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 30: Securing the Lines of Succession
"Shibi-san, would you please stay for a moment, there are a few things I wish to discuss with you. Tsunade, Jiraiya; I'd like the two of you to stay as well," Sarutobi stated as the other department heads began following in Satoshi's wake.
Satoshi automatically pulled the Kikaichu he always left with his father and set them to wait outside of the Hokage's office for when the Sandaime finished with him. Inoichi and Shikaku fell in step beside the shorter Jounin as Satoshi headed for home and his bed, the two older men determined to make certain that he made it home without any trouble since they knew he was in no condition to properly defend himself and his daughter at the moment.
"I'll let Kanpou know to come check on you first thing in the morning," Inoichi stated as Satoshi climbed the short flight of steps leading up to his front porch some twenty minutes later.
"Arigatou, Inoichi."
"Get some rest, Satoshi-kun," Shikaku urged before both men turned to leave.
Satoshi waved one last time before he slipped inside the house. Once inside, he called for Pinny and Dobby to take care of his daughter for a couple of hours (to give her a bath, offer her a snack, and play with her for a bit) so he could get some much needed rest. He ruffled more than a few heads of hair as he walked through the living room, an endless sea of multicolored heads surrounding the nine that had gone to Iwa with him as they spoke of their experiences. Normally, they'd have begged him to stick around and tell them a few stories as well but those that had gone to Iwa had solemnly revealed that Satoshi was still recovering from a full out three on one battle that he'd fought alone.
Back up in the Hokage Tower, Shibi frowned at his leader; a man he greatly respected and rarely ever criticized and a man his father had respected and admired when he was still alive. He knew the man was plotting something but he wasn't certain of what it was or if it would have a negative impact on his family or his clan at some point in the future. Unhappy and uncertain, Shibi crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the other kunai to drop.
"Oh relax, Shibi, I'm not about to steal your son away from you or lead him astray," Sarutobi chided as he emptied the bowl of his pipe and inspected it for any signs of ink before he filled it with a fresh pinch of dried tobacco leaves; he had not forgotten the ink in his pipe from the last time he'd had both Satoshi and his daughter in his office.
"But you are plotting something, ne?"
"There is a storm coming, Shibi, and I fear that if I don't do something now, then there will be nothing left of Konoha by the time it is over. I'm not getting any younger and those who will follow in my footsteps aren't prepared because I foolishly thought that I'd have more than enough time to do what needed to be done. Like it or not, your oldest son is a loadstone and all of the children he has gathered to him are keystones; without them, we will be lost and the village will crumble beneath our feet. Everyone has a part to play and he's just one of the few that will inevitably to play a leading roll."
"What is it you want from my son?"
"I want to entrust him with the knowledge that will help the fires of Konoha burn brightly through the coming flood," Sarutobi stated earnestly as he learned forward. "Your son is a rare and remarkable individual; he does not seek power for himself, his sense of honor and fairness is untarnished, his trust (once given) is absolute, his loyalty (once earned) is unwavering, and he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. Even when angered, he does not cross the line that would taint his soul; and we both know how close he'd come to stepping onto the path that would have led him straight into the abyss. He tasted the corruption of that dark power and knew it for what it was without anyone having to tell him and knew without a doubt that he never wanted a second taste."
"I'm listening," Shibi slowly offered as he uncrossed his arms and tucked his hands into his pockets.
"I would like your permission to apprentice Satoshi to the village."
"What exactly would that mean for my son? How exactly would that work?"
"It would mean that he would be trained by all of the department heads over the course of the next few years; learning the ins and outs of each of their positions so that in the event that key people are lost over the course of the storm, there will still be someone who could hold the village together and help train the next generation to step forward to take their rightful places. When you take his remarkable memory, his exceptional organizational skills, and his unconscious desire to be needed you get a young man whose potential is limitless and in time he could become indispensable; which means he would always have a purpose to keep him grounded."
"You have my permission to ask him if he would be interested in your offer," Shibi finally allowed after giving the matter careful consideration. "Whether or not he will accept is entirely up to him though. I suggest you be completely honest and up front with him about what you want from him and why; because, while his loyalty is unwavering and his trust is absolute, nether one is unending. Should he loose faith in you; he will turn his back on you, walk away, and never look back. And if you think I'm over exaggerating, I would suggest you think back to what happened at the end of his fifth and final mission to the Outside; when he cut ties with an entire society because they turned on him after he'd risked everything to save them from a madman of their own making."
"I have always tried to be upfront and honest with your son, Shibi," Sarutobi softly stated. "He is a remarkably perceptive young man and it has always been pointless withholding information from him without a damned good reason and attempting to feed him lies would have been met with outright hostility. Jiraiya, are you still planning to take Naruto-kun as your apprentice on his thirteenth birthday?"
"Hai, I've already taught him quite a few things over the past year and a half and he is receptive to the idea of receiving further training, if a little leery of leaving the village for an extended time," Jiraiya confirmed with a nod. "He's a quick learner providing you teach him by example and not through lectures or books. Satoshi-kun did a good job of drilling the basics into his head and established a solid foundation which can be easily and safely built upon without fear of creating any cracks."
