class genius in all but taijutsu and shuriken and well known for having selective hearing when the mood strikes you."

"You two are weird," Satoshi declared with a giggle as he felt some of his worry and depression fading due to the antics of the two ten year olds.

"We aim to please," Kotetsu bragged.

"Actually, we just wanted to cheer you up," Izumo confessed. "We noticed how down you were at not being placed on a team with one of your friends and we couldn't help but feel your pain because I don't think either of us would have been happy to be split up either."

"Arigatou," Satoshi murmured with a light blush at how easily the two Genin had deduced his feelings.

"No worries, we're good. At least until our sensei shows up," Izumo assured him. "I've heard she's got quite the temper."

"Kushina-neechan isn't that bad," Satoshi declared with a laugh as he dug into his bento for a carrot stick. "She only gets mad when you tease her about her hair or if you call her weak because she's a girl."

"Kushina-sensei is your sister?" Kotetsu choked out in disbelief.

"No, but I've known her since I was two and she used to help me with my lessons and watch me when ojiisan couldn't watch me and there were no Genin teams available to babysit me."

"Have you ever seen her spar?"

"Lots of times; she often helped train Minato-san's team whenever she was keeping an eye on me. It's fun to watch her spar with Kakashi-san because he doesn't like getting beat by a girl all the time."

"Have you ever sparred with Kushina-sensei?" Izumo asked as he shook off the shock of learning that Satoshi frequently interacted with some of the more famous shinobi in the village (Kushina, Minato, and Kakashi all very well known for one reason or another).

"No. She helped me with my stances and with my chakra control exercises though. I only ever sparred with otousan or ojiisan before starting the academy and they never really sparred with me; they just went through the motions with me so I could learn the forms and practice blocking. They always worried I'd get hurt because I'm so small."

"Is that why you're so good at dodging and dirty hits?"

Satoshi blushed over the second reference to his low sucker punch during his taijutsu test even as he answered, "Hai, otousan always says that there's no such thing as a fair fight and that the best way to avoid getting hurt is to avoid getting hit."

"Sounds like good advice to me," Kotetsu declared with a grin. "I've got a question though; you're very good at throwing senbon and kunai… why do you always have trouble with shuriken?"

"My hands were too small to hold them right when otousan and ojiisan first started teaching me how to throw shuriken," Satoshi replied as he showed off his lightly scarred and calloused palms and fingers from the numerous times he'd sliced his hands open when he was first learning how to handle and throw the four pointed stars. "And now I just don't care for them so I don't really practice much with them."

"Ah… that makes sense; I don't think I'd care for shuriken either if I'd cut myself deep enough and often enough to leave that many scars behind."

"How come you two always play pranks on the instructors?" Satoshi asked to change the subject.

"Well, it started out as pranks on the older kids in our first year because they were always picking on us younger kids but after a while it got to be too easy so we started targeting the teachers to challenge ourselves. We got caught all the time in the beginning but after a while they only blamed us out of reflex not because they had any proof that we were the ones pranking them."

"That and after so many years of listening to the same lessons over and over again we got bored real easily and needed something to do to occupy our hands and minds," Izumo added as he shared a grin with Kotetsu.

"What about you? What kind of things do you do when you get bored?"

"I'm not allowed to be bored," Satoshi admitted with yet another blush. "Otousan says I'm too troublesome when I'm bored."

"Oh ho, I think you were right earlier when you said he was holding out on us, Kotetsu-kun! Now you have to tell us what kind of trouble you get into when you're bored, Aburame-kun."

"You can call me Satoshi. And I get into things I'm not supposed to or wander off into places I should be avoiding. Or my Kikaichu get restless and start reading things they shouldn't. Otousan says I'm far too curious for my own good."

"Does that mean the reason you skipped so many levels when you joined the academy was because your family had drilled you endlessly on the boring lectures to keep you busy?"

"Not exactly…" Satoshi hedged, not really wanting to admit to having a photographic memory since it wasn't quite common knowledge though all of his friends knew.

Before either of his new teammates could ask another question, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang and Satoshi glanced over to the Academy in surprise as he hadn't realized how quickly time had been passing. He quickly packed up his mostly untouched lunch and climbed to his feet while Kotetsu tried to pull Izumo to his feet only for the other boy to pull him over back onto the ground. Satoshi laughed at their antics and then hid the mischievous smile that crept onto his face as he trotted a few feet away from the two older boys and casually called back over his shoulder.

"By the way, I suppose I should warn you; Kushina-neechan can't stand it when people are late and she firmly believes that if you aren't five minutes early for an appointment, then you're at least ten minutes late. She gets real scary if people show up even one minute late."

