xxx Namikaze Compound xxx

Just as Naruto predicted, Anko was worried out of her mind, clinging to the twins as if they'd disappear if she let go. "Where are you Naruto? I hope you and the others are okay." she whispered, as if the gods heard her prayer the front door opened, she wanted to rush and see who it was but the twins were asleep and she didn't want to wake them.

Naruto and Mito entered the living room, where Anko was, chatting like all was right with the world. Naruto turned to look at Anko "Hey love, sorry we kept you waiting, our fights were pretty challenging."

Anko stared at him "Get over here and hug me! I've been worried sick!" she demanded, Naruto instantly followed her order, enveloping her and the twins in a hug, which Mito joined after a bit.

Fifteen minutes later, the compound's front gates bell chimed, alerting the people inside that someone was waiting to be let in. "Must be Tsunade and Shizune." Naruto reasoned.

"Yeah, there's no way they could get in, I was only able to because I had the twins with me." Anko said

Naruto nodded before getting up to let the pair in. "Welcome to your new home, go ahead and pick your rooms, the master bedroom is mine and Anko's though." he said to the two.

Tsunade nodded, and just plopped on the couch with a sigh "The invading force has retreated, we successfully pushed them back."

Naruto nodded as he took up residence in the seat next to Anko "That's good, but our plans have been brought to a halt." he said, shaking his head

"What do you mean?" Shizune questioned, sitting next to Tsunade.

"Hiruzen, in his infinite wisdom, decided to summon the Shinigami and seal Orochimaru's arms at the cost of his own life.

"Wait! Orochimaru was here?" Tsunade yelled.

"Yeah, it seems like he was the mastermind behind the whole invasion." he said, clearly frustrated.

"You think Suna knew?" Anko asked.

"I'm not sure, we'll have to wait and see. However, we have a more important issue to deal with." he said, looking Tsunade in the eyes. A silent conversation took place.

"You can't be serious!?" Tsunade finally broke the silence.

"I'm afraid I am, the village needs a Hokage, and you're the best choice for the job." He said, never breaking eye contact.

"Is there really no other option?" she asked, looking for any excuse to say no.

"Well, there is." Tsunade's eyes lit up with hope for a second before Naruto dashed them with his next word "Danzo."

Tsunade wasn't sure what to think, on one hand, she did not want to be Hokage, on the other, Danzo'd be a terrible Hokage, hell he might even ruin the village. "Fine." she finally said after thinking about it for a while. "I'll be Hokage, but I refuse to do it for the rest of my life."

Naruto shrugged "That's fair, you only have to do it for a few years, hopefully by then a suitable successor can take your place."

"Not you?" she asked, skeptically.

"I don't want that hat anymore than you do, but if I could take the hat from you if only to relieve you of the burden, I would." he said simply.

"You'd take the hat from me, even if you didn't want to?" she asked

"Yes, after all, you becoming the Hokage was my idea. I'm not sure if I'm good enough to be Hokage, which is why I asked for a few years. Plus, there really is a chance someone better for the job could come along."

"I guess." she shrugged "Well, I better get ready for the council meeting that's unavoidably going to happen." she said, getting up.

"Us too." Naruto said, glancing at the others "We need to formally introduce ourselves to the village and see who we can trust." he said walking over to Anko "Have they been asleep the whole time?" he asked, pointing to Manato and Kazuna.

"Yes." she nodded

"You think they'd sleep a little longer? We can't bring them with us to the meeting cause it might get loud." he said

"Maybe, but I don't want to leave them here by themselves." she said staring at Naruto

"I had no intention of doing that!" he defended himself "I intend to leave a few shadow clones here with them."

Anko nodded "Okay, well, let's put them in their beds. I assume the whole house is furnished?"

Naruto chuckled "Yes, I had shadow clones furnish the place while we were watching the fights." she nodded. He picked up Kazuna "Well, let's not delay any further." he said, walking upstairs with Anko close on his heels.

A couple of minutes later, Naruto and Anko returned downstairs "Alright!" Naruto said, clapping his hands together "Let's get this meeting over with." The group then left towards the Hokage tower.

xxx Hokage Tower Meeting Room xxx

Danzo and the other members of the councils were deciding on who to replace Hiruzen, Danzo was ecstatic, his plan to have his old friend killed went splendidly, even with all the rumors about the Namikaze's return he refused to believe rumors as far stretched at that.

"I hereby nominate Danzo to be the Fifth Hokage!" A chubby civilian council member said fanatically.

