Haru and Indra followed Kakashi around, (who had been notably silent since their discussion earlier) enthralled by the sights and sounds they'd both dearly missed. Indra could appreciate Konoha now in a way he couldn't before. He cursed his younger self for having abandoned this place. He'd traveled quite a bit prior to the war starting, and he'd never found a place that came close to Konoha. Only now that he was out of his revenge fever dream could he see clearly, just what he was fighting for now. Haru remembered feeling horrible when he saw the damage to the village after his fight with Pain. Everyone was safe, but he knew a part of him would always miss the layout of Konoha that he grew up in. Now, he would make sure this village would never be decimated by Pain as it had been once. Soon enough, they were notified by a Chunin that Haru and Indra had an apartment ready for them, and after being told the address, Kakashi led them over to the place they'd be staying in. Haru remembered from his childhood and Genin days that many of the non-clan Shinobi lived in this apartment complex, and since there was no Uzumaki complex currently in the village, this would do just fine. Their apartment was on the third floor, and upon reaching it Kakashi looked ready to Shunshin off to the memorial stone in record time. Just before he did, Haru turned to look at him as he was putting the key in the lock. "Kakashi-san? We'll be introducing you to someone tomorrow, so make sure to look all prim and proper for them". With that odd sentence uttered, both Haru and Indra slipped inside the apartment and closed the door, leaving a confused Kakashi outside.

Haru and Indra were tired, something they realized the second they entered their apartment. It was a nice open space, with an open floor plan that left the kitchen wide open, and the living room a respectable size. Next to the two adjacent bedrooms was a spacious bathroom. It was a good space to live in, and should suit them just fine for when they started planning their moves. Haru moved past the dining table planted himself onto the sofa, looking ready to pass out, which wouldn't have surprised either of them at that point.

Meanwhile, Indra laid his arms out over the table and opened the storage seals imprinted on his sleeves, with kunai and shuriken raining down on the table for sorting later.

"Thank fuck we have storage seals; I didn't want to drag our hundreds of kunai here by fitting them into our pockets"

Haru looked up from the sofa like he'd been punched.

"Was that a joke? Coming from you?"

"Shut up"

"I'm being serious, did my immovably stoic teammate just tell a joke?"

"What I'm not allowed any sense of levity? Just because I'm not an idiot like you who always spouts what first comes to mind, doesn't mean I can't tell jokes"

One snort of derision later and Haru found a kunai flying past his face.

"Sort out your room and set up security seals, I'll sort all our weapons and handle my room"

"Sir yes sir!"

"It's like you want me to try to kill you again"

Haru hauled himself off the sofa, and ambled to his room snickering all the while.

Haru and Indra didn't have much to put in their rooms they realized. Considering they had to keep their covers, even if they had personal effects, they couldn't put them up anywhere. Deciding to ponder that particular issue later, Haru snatched up the weapons Indra had sorted for him, and sealed them into his own storage seals. Laying down the security seals afterwards was a piece of cake for him anyway, taking five minutes to secure their apartment from any potential intruders, especially the little shits in ROOT Danzo would no doubt post on them the second he caught wind of two new Uzumaki Jonin.

With the seals secured, they released their henge and sat down at the table, Indra having prepared dinner with what had been left in the fridge by the Hokage.

The simple meal which had been heated up in the microwave was consumed nigh on instantaneously. After all, they had important things to discuss, and weren't going to wait any longer.
Indra set his empty plate to the side, "Judging by what you told Kakashi, you're planning on claiming Naruto tomorrow".

Haru chuckled as he followed suit, "Yeah it was pretty obvious huh?" Quickly however his expression turned ominous. "He needs support, and he'll flourish under the right conditions, which are not at the orphanage, or by himself in an apartment next to the red-light district".

Indra internally cringed, remembering how hard it was for his friend growing up, even if he became the loving person he did, it was a surprise to him that Haru didn't become a madman, similar to how Gaara was upon their first meeting.

He also had no issue with claiming the little one as soon as they could, even if it meant creating a stir in the village. He was sure the ANBU squad that will inevitably stalk them tomorrow are sure to have a field day reporting in to Hiruzen.

Quirking his lips upwards, Indra agreed. "That's fine by me, I'm looking forward to meeting the brat, hopefully he'll turn out less insufferable than you if I'm around to teach him some etiquette".

Haru's left eye was twitching, and snarked back, "I'm sure you'll be great at teaching him how to be an arrogant bastard yeah, but that's all I'll hope for from you".

Indra huffed as he collected their plates and washed them in the sink. He knew that they had to get to the crux of the priorities right now. "What about Danzo? I admit I'll take pleasure in killing the bastard".

Haru grinned, stretching himself out on his seat. He was looking forward to it too, knowing what Danzo had done to his friends and the village. "We do what we discussed in our original plans, collect information on ROOT, find out about the situation of the trainees, and dissect it all at once. We both know that killing Danzo right now would only force ROOT to go into hiding, and it would make things far more difficult for us in the long term".