"The troublesome gaki even managed to teach the kid how to balance his skills so that he could easily fit into any role in whatever team he is assigned to; even as a field medic since he taught or had someone else teach all of the children basic first aide. I'm seriously contemplating allowing Naruto to sign the Toad Contract before I leave as a reward for his performance in the recent exams and in light of his recent promotions. Satoshi is more than competent enough to teach him the basic hand seals used in summoning and how to regulate his chakra to summon specific individuals. That reminds me, did you know that your brat of a son is capable of summoning the scorpion boss, Shibi?"
"Yes, he first summoned him when he was fourteen; in front of close to five thousand witnesses in order to subdue a fully grown dragon he was forced to face in a magical Tournament that could be equated to the Jounin Exams; only you have to be selected to participate and there are typically only three individuals selected every seven years – one each from three schools. Kakashi told me that Sorigayui subdued the dragon long enough to allow my son to retrieve the prize he was supposed to steal from the creature and because Satoshi had requested permission through a lesser summons first before summoning the giant scorpion, Sorigayui didn't demand a tribute or make Satoshi take an impossible test in order to obtain the right to summon him in the future."
"Really?" Jiraiya asked incredulously. "Why ever not?"
"Apparently, Sorigayui was impressed that a summoner had politely requested permission to call upon him first, instead of rudely pulling him from whatever he was doing at the time just to do his bidding. Satoshi has always treated all of his summonses as equals and never demanded that they serve him; asking them for their help and offering them various payments in advance. If he doesn't have the payment on him, he never forgets to call them back once he has it in order to give it to them along with a little something extra as an apology for being late. He even caters to their whims and wishes on occasion; so long as they don't go against Satoshi's morals."
"I take it he made a similar arrangement with the others?" Sarutobi inquired blandly; referring Satoshi's second contract with the dragonflies.
"Hai," Shibi confirmed. "He's only summoned them each a handful of times since his fourth year Outside and never inside of the village since he didn't want to create a panic or allow rumors to spread about his ability to summon the larger individuals since he likes having a trump card."
"I dare say he's got more aces hidden up his sleeves than a professional card cheat," Jiraiya muttered in reply as he crossed his arms and near pouted. "Every time I cross paths with him, he's got some new trick. And worse, he passed that trait onto those little termites of his."
"The impudent brat had the gall to tell me that someone had to train the next generation on how to properly keep us old folks on their toes," Sarutobi groused with a measure of fondness. "Right after he apologized for that adorable little daughter of his ruining my Hokage Robes. I still don't know how she managed to get her hands on that open bottle of ink that was sitting on the far side of my desk while I was holding her in my lap."
"Probably the same way she got her hands on an unopened jar of sweet and sour sauce and somehow managed to paint every surface in the kitchen below the three foot mark with the sticky red sauce when there shouldn't have been enough sauce in a single jar to coat even a third of the surfaces she covered. I still don't know how she even opened the jar in the first place."
"If there had ever been any doubts that Satoshi-kun was her father; her ability to find trouble when she is bored would have erased every last one of them," Sarutobi declared with a slight grin and a head shake. "As amusing as it is to discuss all of the trouble those two have managed to get into, we've gotten a little sidetracked yet again. Jiraiya, how long are you planning to stay in the village for the time being?"
"No more than a week or two, why?"
"I'd like for you to be the first to train Satoshi since you are here now and you only visit the village a handful of times a year. I know you've taught him quite a bit over the years but you've mostly stuck to fuuinjutsu and whatever else you taught him prior to the Jounin Exams; not the ins and outs of your position as Konoha's Spy Master. I'm also aware that you were given a secure way to exchange letters with Naruto-kun and can, through those methods, provide Satoshi with written information to continue his training from a distance."
"I can do that so long as you make certain to tell Torifu that it was your idea; that old bear nearly took my head off the one time I suggested that Satoshi-kun would make a magnificent Spy Master towards the tail end of that Root disaster a couple years ago."
"Don't worry about Torifu or any of the other department heads; they have given me their full support. They also know I'm looking to prepare him for the role of an advisor or an elite training instructor and unanimously approved as each of them had been more than a little disgruntled that they hadn't had an equal opportunity to approach the lad before I handed him to Torifu on a silver platter – their words, not mine."
"When did you want me to start?"
"My son hasn't yet agreed to accept additional training as of yet," Shibi dryly reminded the two older men.
"I intend to ask him prior to the council meeting I'm calling, that way, if he agrees, he can sit down with us after the meeting to work out a schedule," Sarutobi stated for Shibi's sake and to let Jiraiya know he'd have an answer for him in a couple of days. "It would be best if you were present during that time as well, Shibi, since I know he will wish to seek your council in regards to my offer." He then turned his attention to Tsunade who was leaning against the wall, silently staring out at the village through the window. "Tsunade?"
"Nani, sensei?" Tsunade asked in response without turning around.
"Will you stay?"
"I don't know. I don't really know why I am here other than I felt compelled to follow. I will stay long enough to meet Kushina's son but after that…? I couldn't say. Why do you ask?"
"Furofuki has stated a desire to retire so she can dedicate her remaining time to botanical research; which means that I will soon find myself in need of a new Medical Director for Konoha's Hospital. If you have no wish to take up the Hokage's Hat in my place; I'd like you to at least consider replacing Furofuki. The only other two medics I would consider don't have any where near the level of experience that you have and it would mean pulling one of the hospital's more capable medics off the floor and stuffing them in an office."
