Chapter 3: Return to Konoha New and Old

Author Note: Glad you all like the previous chapter.

Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Please leave a review and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO ALL CANON CONTENT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO.

"Speak" Characters Talking

'Speak' Characters Thinking

Handsigns

"Speak" Bijū and Summon Animal Talking

'Speak' Bijū and Summon Animal Thinking

Jutsu or Certain Key Terms

Lets start the story-

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Forest

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With eyes widened Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing. 'This should be impossible.' the one of the many things he is thinking about with this whole situation turning into a huge "WTF is going" on kind of trend of things that shouldn't be happening. The Bijū disappear, getting healed by a possible relative of Kabuto, the Ninja of the nations no longer being united and killing each other, being mistaken for his father on two occasions, and meeting Mikoto who just happened to be apart of the Uchiha clan that was supposed to have only have Sasuke as the last surviving member. NOW a whole new thing (or rather 2 things) just literally appeared out of nowhere, his parents that were supposed to be dead, his father Minato Namikaze and his mother Kushina Uzumaki.

Just like Naruto; Minato has blue eyes and spiky, blonde hair. Though Minato also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. His attire consisted of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. However Naruto noticed that Minato was missing the Hokage haori.

Kushina was a fair-skinned young woman that has violet eyes, and waist-length red hair that is her hair tied up in a high ponytail with shoulder-length strands that framed both sides of her face. Her attire consisted of a standard Konoha flak jacket over a black short-sleeved shirt and black form-fitting pants that reached her calves. She also had a slender, but feminine build similar to his friend Ino.

However, Naruto noticed something different about his parents. They looked younger then they were supposed to. When Naruto meet them before in his seal they looked to be in their mid-twenties with Minato being 5 Ft 11 In and Kushina being 5 Ft 5 In. Now they both look like they same age as him with Minato being 5 Ft 6 In and Kushina being 5 Ft 2 In.

Originally Naruto thought this might have been some weird trick Orochimaru did while he and Sasuke were unconscious, but even if that were the case why would he do something like this, and why would he give his parents the wrong ages. So now that idea is no longer good he began to think on what is actually going on. His ideas included Genjutsu, a dream, or that he is actually dead. But all of those ideas don't fit at all. Then something just clicked with him, 'Is it possible…' a new possibility that didn't occur before now made itself known, 'that somehow our combined Jutsus have thrown us into the past?!' As ridiculous as it sounds it is the only idea that makes any actual sense.

With this new information Naruto wonders what he should do. Sure going back to Konoha is a good start but after that he honestly isn't sure what to do after that. Overall Naruto is feeling very overwhelmed and it is taking everything he has to not hug his parents now to avoid making things awkward. Speaking of which it looks like Mikoto has finished catching up Minato and Kushina on the situation and the idea that he is Minato's long lost cousin.

"So that's the story of how I found your long lost cousin Minato." Mikoto finished telling both Minato and Kushina as they only look on in shock on what they have just heard.

"You don't say." Says Kushina as she gets a second look at Naruto and she can clearly see the similarities between Naruto and Minato. She turns to Minato and smiles at him, "This is great Minato, you have another family member Dattebane!" She says excitedly as she is so happy for Minato that her verbal tic came out.

"Yeah it is." Says Minato. He is happy to hear that he has a relative, but he is still in a bit of a shock to learning this. "I think we should introduce ourselves now." Minato says as both he and Kushina walk towards Naruto and stop about two or 3 feet away from him. "Hello, my name is Minato Namikaze and from what Mikoto has told me you are most likely my cousin." Minato says as he extends his hand. "It's nice to meet you." He says with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too Minato, I'm Naruto." He says as he extends his hand to accept the handshake with Minato. Then Kushina comes in and grabs both their hands in the handshake.

"And I'm Kushina Uzumaki, Minato's girlfriend Dattebane! It's nice to meet you Naruto Namikaze." Kushina says adding Minato's last name to Naruto as she figures since they are related why not.

"Its nice to meet you too Kushina." Naruto says as naturally as he can. Then Kushina lets go of their hands. "So what's next Minato, Mikoto?" Kushina asks her comrades.

"Well if Mikoto's information is correct then the mission is done now and best thing to do is to head back to the village." Minato says in a professional voice as he is in mission mode.

