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 29: Of Reports and Secrets
Two and a half weeks later, their delegation of nineteen and a half plus three passed through the main gates of Konoha (Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune choosing to stay with the group despite their earlier plans to go their separate ways once they reached the Fire Country's border). Satoshi was actually less than pleased to be the reason that Tsunade had chosen to return to Konoha; the female member of the Sannin was still trying to unravel the mysteries surrounding him and his daughter. Jiraiya hadn't been any help as the old pervert kept throwing his teammate crumbs and riddles that hinted at far greater things; purposefully stoking her curiosity to greater heights.
Satoshi suspected that those taunts were the only reason why the man had stuck with the delegation; Jiraiya apparently liked being able to one-up his former teammate.
Between his irritation with the two legendary shinobi and his slow convalescence, the long journey home had been far less pleasant than the journey to Tsuchi no Kuni. To make matters worse, the Hokage's entourage had actually beat them back to the village and the Tsuchikage had forwarded a formal apology on behalf of his village for the attack on the delegation; citing that those involved had been further punished (on top of the humiliation that Satoshi had dealt out to the instigators). The man had also sent the Aburame Clan (who had been the intended targets) a collection of rare jutsu scrolls and the bee summoning contract (all confiscated from the Kamizuru Clan) as compensation for the attack.
Since the delegation had been late in returning and the Tsuchikage's letter hadn't carried any details, both the Hyuuga Clan and the Aburame Clan had been tense and on edge; the current status of their respective heirs unclear and uncertain. The only reason they hadn't demanded the Hokage send out search parties to find the overdue delegation was because both Clan Heads trusted Satoshi to bring all of the children home; that didn't mean they didn't worry and fret over being left in the dark though.
So it was, when they were finally spotted approaching the village by the Chuunin on duty, a large welcoming party turned out to meet them as they walked through the gates. More than a few people were stunned by Tsunade's willing return, though those that knew her well chuckled when they noted the frustrated looks she frequently tossed in Satoshi's direction; a clear indication that the buxom blonde hadn't solved many (if any) of the mysteries surrounding the eighteen and a half year old.
Dirty and travel weary but otherwise unhurt (not counting Satoshi's lingering health issues stemming from his time turning), the returning delegation bowed low to the Hokage (who had personally come to greet them) before dispersing to reunite with family and friends they hadn't seen in months. Satoshi watched the newly made Chuunin and Tokubetsu Jounin scatter with a proud (if tired) smile before he and his clones followed the Sandaime back to his office to give his report. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune tagged along as well while the rest of the adults that had gone with him had been dismissed alongside the teens and preteens.
A number of the departmental heads would join them shortly afterwards, as would Shibi and Hiashi, so that they could all hear Satoshi's report at the same time (sparing him the need to explain himself more than once). Tsunade was a bit startled when the first thing Sarutobi did once everyone had arrived was to raise a rather elaborate privacy barrier. The dispelling of the bug clones that were Arashi and Aranami only served to further confuse the Slug Princess as she hadn't realized they were clones thanks to the Fidelius Charm that hid their true nature.
"I am greatly relieved to see you home and well," Sarutobi stated as Satoshi silently passed the sleeping Saki to her grandfather when his father stepped up beside him. "We were troubled to find that you had not yet returned from Iwa when our group returned from Suna and grew concerned for your health when we received a formal apology from the Tsuchikage along with material compensation intended for the Aburame Clan with only the barest of references to an attack."
"I apologize for not sending word ahead to the village to report the delay," Satoshi replied softly. "I was unexpectedly indisposed for several days and in the brief confusion that followed the fight, the others must have overlooked the need to let the village know we would be late. I take full responsibility for the oversight as I should have sent word the moment I was up and moving again or delegated one of the Jounin to send word in my place."
"I take it that your poor health was the reason the twins are not currently with us?" Kasai inquired with exasperation and concern.
"Hai, we lost them on the night of the battle when I could no longer turn due to the stress and exhaustion."
"What do you mean we lost them? Kakashi said he sent them ahead to scout the route home immediately after our temporary camp had been set up. Are you telling me that two of the Jounin escorting our group to Konoha for the past three weeks were nothing but a pair of clones?" Tsunade half asked and half stated as she swung around to stare at Satoshi.
"I take it you haven't filled Tsunade-sama in on any of your secrets?" Shikaku inquired with a soft chuckle.
"The middle of the road is hardly an appropriate place to pass out village secrets," Satoshi blandly threw back as he crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyes wander to his daughter still contentedly sleeping cuddled in his father's arms. "I was also told that I needed the permission of this council to reveal those same secrets to anyone that was not previously given authorization to know that which was sealed away."
"Whose permission do I need to get in order to strangle this boy so that I can hear the answers that Jiraiya has been hinting and teasing at for the past three weeks?"
"I'm impressed, Gaichuu, you haven't lost your ability to annoy without even trying despite resigning nearly two years ago," Kasai chuckled fondly as his eyes searched Satoshi for any lingering signs of injury aside from the obvious exhaustion the teen still felt. "I hear congratulations are in order as well; though I'm a bit surprised that you aren't advertising your new status. I would have thought that you'd be proudly displaying your new cloak to the entire world."
"I did wear it for part of the trip home but it got torn and muddy during the fight and I didn't have the energy to clean and repair it afterwards. If not for my cloak being dirty, I would have proudly worn it as I walked through the gates just now," Satoshi explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Your grandfather and your mother both would have been proud of you, little bug," Shibi added as he reached out and ruffled Satoshi's hair.
"Can someone please answer my question?"
"Patience, Tsunade-hime," Jiraiya murmured as the various department heads heaped their own words of praise upon the now lightly blushing eighteen year old. "Let the gaki have his moment; he won't go anywhere until he gives his report and you'll be granted permission to finally learn what you've been chasing after for the past three weeks since you will most likely be allowed to listen to his full report."