Danzo stood ready to give a grand speech but was stopped when the secretary who was outside entered and said "Tsunade Senju, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, and his family wish to join this meeting.

Silence, absolute silence.

Both councils didn't know what to believe, however, one man stood up from the Shinobi side.

"I would be wise to let them in." Shikaku Nara said.

After another moment of silence, the council erupted in murmurings. Before agreeing to let them in.

Tsunade entered first, followed by Shizune, she sat at the designated seat for Senju with Shizune standing behind her. No one else entered for a few minutes, causing the tension in the room to steadily rise 'That brat, he's doing this on purpose' Tsunade thought.

After what seemed like an eternity later, Naruto stepped in, followed by Anko, who was followed by Mito.

"Good day, I am Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." Naruto said with a bow.

"I am Anko Mitarashi, his girlfriend." Anko said, also bowing.

"I'm Mito! Nice to meet you all!" Mito cheered before mimicking the others with a botched bow.

Once again, silence.

Naruto cleared his throat "Anyway, You may be wondering how we're all alive. Well, you're lovable third Hokage lied to you all, you see, he knew that we were alive and he also knew that we were going to return to the village." he said looking at the shocked faces.

"Do you have any proof for your claim?" Skikaku inquired.

"Not on me, but I'm sure he wrote it down somewhere, like maybe his personal journal." Naruto shrugged.

"... and if he didn't?" Shikaku asked, wanting the gauge the man's response.

"I'll take a blood test, as will my little sister, my son, and my daughter." he said casually.

The Nara was taken aback by the last part of the sentence and he had to clarify. "Son and daughter?"

"Yes, my fraternal twins, Manato and Kazuna, they're currently asleep in the Namikaze mansion with a few shadow clones looking after them." he said

Skikaku couldn't believe it, this man was supposed to be dead, but here he is and he has kids, but he had one more test, to see if the man was lying. "How old are you three?" he asked, knowing that if the ages didn't match the facts then they were lying.

Naruto pointed to himself "18" he pointed to Anko "23", he finally pointed to Mito "12" he said without even a hint of hesitation. Shikaku thought about it, doing the math in his head, it all added up.

"Well, I'll believe you for a time, but you'd do the blood test regardless right?" he asked.

"Of course, though honestly, I thought the fact that we could enter the Namikaze compound would be enough proof since only those with Namikaze blood could enter from the outside." he said rubbing the back of his head.

Once again, the Nara found himself in deep thought, Minato was known for his sealing abilities and that would explain why no one had been able to enter the compound over these last 12 years. But still, even though he now believed the man, the blood test never hurt.

"That does make sense, however, I'd still like for you to take the blood test." Skikaku said again.

Naruto only nodded before turning his attention to the stunned councils "The other reason I have came here is to nominate Tsunade Senju for the position of Hokage." this got the reaction he was expecting, pure shock.

After another long moment of silence, Hiashi Hyuga stood up "I second this nomination!" this sparked a train of people standing up and accepting, all the while Danzo just glared daggers at Naruto, this brat just shows up out of nowhere and ruins his plan.

He'd have to deal with this brat quickly and quietly.

xxx Namikaze Compound Hours Later xxx

"Ugh! That took forever!" Mito complained as she lunged at the couch.

"I agree with Mito!" Anko said, sitting down next to her. Naruto didn't say anything as he went upstairs to check on the twins.

"So, now that I'm Hokage I can arrange the test you three will need in order to become members of this village, I can vouch to have Naruto and Anko take a test to become Jonin, but…" she looked at Mito "I'm afraid Mito can't go higher than Genin right now."

"What!" Mito whined "Why not granny Tsunade!" she said, puppy dog eyes in full effect, hitting Tsunade like a truck.

Tsunade resisted the eyes and said, "I can't Mito, You're 12, and you haven't gone to the academy, even letting you become a genin is stretching the limits of the rules."

Mito pouted, crossing her arms before a hand landed on her head. "Don't worry Mito" Naruto reassured the girl "You'll be chunin before you know it, you can count on your Jonin Sensei!" he said pointing his thumb to his chest, before looking at Tsunade. "I will be her Jonin Sensei right?" he said in a voice that left no room for arguing.

"Yes, yes, you have to pass your test first though." she said, waving her hand dismissively.

He just grinned at that "I intend to."

"How's Manato and Kazuna doing?" Anko asked.

"According to my clones, they woke up an hour or so ago and Manato needed to be changed while Kazuna was hungry." he answered.

"Did your clones change him?" she asked.

Naruto looked like she just stuck him with a kunai "Of course I did! My clones had express orders to take care of their every need."

