Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto!

"You better have a clone watching him. I swear Minato..."

The famed Yellow Flash waved his hands rapidly to calm down his wife and prevent any threats from being thrown his way.

"Of course I have a clone with him! I came back just to let you know that I'll probably be there for another week at most. Did you miss me?" Minato gave his wife an award winning smile, one that used to make her swoon after she got past calling him flaky and girly.

"Yeah yeah, that's great." Minato's smile fell dramatically. "How is my baby boy? Has anyone been threatening him because he's your son? Is anyone trying to attack him?" Kushina Uzumaki's hand inched towards the frying pan at her side. Minato decided to flash right into the kitchen while she was making lunch.

"Naruto is doing great actually. Nobody is threatening him and there's certainly no attacks. Ōnoki has really changed compared to the stories Hiruzen-sama told us from the past. Especially since he actually seems to want to go along with this treaty between our villages." Minato was impressed with the fence sitters attitude. Iwa was notorious for being hard to deal with, no pun intended.

"He is getting up there in age, maybe he's done being a hard ass." Kushina explained with little tact. Minato always informed his wife on anything relating to his Hokage business. There was no one he trusted more to confide in. She really was his other half. The red haired Uzumaki shrugged to herself and leant over to her husband before pecking him quickly on the lips. "I did miss you by the way. My baby boy comes first though. Sorry not sorry." He chuckled at her attitude.

Minato completely understood it though. Naruto was the most important thing in both of their lives. Both of them were proud to be the parents of such a healthy young boy.

"I told him I would be coming here, but he's been a bit... distracted." Here comes the part he was worried about.

"Distracted? Are you teaching him something?" Kushina was rightfully confused. While they did teach Naruto some aspects of being a shinobi, she didn't expect him to teach their son while in another village.

"Not exactly." Minato rose his hand to the back of his neck. Kushina narrowed her eyes at the action. That was Minato's tell for being nervous, something Naruto seemed to have as well. That boy inherited something from both of them.

"I can tell you're nervous." She accused him.

"He made a friend." Minato told her quickly. Kushina blinked at her husband for a few seconds.

"Okay?" He was nervous about that? What a weird Hokage. "What's the name of this Iwa boy that he's friends with? I'm glad he's making more friends you know? Besides little Sasuke and a few others, he doesn't have many." She didn't see the problem with this.

"... Her name is Deidara." Minato began focusing on the kunai he left all the way in Iwa with his clone. The man was ready with a quick escape for a reason.

"A girl? A foreign girl!" Kushina glared at her husband.

"Come on Kushina-chan. He connected to her instantly. You should see how cute it is when they run around and she threatens to... blow... his legs off... wait..." Minato stopped himself from running his mouth when his wife's glare intensified.

"A foreign girl is trying to blow my sons legs off and you're allowing this?!" Kushina took small steps closer to the sweating Hokage.

"I wouldn't exactly call her foreign..."

"I don't care!" She was dangerously close to him now. Minato watched the bright red hair get close to his face. His nose twitched.

"What happened the last time we introduced him to a girl?! Inoichi's daughter asked him to marry her in the future! Marriage Minato. They spoke for twelve minutes. Also, Hiashi's daughter stared at him and I just know she activated those eyes! Now you expect me to allow my baby boy to be around a Iwa girl who's trying to remove his legs?" Kushina ranted loudly.

"... Is that a new shampoo? It suits you." Minato widened his eyes and teleported away in a flash.

Kushina's fist hit the wall that Minato's head previously leant against, her eyes twitching at her husband's cowardly exit.

"Stupid flaky boy... running away..." She muttered an insult to her husband's previously very feminine looks. In her eyes at least.

Kushina originally didn't mind her son interacting with the opposite gender, not at all. However, every girl his age in Konoha seemed to be enamored with the boy, not that she could really blame them, her son was adorable. 'That's beside the point! This girl is threatening to take his legs off!' Kushina didn't want her precious boy to have to deal with girls at his age, especially foreigners that wanted his legs. Nobody was good enough for her Naruto.

"Deidara..."

Kushina would remember that name. Moms always remember.

Minato would also be spending a week on the couch for his little stunt.