Indra knew he was right, but couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face at the prospect of having to wait to kill that bastard. He walked back to his chair and slumped down onto it with all the grace of a tired Uchiha. "We agreed to leave the Kumo talks alone, and prevent the kidnapping via genjutsu, meaning that we have all our immediate priorities in order, correct?"

Haru knitted his eyebrows together and yawned, "The only other things that we could be doing in the next year or so is fixing Gaara's seal, but that requires travel, and he still has Yashamaru right now, so I'll leave that until we're settled later in the year".

Indra nodded in agreement. The priority was building a stable relationship with Konoha right now, settling domestic issues.

Standing up, Haru yawned once again, "I'm going to bed now, I'll see you in the morning. First thing we're doing is fetching the little one".

A pair of "goodnights" was exchanged before Haru's door shut. Indra sat at the table, his mind a haze of plots and schemes he'd cooked up with Haru before they came back.

"Sakura, what are you doing? You can't expect us to leave you ttebayo!"

"Oh, shut up Naruto I can do as I please, as Sensei already did to save us once before. I've made my choice, so the only thing left now is for you two to sort your shit out and save the world already!"

Sasuke couldn't hold it anymore. "I love you Sakura".

She turned around, a wistful smile on her face, as her hair whipped around her face. "I know you do; it took you long enough you silly boy". Then she left, running towards the battlefield to cover their escape, buying more time for the two of them. How many people have sacrificed themselves so the two of them can have an extra day?

Indra shook his head, clearing his mind of the thoughts that threatened to make him feel useless and incompetent. With a sigh, he stood up and turned off the lights, before collapsing onto his bed, and drifting into a fitful sleep.

The next day, Indra was awoken to the smell of miso soup, realizing that Haru was most likely making breakfast before going to retrieve little Naruto. A knock resounded on his bedroom door before he had a chance to leave his bed. "Some Chunin dropped off our Jonin uniforms just now, and considering that all our other clothes are a little war-torn right now, I think we should wear them today" came Haru's muffled voice through the door.

Indra got out of bed and up to the door, opening it and grabbing the outfit in Haru's outstretched hands. He realized absently that Haru was already wearing his, and that it was the same kind of form and fit that Kakashi used to have, bar the sloping hitai-ate that covered his Sharingan. "Thanks, dobe" he said before he closed the door to get changed. An indignant squawk of "Teme!" resounded from behind the door before Haru slunk back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.

Indra emerged two minutes later with his new outfit on, with the only difference being the bracers that contained his storage seals on his arm. Haru had his tattooed on, so he simply rolled his sleeves up.

Serving the miso, they sat down and ate quietly. Haru took the opportunity to reapply his henge, as did Indra. Having eaten, they deactivated the privacy seals and stepped out into the morning. Haru stretched out his senses, and stopped when they encompassed Konoha, an easy feat for him.

"Have you placed the suppression seal yet?" asked Indra, as they shunshined onto the nearby rooftop, making their way towards the orphanage.

Haru turned to look behind him with a look that indicated he'd been affronted. "Of course, I have, I can still communicate with Kurama just fine, and not even little Naruto's Kurama will be able to detect the chakra, it's a perfect seal".

"Good, though I imagine our presence will wake him up, what with two sudden Uzumaki's showing up in front of his host".

"Ah that's true, but that might not be so bad, provided we talk sense into him at some point there won't be any issues, we just don't want him stirring up trouble inside Naruto at this point. Ah sure Kurama whatever you say, don't act like you wouldn't kick up a fuss in his shoes".

Indra was always drily amused by their interactions, and was still a little shocked that Haru had managed to befriend the tailed beast.

His concern was turned elsewhere when Haru's shoulders tensed

"What's wrong?"

"Little Naruto is such a mess of negative emotions, I almost forgot what it felt like"

Ah, so he chose to sense the little one's emotions. Indra made sure to motivate his friend.

"At least we can go pick him up now. After we do, we can kick up a storm with the council if you want"

Indra knew that tempting Haru with causing chaos was a great way to boost his mood, and he was right, with Haru visibly brightening, despite still roof-hopping. With his friend clearly happier than a few moments ago, they continued on to the orphanage.

Upon arriving, Haru and Indra wordlessly walked into the reception. Noticing the receptionist, they stepped forward, and Haru cleared his throat. "Pardon me, I'm looking for a child registered here under the name 'Uzumaki'."

The receptionist visibly frowned, before she spat words that resembled venom. "The little demon brat is in his room, where he belongs".

Of course, she wasn't expecting the killing intent of two Jonin to suddenly fill the room, with their eyes indicating they were in no mood for her comments. The intent receded, and the receptionist, sweat balling down the sides of her face, uttered where to go before scuttling off.

Satiated, Haru and Indra made their way towards where Naruto's room was. Haru was frowning quite visibly, and Indra couldn't blame him. Haru was never physically abused as a child, but the social shunning he received in his early years started in the orphanage, and Indra was sure this wasn't a place of good memories for him.

They stopped outside a room, both knowing it to be Naruto's. They took a deep breath, and opened the door.