Anko nodded, before stretching and yawning "Well, I'm going to sleep!" she said, getting up and heading upstairs.

"Man, I'm beat!" Naruto said sitting in the place Anko had just vacated. Mito's head crashed onto his shoulder, gaining a look from the man only to see that she was fast asleep. "Hmm, guess her fight with Gaara took more out of her than she let on." he said with a smile before getting up slowly so as to not wake the girl.

After he had fully stood up, Mito was laying with her head resting where he previously sat. He gently scooped her up into his arms "Let's get you into bed." he whispered, more to himself.

Shizne just smiled at the obvious show of affection, she wished she had an older brother as loving as Naruto, but alas, she was an only child, and even though he was her brother in all but blood, she was still older than him by ten years.

Naruto, completely oblivious to Shizune's thoughts carried his sister to her bedroom and tucked her into bed before gently kissing her forehead "Goodnight, my little firecracker." he whispered to her, before turning off the light and leaving the room.

He re-entered the living room, seeing that Tsunade and Shizune were engaged in a conversation. "Hey, I know I've got a test to become a Jonin tomorrow, but I don't know what it is. Can you tell me more about it?" he asked, sitting across and looking at Tsunade.

"Ah, well, you see, I kinda convinced a few Jonin to test you on the different Jutsu's." she said sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

Naruto stared at her for a second, thinking through it before responding "You mean my Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Kenjutsu right?"

Tsunade nodded, relieved that he wasn't as upset as she thought he'd be. "Yes, Kakashi will do your Ninjutsu, Kurenai, will do your Genjutsu, Guy will do your Taijutsu, and I considered having Hayate do your Kenjutsu, but he died before the invasion even began.

"Hold the fuck up!" Naruto blurted out, completely ignoring everything else but her last sentence "Hayate's dead!" he said visibly disturbed.

"Yeah…" Tsunade said looking grim, she noticed Naruto shift from being shocked to depressed "Did you know him?" she asked, but suspected she knew the answer.

Naruto didn't respond to her question, he just had a far-off look "I didn't even get to see him again." he whispered so quietly Tsunade almost didn't hear him.

"What do you mean?" she asked genuinely curious.

"W-Well, before we left, I was a member of his small friend group that consisted of Anko, him, Yugao, and me." he then paused for a second before his face lit up in realization "Holy shit! Where's Yugao?" he yelled, barely controlling himself.

"I heard that she locked herself in her apartment and won't let anyone in." Tsunade said with a sad look.

Naruto looked at the clock and saw it was only 8:50, if he rushed he could visit her before it got too late. He abruptly stood up, gaining a surprised look from Tsunade and Shizune, who had been quietly listening to their conversation.

"I need to go see her!" he said determined

"What?" Tsunade asked confused.

"Yugao is like a sister to me, just like Hayate was a brother to me, if she's in pain I have to be there to comfort her." he said with absolute conviction.

"But, it's nearly 9" Shizune said, pointing at the clock.

"I don't care, Yugao is family, and family is more important than the time" he stated, before quickly leaving the house, intent on seeing Yugao. Anko heard Naruto's shocked yell and came downstairs just in time to see him dash out of the house.

"Where's he going?" she asked the two women on the couch.

Tsunade looked at her with an unreadable expression "He's going to see Yugao." she said simply.

"What, why?" Anko said, even more, confused than before.

"Well, I told him that Hayate died and-" she was cut off by Anko's yell

"Hayate's dead!" she yelled.

"Yes, and when I told him, he explained how you, him, Yugao, and Hayate used to be friends, he then got this look of realization before stating that he had to go comfort Yugao, claiming that she was his sister and that he had to." she finished with a sad smile.

Anko didn't speak for a second before her face lit up with the same amount of realization that Naruto's had "Yugao…" She whispered before looking at Tsunade "Look after the twins for us, we'll be gone for a bit." she said, dashing after her lover not giving Tsunade time to respond.

xxx Yugao's Apartment xxx

Yugao was laying in bed, nearly motionless, she didn't have the will to get up, she barely had the will to breathe. She was broken from her thoughts by a knock at her door, she decided to do what she had done previously when there was a knock at her door, ignore it.

"Yugao!" a voice that she strangely recognized but couldn't place echoed through her apartment "Open up! It's Naruto!" her mind went blank for a second, had she held her breath for too long and died? However, before she even realized her body had moved to the door automatically as if Naruto's voice had command over her body.

