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 12: A Healing Hand
Satoshi woke bright and early the next morning to the soft hungry cries of the baby phoenix and he regretfully slipped out from in between Naruto and Shino with some difficulty due to the renewed pain in his back so he could get the baby bird some fruit. Once in the kitchen, he peeled the skin from a large handful of grapes before slicing them into quarters that he fed one at a time to the phoenix. When the bird had eaten his fill, he tucked the nest box into the cupboard above the stove where it was warm and where there was less of a chance of the vulnerable bird being disturbed before he headed to his bedroom to grab clean clothes so he could head off to his mental health evaluation with Inoichi.
Twenty minutes later, Satoshi headed for the front door and his shoes and found his father dressed and waiting by the door. He greeted his father softly as he slipped on his boots before creating five concrete clones and one shadow clone. One concrete clone to hang out with Naruto and Shino before they headed to the academy, one to keep an eye on Sai and Shin for the day, one to keep an eye on his cousin, one to watch over his wizarding friends until he met up with them later, one to take care of the phoenix since he wouldn't be able to, and the Kage Bunshin to hunt down Inoichi to see if he was available and if he wasn't, when he would be.
Satoshi then headed out the door with his father and the two of them walked towards the T and I Facility (Satoshi to hopefully meet with Inoichi to get his evaluation over and his father to start work for the day). Father and son walked side by side in companionable silence, both of them content to simply enjoy each other's presence and the peacefulness of the dawn. Satoshi reveled in the knowledge that he was back home where he belonged and that aside from the occasional mission he'd never again be required to leave it for months at a time. They hadn't gone very far when the Kage Bunshin he'd sent to Inoichi dispelled itself and let him know that Inoichi was available and expecting him.
When they finally reached the T and I building, Satoshi paused and turned to stare up at the Hokage Monument, allowing his eyes to linger on Minato's face for a few seconds longer as he wondered if the man would be happy with the way things had turned out. The memory of the many smiles he'd help put on Naruto's face made him think that, yes, Minato would be as happy as he could be considering that the man was missing out on raising his son. Satoshi suspected that Kushina would be just as happy and that she'd also feel the guilt of leaving Naruto alone far more sharply than Minato.
"Come on, little bug; you don't want to keep Inoichi waiting."
"I hate being short," Satoshi complained as he mock pouted at his father over the 'little' part of his nickname even though he still felt the same rush of fondness and warmth he'd felt when he first learned what the nickname meant and why Shibi had given it to him (back when he was first adopted into the clan and was just learning to speak Japanese).
"At least you've grown this past year and are now officially over five feet tall," Shibi countered with suppressed amusement as he held the door open. "You should be happy because that means you can no longer be classified as a midget."
"I am so spiking your tea when you get home this evening and making you walk around for an hour with day-glow hair."
Shibi let out a soft laugh over the threat, recalling the description of that particular prank from the story Satoshi had told the boys the night before. Satoshi shook his head while letting out a soft snort before he carefully ducked under his father's arm to enter the building (taking care not to pull on the half-healed wounds that covered his back or allow his father to see how much pain he was in at the moment despite his swarm's efforts to dampen said pain). He almost tripped over his feet just seconds later when he saw Kasai leaning against the wall beside the door that opened up off the lobby with his arms crossed.
Since his boss rarely ever ventured into the T and I Facility (especially at the crack of dawn) unless there was an emergency, a critical mission, or he had an appointment he just couldn't get out of; Satoshi suspected that the man was there to observe his assessment. Sighing softly in resignation, Satoshi bid his father good day and made his way over to the receptionist in order to check in and receive the pass that would allow him to enter the main section of the building without stirring up a hornet's nest.
By the time he was finished signing in, both his father and Kasai had vanished but Satoshi knew better than to believe that the man had left. Chances were he was either waiting on the other side of the door or he had been a Kage Bunshin that dispelled the moment he saw Satoshi in order to let the real Kasai know that he was in the building. Knowing there was no point in trying to prolong the inevitable; Satoshi squared his shoulder and slipped through the door into the warren of hallways that branched throughout the Torture and Interrogation Building.
The endless maze was designed to confuse escaping prisoners or would be rescuers in order to allow them to be captured quickly and easily. It had only taken Satoshi one trip through the entire maze in order to memorize the layout (on the orders of Kasai as a training mission two summers ago) and he was one of the few individuals not employed by the department that could navigate the maze without getting lost and without needing a guide. Inoichi had not been pleased to learn that no one had caught Satoshi ghosting through the building that night and ended up paying out several hundred ryō when he'd lost the bet that he'd made with the other departments heads on whether or not Satoshi would be caught before he could complete the mission.
Satoshi was still baffled over the fact that so few shinobi bothered to look up (he'd navigated the entire building via the ceiling) while his swarm had kept to the shadows and at times traveled through the walls. Of course, he might have cheated a bit at the time and used the invisibility cloak that Dumbledore had returned to him as a Christmas present in his first year. If not for the impracticality of relying upon a piece of cloth (no matter how magical), Satoshi would have used the cloak far more often than he had; hence why the cloak was secured in his closet along with the rest of his magical equipment.