"Twenty or thirty years ago I would have jumped at the chance to become the Medical Director," Tsunade confessed as she finally turned around to face her former sensei; one hand fiddling with the pendant that hung around her neck. "That was one of the dreams that I'd lost sight of when I lost Dan. Now…? Now it is a position better suited for someone like Shizune who is still driven by a desire to heal. As for taking your hat and trying to following in your footsteps…? I don't know. I never wanted to be the Hokage; that was Nawaki's and Dan's dream."
"I understand and I will try not to push you," Sarutobi stated softly. "Would you at least consider staying long enough to pass along some of the stories your grandmother told you about Konoha's early years; specifically, stories about your grandfather? I also know you have a wealth of medical knowledge that I would hate to see lost if something should happen to you and while Satoshi-kun isn't a trained medic he has the capacity to learn anything he puts his mind to along with the ability to teach another what he has himself learned."
"I don't need or want another apprentice," Tsunade grumbled and folded her arms and half glared at the Hokage. "One apprentice is trouble enough."
"I only asked you to consider passing along some of your knowledge; not take him in as your apprentice," Sarutobi countered with a soft chuckle. "Keep in mind; just agreeing to share the stories your grandmother once shared with you would give you a legitimate reason to spend time close to him if you are still looking to get the rest of your questions answered. I also know that he has a wealth of information on magical healing methods; including recipes for potions that are effective in booting a person's internal healing."
A brief flitter of interest crossed Tsunade's face before she adopted a bored look and hummed noncommittally beneath her breath. Shibi pursed his lips over the expert bit of subtle manipulation he'd just witnessed and wondered if he'd made the correct decision in allowing the Hokage the chance to follow through with his insane plot to make Satoshi an apprentice of the entire village.
He trusted his son to make his own decisions and knew Satoshi would not make any rash decisions without giving them careful consideration but dangling knowledge in front of his son was like dangling a carrot in front of a starving mule. Satoshi loved learning new things almost as much as he loved teaching and he approached mysteries with the same determination that Tsunade did; only he wasn't as obvious in his perusal and often unraveled the entire mystery before the owner even knew someone was after it.
"Well, if there is nothing else," Sarutobi declared as he glanced at all three individuals who shook their heads no. "Then I will bid you good evening so that I might spend a few hours with my grandson before sending him off to bed."
Satoshi reluctantly opened his eyes as he felt tiny little hands tugging on his hair and felt familiar sloppy kisses being placed on his cheek, nose, and chin. Reaching up, Satoshi poked his daughter in the tummy a couple of times; drawing several giggles from the perpetually happy toddler. He then snagged her with both arms and cuddled with her for a moment, his eyes drifting shut once more as he buried his nose in his daughter's hair and allowed himself to revel over the knowledge that they were safe and finally home; where they belonged. Saki tolerated the quiet moment for all of ten seconds before she began wiggling her way free of Satoshi's arms and babbling out her demands.
"Papa, papa play! Papa up… Papa play! Play, papa, play!"
"Papa sleeping…" Satoshi countered as he let out a fake snore.
"No! No sleep! Papa play."
He growled playfully just before he pounced on his daughter and began tickling her tummy even as he showered her face with butterfly kisses. Saki alternately squealed with pleasure and giggled loudly as her little hands fought to stop both the tickling and the kisses at the same time. She eventually escaped under the covers and dropped off the side of the bed as Satoshi sat up and tugged the sheet and blanket off of her. Saki laughed shrilly as she backed away; her two-toned eyes sparkling with joy as Satoshi prepared to give chase.
The second his first foot touched the floor, she shrieked and took off towards the door. Satoshi let her get halfway across the room before he jumped after her and she squealed loudly as he swept her up into his arms again and blew raspberries on the side of her neck and on her tummy. He then hung her upside down after wrapping his arm around her stomach and headed to the kitchen to grab himself something to eat; Saki laughing loudly the entire time as she tried to turn herself around. The two of them didn't even make it out of the hallway before they were attacked by seven pairs of hands intent on rescuing Saki and properly greeting Satoshi.
Saki laughed and clapped happily as Satoshi escaped the trap by running up the wall and planting himself on the ceiling, his daughter now right side up as she peered down at the grinning faces of her many uncles. Shibi entered the fray and thwacked each of the children on the back of the head and ordered them to take the rough housing outside before he snagged his granddaughter out of Satoshi's arms and left Satoshi to fend for himself. Satoshi laughed nervously as the seven boys spread out and their grins turned slightly feral now that Satoshi no longer had Saki shielding him. After a moment, he let himself fall to the ground where he exploded into thousands of Kikaichu to the groans of the younger boys; he'd managed to replace himself with a clone without them even noticing.
In the kitchen, the real Satoshi laughed softly as he leisurely enjoyed a bowl of yogurt and fresh fruit. He'd actually sent the clone after his daughter in the first place; anticipating that the boys would try to catch him because it was a game they'd played since Saki had turned eight months old. It was, aside from being fun, a practical application of all the training he'd given them over the years and so far they'd never once attempted to catch him with the same trap twice. They'd also not yet managed to catch him though they had on occasion managed to steal Saki away from him before he stole her right back.
There were only three rules; never allow any harm to befall Saki, no using any trick or technique that would damage the house or anything in the house, and under no circumstances involve Shibi (the older man had soundly thrashed them all the one time they'd mistakenly caught him in one their traps). Shibi was also the only one allowed to extract Saki from the equation which always left Satoshi open to a wider range of attacks.