Her face tinted red at one stray thought that crossed her mind. She still didn't agree with the placement of his damn Hiraishin mark on her body. That's how he always teleported to her, no matter where she was.

Maybe she'll lower the punishment to only a few days...

"Dad? Are you okay?" Naruto tilted his head at his father who flashed into the room with his jutsu.

"Thank you Tobirama-sama..." Minato let out a breath he was holding and smiled shakily at his son. "I just spoke to your mother that's all." He barely made it out alive.

"Did you tell her about Deidara?!" Naruto grinned as he mentioned his newest and best friend.

"Yes, she can't wait to meet her in the future." Minato took no pleasure in lying to his son. He glanced at the clone who was seated at the opposite end of the room reviewing his shinobi tools and nodded once. The clone dispelled almost instantly. Minato's eyes narrowed as he sorted through the mundane memories of the Kage Bunshin. It seems he was missing some wire from his tools.

"When are you going to teach me that? Can I teach Deidara too? Can I blow up the clones?!" Naruto was radiating happiness as he jumped at his father. Minato caught him easily and ruffled his spiky hair.

"Soon. If you're anything like your mother then that jutsu will be easy for you to learn." He meant it, Kushina was a monster when it came to chakra, even without the Kyuubi. 'Crazy Uzumaki's...' He was secretly jealous.

"I'm gonna make them blow up." Naruto declared with a big smile. Minato knew exactly where this newfound love of explosions came from.

"Oh boy..." The Hokage reviewed the memories once more. It seems Deidara was taken for her training for the day. Ōnoki 'graciously' allowed him and Naruto to stay within his own mansion close to his office for their visit. This was mostly to keep an eye on them and not cause any issues with staying in civilian owned lodgings. Minato completely understood the old Tsuchikage's thought process. Even if they were aiming for an alliance, you could never let a potential threat roam the village carelessly.

"Dad let's go find the old man and Deidara. I have to show her something." Naruto pulled on his hand and tried dragging him towards the door.

"Woah there, we can't just go walking around the village looking for her Naruto." Minato replied, amused at his son's attempt to move him.

"She said they would be in the Tsoochikage's office after training."

"Tsuchikage Naruto." It was his duty as a father to correct his sons mistakes, coincidentally Naruto made quite a few. He had a feeling some were intentional.

"Yeah yeah, that's great."

Minato took offense to that.

'He's like a mini Kushina that took after my looks.' To think he'd unknowingly copy his mother's words.

"Come on!" Naruto pulled even harder on his hand and Minato relented. Ōnoki probably wouldn't mind too much, plus it was only a short walk to the office due to their residence in Iwa.

Naruto swung the room door open and began to run ahead at full speed after dropping his dad's hand. Minato was almost certain that he had no idea where he was going.

"Ow!"

"H-Hey!"

The Yondaime Hokage winced when his son rounded a corner and collided with another person. Judging by the voice, it was a child.

"Kurotsuchi? Are you... alright...?" A voice Minato recognized questioned. The father of Naruto rounded the corner and scanned over the situation. Naruto and a small black haired girl sat on the floor rubbing their aching skulls. The very large Iwa shinobi behind her was none other than Kitsuchi, the same man who escorted them to the village and was close to Ōnoki.

"Hey jerk! You ran into me!" The girl named Kurotsuchi pointed an accusing finger at the Hokage's heir. Pink colored pupils glared with all the anger a child could muster.

"Your head is really hard you know?" Naruto grimaced as he rubbed his forehead soothingly.

"My head is not hard!"

"It's like a rock."

Minato pinched the bridge of his nose as they began to bicker. Letting out a deep sigh he turned to the large man watching the interaction wearily.

"I want to apologize on Naruto's behalf. He's trying to get to the Tsuchikage's office to visit his friend and he doesn't tend to look where he's going." Minato sheepishly explained.

"That's alright Minato-sama." Kitsuchi inclined his head to the Hokage, showing much more respect that Minato would imagine from an Iwa resident. "My daughter has the same problem." He turned to watch his daughter interacting with the blond boy.

"Your hair is stupid and bright!

"Your eyes are pink! Pink is a girls color." Naruto's words left the girl offended.

"I am a girl you idiot!" She yelled back. Naruto squinted and looked at her from head to toe.