In short order, Satoshi was knocking on the door to Inoichi's office. He opened the door after gaining permission to enter and found Kasai and Inoichi sitting on the edge of the desk and the AnBu Medic that had tended to Satoshi's injuries frequently during his time in the AnBu Corps; whose name he knew only as Tokage. He tilted his head to one side in contemplation as he tried to figure out why the medic was currently in the room even as he closed the door and made his way to the center of the room where a single, straight-backed wooden chair was sitting. By the time he was standing beside the chair, Satoshi decided that he'd find out eventually and pushed the matter from his mind as he bowed to all three men before greeting them in his usual soft monotone.
"Ohayou gozaimasu; Kasai-sama… Inoichi-san… Tokage-senpai…"
"Ohayou, Satoshi-kun," Inoichi replied as the other two simple nodded in return. "Please take off your jacket before you take a seat so we can begin. Tokage is going to conduct your medical exam while I begin your assessment in order to save some time since I suspect we'll be here for quite some time. Kasai will be piggy-backing into your mind with me so that we both can view some of the incidents that Kakashi spoke of last night."
"It might be best if you go in alone first before coming back out and bringing Kasai in," Satoshi suggested as he removed his jacket and meticulously folded it before placing it over the back of the chair with extreme care; his actions clearly designed to stall for time as he centered his thoughts a bit. When he glanced back up, he was wearing a slightly troubled expression that immediately put both older shinobi on edge as they shared a glance.
"Tokage, I'm going to need you to step outside…" Kasai started to order.
"There is no point in sending Tokage out; he will find out the moment he begins my exam," Satoshi interrupted; something Satoshi had never done before and something that immediately set off warning bells in both Kasai's and Inoichi's minds.
Inoichi immediately raised a privacy barrier around his office after Kasai gave the blonde shinobi a discreet nod to allow the medic to stay before demanding, "Why?"
"Do you remember what my mind looked like the very first time you ever mind walked through it?" Satoshi asked instead of answering the question.
"Yes, it was an exact replica of the ruined nursery that appeared in your mem…" Inoichi began only to trail off in the middle of the sentence before his entire body jerked a bit as his blue eyes snapped up to search Satoshi's face. "What happened?"
"They sought information from me that I was not willing to give and when their conventional methods failed to net them what they wanted, they attempted to break me through spell induced physical torture before they tried the magical equivalent of mind walking. They failed… epically so… and the backlash that failure caused did a considerable amount of damage to my… mindscape if not my actual mind. It striped me of some of my natural defenses and it will take time for them to rebuild themselves."
"Why was there no mention of them seeking this information from you in Kakashi's report last night? Or of the torture you endured? Why didn't you speak of it when the Hokage asked you if there was anything else that needed to be reported? What information was it that they were looking gain from you?" Kasai snapped as he stood up and glared at Satoshi through his mask.
"Oniisan didn't mention the interrogation or the torture last night because I never told him about it and I would prefer that it stays that way," Satoshi replied without a trace of remorse and an undercurrent of steel. "As for the information they were seeking; they wanted information on Konoha. How many people lived here, how many shinobi lived in the village, what kind of defenses the village employed, and how to bypass the new security measures that Moony and Padfoot helped me to design and install two summers ago in order to prevent magicals from crossing through the barrier undetected."
"They asked me about chakra manipulation as well; what it was, how to use it, how to detect it, and how to lock it away so a person couldn't use it. The last thing they wanted was personal information about me; the names and physical descriptions of all my friends and family, my daily schedule (when I woke up and went to sleep, where I trained and who I trained with, how often I left the village, where I hung out, etc), what my diet consisted of when not at the school, and a complete list of my skills both as a shinobi and a wizard."
"You said they failed… is it that they failed to get any knowledge from you or that they failed to get more than the basic info most any civilian on the street could provide?" Inoichi inquired as he immediately suspected that the wizards had been fishing for information in order to plan an attack the village.
"They learned nothing from me. Any information they have or had is only what had become common knowledge throughout the school by that time alongside anything Dumbledore had learned through the years since he first visited Konoha with the other magicals to find me. They know I have several self-adopted siblings both older and younger than me, that I am very protective of my family, that Konoha is small when compared to the non-magical cities of Britain, that I have a photographic memory, and that I am a shinobi. Though they have no real understanding of what being a shinobi means aside from having knowledge of taijutsu (what they call marital arts), knowing that I can manipulate the elements wandlessly, have the ability to use chakra, and that I am not afraid to use lethal force."
"I'm glad they didn't succeed in breaking you and I'm thrilled to learn that you have an iron will but how is it you managed to prevent them from getting anything out of you while under interrogation and torture?"
"The seals in my AnBu tattoo activated each time they attempted to gain any information I did not wish to give them; so basically the seals were active from the moment they started and stayed active until the moment they gave up. The seals should not have worked against the magical methods they used but I think maybe because I had been using my magic and my chakra simultaneously for years by the time I was given my tattoo that my magic was entwined with the chakra in the seals to give me added protection from magical means of interrogation. The torture itself was easy to ignore for the most part because I've developed a rather high tolerance for pain due to my training and the numerous injuries I have acquired through the years."
"A high threshold for pain is both a blessing and a curse," Kasai sighed as the anger drained out of him and he sat back down on the edge of the desk. "You're going to drive me gray faster than all my nieces and nephews."
"Is there anything else you need to tell us that wasn't in Kakashi's report because you left him out of the loop?"
"I don't think so… if there is it will turn up when you view my memories from the past year."
"Alright, take your seat so we can start."
Four minutes later, Inoichi stood in the middle of Satoshi's mindscape staring at the 'damage' the fifteen year old had spoken of in disbelief and no little concern. What had once been a lush jungle of towering trees, vibrant flowers, and a tangle of vines filled with thousands of different kinds of insects was now a jumbled mess and partial wasteland.
