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 18: A Job Well Done
Satoshi stood beside his old friend Iwashi and five additional shinobi (not counting his two clones that were posing as the Uzutsui twins on his left) before the Hokage and the panel of judges that had overseen the three tasks of the Jounin Exam inside of the Hokage's office. The nine of them had been selected for promotion to the rank of Jounin based upon their performance over the course of the three month long Jounin Exam.
Satoshi felt a sense of satisfaction over having accomplished what he set out to do and he found himself looking forward to the day when his termites would officially become his termites in the eyes of the village. The sixteen year old smirked behind his collar as he accepted the scroll containing his Jounin equipment (his Jounin ID, a tanto, and a specialized field kit that the judges had put together based upon his strengths) from Akimichi Torifu.
"Congratulations ladies and gentlemen, allow me be the first to welcome you to the ranks of Konoha Jounin," Mimura Hamaki intoned once all nine individuals had been handed a scroll. "Your asses all belong to me now."
There was a small smattering of nervous laughter over the Shinobi Commander's crass comment from the newly made Jounin as they'd technically belonged to the man from the moment they earned their hitai-ate. Satoshi wasn't too worried though since Hamaki wouldn't really have any part in assigning him missions personally because he technically belonged to Kasai as a member of the AnBu Corps. His alter egos, on the other hand, belonged to no-one since they didn't really exist except as an illusion to prevent anyone from recognizing him while he wore the mask.
The group was dismissed some five minutes later after some inspirational words from the rest of the judges and the Hokage. On his way out of the room, Satoshi slowed his steps so that he was the very last one left (his clones vanishing in a burst of Kikaichu the moment the other newly raised Jounin were gone); drawing the attention of the adults as one by one they all glanced in his direction in confusion since they hadn't asked him to remain behind for once.
"Doumo arigatou gozaimasu," Satoshi stated once he had everyone's attention, his voice louder than normal and full of emotion as he bowed deeply to some of the most important men and women in the village. "This meant more to me than words could possibly convey."
He was gone a split second later, vanishing in a swirl of bugs. He reappeared in the middle of Training Ground Sixteen two shakes of a leg later in a second swirl of bugs and he smiled sadly as he stared around the training ground where he'd spent some of his happiest days training alongside the rest of Team Four. He briefly wondered if his mother, his grandfather, Kushina, Obito, and Rin would be proud of him and everything he'd done throughout the years before he gently pushed the thought out of his mind.
Like the evening after he'd been promoted to Chuunin eight years earlier, Satoshi's private contemplation was disrupted at that point. Unlike the night he'd been promoted to Chuunin, the interruption was friendly in nature instead of a sucker punch that had been intended to catch him off guard.
"I thought I might find you here," Kakashi declared as he dropped down out of the trees and sauntered up to Satoshi's side. "I hear congratulations are in order; not that I ever doubted you'd get your promotion."
"Arigatou, niisan."
"You do know they would be proud of you, ne?" Kakashi asked as if he'd heard Satoshi's earlier thoughts.
"I'd like to think so."
"Even if you hadn't passed, they would still be proud of you," Kakashi softly insisted as he reached out and pulled Satoshi into a headlock. "Do you need a few more minutes to reflect or are you ready to head home to the party your otousan put together in honor of your promotion?"
"I'm good to go," Satoshi announced as he slipped out of Kakashi's grasp and headed towards the entrance as he stuffed his hands in his pocket.
Kakashi fell into step beside him a few seconds later and the two of them walked in companionable silence as they enjoyed the fading afternoon light. As they walked, Satoshi reflected on everything that had happened since he'd come back from the disastrous if somewhat successful mission to Water Country.
It had taken an additional four days for Kanpou to release Satoshi from the infirmary, the man had kept him until it was confirmed that the infection in the gashes on his stomach had cleared and there was no risk of them tearing open. He'd also made certain that the muscles that had been sliced through in his shoulder had knitted back together with little to no internal scarring. A feat that had been helped along by Satoshi's magic which had been augmented by the magic within the phoenix tears Fawkes had cried on the basilisk bite he'd gotten in his second year.