"I agree lets head back it's starting to get late." Mikoto says as see looks up to see the position of the sun looking to be about 5:00 PM.

"Always confidant with those eyes of yours Mikoto." Kushina says in a bit of a deadpanned voice knowing that Mikoto likes to show off sometimes.

Mikoto smirks as she quickly activated her Sharingan (which confirms to Naruto that Mikoto really is a member of the Uchiha clan). "Of course I have the best vision between the three of us after all." Mikoto says in a teasing matter to her best female friend as she deactivated her Sharingan.

"Take it easy you two." Minato says as he gets between them, as they sometimes like to get into spats. "You can always do this in the village."

"Okay/Okay." Mikoto and Kushina both say.

"Good." Minato says as he looks towards Kushina, Mikoto, and Naruto. "Now, everyone grab on." Minato tells the group. Kushina grabs his left arm and hand; Mikoto grabs Minato's hand, while Naruto looks confused. "What are you waiting for Naruto?" Minato asks.

"He obviously doesn't understand what you mean Minato." Mikoto berates her old teammate before looking back at Naruto. "Naruto if you grab on to Minato's shoulder his Jutsu will take us to the village gates in an instant." Mikoto informs Naruto of Minato's intentions.

"Okay, thanks for telling me." Naruto says. Though he already knew how his father's Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) worked as he had seen it used by both Minato and the Second Hokage plenty of times. But he had to pretend to be oblivious so he doesn't look suspicious. Now he grabs onto Minato's shoulder and they all teleport out of the area.

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Konoha

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Arriving at the village in an instant was defiantly a blessing for Naruto as it saved a lot of time he would have wasted traveling through the forest.

"We are here." Says Minato as everybody let go of him. "I am going to clear everything with the guards. Please wait a bit." He tells the group as he goes to talk to the guards.

"Welcome back to Konoha Naruto." Mikoto says to him. "So what do you think?"

"It looks great." Naruto says and it truly did look great to him. Through the gates he see the village was repaired or to be more accurate what it was in the condition before Obito took control of Kurama and made him rampage on the day he was born. However, the biggest difference he could see right now is the Hokage Rock, which has the faces of the first Hokage to the current Hokage. Except this time it only has three faces on it the First, Second and Third Hokages, which further reminds him of his situation. 'I really am in the past aren't I.' Naruto thinks sadly realizing that all his friends aside from Sasuke are gone and have been basically unborn. He then turns to see Minato come back to them.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order." Minato says to the group. "Now we need to give our report to the Hokage. Needless to say you should probably come along with us Naruto." Minato continues saying.

"Right/Right/Right." Naruto, Mikoto, and Kushina replied. As they travel to the Hokage's office Naruto looks at his surroundings to his surprise and relief he currently doesn't see anything different of the past Konoha compared to the Konoha he remembers from his childhood. 'At least I am familiar with the area. So that's one less thing to worry about.' Naruto thinks as they made it the iconic Hokage's Tower that has the Kanji for fire on it. The group goes inside they get past the check desk and goes up a flight of stairs leading to the door that opens to the Hokage's office.

Once inside Naruto sees another person he didn't think he would see again, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. The person who was basically his grandfather figure when he was younger and doing so much for him like giving him an apartment to stay in. However, just like his parents the Third Hokage was also much younger, but unlike his parents who didn't change all that much the Third Hokage almost looked like a completely different person. The Hokage he remembered was an old man in his late 60's almost going on 70 if his memory was accurate. This version of the Third Hokage was a younger but still old adult that looked to be in his late 40's. He was tan-skinned and had spiked dark brown hair, a small goatee, and he had a two lines running vertically under the outer corners of each eye, which stretched down into his face as he aged until they reached his cheeks.

To Naruto though the thing that was most different about the Third Hokage was the look in his eyes. The eyes he remembered were kinder and more understanding. These eyes were sharper, and more judgmental. This makes sense to Naruto as once he accepted he was in the past he guessed he was somewhere during the era of the Third Shinobi World War. So it's only natural that the Third Hokage would be more on guard, but that didn't make Naruto feel any more comfortable in this situation.

