Timeskip

After apologizing to Haku for my stunt, I made my way back to the battleground where the battle with ROOT had taken place. Apparently, everyone thought that Danzo had gotten me, but when I showed up again, they all gave a sigh of relief. I was expecting them to ask how I escaped, but it turns out that they didn't really care since they didn't ask, though Minato was giving me a funny look.

Hiashi was a little disappointed that Fugaku got all the action against Danzo, but when he found out that a number of Hyuga orphans from ROOT had surrendered, he was calmer. Apparently having multiple Jonin-level members rejoining the clan meant he had come out ahead.

Minato and Fugaku were having a discussion in which they agreed to be more open with each other and to re-integrate the Uchiha into Konoha instead of having them isolated and separated. They agreed to have Fugaku reported as taking down Danzo, making him a new village hero and they even had Itachi work for Minato as an aide. They both wanted it to be training for him since he was a future Hokage candidate.

It wasn't for another two or three hours afterward that the whole event was over and Minato released us. He gave us all a strict warning that the details of what happened here were an S-Ranked Secret, but that they were allowed to say we had participated in a sting operation that took down Danzo as a traitor to the Leaf.

I had asked Minato if he could make time for me the next day and he agreed before teleporting back to his office. Apparently, when Hiashi and I had gone to get Fugaku, Minato had sent Kakashi and Sakumo along with Hizashi and half of the Anbu in the village to search all of the ROOT Bases in Konoha that they knew of, so he had to go and receive the reports of their findings.

...

The next day was rather hectic. Tsunade was giving me the cold shoulder for running off and almost getting killed in a battle against ROOT, while Haku was sulking that she wasn't there for me again. Karin was upset that I had almost died and demanded that I pamper her throughout the day to make up for it.

The academy was canceled for the day due to the higher active alert status in the village, so I spent the day with Karin and Haku. Eventually, Amaru pulled me to the side to have me talk with Guren, but an Anbu arrived and summoned me to the Hokage tower before I could. I promised to talk with her after I returned and I asked Tsunade to come with me, to which she simply nodded without acknowledging me with words.

I think I truly upset her. I'm an important person to her who she is grateful to and she doesn't want to lose me like she lost Dan and Nawaki. As we walked towards the Hokage tower, she didn't say anything to me the whole time, so I decided to speak first.

"I'm sorry I ran off to fight without telling you," I said.

"I was worried," She said. She didn't even look at me when she spoke.

"I know"

"You could have died"

"I know"

"You should have asked for my help"

"I know"

"You're not allowed to die before me," She said as she stopped walking. The wind blew by as she stood there in classic anime 'emotional moment' fashion. I couldn't see her face, but I knew she was probably on the verge of tears.

"Heh! Don't worry Onee-san. I'm immortal! I won't die until I have accomplished my dream" I say to her. She finally looks me in the eye and judges my words. She holds onto her necklace for a moment before nodding to herself.

She then took off her necklace and placed it around my neck before a single tear ran down her cheek. "I'm going to let you borrow this. It is my most important treasure. I want you to give it back to me when you have reached your dream" She said.

'I guess Tsunade has decided to bet on me' I thought. "Alright, but my dream is still a long way off you know. It'll be a while before you get this back." I say to her while giving her a hug. It was a good thing we were cutting through a park because I wouldn't be able to withstand the embarrassment of doing something like this in public.

We stood there for a while before she finally let me go. "By the way, I never asked you what you wanted to do." She said as we began walking once again.

"Simple, really. I want to be the Strongest there ever was or will be ever again"

...

As we opened the door to the Hokage's office, I was once again confronted by the fastest Ninja alive. He had a rather relaxed look on his face while his shadow clones were leaning against the walls doing paperwork. A young Itachi was seen beside him along with Sakumo and Honoka.

I was slightly surprised by Honoka being there, but then I was reminded of her position and the fact that Minato's face last night, and it clicked in my head. 'Honoka was probably working for Minato at summoning island. It would explain why she was there in this timeline when there are so many Uzumaki in Konoha.'

"Ah good morning Haruka-kun. Thank you for your help yesterday" Minato said as he nodded to me. "Normally, I would promote you to the rank of Jonin immediately, but you seem to like your place at the moment, so I will ask that you finish the academy at the regular pace"

"Yes, Hokage-sama"

"Now that that is out of the way, you said you had something urgent to share with me."

"Indeed Hokage-sama. While one of my clones was in Takigakure, I was able to come into the possession of the 7-Tails Jinchuriki. She was nearly kidnapped by ninja from Iwa and Kumo. I know this because they weren't even hiding their identities and the Takigakure Anbu didn't seem to help her."

Tsunade immediately looked down at me with shock while Itachi's eyes widened. Notably, Honoka, Sakumo, and Minato didn't seem surprised. They probably had received a report by now of Fuu's supposed death.

"I see. I am assuming you would like permission to bring her into Konoha, and specifically your faction?" Minato said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I would, though I wouldn't say I have a faction. I just want the best for my friends and security for our home. having Konoha as powerful as possible will help with that." I say.

