Sarutobi Hiruzen listened, dumbfounded, to the story one of his more experienced and tested shinobi presented. Complete with pictures. One picture in particular stood out to him, showing two teens; an older, though still easily recognizable, Naruto next to someone who could be (was meant to be?) his own grandson, Konohamaru, in four or five years. He even had that extra long scarf his little Konohamaru always wore, looking old and well-loved. The Professor checked the photo over, but like their analysts, he couldn't find any indications of doctoring. If someone was pulling a con here, it was a well thought out and thorough one.

The Third Hokage looked back at Inoichi, gathering his thoughts. "And you couldn't find any discrepancies in his tale?"

The Yamanaka shook his head. "Some, but no major ones and no more allowances than I would give to any ninja reporting. He consistently gave the same or just differently worded answers on any given point and was happy to elaborate. I could get a feel for his body language eventually—as marginal as it is—but nothing indicated that he lied." The blond spread his hands helplessly. "Withheld information? Sure, but no outright lie."

Sarutobi hummed in thought, "How much of the information is currently viable?"

"Not much, as he didn't have current actionable intel…" the blond paused and then proceeded cautiously, "that hasn't already been potentially enacted. Which fits if he was a genin. He also seemed surprised on some of the more well known factors that any remotely experienced ninja would know at the moment—our relationship with other nations and such. He only knows what a fresh genin would know regarding anything unrelated to his clan." And Danzo, but apparently that was related to his clan.

The Hokage looked, once again, at another photograph, where Naruto, Tsunade, A from Kumo (of all people), Onoki of Iwa (even more surprising), a red -headed youth with heavy bags under his eyes and the kanji for "Love" over his left eye, and a mature looking Terumi Mei from Kiri all sat eating ramen together. In Konoha. At Ichiraku's (it looked like a newer stand, but still recognizable). The note on the back said "Ramen for the win!" Sarutobi shook his head and chuckled, maybe a little hysterically. He'd take what levity he could at this point. Naruto making peace through ramen sounded crazy, but it certainly fit the narrative he'd just been given.

Pushing the picture book away, he focused back on his lead interrogator.

"Did you get the DNA results?" Sarutobi asked, rubbing circles in his temple to try and avoid the oncoming headache. He doubted he'd succeed.

Inoichi nodded, looking uncomfortable. (Sarutobi was glad he could still read his ninja.)

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"And?"

The blond took a deep breath. "It matches Uchiha Sasuke."

Sarutobi sat back in his chair, trying to wrap his mind around that. Of course he'd be the one who had to deal with this… Why couldn't he find someone to take over his seat? Why?!

(Oh, wait… he did. Why couldn't he find a second successor?!)

"And he confessed that he attacked Danzo and that he knew he had just cause?" Sarutobi forced himself to ask quietly.

Again, Inoichi nodded. "Hatake-san wasn't happy about that, informing 'Indra' that he'd been stuck in T&I for days because of him."

Sarutobi frowned. Inoichi seemed to agree. "It was the first and only time he let his temper get the better of him."

"The prisoner's response?" Sarutobi asked.

"He claimed he hadn't meant for that to happen… that it had just been a 'happy accident'."

The Hokage just stared.

"He then told Hatake-san that he was beginning to understand why he trolled everyone. I made Hatake leave after that."

A beat of silence before the lead interrogator spoke up again.

"Indra… er, older Sasuke, I suppose, also told me to tell you, 'You're welcome,' in regards to Shimura-san. That by taking him out now, he prevented many problems that happen in the future. He only regrets that he couldn't have done more sooner."

Sarutobi could hear the censure in there and wasn't sure how he should feel about it. Part of him wanted to rage because he was the Third Hokage and Danzo had his place in the village. But if this was one of their ninja from the future… and honestly, Sarutobi knew he should have done something regarding his old teammate sooner, but he'd been hoping to give up the hat shortly. Opening anything regarding Danzo would have been him acknowledging he would be in this seat for years to come… and he hadn't been able to face that.

Which was his shortcoming.

How many people would pay for that? All of Konoha?

He let out a sigh.

"Does he have a way back to his universe?"

Inoichi looked relieved. Likely because Sarutobi had decided to buy Indra's story. Which meant the interrogator believed him too. (The Hokage definitely made note of that.)

"He's… waiting for Naruto to pick him up."

Sarutobi just stared at Inoichi for several seconds.

"He said he had no way of actually finding his home dimension without a hit-or miss method that was just as likely to get him more lost."

"And he expects Naruto to find him?" Sarutobi asked, skeptical.

Inoichi shrugged helplessly. "He did become Hokage in the future. Sasuke-san insisted he'd earned it and that he's defied the natural laws of reality for his teammates before."

Right. So Naruto had become that strong. Just how badly did Mizuki—and likely other instructors, to be fair—sabotage Naruto's academy years if he was that fast of a learner?