He still tended to scar if the wound was serious enough or if it had been made with dark magic but for the most part any scaring was greatly reduced thanks to the presence of the phoenix magic that lived in his blood even though the tears had long since dissolved. Haku and Kimimaro had officially been released the same day even if they could have left two days earlier since they hadn't been as seriously injured (Haku's infection no where near as bad as Satoshi's had been because of the antibiotics that Satoshi had given the boy).
Satoshi had then taken the two boys on a short tour of the village as he led them to the Aburame Compound where he was met at the gate by his three termites, his cousin, and the two boys that he'd taken responsibility for at the request of his father. There was a moment of awkwardness between the eight children as the two newcomers were scrutinized by the original six (the three termites especially intense in their inspection). The tension vanished an instant later when Naruto enthusiastically greeted the boys and Shino welcomed them to the Compound with all of the pomp and ceremony the nine year old son of the Clan Head could muster.
Satoshi grinned at their antics from behind his jacket collar as he allowed the children to lead them towards the house where Satoshi received a rather big surprise.
Apparently, Satoshi hadn't dreamed Kakashi's promise to see to it that arrangements were made to make room for the two newest additions to the Aburame's extended family. With the help of Moony, Padfoot, and Dora; Kakashi and Shibi had done a bit of innovative remodeling in order to give the family a bit more room. To start with, one of the long vacant houses on the Compound had been moved (quite literally picked up and moved in its entirety using magic) so that it sat right up against Shibi's original house (with not even enough room between the two buildings to slide a piece of paper between them) and merged into one large house.
The front porches of the two houses had then been combined into one long porch and the front door of the second house removed completely and replaced with two rather large windows. The front door to the original house had been moved further to the right to make room for the second window that had been added. Stepping through the front door, Satoshi found himself inside of a small entryway that had a small walk in closet for coats, sweaters, umbrellas, and extra shoes taking up the right third of the room. Directly across from the door was a pair of wooden benches above which were a series of coat hooks where guests could hang their jackets.
To the left was an open archway leading into what had formerly been the original open entryway and living room of the original house and the living room of the second house which had become a single large living room with several couches, chairs, and tables enough to comfortably seat about thirty individuals without overcrowding the room. A second archway just a few feet off to the right of the one leading back into the entryway led into a short hallway at the end of which sat a small half bathroom with a sink and toilet.
Opposite of the entrance hall was a door leading into what had become Shibi's new office; which was considerably larger than his father's original office/study and included floor to ceiling bookshelves on the wall opposite the door and the wall behind his father's familiar mahogany desk at the back of the room. Another doorway, which sat almost caddy corner from the entryway, led into the dining room and kitchen which were separated by a short half wall with a countertop bar jutting out into the dining room side.
The kitchen was nearly twice as large as the former kitchen and took up what used to be the kitchen and half of the dining room while the new dining room had been made out of the second half of the dining room in addition to the kitchen and dining room of the second house. There was now more than enough room in the dining room to comfortably sit at least twenty people between the large extendable table and the counter. In the dining room, directly across from the door leading from the living room, was another door that opened out into a hallway.
Turning left there was a short hall that led to two bedrooms and a bathroom while turning to the right led to another two bedrooms and another hallway perpendicular to the first (creating a large horizontal 'T' shape). Down that last hallway were the last two bedrooms to the right heading back towards the front of the house (the one on the left Satoshi's original bedroom and directly across from it was Shino and Naruto's old bedroom), an office right where the two hallways met, and a bathroom to the left.
The office beside the room was Shibi's old study which had been cleared out (and shifted several feet towards the back of the house) and set aside for Satoshi. The former guest room, which had sat on the other side of the office, had been converted into a second full bathroom with part of the space having been given over to the office after Satoshi's room had been expanded.
Satoshi's bedroom (which he'd been sharing with Torune) was one of three rooms that remained mostly intact (though it was several feet longer than it had been originally). Shino and Naruto's bedroom, like Satoshi's, had been left unchanged except for adding two additional feet in length, another foot in width, and shifting a few feet towards the front of the house to make room for the new hallway. The original master bedroom (which sat directly across the longer hallway from Shino and Naruto's room and across the short hallway from the old office and new bathroom) hadn't been changed at all, not even to add any additional footage.