"One of these days they are going to make you suffer for the many tricks you've used to escape them," Shibi declared as he walked into the kitchen eight minutes later carrying a still giggling Saki in his arms.
"Hnn…" Satoshi hummed around another bit of yogurt. He then pulled the spoon out of his mouth and waggled it at his father as he declared, "They have to catch us first."
"True," 'Shibi' said as he passed Saki to Satoshi before he dropped the henge he'd been wearing to reveal yet another of Satoshi's clones. "I sat her on the potty before I brought her back to you. She also knew I wasn't her jijii as she kept calling me papa."
"That's a new trick," Satoshi mused as the clone shattered into bugs before his Kikaichu returned to him.
"What's a new trick?" Shibi (the real one) asked as he made his way into the kitchen from the direction of the living room, where he'd spent the last hour in his office going over paperwork.
"Saki apparently has developed the ability to distinguish between one of my clones wearing a henge to look like you and the real you as she knew my clone wasn't you just now."
"Oh…? Do you know how she managed it?"
"No, but I didn't see the skirmish unfolding as I'd been in here already while I had a clone keeping Saki occupied and happy when the termites ambushed them in the hallway. I also haven't bothered checking the memories of my swarm yet. Although, if I had to guess, I would say that it was possible that she had seen the second clone form and apply the henge."
"Possibly, or it might be the fact that all of your clones carry an echo of your chakra and she's learned to recognize your chakra because of the connection you formed to keep her chakra network active and growing through the years."
"True."
"Are you feeling any better? I know you don't look quite so gray now."
"Much better, the nap did me good though I hadn't quite planned on sleeping through the night and half the morning. I'm actually surprised someone didn't come wake me sooner."
"I asked them not to wake you until ten once it was apparent you were going to sleep through the night," Shibi explained as he pushed a plate holding banana slices, strawberry quarters, and grape halves in front of Saki where she would be able to reach the fruit after he'd seen her picking the fruit out of her father's breakfast. "Kanpou said he'd stop by about eleven to give you a once over and the Hokage sent a formal summons for you to attend the council meeting tomorrow. He requested that you join him in his office an hour before the meeting is due to start and not to make any plans for the rest of the day since he wasn't certain just how long the meeting was going to last."
"Sounds like fun," Satoshi muttered with just a trace of sarcasm. "Is everyone still coming over this evening to view my memory of my encounter with the Kamizuru Clan?"
"Yes, Remus said he'd swing by after lunch to pull a copy of the memory for you and Sirius expressed an interest in watching both the Tournament and the battle."
"I don't think there's anything in any of those memories that they wouldn't be allowed to view so I don't think the Hokage will kick them out. I think they would enjoy watching the preliminaries too, since it would give them a chance to see all of the kids in action; even those that did not make it into the Tournament."
"We'd like to see the matches from the preliminaries and the Tournament as well," Shin declared as the boys finally checked the kitchen in their attempts to hunt down Satoshi.
"I'd like a chance to see your battle with that trio of weirdos from a better point of view," Naruto added as he snagged a grape half out of Saki's fingers and then teasingly made to eat it before plopping it in her mouth. "We were too far away to see most of it clearly."
"Shall I start selling tickets to the rest of the village, tousan?" Satoshi asked with a touch of exasperation as he rescued his bowl of yogurt from the blonde next.
"Dobby can make popping corn and snacks for plenty of guests," Dobby proclaimed as he popped into the kitchen with Pinny to start preparations for lunch.
"Pinny will make tea and punch for drinking."
Satoshi snorted and grinned at the two elves, both of whom had thrived since joining the family, and allowed his thoughts to wander over how much of a difference the elves had made in his life. Dobby had been an irritant in the beginning until Satoshi had tricked the elf (read stolen) from the Malfoy family and was subsequently tricked into bonding with the newly freed elf immediately afterwards.
The excitable elf had then quickly made himself invaluable by providing a wealth of information about Voldemort's Death Eaters (thanks to the connections his previous family had had to the Dark Lord and many pureblood families). He had also taught Satoshi a considerable amount about the various sentient magical species that the wizards overlooked or repressed; which was how Satoshi had managed to form a working partnership with the goblins.
Pinny had quickly integrated herself into every aspect of their lives with the adaptability that only a newly bonded young elf can achieve. She'd also been a godsend in helping Satoshi care for his daughter over the past twenty-one months as the instinctual memories she'd inherited from her ancestors allowed her to help him deal with those issues strictly related to raising a magical child when they cropped up. Something he had little to no experience with since he'd slept through most of his infancy and therefore had not retained memories of things that had happened while he was sleeping or only had incoherent memories of if he'd been sick enough that it skewed his perception at the time.
Surprisingly, Dobby had been far more accepting of Pinny's help despite the earlier reticence he'd displayed when he'd learned that Satoshi might bond with more elves. It helped that Pinny admired Dobby for the part the older elf had played in securing her a large (and growing) family with which to bond. The other fifteen elves that he'd taken in three weeks after he accepted custody of his daughter had quickly integrated themselves into his family and life in Konoha as well.
Most of those elves spent a third of their time performing as private messengers transporting sensitive documents. Their services were currently contracted to both the Hokage and the Fire Daimyou through the messenger business Satoshi had created explicitly to provide the elves with additional work. It was through the elves that the Hokage had contacted the Fire Daimyou about the new treaty that had just been signed between Iwa and Konoha (and the extended one between Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni).
