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 16: When it Rains, it Pours
Satoshi spent between eight and twelve hours on each of the smaller islands that were a part of Mizu no Kuni collecting rumors before he slipped through the barrier surrounding the main island of the water-bound country on the evening of his seventh day in Mizu. He'd learned quite a bit about the growing unrest in the country and he was more than a little concerned about the brewing rebellion based upon what he'd gleaned from the frightened rumors he'd gathered from eavesdropping on the nervous villagers over the past few days. With the land being in a state of high tension it meant that anything he did could potentially set off tempers without any effort on his part and he did not want to get caught up in what promised to be a very bloody and violent civil war.
Each night, he'd summon Dobby to his side to send an updated report to Konoha with the latest rumors in addition to any information he'd found that turned the tiny kernels at the heart of the various rumors into hard facts or dismissed them as pure fiction. Most of what he learned circled around the bloodline limit purges that had been taking place over the last six or seven years and the discontent that was felt over the strange behavior of the current Mizukage who was also the Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi, the three tailed turtle. There were even rumors that the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu were fighting amongst themselves and picking sides in the brewing conflict.
The fact that there were only six of the original seven swordsmen still within Kirigakure lent credence to that rumor as it was common knowledge that Hoshigaki Kisame (the wielder of the blade Samehada) had deflected after attempting to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, two years earlier. It was the rumors of Hoshigaki's desertion that had prompted the Hokage to send Kumade's AnBu team to Kirigakure the previous summer in order to investigate the situation.
The first day that Satoshi spent on the main island, he spent laying low in order to make certain that his entry hadn't been detected. The fact that he'd slipped through the barrier while in his dragonfly form meant that he had been practically invisible and his chakra coils suppressed to the point where it appeared he had no more chakra than a normal dragonfly would. Since dragonflies were a rather common insect in the island country, it made his infiltration even easier; even if the species of dragonfly he represented wasn't one that was typically found within Mizu no Kuni. Once he was certain that he hadn't been noticed, he took his time traveling from fishing village to fishing village while the water bugs from his swarm dispersed themselves about the island to seek as much information as they could find.
It was on his fifth day on the main island, the fourteenth day into his mission, when he finally found a lead on who had been responsible for killing the AnBu team that had been sent to infiltrate Kiri a year earlier. Finding out that one of his first friends had been cut down by two of the Seven Swordsmen didn't ease any of the pain that Satoshi had felt over the loss of his friend though. It did, on the other hand, help him rein in his desire for revenge because he wasn't arrogant enough to think that he could match one (let alone two) of the legendary swordsmen at his current level; especially when one of them was Momochi Zabuza.
His luck went downhill rapidly from that point as the broiling tensions broke into a blood bath unexpectedly just two nights later.
It started with the unexpected appearance of Orochimaru on the outskirts of Kirigakure just before sunset on the twenty-fifth of September when Satoshi was on his way out of the village. Satoshi cursed the moment he saw the Snake Sannin through the eyes of his swarm as there had been no prior indication that the blasted traitor had been anywhere near Water Country, let alone on the main island. He had sat frozen for all of three minutes before he made a tactical decision to make a rapid retreat and end the mission with the few successes he'd already had to date rather than risk getting caught up in any of Orochimaru's evil plots or plans (even if the teen already suspected that it was too late to avoid trouble).
He'd barely begun skimming his way along the outskirts of the village so that he could leave through an exit point on the opposite side of the village as Orochimaru when the remaining members of the barbaric and war-like Kaguya Clan launched an attack on the village. Their charge on the village managed to cut off his retreat due to the direction they'd chosen to attack from; forcing him to retreat deeper into the village in order to avoid being cut down (since he was currently in human form wearing civilian clothing to blend in with the villagers while gathering his information) or chance being driven back towards Orochimaru's current location.
If that wasn't bad enough, Momochi Zabuza chose that moment to show his true colors; the fabled Demon of the Mist using the distraction caused by the Kaguya Clan to launch his own coup as he attempted (and failed) to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage. Kirigakure was soon caught right in the middle of the four factions (the Kaguya Clan, Momochi's allies, a thoroughly pissed off and transformed Jinchuuriki, and the loyal Kiri shinobi). Satoshi, to his growing horror and irritation, found himself trapped as well; all because he'd chosen that day (of all days) to infiltrate the hidden village.
Chaos reigned supreme that night and Satoshi did his best to add to the growing confusion as he set off a couple of portable swamps in the middle of the village to prevent the Kaguya clan from infiltrating too deeply (out of a sense of self-preservation and not any need to defend Kiri). He also sent up two boxes of Whiz-bangs to light up the night and draw attention away from Satoshi as he attempted to make his way clear of the village or find a place sheltered enough for him to transform so he could flee. The rampaging Mizukage in the guise of the Sanbi made things even worse as the ominous presence of the bijuu only added to the panic and fear that the civilians and shinobi alike were feeling.
The demon's sinister chakra choked the very air and sharply reminded Satoshi of the night that the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and the day he'd faced the Nibi's partially transformed host. The smell of blood was also thick in the air and the sounds of battle cries, clashing weapons, and agonized screams echoed through his ears as he tried to skirt the pockets of fighting that were cropping up throughout the entire village.
Satoshi was forced to fight for his life more than once and frequently resorted to trickery and pranks to escape instead of killing his opponents as he had no wish to leave a trail of dead bodies to mark his route. He changed his tactics in a fit of pure anger as one member of the Kaguya Clan attacked a child in front of his eyes and Satoshi didn't hesitate to kill the child's attacker before the man could deliver the killing blow to the child. The kid tried to flee when Satoshi approached him immediately after that but the child's injury kept the child from getting very far. It was all Satoshi could do to suppress his anger over the fact that an adult had attacked a child for no other reason than that the child had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you," Satoshi murmured as he finally crouched beside the bleeding child, his Kikaichu spreading out to keep watch on his surroundings for him so he could focus on the child. "I just want to stop the bleeding and then I will escort you somewhere a little more secure until it is safe for you to go home."