Tsunade grumbled under her breath but complied as she watched how easily Satoshi interacted with adults that she still felt uneasy around (though part of that was the fact that she'd been avoiding them for around twenty years now). It wasn't that Satoshi didn't feel a little out of his depth; he just hid his insecurities better because his magic allowed him to lock the majority of his emotions away behind a barrier inside of his mind and he'd grown used to interacting with the powerful individuals currently praising him. Eventually, the conversation rolled back around to the original topic and those present gave permission for Satoshi to reveal those secrets he felt were relevant to the matter at hand (giving him permission to withhold anything and everything that had nothing to do with his mission).
"Well?" Tsunade demanded almost before Sarutobi had finished giving his permission.
"Uzutsui Arashi and Uzutsui Aranami are the created alter egos of Aburame Satoshi," Satoshi intoned with ritualistic formality as he turned to face the irate Sannin. "In other words, I am the Uzutsui Twins and they don't actually exist outside of when I need them to exist."
"How is that possible; I personally examined both red heads in the aftermath of the battle when they both showed signs of extreme fatigue even though it didn't appear as if they'd done anything but help drop a section of the plateau, raise that strange barrier that I could see but couldn't sense, and knock out a few revenge seeking Iwa Nin."
"My Kekkei Genkai allows me to use a rather unique device that grants the user the ability to physically relive a set period of time multiple times; meaning I can travel into the past. Basically, you examined me three times that day only the second and third versions were exactly twenty-four and forty-eight hours older than the original me (respectively) and the reason you couldn't tell that we were all the same person was because the knowledge was sealed under a… special jutsu based on my Kekkei Genkai that allows me to seal information away from the world unless I specifically tell someone what the secret is."
"What exactly is your Kekkei Genkai and why have I never before heard of a shinobi who could travel through time?"
Satoshi pursed his lips as he shoved his hands into jacket pockets and fingered his wand before he glanced sideways at his father, seeking the older man's opinion. Shibi simply shrugged, trusting his son to decide for himself, and Satoshi sighed over the double edged sword that was adulthood and the fact that he was no longer seen as a child in need of a constant guiding hand to help him find answers. Straightening up two seconds later, Satoshi peered at the Sannin and her apprentice over the top of his glasses, scrutinizing them and judging their worthiness with a jaundiced eye. Tsunade actually squirmed a bit beneath that piercing emerald gaze without realizing what she was doing.
"How do I know I can I trust you?" Satoshi asked after a moment. "I mean you no disrespect but it is a known fact that you cut almost all ties with Konoha long before I was born and it was only sheer coincidence that you were in Iwa at the same time as my termites were sent to participate in their Chuunin Exams. Why should I reveal any more of my secrets to you when you've made no secret of the fact that this is the last place you want to be while my secrets are designed to protect this village and my clan?"
For a long tense moment, it looked like Tsunade's temper was going to explode and she was going to pound the young Jounin into the ground with her legendary strength. Instead, she seemed to deflate a bit as she turned her back on him and walked over to the window to stare out over the village she had not set eyes on in close to twenty years. After a few minutes of silence, she finally began speaking.
"My grandfather, Senju Hashirama, helped build this village and he was named Shodai Hokage. He died before I really got to know him; though I often heard stories about him from my grandmother; Uzumaki Mito. My parents died shortly after my little brother, Nawaki, was born and I helped raise him alongside our grandmother. I was twenty-two when my little brother, who was only twelve and had only just earned his hitai-ate, told me that it was his dream to be the next Hokage and watch over our grandfather's beloved village. He died the very next day while on a mission."
"That was the same year my distant cousin, Uzumaki Kushina, was brought to the village so she could take Mito's place as the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki because my grandmother was growing old and wished to join her husband in his eternal rest. Kushina and I were not very close during her first few years in the village; she reminded me far too much of my brother and I kept her at arms length. It didn't help that her presence meant my grandmother's days were numbered. In order to escape the pain of losing my brother and knowing I would soon be losing my grandmother as well, I buried my emotions until the day I met and fell in love with Kato Dan."
"We had much in common and he filled the void that had opened in my heart after I lost Nawaki and like my little brother, he too wished to become Hokage in order to protect the village. Dan was the one that encouraged me to get to know Kushina and spend time with her when he learned she was my younger cousin. He became the light of my life in such a short period of time but when I was with him, all was right in the world. After we officially began dating, we had less than a year together before he was taken from me in battle; I had rushed to his side to save him but I got there too late and he died shortly after I arrived. I was left with his blood on my hands both literally and figuratively and to this day I feel in my heart that I could have saved him if I'd only gotten there just five minutes sooner."
"After that, I could not stand to look at the village that my grandfather, my little brother, and the love of my life wished to protect knowing that they'd died chasing after their dreams for the sake of this same village. So I left; Dan's beloved niece chasing after me until I agreed to take her in as my apprentice and together we've wandered through the Elemental Countries as I sought to drown my pain and bury the past. I kept in touch with Kushina through the years as best I could and occasionally crossed paths with her when she was on missions but after Kushina-chan died; I cut all ties with the village as she had been the last living link to my family."
Tsunade paused as she turned to meet Satoshi's gaze at this point, her eyes filled with a hundred different emotions as she continued, "When I left Konoha, I swore I'd never again set foot in this village for any reason and yet here I am. I don't know what it is about you or why the fact that you hold onto your secrets with the tenacity of a starved leech clinging to its next meal prompted me to disregard my personal preferences but never-the-less; I am here. Will I stay? I don't know and I can't make any promises that tomorrow won't see me walking right back out that gate. I have, however, never actively sought to harm Konoha or any of those that call Konoha home; to do so would have brought dishonor to my family, the man I loved, and the friends I left behind."