Another third of their time was spent helping Dobby in the Aburame greenhouses; of which there were now three as their help had allowed the clan to further expand the numbers and types of insects that they raised and housed to augment their swarms. The final third of their time was split helping Neville raise magical plants or helping Luna to take care of the various creatures living on her Wildlife Preserve (which had a collection of both magical and mundane creatures; though not all of them were raised for the potion ingredients that could be harvested from them).
Satoshi actually still owned the land upon which the preserve had been built though he'd 'leased' it to Luna in exchange for a small portion of the products she gathered instead of for cash (taking his payment in acromantula silk, feathers from various magical birds, demiguise fur, and shed dragon claws, teeth, and scales). He also earned a small portion of the profits she made selling her products as she'd insisted he hold fifteen percent ownership of the Preserve in exchange for the money he'd fronted to help her get started, the elves he'd supplied to help her care for all of the creatures (she'd only been able to bond five personally), and the fact that he'd helped her establish herself and build a solid reputation for selling high quality goods.
Satoshi owned an equal percentage of the Longbottom Gardens for much of the same reasons, though Neville had purchased the land himself. It had taken close to two years for Neville to build the vast greenhouses that would hold the rarer plants that required specific conditions, prepare the fields to support the hardier plants, and establish the necessary climates within the greenhouses. Satoshi had helped Neville to stay afloat during that period after the Longbottom Heir had used his family's entire fortune to purchase the land, buy building materials, and import seeds, bulbs, seedlings, and cuttings from rare and expensive plants (both magical and mundane) from around the world. Satoshi had also seen to it that the hospital bills for the care of Neville's parents were paid so that the former aurors received the best of care; something Neville greatly appreciated.
Similar arrangements had been made with Boot's Potionarium (though Satoshi only owned ten percent of the business), the business that Terry and Hermione had started that was a potion supply house and an apothecary rolled into one. The Boots (Hermione and Terry had married two years after their move to Konoha) had helped both Neville and Luna get established before they opened their planned store; so they could purchase eighty percent of their potion ingredients and stock from their friends while importing the other twenty percent from reputable businesses world wide.
Hermione and Terry also both taught basic potions at both the shinobi academy (to aspiring medics) and at the hospital (for those medics interested in exploring the healing potions thanks to Satoshi's curing of Shin's Sclerosis). They limited the potions they taught to those that didn't require active magic to brew and the simple healing draughts, elixirs, ointments, and creams that didn't require an assortment of spells to assist with the healing; so basically just those that could be used as basic first aide. When Cho finally joined Cedric this summer, the Boots would begin stocking the more advanced medical potions so the young Mediwitch would have them on hand.
The Weasleys' store, which they'd called Weasley's Wonderments and Wheezes, had done so well in the two and a half years since Satoshi's Jounin Exam that they now had three stores; the original one in Konoha, one in the Fire Country's capital city, and one in Tanzaku Gai (near the old Tanzaku Castle). Adam Summerby had taken a job with the Weasleys once he turned sixteen and now ran their Tanzaku Gai store for them; the teen had decided that he enjoyed meeting new people and creating a small line of his own inventions far more than he liked the idea of coaching after helping out at the store for a couple of weeks during the summer he first arrived.
Lee Jordan, the twin's long time friend and fellow Gryffindor (who'd spent two years announcing professional Quidditch games before he decided to join the twins in Konoha), ran the newest store in the capital city during the day and hosted a radio program at night. Satoshi actually owned a full quarter of the Triple W (as Fred and George fondly nicknamed their stores), as did Lee, while the twins owned half. The twins had insisted on that arrangement since Satoshi contributed financially and creatively to the business and acted as their primary tester and product researcher out in the field. Lee, on the other hand, was their official promotional agent (airing commercials for the Triple W during his radio program) and he also collected customer satisfaction surveys, suggestions, and complaints that he summarized and passed along to the twins so they could improve their products.
The rest of the magicals that had come with Satoshi had done well for themselves too. Hannah ran a small pre-school slash daycare that taught the children reading and writing (in several languages including Japanese, English, French, German, and Spanish) and simple maths. Dora and Susan had both put together a proposal for a civilian based police force and presented it to the Hokage and the council and succeeded in getting both the permission and funding; much to the ire of the only surviving Uchiha who felt the two women had stolen his family's legacy and position.
Not that there was anything that Sasuke could've done to prevent it since he couldn't run the police force by himself and even if he could it would have meant giving up his desire for revenge on Itachi over the Uchiha Massacre. The Konoha Police Station would officially reopen this coming summer; the past two years mainly spent training the new recruits (most of whom had been aspiring shinobi that hadn't earned their hitai-ate for one reason or another), designing and purchasing new uniforms, and completely gutting and refurbishing the old station.
Brandon and Cedric were both still actively playing Quidditch and would be until their current contracts were up in four more years; though they both now had firm plans for their eventual retirement. Brandon already had a coaching position waiting for him at the Shinobi Academy (thanks to the volunteer coaching he'd done after hours at the Academy during his yearly visits that had garnered considerable interest in the various sports he'd introduced). Cedric on the other hand, had decided that he would join the Police Force in an administrative capacity and to provide an extra wand when the need arose.
Remus worked part time with the Police Force teaching the new recruits the ins and outs of Konoha's various laws and the new procedures that Dora and Susan had written. The rest of the time the old werewolf taught German, Spanish, and French at the daycare or helped Hermione and Terry teach potions when they needed an extra set of eyes to watch their students to prevent explosions or other disasters. His week of down time around the full moons was spent in a specially warded room beneath his house in the Aburame Compound (usually with Sirius for company) that would keep him in and everyone else out.
