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 22: Whirlwind Tours and Missions
Satoshi sent his Genin home with instructions to shower, eat a light breakfast, and meet him back at Training Ground Sixteen by eight o'clock before he slipped off to report Team Four's successful completion of their final test. He was a little surprised to find the Hokage's office empty of all but the Sandaime and his AnBu guard since he'd expected to find at least one or two of the other Jounin reporting in (unaware that he'd actually been the first to carry out his test).
"Ohayou, Sandaime-sama," Satoshi greeted as he slipped in through the window.
"Good morning, Satoshi-kun, you're here bright and early. In fact, you're here far earlier than I expected given that you've a Genin team to test."
"They passed; with flying colors."
"Already?" Sarutobi asked in surprise. "What did you have them do?"
"I sprung a surprise survival test in the middle of Training Ground Forty-Four on them after giving them only a half hour to prepare in addition to making them hunt for a trio of treasures with convoluted rules designed to make them think. It took them just over ten hours to complete."
"You took your team to the Forest of Death for their test?" Sarutobi gasped in shock. "You took three green Genin into the middle of that forest for a survival test?"
"The Aburame Clan has close ties with that stretch of Forest, Hokage-sama, and as such Shino and Naruto have been making forays into the forest with me and my father since they were four; so they didn't even flinch when they learned where they were. Hinata was nervous at first but she soldiered on through with the boys helping to allay her fears. Don't forget, I needed to challenge them least the other Jounin try to claim that I was playing favorites because I've known my termites for years. They were never in any real danger because I'd had my clones ward the stretch of Forest I used to keep out the nastier critters and kept a close watch on the three of them."
"I don't know why anything you do surprises me any more," Sarutobi muttered crossly as he dug through the paperwork on his desk (a stack was that was only a third of size it used to be on a regular basis thanks to the new assistant that prioritized everything for the Hokage) and pulled out a packet of papers. "Here are the forms you need to fill out to finalize the creation of Team Four and don't forget to have a team photo taken sometime today. When do you expect to have them start taking missions so I can adjust the active roster to include them?"
"Not for at least a week; I plan to put them through some extensive training in preparation for learning their first clan based jutsu techniques. They have a good grounding in chakra control and their physical conditioning is excellent so I expect it won't take too long to teach them their new jutsu once they get used to their new training program."
"Oh? What new jutsu are you teaching them?"
"Otousan picked two of the beginning clan jutsu for Shino, Ko chose a couple of Hyuuga scrolls for Hinata, and since Jiraiya-sama gave Naruto a copy of his first book instead of a jutsu, I picked the Kage Bunshin to teach him along with a more powerful form of taijutsu that would best utilize the large number of clones that I suspect he'll be able to create simply because his chakra reserves are massive."
"You put far more thought into their training than I would have expected."
"I've been dreaming of this day for years, Hokage-sama; watching, analyzing, and preparing as I bided my time. I was not about to rush into this blind because I know how important it is to give the Genin the tools they will need to survive out there."
"Well I must say your planning is paying off since your team passed your test. Make certain you let Inoichi see your memory of the test so he can critique your method to see if it is viable for future teams. If I had known you'd be doing your test last night, I'd have assigned someone to watch them alongside of you."
"No one ever said I couldn't start their test early," Satoshi cheekily pointed out in his usual whisper. "If you like, I can pull the memory later this afternoon when I finish with the termites to allow more people to view their test instead of having Inoichi showing it to the others second hand."
"I'd forgotten you could do that; come back to my office this afternoon and I'll have everyone here. You'll need to be here for the usual afternoon meeting with the other new Jounin sensei anyway."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Now, get out of here you impertinent brat."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Satoshi laughed as he slipped out the door and startled the Hokage's secretary and his assistant as the two Chuunin had not seen him enter the office.
The next week saw Satoshi putting his termites through their paces as he worked them from sun up to sun down in order to prepare them for the more demanding physical aspects of the missions they can expect to face. He had them running a single lap around the inner side of the village's outer wall using the tree walking technique in order to increase their stamina. That exercise would also train them to start using the technique instinctively so as to allow them to focus on more important things during missions (such as focusing on their enemies) and to help Shino and Hinata increase their chakra reserves.
After their morning run, he let them catch their breath on the way to Training Ground Sixteen where they'd spend an hour and a half working on their taijutsu before they joined the rest of the kids to do their normal morning routine and have breakfast. The next three hours were then spent being drilled on their geography, working on their English lessons, and learning how to pick locks, open locked windows, and bypass security systems (both electronic based and shinobi designed). Satoshi split his attention between his Genin and the trio that was due to start the academy next month during that time while he had a clone make lunch for everyone.
At the end of the study period, Satoshi would herd his team out the door with their box lunches and set them to running laps up and down the stairs that led to the top of the Hokage Monument in order to further increase their physical stamina with frequent breaks in the beginning so as not to make them sick. Lunch would then be eaten sitting on the Yondaime's hair while Satoshi would tell them stories about various missions he'd performed as a Genin. They would finish eating just in time to take a leisurely walk back to their training grounds where they spent another two hours working on their taijutsu; this time putting into practice what they'd worked on in the morning by sparring against each other and Satoshi.