The trees had been toppled or burnt to the ground, the flowers and vines were shriveled and decaying, there was a swamp of inky blackness that looked disgusting and felt wrong, and here and there he could make out various pieces of rotting furniture that had once resided in the ruined nursery that was the first mindscape he'd ever visited; such as the upturned crib. Scattered about the entire mindscape were the burnt and broken bodies of the once realistic and lifelike insects that had lived within the mindscape.
The biggest difference though was in Satoshi's mental avatar. Normally, Satoshi's mental projection appeared exactly the same as his physical age when seen in the mindscape. Now, however, the avatar was easily half of Satoshi's age, wearing tattered clothing, covered from head to foot in bruises and blood, and curled up inside of the crib looking for all the world as if he was dead. Seeing the drastic changes in the avatar had shocked Inoichi so bad that he'd lost control of the mind walking jutsu and found himself thrown out of Satoshi's mind and back into his body where he came to with a blinding headache and feeling sick to his stomach.
"Kuso," Inoichi breathed when he finally felt normal enough to stare up at Satoshi from where he'd ended up on the floor after falling out of Satoshi's mind. "How is it that the rest of your brain wasn't scrambled if your mindscape looks that… that… I can't even find an adequate word to describe the… mess I found."
"It has to do with my magic and the fact that a mindscape is a magical mental projection of how I see myself in combination with the natural defenses and protective magics that prevent unwanted intrusions and not my actual mind. The me that you saw amidst the wreckage actually represents my defenses and not me personally though I can merge my consciousness with the avatar in order to interact with those visiting my mind. His size and physical health is a direct reflection upon the current strength and damage done to my defenses; which are currently at half strength and rather damaged. Now that you know what to expect, I can join you in my mindscape without you thinking I am suffering a mental breakdown because there will be two of me present; my consciousness and the avatar representing my defenses."
Once Inoichi had completely recovered, he stood in front of Satoshi once more with one of Kasai's hands firmly clamped on Inoichi's left shoulder while the AnBu Commander's other hand had been planted on Satoshi's right shoulder. Inoichi then placed one hand on Satoshi's forehead, formed a half seal with his other hand, and closed his eyes as he activated the mind walk jutsu for the second time. Tokage in the meantime began to scan Satoshi with healing chakra from where he knelt beside the chair with his hands resting lightly over the teen's stomach directly overtop of his chakra coils.
Satoshi felt the normal slight disorientation he always felt when Inoichi mind walked through his mindscape along with an odd tugging as Kasai piggybacked on the connection to enter Satoshi's mind for the first time. His defenses, due to their current state of vulnerability coupled with the relatively recent and extremely violent attack on his mind and the destruction from the backlash of the failed mind rape, reacted to the foreign and unfamiliar presence stepping into his mindscape with violence.
Luckily, Satoshi had been prepared for just such a response from his defenses and he was able to both stop them from doing any damage to his supervisor's mind and keep them from throwing the man out of his mind. Inoichi and Kasai had stood and gaped as a fifteen year old Satoshi (the avatar of Satoshi's consciousness) lifted the raging seven year old Satoshi (his defense's avatar) by the back of his shirt and give himself a shake before sending the seven year old to stand in the corner which had risen up out of the ruined forest floor. Both men really thought the seven year old avatar should be strapped into a hospital bed for a month of Sundays due to how injured he looked covered in blood and bruises as he was and wearing filthy rags.
"Gomen nasai, I knew it was possible that my defenses would react negatively to Kasai-sama's unfamiliar mental presence but hadn't actually thought they would attempt to attack him given how weakened they are."
"Is it safe for him to stand there like that? I mean, he looks like he needs a medic not time out," Kasai pointed out in a rough voice that told Satoshi the man felt out of his depth.
"He's not real, Kasai-sama, and while he is covered in what looks like fresh blood he does not bleed and he does not have the capacity to feel pain. His appearance is merely a reflection of the unrepaired damage my mental defenses took when they attacked my mind in their attempt to forcefully pull the information from me and the backlash created when the seal and my magic retaliated against the intrusion."
"How long will it take your mindscape and your defenses to recover?" Inoichi inquired as he stared again at the mess that remained of the once thriving mental jungle.
"A couple of months yet; it looks much better than it had immediately after the attack."
"If this looks 'better' I'm afraid to ask what it looked like before," Kasai commented as he studied his surroundings intently. "I know Inoichi told me your mind was like nothing he'd ever seen before but I really thought he'd been exaggerating. I would have loved to have seen what your mind looked like before it was damaged."
"I'd say you're welcome to come back and see it once it has finished repairing itself but I really don't like the feeling of people in my mind and once they are back up to full strength, my defenses will be even harder to bypass due to the severity of the attack that caused the damage. Inoichi has a slight advantage because he's been peeking at my mind since I was two, so I had time to accept his presence before my defenses matured and they treat him as part of the scenery."
"I wish you wouldn't say it quite that way; you make me sound like a pervert," Inoichi complained with a grimace. "Is there going to be any problems viewing your memories this time around? Your avatar usually initiates the sequence but you have him in time out at the moment… and that sounded much more intelligent in my head."