Yeah, that was it. The last straw highlighting just how badly he'd done and how far he'd fallen as Hokage. (He didn't want the hat anymore! He hadn't for decades!)

"Who did you say was the fifth Hokage?"

"Tsunade-hime."

Sarutobi knew she'd make a great Hokage, but… how did they get her to come back at all?

His question must have shown on his face because Inoichi spoke up. "Sasuke-san said something about her coming back after the Chuunin exams held in Konoha."

Oh. Well… he could wait another seven months, he supposed.

Or he could just talk to the man himself and see if he could get Tsunade there sooner.

Or, if this really was Uchiha Sasuke, maybe Sarutobi should make him the next Hokage. (He may or may not have smiled a little vindictively at that, even if he couldn't bring himself to really consider the idea as he still wasn't completely sure of this man's loyalty, even if he was one of their ninja from the future.

It was almost worth the joke just to troll the guy back.)

"Very well. Bring the prisoner to me. I'd like to have a discussion with him."

xXx

Indra sat across from the Hokage, chakra suppressors still on his three remaining limbs. (That meant he could use his Rinnegan to an extent. He wasn't about to inform them of this. Sometimes a missing limb really did come in handy.)

The old man watched the time-traveler warily. "So… Sasuke-san…"

Ah, so he'd accepted the truth. That made this infinitely easier.

"You may call me Indra," he said. "It is the name I have been going by."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Yes... the Reincarnation name."

Indra shrugged but didn't elaborate more. The Hokage didn't want to really discuss it, apparently, as he seemed to take that in stride and move on.

"For now, in this office, I would like you to go by your given name, Uchiha-san," Sarutobi said.

Sasuke shrugged. "Very well."

"I'm assuming you want to be instated—or reinstated, depending on how you look at it—as a ninja?"

The man paused. "The reserves, if that is possible," he finally decided. "There are some issues I need to address outside the village as soon as possible so I may not be available for every mission."

The Hokage's frown deepened. "Issues?"

Sasuke shrugged again. "The Akatsuki mainly. I'd say Orochimaru, but he'll be here around the Chuunin exams as well, so I figured I'd take care of him then or if I find time before then. Depends on how difficult some of the Akatsuki members are to track down."

Sarutobi looked entirely unimpressed. "The group Itachi is reportedly a part of?"

Sasuke snorted. "Itachi is a decent spy. He's a lousy saboteur. Unless you count himself."

The Hokage seemed confused. "But they're simply a mercenary group. Admittedly of A and S-ranked missing nin."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes. And they want to capture all the Jinchuuriki and their Bijuu to force the world into peace."

The Hokage blinked and then put a hand to the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "Forced peace never works for long."

Sasuke agreed with a sympathetic nod. "True, but desperate people will do desperate things."

"Desperate?" Sarutobi asked, tipping his head to one side.

"Desperate to stop the fighting," Sasuke said with a small sigh. "I can't say I blame them. Only their methods."

The old man rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Uchiha-san, I cannot, in good conscience, send you out on an unknown mission to which only you know the details alone. I know all of our evidence points to you being Uchiha Sasuke, but what does that mean? Are you even still loyal to Konoha?"

That… hit a little too close to home for comfort and Sasuke barely held back a wince.

"Do you always carry around such identifying evidence?" The Sandaime continued. "The kind of evidence that just happens to corroborate your claim? The kind of evidence that would utterly destroy you on an undercover mission."

Sasuke snorted. "Me? On an undercover mission? The only two worse choices would be my teammates." He paused, thinking. "And that could be argued depending on the mission. I'm, ironically, much better at assassination and sabotage than infiltration simply because everybody knows my face. Sakura would just punch through everything she didn't poison and Naruto would befriend them all and turn them to our side more often than not—but everyone would see him coming half a continent away."

The utterly blank but still somehow disbelieving expression on the Sandaime's face was totally worth absolutely everything Sasuke had had to put up with up until this point.

Once he got home, he may have to do this more often.

"Naruto… has very few friends right now, after years of trying" the Hokage pointed out, but he did look hopeful so Sasuke would let the implications of that slide… for now.

"And because of that he clings to any sort of friendship he gets, then powers through any obstacle in his way, emotional or physical." Sasuke paused and thought about everything he knew about his best friend. "And he does it through fighting just as often as not."

The Hokage's expression turned blatantly incredulous.

"I've never figured it out either," Sasuke said, holding his hand up to show his innocence. "He even used it on me… multiple times." The Hokage didn't need to know it had only worked a handful of times, and most of that only recently, because it had still worked. "Over the smallest things, sometimes." That was also a recent development.

Sarutobi sighed. "I need more information before I can grant you reserve status. What exactly do you plan on doing to the Akatsuki?"

Sasuke frowned, then looked around at the shadows in the room.

"I've sent the ANBU out," the Hokage assured.