When he had time, Maito Gai would often show up during that time to help; the rather eccentric Jounin enjoying the opportunity to not only teach but to spar against willing partners. Even Satoshi fought the spandex wearing man; usually dropping the weights he still wore so that he would not grow uncomfortable fighting as his full speed. The first time his Genin saw him go all out in a spar with Gai they'd been shocked by Satoshi's speed as they'd never before seen him take off the weights to fight (not even during his Jounin exams).
The two Jounin had barely broken apart at the end of the spar when all three Genin were asking (closer to demanding) to know if they could learn how to move that fast. Gai was only too happy to introduce the trio to the joys and pains of weighted speed training.
The two hours following their spars were spent focusing on their individual training; Hinata learning how to better direct the flow of chakra through her body to improve her use of the Hyuuga Juuken Ryuu and in preparation of learning the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou, Shino learning to create insect clones, and Naruto learning the shadow clone. Satoshi would create clones to work with each of them, alternating which Genin spent time with the real him each day. Ko would often turn up during those two hours in order to help Hinata since Satoshi wasn't equipped to teach the young heiress how to use her Byakugan. Kakashi and Tenzou would sometimes turn up about that time as well to lend a hand or just hang out.
The last two hours of the afternoon were spent with the other newly made Genin teams that had one or more of the Root orphans on them working on chakra control exercises. The first time the other Jounin instructors turned up with their teams to watch the Genin training, they'd been utterly shocked at how easily Satoshi maintained order of the twenty-some kids as he set those with the best control helping those who had little to no prior experience in chakra control exercises. They were further stunned by the level of control Satoshi demonstrated over his own chakra when one of the new Genin (one that had not taken part in Satoshi's training previously) asked why they needed to practice chakra control.
This time, instead of building a sand castle, Satoshi hung upside down from a tree branch, held a hundred leaves all over his body, levitated another hundred leaves in the air around him with chakra, and ran through a series of taijutsu katas involving kicks and back flips without falling for five minutes straight. Needless to say, those afternoon sessions would remain well attended by the various Genin teams with a few of the other Jounin instructors asking Satoshi about his other training methods.
At the end of the first seven days of training, Team Four took their first ever mission; clean the trash out of the river that ran through Training Ground Twenty-Eight. It was an easy mission and more of a reward for all of the hard work the three kids had put into their training than an actual chore. The three of them ended up spending a half an hour collecting the trash and recyclables out of the water before Satoshi allowed them to play in the water for another hour and a half with Satoshi joining them. Their fun was cut short when Kakashi turned up to collect Team Four for a meeting in the Hokage's office and ask Satoshi if he'd seen the Uzutsui twins as they were supposed to attend the meeting as well.
Satoshi climbed out of the water and sent two clones to 'hunt' down the red heads and unintentionally gave Kakashi a partial view of the extensive scarring on his back due to the way his wet shirt had stuck to his skin when he exited the water. The older man had been startled by the brief glimpse as he'd never before seen those particular scars (Satoshi had avoided changing in front of the older man unless he was wearing a glamour ever since the day he'd been tortured by the wizards).
"Where…? When…? I knew about the ones from your mission to Kiri… but those ones?" Kakashi quietly asked Satoshi, his voice hard enough to cut through ice, while the three Genin were otherwise occupied getting dried off and dressed.
"You said the Hokage is expecting us," Satoshi hedged while silently cursing the fact that his shirt had ridden up the way it had as he used his wand to make himself and his team more presentable for their coming meeting with the Hokage.
"We will be sitting down to discuss why you have scars from injuries I don't recall you receiving when I know for a fact that ninety percent of your time over the last six years has been spent on one of my teams," Kakashi stated in a no-nonsense tone as they made their way to the Hokage's Tower; the Jounin speaking as Satoshi's captain and not as his older brother.
"Wakatta, teichou," Satoshi replied in resignation as he knew that Kakashi was worse than a ninken on a trail when it came to not allowing himself to be distracted from something he wished to know.
Since Satoshi knew they were expected, he led Team Four up the side of the tower and sent them in through the window instead of using the door; wanting them to practice their infiltration skills. The Sandaime grumbled about the unorthodox entry but for the most part ignored it since he was long used to Kakashi and Satoshi (and a number of other shinobi) ignoring the door when they felt like it. He was also unsurprised that Satoshi was teaching his Genin the same annoying tactic.
Satoshi noted the presence of Kotetsu, Izumo, Neville, Dora, Brandon, and the two clones he'd sent on ahead (which had henged into the Uzushio twins the moment they were out of sight) before his feet even touched the floor and he nodded to them in greeting after bowing respectfully to the Hokage.
"Thank you for your prompt arrival," Sarutobi stated as he activated the privacy barrier on the room. "I have just received a couple of missions for which your two teams are uniquely suited as Team Kakashi and Team Four are the only two English speaking teams currently within Konoha's forces."
"Ah, Hogwarts would have let out for the summer three days ago," Satoshi interjected as he immediately grasped the reason why his three magical friends would be present and why being able to speak English would be necessary on any mission.