Sirius had managed to catch Inuzuka Tsume's eye when she learned he could transform himself into a dog and he'd quickly integrated himself into her family and clan after proving himself capable of handling the various ninken breeds that the clan raised (thanks in part to the years he'd spent dealing with a fully grown werewolf by himself after he'd moved to Konoha). Satoshi's godfather had also managed to help the Aburame Clan mend fences with the Inuzuka Clan after eight years of near tense relations between the two clans due to quite a few of the Inuzuka blaming Satoshi for Toshiro's suicide (because Satoshi had been the one to crudely amputate his leg and had not saved his ninken).
Sirius had even managed to gain the affection of Tsume's son (Kiba), who was Naruto and Shino's age, despite Kiba's initial dislike of the wizard (as he'd thought Sirius had been trying to replace his father). There were rumors that Sirius was seriously been considering proposing to the rather aggressive kunoichi after their year long affair but there'd been no confirmations as of yet.
Satoshi was pulled from his musings at that point by the arrival of Kanpou and he relinquished his dirty bowl to Pinny's determined hands after she'd cleaned Saki's hands and face with a snap of her fingers (to remove the sticky juice and mashed fruit from her snack). He unhesitatingly followed his long time medic and friend into the nursery where he gave Saki a cursory check up first (the older man well aware that Satoshi would be far more cooperative knowing there was nothing wrong with his daughter). Kanpou then gave Satoshi a far more thorough check up (the man had spoken to both Shizune and Tsunade about Satoshi's condition and the treatment they had provided the young Jounin after the battle and during their journey home before showing up to assess Satoshi's current condition).
Forty-five minutes later, Satoshi escorted Kanpou out while wearing a small, thoughtful scowl as he considered the results of his medical assessment; an assessment which had produced results that he was less than pleased with even though the findings were about what he expected them to be. The scowl vanished behind his invisible mask the moment he let Remus and Sirius into the house, his godfather quickly snagging Saki from where she'd been sitting up on Satoshi's shoulders.
He led the two older wizards into the dining room where everyone else was just sitting down to lunch and slipped into the seat between Haku and Kimimaro. He would spend most of the meal catching up with the three boys that had not gone with him to Iwagakure; all three of whom had been placed on Team Three together under a Jounin by the name of Kanden Tekuno just eight months earlier (the three of them worked well together thanks to the fact that they'd spent two years training together both in preparation prior to entering the academy and after they started the academy the same summer that Team Four had graduated).
The three boys made a rather powerful offensive team with Kimimaro being a strong close range fighter thanks to his Kekkei Genkai enhancing both his taijutsu and kenjutsu, Haku was a strong mid range fighter and trap user for pretty much the same reason, and Shin was a long range weapons specialist. Appointing Kanden as their sensei had been a stroke of genius as the man favored projectile weapons, was a competent kenjutsu user, and specialized in traps; which meant he had something to offer all three Genin.
His longtime teammate Shirakumo Hayama, who was a kenjutsu master and one of the few shinobi in the village whose chakra affinity was wind (which was one of the two affinities that Haku used in his Ice Release), often trained with Team Three as well. Their team also frequently trained with Team Nine, which was Maito Gai's Genin team that was made up of Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Kobayashi Tenten, which had been formed at the same time as Team Three had been (one year after Teams One, Two, and Four).
After the meal, Remus and Satoshi borrowed Shibi's office to pull the various memories he would be sharing while Sirius kept Saki occupied, the animagus giving the giggling toddler horseback rides on Padfoot while the boys kept an eye on the pair. The individual matches from the preliminaries and the tournament were copied one at a time and placed into separate vials that Satoshi had meticulously labeled. The confrontation and subsequent battle with the Kamizuru Clan was taken from all three of Satoshi's perspectives; himself, Arashi, and Aranami since all three times he'd experienced it had been from different positions (as a participant and twice as witnesses from opposite sides of the pit).
Once those memories were stored and labeled, Satoshi called Shino, Naruto, Sai, and Torune in and asked them if they'd be willing to provide copies of their memories from the second task and their individual matches. All four of them agreed willingly enough and even offered up their memory of the night they were all promoted, Satoshi eventually provided his memories of that night as well. They would ask for their missing teammates' memories when they showed up later as they'd been invited over to view the various memories shortly after Satoshi had agreed to show the various matches.
It wasn't long after Remus finished pulling the memories that the Hokage and other high ranked individuals began arriving. The rest of Teams One, Two, and Four arrived not long after that in addition to the remaining members of the delegation and a few other tagalongs. As he helped arrange the seating for everyone in the living room, Satoshi grumbled under his breath about a simple memory report getting turned into a three-ring-circus to the amusement of the older adults present.
Satoshi then set up the pensieve that they would be using to project the memories so everyone could see them; the device set to play the memories above the bowl at about one third of its normal size. While Satoshi was preparing the pensieve, Remus pulled the memories from the other members of the delegation and the elves began setting out the food and drinks they had happily prepared for the guests. Pinny then whisked Saki off for her afternoon nap which would allow Satoshi to present the various memories without having to worry about his daughter getting into trouble or growing fussy.
