On the way to Konoha, the two nin steeled themselves. They'd no doubt have to play things very carefully. They were, after all, going to see people that they had both seen die and had died earlier in their lives.

"Are you still on board with what our henge will be?"

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, who was tree-hopping next to him.

"You mean the Uzumaki henge? Yes, I'm fine with it because it gets us in with the rest of the village, even if we'll be telling Hiruzen everything. You're confident it won't be detectable by the Sharingan or Byakugan?"

"Yeah, I am, it's based on Baa-Chan's henge seal, and I've added layers of privacy so they'll be none the wiser should they check"

"Good. We're heading right into the village, correct?"

"If the guards tell Jiji that two Uzumaki have just shown up at the gates, it'll be far easier to see him than barging into his office and aggravating trigger-happy ANBU, right?"

Sasuke conceded that point, as much as he would like to be rude and barge straight in when it came to getting along with people and making friends, he knew Naruto was obviously better than him.

Half a mile outside Konoha, Naruto abruptly stopped, as did Sasuke.

"We're doing the henge?"

"Now's as good a time as any, eh?"

As they had practised many times previously, Sasuke held out his right hand, the one which hadn't been marked with the moon of Six Paths. As he did so, Naruto pressed his palm on top of Sasuke's, and applied the seal directly, a technique Naruto had learned when learning the Hiraishin a few months ago.

Envisioning what he wanted to look like, Sasuke's hair changed to a bright red, and his eyes became purple amethysts, contrasting dramatically with his previous onyx eye and RinneSharingan.

Naruto, who was already marked with the seal, channelled his chakra into it and gained similar features to Sasuke, along with erasing his whiskers. The only discernible difference now was the angular features of Sasuke's face, which was perfectly agreeable to them.

"We really look like half-brothers now, right?"

Sasuke agreed, and a part of him actually enjoyed sharing this look with Naruto, though he wouldn't voice that outwardly.

"Let's get going, we still have to meet the gate guards"

Sasuke set off again, leaving Naruto to follow behind him, yelling at him to not leave without him. Sasuke would be lying if he said that didn't make him chuckle.

Izumo and Kotetsu were the new gate guards, and while their job could be considered boring by some, they thought it was an honour to be guarding Konoha's gate against any potential enemies. That being said, it was hard for them to deny how tedious the job could be at times. Nothing really happened by the gate, which they were partially happy about, and partially chagrined. This was why, when two people with BRIGHT red hair walked up to the gate, they were quite happy, and also quite alert, as these two were obviously shinobi, and by their gait alone, they seemed very strong indeed. Kotetsu sat up and stood in front of the two. "Halt! What is your business in Konoha?" One of the red-haired men suddenly perked up, and in a very jovial voice said "Hi! I'm Haru Uzumaki, and this is my brother Indra Uzumaki! We were hoping to speak to the Hokage, after all our parents told us that we should head to Konoha for refuge should the opportunity arise."

Wow. Suffice it to say, this was not something that Izumo and Kotetsu could handle, nor did they want to. As such, Izumo signalled the ANBU stationed by the gate, an automatic signal to tell the Hokage what was happening.

Kotetsu was a little stunned, given that the Uzumaki who had just introduced himself as Haru was a rather loud individual, compared to his brother, who seemed rather introverted, given his body language.

It was then that Indra spoke up. "Nii-san, you're being too loud, you've startled the gate guard."

Kotetsu was surprised that this 'Indra' had noticed, as he considered himself rather skilled in hiding his reactions, as many shinobi are.

"Ah I'm sorry guard-san, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm just rather excited to be in Konoha, I've heard so much about it!"

"It's of no concern Uzumaki-san, my name is Kotetsu by the way, and my friend here is called Izumo. I suspect someone will be with you in just a moment to decide what happens next if you wouldn't mind waiting a second." Kotetsu was surprised he was so willing to give these strangers his and his friend's name, but he felt oddly at ease around them, something which should have raised his hackles, yet didn't.

At that next moment, before Haru had a chance to reply, an ANBU appeared next to Kotetsu, and he instantly knew how seriously Hokage-Sama was taking this, given that he'd just sent Inu to pick these two self-proclaimed Uzumaki up.

Naruto and Sasuke had their hearts jump into their throats at the same time. The sensei that Naruto had fought alongside countless times and the sensei that Sasuke reconciled with during the war was standing right in front of them, and looked to be around their age, if not younger based upon his body, which had still not properly filled out. Naruto resisted the urge to hug him when he felt his emotions; a tumultuous storm of self-hatred blanketed by the layer of apathy that came with an ANBU mask. Naruto felt blown out of the water when he compared it to how his Sensei felt when he sensed his emotions last, which was a mixture of pride and respect for those around him.

The ANBU in question seemed a little on edge based on his body language, which was no doubt due to his relation to Naruto's mother, figured Sasuke, which he can hardly blame him for. After learning that Naruto's mother had been very close to his own, and was his godmother, Sasuke felt a yearning to meet her, which was unfortunately not going to be satiated lest someone toyed with Edo-Tensei and brought her back, which Sasuke would not forgive.

"Hokage-Sama wishes to meet you, follow me"

With that, the Inu turned around and started walking towards the Hokage's office, leaving the two no choice but to follow him after Naruto thanked Izumo and Kotetsu and Sasuke gave them a polite nod.

Konoha was just as Naruto remembered it, filled with life and laughter, along with all the attention. This wasn't positive or negative attention, however, rather a sense of intrigue the populace had to the redheads, with some of the ninja passing by looking quite shocked before schooling their faces back to a normal expression. Nevertheless, their gazes were no doubt pinned on the two, and Naruto supposed that Sasuke was having his own concerns at the moment.

Sasuke saw the Uchiha police force many times as he walked toward the office, and made sure to show no outward reaction despite mentally checking each person he saw, as he remembered some of them in pools of their own blood. Banishing those thoughts, he kept his face forward and wondered how Naruto was handling this.