Shibi had not wished to lose the lingering traces of his late wife as she'd been the one to decorate their shared room.
To the left of the master bedroom were three new bedrooms that were all the same size; two of which were currently unclaimed while the one directly beside Shibi's room had been claimed by Shin and Sai as they'd wanted to be as close to Satoshi's room a possible. Haku and Kimimaro had been allowed to chose which of the remaining two bedrooms they would share (choosing the one right next to Shin and Sai's for the same reason that Shin and Sai took the one closest to Shibi's – to be closer to Satoshi) and the final bedroom set aside for guests.
Over all, the changes to the house (while simple) were startling (if welcome) and would take some getting used to since the basic floor plan had been shifted even if the placement of some of the rooms hadn't really changed all the much.
Haku and Kimimaro were both thrilled and shocked when they learned that the house had been remodeled (over a course of less than four days) just to make accommodations for them and in part to make everyone else a little more comfortable with more space. Satoshi was pleased because the new arrangement meant that he could both keep his promise to his new wards and stay close to his father and brothers as he had originally feared he'd need to move out into one of the other houses on the Compound.
That the rest of the clan hadn't grown upset over the changes made it even easier to accept; as those members that were left were just happy to see the empty houses being used now that the Compound was fuller than it had been since the night of the Kyuubi's attack. The laughter the numerous orphans brought to the Compound revitalized the clan and brought them a measure of comfort even if it wasn't exactly Aburame children bringing new life onto the Compound.
That same evening found Satoshi catching up with all of his friends (both shinobi and magical) and introducing his two new wards to everyone they hadn't already met. The two boys were slightly overwhelmed both by the number of people they were introduced to and the fact that everyone there accepted them without any hesitation (all because Satoshi had taken them under his wing). Satoshi put up with the soft ribbing about him collecting stray bugs each time he went out now (done out of earshot of the two boys so as not to offend them); a teasing reference to the ten magicals he'd dragged back to Konoha with him at the beginning of the summer as well as the two new boys.
Satoshi teased them right back saying they were just jealous of him starting a family first without going through the trouble of getting a girlfriend which made the couples that had been teasing him blush at the insinuation (Kakashi and Dora most especially as they had begun discussing marriage now that they didn't have to fear any retribution from those back in England that would have looked down on Dora for marrying a 'muggle barbarian').
The day after his release from the hospital had found Satoshi once more sequestered in the Hokage's office for the entire afternoon with a number of the Department Heads answering questions about his written reports. He also gave them a more thorough verbal report covering anything he forgot to mention in the reports or that might have different meaning now that he'd had more time to think about it. And lastly, he gave a full accounting of how the two children had come into his care and what he'd learned about them. He was also asked to offer up opinions on what he thought some of the information he had learned might mean for Konoha and to a lesser extent Kiri in the long run; something he hadn't been asked very often in regards to past missions unless they involved the magical world.
He'd surprised a few of the older men when he'd stated his hypothesis that Orochimaru's presence in the village the night the Kaguya Clan attacked hadn't been happenstance and that the two events were closely linked. They asked if they thought Zabuza had been similarly influenced and he said no because it seemed more like the former swordsman had just been taking advantage of the chaos to attempt his coup and failed for some reason.
When they asked why he thought the Sennin's presence outside of the village had anything to do with the attack, Satoshi told them that the man had been waiting for something. He then mentioned Kimimaro and Haku and how Orochimaru had always been interested in rare or powerful bloodlines for his experiments. That supposition had Jiraiya and Sarutobi exchanging dark looks as they hadn't actually given the two children any consideration beyond the fact that they were orphans and Satoshi had claimed responsibility for them.
The thought of either Kekkei Genkai in the hands of the traitor was troubling to say the least and it was really only sheer happenstance that Satoshi had been in right place at the right time in order to save both boys from death or worse. That the two boys had become so devoted to Satoshi in such a short time was concerning but not exactly surprising given how lonely and painful their childhoods had been. Satoshi's ability to relate to the children also meant that he would have the best chance to direct that devotion into a more healthy direction and channel their energies into constructive activities.