"Yep," Brandon agreed. "I just got a letter from Adam; he, David, and the girls will have finished making their plans and packing everything they plan to bring with them by the twenty-ninth but they're worried because they recently noticed that they're being followed by members of Dumbledore's vigilante group."
"If he is still looking for Harry Potter, then he would watch those that he recalled were my friends in hopes that they would lead him to me since the Fidelius Charm would not have locked away that information. How troublesome… why didn't you guys just let me know? I'd have made arrangements to help them get here without you needing to pay for a mission."
"You've been busy, Satoshi," Neville replied with a shrug. "And while the kids will be easy to retrieve, it won't be as easy to collect my parents from St. Mungo's without drawing far too much attention from the wrong people and I don't want to leave them there much longer in case Dumbledore gets it in his mind to use them against you because of our friendship."
"I did not mean to give you the impression that I didn't have time for you," Satoshi contritely murmured before pursing his lips and turning towards the Hokage. "Why is Team Four being included? A mission to the Wizarding Society in England is usually rated no lower than a B and given that we will be virtually kidnapping two long term patients out of a well protected hospital ward, this mission would be ranked an A with a high probably of getting bumped up to an S should we be caught in the act. Team Four has only completed one D Ranked mission to date and we've not yet even turned in our report for that mission."
"The extraction of the two incapacitated Longbottoms has been given an A Ranking and has been assigned to Team Kakashi," Sarutobi explained as he tossed the mission scroll to Kakashi before immediately tossing a second scroll to Satoshi. "Team Four in turn will be given the C Ranked escort mission to guide four potential residents and one guest across the boundary between the Hidden Countries and the Outside."
"Additionally, Team Four will be supervised by Uzutsui Arashi and Aranami for the duration of the mission since this will be Team Four's first foray into the Outer Countries. You'll leave first thing tomorrow morning and are expected to return no later than the thirtieth of this month; if you are not back within that time frame and you've been unable to let us know that you are running behind schedule, we will assume that your missions have been compromised and we will send an extraction force to retrieve you."
Satoshi scowled at the scroll in his hand before he glanced sharply at his three Genin, all three of whom were looking rather excited by the prospect of visiting the country that they'd only ever heard about in Satoshi's stories over the past six years. Memories of his final two years at Hogwarts rushed through his mind and he couldn't help the tension that tightened his shoulders as he recalled how much pain that world had caused him through all five of the years he'd spent within the castle but most especially during his fifth year.
Seconds later, he unconsciously released a thread of killing intent through the office as his imagination rushed forward and replaced his face in the worst of those memories with the faces of his little termites and he near snapped the scroll in his hands in half before a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his growing rage. He glanced up to find Kakashi gazing at him with concern and he flushed in shame as he realized that he'd allowed himself to lose control in front of the Hokage and his Genin.
He locked away all of his emotions and his old memories at that point, completely closing himself off as he gave the Hokage his attention once more. They spent another twenty minutes going over the mission details for both missions before the Hokage dismissed them. Satoshi was the last to leave and he paused a moment to remove his sunglasses so he could give the Hokage one last, long look that promised him pain should anything happen to his Genin on this mission because the Sandaime insisted that a team of green Genin be sent into potentially hostile territory.
"I hope for your sake that nothing goes wrong on those missions, old friend," Kasai murmured as he shimmered into view and stepped out of the hidden barrier he'd sat behind during the entire meeting.
"I needed to give him a reason to keep his head on the mission and not on the past," Sarutobi wearily reminded him. "You saw how he reacted."
"Yes, but was that reaction because you were sending him back to that kami-cursed society or was it because you were sending his precious half-trained brats to that kami-cursed society?"
"Half-trained, my ass," Sarutobi crassly countered as he chewed on his pipe stem and rolled his eyes. "Those three Genin have more training under their belt than half of the Chuunin currently on staff. You watched their final exam play out; he had those green Genin running about inside of the Forest of Death for ten hours and had them camping out in the Forest when the test was over."
"Any other newly made Genin team would have been a blubbering mess the moment they learned where they were. Hell, how many Jounin do you know that can run a full lap around the walls of the village while running sideways on the wall? I'd like to know how the hell he came up with half of the exercises he sets the children to carry out. Running laps on the walls? Building sand castles with chakra strings? Performing katas while dangling upside down from a tree branch?"
"I was the one that suggested that he build the sand castles when I first learned he was trying to teach himself how to use chakra strings (though admittedly on a much smaller scale than the ones he builds in his demonstrations nowadays). The others I think he came up with himself at some point during his time Outside as he took to running and sneaking through Headquarters on the ceiling after his second year at that school."
"Bah… that boy is nothing but one big headache."
"I've been telling you that for years," Kasai dryly reminded Sarutobi.
Down on the streets of Konoha, Satoshi sneezed hard and glared back over his shoulder as if he knew someone had been talking about him. They were halfway to the training ground when Satoshi sent the kids on ahead as he made a split second decision to see what Fred and George had available that he could arm his termites with while they were on their mission. There was a brief moment when it looked like they might protest but in the end they just shrugged and did as ordered; all three of them far too used to following his orders to stop now. Kakashi on the other hand, stuck to Satoshi's side like glue.
"Start talking," Kakashi ordered softly once it was just the two of them.