"I don't expect you to run into any problems; I already gathered all of the pertinent memories into one place so you can view them," Satoshi replied as he gestured to the rather foul swamp marring one section of Satoshi's mind. "The only difference this time is that I won't be viewing them with you because I will need to stay here to keep my defenses from attacking once you start viewing the memories and because I have no desire to relive what I will never forget yet another time. Bad enough the memories have been haunting my nightmares. To start, just place a hand in or on the pool of memories and the one you are touching will play out. If you both want to view the same memory at the same time, just make certain you are both touching and only one of you is in contact with the pool."
Two hours later, both men staggered away from the unpleasant swamp filled with unpleasant memories to find the Satoshi that represented his defenses once more sitting inside of the overturned crib playing with a small handful of freshly hatched larva. The Satoshi that represented his consciousness on the other hand was standing beside a huge mound of scrolls and books just a few feet away from the crib reading from yet another scroll.
Neither of the avatars appeared to have noticed that Inoichi and Kasai had finished viewing the memories but the moment they started walking towards them they both stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. A wave of the older Satoshi's hand vanished the books and scrolls while a snap of his fingers had the younger avatar huffing as a set of bars formed in front of the crib to prevent his defenses from attacking the two men.
"What were you just doing?" Kasai asked curiously when they reached Satoshi's side.
"I was sorting through the information I have collected on magical forms of healing," Satoshi replied as he dropped down into a chair that appeared from nowhere while he let out a yawn. "Who do I have to see in order to get a copy of all the medical records of the Root Orphan known as Shin? He's one of the two orphans that otousan took into his house and the one that was formally diagnosed with a terminal illness."
"Why do you need his medical records?"
"Otousan asked me to take responsibility for the other boy, Sai, and I told him I would take responsibility for both boys after he told me the older boy had less than two months to live. It was at that point I learned Shin had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; a disease for which the magicals have created a cure. It was that cure I was just researching; I wanted to verify that the potions and spells required to heal that particular disease can be used on a non-magical individual."
"I'll see what I can do to get you what you need," Kasai promised after considering Satoshi for a moment.
"In the mean time I think we need to exit your mind so that we can discuss the unpleasantness we just spent hours sorting through," Inoichi interjected as he eyed the caged avatar for a moment.
"Joy," Satoshi deadpanned with a grimace as he sent a glare in the direction of his worst memories from the previous year. When he looked back at Inoichi and Kasai a heartbeat later he was all business as he knew this particular mental assessment would make or break his shinobi career. If he failed, he would not only be dismissed from the AnBu but he would be denied an opportunity to take the Jounin Exams which meant he'd not be allowed to take a Genin team. Once his worries and concerns tucked safely in the back of his mind where they wouldn't interfere, Satoshi stated, "I'll see you on the other side then."
There was a brief dragging sensation on his mind as both men left and he waited for that feeling to end before he released his mental defenses and slipped back out into the waking world. He opened his eyes a heartbeat later and waited for both men to recover from the time spent in his mind before he asked, "Where did you wish to start, Inoichi-san?"
It was well after lunchtime when Inoichi and Kasai finished questioning Satoshi and sent him on his way with orders to be at the Hokage's office by nine o'clock the next morning in order to learn the results of his assessments; Tokage had long since finished his medical evaluation (which involved healing as much as he could of Satoshi's back) while the older shinobi were still determining Satoshi's current mental stability. Satoshi left after bowing respectfully to his commander and his father's long time friend (and supervisor) before he slipped out of the T and I Building and made his way up to the top of the Hokage's Monument to center his emotions.
His yearly assessments were never really pleasant as they always focused on the worst of his memories for that year; the memories that could affect him during future missions or cause him to have a mental or emotional breakdown at some point in the future. Only the fact that Inoichi was the only one to ever perform his assessments made them easier to bear simply because he knew and trusted the man.
After an hour just sitting and looking out over the village he called home while he wrote out a list of things that he needed done, Satoshi stood up and dusted off the back of his pants before turning to address to thin air, "Dobby?"
"Master Satoshi called for his Dobby?" a small creature with bat-like ears, a long thin nose, and moss green eyes the size of tennis balls dressed in a blood red tea-towel kimono trimmed in dark red that was near black, tied with a sash the same color as the trim, and with a large life-like Kikaichu embroidered in the center on the back of it inquired in English as he popped into the space Satoshi had been looking at when he'd spoken.
"Yes, there are a couple of things I need your help with, Dobby," Satoshi replied in kind as he passed the list that he'd been writing to the house elf while a large number of his swarm peeled away from him and attached themselves to the elf's uniform. "First, I need you to purchase the items and potions on this list from one of the more trustworthy magical communities. The healing potions are of utmost importance as I need them to cure a young boy who doesn't have much time left to live; so please obtain those first and bring them to me before you seek the rest of the items."
"Dobby will do as Master Satoshi asks. Master Satoshi has more he wishes to ask of Dobby?"
"Three more things; one is to visit Hogwarts and gather the Kikaichu that I left behind. All you need to do is pop into the edge of the forest and the Kikaichu I am sending with you will seek out the rest and send them to you so you can bring them back home. It will take about three hours for all of them to gather, so you can stop there before you purchase the potions and return later in the day to collect those coming back. Next, I need you to purchase or scavenge one copy of every magical publication that was issued yesterday, today, and for each day for the next fourteen days."
"Lastly, I need you to check in with the Department of Education within the Ministry of Magic and ask the Head of the Department when you can collect the test results for the individuals who are named in the second list on the scroll I gave you. You can deliver the purchases to the closet in my bedroom as per usual; except for the healing potions, those you can bring directly to me no matter where I am or who I am with because they are very important."