Sakumo and Minato seem unphased while Honoka smiles to herself. Minato then retorts, "I can allow you to bring her in, but I want you to know that she will be staying with me and my family. My wife is our Jinchuriki and she will help her control the seven tails. She will also be joining the academy to properly integrate her into Konoha as a citizen."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama," I say as I bow. "May I summon her now?"

"Very well" Minato replied.

I quickly create a bone clone and dismiss it to update my clone who is with Fuu. Noone really used Clones intelligently in Naruto. A person with high Chakra like Naruto could effectively be a great messenger during wartime since he can just create a clone with every regiment and update his clones with orders from HQ with this method or vice-versa.

A second later, Fuu is teleported into the room with us. She is a cute little thing with orange hair and eyes. Originally she had green hair, but my clone already performed the [Shadow Mirror Body Changing Method] on her, to permanently change her hair color and make her slightly cuter. She is a little shorter than me, but not by much. She seems confused about how she got here but once she sees me, she runs up and hugs me tightly.

"Haruka! Hehe! Is it really you and not some clone!?" She asks excitedly.

"Yup. It's me. This is my guardian Lady Tsunade" I say gesturing to Tsunade, who looks lost in the events that have just occurred. "That is the Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He is the village leader and the one you will be staying with." I say as I gesture to Minato.

Fuu slightly tenses up while looking at Minato, then she looks back at me. "Can't I stay with you, Haruka?"

"I am sorry Fu- I mean Saya. These are the rules. Don't worry, I will be there every day to pick you up for school and hang out afterward!" I assure her by grabbing her hands and looking her in the eyes.

Well... ok then. I trust you Haruka." Fuu, now Saya, is hesitant, but finally agrees.

...

After the meeting, Saya is escorted to Minato's residence with me by Sakumo. Kushina answers the door. She is in an apron and holding a ladle, but she immediately recognizes me from my meeting with her husband, so she dons a bright smile on her face.

"Haruka-kun! Lady Tsunade! How are you! Come in. Come in." She says as she ushers us inside. Sakumo seems to have disappeared at some point while Saya was just going with the flow.

"I am sorry to bother you, Lady Kushina bu..."

"NO! Not lady Kushina, just Kushina-san!" She interrupts me while waving her ladle.

"But that isn't appropriate so I wi..."

"KU-SHI-NA-SAN!" She insists as she points the ladle towards me.

"Ku-Kushina-san." Kushina smiles very brightly as she hears me. She then hugs me and Saya tightly while I see Naruto hanging out on the sofa watching TV, slowly snickering to himself. 'Bastard! At least help us out' I think, but I am hit over the head with a ladle.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Hmmm... I don't know. I just thought you were somehow thinking something rude" Kushina says while tapping the underside of her lip thinking.

"Hahahahaha! This brat's always thinking rude things!" Tsunade laughs out loud while Saya tries to hold in her laugh.

Saya walks out from our group and makes her way towards Naruto before looking him in the eye. She gets uncomfortably close to him inside his personal space. "My name's Fu- Saya! Will you be my friend?" She says excitedly.

Naruto is stunned for a moment, but he smiles back before nodding. "Yup! My name's Naruto Namikaze! I'll be your friend! Believe it!"

"Yup! I'll Believe it!" Saya says happily.

While Tsunade, Kushina, and I are watching this, Tsunade informs Kushina of Saya's circumstances and Kushina agrees to take good care of her. She even offers to let us stay for dinner, but I tell her I don't want to miss Haku and Shizune's cooking.

That was a mistake because now she wants to have a cooking battle between the two since she was insulted that her cooking was being ignored in the face of someone else's. We decided to have everyone come over to the Senju compound for dinner since her house s too small for all the guests. Seriously, Minato is the Hogake. Why does he live in such a small house when even the defunct Senju Clan has enough room to accommodate at least two dozen people.

...

...

...

After a battle of wills between Shizune and Haku vs Kushina, we all decided that Kushina was the better cook. Because of how heated Kushina became during their cook-off, I even jokingly named her the "Red Demon Queen of Cooking", which she took a liking to. Somehow, word of her battle spread throughout the village and her nickname changed from the 'Red Hot-Blooded Habanero' to the 'Red Demon Queen of Cooking'.

The next morning, true to my word, I walked to Minato and Kushina's house with Guren, Karin, Haku, Amaru, and Jugo. Tsunade had also walked with us and we, along with Naruto and Kushina, all walked to the academy together.

...

Like this, five years past. Tsunade had taken to walking us too and from the academy like she was our mother, and Minato's family and mine became closer. Kushina later gave birth to another child, a girl named Akari, while Sasuke got a little sister named Sasuhi. They were both only two by the time graduation arrived. I still remember Akari's birth. Due to the 9-Tails Incident, All Clan Heads were present as guards for Kushina, including me. I heard that Minato wanted to name his daughter Naruko, but Kushina and Mito intervened.