"I don't have a home," the kid blurted out unexpectedly as Satoshi gently grabbed hold of the kid's injured left leg and cleaned the deep sword wound that ran from about mid-thigh on the side of his leg down and around to the back of the calf where it ended about four inches above the ankle (the child had been injured when he was in the process of turning around in order to flee from his attacker).
"Is that why you were out here on the streets when the fighting started?" Satoshi asked to distract the kid, who he was now pretty sure was a boy, from the pain of the disinfectant. "Where are your parents?"
"They're dead."
"Ah, my condolences for your loss," Satoshi murmured gently as he began wrapping up the wound. "Do you have someplace safe you can hide until the fighting is over?"
"No."
"Alright, I suppose that means you have two choices right now," Satoshi stated as he tied the loose ends of the bandages and glanced up into the boy's frightened brown eyes. "I can either take you to the nearest house and leave you with the people who live there in order to get you off of the streets until the fighting is over or you can come with me and I will protect you until I can get you someplace safe."
"The people here don't like me," the boy whispered in a tiny voice that made Satoshi want to kill someone as he saw the memory of a two year old blonde crying in fright as he tried and failed to climb out of a dumpster in his mind's eye.
"Well, that makes them a bunch of idiots," Satoshi declared with a nod as packed up his first aide kit. "And I guess that means I'm taking you with me if you are willing to let me take care of you."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't safe for you to stay here and you remind me of my otouto; he's about your age."
"Oh, okay."
Satoshi smiled at the boy and scooped him up before settling him up onto his back so he could carry him and still be able to fight if necessary. Thin arms shot around Satoshi's neck as the sixteen year old threaded his arms beneath the boy's legs (mindful of the kid's injured left leg) and Satoshi allowed the boy a moment to get comfortable before he recalled his swarm and began moving once more. By that time, the loyal Kiri shinobi had rallied and began fighting back against the Kaguya more effectively while Zabuza and his followers were being chased out of the village by Kiri's AnBu and Hunter Nin. Meanwhile, the Sanbi raged on; the creature thankfully heading out away from the village as it chased after someone or something.
"My name is Satoshi, by the way; what's yours?"
"Haku."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Haku; I only wish it could have been under better circumstances. Please hold on tight, I'm going to need to climb over a few buildings in order to avoid the battle up ahead."
Suiting action to words, Satoshi ran up the side of the nearest building drawing suppressed squeals of mixed terror and excitement from the boy on his back and Satoshi grinned briefly as he recalled the first time he'd carried Shino and Naruto the same way; his two little brothers had reacted to the experience much the same way as Haku. Once up on the roof, Satoshi paused to take stock of his surroundings and cursed as he noted that the fighting had spread further than he'd expected it to while he'd been tending to Haku's wound. Knowing that he couldn't stay up on the roofs for long, because he'd stick out like a sore thumb, and seeing that most of the fighting near where he'd been when he'd first seen Orochimaru had died down; Satoshi made a decision and apparated back to the edge of the village in a soft crack.
Haku gasped slightly over the unexpected feeling of being transported and Satoshi spent a few seconds softly reassuring the boy as he slipped through the battle torn grounds that were littered with dead bodies. Knowing he had to watch out for Orochimaru, who'd been in the nearby vicinity not that long ago, Satoshi melted back into the shadows and moved as silently as he could through the last of the houses as he steadily made his way towards the edge of the village. The sound of running footsteps made Satoshi freeze as he pulled out a kunai and crouched down in the shadows as he searched for the source. When another child ran into his line of sight, Satoshi relaxed and put away his kunai before he stood back up; his movement startling the white haired boy that had been fleeing the village.
"It's not safe for you to be out here," Satoshi called softly when the child tripped over his feet in his hurry to stop his forward momentum and landed on his backside before he scampered backwards to put more distance between himself and Satoshi. "You should go home so you don't end up getting hurt during the fighting that is still taking place all over the village."
"I won't," the boy quietly declared.
"You won't what? You won't go home or you won't get hurt?" Satoshi asked in confusion even as he glanced away from the boy to scan the immediate area for approaching threats.
"I don't want to be locked in the dark again."
That quiet declaration had Satoshi whipping back around to stare at the child again, noting that the boy's skin was the pale white of someone who'd never spent any time in the sun, that he was both rather short and skinny, and that he was currently covered in blood (either his own or someone else's). While the child currently clinging to his back and peering over his shoulder reminded him of his little blonde haired brother, this new boy reminded him sharply of himself and the terrible year he'd spent with his mother's sister and her family. He knew all too well what it was like to hate and fear being locked in the dark, though he'd long since gotten over that fear.
"Who locked you in the dark?" Satoshi asked in a soft crisp voice that demanded and encouraged an answer at the same time.
"Otousan… he's dead. They killed him because he and the others attacked the village."
"You are a member of the Kaguya Clan?"
"I was."
"Do you have any place to go where you will be safe? Is there any one back at your village that will look after you?"
"They are all afraid of me and they are all dead or will soon be dead."
"What do you plan on doing then? Where will you go?"
"I… I don't know. I don't want to die and I don't want to be thrown in the dark again."
Satoshi sighed silently as he contemplated the child in front of him as the sounds of fighting once again began drawing closer to where he was standing. Getting himself out of Mizu no Kuni was going to be difficult enough as it was now thanks to the dual attacks without having to worry about sneaking out one kid, let alone two, but Satoshi just couldn't bring himself to abandon a pair of orphans (or soon to be orphan in the pale kid's case) simply because it would be safer for him to do so.