The adults weren't at all surprised that both Haku and Kimimaro had expressed interest in becoming shinobi the moment they'd learned that Satoshi was a shinobi. After a short review of their mental assessment, the sixteen year old would be given permission to prepare the two boys for the Academy; their enrollment date set for the following summer.
While Satoshi was securing their future and making arrangements for their education, Haku and Kimimaro were being subjected to the third degree from Shin. The thirteen year old was the only one of children within Satoshi's sphere of influence that was not currently attending the academy (his physical recovery not quite to the point where Satoshi or his medic was willing to risk his health or stress his body with potentially demanding training). As such, the young teen had been asked (ordered) by Naruto (who was the unofficial leader of Satoshi's Termites – which had quickly grown to include Torune, Shin, and Sai) to interrogate the two new kids to make certain that they meant their niisan no harm.
When the rest of the children returned home from class, they gathered round the three who had stayed home and spent the time getting to know the two new kids while explaining how things worked.
Haku and Kimimaro quickly learned that they weren't the only ones in the patchwork family with a Kekkei Genkai and it helped them to feel a little more comfortable around the other children. In fact, the only two in the group that didn't seem to have a Kekkei Genkai were Shin and Naruto (though that was mostly because Naruto hadn't yet discovered his since his was one of the more obscure ones). Shin, on the other hand, was a whiz when it came to weapons of all kinds (much like a particular bun wearing kunoichi in training by the name of Tenten) or he had been prior to becoming ill.
All told, the children that looked to Satoshi as an older brother and quasi instructor had six different Kekkei Genkai or Kekkei Genkai like abilities (or seven if they included Shin's talent); Shino and Torune's Kikaichu, Hinata's Byakugan, Sai's Ink Manipulation, Haku's Ice Release, Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse (which Naruto personally thought was rather cool to the pale boy's surprise), Shin's talent with weapons, and Naruto's undiscovered Chakra Manifestation (the ability to manipulate and form chakra outside of his body that he inherited from Kushina).
Under normal circumstances, the other clans in Konoha might have eyed the Aburame with mistrust in response to the number of Kekkei Genkai holders they had seemingly gathered. However, the Aburame Clan was not the only clan to end up with a number of talented kids and orphaned Kekkei Genkai holders in their custody. The Hokage had not just randomly assigned the orphans discovered within Root to the clans; he and his advisors had been careful to divide the power the half-trained children represented evenly amongst the clans in order to prevent an imbalance of power.
They had even taken the Aburame's guardianship of Naruto into consideration; though very few people still remembered that the boisterous blonde was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.
On top of that, most of the orphans were friends with at least one person that had been taken in by a different clan; meaning that each of the clans now had several additional ties to the other clans outside of the traditional bonds that were usually formed between specific clans (such as those seen between the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka). Those bonds were further strengthened upon Satoshi's return due to his willingness to train any child or teen interested in the afternoon workshops that he and Ko ran regardless of which clan they were affiliated with.
It was the near even distribution of power and the shared training that allowed the other clans to overlook the Aburame Clan taking in yet another two orphans wielding powerful Kekkei Genkai.
By the time Satoshi had returned home on the evening of his debriefing, Haku and Kimimaro had been introduced to the unwritten (and in some cases unspoken) rules of the group. Satoshi's free time was limited; so no hogging his attention. Satoshi's word was law; arguing with him cut into training and play time for everyone. Satoshi had eyes in the back of his head; so no cutting corners in training or skipping out on chores. In Satoshi's eyes, all of them were equal; therefore none of the children were better than any of the others no matter who they were or how they joined the group. And Satoshi's health and happiness were the most important things; everything else came second.
