CHAPTER 12: Timeless Sentimentality

The trio was heading for Konoha, and since they knew how to teleport they didn't bother traveling there by foot, but they did walk to the gates of Konoha because it would be suspicious if they suddenly appeared in front of the chunin guards.

"Do we have to walk?" Naruto asked, annoying both Sasuke and Kurama.

"Yes. Idiot." Sasuke said.

"Ugh...I wish we didn't have to."

"Naruto, don't tell me you've become lazy?" Kurama asked.

"What no!" Naruto quickly retorted, defending himself.

"Then stop complaining! You were once a Hokage! So shut up!" Kurama firmly told Naruto.

"Sorry, Kurama." 'I can't believe I have to babysit this brat again!' Kurama silently protested in his head. Meanwhile, Sasuke silently snickered at the banters of these two.

But by the time they arrived at Konoha gates, all three switched to their 'old' personalities. "Let me do the talking," Naruto whispered to the other two. They both nodded.

"Hello!" Naruto greeted the guards ever so cheerfully, but it was returned with glares from the chunin's who's only ever battled between themselves and never gotten any memorable achievements.

"Who are you, and what business do have here?" one of the guards asked as they looked up and down. Noticing their strange attires. Kurama was getting irritated and was about to kill them but Naruto put a hand on his shoulder, signaling for him to calm down.

"Well, we're here to talk to the Hokage! We'd like to stay here."

"Stay here? Are you a danger to the village?" Naruto visibly flinched at those words, as he was quite sensitive to the words "Danger to the village."

However, he calmed himself down as he remembered he was once the Hokage of this village and realized that these people were just being cautious. After all, they were going through a war right now, so they couldn't just let anyone in.

"No. We aren't. We just want to stay here. Besides, I have a letter to give to the Hokage! A really important one. Some guy gave it to me after asking if I'm Naruto, and when I said yes, he looked happy and told me to give it to Lord 3rd." The chunin looked at him skeptically but then decided to let them in.

The guard made a shadow clone to help his comrade guard the entrance while the real him escorted the guests to the tower.

As the three walked down the streets of Konoha, they found themselves to be the center of attention.

The girls from all ages, except married women, looked at them with blushes dashed across their faces. Naruto when he was a young, naïve 12-year-old, would've loved this, but after becoming Hokage he started to find it a bit annoying. Sasuke on the other hand found all women annoying. However, the longer they walked the heavier the air felt.

They were plagued by horrible memories of the village.

For Kurama, it was the extreme guilt and anguish for what he did to this once peaceful village, but couldn't truly bring himself to feel sorry for them. They scorned Naruto as a child, just because he had the Great Nine-Tails sealed inside him, to protect them. Or because they used him as a tool to unleash their hate and despair. 'Dumb, hypocritical, disgusting people.' he thought as he looked at the civilians, and foolish females who looked his way with expectant, lustful gazes.

As for Sasuke, it was the memories of his massacred clan and the horrors, fears he felt that night was crawling its way up to the surface as he saw the Uchiha police marching down the streets with pride and sent occasional glares to the civilians.

The guilt he felt of killing his brother became as clear as day, as he begins to sweat a bit. However, his blank, arrogant face didn't dim as he decided to keep his cool in front of these ignorant civilians, ninjas.

After all, they didn't know about that night. Worse of all, he came here to look for his dead sensei and friend Sakura. What was he supposed to do, when he met the people he loved and cared about appear in front of him when they were dead in his world. His...time.

Naruto, on the other hand, felt the guilt of not being able to protect his country, his village, his family, his land, his people. Everyone he loved died, and he could do nothing about it. It got even worse as he entered the tower and met face to face with the 3rd Hokage. 'Jiji...it's been a long time...since we last talked.'

When the Hokage remained silent, Naruto suddenly remembered that he forgot to introduce himself. "Ah! Sorry, sorry. Um, well you see uh. My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Hiruzen's eyes slightly widened before returning to how it was before. 'An Uzumaki huh? Interesting.' completely ignoring their strange clothing.

"Uh...this is the letter that I was told to give to you," Naruto said as he scrambled around to find the letter, but Sasuke took his sealing scroll from his pouch and gave it to him.

"Ah! Right...thanks" Sasuke just deadpanned at his stupidity. After all, he looked like a clown right now.

'So much for being an ex: Hokage. This guy can't even function properly in front of Hiruzen. How was he able to put himself together during the Hokage summit when he acts like this in front of a dead Hokage...Oh right. He was dead, now he's not. I see. Emotional damage. Got it. Experienced it. Might have to experience it again.' Sasuke thought to himself as he internally sighed at his future demise.