"Dobby understands."
The excitable elf then disappeared with a soft crack before Satoshi could say another word. It had taken Satoshi close to two years to get used to interacting with the elf and feel comfortable finding ways to fulfill the elf's desperate need to work and he had learned much both about magic and house elves in general during that time.
Dobby's main job now involved taking care of the Aburame Greenhouses where they raised and studied millions of Kikaichu (that every member of the clan drew upon to replenish their swarms) and the magical bugs that Satoshi had collected over the past five years. Those half-wild colonies (both magical and mundane) thrived under the care of the eager house elf and allowed those men and women in the clan that used to tend to the greenhouses to spend more time collecting new types of bugs and performing important research; something that the entire clan appreciated and benefited from.
Additionally, the elf had provided the village with a wealth of information on the pureblood families that had been close to the Malfoys in addition to a rather large list of marked Death Eaters that had escaped punishment after Voldemort's fall from power the night he killed Satoshi's biological parents. Information that had helped Satoshi to create magical wards that prevented magicals from entering the village undetected (with the help of Remus and Sirius) and prevented any marked follower of the Dark Lord from entering the village entirely; something his father, the departmental heads in charge of the village's security, and the Hokage had greatly appreciated.
Dobby also acted as a very secure and near instant messenger service since he was magically bound to Satoshi, answered only to Satoshi and those people that Satoshi gave permission to call him, and he could theoretically go anywhere in the world bar those places with magical wards designed to keep out house elves (so long as they were places that the elf or Satoshi had visited at least once). In some ways, his bond to Dobby was the equivalent of having a third summoning contract.
Feeling his stomach give a loud protest over missing lunch, Satoshi Shunshined down to the base of the monument to avoid the long hike down and wound his way through the village streets to the hotel where his wizarding friends were staying. He found all ten of them holed up in one of the four rooms they'd been assigned for the week, working on their applications for citizenship with the help of Remus, Sirius, and Satoshi's clone; both of the older wizards had a far better grasp of Japanese (thanks to living in Konoha for most of the past two years) than the younger witches and wizards bar Hermione whose memory was borderline photographic. All ten of his friends glanced up at Satoshi with expressions of pure relief and Satoshi suspected that they'd not left the hotel at all that morning.
"I came looking for some company while I ate a late lunch but if you are all busy…" Satoshi began in English before he purposefully allowed his sentence to trail off as he turned as if to leave.
"Take us with you please!" Fred and George begged in unison as they threw themselves on their knees and clasped their hands together. "These two horrible monsters masquerading as adults are trying to starve us to death while they kill us with paperwork!"
"While the twins are over exaggerating a bit, a break and some food would be nice," Hermione added with a smile as she massaged her right hand.
"You also promised us a tour, mister, or did you forget?" Hannah demanded as she propped her hands on her hips and mock glared at him.
"I haven't forgotten, I would have been here sooner but my yearly assessments took longer than expected and I had to a few things that couldn't wait. How long will it take you to get ready?"
Twenty minutes later, Satoshi was playing tour guide for his friends as he led them through the streets of Konoha towards one of the more popular dango stands where he intended to get a light lunch and grab a treat for the kids to make up for leaving them with nothing but a clone all morning. The fifteen year old was more than a little surprised at how much he enjoyed showing off his home to his friends and his usual emotionless mask and quiet demeanor slipped on more than one occasion as he told them various anecdotes about various places of interest.
His friends (bar Hermione and Neville who knew him best) were shocked by the brief periods of openness as they'd never really seen him truly open up, though watching him fly and play Quidditch had given them small glimpses of the real Satoshi that hid behind the unseen mask he constantly wore to hide his emotions. His friends weren't the only ones to notice the slips either as the various shinobi they ran into (those that knew anything at all about the fifteen year old) did a double take to stare at Satoshi in shock as he laughed, joked, and shared stories with the large group of outsiders.
During their meal, Satoshi even got to introduce his wizarding friends to more of his shinobi friends; mainly Anko (who practically lived at the dango stand), Ibiki and his younger brother Idate, and Tenzou. Kakashi joined them halfway through the meal as well; the older Jounin had been looking for his longtime girlfriend to spend time with her after he had finished his own mandatory mental and medical assessments.
Unknown to Satoshi, Ibiki had been tasked with the difficult duty of monitoring Satoshi's behavior for the rest of the day in order to make certain that he hadn't hid any underlying mental or emotional issues during his assessment. Normally, the watchers were AnBu members that had never had any contact with the one (or ones) being watched but Satoshi was one of those rare individuals that could sense hidden watchers thanks to his swarm and his magic (so long as he was paying attention). And since the point of having him watched was to do so without his knowledge; having someone he didn't know watching would only put him on the defensive, since they'd stick out like a sore thumb.
The rest of the daylight hours were spent touring the rest of the restaurant district, the shopping district, and the open air market; three places the magicals would have need of frequently as long as they were in the village. Once the sun had set, Satoshi escorted them back to the hotel (with supper in hand) and told them he'd be by sometime the next day to help them with the applications and finish giving them a tour.
He'd barely stepped back outside of the hotel when Dobby popped up to pass him a canvas bag holding the healing potions he'd requested. Satoshi thanked the elf as he accepted the bag before the elf was gone again to finish his tasks. Ibiki, who had managed to wrangle an invitation for himself and his brother to the Aburame Compound, gave the bag a curious glance as Satoshi grimly sorted through the contents.
