A Hop, Skip, and a Shunshin from Sunshine

Chapter 2

Naruto's voice grew hoarse as he spun his tale to an end. It was a rather long one. The Hokage stroked his beard with a contemplative expression.

"I see," the Hokage said softly. He opened his arms. "You've done well, Naruto."

Naruto stared at the old shinobi for a second, before letting out a strangled laugh. He rushed forward into the old man who had become like a grandfather to him, and crumbled. For the first time since the war started, he allowed himself to really grieve for his loved ones. It was lucky that Naruto had remembered to put up some privacy seals as well as some redirection seals, or everyone would have probably heard his sobs and unintelligible apologies from the Hokage's office. After his sobs turned into hiccups and eventually silence, Naruto drew back and sat down on the floor heavily.

"So what's your plan now?" Hiruzen asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Wait it out, assimilate in the village. There's not much I can do. I only know what happened in my timeline, if I screw things up too much, I'll lose the only advantage I have," Naruto said, "By the way, Kakashi-sensei in my time came up with a cover story for me. For my appearance, I'll use a henge until my hair grows out, and then I'll dye it for convenience. I'll need to change my name, but..." Naruto hesitated, "I'd like to keep my last name. There are a few Uzumaki's still out there, so it won't be too far a stretch."

Hiruzen nodded. "That shouldn't be too hard."

"My cover story is that after the fall of Uzushiogakure, you found me and hid me because of my heritage until I was old enough. I then left the village under your orders to investigate the Akatsuki, which will explain my knowledge, and I've only just returned. Most of my cover story depends on you, hehe," Naruto said sheepishly. Hiruzen just looked amused.

"Alright. Welcome back, Uzumaki Akio, jounin of Konohagakure," he said. The newly dubbed 'Akio' grinned, and held his hands in the henge hand sign. There was a puff of smoke, and Akio's whisker marks disappeared, replaced with smooth, unblemished skin. His hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, and messy bangs framed his face. His blue eyes were smiling, and his Konoha hitai-ate glinted in the light.

"It's good to be back, Hokage-sama."

-

"So what am I actually going to do, Hokage-sama? I know where the Gedo Mazo Statue is, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to destroy it yet. Black Zetsu might find another way to bring Kaguya back, and that would not be good. I don't know what the Akatsuki are doing right now, so I'll have to wait that out too. So for the time being... I have nothing to do," Akio said with a grimace. Hiruzen chuckled as Akio went around disabling the privacy seals.

"Well first, we'll have to call the council to introduce you, but in the meantime, how do you feel about being a jounin sensei, Akio-kun?" Hiruzen signaled to one of the Anbu, and Hound appeared, crouched in front of him. Akio openly gaped at the Anbu with silver gravity-defying hair. Kakashi-sensei? I mean, I guess he's not my sensei anymore. At least, this version isn't. Hound twitched at the redhead's obvious staring and let out a small amount of KI. Akio just snickered.

"Bring me Uchiha Itachi immediately," Hiruzen said. Hound inclined his head slightly, and then he was gone. Akio blinked.

"Wait- Uchiha Itachi? Didn't he graduate a while ago though? What happened to his team?" Akio asked. Hiruzen's expression was somber.

"It seems that the Akatsuki has already got their eye on Itachi-kun. Uchiha Obito killed his team during their mission, and his jounin-sensei abandoned them. Itachi was the only survivor. I believe their intention was to awaken his Sharingan." Akio fell silent.

"What are you going to do to his previous jounin sensei?" he asked, face stormy with fury. "And tell me his name so I can track him down and beat up that bastard." Hiruzen opened his mouth to reply when there was a soft knock on the door.