"...Really?"

"Okay I think that's enough you two." Minato leant over slightly to get closer to the arguing children. "Kurotsuchi-chan right? My son didn't mean to run into you, he's just excited to see his newest friend. Please forgive him." Minato smiled at who he quickly realized to be the granddaughter of Ōnoki. Kitsuchi wasn't surprised to find the Hokage being kind hearted towards his daughter, as judging by his interaction with his own son, the man was good with children.

Kurotsuchi turned her face away in embarrassment when she saw the soft smile on Minato's face.

"Kurotsuchi. At least answer Minato-sama." Her father reprimanded her slightly. Kitsuchi was completely aware of the ongoing alliance negotiations. Respect was essential here.

"Minato-sama? Why're you calling him that?" Kurotsuchi turned to her father.

"He is the Hokage, it is only right." There were a lot of reasons Kitsuchi would rather not disrespect the Yellow Flash.

"H-Hokage?!" The young girl squeaked out and turned nervously to the tall blond man. Minato continued to smile kindly at her.

"Dad, can we get going? I want to show Deidara what I made her!" Naruto completely disregarded the girl who seemed frozen as she stared at the Hokage.

"Alright alright." Minato made eye contact with Kitsuchi and cleared his throat. "We're off then Kitsuchi. It was nice to meet little Kurotsuchi-chan. Bye now." He held a hand out and Naruto grasped it in a heartbeat.

The Iwa father and daughter duo watched the two blonds turn their backs without a care in the world. Kurotsuchi broke out of her embarrassed state and faced her father quizzically.

"Dad? Is the Hokage super strong?"

Kitsuchi laid his hand on her shoulder gently.

"Yes. He's on a completely different level when it comes to being a shinobi." It was a bitter truth to admit, especially due to the pride he held towards his village.

"No way... Grandpa can definitely beat him." Kurotuschi told her father with crossed arms. "That's boys a dummy too! I'm going to get him back for running into me! I'll show him a rock..." She fumed about his comment about her hard head.

Kitsuchi didn't respond. His eyes watched the Yondaime Hokage laughing and smiling as he strolled down the hallways like he owned the place.

These peace talks and alliances that the Hokage was aiming for were the best course of action in Kitsuchi's opinion. For the entirety of the Elemental Nations.

'I'm glad Tsuchikage-sama finally set aside his stubborn nature and opened his eyes.' Kitsuchi thought to himself.

One thing was obvious to most of Iwa and even the other villages.

Minato Namikaze is not to be trifled with.

Ōnoki was far from a grandfather figure to the younger shinobi or children of his village. He never put much effort into crafting the image that Hiruzen Sarutobi was known for. Outside of his own family he could appear rather cold and unapproachable. Personally overseeing Deidara's training was not a decision he made lightly. The division of shinobi dedicated to explosions wasn't one that he favored as much as his predecessors, despite acknowledging and making use of their incredible skill. He ended up dismissing the girl for awhile, her obsession with art and strange personality didn't mesh well with an old man like him either.

When he found out about her innate talent for explosions, her bloodline and her compatibility with one of the villages forbidden techniques, he knew this could be a benefit to his village. Some may call it careless to let a child access a forbidden jutsu like that, but Ōnoki was no fool. This was all to better the village. Not to mention, with Minato now offering some knowledge to further expand their unique branch of shinobi, he was looking forward to increasing the power of Iwa's unique division of shinobi.

These factors all added up to Ōnoki finally putting more time and effort into training the girl. It was no small feat to gain the attention of a Kage and Deidara managed to do it. Even with his less than friendly attitude towards his newest student outside of training, one thing he noted about her was how standoffish and meek she could become when others criticized her interests.

When Namikaze's brat entered the room, that personality flipped completely.

"Naruto!" Deidara shot to her feet and ran to the grinning whiskered boy.

"Yo!" Naruto gave the girl and Tsuchikage a big wave. Ōnoki snorted at the kids attitude and turned his attention to the taller man in the room.

"Are we interrupting anything?" The Hokage asked his fellow Kage with a smile matching his son.

"No. We were just about done for the day anyway." Ōnoki stretched and bit back a yell at his aching back. He missed being young.