I had Naruto and Sasuke learn the [Shadow Clone Jutsu] and we would often sneak around during the day and hang out or train while our clones learned in the academy. Haku and Guren joined us with ice and crystal clones respectively. Jugo mostly liked to stay in class. I think he may want to become a teacher since he had started tutoring the underclassmen after the first year. His relationship with Sasuke progressed to the point that they were now best friends.

Saya had fit right into Karin's group of her, Ino, Sakura, and Amaru. Sakura, while still obsessed with Sasuke, was far less clingy after seeing Karin's behavior towards me and being disgusted by it. Apparently, this acted as a wake-up call, and she put some distance between herself and him because of it. I was impressed with her spirit and eventually recommended her to train as a medical ninja since she had the aptitude, so she began classes along with Karin and Amaru under Tsunade.

Hinata and I had gone on multiple dates over the course of the five years. Tsunade had even teased me that my 'harem may finally be complete' after I hadn't introduced her to any new girls in a year. Hinata was very shy at first, but later, she became more comfortable and clingy. She saw Karin and Haku as her rivals, but Karin wasn't bothered by this and Haku would use the 'I'm just serving my lord' excuse to have dates with me, which made Hinata pout. She is so cute.

Everyone seemed to be more powerful than canon. Kiba and Akamaru would sometimes come over since Akamaru liked to sit on George's head and play with Tonton. At first, I thought he would be annoying, but he was surprisingly chill and just wanted a rival of his own. Apparently, I was his target, so he would often train with me.

Saya made lots of honey treats with Chōmei's abilities which Choji loved. He would drag along Shikamaru to our house two or three times a week to try them since Saya hung out with us whenever she could. Shino's bugs also loved the chakra-rich honey, so he would stop by every now and again. Saya was not weirded out by bugs due to her being the Jinchuriki of the Bug-type pokemo- I mean Tailed beast, so he developed a crush on her. Shikamaru would often play Shogi against me whenever he was dragged over by Choji to try our treats, and everyone would gather around to watch as our matches would get quite intense.

Guren had begun to work part-time with Ino in her family's flower shop, encasing flowers in crystal to me them 'eternal flower gems'. These became a popular wedding gift, so she ended up making more money than Hikari did at her full-time job, which made her quite depressed.

I had finally met En Oyashiro's daughter who was in my age group. This was the first cameo I had seen because it was f*cking Megumin from Konosuba! I still remember her introduction to class a few days after the Danzo incident.

...

(Flashback)

It was another 'exciting' day at the Academy. Kushina had caught Naruto, Sasuke, Jugo, and I after we attempted to sneak out of class and had Minato place an Anbu outside our classroom window to watch us. Iruka had come in and mentioned having a transfer student from the Chinoike Clan.

I was stunned when I was her. Megumin had shoulder-length dark brown hair and red eyes similar to Karin's, though hers were darker. She wore a red shirt with a dark grey cloak and large orange boots. She wore an eyepatch with the Kanji for 'Seal' written on it over her left eye and she was walking with her chest out and head held high.

"My Name is Megumin! Foremost Ninja of the Dragon Blood's Clan!" She announced herself rather than introducing herself, much to Iruka's chagrin.

(Flashback End)

...

Megumin was a fun character to hang around with, though I think Sasuke has a crush on her because he is often the one who hangs out with her the most. I thought than an Emo and a Chunni wouldn't go together as well as they do, but they are pretty close. Sakura wasn't happy, but Karin had told her about 'the joys of a harem' or something, which I didn't bother listening to.

During the final academy year, our teachers were pushing us all harder to train and encouraged us to learn as many combat-applicable techniques as possible. They even increased the graduation difficulty from the three standard jutsu to water-walking and tree-climbing after I showed Minato that everyone in my group before the academy even started, could do it.

I know that this is because of the increased tensions with Kumogakure and their ally Iwagakure. Ever since their head Ninja was captured in the act of trying to kidnap the Hyuga Clan heiress, the Hyuga have been lobbying for war. The Uzumaki were upset at the Land of Lightning and Land of Stone because they were the major ones responsible for their branch clan being wiped out, while Kiri provided support. The Chinoike clan wanted war since they were still upset about being banished from their ancestral land, and Fugaku wanted Itachi to gain enough merits in war to become the Hokage's successor.

Konoha had begun strengthening ties with Sunagakure as much as possible, even subsidizing them with large quantities of below-cost food, so that they would be able to build up their population. There was even a proposal that was brought up to the Clan Meeting to allow for joint missions to allow Sunagakure to gain more wealth from Ninja missions to purchase weapons and armaments for the war. While the proposal was agreed to, it was voluntary for all B-Rank and below missions to be assisted with Sunagakure Ninja and all A-Rank missions had mandatory participation of at least one Suna nin. Since S-Ranked missions usually are related to village security, Suna-nin were barred from participating in them just in case.

A Fourth Great Ninja War was coming. It would be fought between Iwagakure and their Ally Kumogakure against Konohagakure and our ally Sunagakure, it was just a matter of when and what incident would set it off. It was under these circumstances in which the class, later known as 'Konoha's Elite Generation', would graduate.