Satoshi let the back of his mind process what he'd just learned about Tsunade while his immediate attention was drawn by the fact that the woman standing in front of him was distantly related to Naruto. He tipped his head to one side and furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out if she had never known that Kushina had had a son or if all knowledge of Naruto and his connection to her family had been stolen from her when he sealed it inside of him using the Fidelius Charm. After a moment of consideration, he decided that the only way to find out was to ask.
"Are you aware that Kushina-sensei married Namikaze Minato and that she gave birth to a son?"
"I knew Minato-kun had asked her to marry him, he'd sought me out to obtain my permission to seek her hand in marriage as her only living relative (which I'd given him), but no, I was never told that they were expecting, let alone that their son had survived that terrible night. Or did he not survive?"
"He lives," Satoshi confirmed with a nod. "If you wish it, and he gives me permission to share the secret, I will introduce you to him properly; though I can tell you now that you've already met him in a round about way."
"I would like very much to meet him and would have come back to Konoha at least once, just to meet him, if I had known he existed."
Satoshi nodded in understanding before he let his gaze drift over to his daughter, who was stirring in her grandfather's arms. He watched her stretch languorously before rubbing her eyes as she slowly became aware of her surroundings and sat up to blink up at Shibi's face. The moment she registered who it that was holding her was she gave a happy squeal and threw her arms around her jijii and hugged him for all he was worth; she'd missed her grandpa while they'd been gone. Knowing his daughter was safe and happy, Satoshi turned back to Tsunade who had been watching him, his father, and his daughter.
"I was not born in Konohagakure nor was I born in any of the Elemental Nations," Satoshi explained after he carefully considered just how much he was willing to reveal versus how much he felt he owed the Sannin after she'd basically poured her heart out to those present simply because he'd demanded a reason as to why he should trust her. "I was born Outside; in a country that had long since forgotten that the Hidden Countries even existed, where shinobi do not exist, and where the civilians have little to no knowledge of chakra or jutsu."
"My birth parents were born with an ability that was both coveted and feared by many and belonged to a society that had long since hidden their presence from the world at large; much as the Hidden Countries sealed themselves away behind a barrier. Just as there have been wars between the different Elemental Nations, there have been wars between the various factions of the hidden society to which my parents belonged. One such faction, led by a monster in the guise of a man, decided that my parents were a hindrance to him and because of a prophecy; he feared any child of theirs would be his downfall."
"He killed my father first and I watched him kill my mother before he attempted to kill me in turn. He failed and I'd like to believe that my mother did something to protect me in the frantic moment before she died and that it was her protection that destroyed the man. The hidden society that my parents were part of would rather have you believe that a mere fifteen month old child destroyed a man that had terrorized them for over fifteen years. I was sent to live with my mother's sister and her family; a family that hated and resented me because I had been born with the same ability that my parents had been born with while my aunt had not. An ability that my maternal aunt had coveted her entire life."
"When the hate I felt directed at me and the fear it inspired grew to be too much, my Kekkei Genkai activated and swept me away. I ended up in the forest outside of Konoha where otousan eventually found me. He picked me up, brought me back to Konoha, and he took me home with him. The Aburame have been my family ever since and I will always be grateful that my father was the one to find me and that he as willing to love me despite the trouble I brought with me," Satoshi stated with a fond smile as he glanced again towards his father and daughter.
He let his gaze return to Tsunade after a moment and picked up where he left off. "I wasn't even in the village for a full hour before I was causing trouble as I attacked Kushina-nee with a hug after I mistakenly thought she was my mother because like Kushina, my mother had long red hair. It was pure chance that my native language was one that Kushina knew and spoke. She helped me understand that the medics weren't trying to kill me when their hands turned green while using healing chakra as it had been a green jutsu that killed my mother before my very eyes."
"I'd barely been in the village for two days when yet another complication cropped up when tousan took me to the Hyuuga to ask them to check on my chakra coils and they discovered that my entire network had been shut down for over a year and was severely atrophied. No one knew it at the time but the ability that I inherited from my parents is not compatible with chakra; that ability will, in fact, strangle and eventually destroy the chakra network of those who are born with the same ability."
"Since no one was aware that my Kekkei Genkai was supposed to supplant my chakra network, they believed that I was dying and so they forcibly reopened my tenketsu points and chakra coils; I was two and a half years old at the time. I would meet with the Hyuuga daily from the start of my second week in the village (after I was formally adopted by otousan) for chakra therapy sessions in order to prevent my coils from shutting down once more; which they would have if they'd been left alone. It wasn't until my Kikaichu hatched and I started learning how to mold my chakra that my network stabilized and the ability I inherited from my parents went dormant."
"As I recall, you were able to detect the thread of chakra I have tied to my daughter's chakra coils despite the fact that I'd been masking it at the time. My chakra is the only thing keeping my daughter's chakra network from shutting down like my network had prior to my arrival in Konoha. I could have let nature take its course and allowed her chakra network to close and fade from existence but I did not wish to limit her choices and cut her off from half of her legacy before she even had a chance to choose for herself what she wanted to be when she grew up."
"So, with the help of Hyuuga Ko, I stabilized her chakra network and helped her coils to grow as she grew and will continue to do so until she has her first swarm implanted on her second birthday; the earliest point at which it would be safe to introduce the queens into her coils. She is currently the only other individual in this village that possesses the potential to use both chakra and our Kekkei Genkai aside from myself. There are, however, a handful of individuals that moved to Konoha that have our ability but lack chakra networks of their own."