How was he going to react when he saw his previously dead parents alive and well. Not only that, there was...Itachi. His brother. The man he killed with his own hands. He wants to avoid him as much as possible. He didn't know what to do when facing him.

Anyways, Naruto put some chakra into the sealing scroll and took out the letter. He instantly gave it to the Hokage, causing the Hokage to giggle a bit.

After reading the contents of the letter, he had a serious look on his face, making Naruto gulp a bit. "Young man, where did you get this letter?"

"Some guy with red hair I guess gave it to me. He was huddling around asking any passer if they were Naruto. Of course, that guy just so happens to be me." he said with a look of innocents and truthfulness. Sasuke and Kurama were surprised by his acting skills, but his fictional reasoning was far from credible. It had so many holes, anyone could doubt if it was real or not.

"Did you read the contents of this letter?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I read it because I was so curious why he wanted to find me, so I read it. To be honest I'm a little confused but hopeful about it." he rambled.

"I see." Hiruzen was contemplating the truths of this letter. There was the official Uzumaki seal, an orientation belonging to the lower branches of the Uzumaki clan, which means that Naruto is not only the half-brother of Minato but also a distant cousin of Kushina, as she was part of the main branch.

"Did you ever meet your mother?"

"No. I've always been an orphan."

"I see." Hiruzen was skeptical of the boy but not really at the same time. Minato's mother dropped him off for adoption and she eloped with another man only to abandon another child. Hiruzen was having a major headache.

"So who is the black-haired boy beside you, Naruto?"

"Oh, this! This is my brother and best friend! His name is Sasuke!" Sasuke simply says 'Hn', which made Hiruzen interested in the boy's background. He looked, acted, and talked like an Uchiha, which brings him to an interesting theory that this boy might be an Uchiha. "Child, what is your last name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Sasuke asked with wary eyes. 'As expected of someone who could be an Uchiha.' Hiruzen thought.

"Curious." The trio knew this was getting out of hand. Hiruzen was already skeptical enough but now he wants to ask about Sasuke's last name? Sasuke is very prideful about his surname. What would he do?

"I know what my last name is, but I'm not so sure about it. My mother abandoned me and only left me a small note since I was a baby, the person who took care of me was myself. However, I found Naruto and Kurama when I was three. Naruto and I are the same age, Kurama is older than us. Since then, we grew up together but we don't know much about our last names or the meaning behind them. Naruto only claimed he was an Uzumaki because of the letter. As for me, I only know the name Uchiha, since it was in the note. I kept it with me all the time, but these two idiots don't know about it. So don't bother asking them."

Kurama and Naruto sent a glare in his direction which he professionally ignored.

Listening to Sasuke's long monologue, Hiruzen realized that his theory might be confirmed, but he didn't smile, as this would mean that this strange group of boys who are 12 or 13 would cause problems or a miracle.

Sasuke a possible Uchiha, meant that the Uchiha clan would be in chaos. Naruto who is claimed to be an Uzumaki would be good for Minato but Kushina would be skeptical about it.

"Do you know the name of your mother or your father?"

"No," he answered blankly, but deep inside Sasuke wanted to get out. Talking about this was suffocating.

"Fair enough. What about you? The red one with dark orange hair and red eyes?" He asked, as his eyes directed to Kurama.

"Kurama. That's all," he said in a harsh tone. Naruto and Sasuke sweat-dropped at Kurama's straightforward hate towards the Hokage. Hiruzen simply cleared his throat to express his surprise.

"Kurama here is our best friend we saved him from Ninjas or shinobis that planned to sell him off by hiding him. We became good friends since then." Naruto said with exasperation as he tried to save Kurama.

"Is Kurama his real name?"

"No. I named him." Hiruzen could already guess about Kurama's past so he didn't press on it.

"Alright, ages. How old are you guys?"

"Sasuke and I are twelve, while Kurama is 14," Naruto explained.

"I see. Well, I'll give you three an apartment and a monthly allowance." Hiruzen said as he gave the keys to Naruto since he liked him best. Naruto had a good personality and he wanted to dot on him, but can't since he's a Hokage with a lot of duties and paperwork.

"Thank you, Jiji!" Naruto exclaimed instinctively. Being called Jiji by him, warmed his heart, so he smiled.

"You're welcome," he said, before calling out to one of the AMBU's to escort them to their new home, after all, they were part of noble clans. It was only right for them to be escorted by AMBU's.