"That's good to hear. Any news from the Daimyō yet?" Minato was naturally curious. It wasn't often that Kage's submitted alliance treaties.

"I suspect it'll be a day or two until we receive a response. Heh, it appears he was shocked at such talks between our two villages in particular." Ōnoki chuckled to himself.

"I bet. We are hoping for the best though, right Ōnoki?" Minato closed his eyes and smiled serenely.

'He is something else.' Ōnoki eyed the peaceful Hokage. Any other shinobi would think that he had his guard down, or perhaps that he was just that arrogant.

'He's completely sure of his abilities.' The Tsuchikage was confident in his own skill and power. Against the Yondaime... 'He's even faster than that muscle head with his jutsu.' The old Kage has only doubted himself one other time in his life. There was one opponent that left him feeling nothing but despair...

Madara Uchiha.

Ōnoki suppressed any thoughts involving that demon in human flesh and finally responded to Minato's question.

"Yes. My village has a lot to gain after all."

His response made Minato laugh loudly.

"Indeed it does."

"Tsuchikage-sama? Would it be alright if I went with Naruto to the lookout above the village? I want to show him the view, yeah." Deidara interrupted the Kage's as she stood shoulder to shoulder with her number one fan and best friend.

"The lookout? Hardly anyone goes there so you brat's won't attract too much attention. No explosions though, got it?" Ōnoki told her with finality. The lookout over Iwagakure provided a nice view of the village and natural terrain. Most villagers tended to avoid it due to the resident jinchūriki frequenting the area.

Deidara looked like she wanted to argue that before Naruto grabbed her hand and turned to his father.

"I can go right?"

Minato rose an eyebrow and smirked in amusement.

"I half expected you to run off without asking." He enjoyed the pout on his sons face.

"Daaaad..." Naruto moaned pitifully.

"Fine. If anything happens..." Minato stared deeply into eyes that mirrored his own.

Naruto didn't respond verbally and a silent conversation passed between the two.

Deidara rapidly looked back and forth between the blond duo.

'That boy. He acts like any other child would at times, especially around Deidara, but I can't help noticing the resemblance when he speaks to Minato.' Ōnoki had a feeling that a second shinobi flashing around would haunt him into his retirement.

"Go on. Have fun you two." Minato continued to eye his son.

Naruto stuck a closed fist out to his father. The older Namikaze's lips twitched.

Fist met fist as Naruto finally broke eye contact and started to grin widely.

"Come on Deidara!"

"I- Hey! You don't even know where to go!" She shouted as he dashed out of the room with her being dragged along. She felt embarrassed when he still didn't mind the situation involving her hands.

Ōnoki sighed loudly as the loud footsteps disappeared into the hallways of his Kage mansion. Kids were a pain, almost as much as the one he gets in his back.

"Shall we discuss the smaller details for this arrangement Ōnoki? This isn't something we can forget after all. In fact, I spoke with Hiruzen-sama briefly since he's had experience with situations such as this. He proposed some interesting additions that the Daimyō doesn't need to approve of first." Minato seated himself on the uncomfortable chair from their previous talks and spoke with no hesitation. Ōnoki frowned at the mention of that old monkey before figuring it couldn't hurt to see what else he can gain from Konoha.

The aged shinobi never noticed a faint black marking disappear on his fellow Kage's palm.

"So... rocks." Naruto flatly stated.

"Yup."

"Only rocks."

"... Uh huh."

"Annnd... mountains."

Deidara felt her face heat up when she realized how... lame this view must be to those from other villages.

"I'm sorry it's not, um, cool? Yeah. I'm sure your village has way better views." Deidara visibly deflated as they dangled their legs over a large cliffside that overlooked the very rocky village.

Naruto looked away from the gloomy terrain and saw his friends downcast expression. He smiled and pointed a finger out to the largest mountain.

"Imagine if that blew up! How many explosives do you think it would take? Konoha doesn't have anything that you can easily blow up ya know? There's just houses and stuff."

Deidara's eye, the one not hidden by her long hair, widened slowly.

"You..."

"Oh wait a second!" Naruto reached into his pockets and searched for a second. "Aha!" He finally found what he was searching for and presented it to the girl.