"What is that? And what was that creature that gave it to you?" Idate asked curiously as he too studied the bag in Satoshi's hand.
Satoshi created a single Kage Bunshin and sent it off notify Kasai that he had what he needed to start Shin's treatment and ask the man for the name of a trusted medic before he answering, "Medicine and the creature you saw was a house elf, he is… well aside from being a friend you could consider him a type of specialized summons whose contract I signed; though there was no actual contract involved. I'm going to have to apologize to the both of you as I will not be available for the rest of the evening. I had not expected Dobby to return with this as quickly as he did and the young man whose medicine this is can't afford to have me put off his treatment because he is dying even as we speak."
"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Ibiki asked in order to have an excuse to stay close to the younger shinobi so that he could finish his assignment and because he honestly wished to help.
"No… actually, yes, there is. Shino, Naruto, and Hinata are going to want my attention and they'll grow impatient after a while if they aren't distracted so if Idate would consent to keep them occupied for a couple of hours, it would be a huge help. Ibiki, your experience as an interrogator and your extensive knowledge of psychology will be welcome as well, if you don't mind, because I'd like to have an idea of Shin's current mental and emotional state. Up until I spoke to him last night, he's lived with the knowledge that he would be dead in a matter of weeks and it is bound to have affected him on some level. Knowing just how close he is to breaking under the strain will allow me to determine what kind of help he will need when his treatment has run its course."
"I can do that," Ibiki agreed without hesitation.
"I don't mind keeping the kids out of trouble," Idate declared a heartbeat later with a shrug.
Satoshi gave the fourteen year old Chuunin (who'd finally achieved said promotion just six months earlier) a nod of thanks before giving both shinobi permission to Shunshin directly into his living room. Satoshi then left first so he could warn his father that they would be having guests and to let his three termites mob him for a moment before he extracted himself. He was just passing over the extra large order of dango he purchased earlier to the three children (with orders that it was to be eaten after supper) when Ibiki and Idate appeared in twin swirls of leaves.
"Good evening, Ibiki-san, Idate-kun; supper will be ready in about an hour if you wish to join us," Shibi greeted without further ado.
"Arigatou," Ibiki offered in return before he turned to Satoshi. "Will we be starting now or are you going to wait until after the meal?"
"Now," Satoshi answered without hesitation before he turned to address his father. "Tousan, can you please dish up four plates and bring them to the guest room when supper is ready? I have a considerable amount of research I need to do and I'd rather not have to stop in the middle just to eat since you won't allow me to research at the table during a meal."
"I can do that. May I ask what you are going to be researching?"
"I am going to be preparing to spend the night healing a very sick young man," Satoshi replied as he presented the canvas bag to his father and nodded in the direction of the guest bedroom where Shin was confined to the bed.
"Ah… that explains the medical records Tokage hand delivered to me when I finished work for the day."
"Perfect, I wasn't certain if Kasai-sama would be able to get them for me and had resigned myself to working blind; something I had hoped to avoid if at all possible."
"They're currently sitting in on my desk," Shibi replied. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You already are helping, tousan," Satoshi corrected with a smile.
Satoshi then headed first to his bedroom, to dig out the books that had the information he would need to correctly administer the potions and spells that would cure Shin's condition. He may have an eidetic memory but he was not arrogant enough to think that he knew everything he needed to know; which is why he purchased and kept copies of all of the books he read. His next stop was his father's study where he collected Shin's medical records before leading Ibiki (who'd silently been dogging his heels) to the guest room where the two shinobi found Shin sleeping fitfully while Sai sat beside the bed holding his brother's hand as he watched over him. In the far corner, the cement clone that Satoshi had left to watch over the two boys saluted his creator.
"Sai-kun?"
"Nani?"
"I need your complete attention for a moment," Satoshi instructed as he stepped up beside the bed and waited until he was certain that he had the boy's attention before continuing. "It took me far less time to get the medicine to cure Shin-kun than I expected and I will give him the first dose tonight; however, the healing he will be undergoing is an extremely delicate process and requires a number of special healing jutsu in conjunction with the medicine in order for it to work properly. I will need to devote my concentration to what I am doing least I make a mistake since even the smallest mistake could kill Shin at this point. That means I need your complete cooperation and for you to stay back and stay out of my way no matter what you see, what you hear, or what happens. If you don't think you can do that, then I am going to have to ask you to leave."
"Is whatever you are going to do going to hurt my oniisan?"
"There will be some pain involved but that won't come until I administer the second and third doses and it will mostly be mild discomfort as the cells in his spine are repaired and reconstructed. The first dose is actually going to place Shin in a drug induced coma and shut down every single cell in his body in order to stop the progression of the disease and the jutsu I need to use are the ones that will keep him alive while the medicine isolates and destroys the disease. I'm not going to lie; it will look like the medicine killed him and he will be completely unresponsive for anywhere from a week to a month and I suspect it will be closer to a month simply because of how far along the disease has progressed."
"Why isn't one of the medics going to be the one to take care of my oniisan? Shouldn't he be in the hospital in case something goes wrong?"
"The medics don't have the ability to perform the jutsu that I am going to be using and unfortunately the hospital equipment has not been warded against the power surges that are a side effect of the jutsu; which would put the other patients in danger if the equipment helping them is knocked offline. I have, on the other hand, made arrangements for a medic to observe the treatment and to monitor Shin's health while we wait for him to wake."