Additionally, the group as a whole did not fight amongst themselves (they bickered and disagreed but never fought). If there was a problem they took it to Satoshi or (if he was not available) to Shibi, Kakashi, Remus, or Sirius because those four were the most important adults in Satoshi's life and were therefore qualified to sub for Satoshi when the teen was unavailable. The two new nine year olds were also informed that demanding information about missions was forbidden but they could ask questions so long as they didn't pester Satoshi for answers he wasn't allowed to give. They also learned that promises from Satoshi were to be treated with utmost respect and never to be doubted because the sixteen year old never broke a promise.
There was also an unspoken agreement amongst the original trio to never beg or demand promises from Satoshi for silly things like presents or treats because said promises were reserved for the important things (like promising to come home no matter what and to be safe while on a mission). In fact, if there was even a chance that there was something that could happen to prevent Satoshi from keeping his promise; Satoshi wouldn't make the promise in the first place so as not to set himself up to break his promise.
What the children didn't know, was that Satoshi's magic sought to actively fulfill his promises which was why the teen took special care not to promise something he knew would be impossible to keep because it would cost him his magic to break any such promise or if serious enough, his life.
Roughly a week after his debriefing with the Hokage, Satoshi and his alter egos were once again back in the Hokage's office alongside the other seven teams that had successfully completed their missions to hear the requirements for the third and final task of the Jounin Exam which was actually a two part task; a team melee event and a one on one tournament. After an explanation about what was expected, the teams were set to draw lots to determine who would be 'given' what was considered the worst starting position of the melee only for Satoshi to volunteer his team to take the center spot out of what appeared to be ignorance.
Since there was no argument from his 'teammates' or from the other teams participating, the judges had no choice but to allow him to take the position (even if the adults personally objected because they saw it as Satoshi setting himself up for defeat).
Satoshi then had just under two weeks to train for the melee; his focus on getting his body back into fighting form after his rather troublesome (and slightly serious) injuries. The other thing he did was create several potential plans that could be used to face different scenarios that he could face during the course of the melee. A few conversations with Jiraiya during those two weeks, and what he'd learned during the months leading up to the second task of the exam, had Satoshi quickly realizing that the main reason for third task was for the participants to show case their skills to demonstrate their ability to perform the more difficult missions.
With that in mind, Satoshi had come up with two solid plans; one to disable as many of his opponents as early as possible without physically exerting himself and one that would allow himself and a small number of other participating shinobi to show off and entertain the crowd. Pulling off both plans had taken precise timing and a large amount of magic in addition to the physical aspect during the second part; one single mistake could have cost him the entire exam.
The critical state of exhaustion he'd ended up in after living through the melee three times thanks to the time turner had been well worth the pain when he'd seen the excitement and smiles on the faces of his termites and the amazement on the faces of the other children. The reactions and responses from the rest of his friends and family had just been icing on the cake even as it embarrassed the hell out of him as they continuously retold the fight from their point of view and praised him in turns.
The Weasley twins had cornered him during the celebration afterwards in order to thank him for what he'd done for them by giving a village wide demonstration of a small handful of their latest products. They also talked him into becoming a silent partner of their business and wrangled a contract out of him to provide some of his personal inventions for their customers; mainly his altered exploding tags, his concentrated smoke bombs, and (when he finished them) the exploding senbon that he was trying to create to replace the need to tie tags to kunai since exploding tags could be countered (as he'd demonstrated during the melee with the help of the scorpions).
One week after the melee found Satoshi back in the stadium a second time to participate in the Jounin Tournament with the members of all eight teams that had taken part in the melee. The matches in the first round of eliminations were given a twenty minute time limit in order to prevent any one match from dragging on endlessly since only two days had been set aside for the entire Tournament. During the four hours it took to get through the first round, Satoshi fought against three different opponents and won all three matches (once again using the time turner to accomplish the feat).
His old friend Iwashi also won his first round and Satoshi spent his time waiting between the first and second rounds catching up with the twenty-year old since neither one of them had had much free time during the weeks leading up to the start of the exam. The second round pretty much netted the same results with Satoshi, both of Satoshi's alter egos, Iwashi, a kunoichi, and another shinobi (the latter two both unknown to Satoshi) winning their matches. The third round was a little more difficult as Satoshi faced Iwashi directly.