Knowing the various officials present might choose to leave early, Satoshi began his presentation with the conversation he held with himself where he'd first learned about the coming trouble. He also played out the short, intense planning session he held with his old teammates (Kakashi, Tenzou, Kotetsu, and Izumo) before he switched directly to the memory of his confrontation as it played out the first time he lived through it.
He heard more than one adult mutter in fond exasperation about his dramatic self-introduction while the three magicals present (Sirius, Remus, and Dora) commented on the impressive magical aura that had whipped around him alongside his killing intent. Satoshi had watched his father's face as the kunoichi of the Kamizuru Clan threatened Shino, Torune, Satoshi, and Saki; the older man's face tightening with anger even as he tore his eyes away from the memory to meet Satoshi's gaze.
Not a single word was said once the battle began as every eye in the room (bar Satoshi's) was glued to the memory playing out. Seen up close, from Satoshi's point of view, as he fought right in the thick of the battle was really something to behold; the way he moved with calculated precision for maximum effect, the unimpeded view of the devastation his attacks caused, and the terrifying visage of cold fury that he had worn throughout the entire battle. When the memory finally ended, with the casting of the curse Satoshi had placed on the trio, not a single word was spoken as more than one person turned to where Satoshi was leaning against the wall with his chin tucked deeply inside of his jacket collar so that only the top rim of his sunglasses could be seen; suppressed tension evident in every line of his body.
It took the Hokage's prompting for Satoshi to realize the memory was over; his mind had been lost in those same memories inside of his own head. Tenzou and 'Arashi's' memories of the battle were played out next (Aranami's saved in the event they wanted to see it from a forth prospective later). After having watched the battle up close, watching it from the rim of the pit was a rather pale imitation though at the same time it allowed them to see the full scope of the damage that Satoshi had caused with some of his larger attacks.
When it was over, those who had never before seen Satoshi fight (sparring and training didn't count since he always held himself back) looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. Not even his performance during the two Tournaments of the Jounin Exams matched the sheer magnitude of fury and power he'd unleashed to punish those that had dared threaten his daughter, brother, and cousin. It was also a brief glimpse of why Sarutobi had been willing to bestow one of the twenty captaincies upon the young Jounin despite the fact that he was still in his teens.
There was a short break to allow for everyone to stretch their legs and use the bathroom before Satoshi began playing a few select memories from the Chuunin Exams; starting with Torune's and Hinata's memories of the second task followed by Kakashi's memories of the eight preliminary matches. Each of those eight battles were then played out from the perspective of the participants while the older shinobi present all critiqued each battle to point out various mistakes and offer corrections for future reference.
The Tournament matches were handled the same way; with the three Jounin sensei providing the memories for each of their participating students. Just before Naruto's first match was played out, Satoshi played Naruto's memory of his opponent antagonizing him by insulting Satoshi and Saki and threatening to squash Saki like a bug. That memory and Naruto's memory of the actual match filled in a lot of blanks for those who'd wondered about the blonde's reasons for humiliating the other Genin and also allowed those present to see the extent of the influence that Satoshi had had in Naruto's training which was in turn influenced by the training Satoshi had received from Kushina.
The last memory that played out was Kakashi's memory of the Hokage promoting all nine teens and pre-teens in addition to Satoshi's promotion to captain. Shibi appeared rather startled when he saw the stunned expression on Satoshi's face the moment the teen learned Shoichi had been a captain as well; the older man only just realizing just how much Satoshi and by extension Shino didn't know about their grandfather due to Shoichi's untimely death.
Most of the guests took their leave at that point; the viewing had cut well into the evening as there'd been hours worth of memories that were viewed. Those that stayed were treated to an elf cooked buffet while they sat around and discussed everything they'd been shown. Tsunade and Shizune were two that ended up staying and Satoshi introduced the two kunoichi to Shin before explaining their desire to see Shin's medical records; taking the time to make certain that Shin would be alright with the legendary medic and her apprentice reviewing his medical history (which he was).
Tsunade then left Shizune to question the young man while Satoshi took Tsunade aside to properly introduce her to Naruto (who'd given his permission for Tsunade to learn the secret of who his parents were after learning that she was distantly related to his mother). Satoshi then left the two to get acquainted while he hunted down his daughter so he could read her a couple of stories before putting her to bed for the night.
Eventually, the last of the guests departed and Satoshi spent the last few hours of the evening alongside the seven boys listening to his father tell stories about Shoichi and Chie (Satoshi and Shino's grandmother, whom neither boy had ever met). It was a perfect ending to the day and Satoshi ended up falling asleep on the couch while the boys crashed where they'd been sprawled out on the floor; Shibi supplying blankets for each of them instead of waking them up just to send them off to bed.
Satoshi was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, feeling far better than he had in a long time and while there was still an underlying ache radiating from his magical core (an echo of the stress he'd placed upon it due to the sheer volume of time he'd turned without a single break) it wasn't as bad as it had been immediately following his battle. He could still feel his body aging at two times the normal rate (another side effect of long term time turning) and his magic working to reverse the unnatural aging (part of the reason why he was still so exhausted, magically).
That was still a vast improvement from when his body had been aging at eight times the normal rate (as it had been immediately following the battle for the third time). And down from what it had been during the journey home (which had been four times the normal rate – the damage done had grown exponentially with the number of times he lived through each day combined with the number of days he'd turned back to back).