"Oh. Why aren't you kicking me out? I mean… why would you allow me to stay even if I promise not to get in your way?"
"Two reasons; the first is that I didn't think I could get you to stay out for the rest of the night and if you knocked on the door at the wrong time and broke my concentration, then it could kill Shin. The second reason is because I think having you here will help keep Shin calm while I am preparing everything and make it easier for him to accept the medicine since he will know that nothing is going to happen to you while he can't protect you."
"I don't want to leave, so I promise not to get in your way."
"Arigatou, Sai," Satoshi breathed as some of the tension he was feeling drained out. "It will be a few hours before I am ready to start, so for the moment you can stay where you are. I have to familiarize myself with Shin's medical history and spend some time making certain that I have everything I need."
So saying, Satoshi pulled out his wand and turned the spare futon in the room into a desk and chair to the shock of Sai. Ibiki was unfazed as he'd often seen Satoshi perform magic during the past five summers (the British Ministry unable to track his wand use through the Barrier that separated the Hidden Countries from the rest of the world). He then sat down and opened the folder containing the medical records he had requested and started familiarizing himself with Shin's medical history.
He had only worked through about three quarters of the file during the next hour (mostly because he was taking his time to read through everything carefully while referencing his healing books to ascertain that he wasn't jumping to the wrong conclusions) when his father entered the room carrying the requested food and escorting a medic that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Satoshi. He was familiar because Satoshi recognized his chakra signature as that matching Tokage's but unfamiliar because this was the first time Satoshi had ever seen the man's face without his mask (though Satoshi knew he'd seen him somewhere before).
"How are things coming along?" Shibi inquired softly as he set one plate down on the desk well out of Satoshi's way after handing the others to Ibiki and Sai.
"Rather well, so far I've been able to confirm that the disease Shin-kun was diagnosed with is exactly what I thought it was; though the British have a different name for it which is why I needed Shin's medical records to cross-reference everything before starting his treatment. I wish it was possible for me to bring a healer in to help with the rest of the treatment but it would take too long to find a trustworthy one and bringing them into the village would be a hassle and leave a hole in our defenses should any of our former clients learn of his or her involvement in anything going on here. Not to mention the fact that all licensed magical healers are required by the International Confederation of Wizards to swear oaths not to heal non-magical individuals of non-magical injuries and illnesses once they take their final exam."
"Will you be able to handle everything that needs to be done on your own?"
"I am confident that I can handle my part and I hope to have help with those I can't deal with myself; which is why I asked a friend to recommend a trustworthy medic to lend me a hand," Satoshi replied as he glanced towards the unnamed medic who had been his personal healer for four summers now before rising from his chair to greet the man while at the same time trying to place where he'd seen him before. "I'd like to thank you in advance for coming and apologize for any inconvenience caused by my request."
"I'm Okada Kanpou, I don't know if you remember me or not but we graduated from the academy the same year; so please call me Kanpou," the medic that Satoshi knew as Tokage insisted. "And there is no need for you to apologize; I am happy to help. I was one of the medic's that diagnosed the young man's condition and had wished there had been more I could have done for him than just delay the inevitable for a few more months. How much can you tell me about what you will be doing? And is there a possibility that you could teach me how to cure Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis so that we can help others who have been diagnosed with the disease?"
"Yes, I actually do vaguely remember you as one of Iwashi's two Genin teammates, though I confess I'd not recognized you sooner because your voice has changed over the years and because you were never one of those that picked on my age and size your face didn't stand out quite so clearly in my mind. As to teaching you how to administer the cure, I'm afraid that I can't because it requires a specific Kekkei Genkai," Satoshi stated softly as he discreetly checked on the two boys before he returned his attention to Kanpou.
"I can however explain the process to you at a later time. A young woman I know, who possesses the same Kekkei Genkai that I have, has made plans to receive formal training in advanced healing methods and she fully intends to join her boyfriend here in a few years when she is finished with her training. In the mean time, I would be willing to help as best I can but there are specific requirements that will need to be met for me to treat each of them in order to make certain that each patient has the best possible chances of a complete recovery. That is one of the reasons why I am administering the medication here and not at the hospital."
"The news about the procedure requiring a Kekkei Genkai is a bit disappointing but beggars can't be choosers," Kanpou declared as he joined Satoshi over by the desk. "How much longer until you start tonight and what is it you need me to do?"
"It'll be a couple hours yet and I'm going to need a complete scan of Shin's current condition before I give him the first dose and any signs of infection will need to be treated beforehand as well. Basically, I need him to be as healthy as possible before I start his treatment because even a slight cold will negate the effectiveness of the treatment and could potentially kill him before the first portion of the treatment runs it full course. Once he's taken the first dose, he'll need to be monitored closely for up to a month as the medication will shut down his body and put him into a drug induced coma. The moment he wakes up, the second dose needs to be administered with the third and final round of medications being given to him exactly twenty-four hours after the second. Here, this book will explain how the cure works and what you can expect to happen once I start."
While Kanpou read through the relevant sections, Satoshi ate and finished going through Shin's medical records between bites. Sai was doing an admirable job of feeding Shin and keeping the thirteen year old distracted which in turn helped Satoshi concentrate on finishing his research. Ibiki on the other hand was silently taking note of how well Satoshi had organized everything in such a short amount of time and how the teen had not only identified possible distractions that could come up but also neutralized them before they could become a problem (that was in addition to monitoring Shin as Satoshi had requested).