"Welcome back Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto." The Third Hokage began to say. "How did the mission go and who is this young man who looks like Minato?" He asked the three Ninja under his command and they each gave him a report from getting to the forest to meeting Naruto and introducing him as Minato's long lost cousin. "I see." Said the Hokage as he looks towards Naruto giving him his full attention "So you are Minato's cousin Naruto Namikaze correct?"

"Yes I believe I am." Naruto replies knowing he has to answer each question with care as if he messes up even once in this questioning it's all over for him. He is being judged.

"Mikoto mentioned you took down a squad of Iwa Shinobi before she got there is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"That tells me you have been trained to be a Shinobi. Who taught you?"

"My guardian who was a Shinobi taught me almost everything I know before he died in a battle." Naruto says with a sad look remembering Jiraiya's death.

"I see." The Hokage began. "So what do you plan to do here? While you do look to have the credentials to be Minato's cousin it seems suspicious that you would suddenly appear now out of nowhere and as a Shinobi no less."

"Honestly I'm not too sure yet." Naruto replies. "I was honestly hoping to stay in the village and get closer to a member of my family." For Naruto this is true, while he did complete his original goal of wanting to get some answers by returning to Konoha there was this part of him that still wanted to be near his family he didn't get the chance to meet until recently.

"I understand the situation." Hiruzen began. "However, even if you are Minato's cousin as the Hokage I can't simply allow an unknown Shinobi to stay in the village without supervision."

"So what are you suggesting then Hokage-sama?" Naruto asks as respectfully as possible.

"You will become an official Shinobi for Konoha under my command and protect this village with your life on the line; you will have Minato, Kushina, and/or Mikoto looking over you for the duration of your stay as well as on missions; you must also abide by the laws of this village and should you give us any reason that you are an enemy spy then you will be punished accordingly. These are the terms I am giving you. Are these terms acceptable to you."

Naruto thinks for a second and replies, "I believe that these terms are acceptable."

Hiruzen looks over to Minato, Mikoto and Kushina. "Do you three accept this assignment?" He asks them.

"Yes/Yes/Yes." Said the three Ninjas.

"Alright." Hiruzen started to say. "However, despite you being able to defeat Iwa Shinobis we still need a solid grasp on your skill level to effectively rank you. So you will be you will be given a sparing opponent between tomorrow and the next day that will be observed."

"I understand." Naruto replies.

"Very well, you are all dismissed." Hiruzen says as the group of four leaves his office. "Naruto Namikaze…I wonder what you will show us."

As the group exits the Hokage Tower they notice the sun has begun to set and it is now an orange color. Naruto finds a bench to sit down on and grabs his chest letting out a couple of deep breaths. While the others look at him in worried.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Kushina asks in a worried tone.

"I'm not sure, I felt as if I was in the middle of a fire and I just barley made it out." Naruto says in a voice that is short of breath and trying to calm his nerves.

"It makes sense." Says Minato. "We are in the middle of a war so most of the time unknown elements are treated as potentially dangerous threats to the village."

"Great so I basically have a target on my back." Naruto says in an annoyed voice.

"Well I think that you handled that well Naruto." Mikoto says to Naruto in a kind voice. "You said everything you could, so now you relax. You have still have tomorrow or the next day to get ready.

"Okay." Naruto says in a calmer voice now. "So what's next?" He asks his group of observers. Just as they were about to say something the group hears a rumbling sound coming from each of them. They blush and then laugh it off.

"I guess that settles it." Minato says. "We should get some dinner." Before Minato can say anything else Kushina interrupts him.

"I know a place we can go Dattebane!" Kushina says in excitement as she rushes ahead of the others. "Come on you guys." Kushina calls out to them.

They all can only smile as Kushina's energetic side and they follow her around the village. While Kushina was leading the way Naruto was getting a sense of nostalgia feeling that this road is familiar to him somehow but is unsure at the moment until his nose twitched and smelled a familiar aroma. 'Wait is she taking us to that place?' Naruto thinks and they almost arrive at Ramen Ichiraku the ramen bar looking just as he remembered it in his childhood.

"That is Ramen Ichiraku the best ramen shop in Konoha Dattebane!" Says Kushina glad to eat at her favorite restaurant.