"What exactly is this ability you keep referring to and what makes it so incompatible with chakra?" Tsunade asked when Satoshi trailed off a second time, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
"Chakra is drawn from mixing the spiritual and physical energy that is found in every living being; it is the force which binds our souls to our body and gives us life," Satoshi stated; all of the adults in the room nodding in agreement over what was common knowledge. "My Kekkei Genkai is very similar to chakra in that it too binds the soul of one born with the ability to their body only it is far wilder and it is both far harder and far easier to control depending on how much of it one has. The two do not coincide together naturally because they both are designed to fulfill the same function and the two will fight for dominance until the weaker of the two is defeated and subsequently discarded. In my case, it was my chakra that ended up being the weaker energy."
"If I were to ever stop molding chakra and stopped my swarm from feeding off my chakra; my chakra network would eventually shut itself down and my coils would dissolve. It took me weeks to learn how to balance both energies once I reactivated my Kekkei Genkai when Kakashi-nii and Tenzou-senpai began teaching me how to change the nature of my chakra. I'd had to relearn how to balance them when I was sent Outside to be trained in how to use my Kekkei Genkai by the hidden society that my parents belonged to. Right now, I would say that the two energies coexist inside of me in a fragile truce only so long as I am willing to work to maintain that peace."
"Does this ability of yours have a name?"
"Well, yes," Satoshi hedged as he reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "The people who named it were rather imaginative, though that is not too surprising given what they have accomplished through the centuries."
"Will you spit it out already, gaki," Kasai ordered with a huff. "I, for one, am still waiting to find out why you are over two weeks late and why the Tsuchikage felt he owed your clan and the village an apology and the equivalent of a small fortune in the form of a summoning contract and several rare jutsu in compensation."
"I was getting there," Satoshi dryly reminded the gruff man that had mentored him through his short career within the AnBu Corps. He then drew himself up and with the same ritualistic tone he'd used to reveal the secret about the Uzutsui twins, stated the three intertwined secrets that bound the truth of his Kekkei Genkai to his soul, "Aburame Satoshi was born with a magical core, Aburame Satoshi is a fully trained wizard capable of using magic, and Aburame Satoshi's true Kekkei Genkai is his ability to use magic."
"Magic? Magic!?" Tsunade repeated first in confusion and then in disbelief before she burst out laughing. "Pull the other one, gaki."
"See, this is why I dislike revealing those three particular secrets," Satoshi deadpanned as he glared over his sunglasses at the masked Torifu.
"He is telling you the truth," Sarutobi stated solemnly, his tone and words effectively cutting Tsunade's laughter off as she stared at her former sensei in shock. "I'm certain he would be willing to provide you a demonstration, should you ask him."
"Despite the fanciful name, my magic is no different than my chakra in that it is an energy inside of me that allows me to manipulate the world around me," Satoshi stated as her eyes drifted back towards him. "It was magic that allowed me to save the life of a young man that the Aburame Clan took in as their ward when he was just weeks away from dying; the young man in question had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. As a medic, you should be familiar with the disease and if you wish to peruse his medical records or speak with the medic that oversaw the procedure about Shin's condition and his continued recovery, you need only gain permission from my father."
"Shibi?" Tsunade firmly inquired as she swung her gaze around to glance at the older Aburame.
"You have my permission so long as the young man in question does not mind you prying into his medical history."
"Thank you. I'd also appreciate it if you would be willing to extend that permission to Shizune as well since she is my apprentice."
"That should not be an issue, again, so long as Shin agrees. Satoshi, I will leave you to speak to Shin regarding the matter and to make arrangements with Kanpou as well."
"Wakatta, tousan," Satoshi murmured in acknowledgement before he addressed Tsunade once more. "In the mean time, if you wish for irrefutable proof that magic exists; there is one thing I can show you that will not place undue stress upon my already taxed core since it is an internalized change that requires less effort, despite requiring far more magic, than physically changing another object or person. It's about time I revealed this trick to the old guys anyway; since I have not yet told them how I infiltrated the main island of Mizu no Kuni without being discovered."
"Whether she wants to see it or not; I want to know how you did it," Sarutobi growled with more than a little irritation as he leaned forward intently. "There's no possible way you could have bypassed the warning barrier on the main island without pulling off some kind of impossible trick. I've been trying to figure it out since the day we received word that you'd reached Mizu no Kuni and while I know magic was involved, I still haven't pinpointed what it was you did."
Satoshi chuckled unrepentantly over the exasperation he heard in the Hokage's voice and the amused snorts that he heard the other adults let out as he well knew just how irritated they had all been when he hadn't given up that particular secret over the past two and a half years. He pushed aside his own amusement (though he was still smiling behind his jacket collar) as he gave Tsunade his attention once more and asked her a question, "Tell me, Tsunade-sama, is it possible to reconfigure the human body so that it is no longer recognizable as human regardless of what shape it is in?"
"No; even under a specialized henge to make a person appear as an animal or other object the person's chakra would still identify them as a person to anyone with the ability to distinguish the difference."
Satoshi nodded as she'd given the answer he'd expected. He then boldly walked up and sat down on the edge of the Hokage's desk; his body beginning to shrink the moment his behind touched down. Several minutes later, sitting in the exact spot where Satoshi had been sitting just minutes earlier was a rather small, green dragonfly. Several of the adults who'd worked with and known Satoshi for years groaned as they immediately realized that the young man had become an animagus (an ability explained to them years earlier by Sirius Black when he helped ward the village to prevent an unknown animagi from sneaking into the village undetected and showed them his form of a large, black dog).
They groaned because it was the one obvious trick they hadn't thought to consider when they were trying to figure out how he'd gotten through the barrier around the main island of Mizu no Kuni unnoticed. They were also impressed because it opened up a whole new realm of possibilities on infiltration missions (the biggest reason why Satoshi had not revealed it sooner as he hadn't wanted to be given missions that would require him to be gone for months at a time when he was preparing to take his first Genin team).