If he thought that the village would take care of them he'd have taken them to an orphanage and left them there but he suspected that these two would be left to fend for themselves on the streets or killed outright before the end of the week if he did leave them behind. Sighing again, Satoshi shifted Haku a bit to make certain he had a better hold on the kid before he addressed the other boy once more.
"Well you can't stay here and running into the night blind is going to lead you to trouble faster than you can say dango. I can't offer you much but I can provide you with a hot meal, a safe place to sleep, and measure of protection for the rest of the night or for as long as you wish if you think you can trust me enough to come with me. I can't force you and if you change your mind later and want to head out on your own I won't stop you but if you stay here, you'll be found in mere minutes and if you run into the night you could end up in worse trouble. I can also promise you that there will be no dark prisons where I am going."
"I…"
Whatever the kid was going to say was cut off as the group of fighters that had been getting closer burst around the corner to reveal Momochi Zabuza facing off against a trio of masked Kiri shinobi. Cursing, Satoshi grabbed hold of the white haired boy's hand and pulled him along behind him as he headed for the road leading out of the village. To the boy's credit, he didn't fight against Satoshi as they ran and he did his best to keep up as they fled into the night while the sounds of fighting faded behind them. Knowing that the Kiri shinobi would be swarming the entire island in short order (once the fighting in the village died down) and the high likelihood that Orochimaru was still somewhere nearby, Satoshi began looking for a place to sit tight for a day or two instead of trying to sneak off the island that night.
When the boy he was dragging along with him tripped about an hour later, Satoshi didn't hesitate to sweep him up into his arms so that he wouldn't be left behind; earning him what felt like a kunai to the side. He grunted in pain and faltered a bit but didn't stop running as his Kikaichu flocked to the wound to prevent his blood from spilling out onto the ground; something that would have left a clear trail by which he could be tracked. A soft gasp and a frantic apology from the white haired boy in his arms soon had the offending blade removed from his flesh. Satoshi just grunted a second time in acknowledgement of both the apology and the removal of the weapon.
Thankfully, both boys weighed slightly less than Naruto and Shino and carrying them (even with the slight injury) posed no problem as he sped up to put even more distance between him and the bloody battleground that Kirigakure had become that night.
Near midnight, when Satoshi's strength began flagging, he slowed down and set the white haired boy back on his feet as he continued searching for a place to camp. He found the perfect place a couple of hours later in the form of a large, open cave that was located in a small ravine several miles to the north of Kiri. His second tagalong hesitated to join him in the cave at first and Satoshi didn't press him (despite the risk that he might be seen by passing shinobi) due to how the boy felt about dark places.
The moment he had a rather warm, bright, and cheerful fire going in the center of the cave; the boy willingly scrambled inside (as Satoshi had figured he would) and drew close to the flames in order to warm himself, though he kept well away from Haku who was similarly perched near the fire on the opposite side of the small campfire. While the boys were entirely focused on the fire, Satoshi threw up a temporary barrier over the mouth of the cave and used his wand to construct several wards that would keep anyone from paying any attention to their hidden camp.
He then sent out a third of his swarm to clear away all traces of their passage so that their refuge wouldn't be found by someone following their trail. Feeling safe for the moment, Satoshi peeled off his borrowed shirt to inspect his wound (after placing a weak glamour over his older scars to hide them from the children) and breathed a soft curse when he discovered that he'd been skewered all the way through without realizing it. He was at least thankful that it didn't appear as if anything vital had been hit and that the wound itself was clean which meant it would be fairly easy to deal with.*
"Gomen nasai, mister; I didn't mean to hurt you," the white haired boy softly declared as he suddenly appeared at Satoshi's elbow and stared at the trickle of blood seeping out of the wound.
"Don't worry about it, it's my fault for startling you and not giving you any warning when I picked you up so suddenly after you tripped," Satoshi assured the boy for the third time that night. "I just realized that I didn't really have time to introduce myself earlier; my name is Satoshi and my young friend beside the fire is Haku."
Haku glanced up and gave Satoshi a startled look at being called his friend even as a pleased blush spread up over his cheeks. Noting the reaction out of the corner of his eye, Satoshi surmised that the boy had been on his own for quite some time and that he had secretly longed for companionship that he hadn't been able to find. He gave Haku a small reassuring smile before returning his attention to his wound as he pulled his first aid kit back out.
"Do you have any injuries that need to be treated? I noticed the blood on your clothes earlier but there hadn't really been any time you ask you if you were hurt."
"It's not my blood."
"That is a welcome bit of good news after the earlier madness. You should probably clean the blood off of whatever weapon it was that you stuck me with; a dirty weapon corrodes and rusts far quicker than a clean one."
Satoshi noticed the discomfort and fear that filled the boy the moment he mentioned the weapon but didn't draw attention to it as the boy shrank away from him and returned to the fireside. Keeping one eye on the boy out of the corner of his eye, Satoshi disinfected the stab wound on his side, packed it with a poultice, and deftly wrapped his torso with bandages. He snorted over the efficiency with which he'd treated his wound as he reflected on the fact that he'd gotten very good at patching himself up over the years; an unpleasant reminder of how often he'd ended up hurt during the years since he'd first earned his hitai-ate.
A couple of discreet spells saw his borrowed shirt cleaned of blood and the holes repaired a few minutes later and he quickly redressed before he dug into his supplies for something to make for supper. A dislike of most camping rations and plenty of experience with long term missions where he spent days or weeks at time living off the land or his own supplies meant that Satoshi had determinedly figured out a way to safely store fresh food in storage scrolls.