"We're walking through the middle of the village and we've a mission to prepare for," Satoshi shot back in a clipped voice as he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and clutched the misleadingly light mission scroll that weighed down his jacket like a ton of bricks. "I've got enough problems with the three missions that I was assigned and really don't need to dredge up additional bad memories before going back to a place I'd much rather forget existed. If you still want to hear the full story behind the scars, then you're going to have to wait until our missions are over and we are all safely back in Konoha."
"Satoshi, what is it you are trying to hide from me?" Kakashi asked; the hurt he felt over Satoshi's avoidance creeping into his voice. "I thought you trusted me enough to talk to me about everything. Why is it that you felt the need to hide such serious injuries from me? Old injuries that I know I've never seen before?"
"It has nothing to do with how much I trust you and you damn well know it. Five days, Kakashi, I'm asking for five days," Satoshi replied in a voice that was even quieter than usual. "Surely you can wait that long, ne?"
"I will wait if you will promise not to lose control during the mission like you did in the Hokage's office less than an hour ago."
"You have my word that I will not knowingly endanger our team, our friends, or our missions while we are in England during the course of the next five days," Satoshi swore, his magic swirling around him briefly to seal the oath.
"Good. Now what exactly is it we are doing right now?"
"I'm going to hit the twins up for their latest products and a few old time favorites so that I can arm my little termites with the means to protect themselves if we get into trouble."
"Excellent idea; will you be buying any of those compact smoke bombs?
"No, I still have several thousand of them at home since I didn't hand over my entire supply to the twins when they first conned me into agreeing to sell them in their store along with my specialized low force exploding tags. They just started carrying my exploding senbon as well; those were a pain to construct but they work far better than tying a tag to a kunai and throwing it. The fragmentation from the needles upon explosion is also an effective annoyance but small enough that they won't turn lethal and I'm already working on a poisoned version that will hold a drop of sleeping poison, paralyzing poison, or basilisk venom; though the last one won't ever make it to the open market."
"I'd forgotten you'd created those bombs what with all of the other nifty little creations those two young men have come up with."
"They certainly make me glad that they are on our side," Satoshi quipped as they walked inside of the small shop that the twins had opened to sell their wares just a few months earlier.
"Ah, just the man we expected to see!" Fred declared as he glanced over at them from his chair behind the cash register.
"Is that our adorable little partner I hear out there, Forge?"
"Of course it is, Gred! He brought an old friend with him too."
"Oy, watch who you're calling old or I'll give you to my ninken as a chew toy again," Kakashi growled playfully; reminding Satoshi and both twins of the time that Kakashi had set his entire ninken pack on the twins for messing with his mask.
"The last time you did that the dogs complain for weeks about indigestion," George reminded Kakashi with a laugh as he stepped out of the back room carrying a large box. "Nev told us that they were planning to see the Hokage about paying for a mission after Brandon finally got a note from his little brother. Fred and I sorted through the new stuff in the back and tossed in several packs of your favorites, Satoshi."
"Can you get me three of your Deluxe Bomb Boxes to go with what you have here?" Satoshi asked as he accepted the box George pushed into his arms and opened it up to check the contents. "I need to arm my little termites in the event that we run into any trouble."
"What a minute… you're taking the kids?" Fred asked in shock as he practically fell out of his chair in his rush to stand up. "Why!?"
"Hokage's orders because they're the only other team Konoha has right now that speaks English aside from Team Kakashi. He's sending another annoying pair of red-headed twins to help me keep an eye on them."
"Do you know if Aranami has a boyfriend?" George asked as he added the requested merchandise to the box with the rest of the stuff Satoshi intended to buy.
"Neither one of you are her type and I seriously doubt you're as interested in her brother as you are her and they are a package deal; they share everything… and I do mean, everything," Satoshi deadpanned, causing both twenty year olds to shudder.
"Such a shame… Aranami's hot…"
"But her brother's scary…"
"Too bad Arashi wasn't born as a girl…"
"Actually he was… her name is Aranami," Kakashi pointed out with a laugh as both wizards made a face at the older shinobi.
"Are you here to pick up supplies too…?" George demanded with mock irritation.
"Or are you just here to ruin our best daydreams…?" Fred finished with an over pronounced pout.
"I'm here to pick up four of your standard Professional Trouble Kits," Kakashi replied with a laugh. "Shattering fantasies is just an extra service that I'm allowing you to have for free this time; next time you have to pay for me to ruin your dreams."
"Jerk!" the twins chorused in stereo causing all four men to laugh.
"What do I owe you guys?" Satoshi asked once he got himself under control.
"Nothing this time… for either of you; this was our contribution to the mission and before you complain, the Hokage already accepted that we'd be providing supplies for your entire team for the mission and factored that as part of the payment for the mission."
"If you feel the need to pay us back, then you can whip us up another couple thousand of those low-grade exploding tag things as we've been having a hard time keeping them on the shelves; the kiddies just love them."
"Or you could pick us up a few of the ingredients that we're running low on."