Satoshi then took off running as the two pre-teens yelped when they tripped over each other in their rush to get back to the classroom, tangling themselves up further each time they moved. He had nearly schooled his face into a semblance of innocence by the time the two of them reached the classroom (with just seconds to spare before one o-clock) though if one could see through his glasses they'd see his green eyes dancing with laughter as he noted how disheveled the two older boys were.

Kumade gave Satoshi a questioning look from where he was sitting with his new team as Kotetsu and Izumo slid into place on either side of Satoshi after Izumo had purposefully transplanted Satoshi into the middle chair of their table. Satoshi gave his friend a smile and a wave to show he was okay and Kumade seemed to relax a bit even as he glared hard at Satoshi's two teammates; as if to warn them to play nice with Satoshi – or else.

"That was a sneaky trick, Satoshi-kun," Izumo whispered with a soft laugh after he saluted Kumade to let the other ten year old know the message had been received and understood.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say he intentionally pranked us," Kotetsu added as he just smiled at Anko and Iwashi who were also watching their team with concern.

"Now why would I do that?" Satoshi asked innocently as he noticed the classroom door opening and watched the Jounin sensei file into the room. "I was only…" Satoshi trailed off when Orochimaru scowled in his direction and he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine; as if he'd just dodged a kunai to the heart.

"Only what?" Izumo inquired as he followed Satoshi's gaze to the less than pleased Sannin. "Um… Kotetsu, why is Orochimaru scowling at us? We didn't prank him recently by mistake did we?"

"I don't think so. Maybe he's not actually glaring at us but someone behind us?"

Satoshi sank lower in his chair as the powerful shinobi called for his team and strode out of the room without a backwards glance once he'd turned his gaze away from Satoshi. He couldn't help but shiver a second time and wonder why he always felt so uneasy whenever he saw the Snake Sannin or heard him mentioned. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Kushina call his team and he would have been left behind if not for Izumo and Kotetsu gently pulling him to his feet and guiding him towards where the red haired kunoichi was waiting for them by the door.

"This way, gentlemen; we'll be heading to Training Ground Sixteen for our meeting," Kushina announced as she led them towards the exit.

They were half way to their destination before Satoshi pulled himself out of his thoughts and returned to reality. He blinked at the two hands holding his in confusion before he glanced up at his teammates who'd been talking softly over the top of his head. He then glanced forward to see Kushina's bright red hair swaying back and forth with each step she took and relaxed as he realized he must have zoned out again. A bad habit he'd developed over the last year and a half that his father kept trying to train him out of since it could get him hurt or killed if he lost track of his surroundings like that when out on a mission.

"So glad you could join us, Satoshi-kun," Kushina drawled as she glanced back over her shoulder. "Shibi-san informed me that you are to run five laps around the compound each time you zone out like that until you break the habit of losing touch with your surroundings."

"Hai, neechan," Satoshi replied automatically, momentarily forgetting that Kushina was his sensei now and not just his honorary sister and should therefore be addressed with a touch more respect. And Kushina (and his adoptive grandfather) was a stickler for proper etiquette. He immediately realized what he'd done though, even as Kushina turned around so she was walking backwards in order to face him and he quickly blurted out, "Gomen nasai, sensei; I forgot… it won't happen again, sensei."

"See that is doesn't or I'll double the number of laps you have to run tonight."

Satoshi swallowed thickly at the promised punishment (because he had no doubt she'd follow through with it) and nodded to show he understood. He didn't relax until Kushina turned back around to face forwards and even then he didn't dare let out a sigh of relief because he knew she'd not only hear him but sense him with her chakra (which is how she'd known the moment he'd started paying attention to his surroundings again).

His two teammates were torn between wanting to laugh over the incident and being cowed by the brief show of temper that their new sensei had displayed over something as harmless as a familiar form of address. They wisely chose to be cowed for the moment since they didn't want to provoke the kunoichi needlessly; rumors of her legendary temper were still bandied about within the halls of the Academy in hushed voices filled with awe and fear. The four of them arrived at their assigned training field ten minutes later and Kushina instructed them to have a seat on a downed tree that was conveniently placed near the entrance to the clearing.

"Normally, when new Genin teams are formed and they meet with their Jounin sensei for the first time, they go through a short introduction and the team is then informed that they are to meet at a specific training ground for the final exam to see if you have what it takes to be a Genin; to see if they can function as a team," Kushina stated without preamble the moment all three of them were sitting. "However, we are in the middle of a war right now and we don't have the luxury of sending those incapable of working in a team back to the academy for extra training. Most of the Genin that graduated with you will spend the next two months in intensive training to prepare them for missions outside of the village where they stand a good chance of being killed if they make even the smallest mistake."

The three Genin didn't say a word as the seriousness of Kushina's words sank in and Satoshi shivered again as he saw a flash of green light in his mind followed quickly by the image of Orochimaru scowling at him. He shoved the memories away before they could distract him though as he kept his attention on Kushina.