That ability allowed for him to always carry more than enough healthy and fresh food to feed his entire team and their client even if the mission ran over the expected time frame; especially if he supplemented his supplies with fresh game and wild crops. It also meant that he rarely ever had to spend his hard earned cash to purchase food while out on a mission in potentially hostile territory (or in places where supplies were scarce and therefore expensive).
Since he'd bonded with Dobby, his highly organized meal scrolls had become something of a legend amongst those he went on missions with since he often carried ready to cook meals that wouldn't be out of place on the menu of a five star restaurant (all of which he could make with practiced ease). The only shinobi whose cooking skills rivaled, or rather far surpassed Satoshi's was Maruboshi Kosuke (Konoha's Mannen Genin) who had taught Satoshi half of what he knew about cooking on the handful of occasions he'd worked with the elderly shinobi through the years (the rest of his cooking skills had been taught to him by his adopted mother, Kushina, Dobby, and Remus).
Satoshi browsed through the scroll holding his supply of evening meals and after a few minutes of deliberation chose to make a simple soup. Since there were three of them (and the two boys looked half starved), Satoshi released enough ingredients from the storage scroll to make eight generous servings of a simple fish and vegetable soup. He then pulled out a camping pot and a couple bottles of water to start the soup before he poured the pre-prepared ingredients and the water into the pot and set the pot up on a tripod over the fire.
While that was cooking, he dug out two spare changes of clothes and handed one set to each boy with instructions for them to change out of their filthy clothes (or rags in Haku's case). Since he wasn't actually that much taller than either of the two boys, both of whom looked to be no more than seven or eight years old but were probably closer to nine or ten based upon the obvious signs of malnutrition both of them were suffering from, the clothes he loaned to them fit slightly better than expected though they still hung fairly loosely on them.
Satoshi then checked on Haku's leg to make certain the wound was still wrapped securely and that the rather frantic flight through the night hadn't done any additional harm. Seeing that the boy was in pain, Satoshi gave him half a pain pill and handed him a peach to eat first so he wouldn't get sick by taking the pill on an empty stomach. Seeing the look of half hidden hunger on the other boy's face, Satoshi tossed him a peach as well to help hold the kid over until the soup was ready.
The sixteen year old then checked on their supper and stirred the bubbling soup to prevent it from burning before he pulled out what bedding he'd brought with him. There was only one sleeping bag and one pillow but he'd thankfully packed several extra blankets and a few quick, discreet transfiguration charms turned a few loose rocks into additional sleeping bags and pillows so that no one would end up sleeping directly on the cold floor of the cavern.
Twenty-three minutes later, he dished up the thick soup he'd made into three bowls and passed two of them to the two boys along with a bottle of water each from his supplies. He noted that both boys ate like they hadn't eaten in days and he was silently glad that he'd made extra soup so that the two boys could have seconds when they finished their first serving. The sound of metal scraping metal and soft slurping filled the cave for several minutes with an occasional hum or moan of appreciation from one or both boys. Satoshi let the boys eat in peace until he filled their bowls a second time, when he addressed the white haired boy once more.
"I don't think I caught your name earlier," Satoshi drawled leadingly and was rewarded with a faint blush and a quick reply.
"Kimimaro."
"It's nice to finally properly meet you, Kimimaro-kun," Satoshi stated as he rinsed out his bowl and set it upside down beside the fire to dry, leaving the rest of the soup for the boys since they needed it more than he did. "I'm sorry I didn't give you much of a choice back there when things got a little hot where we were standing. If you decide that you don't want to stay here with us, I won't stop you from leaving but at the same time I'm not going to kick you out if you want to stay. Once you're finished eating, you can grab a pile of bedding, curl up a few feet away from the fire, and sleep for the rest of the night while I stand watch to make certain that we weren't followed."
Neither boy said anything to that but they did glance at each other and study Satoshi covertly as he finished cleaning up and pulled more firewood out of another storage scroll; the teen had sent clones to collect the dry wood from around Konoha to haul with him prior to leaving as he had known finding dry wood in Mizu no Kuni would be no easy task given the damp climate and the current season. Feeling drowsy from the combination of a large, warm meal and the pain medication, Haku was the first one to slip off into dreamland after Satoshi helped him lay out one of the sleeping bags before tucking the drowsy kid into the makeshift bed.
Kimimaro retreated to make a comfortable nest out of his set of bedding shortly after the rather quiet boy surprisingly rinsed both his and Haku's bowl without being asked. Satoshi waited until both boys' breathing evened out, indicating that they were sound asleep, to create a pair of Mushi Bunshin to watch over the camp for the evening before he too crawled into his sleeping bag after setting his bed roll across the mouth of the cave.
Over the course of the next two days, Satoshi tended to his and Haku's wounds in an effort to prevent them from getting infected, slowly drew the two boys' life stories from them, and monitored the world outside of their hidden refuge with his Kikaichu. He also sent thousands of the bugs to gather information on everything that had happened on the night of the attacks and to scout for any sign that Orochimaru was still in the area. The two biggest worries Satoshi had at the moment was that Kiri's shinobi would pick up his trail and hunt him down (thinking he had been part of either attacking faction) or that he'd run into the traitor.
He knew avoiding the entirety of the Kiri forces (or even just a handful of their AnBu and Hunter Nin forces) would be near impossible while they were stirred up and out for blood and he had no delusions about being able to face the traitorous member of the Sannin in his current condition and coming out alive. He also had no idea what he was going to do with the two boys that had, by the end of the second day, hesitantly attached themselves to the sixteen year old with no signs that they had any intention of leaving his side (even though they were still a little wary of him and each other).