Satoshi had apologized before the match started which surprised and rattled the older man because Satoshi had apologized for winning. The teen's reasoning…? He couldn't and wouldn't lose after making it that far. Iwashi did his best to prove Satoshi wrong but in the end Satoshi squeaked out the win to Iwashi's amusement and exasperation. His alter egos had also won their third matches which technically left Satoshi as the overall winner of the tournament; though the only ones who were aware of that fact were the ones that knew he was Gaichuu.
To determine who would face who in what order for the last two matches the three of them flipped a coin (with the two who ended up with the same side of the coin facing each other first). Satoshi and Aranami both flipped tales which meant the winner of their match would face Arashi in battle. Since there was no time limit on the two final matches, Satoshi would face his alter ego first thing on the second morning with the winner getting an hour or two long break afterwards before participating in the final match.
In order to prevent himself from throwing his own matches, Satoshi had Kasai seal his memories in his two older selves before he turned back time to repeat the Tournament. The reason for that was so each version of himself would be on equal footing with the oldest version of himself getting the memories unsealed after the Tournament was finished (that was something that he'd also done during the melee a week earlier for similar reasons).
The first match against himself lasted for two hours as he held almost nothing back on either side. Aranami was an excellent kunoichi for being a shinobi and she pulled no punches. Satoshi's style of fighting gave him an extra edge though as Aranami's style was more defensive and designed to compliment Arashi's more aggressive style; though just because Satoshi had a slight advantage didn't mean that he didn't make himself work hard for the win. The long, drawn out match had brought the crowd (which was three times larger than the audience had been for the melee tournament) to the edge of their seats as Satoshi gave them an all out battle.
The only thing he had held back on at the time was using his wanded magic and anything lethal.
The second match against Arashi had a very different ending and didn't quite last as long. While Satoshi still gave his all he'd already been rather exhausted by the end of his first match and the short three hour break in between matches hadn't done much but gain him a little breathing room. Satoshi didn't feel too bad about losing to himself though since he still pretty much held first, second, and third place overall in the Tournament. The fact that he had given it his best shot, regardless of which side of the fight he had been on, meant that he had nothing to be ashamed of as well.
He did later complain to Kasai that he'd had to fight three times as many opponents as any of the other contestants which only made his boss laugh loudly before declaring it fit punishment for all of the stress that Satoshi (and his alter egos) had put him through for the past five years.
It had taken Satoshi an entire week to recover from the mentally, magically, and physically exhausting exhibition; though he did make a point to supervise the children's training despite not actually participating in said training for once. He'd almost expected the kids to complain but they'd been far more interested in applying themselves to their own training as they individually decided that they needed to work hard so they could become as strong as Satoshi.
The fact that Satoshi was strong (though no where near the strongest shinobi in the village) despite the fact that he was exceedingly short and scrawny helped inspire the children as they were, as a whole, fairly short and petite (Torune and Shino were exceptions height wise and Naruto had ended up more on the stocky side). The four orphans (Naruto saw himself an Aburame in all but name and bugs) had been stunted early in life for one reason or another, unfortunately, but they didn't let it bother them as much as it might have thanks to the example Satoshi set (though Satoshi's stature was entirely genetic; he had inherited his mother's body type – not that the Potters had been towering giants either).
"Lot on your mind?" Kakashi inquired as the two of them paused outside of the Aburame Compound when the sixteen year old turned to face the Hokage Monument.
"Not overly… just thinking about everything that's happened these past few weeks. There were times when I wasn't certain I was going to make it this far and now that I have, it's kind of startling and at the same time satisfying. I also can't help the growing excitement I feel knowing that I am one step closer to fulfilling one of my greatest desires."
"What's the next step you plan on taking?"
"I'm going to keep training myself, take a few missions to countries I've not yet visited so I can familiarize myself with their terrain, discreetly observe those Jounin who took Genin Teams this past summer, and review the training program I created for the termites so I know what I will be doing when the day they graduate arrives. I'm also going to work with the others to get them to the point where they aren't quite so reliant on me to guide their training."
"Sounds like you're going to be busy for a while but then again, you have always been happiest when you are busy and every one else breathes easier knowing there is less of a chance of you getting bored."
