Link Field Sorting with Ints

Good Afternoon!

I feel like this should be a simple item but I cannot seem to find a solution. Our items are identified by a number only. Right now our app is set up so that there’s an Item Information DocType that, ideally, will be the referenced link for other DocTypes. However, it won’t let me use a field with Int type as the AutoName field (Error: Fieldtype Int for Item Name cannot be unique) but if it’s set as Data, when used as a Link field option, the sorting is not numeric.

For example, it will show:
1023
123
2034
2099
210

Instead of:
123
210
1023
2034
2099

We’re still pretty early in setting this up so if there’s a better way to go about it entirely, please let me know! I can’t change the choice of naming convention but I am really trying to get this set up right and avoid creating extra work down the line. Also, fronting them with zero will cause issues with our legacy software so trying to avoid that as well.

Thank you for your help!!!