"Of course you would want to go there you Ramen addict." Mikoto says with a smirk and a teasing tone.

Kushina gives a light glare to her best friend. "Don't dis the ramen. You make it sound like having it is a bad thing." She tells her friend.

"I never said that it was bad Kushina." Mikoto tells her. "But you go here multiple times almost everyday when you are not on missions. It's not good for you to have so much ramen so frequently." Mikoto tells her. "At this rate you will still stay the same height." Mikoto teases Kushina again.

Kushina face goes red as her hair starts to stand up "Why you…" She was about to say something but she got interrupted.

"Alright girls lets calm down now. Were here to eat dinner not here to cause a scene." Minato says as the mediator between him, Kushina, and Mikoto. The girls calmed down and said "okay". Minato then turns to Naruto, "Sorry about this Naruto. You are a guest and we didn't even ask what you wanted to eat. I hope you don't mind ramen." After hearing this Kushina got a bit of a guilty look realizing she was unintentionally forcing her tastes on a newcomer.

"It's fine. Ramen is one of my favorite things to eat." Naruto says to assure them, plus he didn't like his mom looking guilty like that. So with that they enter the ramen bar he see two people one of them being a younger looking Teuchi possibly in his mid-twenties wearing his typical cooking appearance. However, he is confused about the other person who is a female; she is a slender girl with long, dark brown hair in a side ponytail and large black eyes, plus fair skin. She wears a white robe with the sleeves folded, a sort of dark blue apron with ribbon ties at the top, She kind of looks like Ayame but a bit older.

"Ah, Minato and Kushina welcome back." Says Teuchi.

"Oh, Mikoto it's been awhile." Says the unknown female.

Teuchi then looks at Naruto in surprise. "I didn't know you had a brother Minato."

"Cousin actually his name is Naruto." Minato says to Teuchi and then turns to Naruto. "Naruto this Teuchi the owner of this establishment and his wife Hiromi."

"Nice to meet you. Also interesting name you have there." Says Teuchi looking at Naruto.

"It's nice to meet Naruto." Says the now identified Hiromi.

"It's nice to meet you two as well." Naruto says to the couple. 'So that's Ayame's mom and Teuchi's wife. I wonder why I never meet her when I was younger.' Naruto thinks to himself for a moment.

"So, what can I get for you four tonight?" Teuchi asks the four customers.

"I will have Shio (Salt) Ramen." Says Kushina.

"I will have Shōyu (Soy Sauce) Ramen." Says Minato.

"I will have Miso Ramen." Says Mikoto.

"I will have Miso Ramen." Says Naruto.

Once the four order they decide to have some small talk. "So how long have you three been teammates for? Naruto asks the group. Kushina pouts a bit while Mikoto giggles and Minato rubs the back of his head. Naruto can only raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think you have misunderstanding." Mikoto begins to tell Naruto. "Between the three of us only Minato and I were teammates. Kushina was on another squad."

"You got lucky with the team assignments." Kushina says still pouting.

"For members of different teams you seem to work well together." Naruto says.

"That's because we have been friends since our time at the Academy." Minato begins to say. "We have trained together a lot so we know our strengths and weaknesses. I would trust them with my life anytime." Minato finishes with a smile.

This causes the girls of the group to smile as Kushina. This causes Naruto to ask more. "What were your other teammates and Senseis like?" Naruto had to ask, but then they all get a bit silent. "Did I say something wrong? Naruto asks in worry.

"War has done a lot of damage to the people we care about." Mikoto begins to say in a sad tone. "Minato and I had a third teammate, His name was Kohta Akimichi. He was a good friend of ours and even became Chūnin together. But during a mission he was assigned to he meet the wrong opponent and died as a result."

"Mikoto and I were on other missions when this happened so we couldn't arrive to help him." Minato cuts in. "That's one of the reason I created my version of the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), so that I would always be able to act to same my comrades." Minato says.

This is something Naruto was surprised about. But then again the first time he meet his father was when he was in the battle against Pain/Nagato when he reached the eighth tail and was on the verge of releasing the hate-filled Kurama, while the second time was during the battle between the Allied Shinobi Forces against Madara, Obito, and the Jūbi. While he understood the kind of person his father was Naruto didn't actually know Minato or his struggles in life before becoming the forth Hokage. So this was a real eye opener for him. He then turns to Kushina and she notices.