"I'll have Dobby bring you over half of what I have currently made; which should be around five thousand since I've taken to making them while the kids are doing their bookwork. The exploding senbon I promised you are ready as well so you should be good as far as my stuff goes for the time being. If you need any of my compact bombs let Dobby know and he'll get you a box since I have tons of those sitting around in storage scrolls. As for potion ingredients; I've told both of you and Terry-kun as well that you are free to ask Dobby to make purchases for you until Neville and Luna can get things up and running on our side."
"Yeah, the little guy has been a huge help but we don't like relying upon him all the time since we know he's always busy. Have you considered stealing another couple of elves?"
"No but maybe I should have. Do you know what would have happened to the elves of the Death Eaters that were captured or killed at the end of my fourth year?"
"They'd have been confiscated by the Ministry and distributed to distant relatives of the original family or given over to various pureblood families that had previously not bonded any elves. Some of them may even be locked up in the ministry pending sales to foreign purebloods rather than let them find their own families since some of the families were distinctly lacking in numbers and there were far more elves than could be handled by purebloods alone since halfbloods and muggleborns are prohibited from owning elves unless they inherit one from a pureblooded family member."
"Dobby…?" Satoshi called, an idea forming as he further considered the suggestion Fred had given him about getting more elves.
"Master Satoshi called for his Dobby?"
"Yes, I'll need you to bring Fred and George half of the exploding tags I made and stored in my office, the two boxes of scrolls containing the exploding needles I made for them, and if they need it, two cases of the small bombs I made," Satoshi replied in English; the elf still preferred to use his native language.
"Dobby will see it is done. Is there anything else Master Satoshi needs?"
"Yes, do you know if there are any free elves in England that are looking for a family to bond with?"
"There is being lots of elves fading. Master Satoshi is disappointed with his Dobby?"
"No, I am very happy with my Dobby," Satoshi assured the rather sensitive elf. "However, you can only be in one place at one time and the other witches and wizards that joined us here could use a trustworthy elf or two."
"Dobby knows lots of elves from all over that needs work, not just England. How many elves does Master Satoshi want Dobby to fetch?"
"How many elves can one family bond?"
"As many elves as they has magic to support. Master Satoshi could support one hundred elves easy without taxing his core," Dobby replied promptly before his ears wilted and he scuffed his toe on the ground as he timidly asked, "Will Dobby have to share Master Satoshi?"
"Would you be offended if I wanted to help some of the elves? If I wanted to stop them from fading because they aren't getting the magic they need?"
"Dobby would want to help his friends and all elves hurt when elves fade to dust without their master's magic."
"Then please bring all of the free elves that wish for families and can speak at least some English or Japanese to the Aburame Compound one month from today and we will find them a family amongst our friends and I will promise to only take those that are left after each of my friends accept those elves they can help and whose help they need. Regardless of how many elves I end up bonding with, I will always need you, Dobby, because you are my friend and part of my family and there will always be plenty of work to go around; even if I have to create a messenger service and assign elves as special couriers for all of Konoha just to keep everyone busy."
"Master Satoshi is the bestest Master! Dobby will bring all the elves that speak English and Japanese and wants a new family."
"Thank you, Dobby. If any of the elves are sick from the fading and can't wait that long, send them to Fred and George right away and they will figure out which family will be best for them so we can save them," Satoshi ordered before turning to the flabbergasted twins as Dobby popped away to start contacting the free elves. "I trust I can count on the two of you to help me convince the others to help the elves?"
"Yeah… no problem… I think," George slowly replied with a nod.
"Yeah, what he said. But um… just out of curiosity, what made you think of asking Dobby…?" Fred added.
"Who would know better about how to find the elves that needed families than an elf?" Satoshi asked logically as he tucked his box of Weasley Supplies under his arm. "And the more help we have in the greenhouses and on the creature reserve, the easier it will be to become self-sufficient over the next couple of years. As messengers, they are the most reliable of couriers because of the rules that govern their bond and therefore they are perfect in cases where security and time are of the essence. I'm certain we can find plenty of other chores for all of the elves as well."
"Maybe you should have gotten an exact number from your friend before he disappeared to start working?" Kakashi inquired with a soft chuckle over the small oversight.
"He wouldn't have been able to give it to me until he could speak to the elves about bonding with a new family since not all of the elves he knows or knows of will be interested in leaving their countries of origin. Anyway, I have to go write up a list of equipment and supplies my termites will need to pack for our mission since venturing Outside is a far cry different than just venturing outside of the village. Oh, and send me the list of ingredients that you wanted me to pick up for you sometime before ten tonight as we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
"Will do, partner."
"Be safe, Satoshi, and keep the others safe."
"But have fun and create havoc!"
"Sayonara."
Two hours later, Satoshi met his Genin and the other children as they split up outside of Training Ground Sixteen, the kids heading off for supper in smaller groups than normal. Satoshi gathered those that were heading back to the Aburame Compound and spent the walk home asking them about their afternoon training since he'd not sent any clones to help for once because his clones were helping him prepare for the mission.
Just before Team Four entered the Compound, he pulled them back and handed them each a folded sheet of paper with a list of very specific items they would need to take and an even more explicit list of items they were not allowed to take. The latter list just as important as the former since having certain items in the Wizarding World was just asking for trouble.