She slowly opened the door, expecting there to be no one there, and this to be a figment of her imagination but what she saw stunned her. A blonde man stood in front of her, his blue eye's filled with sadness, not pity, sadness. She then found her eyes wandering his outfit.

He was wearing a black Jonin-style vest with what must have been a black muscle-tight shirt of some kind under it, she couldn't tell since she could only see the bit in-between the vest which was slightly unzipped at the top, he had on a white long-sleeved trench coat over the vest, with black flames adorning the sleeves flowing from his wrists up to his elbows, with more black flames surrounding the bottom of the coat, he had on black ANBU styled pants, with white steel-toed combat boots that had black flames going down the sides, and he was wearing black fingerless gloves.

She didn't recognize him at first, but then his words from earlier rang in her head once again "Open up, It's Naruto", Naruto? No way, he died 12 years ago during the 9-tails attack. She stood there, in absolute shock.

Naruto, seeing that the woman wouldn't make a move decided to make one for her, and enveloped the woman in a hug, she resisted at first, but his next words stopped her "It's okay, Yugi, I'm here now." only one person had ever called her by that name and she hadn't heard it in 12 years.

"N-Naruto?" she whispered, still not sure if she believed him.

"Yes, I… Heard about Hayate, I rushed over here the moment I found out." he said pulling the woman into a tighter embrace

Yugao buried her head into his chest and began sobbing, she had been holding in her pain in front of all of her friends, she had done a good job of convincing the others that she was okay, but the truth was, she wasn't. No, she was absolutely miserable and Naruto seemed to see that instantly, the look he gave her when he first saw her wasn't pity, nor was it his own sadness, he was sad at the state she was in.

"I… I miss him so much!" she mumbled through sobs, her head still half-buried in Naruto's chest. He didn't respond, he only stroked her back, she knew why he didn't respond. Words weren't needed to show emotions, the gentle hand on her back said it all.

"Yugao?" Another voice rang out from behind Naruto before he slowly rotated them so her back was to the newcomer, she glanced up at Naruto to see him have what seemed to be a silent conversation with the new person before two more arms wrapped around her from behind also encompassing Naruto.

"We're with you." the voice said, and Yugao was finally able to place a face and name to the voice.

"A-Anko?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Yes, it's me." Anko said softly

The trio just stood in the doorway for a while, Yugao relished in the feeling of safety and love that seemed to blow all her sadness away for the time being. After what felt like hours, but was only thirty minutes the three broke the hug and Yugao invited them into her apartment.

She started towards the kitchen to make tea for them, but Naruto stopped her and pointed to the couch, where Anko sat seemingly waiting for something "Catch up with Anko, and I'll prepare the tea." he said softly to her gently nudging her towards to couch before entering the kitchen.

She sat next to Anko, unsure of how to begin, she had so many questions, so many that her grief for Hayate took a temporary back seat as she stared at Anko.

Anko, seeing the look realized the silent question Yugao was asking "I'll start from the beginning" she said before telling Yugao what she, Naruto, and Mito had been doing these last 12 years, how the third Hokage lied to the village and how she and Naruto were together and had kids. Yugao was enjoying their life story and congratulated her on having kids, however, this brought back Yugao's sadness.

Anko saw this and pulled Yugao into a hug, she didn't say anything since she didn't know what to say, should she tell her it'll be okay? No, cause that'd be an empty lie and she'd be damned if she lied to her, she then knew what to say. She had already said it when she first hugged her "I'm here with you." she whispered into Yugao's ear, causing the woman to pull her closer.

Naruto set two cups of tea in front of the hugging women, who let go after a moment and grabbed their respective cups. The three spent a few hours talking and catching up, reminiscing about better times, when it got late Naruto stood up.

"Yugi, it's getting late, you want to come to stay at our house?" he asked

"W-What?" she studdered

"Well, I don't want to leave you here alone, and we have plenty of spare rooms at our house, so I guess I'm asking you to move in with us." he said, a little sheepish.

Yugao was taken aback by the offer, she'd lived alone for the last 12 years, with her only visitors being Kurenai and Hayate, with the occasional ANBU member. She turned to look at Anko, wanting her opinion.

"I agree with Naruto, but in the end, the choice is entirely yours, though I suspect that it'd be good for your mental health." she said calmly

Yugao had to agree with that, she's felt happier within these last few hours, and it was better than the depression that constantly threatened to swallow her. After a couple of minutes of silence, she came to a decision "Okay." she said before gesturing to her room "Help me pack." she looked to Anko for help.

They spent a while packing Yugao's things before the trio returned to the Namikaze compound to get her situated in her new home.