Chapter 2
Gaara and Naruto have been traveling through the Elemantal Countries for quiet a while now. Nearly two years since they have first arrived in this time have passed and a lot has changed. Naruto and Gaara could be mistaken as twins, since Naruto‘s hair color changed to a dark Uzumaki red. Both of them were unable to figure out why.
(When he asked his fluffy friend he said something along the lines of “They had to change something about you, so you can live in this time, because the exact same person can’t exist twice.“ Naruto isn‘t sure who ‘they‘ is but doesn’t want to ask, but it did explain why his hair color and Gaara‘s eye color changed. Gaara‘s eyes were now a soft shade of green.)
Because of this they decided to go with the cover story of being survivors of Uzushio and being part of the Uzumaki clan. Gaara didn’t mind. He was happy that Naruto would officially be seen as his brother in this time. No one would ask weird questions, like some of the shinobi during the war did. They weren’t close to either Naruto or Gaara and didn’t know their story, but it still annoyed him.
After they arrived in the past, both of them headed to Uzushio to secure scrolls that weren’t already stolen and found some traditional clothing, jewelry and hitaite in some of the vaults that could only be accessed with Uzumaki blood.
They trained themselves to use mostly Uzumaki clan style taijutsu and kenjutsu to not raise suspicions and learned as much as they could about sealing, the clan history and traditions. Both of them wore their hair in artistic styles that Naruto‘s clones did for them. They never had the chance to cut their hair during the war and it had gotten pretty long, reaching past their shoulders. After reading about the traditional Uzumaki men and women wore, they decided to keep it long and follow the way of Naruto‘s ancestors.
Soon after they were confident to reveal themselves as soon as they started fighting, they went after the Akatsuki. Deidara was first, followed by his partner Sasori. A while later Kakuzu, Hidan and Kisame followed.
Both of them were just on their way back to the inn they’re staying at after collecting the massive bounty of Kisame. They got to keep Samehada and Gaara was carrying the giant sword on his back along with his sand.
When they arrived in their room, Gaara began to meditate and Naruto began working on a particularly tricky seal.
°°°°°
Hatake Kakashi wasn’t having a great day. The date of the Academy graduation was getting closer and he didn‘t want to deal with snot nosed brats. Even if the possibility that they would pass his test was slim, there was still a chance and the last loyal Uchiha was graduating. There was no way the Hokage wouldn‘t put him on Kakashi‘s team.
So he was quietly sulking while reading icha icha and hiding from Gai. The Jounin standby station was definitely not his favorite place to hang out, but it was the last place his friend would expect him to be.
The station was relatively quiet. A low humor conversation was the only sound, so it was understandable that a lot of jounin startled when the door was slammed open.
“Kakashi, did you see?“, Anko nearly yelled as she made her way over to the couch he was lying on.
“Did i see what?“
Anko threw herself onto the couch and shoved an open book in his face. He grabbed it and took a closer look at it. It was a Bingo Book.
The open page showed a slightly blurry picture of a person with long red hair that was artistically braided. They were facing away from the camera, the back of their light blue kimono shirt showed the same symbol of Konoha‘s jounin vests.
Name: Unknown (suspected to be from the Uzumaki clan)
Nicknames: Red Storm God
Age: 18-25
Affiliation: Uzushiogakure
Rank: Kage-Level, S-Class/ SS-Class
Skills: Water Jutsu, Wind Jutsu, Fire Jutsu, Sand Manipulation, Sealing, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Clones… (Said to be at two places at the same time, even when not using clones)
Collected Bounties: Deidara (S-Rank Missing Nin), Sasori (S-rank Missing Nin), Kakuzu (S-Rank Missing Nin), Hidan (S-Rank Missing Nin), Kisame (S-Rank Missing Nin)
[…]
Kakashi blinks and rereads the page to make sure his brain isn‘t tricking him. Slowly he looked up.
“Is this legit?“
“Suna said so, but we aren‘t sure. The Hokage wants you to find this person and confirm if they are an Uzumaki.“
“Does he want to offer them to live in Konoha?“
“Depends on you. If you judge them to be a good fit and not have any ill intend towards Konoha then yes“
Anko was uncharacteristically serious during the whole conversation. She probably knew that this was still a sensitive topic for Kakashi, like everything connected to his team- the people he failed to protect- is to this day.
Not saying another word, Kakashi immediately left for the Hokage Tower to get his official Mission Briefing.
When he arrived, the Hokage and surprisingly Genma were already waiting.
“Ah, Kakashi. How nice of you to join us. I suppose Anko already told you about the mission“
“Yes, Hokage-sama“
“Alright, you and Genma will find the Uzushio Nin, confirm his identity, and judge if they would be fit to live in Konoha. If you deem them acceptable, Invite them to become a Konoha Shinobi.“
“What shall we do in case they aren‘t an Uzumaki?“, Genma questioned.
“If that’s the case, find out about their connection to Uzushio and invite them if you trust them not to betray Konoha. You will leave in two hours. Dismissed.“, the Hokage ended their conversation and went back to his paperwork.
Genma and Kakashi immediately left to pack.
°°°°°
Naruto and Gaara were just unpacking their takeout, as both of them stiffened.
“…that chakra belongs to Kakashi and the other one… Genma right? He was at our Chuunin-Exams if i remember correctly.“, Naruto voiced both of their thoughts.
“Why are they here? We’re nowhere near Fire Country.“, Gaara said, narrowing his eyebrows.
Both of them felt the chakra signatures coming closer, until a knock on the door broke the tense silence.
“Im going to open it.“ Gaare stood up and made his way to the door before Naruto could protest. He opened the door slightly, only enough to fit his frame.
“Yes?“ he drawled.