He told them they were to pack immediately after supper and then meet him in the living room so he could check their packs and give them the supplies that he'd gathered to supplement their own belongings. He also told Hinata to make certain she let both Ko and her father know that she'd be gone roughly one week on a special mission for the Hokage and passed her three letters to give to her father, her grandfather, and her bodyguard (Ko). That night, after helping them pack their things into the sealing scrolls that he'd created for them, Satoshi sent them off to bed (Hinata using the guest room).
Early the next morning, Team Four met up with Team Kakashi, the Uzutsui twins (clones that Satoshi had sent ahead), and their clients (Dora, Brandon, and Neville) and portkeyed to the ally behind the Leaky Cauldron. Since it was still in the middle of the night, there were thankfully no witnesses to their arrival and the seven ninja didn't hesitate to henge themselves to hide their appearance because they would be easily recognized (the two clones didn't count since the Uzutsui Twins had never been seen in England before).
Dora morphed her own appearance to make it harder for her to be recognized while the other two disillusioned themselves since Brandon was a professional Quidditch player that would be recognized by any of his fans that were present and Neville was a well known friend of Harry Potter. Satoshi further hid his two friends by giving them pendants he'd made for them to wear that would suppress their magical signature, hide their scent, and muffle any sounds they made; the Kikaichu he placed on them would allow him to mark their locations even through the spells and wards.
The twelve of them then slipped inside the Leaky Caldron and booked three rooms for the next five nights. They split into three groups to secure their rooms for the night and drop their packs before they all piled into the room that Team Four would be sharing (Satoshi refused to even think about leaving his termites alone). Once they were all inside of the room, Satoshi threw up a privacy barrier and several privacy wards so that they could discuss the mission. To the confusion of everyone but Kakashi, Satoshi dispelled the two clones that were posing as the Kawarimi Twins.
"Um… when did those two sneak off and replace themselves with clones without us noticing?" Izumo asked in Japanese out of habit.
"They were only clones to begin with," Satoshi answered as he scribbled out a single sentence on a scrap of parchment and passed it to his longtime teammate first before he turned to his termites to explain. "What you are about to learn is an S Class village secret that has been protected by magic in order to protect their identity and mine. You will not be allowed to speak of what you are learning with anyone that doesn't already know; mostly because magic won't allow you to speak of it and because if you are caught leaking this secret, the punishment will be severe."
Izumo and Kotetsu read the scrap of parchment together before passing it to the next person. It took a few minutes for the secret to make its way around the room and Satoshi kept his eyes firmly fixated on the scrap of parchment. Once his three Genin had read it (all three of them crowding together to read it at the same time) and it was passed back to him, Satoshi quickly destroyed the paper with a small katon jutsu.
"Those two are nothing like you," Dora muttered, the witch still slightly irate because both clones had been flirting shamelessly with her from the moment they'd arrived prior to their departure (much to Kakashi's amusement).
"That's the entire point of having alter egos," Kakashi laughed.
"Wait a minute… you knew it was him the entire time didn't you? Is that why you didn't kill them for flirting with me? Is that why you wouldn't let me hex them when they started flirting with you?" Dora demanded as she rounded on her boyfriend.
"He's known since the beginning," Satoshi confirmed with a laugh. "If you'd like, when we get home I can tell you all about what had happened the first time he met the twins before he learned they were me."
"Ano… why do you need two alter egos?" Hinata asked in confusion. "And why would the Hokage-sama assign your alter egos to watch over us on a mission that you were already going on?"
"I needed one alter ego in order to perform certain missions where it would be far too easy for me to be recognized since I was and still am the shortest Jounin in Konoha and wear a very distinctive non-standard uniform," Satoshi explained with a slight grimace over the need to acknowledge his lack of height. "I chose to make two because there are some places where a woman or a girl can go unnoticed that a man cannot and before you ask; no I have not used my female counterpart to spy on the women at the hot springs. As for the Hokage assigning this mission to all three of me, there were two reasons; first it provides a reason for my alter egos to be out of the village at the same time as I am and second it allows me to turn time without creating a paradox in the event of an emergency."
"Turn time?" Naruto inquired as he scrunched up his nose.
"The wizarding world created a device which lets you travel in time," Satoshi explained as Kotetsu and Izumo gasped in understanding.
"You used the time turner during the tournament portions of the Jounin Exam!"
"Hai, it was the only way to insure that I could make it through the tournament as all three personas without overtaxing myself by attempting to fight all of those battles as one person or a clone that could have been dispelled. Just before I used the time turner each time I'd have Kasai-sama seal my memories so that I wouldn't throw the fights or go in too confident that I was going to win."
"I bet that was confusing," Neville stated with a snort as he shook his head.
"You have no idea and each time I use the time turner I have to leave my swarm behind otherwise the influx of information from doubling or tripling the number of Kikaichu that are bonded with me causes my mind to shut down; effectively paralyzing me. So if you see a sealed bug jar propped up in the corner; don't open it for any reason because those are my bugs waiting for me to collect them at the end of my turning."