"As for me my teammates are still around, but my Sensei on the other hand has been out of commission for a long time." Kushina says.

"What do you mean by out of commission?" Naruto asks.

"My Sensei is still alive and she was a great Kunoichi, but she has been removed from active duty for a long."

"What happened to her?" Naruto asks.

"It happened during the Second Shinobi World War. She lost someone important and as a result she developed hemophobia or a fear of blood." Kushina tells him.

To Naruto however, this sounds very familiar as he remembers Tsunade also having that problem as well. 'Wait a second. Is it possible that mom's Sensei was…' Naruto though as the ramen was finally delivered.

"Finally time to eat." Kushina says as all four people say "Itadakimasu" as they begin eating. Naruto enjoys the ramen as usual bringing forth some nostalgia, as it has been a long time since he had his favorite ramen. But slows down after looking at Minato and Kushina smiling at each other. Eating dinner with his parents next to him like this feels very surreal and it makes him imagine what could have been if his parents lived after Obito took control of Kurama and forced him to attack the village. He could clearly see a younger version of himself with his parents eating at Ichiraku and the thought of this makes his eyes water a bit. The other three notice this.

"Hey Naruto are you okay? You look like your starting to cry." Mikoto asks Naruto.

"Is the ramen not to your liking?" Kushina also asks.

"You can tell us if anything is wrong." Minato says to Naruto.

"I'm okay." Naruto replies as he is rubbing his eyes. "The ramen is great too. It's just that…eating dinner with a relative is something that I haven't experienced before. It's a real adjustment for me."

Minato then puts his right hand on Naruto's left shoulder as he begins to speak. "I know this isn't easy for you. Heck I'm still adjusting myself. But don't we will both get used to it in no time." Minato says to Naruto as he removes his hand.

Naruto can only nod and smile and replies. "Thanks Minato I needed that." Before everyone went back to their ramen. Minato and Mikoto had two bowls of Ramen while Naruto and Kushina hand 4 bowls of Ramen.

"Wow, never thought I would meet someone who shares the same appetite for ramen as Kushina." Mikoto says.

Minato just laughs as he goes through his wallet for money. But Teuchi and Hiromi said that since it was a special occasion the meal is on them. So the four Shinobi/Kunoichi said their thanks and leave the ramen bar and notice it was dark out.

"Well that was a good meal. Well I better be getting back home now. I will see you all tomorrow." Mikoto says before she disappears with a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

"Well it's time head back and show your new home Naruto." Minato says with a smile. While Naruto can only grin as it feels like the fantasy deep in his mind is becoming reality and the group walks to the home of Minato and Kushina.

However, Naruto had on last thought. 'I hope Sasuke is alright and figures out we are in the past.'

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With Sasuke

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While Naruto got all of his answers Sasuke spent the whole day trying to find Orochimaru's base, but he was getting nowhere in his search. He is getting hungry and frustrated. "Damnit!" Sasuke yells after hitting a tree, "I have been searching for a whole day where the hell is that base?" Sasuke questions himself. Unfortunately for the Uchiha the base he is looking for doesn't exist yet, not that he would know that at this time. "Screw this I'm getting dinner." Sasuke says as he travel through the Land of Sound not knowing it's called the Land of Rice Fields and eventually finds a pub. He was lucky he was able to order omusubi with okaka and tomatoes, but he still has no clue on what is going on with this situation as he should have been recognizable to these people since he was with Orochimaru.

He finished his dinner and paid for it getting ready to head out until he heard it. Some random guys were talking about how they wanted the Third Shinobi World War to end. To Sasuke he thought this guy was crazy but then he thinks about it. 'If what that guy said was true then it makes sense that Orochimaru's base isn't here yet. Holy hell me and Naruto are in the past I have to speed things up to make sure neither Naruto or myself do anything crazy.' Sasuke thinks as he moves forward not realizing things are already starting to change.

End of Chapter.

What did you think? Was it good, bad in between?

My goal for this chapter was to show the personality types of some of the characters as during the timeline of the Third War as well as introduce a new character.

Next Chapter: Naruto's Fight, Proving Worth