After taking a moment to stretch out his wings, Satoshi demonstrated his mastery over his animagus form by launching himself into the air. He hovered in place for a moment before he flew about the Hokage's hat, buzzed by Kasai's ear, and then landed daintily on Saki's nose drawing out a happy squeal from his daughter. He quickly dashed out of reach when she tried to catch him with her hands before he moved so that he hovered just a few inches away from Tsunade. When she lifted a shaky hand, as if to reach out and touch him, he showed an amazing depth of trust as he landed his rather delicate form on her outstretched hand.
He even held himself perfectly still as she coated her other hand in green healing chakra and allowed her to scan his body. She scanned him three separate times as if doubting her findings and then she asked Shizune to scan him twice in order to prove she wasn't imagining things. The Slug Princess even spent a few minutes attempting to disrupt a non-existent genjutsu to make certain that she wasn't being tricked.
After he allowed her to gently poke and prod him with a finger, running the pad of her finger down his back and over his wings, he lifted off her hand and flew back to where he'd originally been standing before he reversed the transformation in midair so that he dropped down lightly onto the floor once he was completely human again. He was slightly winded after the costly transformation but it had not exhausted him too badly and after a few minutes his breathing was back under his control as he turned to face the gob smacked woman.
"That was my Kekkei Genkai, my magic; it allows me to completely assume the physiology of a dragonfly along with an echo of a dragonfly's instincts. It is my magic that allows me to travel backwards through time in order to relive up to forty-eight hours at a time and present my older selves as completely different people. It is my magic that allows me to lock away a secret so securely that those whom I do not personally reveal the secret to could look right at it and never recognize it for what it is."
"Case in point; you personally examined myself, Arashi, and Aranami during our recovery and never once consciously noted that our chakra signatures and networks were identical or that all three of us had the exact same scars. Though you might have passed off the similarities of Arashi's and Aranami's chakra signatures as being due to the fact that they were introduced to you as siblings and I did hide my scars while in my alternate forms."
"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and scanned your alternate form personally," Tsunade murmured with a touch of awe.
"You haven't hidden that ability with your magic," Shikaku interjected thoughtfully at that point as he studied Satoshi with a slight frown. "Your voice always takes on a rather formal tone and an odd rhythmic cadence when you verbally reveal one of your secrets and you didn't say a word before you changed. Why? That should have been the first thing you did after mastering such a transformation based upon your penchant for sealing away certain abilities and knowledge."
"If you think back, you'll recall that one of the two conditions that the Hokage placed upon his agreement to allow me to use the Fidelius Charm to protect Ruto-kun was that I promise not to seal away any knowledge that could have an impact upon the village without his express permission and the agreement of this council. The other condition was that I inform a specific group of individuals, most of whom are in this room, of any and all secrets that I have sealed."
"One of the exceptions to the second condition was made for the three secrets I sealed that belong to a man to whom I gave my word that I would never speak to another of the secrets I sealed on his behalf so long as he or his wife still lived and that was only because I sealed those during the process of learning the spell and made that promise before I approached the Hokage about sealing other secrets. The other exception has to do with personal secrets that will have no impact upon the village but were sealed or will potentially be sealed because the information could cause problems for me, my family, or my friends."
"And knowledge of the full extent of your abilities could potentially have an impact upon the village and therefore you chose not to seal this new ability away until you were willing to share it with those in this room and therefore could seek permission to seal it away," Shikaku surmised with a nod.
"I gave my word and I can not and will not break a promise; my magic and my honor won't allow it."
"An admirable trait and one of the reasons why I chose to promote you to captain," Sarutobi admitted as he chewed on his pipe stem as he briefly glanced at the other individuals in his office before continuing. "I will grant you permission to seal away your ability to transform yourself when you are ready to do so. In the mean time, if you could please begin your report on the circumstances that led to your exceedingly late arrival?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Satoshi replied as he clasped his hands behind his back and stood at attention before he began his report, his words clear and concise despite his whisper soft tone. "We left as scheduled on the day following your departure from Iwa in the company of Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, and Jiraiya-sama with an assigned escort of five Iwa Jounin. On the morning of our third day of travel, the day we were due to part with our assigned escort; my older selves warned me that we had been followed by a group of hostile shinobi led by the last remaining survivors of the Kamizuru Clan and that they intended to cause trouble."
Shibi sucked in a sharp breath, immediately knowing exactly what kind of trouble that clan would wish to start and his eyes scrutinized Satoshi intently before he inspected his granddaughter with equal intensity in order to make certain they were both alright. Satoshi suspected that Shino and Torune would be subjected to an inspection as well the moment his father returned home. The teen gave his father a moment to collect himself before he continued his report.
"My father had warned me that that clan might wish to seek revenge for the brutal defeat they had suffered at the hands of the Aburame Clan early on during the Third Great Shinobi War and I was therefore prepared for the potential threat they represented. Once I had learned everything that my older selves could tell me, I put together a plan to personally confront the trio since I already knew they would be unwilling to listen to reason and for the rest of the team to protect the children and round up the other shinobi involved. I informed our escort of the problem and asked that they allow us to handle the problem while setting up a place from which they could bear witness to the confrontation and ensuing battle if they wished."
Satoshi sighed and relaxed his stance as he tucked his hands back into his jacket pockets before he picked up the thread of the story, "I stood alone to wait for them to show themselves and immediately threw them off balance with a cheerful greeting and a proclamation that they were late. It didn't distract them for long but it left them unsettled enough that it allowed me to offer them a chance to walk away. They demanded that I hand Shino and Torune over to them, as they were at that point unaware that there were four Aburame in our party; a rather stupid mistake on their part since it was apparent that they hadn't bothered to do their research."