The next two hours were spent going over their plans before they split up to get some sleep, Dora and Kakashi taking one room while Izumo, Kotetsu, Brandon, and Neville shared another and Team Four stayed in their room. They were up by seven the next morning and joined by two older versions of Satoshi that were henged to look like his alter egos. That day Team Kakashi (with Arashi taking Satoshi's place) went with Neville to visit the Longbottoms in St. Mungo's in order for the four shinobi to case the building to prepare for the extraction which would take place at the end of their stay.
Aranami on the other hand went with Dora and Brandon to meet with his little brother and find out which members of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix were tailing him and start planning when and where they'd meet up with the others that would be joining them in Konoha. Satoshi in the meantime took Team Four on a tour of Diagon Alley and to meet with the goblins (who were still purchasing items for Satoshi as per the agreement he'd made with them a year and a half earlier).
They met back up at five and ate supper in a private parlor inside of the pub behind a slew of privacy wards and barriers while they exchanged information before Satoshi and Aranami headed up stairs to turn back time; leaving Arashi as the oldest version of the nearly seventeen year old. Satoshi dropped the henge the moment his younger versions left and they made plans for the next day before heading upstairs to get some rest and so Satoshi could reclaim his swarm.
Before he sent his termites to bed, Satoshi drilled the three Genin on everything that they had seen and learned while in Diagon Alley, even going so far as to require each of them to draw and label a map from memory. In that way, he was testing their memory retention and determining how closely they'd been paying attention to their surroundings.
The next day was spent in much the same way as Team Kakashi, Arashi, and Neville headed back to the Hospital. Dora, Brandon, and Aranami met up with Demelza and David to find out which Order members were tailing them and pass along the details on their departure plans. And Satoshi took Team Four out to experience the shock that was Muggle London (so that if they needed to flee into the muggle side of town on the off-chance that things turned ugly, the trio wouldn't be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city when they should be focusing on their mission).
He took them first to the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic, the muggle entrance to St. Mungo's, and to King's Cross Station to see the entrance pillar to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and told them to take special note of all three locations and the location of the Leaky Cauldron as they were important places in the magical world. His reasoning; if there was ever a need for someone to lead a team into the wizarding world in the future and the members of Team Kakashi or the transplanted magicals weren't available, then there would be at least three people who knew how to find some of the magical society's important landmarks.
That, and the three children absolutely loved being able to visit some of the places they'd heard about through the years from Satoshi's stories.
The third day saw Team Kakashi and Arashi sneaking into St. Mungo's for a third time to set up everything they would need to pull off the extraction. While the older three shinobi worked, Arashi set about stealing copies of the medical records on the Longbottoms in addition to any records for all of the magicals that had moved or were moving to Konoha. In the mean time, Dora, Neville, Brandon and Aranami met with the Lovegoods (Luna's father Xenophilius being the guest they were escorting back to Konoha).
That left Team Four once again spending the day in Diagon Alley purchasing a long list of potion ingredients for the Weasley Twins, an assortment of useful magical equipment (such as dragon hide gloves, caldrons, and charmed crystal vials), stocking up on magical candies (the three Genin were kids after all), and sealing the goblin made purchases from Satoshi's vaults into storage scrolls.
On the fourth day, the group spent the entire day together visiting with Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, and Poppy Pomfrey; the only four adults from Hogwarts that Satoshi had any respect for that he knew he could trust explicitly. All four of the adults expressed their regrets for how things turned out, told the members of Team Kakashi how much they'd been missed, and pressed useful gifts onto the group. Rare seeds, bulbs, cuttings, and saplings from Sprout, copies of rare or highly regulated tomes from Flitwick, an assortment of priceless enchanted objects from McGonagall (including two time turners), and several rare books on healing spells and potions from Pomfrey as well as copies of the medical files from the immigrating magicals' school years.
Satoshi in return gave the four adults a way to get in contact with him and let them know that they had a standing invitation to visit or join them in Konoha. He also took McGonagall aside and allowed her to see his animagus form since she'd been one of three people to inspire him to pursue becoming an animagus (Moony and Padfoot being the other two because Padfoot was an animagus and both men had told him stories about his birth father who had also been an animagus).
The stern witch had been tickled pink and proud as a peacock to learn he completed the transformation before slyly informing him that he would make a perfect cat toy in his new form. Satoshi had grimaced in return and told her that he feared birds far more than he feared cats; as more than a few birds had tried to devour him while the cats just wanted him to entertain them until they got bored. McGonagall had laughed over that admission and admonished him to be careful.
Their fifth and final day in England had the three Genin witnessing their first ever magical duel as Satoshi, Arashi, and Aranami faced off against half of Dumbledore's Order (which had grown nervous after seeing their targets meeting with a group of unfamiliar faces). The three ten year olds had been told to stay back with the rest of their group to guard the five individuals they were to escort back to the Hidden Countries.
Watching Satoshi and his alter egos duel with their magic was not all that different than watching them duel with their blades. They were beauty in motion as they danced and wove their way through the spells being fired in their direction and at the same time returned fire with extreme precision on targets that didn't move or moved too sluggishly to dodge as effectively as a shinobi who had spent his entire life in constant motion.
