"A late bloomer, huh? Itachi's going to be proud. I'll need more information soon - especially once I've put out some of these more pressing fires - and it wouldn't hurt for you to tell me everything now, but I understand being wary."

“So I uhhh...I’ve trusted you more right now than I’ve ever trusted anyone, even Naruto and he’s my brother practically, also if you don’t die but get captured by any parties from a bigger scale than Konoha and the immediate threats...you can’t  tell them what you dont know? Sorry...I just...the end the scale of all this is really big world changing stuff.

Right now I just want to save konoha its future some troubles...save my friend and the people who will be his friends and their families. I think after some of the heavy hitters grow old enough to be the heavy hitters we need I can tell you? Though hopefully with you still alive and Itachi still on the side of konoha thatll be a few heavy hitters that wouldn’t otherwise have been in play.”

the fear and paranoia has faded a bit and now it was just kind of akward talking to this older boy...social instincts that make no sense in this situation are still rearing their ugly head.

”So uhmm...tell me the check ins and maybe some passwords so I know it’s you inside a genjutsu and not someone else and I’ll go home?...any longer and it won’t really be beleivable that I just came out to play with sasuke...”

"That's a reasonable precaution."

He'll pass on locations, times (a week from now for the first), and passwords, and also - "There's a small time dilation effect here, like with most genjutsu. You'll have time to play with Sasuke, too. Boy could use some friends his own age..."

“He seems nice so I will try, I guess out here isolated from the rest of the village that hates Naruto he might get along with Naruto also, so I should introduce them.” Kouji feels strange about not really being a kid sasuke’s own age...as much as sometimes he does feel 7 and can just let go and play like a child, a lot of the time he feels the 24 years of existence he has had wearing on his soul. If anyone else is getting reincarnated like he did how do they even deal with that feeling?

”Which way is Sasuke’s house?.”

So Kouji leaves Shisui’s house and heads over to Sasuke’s house, maybe he can get a few words in with Itachi also if he is there, not about the important stuff but about spending more time training with Sasuke like Sasuke wants him to, bond more with him. Just in case the massacre happens again maybe some more happy memories will help Sasuke. But otherwise just playing with Sasuke will still be a good outcome.

Sasuke's curious what he talked with Shisui about, but is willing to be dissuaded from asking questions (he is used to shinobi), and is very energetic about wanting to run around and play hide-and-seek and practice chakra and throwing shuriken...

When they've been playing a while, Sasuke's mom comes out, and smiles warmly at Kouji. "Hello!" she says. "I see you boys have been having fun. Do you want to stay for dinner, Kouji?"

Gives a shy smile back at Sasuke’s mom, she reminds him of his mom Hiroko. “Sorry! I’d like to but I have to make dinner for Naruto, I cook at our place and I didn’t tell him I would be out late so he might get worried if I do, plus I have other chores to do, having an apartment is hard work. Thanks for the offer!”.

Kouji says goodbye to Sasuke and thanks him for everything today then goes home. The village looks very pretty at sunset on the walk home as the orange glow hits the mess of different types of rooftops, watching the scenery and just altogether pretty relieved about how today went.

She understands, and tells him to come back anytime - and bring his friends, too.

(They're past the point of it being important people not suspect them for interacting with Naruto...)

Naruto's bouncy (and hungry!) when he gets home, and has a lot of questions about Sasuke.

He tells naruto all about how nice Sasuke is and how he has way better practice shuriken than the ones Kouji carved himself, and how he will ask next time if Naruto can come along.

All the while making dinner, It is special fried rice with bacon. Kouji seems so much more relaxed than he has been the past few days.

That's good!

Naruto's excited to make more friends. They can bring Sakura along! Then he'll have an entire three friends!!!

He tells Naruto to maybe tone it down around Sakura if she comes along, maybe let her get used to his exuberance first? She seems like a quiet girl.

Sasuke had enough energy to keep up with Naruto when Kouji played with him today though. So he plans to ask Sakura and Sasuke if they want to hang out with him and naruto tommorrow.

"That sounds great! And I'll try to be a bit calmer..."

“Just so you don’t scare her at first, I’m sure she will warm up to you okay?.”

And dinner is eaten and bedtimes are had and a new day begins, and after school Kouji finds Sakura and politely asks if she wants to hang out with him and Naruto.

"Sure!" she says, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She seems a bit subdued today, maybe having to do with the girls who were whispering around her, but is perking back up pretty quickly.

“I am also going to ask Sasuke, if he says yes mind if he comes too?.” Oh yeah...the bullying that was happening to Sakura, how different would Sakura be with friends that werent Ino and already being friends with Sasuke instead of being Ino’s romantic rival for him. Hopefully she still ends up the confident powerful woman she ended up being in the manga, Kouji is really hoping that stopping all this early life misery doesn’t weaken anyone, he doesn’t want to think that misery is the secret to strength in the Naruto universe.

"Don't really know him but I guess it's fine?"

So off Kouji goes to ask Sasuke if he wants to hang out and collects Naruto on the way. 

Sasuke's fine with hanging out -

And it takes him about five seconds to get into a fist fight with Naruto.

Does it look serious or just them being kids brought up in a warrior culture? Naruto has been training with Kouji since they were young he should know how to not hurt Sasuke on accident.

If it looks serious Kouji will step in between them.

Looks like Naruto insulted Sasuke - or probably Sasuke's brother - and Sasuke got bristly. Kouji's prior experience with young boys suggests there's a decent chance they'll come out of this as friends-who-hit-each-other-with-sticks-for-fun, though they might also turn into sworn enemies. Or both! Hard to tell.

Hopefully not sworn enemies, he hoped they’d be proper friends sooner if introduced earlier...hmmm...

Kouji climbs up on bench and points his fist to the sky. “Bet neither of you can beat me! You are both doomed to never graduate as I will become hokage!.” Common enemies for the win.

He's going to get tackled by two very energetic six year old boys -

And punched by a girl annoyed at all this squabbling.

“Noooo Sakura not you too! How could you betray me!.” Squirming under Sasuke and Naruto trying to escape, Kouji is wily and pinches naruto to make him let go and scrambles away. “Mwahahaha I’m the invincible fourth sannin Kouji and youll never catch me.” Running away, Kouji is good at running.