"I asked them why they wanted them and they revealed their intentions to exterminate our clan in revenge for what happened in the past. I offered them a sincere, formal apology for their losses as is my duty as the eldest heir to our clan before refusing to step out of their way or hand over my brother and cousin. They, of course, threatened to kill the entire delegation in response. I gave them another chance to walk away at that point and tried to get them to see reason, despite how angry I was over their promises to send Shino and Torune's heads back to Konoha in a box."
"It was at that point that the kunoichi of the group confirmed my suspicion that she no idea who I was, so I introduced myself. I'm afraid I got a little carried away at that point and said a bit more than I intended but it seemed appropriate at the time. I even gave them a third and final chance to walk away and warned them that I would make them regret it if they chose to attack instead. They refused and when they still insisted on fighting, I gave the signal to the others to seal the four of us inside of a barrier in order to prevent the Kamizuru from escaping or trying to outflank me in order to attack the others. I then waited for them to attack me first before I proceeded to teach them a lesson they will not soon forget."
"What did you do?" Sarutobi asked curiously as he noticed both of the Sannin present wincing slightly over the 'lesson' that Satoshi handed to the trio that attacked him.
"Our escort gave the gaki a new name," Jiraiya announced in voice that sounded both ominous and amused and Satoshi actually flinched as he dropped his eyes to the floor; a mortified blush creeping up the back of his neck as he recalled exactly what they'd called him. "They called him, Konoha no Akai Akumu."
"Oonoki referred to him as Saibankan no Akumu and Akumu no Haishin Shounen in his letter of apology," Sarutobi revealed offhandedly and Satoshi's head jerked up in shock. "It makes me curious as to what exactly happened."
"They did the unforgivable," Satoshi stated in a flat voice as he locked away his discomfort over being given two additional nicknames (nicknames acknowledged by the Tsuchikage no less) while unconsciously releasing a thin thread of killing intent as he recalled what the kunoichi had threatened to do to his daughter. "They threatened my little caterpillar."
"That doesn't exactly explain what happened," Kasai dryly pointed out.
"I lost my temper and promised them a lifetime of suffering. I cursed them after the battle."
"Oh…? Cursed them how?" Inoichi asked, the man familiar enough with Satoshi's odd turns of speech and his use of magic to know that he'd used a spell on the Kamizuru Clan members; not simply called them foul names or instructed them to perform inappropriate and impossible feats of self-degradation using colorful words.
"Before the battle started, I had promised them that I would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives," Satoshi stated tightly. "My exact words to them were; 'you will forever regret threatening my brother and my cousin but you will forever suffer for threatening my daughter'. The one man mocked me, asking me why I wasn't promising a messy or painful death and my response was that death was too good for the likes of them. 'I want you to live and suffer for a long, long time as your memory of this day forever haunts you'; that was what I told him word for word. I made my promise reality."
Everyone leaned forward expectantly as Satoshi paused briefly to beat back the rage he still felt over the entire incident. When he finally continued, his voice sounded weary in the absence of his anger, "I used an archaic spell I'd found in the library at Hogwarts one day (when I was bored) called the Dreamspeaker's Curse of Everlasting Justice. It was categorized as a dark spell towards the end of the seventeenth century due to the spell being abused and the fact that there is no counter curse for the spell; there is a way to break the curse but specific conditions must be met first. Its use was outlawed by the English Ministry of Magic at the start of the eighteenth century."
"What does the spell do?" Shibi inquired as he tucked Saki into Satoshi's arms in order to help his son maintain control of his emotions.
"It forces the person it is cast upon to relive a single memory or string of memories (whether real or artificial) each time they closed their eyes. Its original purpose was to force those guilty of committing serious crimes (such as murder and rape) to relive their crime from their victim's point of view until the day they felt true remorse for their actions and repented. In order to free themselves from the spell, they had to accept that the action linked to the memory had been wrong and feel remorse for the harm they caused or intended to cause; if they just felt sorry for themselves for getting caught but didn't regret what they'd done, the spell would remain active for the rest of their natural lives or until it drove them to suicide."
"I linked the curse to their memory of the chances I gave them to walk away, to the memory of their defeat at my hands, and to a created memory that would make them personally experience the threats they'd directed at our family; specifically their threat to Shino-kun, Torune-kun, Saki-chan, and myself. You can consider it an unending genjutsu that will activate each and every time they close their eyes. They have one chance and only one chance to break the curse; if they one day truly understand that hate and revenge are not the answer and they feel true remorse, then the curse will fall dormant and allow them to live out their lives in peace."
"However, because I wanted there to be no chance of them ever falling back into a cycle of revenge, I integrated the curse into a rune based seal that is fueled by their own chakra. The moment they begin planning and plotting against our family again or if after five years they show no signs of remorse; the curse will come back tenfold and draw on every terrible thing they've ever done and there will be no breaking the curse a second time. I could have taken it one step further and created a link that would pass the curse onto any future children they have but I do not believe the sins of the father should fall upon the son."
"I think you've spent far too much time around those assigned to the Torture and Interrogation Department," Kasai bluntly stated.
"I think I assigned the wrong Aburame to the Interrogation Department," Sarutobi countered with a snort.
"I think he's troublesome enough as he is now… can you imagine how much worse he'd be if Inoichi, Ibiki, or Anko had a chance to get their hands on the gaki and permission to train him as an interrogator?" Shikaku interjected lazily.
"I will have extra time on my hands now since my little termites have all been promoted and will most likely be assigned assorted tasks about the village," Satoshi thoughtfully pointed out and all of the adults in the room (bar Tsunade and Shizune who didn't know him well enough to know how frightening a bored Satoshi could be) blanched as they considered the implications of that statement.