It was just after supper on their third evening in the hidden cave that Satoshi learned the biggest reasons why the two children had been hated and (to an extent) feared by those around them. There had been a small rock fall inside of the cave due to the steady stream of water trickling down from the ceiling loosening the already loose stones as the steady downpour of rain from a sudden storm found its way into even the smallest of cracks. Kimimaro had been unfortunate enough to have been sitting directly beneath the section that broke loose and as the small rocks, mud, and water rained down on him, bones burst forth from the boy's body to protect and shield him.
The appearance of the bones had been a bit of a surprise but Satoshi had taken it in stride as he unhesitatingly lifted the cowering boy out from the mess and openly used his fabricated Concrete Release to shore up the entire ceiling to the astonishment of both younger boys. That, of course, opened the flood gates for both boys as Kimimaro admitted that it had been his bones that had stabbed Satoshi when the teen had picked him up the other night. The fact that Satoshi didn't glare at him with hate or disgust led the ten year old to revealing that his father had trained and used him as a weapon but otherwise kept him locked in a dark cell because the entire clan feared his Kekkei Genkai (which Satoshi later would learn was called Shikotsumyaku) which allowed him to manipulate his bones and use them as weapons.
Haku had brokenly admitted that he too had a Kekkei Genkai after Kimimaro finished telling his story and spoke of how his father had killed his mother and tried to kill him because of it before he killed his father instead. Satoshi privately marveled over the odds that he'd saved and befriended a pair of orphans with rare (or rather nearly extinct) Kekkei Genkai during the madness that had broken out without warning on the very night he'd decided to infiltrate Kiri. It made him wonder what might have happened to either boy if he'd chosen not to take this mission when he'd been given a chance to refuse it nearly a month earlier.
In return for their stilted confessions, Satoshi softly told them that those with Kekkei Genkai were treasured for their abilities in his village (though he did not mention Konoha by name at the time) and that they were trained in how to use their abilities so they could help protect others. The fact that Satoshi had a bloodline limit of his own (though they didn't know the full extent of that ability) lent credence to his words and helped ease some of the fears the two boys had about being rejected now that their secrets had been brought out into the open. They hadn't quite been certain what to make of the revelation that the teen hosted close to a million bugs within his body but they didn't let the swarm bother them too much since they never woke up covered in bugs themselves and only rarely saw them crawling about Satoshi or the cave.
If he hadn't already been reluctant to abandon the two boys to the streets, the revelation about their abilities would have been cause enough for him to make arrangements to bring them back to Konoha; especially with the current hostility that those with Kekkei Genkai were being subjected to within Mizu no Kuni. As it was, Satoshi had already been trying to figure out how he was going to get the two boys back to Konoha where he knew there'd be no chances of them ending up back on the streets. It wasn't that big of a surprise when Satoshi learned that both boys still wished to stay with him (his ready acceptance of both their terrible pasts and their abilities dispelling the last of their hesitance); something that only made it easier to talk them into leaving the country with him.
On the morning of their sixth day in the cave well before the sun rose, Satoshi finally decided that both he and Haku were healed enough for them to start traveling and he didn't want to lose any more time. The sixteen year old was growing fairly antsy to get home. The anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack was drawing near and he had promised Naruto and Shino that he would be there to participate in their yearly vigil for the first time in five years since he had been stuck in Scotland on that date during the past five years. Decision made, Satoshi had everything packed up and the cave scoured clean of anything that could be linked back to him, the boys, or Konoha before dawn.
To avoid any chance of being discovered on the ground due Haku's injured leg slowing them down, Satoshi decided to fly the three of them out of Water Country by broom. He could have called on one of his larger dragonfly summonses to give them a ride but the amount of chakra that would have needed to summon even one would have called far too much attention to the trio. There was also the fact that a large summons would light up the defensive barrier that surrounded the island the moment the creature crossed it because of the larger than normal chakra reserves that all of the larger summonses developed; which also would have drawn too much attention to their group.
A weak genjutsu led both boys to believe that Satoshi had summoned a large dragonfly to carry them to avoid the need to explain how a broom (of all things) could fly. Three discreet Disillusionment Charms would prevent the casual eye from noticing their presence as they flew over the island towards the mainland. To prevent either boy from falling off, Satoshi connected all three of them together with a length of rope around the waist before settling Haku (who was the smaller of the two boys) on the broom in front of him while Kimimaro was instructed to sit behind him and hold on tight to his waist. They lifted off about the same time as the first rays of light began touching the horizon.
It took five hours for the three boys to reach the coast and Satoshi set them down on the ground so they could warm up for a bit while he collected the scattered Kikaichu that had been gathering in the area over the past two days per his instructions. He planned to send Dobby back to the island to gather any of his Kikaichu that got left behind once things in Kirigakure settled down a bit more. While he was doing that, Haku and Kimimaro were stretching their legs and playing on the beach; something neither child had done previously. Satoshi watched them with a fond smile as he was again reminded of his little brothers (and himself) and thanked his ancestors and the gods that he'd found both boys when he had.
He hated to imagine what would have happened to them if they'd been found by someone who would have wanted to exploit them and their abilities for personal gain.
After an hour of rest, Satoshi handed each boy one of his extra blankets to wrap around them to help fend off the cold, reapplied the Disillusionment Charms, retied the safety rope around their waists, and used his magic to mask their chakra signatures before they mounted the broom once more. This time, when he slipped through the barrier that surrounded the island, he did so at the height that the gulls typically flew at and wove in and out of the barrier a couple of times to mimic a bird circling to give the illusion that they were just another trio of birds. He then angled the broom towards Sawa no Kuni which was the closest land (not counting the various islands that made up the entirety of Mizu no Kuni).
