3 Chapter 3

"My name is Mirai, Uzumaki Mirai."

That was what Naruto, now to be known as Mirai Uzumaki, said to the old man hokage and Kakashi. Hiruzen nodded his head, pleased that he was indeed an Uzumaki as they suspected. As introductions were over, Hiruzen asked Mirai how he had ended up in that condition and what he was doing so near the walls of Konoha. Mirai told them he was being chased by shadowy figures that had been trying to catch him for days. The reason he didn't know. The had engaged in battle, 8 vs 1, that was how he had been wounded. When he had seen he wouldn't be able to win, he had run for days with no destination in mind. The exhaustion and blood loss had left him unconscious and that is all he 'remembered' before waking up here. The hokage and Kakashi had listened without interrupting his story and it seemed like they believed him, for now.

'All that time spent on strategy for battle and political meetings came to use. The fact that I'm a good liar made its job too, though.' Although made up for the moat part, it wasn't something that had not happened to the redhead, it just was a long time ago, when the villagers still thought of him as the demon brat. But the hardest lie to see through, is the one that has a bit of truth in it, right? Hiruzen and Kakashi shared a look with each other, as if having a silent conversation. Coming to a decision they turned to Mirai and Hiruzen asked. "My boy, how old are you? And are you, by chance, related to Kushina Uzumaki?" Mirai was caught off guard by the second question. His mother? Did he have that many similarities to her that they would ask that? He could use that to his advantage.

Telling them his age, 22 years old, he also admitted to being related to Kushina, saying he was a distant cousin and remembered his parents talking about her. Hiruzen accepted the answer as it was, while Kakashi was just listening quietly. After some more questions like: what ninja rank he is, is he tied to any of the hidden villages, and some more, the million dollar question was finally asked. "Would you like to become a ninja of Konoha, Mirai-kun?" He didn't need to think about the answer to that, it has been there all the time and wouldn't change. He was a ninja of Konoha, is and will be to his last breath. Resolve shining in his purple eyes, he nodded. Old man hokage saw the light in his eyes and a smile formed on his lips. 'He has the will of fire. This kid will go far in the ninja world.'

By the time they were done and Hiruzen and Kakashi left, Mirai was mentally drained. Keeping a straight face in front of someone you consider a grandfather and an older brother, who had once died but were now alive and well, was difficult. He wanted to cry, scream his anguish to the world, mourn those lost in battle against Madara, that were left without a proper burial because of the war. He wanted someone to hold him, be there for him and tell him things would be different this time. That now the war could be stopped and no one needed to die anymore. But for all his pain, he couldn't do that, not now. He would leave the crying for when everything was over, that is when he will let his tears out.

~~~~~(^3^)~~~~~

It had been a couple of days since he woke up in the Konoha of the past and today he was being discharged from the hospital. He was completely healed, much to the doctor's disbelief, and told to go report to the Hokage. Mirai was given some simple clothes, a black t-shirt with a jacket over it, black ninja pants with bandages at the end and blue ninja sandals. He had tied his long red hair in a high ponytail that flowed down to his lower back.

****

He was now standing in front of the hokage's office door. Just as he was about to knock, he was stopped by voices behind the door. One was the hokage, who sounded like he wanted to be anywhere right now but talking to the other. The second voice was one that made Mirai's blood boil. The one responsible for the Uchiha massacre, the third's death, Sai, and the torture he had endured when he was a kid. Danzo Shimura. As much as he wanted to go in there and kill the old bastard, he waited and listened to what the war hawk was saying. Apparently he had come here to tell Hiruzen to kill the redhead or at least let give him to Danzo to train. Oh, he was going to kill him, a slow and painful death. The thought made a smirk appear on his lips, making him look feral, scaring the poor guard on each side of the door.

Deeming it enough information gathering and wanting to save the old jiji from the bastard, he entered the office without notice, with a raised hand in greeting and a 'Yo'. Hiruzen looked at him like an angel had saved him and Danzo was studying him with sharp, calculating eyes. Being the joker,  he couldn't leave the bastard out without a hit to his ego. "As much as I like the attention, I'm not into guys, more so into old geezers." If glares could kill, he would be ash on the ground right now but it looked like the hokage could barely hold his laughter. Fuming and red from anger and humiliation, Danzo left with promises of coming back again to discuss things. "That was not a very smart thing to do. That man was Danzo Shimura, my right hand and old friend." Mirai shrugged. He didn't care, he knew the man and he would suffer for all he has done and stop what he has yet to do.

"Anyway, glad you seem to be better. I called you here today to tell you that we need to test you in a fight and see which rank to give you. Do you have any questions?" Thinking for a few seconds, he asked who he would be fighting and when. Just as Hiruzen was about to answer, a knock interrupted them. With a 'come in', a head of silver hair entered the office. "Ohh, Kakashi-kun! Just in time, surprisingly, I was about to tell Mirai-kun who his fighting partner will be." He didn't need to saw anymore, pointing a finger towards the Kakashi and with a questioning look, Mirai turned to Hiruzen, as if to ask 'Him?'. The old hokage nodded. He said the fight could take place anytime he was ready. Wanting to get it over with, Mirai asked if it was ok to do the test now. Hiruzen was surprised but otherwise agreed, the fight would be today at 1500, training ground 13. That said, they were dismissed until the time came.

Having nothing better to do, Mirai strolled around the village. Everything was the same as he remembered. Nostalgia flooded him. He missed this, peaceful days, the happy crowds of people, vendors calling to passersby to check their goods. He was not paying any attention where he was going and eventually found himself in a familiar training ground, his team's training ground 3. He looked around, taking in the trees that surrounded it, the three wood stumps and the memorial stone. He still had time till his test so he decided to meditate and check his chakra control after merging with Kurama. "Kurama." (~_~) Mirai missed him, the closest thing to a father he ever had was no more.

With these sad thoughts, he closed his eyes and started his meditation. His chakra reserve had grown exponentially and his control had suffered a bit but nothing permanent. After this, he went to check his mindscape, hoping to find something that the fox might have left behind. Nothing. The sewer like place was empty, even the cage was no more. He fell on his knees and sobs shook his body, all the sadness, grief and loss coming out in a desperate cry for help and comfort from someone, anyone. He didn't know that outside of his mindscape, in the material world, pearl like tears were escaping his eyes too, leaving wet trails down his cheeks. He also didn't notice that someone was there and had seen those tears.

(A/N: I just wanted to say Thank you all for the reads, I appreciate it. I'm a new writer and updates don't have a set time or day, I will try to update as frequently as possible. Also, english is not my first language so there might me some errors in writing, so if you find anything tell me and I'll correct them. Again thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoy my story. Have a good day to you all.🤗🤗🤗)