"Sarutobi, if you even think of cutting him free from Team Four; I will quit, move out of the village, and leave you to train my replacement," Kasai threatened half in jest and half in all seriousness.
"Ditto," Shikaku piped in lazily.
"What they said," Inoichi added as he raised his hand and jerked his thumb in the direction of the other two.
"I'd eat my hat and set fire to the Hokage Monument before I did anything so foolish," Sarutobi dryly pointed out, much to Satoshi's chagrin and Shibi's amusement. "Team Four, regardless of their individual ranks, work far too well together as they are for me to split them up now. I can and will, however, start assigning them a few of the more difficult missions that I've avoided sending them on before all four of them were promoted; the added experience will do the three younger members good."
"In fact, I think I will assign Teams One, Two, and Four to Division Sixteen under the command of Aburame-teichou and send the three of them out on a few of the larger missions in order to give my new captain some additional experience. I may even include a couple of the teams that graduated last year (such as Team Three and Team Nine) despite the fact that they are still Genin at this point."
"So you are preparing for a war… or at least a serious attack on Konoha," Satoshi murmured insightfully. "I suspected something along those lines when I noted that you were sending out thirty-five teams of Genin to compete in the offered exams of four different villages. It also explains why you were so determined to mend fences with Iwa; to reduce the chance of them adding to the trouble."
"There are whispers and rumors that… worry me," Sarutobi admitted with a slight nod. "I won't go into details now because I will be assembling the entire council to discuss matters in a couple of days now that you are here; as a captain you will be required to attend. I expect the two of you to stick around long enough to attend that meeting as well."
The Sandaime gestured to Jiraiya and Tsunade with his pipe as he added the last part and both of the Hokage's former students grimaced and reluctantly nodded to indicate that they would be there; no one refused a direct order from the Hokage unless they had a damned good reason.
"There's also the matter of my successor to settle in the event that something happens to me; I'm not getting any younger after all. The only candidates I am willing to consider at this time are in this room with the exception of one or two young men I know that could be entrusted with the village's health and safety."
"If there is nothing else you need from me, Hokage-sama, I'll excuse myself so that you might discuss the succession of your office freely as I'm certain you weren't including myself or my daughter in the list of candidates you mentioned," Satoshi offered after taking in the grim expressions on the faces of the older shinobi present.
"You are half correct," Sarutobi agreed with a soft snort. "I was not referring to your daughter though I am certain she'd be able to handle the paperwork without a problem and while there's no doubt that she'll grow up to be a talented kunoichi should she choose to follow in your footsteps; she is a bit too young to be named Hokage any time soon. You, on the other hand, while young and inexperienced, are very much a potential candidate to take my place; provided you receive proper training. Minato-kun was only five or six years older than you are right now when he took office, after all."
Satoshi was bewildered beyond words by the Hokage's declaration and more than a little humbled that the man could sit there and compare him to the Yondaime Hokage; a man Satoshi had respected (mostly just because the man had earned Kushina's love and admiration). Satoshi had never aspired to the position of Hokage and if he was ever offered a choice, he'd turn it down in a heartbeat; he just couldn't see himself trying to run an entire village. He loved Konoha, it was his home, and he was willing to die to protect the village but his duty was to his clan and to his family first and foremost.
"You needn't look so frightened, Satoshi-kun," Sarutobi gently assured him. "While I believe you will one day have what it takes to become Hokage, I don't see you following me to become the Godaime. That said, I would be a fool not to prepare you for any eventuality and that applies to the rest of you as well. Ideally, I see one of my students becoming Godaime but Jiraiya will refuse on the grounds that it will hinder his research and I suspect that Tsunade would much rather return to her nomad's life."
Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade said anything to confirm or refute the Sandaime's statement; they were both far too busy analyzing the man's blatant declaration that he considered Satoshi a viable candidate as a future Hokage. Jiraiya, having trained Satoshi on more than one occasion and having worked with him several times since he'd joined the AnBu Corps, knew full well the eighteen year old held a wealth of untapped potential; much as Namikaze Minato had at the same age.
He also knew that Satoshi's photographic memory and his organizational skills would make him a formidable leader should he receive the right training. Tsunade on the other hand, could not see what was so special about Satoshi (though she acknowledged the potential his Kekkei Genkai posed) and it added yet another layer to the mysteries that surrounded him. It actually made her hands itch for a chance to get her hands on him long enough to make him answer each and every one of her questions.
"I think I've given you enough to think about for the moment and we've gotten off track once more," Sarutobi stated when the silence had dragged out for several minutes. "Satoshi-kun, earlier you mentioned that the delay in the delegation's return was due to the fact that you personally were indisposed; am I to assume that your indisposition was a direct result of your battle? How seriously were you injured?"
"I was not injured in the battle beyond a few cuts and bruises," Satoshi replied. "The problem was that I over exhausted myself in my anger during the battle on top of the physical stress my body and magical core were suffering from due to the fact that I carelessly forced myself to live through six months over the course of a two month period."
"I usually remember to set aside a period of time where I only live through those hours or days once and because I was worried about something going wrong, I ignored my growing exhaustion and continued to pile on the stress as well as the extra time. Even if I had not pushed myself during the battle, I still would have ended up in a state of severe exhaustion due to the amount of time I turned. It will be several months before it will be safe for me to even consider going back for an hour, let alone a full day twice."
"What he failed to mention is that he was also hit with no less than fifty senbon coated with a lethal poison; more than enough to kill a grown man ten times over," Shizune drawled irritably.
"Don't forget the fact that he went and soaked himself to the bone before pushing himself through the day two more times and as a result ended up giving himself a nasty cold on top of his exhaustion," Jiraiya unhelpfully supplied.