It was another few hours before they were flying over land once more and Satoshi waited until they were over the very center of the island before he dropped them down for a late lunch. While the boys ate, he pulled out the map he had of the area and set about calculating exactly how much further they had to go before they reached the mainland. He knew he couldn't risk flying out over the open water for long stretches because he didn't know if the boys knew how to swim and while he knew how to walk on the water's surface, he doubted the two boys with him knew how and he didn't have time to teach them in the event he was forced to land while still over the water.
He really didn't like the idea of having to travel over or through the entire length of Swamp Country with the boys either though because the land was far wilder and far more dangerous due to the many swamps and the various creatures that lived in them. In the end, he decided to aim for the next island, which was the closest island to Swamp Country, and plan on spending the night there before crossing over to Swamp Country first thing in the morning. He'd then stick to the northern coast before cutting across the ocean for a few miles in order to reach Fire Country using the shortest and safest route while avoiding the worst of the swamps.
While Satoshi was plotting his course home and keeping an eye on his two temporary wards, a number of individuals back in Konoha were starting to grow worried. It had been a week since anyone had heard from Satoshi and up until the day he'd infiltrated Kiri, he'd been sending home nightly reports and updates on his situation and current progress; something that had greatly eased the minds of the adults that had sent him on the rather dangerous mission into a known hostile area alone. The first couple of days of silence hadn't worried them since it was almost expected for the teen to have some difficulty finding a safe place from which to summon the elf without drawing too much attention to himself.
But by the fourth night they began to grow concerned about the chances that Satoshi had been discovered and possibly captured. After Jiraiya received an urgent missive from one of his spies in Kiri on the first of October with the news about the failed rebellion by the Kaguya Clan and the failed coup by two of the Seven Swordsmen (which included news of the Mizukage's brief rampage as the Sanbi), more than one of the adults felt the first stirrings of fear that Satoshi had been caught up in the madness. The fact that the date of both events coincided with the day that Satoshi had indicated he would be infiltrating the village only increased that fear since that was also the day they lost contact with the teen.
They couldn't quite bring themselves to believe Satoshi was dead but the traitorous thought was hovering darkly in the back of their minds. Surprisingly, those that they would have expected to be the most concerned and worried about the long silence were in fact the most calm and confident that Satoshi was not only just fine but that he'd be home on time.
When asked why they weren't worried; Shino, Naruto, and Hinata simply stated that Satoshi had promised to come home in time for Naruto's birthday and that Satoshi never broke his promises. Their unwavering faith in Satoshi helped Shin, Sai, and Torune keep their spirits up since they had less experience with Satoshi's promises and Torune couldn't help but recall the fact that his older cousin hadn't found him when he'd first been kidnapped by Danzou (though not for a lack of effort on Satoshi's part).
Unaware of the growing worry by those back home; Satoshi, Haku, and Kimimaro mounted the broom once more and crossed over the ocean towards the smallest island of the water bound country. It was bad luck that saw the weather turning nasty while they were out over the open water for the second time that day and they ended up getting blown off course more than once. In the end, they were forced to drop down out of the air the moment they finally reached land in order seek shelter from the storm.
Luck must have felt that they'd gone far enough without trouble though because not only did they end up on the wrong island and therefore further away from the coastline of Swamp Country; they somehow managed to stumble into the camp of Zabuza and two of his fellow insurgents.
"Bad luck kiddies, you just stumbled into the wrong camp," Zabuza stated as he pulled his sword, the Kubikiri Bouchou, off his back and leveled it at the three of them.
Satoshi stared at the man that had killed Kumade and three other Konoha shinobi for a full minute as he silently cursed fate for shoving him into the man for the second time within a week. He then silently formed a pair of water clones that quickly gathered up the nervous Haku and Kimimaro and fled to the north. The moment he sensed his charges were out of hearing range, Satoshi responded to Zabuza's taunt even as he dug into the bag of experimental tricks that Fred and George had given him.
"Gomen nasai, Momochi Zabuza," Satoshi stated in a quiet and emotionless voice; his words and tone confusing the former Kiri Jounin who'd expected a show of fear, a round of begging, or panicked flight from the three children (the man assuming Satoshi was only a few years older than the two boys). "I am not ready to kill you and I don't plan on sticking around long enough for you to kill me. However, the next time you and I properly cross paths, I will be fully prepared to take payment from you for what you stole from me."
"Don't make me laugh kid," Zabuza shot back as he signaled to the other two shinobi (who looked similar enough in looks and dress to be blood siblings) to go after the fleeing clones and children. "You have no hope of living long enough to surpass me and I doubt you had anything worthwhile enough for me to take from you."
Satoshi just shook his head and threw a greenish-gray ball that had the words Slug Bomb stenciled around the middle of it at the older shinobi. Zabuza used his sword to bat the ball aside, thinking to deflect what he had taken as a simple smoke bomb only to be shocked when the ball exploded the moment it came into contact with the sword and coated both Zabuza and his sword with sticky slime. The flash of a camera going off filled the clearing for a moment as Satoshi captured the goo covered former swordsman wearing a look of utter shock on film before he vanished in a swirl of mist to rejoin his clones and protect the children from the other two rouge ninjas.
A few well placed exploding tags were set off to slow down their pursuit even as Satoshi grabbed the two boys and tossed them on the broom while leaving the clones to deal with their pursuers. They didn't get far before they were forced to land once more as the storm continued to worsen and Satoshi cursed as a still filthy Zabuza caught up to them fairly easily (the Jounin had followed the traces of his chakra left behind when he Shunshined). This time Satoshi made a single shadow clone and sent it off with the two boys as Zabuza filled the immediate area with chakra saturated mist.