"Teme," Satoshi growled without any heat even as he grinned up at the taller man. "What about you? What are you planning to do with yourself once I'm not around to keep you in line?"
"Gaki," Kakashi tossed back as he picked Satoshi up and threw him over his shoulder as he headed towards Satoshi's house. "And I haven't decided what I will do; though the idea of corrupting… er training a bunch of midgets has some merit. I figure I can practice passing along my greatness by helping you with your brood to see if it is something I'm willing to do at some point down the line."
"I enjoyed learning what you've taught me."
"Ah… but you, little bug, are a sponge and it was more that you drained me dry of knowledge rather than that I taught you everything I knew. Training with you is a whole different kettle of fish and it isn't fair to compare your abilities to those of mere mortals thanks to that magnificent memory of yours and your oh-so-versatile Kekkei Genkai."
"Like you have room to talk; Copy-Cat-san of one thousand Jutsu."
Both of them laughed over the familiar exchange of friendly insults as Kakashi strode through the door and carried Satoshi into the living room. The gray-haired shinobi was quick to drop the shorter freshly made Jounin when he caught sight of eight pairs of suspicious and mischievous eyes (that silently promised the pranking of a lifetime) swinging in his direction. The only thing that saved Kakashi from an immediate attack was the fact that Satoshi was laughing softly and the older man had made a quick tactical retreat to the amusement of the other adults present. The children then promptly hauled Satoshi off to play a few games of cards; leaving the adults to their own devices.
Once he escaped from the kids, Satoshi mingled with the adults for a while and caught up with a few of his friends that he hadn't been able to spend much time with since he entered the Jounin Exams. He was just migrating towards the dining room where a buffet had been set up with snacks and drinks when the party was crashed by the unexpected but not unwelcomed arrival of Jiraiya; the Toad Sannin long considered a friend of the clan despite the fact that his close association with toads disturbed their Kikaichu. Satoshi sighed the moment he saw the white haired Sannin, knowing that he was most likely there to discuss their plans to remove Orochimaru's curse seals from the spies and not to enjoy the party.
He would soon find out that he was only partially correct.
"I need to borrow you for about an hour or so, gaki," Jiraiya declared when he finally sidled up beside him near where the food had been set out on the countertop that divided the kitchen from the dining room. "If you have some place we can speak privately, we won't even have to completely leave your party."
"We can use otousan's old office," Satoshi stated as he swallowed a sigh and turned to lead the older man deeper into the house; the sounds of the ongoing party growing muted the moment they entered the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
When they reached the as yet unfurnished office (which Satoshi had not yet felt comfortable in claiming as his own despite his father telling him it was his to use), several thousand Kikaichu peeled away from his swarm and gathered on the wall (not a single one of them belonging to Satoshi's swarm). Once inside, he took a moment to confirm that the only Kikaichu on him were his before he put up a privacy barrier and a privacy ward to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their discussion. The moment the room was secure; Satoshi conjured a few cushions for the two of them to sit on and made himself comfortable while he waited for Jiraiya to get to the point.
"Now that the Jounin Exams are over, there's no longer a need for me to stick around," Jiraiya began as he fished a bottle of sake and a small cup out of his jacket and poured himself a glass. "There're many reasons why I'd like to stick around but there are a hundred more why it isn't possible for me to do so."
"I was already aware of the fact that you would be leaving soon," Satoshi reminded the Sannin with a slight frown. "We have gone over everything you discovered about the curse seal and supplemented that knowledge with everything I was able to learn about both seal and curse after I probed the seals on the three prisoners within the AnBu holding facility with a couple different diagnostic spells. We have also finished wording the three secrets that I'll need to lock away all knowledge of my ability to remove the seals. All that is left to do is actually attempt to remove a curse seal and that can be done at any time now that I've finally recovered from the Tournament; if that's what you're worried about."
"That will need to be done before I leave as well but that was not actually what I wanted to talk to you about tonight," Jiraiya confessed as he swirled the untouched sake in his glass nervously and stared at the clear alcohol to avoid meeting Satoshi's gaze. "I'm actually here for a slightly more personal reason."