"I was just trying to wash away the blood," Satoshi softly stated as he cast a single, pointed glance at Tsunade (who went a little pale at the mention of blood) before letting his gaze trail to Shizune's angry face. "Not the smartest move but my older selves were trying to prevent me from using a more costly spell to clean myself; which could have done far worse damage than just give me a cold."
"And the poison would not have done more than make you a little ill," Shibi stated as he was very familiar with his son's ability to filter toxins from his blood.
"Why is that? Does it have something to do with your… magic?" Shizune inquired before muttering, "You have no idea how weird it feels referring to your Kekkei Genkai that way."
"I'm well aware of how weird it sounds but I've had my entire life to get used to the concept," Satoshi countered with a wry smile. "And yes, it has something to do with magic; just not my magic. It's a rather long and involved story that would take days to properly explain but the basics are that my body developed the ability to filter toxins from my blood the moment they enter my bloodstream due to something that happened when I was twelve. My Kikaichu developed a similar ability around the same time that makes them immune to poisons as well."
"How long were you disabled?" Sarutobi asked to bring the conversation back to the original topic once more.
"It was five days before I was fit for travel and even then I was incapable of doing much; Kakashi and Naruto took turns creating the Kage Bunshin that posed as Arashi and Aranami right up until this morning. My slow recovery basically limited us to traveling at a civilian's pace for the remainder of the way home. It'll be another week before my body has finished recovering from the physical backlash and at least another two weeks before my core has completely recovered. In the mean time, my current levels are roughly sitting at fifty-eight percent of what they normally would be."
"I want you to make an appointment with Kanpou before the week is out," Sarutobi ordered in a voice that demanded obedience. "You will be placed on medical leave until he gives you clearance to return to active duty."
"Wakatta, Hokage-sama," Satoshi replied with more than a little relief as he knew he'd need the down time to finish recouping.
"As soon as you are able, I want you to provide us with a copy of your memory of your encounter with the Kamizuru Clan so that we may review the incident," Sarutobi continued after he eyed the teen to make certain he wasn't just offering lip service in response to the order.
"Today would be pushing it but I could ask Padfoot or Moony to withdraw a copy of it for you first thing tomorrow morning."
"Won't that put you at risk?" Inoichi asked with concern.
"Chigau, only if I was to try and pull it myself; asking one of my oji to pull it for me means that they will be the ones to expend the magic required to copy the memory while all I need to do is concentrate on the memory being copied."
"Then plan for tomorrow evening and we will meet within the Aburame Compound to view the memory to spare you the need to make an extra trip," Sarutobi declared as he raked his eyes up and down Satoshi. "You look half dead on your feet as it is and you've only been standing here for about an hour and a half."
"It was a long day's march and I probably shouldn't have used my animagus form," Satoshi agreed without hesitation though his voice had a slight undercurrent of frustration; he hated the fact that he wasn't yet fully recovered even if it wasn't unexpected given how hard he'd pushed himself.
"Then I won't keep you much longer," Sarutobi assured him as he picked up a bundle of scrolls that were tied together with a rather fancy brown silk ribbon edged with gold. "Oonoki informed me that these were yours to distribute as you see fit amidst your clan and I will keep your new summoning contract secured in the Hokage's Vault until you find a summoner that is interested in signing it."
Satoshi silently accepted the scroll bundle and tucked it into his pocket without a word; he fully intended to hand them over to his father for safe keeping and distribution after he browsed through them. He also had no problems with the Hokage securing the Summoning Contract because he had no intention of signing another contract but he thought maybe one of his termites might wish to sign a contract and while he already knew that Jiraiya intended for Naruto to eventually sign the Toad Contract; that left Hinata, Shino, Torune, Shin, Sai, Haku, and Kimimaro without and he doubted they would all wish to be contracted to the same creature.
Hinata, he knew, was actually interested in signing the dragonfly contract (she had never forgotten the one that had helped rescue her from her kidnapper) and Torune had always eyed the scorpions with interest. The bees would be good for Shino if he wished while Sai would do better with a water based creature. He wasn't certain if Shin would ever have enough chakra to summon a boss and fully activate the contract but he'd at least be able to call upon the lesser summonses if he needed to. He also had no idea what animals would compliment the two orphans he'd rescued from Kiri, though that wouldn't stop him from searching on their behalf.
"Go get some rest, Gaichuu," Kasai ordered fondly.
"Hai, hai, okaasama kuma," Satoshi cheekily shot back before he bowed to the Hokage and headed to the door.
"Impertinent brat," Kasai growled with a laugh.
Translations: Japanese to English
Gaki – brat
Hai – yes
Iie – no
Mizu no Kuni – Water Country
Okaasama kuma – mother bear (combining the more formal okaasama for mother instead of okaasan and kuma meaning bear); though I'm sure I wrote it out incorrectly and probably needed to add a 'no' in there at some point.
Wakatta – I understand/understood
Nicknames:
Akumu no Haishin Shounen – Nightmare's Delivery Boy
Konoha no Akai Akumu – Konoha's Red Nightmare
Saibankan no Akumu – Nightmare's Judge
AN: Obviously there were quite a few more canon changes in this chapter; what with Tsunade following the delegation home instead of making Jiraiya and Naruto fetch her back to the village. And while Satoshi was part of the reason why she followed them, it wasn't just him; since she had noted that two of his Genin had received double promotions (so she was curious about Naruto & Hinata as well). And as I noted in the story, if Tsuande had known that Naruto existed, she would have come back just to see him at least once; meaning that Naruto would have had a greater pull if she'd known exactly who he was to her.
Anyway, the next chapter pretty much picks right up from where this one left off. ~ Jenn