Satoshi's ability to think ten steps ahead and make clear and concise plans was one indication that he was mentally and emotionally stable. His obvious care and concern over others and his willingness to accept help from outside sources was another; since most people tended to shut themselves off completely when they became unbalanced emotionally or mentally. Now he just had to be certain the young man wasn't bottling everything up in order to not have to deal with the emotional baggage that is always produced when one is tortured (something Ibiki is intimately familiar with due to his past).
It was well after eight-thirty by the time that Satoshi was ready to begin.
Kanpou had performed the medical scan and helped Shin use the bathroom, take a bath, and change into clean clothes while Sai had helped Satoshi put fresh sheets and blankets on the bed. It had then taken Satoshi close to nearly half an hour to finish his preparations; which included casting several monitoring and cleaning charms on the bed (spells used by mediwitches and wizards to monitor the health of the patient's body and prevent germs and bacteria from collecting on a long-term patient's bedding for those times when it wasn't possible to change the bedding at regular intervals due to the treatment the patient is receiving). When it came time for the actual treatment to begin, both Shin and Sai were practically nervous wrecks.
"Are you ready, Shin-kun?" Satoshi asked gently as he cradled a vial filled with a shimmering red liquid in his hand.
"Will that really work?" Shin asked instead, his eyes glued to the seemingly innocent vial holding what he'd been told was the cure to the disease that was steadily killing him.
"Yes, I spent most of the evening reviewing your medical files and referencing my medical texts to make certain that my assumption that I could help was more than just a hopeful guess. Is there a chance that something could go wrong? Yes, but I have tried to account for anything and everything that could go wrong; which is why Kanpou-san is here. This is just the first step; there are still two more steps before you can be considered cured and then the rest of your recovery will be up to you."
"If… if something goes wrong and I don't make it, will you promise me that you will take care of Sai?"
"Shin!" Sai gasped.
"I give you my word that I will take care of your otouto as much as he will let me," Satoshi promised solemnly.
"Thank you… for everything. If this doesn't work, I… well; I won't blame you since a painless end is far better than what I was promised by the medics."
"I understand. Once you drink the potion, you will have five minutes to make yourself comfortable before you will completely black out. I do not know if you will dream while you are unconscious but from everything I read, you will not sense the passing of time so that when you wake up it will be as if you'd only been out for a few minutes. The second and third doses will be far less pleasant but you will also not lose any more time when you take them."
Satoshi watched the thirteen year old down the potion in one go, making a face at the taste which made Satoshi's lips twitch in amusement because he well knew just how terrible healing potions tasted. He allowed Sai to help Shin get comfortable while he pulled his wand back out and prepared to begin casting the spells that would keep Shin alive while his body was basically shut down. Everyone in the room instantly knew when the potion took effect as one second Shin was talking softly with Sai and the next second his body just stopped moving without any warning.
That was Satoshi's cue to start and the first spell he cast was an artificial heart spell that stimulated the heart at regular intervals to simulate a heartbeat to pump the blood through his body. The next spell was a respiration spell that performed the same service for the lungs into order to provide much needed oxygen to the brain and other organs and cells. A Bubblehead Charm was applied after that to make certain that fresh, clean air was readily available and to prevent pathogens from being drawn into the boy's body while his immune system was compromised (a spell that would need to be reapplied daily).
A warming charm and a massage charm would help regulate Shin's body temperature and ensure that the circulation of blood through his body flowed smoothly to prevent blood clots from forming. The next spell was a rather complex spell that isolated the digestive track and placed it in suspended animation that would prevent any undigested matter in Shin's stomach or intestines from rotting as well as prevent waste from building up during the time he was unconscious.
By that time, Satoshi was sweating heavily as the first two spells and the last one required a large amount of raw magical power in order to cast them correctly and they were usually cast by three separate healers in order to prevent any one witch or wizard from becoming overwhelmed or exhausted by the casting. That Satoshi was still standing after casting all three of them in addition to the other spells was a testament to just how powerful he was magically.
The final series of spells that were cast were monitoring charms that would allow him to keep watch over the status of the life support spells, the progress the potion was making towards eradicating the disease, and the general health of Shin's inner organs. When the last spell had been cast, Satoshi had just enough strength left over to announce that Shin's current condition was stable before he passed out from magical exhaustion.
Translations: Japanese to English
Arigatou – thank you
Gomen nasai – I'm sorry (somewhat informal)
Kekkei Genkai – bloodline limit
Kuso – swear word
Nani – what
Ohayou gozaimasu – good morning (formal)
Oniisan/niisan – older brother
Otousan/tousan – father
Otouto – younger brother
Tokage – lizard
Notes:
* Some of you might wonder why Satoshi didn't ask any of the other magicals in the village to help him cast the spells on Shin at the end of the chapter and the reason for that was strictly because he knew that they were busy preparing their applications for citizenship. Now, I don't know how many of you are familiar with your county's immigration process but I speak from experience when I say it is an extremely tedious process and the forms are seemingly endless. So, it is not really that much of a stretch for the others to be mentally exhausted from going through their forms.
There's also the fact that there is limited room available in the room and there were already five people in the room at the time he was casting the spells. I suppose I could have had Remus or Sirius lend a hand but I had already delegated the task of helping the other magicals to them and they would have stayed at the hotel for most of the night. They also would have been mentally exhausted from helping to prepare multiple applications (answering questions, checking translations, correcting minor mistakes, etc.).