The time-traveler looked back at the Hokage with a wary expression. "That's not what I'm worried about. And I can't risk telling you my plans. Even here…"

The Sandaime shook his head. "Then I cannot let you out of the village unsupervised."

It was annoying, but honestly fair enough. He was lucky Sarutobi had believed him up until this point.

"Send a ninja with me," he finally conceded. He could compromise (no matter what Sakura said).

"And who, pray tell, could I send who could keep up with an S-class Uchiha?" Sarutobi asked dryly. He frowned and looked Sasuke up and down. "Does that rank still apply with your missing arm?"

Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes. "Yes."

"Then I would have to send an elite ANBU or…" he faded off, looking thoughtful. Sasuke didn't like that look for some reason. It set his instincts on edge.

"Yes… that could work. It would have to wait until after the Chuunin exams… but—"

"No," Sasuke said almost immediately.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Not Jiraiya." He'd met the man a handful of times and couldn't help but think that the two of them together would end up completely destroying whatever villages they came to, completely by accident even. It would be worse than him and Naruto… arguably.

"Then whom do you suggest?" Sarutobi asked dryly.

Sasuke's first inclination was Kakashi. He could work with Kakashi, even now. But the man had a new genin team… so honestly, that was out of the question for long periods out of the village. His second thought (much to his annoyance) was Gai. That would be… more frustrating and difficult, but he still trusted the man to have his back. But Gai had the same problem Kakashi did. Sasuke would have to choose from current ANBU, but… there were few people who he even knew as current ANBU, let alone trusted. That had all changed after the fourth shinobi war.

Except for one… She'd become one of the most senior Jounin ANBU members after she'd survived the war herself…

"Yugao," he finally said. Even if she wasn't as elite as she'd been in the future, she would still be competent and someone he could trust.

Sarutobi thought about that, then shrugged. "Very well, she can go with you, but you will both go with Jiraiya once he comes back."

"That's cruel," Sasuke couldn't help but say. The Sandaime's unimpressed expression returned and the younger man couldn't help but be a little annoyed. "She's a woman. Traveling with Jiraiya."

The Hokage studied Sasuke at that, although the latter couldn't say what conclusion the former came to.

"Be that as it may," the old man finally said, "I will speak with Jiraiya and Yugao myself. But you must have a Jounin with you when you leave the village. Those are my conditions."

And he wouldn't get any better than that.

It wasn't ideal in any case, but he was positive he could keep Jiraiya from pervving on any female teammate they had. (If not, well, accidents happened with the Rinnegan.)

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," he said, managing to say it without gritted teeth even, as he stood. "For believing me."

Sarutobi nodded magnanimously.

As the time-traveler turned to walk away, he paused at the door, looking over his shoulder. "By the way, keeping the photo album on hand was Naruto's idea too. That's the kind of person he is and the kind of Hokage he becomes. So yes, I do keep that kind of 'evidence' on me at all times."

With that, he left the Hokage's office.

xXx

Hiruzen stared at the door as the former prisoner left his office. The old man vainly attempted to hold back another sigh. Another of far too many recently. He looked down at the collection of photographs and wondered at the thought process Naruto, as a Hokage, went through to have such obvious evidence on the body of an elite jounin. It didn't take Sarutobi long to put together a likely scenario.

Two orphans who likely didn't get to see each other often. And the most worn picture in the bunch looked to be of a pink haired woman holding a black haired little girl. "Sakura and Sarada" was written on its back in a semi-legible scrawl. All the photographs showing people together.

Naruto wanted to remind his friend of what waited at home.

Hiruzen put the photo down and opened a drawer in his desk, pulling a picture of his own out. His eyes focused on the family shot of himself, Biwako, and their children when young. He could almost hear his wife's sharp voice telling him to take better care of himself.

Eventually, he silently and carefully put the picture back and shut the drawer again. He took a moment to grieve the loss of his family—his life when he was younger. Everything had looked so hopeful back then. Just like Minato's had…

Which one of them had really come out on top, he wondered.

Then he shook such thoughts from his head, straightened his back and gave the signal for his ANBU to retake their positions. He'd have to give Sasuke… Indra (he'd need to get used to calling the man that) that point, at least.

He well knew the need for reminders.

xXx

AN: Whelp, it's a short chapter, and Sasuke doesn't quite chew the Hokage out... yet. Don't worry, it will come. It WILL come. And he won't be the only one.

I will likely be putting some warnings for passively suicidal thoughts in some future chapters though. Hiruzen is REALLY tired right now... Thoughts?

Thank you so much for reading. And don't worry, just because Sasuke has let the cat out of the bag doesn't mean he won't continue to troll. Just remember, he's new to this 'trolling' thing, so he may not hit every opportunity. However, if there's something you want to see, let us know in the comments. Little things preferably. We can't guarantee they'll make it in, but we would love to hear ideas and thoughts about what you'd like to see Sasuke doing while trying to troll.

Obi's Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)