"That said, the three of you are, in a way, lucky; you won't be stepping foot outside of the village for at least a year. The reason for that is twofold; first, Satoshi-kun has not yet reached his fifth birthday and despite his status as a prodigy, or maybe even because of his status, the Hokage does not wish to lose him due to a bit of bad luck and inexperience. The second reason is because the two of you have a reputation as jokesters and fooling around on a mission could well see you or one of your teammates killed. Those two reasons are why the three of you were put onto the same team despite the fact that there was a chance the two of you might have shut Satoshi-kun out of the teamwork because of his age and the close friendship you two share."

"I was quite impressed when the two of you sought out Satoshi during lunch instead of leaving him to mope alone over the fact that he hadn't been assigned to a team with one of his friends. I was also proud to see you willingly open up to your new teammates, Satoshi-kun, since I know how much you still dislike meeting and interacting with new people. I was also pleased when the two of you made certain that Satoshi wasn't left behind when he lost himself in his thoughts; it tells me that the three of you have the potential to work well as a team together without any of the usual petty bickering that often occurs."

"Now, given that you know there's a war going on and I know all three of you are aware of my reputation, since I overheard you talking about me earlier, you're probably wondering why I was selected to teach a Genin team instead of being sent back out to the front lines," Kushina continued after a brief pause.

"One reason is because one of my teammates was recently killed on a mission and my other teammate is in the hospital recovering from the injuries he received when we were ambushed on our way back from our last mission. Another two reasons why I was assigned a team were because I specifically requested to be assigned to Satoshi-kun's team since I wished to continue the lessons I have been giving him for the past two years and because his father asked me to be his first sensei. There are several other reasons but you do not need to know them right now."

"That said, there will still be times when I am sent to the front lines to help in the war and during those missions the three of you will be assigned a temporary sensei to monitor your training and supervise you as you complete various D ranked missions around the village for the duration of my mission. You won't have to worry about that for at least a month or two though. Do any of you have any questions so far?"

"What are we going to be doing for the next year if we aren't going to be taking missions outside of the village?" Izumo asked curiously after he exchanged a quick glance with Kotetsu.

"You're going to be training and taking care of the missions that need to be done here in the village so that some of the more experienced teams can start taking more missions outside of the village," Kushina answered. "Don't think that just because you aren't going to be fast tracked through training that I'll be going easy on the three of you though. I plan to train you into the ground from dawn to dusk six days a week from this point forward. We'll be doing a minimum of three D ranked missions a day as well; to help clear out the backlog of missions that have built up over the past few weeks due to the village being shorthanded."

"I'll warn you now, D ranked missions suck. They are the most annoying types of missions and are usually nothing but mindless chores that the villagers have no time and no wish to do for themselves. However, I don't want to hear one word of complaint from any one of you over how boring, how disgusting, or how much of a pain those types of missions are. Completing those tedious and thankless tasks in a timely manner is how you are going to contribute to the village now that you are official shinobi of Konoha. I don't care how much you hate the mission or how annoying the client is; you will give your undivided attention to the mission, you will treat the client with respect, and you will do both with a smile on your face. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Kushina-sensei," all three Genin replied promptly in the face of Kushina's fierce expression.

"Good. Lecture over," Kushina replied with a brilliant smile. "Moving on, I'd like to take a moment to get to know you and allow you to get to know each other a little better. You already know my name and that I am a Jounin kunoichi of Konoha. What you might not know is that I was not born in Konoha but moved here when I was six. Satoshi-kun, why don't you go next?"

"I like bugs and dislike bullies and being picked on because I'm short."

"Thank you; Izumo-kun, you're next."

"I've been friends with Kotetsu-kun since we were five, enjoy playing pranks, and dislike being bored."

"Your turn, Kotetsu-kun."

"I like a good challenge, enjoy making people laugh, and dislike people that don't have a sense of humor."

"That was a good start and from now on, each day we meet I want the three of you to tell each other one thing about yourself that neither of your teammates knows; a difficult task for Kotetsu and Izumo because they've been friends for so long but in the end, I believe that it will help bring you closer together as a team. If there are no questions at this point; I'd like to get an idea where Kotetsu and Izumo stand with their taijutsu while you work on your chakra exercises Satoshi."

Kushina sparred with each ten year old for ten minutes while Satoshi worked on his latest chakra control exercise; floating and spinning a leaf in his left palm while holding a leaf stuck to his left elbow and another leaf stuck to his forehead. Kushina then had the two ten year olds spar against each other for another fifteen minutes as she corrected the minor mistakes she found before she went on to teach them a new kata that expanded upon the basic academy taijutsu forms that they'd been taught. At the end of an hour, she let the three boys rest for fifteen minutes before she set Satoshi to practicing his katas while she tested the two older boys on their chakra control.