He spent several minutes stretching and was pleased to note that the weakness that had been clinging to his body was no where near what it had been; a direct result of the extra sleep he'd gotten the previous day combined with the fact that he hadn't spent the previous day pushing his body in order to cover as many miles as possible. The moment he sat up and looked around, he grinned when he noted all of the boys spread out across the living room floor and he spent a good twenty minutes carefully drawing silly faces on six of the seven sleeping children with a black marker.
When he was finished, he took a moment to admire his artwork before he left a Mushi Bunshin on the couch in his place along with a clone of his daughter (both with silly faces of their own), tucked the marker into Naruto's hand (Naruto's face the one he had left untouched), and slipped off to the nursery to see if his daughter was up already. He ran into both his daughter and his father just a few minutes later, Saki had gotten out of her crib and gone looking for papa when she didn't find him in his bed and found her jijii first. He greeted both of them, kissing Saki on the forehead in passing, as he continued on down the hall to take a shower and change his clothes.
He'd just stepped back into the kitchen some twenty minutes later, when the boys began waking up to discover that 'Naruto' had drawn on their faces and chaos erupted almost immediately.
"Nice artwork," Shibi commented after a panicked Naruto had fled through the dining room towards the bedrooms with six angry teens hot on his heels.
"Thanks," Satoshi replied unrepentantly with a grin even as the older man snorted and shook his head.
"How long do you think it will take them to figure out you set him up?"
"Hmm… not until they calm down and realize that the drawings on their faces are far too intricate for Naruto to have drawn and then Naruto will accuse Sai of setting him up and they'll spend another twenty minutes hunting him down while Sai will attempt to investigate since he'll know he didn't do it. By then, the clones of myself and Saki will have 'woken' up and will add to the chaos as he'll immediately blame Shino and Naruto since they've drawn on my face in the past. They'll then attempt to catch me and my clone will allow them to capture him and Saki before revealing himself to be a clone at which point Shin and Haku will have figured out that I set them up right from the beginning."
"What lesson are you teaching them this time?"
"I'm teaching three; attacks don't just happen on missions, to look beyond the obvious answer, and to think before they act. It's also a lesson in trust as they should, by now, know each other well enough to know how to tell when one of them is lying or trying to pull one over on them and trust each other enough to be honest with each other about any pranks they've played."
"How many of your morning lessons have stuck over the past year?"
"More than half of them; since I often repeat the lessons every couple of days until it starts to stick and then test them once or twice a month in order to see how well they remembered earlier their lesson. It's been over three months since I've given them morning lessons though, so they are out of practice and it will take them a day or two to fall back into practice. A few of them are also feeling overconfident because they've just been promoted and believe said promotion to mean they've automatically improved overnight. Once they realize that their new status is merely meant to recognize past accomplishments, they will throw themselves back into their training with renewed energy and will start reapplying what they already know to our morning lessons."
"Do try not to blow the house up or tear it down in the meantime," Shibi ordered in a long suffering tone.
"Hey, you were the one that put the boys through the wall that one time," Satoshi reminded him dryly. "All because you'd decided you needed to grab something from your office before taking your morning shower like usual; therefore, you were caught in the trap meant for me because you altered your morning routine."
"Are you saying I'm predictable?"
"No… but they do say that one gets set in their ways once they get old," Satoshi countered as he grabbed Saki and bolted out of the room before his father could retaliate.
"What a cheeky little bug," Shibi muttered under his breath before calling out, "Don't forget you have to be to the Hokage's office by nine!"
"Hai!"
Satoshi spent the rest of his free time that morning at one of the village's play parks, letting Saki burn off some energy so she would be less likely to grow fussy when he dropped her off to spend the day with her godmother; not wishing to take her to what would most likely turn out to be a long, boring meeting. He would arrive at the Hokage's Tower with a good fifteen minutes to spare and didn't hesitate to slip in through the open office window at the top of the building.
He paused on the windowsill when he noted that all of the department heads were present in addition to his father and both of the Sannin still loyal to the village. He actually half turned to leave, thinking he'd interrupted an important meeting or worse that they were plotting something that he'd regret, only for the Hokage to tell him to come inside and close the window.
"Mendoukusei," Satoshi muttered under his breath and Shikaku chuckled softly as that was something he and his son, Shikamaru, often said when they were asked to do something or when they invariably found trouble instead of a peaceful day of cloud watching.
"I have a proposition for you, Satoshi-kun," Sarutobi declared as he leaned back in his chair and studied the eighteen year old from beneath the brim of his hat.
Translations: Japanese to English
Arigatou – thank you
Hai – yes
Kobayashi – Japanese surname meaning small forest (was randomly selected as Tenten's last name just to give her one).
Mendoukusei – can be translated as 'this sucks' or 'what a drag' or 'how troublesome' and is Shikamaru's catch phrase from the manga/anime
Nani – what
AN: As I mentioned in other author's notes, I'm running late again this week due to a string of bad luck but I'm not going to repeat all of the problems I had and merely sum it up by saying I had technical issues since my last update and therefore did not get everything prepped in a timely manner. You can expect updates on my WIP stories throughout the day as I edit them in real-time once more.
Next, the next chapter represents the point at which this story diverges into two separate plot lines and so, for those of you who wanted to read a Satoshi/Temari story, you can expect to see a new story posted fairly soon that will follow the divergence. I will announce the title of that alternate version of this story when I post the next chapter as by then I will have come up with a working title to use. ~ Jenn