Knowing that the man could easily locate him within the mist and catch him blind, Satoshi purposefully forced his magic and chakra out of balance in order to turn the mist into a choking dust while casting the Bubblehead Charm over himself so he wouldn't choke. As soon as the bubble formed around his head, he lashed out with a chain of colorless petrification spells in the hopes that at least one of them would catch the swordsmen off guard. He then Shunshined to his clone's side a second time using the chakra in the locator seal he and therefore all of his clones had tattooed behind their left ears.
This time they didn't get a chance to take to the air as the two shinobi from earlier, whom Satoshi would later learn were Gouzu and Meizu (twin brothers that had been given the moniker Oni Kyoudai), attacked just seconds later. Satoshi managed to avoid taking a killing blow but lost his broom in the attack as the razor sharp chain that connected the two men together cut the broom into a dozen pieces. Satoshi growled over the loss of the broom as he'd been quite fond of it; the broom had been a gift from Kakashi after the older shinobi had seen how much Satoshi loved flying during the lessons he'd taken in his first year at Hogwarts.
Needing to put some distance between him and the two rouge nins, Satoshi dug out yet another experimental product (this time a gray ball labeled Flea Bomb) and flung it at the two men as he collected Haku from his shadow clone and fled further into the island with his clone and Kimimaro running at his side. Behind him, the gray ball exploded outward in a cloud of gray powder that both burned and itched on contact and Satoshi made a mental note to tell the twins that they needed to rework the formula on that one to prevent the burning. They would also need to put a warning on the box that one should avoid getting the dust in their eyes if the screaming the two men were doing as they clawed at their faces was any indication.
As he ran, Satoshi passed a blue ball to Haku and told him to throw it if one of their attackers got too close before passing a pink ball to Kimimaro with the same instructions. He passed the camera to his shadow clone along with several exploding tags and kunai since he'd personally not have time to take any more the photos of the results that he'd promised to get for the twins while trying to protect both boys and fight the group chasing them. And if the clone got dispelled, Satoshi would know it and would simply summon the camera back to him.
If not for the fact that the trio chasing them was trying to kill them, Satoshi might have enjoyed the mad dash through the trees as they were chased back and forth across the small island. He probably would have stuck around long enough to seriously fight the two brothers to end the threat they posed if not for the fact that he needed to protect the two boys. He couldn't risk them being taken hostage during a fight though and had no wish to see either boy harmed simply because he'd stopped to deal with the rogue shinobi.
He was proud of both boys as they quickly got over the initial panic that had filled them when they first ran into the three missing nin and actively sought to help Satoshi slow down and discourage their pursuers. The fact that the joke products they were using had unexpected and highly funny results made the deadly game of cat and mouse seem more like a lark to the pair; which helped them to keep the fear at bay. The longer the chase dragged on though, the harder it was to keep one step ahead of the enemy and it was inevitable that Satoshi, throwing himself between the children and their attackers as often as he did, would end up getting injured more than once.
The first time was when Zabuza finally rejoined the fight and the older man caught Satoshi across the back with the blunt side of his blade, bruising Satoshi and stressing his spine. The Decoy Detonator Satoshi set off in Zabuza's face saved the teen from getting an encore from the deadlier side of the blade two minutes later. Shortly after that, one of the Demon Brothers managed to rake him across the abdomen with the clawed gauntlet he wore on his left hand. The two brothers then boasted how even if he escaped, Satoshi would die from the poison that coated the claws of the gauntlet.
Both Kimimaro and Haku had retaliated in response to that revelation by hitting the two Kiri shinobi in the face with the most recent bombs they'd been holding onto. One brother was hit with a face full of perfume from a Flower Bomb while the other got a face full of sticky jam from a Berry Bomb. Satoshi further hindered them by setting off something called a Day Tripper that turned out to be a thin rope that tied itself around the first thing it came into contact with; in this case the neck of one brother and the foot of the other.
He sent his Kikaichu to drain them of chakra to prevent them from coming after him again now that he'd been rather seriously injured twice in a short period of time but ended up being forced to flee when his bugs were washed away by a pissed off Zabuza as he crashed onto the scene in the wake of the Suiryuudan no Jutsu he'd cast swinging his sword left and right. Once he had a bit of breathing space, Satoshi created yet another clone and passed Haku over to it and told the two clones to get the kids away and set up a barrier to hide behind so they could buy themselves some time. There were two cries of protest from the boys as the clones dashed off but Satoshi ignored them as he turned to face all three of their pursuers as they caught up with him yet again.
"I am going to make you scream and beg for mercy before I kill you," Zabuza spat the moment he caught sight of Satoshi leaning against a tree with one hand pressed to his stomach before he cut the demon brothers free with a blind swing of his sword.
"Eviler and uglier people than you have tried," Satoshi rasped out with a laugh as he straightened up and unsheathed his AnBu katana with one hand while pulling out one of the smaller Whiz-bangs that he hadn't used on the night Kiri was attacked by the Kaguya.
Zabuza didn't reply as he attacked from the front while the other two darted around to attack him from the back. Satoshi ducked under Zabuza's attack and set the Whiz-bang off in the faces of the brothers even as he brought his sword up to block Zabuza's next strike. The force of impact shoved Satoshi backwards several feet and sent spikes of pain stabbing along his back while the newly unleashed fireworks filled the immediate area with bright light, smoke, and the fizzing of flames. Luckily the forest they were inside was so damp (due to the ongoing storm) that the sparks didn't set the surrounding trees on fire, otherwise things could have been worse. A flurry of exploding tags attached to kunai further pushed the three shinobi back and allowed Satoshi to get out from the center of the trap they'd set up for him.