"If you're here to try and talk me into going with you…"
"Chigau… as much as I think you'd make one hell of a spy master that isn't why I'm here and your otousan made it perfectly clear what he'd do to me if I so much as thought of asking you to become my apprentice."
"Then what…?"
"I'm here because I need to talk to you about my godson."
"Godson…? I didn't even know you had a godson," Satoshi blurted in surprise before his brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to follow Jiraiya's logic. "What could your godson possibly have to do with me?"
"No one outside me, the boy's parents, and a small handful of others knew that they'd named me his godfather," Jiraiya explained as he finally glanced up to meet Satoshi's gaze. "Much as the identity of his parents was kept a secret; the fact that I am his godfather was kept quiet to protect him from those that would seek him out to get revenge."
"You're talking about Ruto-kun," Satoshi flatly stated as he immediately picked up on what Jiraiya had been hinting at while his Kikaichu hummed warningly as he fought to keep his temper in check.
"Yes. I'm not proud of leaving him behind but I couldn't realistically take a newborn babe, who was the newly made Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, with me as I traveled. Nor could I stay here to take care of him because there was no one who could take over my job as Konoha's spy master and because my taking care of him would have drawn far too much attention to the boy. While I might not have physically been here to take care of the kid, I have been supporting him for the past ten years as I've sent Sarutobi-sensei money twice a month to pay for whatever he might have needed. As I understand it, once you and your father stepped in on his behalf, Sarutobi began putting the money I sent him each month into an account for Naruto so he'd have it when he needed it."
The growing anger Satoshi had been feeling from the moment the older man basically admitted that he'd willingly abandoned Naruto faded once his reasons for doing so were revealed. He could understand the need to protect a helpless child from potential enemies and Jiraiya's responsibilities to the village weren't something that could be handed off to just anyone. That the man showed remorse for the decision he'd made to leave his godson behind helped as did the fact that he'd cared enough to make certain Naruto would be taken care of financially if not emotionally.
"Okay… I can understand your reasoning," Satoshi stated slowly. "I'm just not certain why you are bringing it up now or why you are discussing this with me. Shouldn't you be having this discussion with Naruto-kun?"
"Yeah, about that; you see the plan was for me to come back into his life after he earned his hitai-ate; when he was old enough and strong for me to entrust him with everything I know and teach him how to better protect himself."
Satoshi stopped breathing and felt an iron band wrapping around his chest as the Sennin practically ripped his heart out; Jiraiya was going to take Naruto from him in a year. Everything he'd fought for over the past six months, one of the only three reasons he'd pushed himself to his limits and beyond, would soon be taken away from him. His termites were going to be broken up before they were even given a chance to be a team and his dream of teaching all three children was crashing down around him just when the dream had finally been well on its way to becoming reality.
Shino and Hinata were going to be heart broken and angry to lose their friend and brother so unexpectedly.
On the heels of that thought was the knowledge that he was going to have to break a promise to Naruto for the first time in his life and darkness closed in around Satoshi as the band around his chest tightened while his magic thrummed in warning.
Translations: Japanese to English
Chigau – can be used to mean wrong, no, or to differ
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu – thank you very much (formal) according to google translate at least
Gaki – brat
Teme – jerk or bastard (also a rude way of saying you)
Notes:
I'd just like to take a moment to thank J.F.C for pointing out a tiny plot hole in the story; his questions and comments helped me to plug that little hole before it became a problem in later chapters. For those who are curious, the plot hole had to do with an apparent imbalance of power between the clans due to the presence of so many Kekkei Genkai holders falling under the guardianship of the Aburame Clan. It was only a plot hole because I had not written the scene where the Root Orphans were split up between the clans to show how each of the clans were given the guardianship of several potential power houses from the younger generation.
That has been fixed now, with a short 150 word insert. I have additional plans to write an omake for the scene where the Hokage splits up the Root Orphans with the help of his advisors shortly after they are found. I don't know when I will find the time to write it (because I'm trying to get Banished Destiny finished) but I have added it to my 'To Do' list.