When both ten year olds admitted they had never gotten beyond sticking a leaf to their forehead for half a minute, she briefly talked them through the next step (holding the leaf on another body part) and ordered them to work on getting the time they could hold the leaf in place up to one minute. She then told them that if they had any problems to ask Satoshi since he'd mastered the basic leaf exercise over a year ago. Leaving them to their practice, Kushina then mock sparred with Satoshi; allowing him to practice his blocks and attacks while she corrected his form and stances every so often.

At the end of the second hour, Kushina had all three of them run three laps around the training field before running through a short cool down period. Once they were finished, she gave them their first team assignment; to write down their strengths and weaknesses, create a list of the jutsu they could currently perform, and write down three things they would like to learn in the next six months. Kushina then told them they were to meet her back at Training Ground Sixteen at seven o'clock in the morning before she dismissed them for the day.

"Hold up, Satoshi-kun, I'd like to speak with you for a moment," Kushina announced when he had turned to follow his teammates back to the village.

"Sensei?"

"I wanted to ask you why you were so distracted when I picked you up from the Academy."

"Oh… I was wondering why Orochimaru was angry with me; he scowled at me when he entered the classroom to pick up his team but I know I didn't do anything to make him mad and it bothered me that he was angry at me for seemingly no reason."

"He wasn't angry with you, Satoshi-kun, he was angry with the Hokage because he'd requested that you be placed on his team but his request was denied because I'd made arrangements with the Hokage to be named your sensei shortly after you started attending the Academy."

"I'm glad you're my sensei, neechan," Satoshi whispered hoarsely as he shivered over the thought of how close he'd been to having the Orochimaru as his Jounin instructor. "He scares me."

"Why does Orochimaru scare you, little one?" Kushina asked softly as she gathered him into her arms when she noticed him shaking.

"I don't know. Whenever I see him I feel cold and my stomach feels like I ate a bunch of rocks. He makes my Kikaichu nervous too but they can't or won't tell me why. He also had this really scary look in his eyes a few times when I noticed him watching me on my way to the Academy in the mornings with okaasan."

"Hmm… strange but I don't think you have anything to worry about because Orochimaru's a loyal Konoha shinobi and he's not your sensei. Though, if you get any more feelings like that, don't hesitate to tell your father or myself. Right now, I think it's time we get you home and you still have five laps to run for spacing out."

"Hai, sensei," Satoshi mumbled as he dropped his head onto her shoulder and drifted off to sleep; his early morning rising, the laps his father had given him to calm him down, the afternoon's intense training with his team, and his fluctuating emotions all day long had exhausted his rather small body.

Translations: Japanese to English

Akai Chishio no Habanero – Red Hot-Blooded Habanero
Bento – box lunch or pre-packed meal
Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique
Fuuinjutsu – sealing techniques
Gomen nasai – I'm sorry (somewhat informal)
Hai – yes
Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique
Iwagakure (Iwa) – Hidden Rock Village
Kawarimi no Jutsu – Change of Body Stance Technique (substitution)
Kenjutsu – sword technique
Ojiisan/jiisan – grandfather
Okaasan/kaasan – mother
Oneechan/neechan – cute way of addressing an older sister
Oniisan/niisan – brother
Otousan/tousan – father
Sashi-chan – intentional misspelling of Satoshi's name and the nickname given to him by Anko
Sensei – teacher
Taijutsu – hand to hand combat

Notes:

Okay, two things I wanted to address real quick. First, I am fully aware that my Kushina is rather OOC. I just couldn't write her as being all bubbly and hyper when there is a war going on the background of the story. I also see her as taking her duty as a Jounin Sensei seriously. Her core personality is still very much the same but you won't actually get to see that because I don't focus on her during her 'off hours' when she is behaving in her normal hyper self.

The second thing I wanted to address is the conversation at the end of the chapter regarding Orochimaru since I know people will cry 'foul' over me having Kushina call Orochimaru a loyal Konoha shinobi. Obviously, at this point in the story, he is still considered loyal as his 'experiments' have not yet been discovered and he hasn't fled the village and that is why Kushina called him loyal.

Oh, and one more note… the reason why Satoshi's swarm reacts the way it does to Orochimaru will be fully explained much later in the story; so questions asking what is up with his Kikaichu won't be answered since I don't want to hand out too many spoilers.

AN: I'm sure some of you might have felt this chapter (and the previous chapter) was a little rushed but I didn't want to get bogged down in a day by day depiction of Satoshi/Harry's early life. You can expect the rushed feeling of passing time to continue for a few chapters yet before the story reaches the main timeline of the Naruto Verse (IE: when Naruto earns his hitai-ate). I will try to capture important moments that will have an impact on Satoshi/Harry but there will also be time skips and summaries involved.

And I know I'm running two days late… well, at least this time it isn't two months late. I suppose that means I'll just have to toss up another couple of updates as scheduled later tonight. ~ Jenn