A few more of the experimental joke bombs only added to the confusion as Satoshi kept the three shinobi pinned in the area and focused entirely on buying his clones enough time to raise the barrier. Speaking of clones, Satoshi sped through the hand seals to make another pair of water clones and sent them to tangle with the two brothers while he continued to dodge and block the attacks Zabuza flung at him. Twice more the older, taller, and more experienced man managed to hit Satoshi; once with the flat of his blade across Satoshi's chest and injured stomach and a second time with the blade, slicing Satoshi's right shoulder open to the bone.
Satoshi managed to get in a hit of his own this time though as the tip his katana sliced through the bandages tied around Zabuza's neck and scored the side of the man's neck before nicking his left ear. Shortly after that, one of Satoshi's shadow clones dispersed to let him know they'd secured a hiding spot and Satoshi Shunshined back to Zabuza's camp in a swirl of water before bouncing around to several other locations on the island to throw off any pursuit. Thirty minutes later, he stumbled through the barrier set up around a group of trees that had grown so close together it formed a tiny pocket of open ground in the center that was filled with rotting leaves and hidden by interwoven branches.
He'd barely entered the small sanctuary when he was attacked by two pairs of arms belonging to the two boys he'd picked up in Kiri. He did his best to reassure the boys that he would be fine, that he would not die any time soon, and that they were safe for the time being. Once he'd pried the boys off of him, Satoshi ordered his remaining clone to dig out something for them to eat for supper from his supplies while he cleaned and bandaged his newest wounds; the worst of which was a toss up between the one on his right shoulder and the gashes across his abdomen.
As he took stock of his condition, Satoshi stopped caring about the Jounin Exam or his original mission and just focused on getting home with the two children he'd taken into his protection alive and in one piece. He knew he'd been injured worse in the past so he didn't doubt that he'd be fine once he could get to a medic but what worried him was getting out of Mizu no Kuni without running into Zabuza's group a third time, running into any Kiri shinobi that came to investigate any reports they received about a fight in the area, or somehow ending up running into Orochimaru again.
Locking away his worries, Satoshi thanked both boys for their help and for their willingness to follow along with his earlier orders while they were trying to escape. He then picked at the fruit, cheese, and raw vegetables that his clone had passed to him (not wanting to risk a fire even though they were sealed behind a defensive barrier) before he ordered his remaining shadow clone to keep watch as he fell into bed. He would sleep fitfully for about five hours with the two boys unexpectedly tucked up on either side of him; the pain making it hard for him to rest but he didn't dare risk taking any painkillers least he need to fight or flee at a moment's notice.
When he woke up after those five hours, he briefly touched the consciousnesses of the Kikaichu he'd planted on the three missing nin during their last fight and silently cursed when he learned that the three of them were still searching the island for them. Not wanting to risk getting caught out in the open again, Satoshi swallowed his frustration and settled back to sleep a little longer while waiting for the trio to give up after making certain that his clone had enough chakra to continue standing watch.
Three hours after that, his clone woke him up to report that another four rogue shinobi had joined Zabuza's group (including another member of the seven swordsmen) and Satoshi knew he couldn't risk sticking around on the same island with Zabuza picking up reinforcements. Hoping against hope that the storm would give them more cover than it had previously, Satoshi woke up the two boys and they quickly cleaned up their camp. Satoshi then dismissed his shadow clone and created a single cement clone to carry Haku; the teen no longer caring about giving away his identity.
After a moment of consideration, Satoshi created a second clone in the event that he was needed and then led the way west (away from Zabuza's camp) through the forest at a steady jog, Kimimaro trotting along at his side.
Translations: Japanese to English
Gomen nasai – I'm sorry (somewhat informal)
Jinchuuriki – host to one of the nine bijuu
Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu – Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist
Kirigakure (Kiri) – Hidden Mist Village
Kubikiri Bouchou – decapitating carving knife (Zabuza's sword)
Mannen Genin – Ten-Thousand Year Genin or Eternal Genin
Mizu no Kuni – Water Country
Mizukage – Water Shadow (ruler of Kirigakure)
Oni Kyoudai – the Demon Brothers
Sawa no Kuni – Swamp Country
Shikotsumyaku – Dead Bone Pulse (bloodline limit of the Kaguya Clan that allows the user to manipulate their skeletal structure – specifically their bones).
Suiryuudan no Jutsu – Water Dragon Projectile Technique
Yondaime Mizukage – Fourth Water Shadow
Joke Products:
Slug Bomb (green) – filled with sticky slime
Flea Bomb (gray) – filled with itching powder
Berry Bomb (reddish-blue) – filled with sticky jam
Ice Bomb (blue) – filled with a potion that freezes upon contact with air
Flower Bomb (pale yellow) – filled with strong, cloying perfumed powder
Unidentified Bomb (pink) – effects currently unknown
Day Trippers – thin ropes that fly low to the ground and tangle up the feet (or whatever else they catch)
Notes:
* The use of the word clean in relationship to the stab wound that Satoshi received from Kimimaro is a reference to the fact that the wound itself was rather neatly made as opposed to rough or messy and not a statement about whether or not the wound was dirty.
AN: I just wanted to say that I am well aware that the canon ages of Haku and Kimimaro place them at around three years older than Naruto. I intentionally dropped those three years off of their ages so that they would be young enough to trust Satoshi. There is also the fact that Satoshi/Harry's presence in the Naruto verse has affected the timeline with his magic and as a result things have shifted. There will be other age changes (a few at least but not too terribly many) and other canon shifts as well.
ANYwho, I hope you still enjoyed the chapter. I know that I had fun writing the skirmishes between Satoshi, Zabuza, and the Demon Brothers. The next chapter will see the trio back in Konoha and explain why Satoshi didn't use magic to transport the three of them home. ~ Jenn