The other four adult magicals on their side focused on protecting the four underage magicals and the non-magical shinobi from the stray spell fire; the four of them forming a protective circle of shields that deflected the spells upwards instead of outwards where it might hit one of their own. Satoshi and his counterparts held nothing back as they took down the witches and wizards that blindly followed a man who had grown senile in his old age. They did at least restrain themselves from using lethal force to subdue their opponents; they didn't want to give Dumbledore any more reasons to continue hunting Satoshi (though it was actually Harry Potter the old wizard sought) or the other shinobi.
More than one opposing witch and wizard went down thanks to Fred and George's products; Naruto, Shino, and Hinata highly offended over the strangers' willingness to attack their brother and more than willing to prank the snot out of them with extreme prejudice.
The entire battle lasted no more than twenty minutes with only two members of the Order escaping to report back to Dumbledore. Satoshi cursed as he'd missed knocking those two out before they apparated away but quickly focused back on his current surroundings as he snapped out orders to the others. Ten minutes after the battle and a full five minutes before Dumbledore arrived on the scene with reinforcements, the sixteen of them portkeyed their way from their current location in a series of drop points designed to throw off any trackers before the adults transported the children via Shunshin and Apparation to the ally behind the Leaky Cauldron.
They hurried up to their rented rooms to gather up their belongings before Arashi (who'd been consistently portrayed by the oldest Satoshi in the current timeline) portkeyed back to the warded clearing outside of Konoha along with Team Four, their clients, and their temporary charges (Adam, Demelza, David, Luna, and Luna's father) while Team Kakashi and Aranami stayed behind to extract Neville's parents.
Unlike their collection of the individuals they had been escorting home, the extraction of the elder Longbottoms went off without a single hitch. They easily slipped in through the wards, switched out Neville's parents with cement clones, secured the two unresponsive adults for transportation, and transported them back to Konoha where they met up with the others in the clearing; except Aranami and Satoshi who needed to turn back time so that Arashi and Aranami could play their respective parts.
Everyone quickly dispelled their disguises and Satoshi discreetly created two clones that henged into his alternate personas and sent them on ahead to alert the Hokage to their arrival. The last thing Satoshi did before they headed back to Konoha was thoroughly inspect his three termites to make certain they hadn't received so much as a paper cut during the course of the impromptu battle.
Satoshi managed to remain conscious just long enough for their group to reach the Hokage's office and for him to glare at the Hokage before he promptly passed out from extreme magical exhaustion. A result of expending huge amounts of magic during each of the three times he'd lived through the entire day coupled with the strain of living through the past five days three times and the stress of being back in England. His little termites panicked the moment he collapsed as they'd never before witnessed Satoshi just keeling over out of the blue before when he'd shown no signs of there anything being wrong.
Kakashi was quick to assure the three Genin that their brother and sensei would be just fine after a couple of days rest and promised them that the rest of Team Kakashi would oversee their training and keep an eye on Satoshi while they trained. Kakashi then gave the Hokage their verbal report while a team of medics from Konoha's Hospital came to collect the elder Longbottoms and Okada Kanpou personally collected the medical files on all of the magicals. The four underage magicals and Mr. Lovegood were welcomed to Konoha towards the end of that meeting before the entire group was dismissed for the evening.
Team Kakashi escorted Team Four and the four magicals that would be staying with the Aburame (Demelza, David, Luna, and Luna's father – Adam going to stay with his brother) back to the Compound where Kotetsu and Izumo sat the three Genin down to help them fill out their written reports while Kakashi settled Satoshi into bed. Shibi and Remus in the mean time led their guests to the house that had been prepared for them and promised the group a tour of the village in the morning after they got some rest.
It would, in the end, take two full days for Satoshi to wake up, another full day before he was able to support his own weight, and a fourth day of rest before he was allowed to rejoin his termites in training. The first thing he'd done once he was up and moving was to collect his pay for the mission, taking perverse satisfaction in being paid four times over for the trip to England; once as himself as part of Team Four, once as himself as part of Team Kakashi, and twice as Arashi and Aranami. Normally, he'd have only taken pay from one portion of the mission but he felt he'd earned the extra pay because of how close his termites had come to getting caught in the crossfire between him and Dumbledore's Order.
He'd also given the Hokage the silent treatment and a fierce glare over the top of his sunglasses as he noted that the escort mission had been upgraded from a C ranked mission to an A rank mission due to the confrontation with Dumbledore's underlings; letting the older man that he wasn't happy with the way things had turned out. Satoshi forgave him four hours later (after his anger had diffused when he realized that despite the unexpected attack, his termites had done well and had not been hurt) and sent the Sandaime a formal written apology for his earlier rudeness – though he didn't return the extra paychecks.
He would then have exactly fourteen days of normalcy as he and Team Four fell back into the routine they'd established prior to the mission to England before his well ordered life was turned upside down once more.
Translations: Japanese to English
Hakke Rokujuuyonshou – Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm
Juuken Ryuu – gentle fist style (Hyuuga clan taijutsu style)
Sayonara – goodbye
Joke Products:
Deluxe Bomb Boxes – a case of assorted miniature bombs that are twice as potent as the standard joke bombs and whose effects last anywhere from six to twenty-four hours.
Professional Trouble Kits – a collection of the most popular pranks geared towards shinobi use