Deidara eyed the white clay leaf symbol in his hands. That was her detonating clay.

"I made this for you. It's the symbol of my village! I even... borrowed some wire from my dad's tools to make it like a necklace. It took so long to get it right, and this clay is really hard to work with. I'm really jealous of how good you are." Naruto's happy face betrayed his supposed jealousy.

Deidara continued to stare at it as her stomach flipped. The symbol certainly didn't look perfect compared to the one she's seen displayed on his father's forehead, but it was how it was made that surprised her.

"Did you also 'borrow' this clay from me?" She quirked an eyebrow at him.

Naruto only smiled. She was reminded once more of his dad. The resemblance was startling.

"Maybe. Well, do you like it?" Naruto's smile quickly became lopsided as he felt nervous.

"You realize I can probably blow this up, yeah?" Deidara informed him with a smirk of her own. Naruto's face turned to panic in a flash.

"W-Wait Deidara-" He stopped when he she gently took the leaf insignia out of his hands. She wasted no time in placing it around her neck. It wasn't at all fashionable for a necklace, and an Iwa shinobi wearing a Konoha symbol was practically sacrilegious.

"I'm not going to blow it up." She told him as the necklace sat over her shirt proudly. "This is the first time... that anyone's given me a gift..." Her voice lowered as she revealed that information.

"What?!" Naruto jumped to his feet and pointed at the girl. "You're like super cool and your art is amazing! Why hasn't anybody given you a gift?" His question was so innocent that Deidara couldn't help herself from laughing loudly. She felt the necklace once more and ran her fingers along the familiar clay.

"That's not important, yeah. You gave me one so that's what matters right?" Deidara asked him as she rose to her feet as well.

"I guess..." He still didn't like hearing about her not receiving any gifts. As a young boy he simply couldn't understand it.

"Hey Naruto?" She called out to him while still staring at the makeshift necklace. Naruto titled his head at the girl.

"What's going to happen when you leave?"

That question stopped him in his tracks. He didn't even think of that.

"You're going to leave after your dad is done with Tsuchikage-sama..." That hurt her to think about. In the amount of time she's known him, she felt comfortable around him. She could be herself. They sat and spoke about explosions and her art and whatever they wanted for hours. He didn't judge her hands or her speech. She felt happy. Him being a resident of a different village didn't matter. He wasn't the scary Yondaime's son to her, he was just Naruto. Her number one fan and friend.

"Yeah, I have to. Dad is the Hokage so he can't be gone for too long either." Naruto felt his own sadness over this topic. He had friends in his village, even if Sasuke pissed him off. Deidara was different though. He's never had this much fun being around someone before.

"... What if they don't become allies?" Deidara looked at him with much more seriousness than a child should have. Naruto put his head down in thought. His fists clenched thinking that he won't be able to see his friend just because the villages don't want to work together.

"Then I'll still come see you! You're like my best friend. The villages can't stop me ya know!" If such a proclamation came from anyone other than a child it would seem ridiculous. There was also no conceivable way he can get to Iwagakure at his age alone.

"Really? You would still come to see me even if it doesn't work out?" Nobody ever wanted to be around her before, so to find this boy who was an outsider that enjoyed her presence still shocked her.

"Of course! You can even come see me in my village! I made you that necklace and Mom always said that Dad would leave her gifts before promising he'd be back for her. I'm making that same promise." Naruto wouldn't understand the connotation until he got older.

Deidara felt her eyes start to sting, and she knew that tears would follow. Closing them tightly, she put a huge grin on her face and responded.

"Naruto. Do you want to see another explosion?" She tried to hide the way her voice cracked with emotion because of his words and pledge to see her.

Naruto's eyes shone in excitement.

"Can we blow up a mountain?"

Deidara heart began to beat faster. The young girl didn't understand what it meant, she didn't even care at the moment. Naruto suggested something that made her want to jump for joy.

"We can try!"

Ōnoki felt a chill run up his aching back as he sat in his office.

"You certainly seem comfortable Hiruzen."

The Sandaime Hokage, who happened to be filling in for his successor, opened his relaxed eyes to see his old teammate. Removing the pipe from his mouth and placing it on the Hokage desk, he chuckled at the comment.

"You would be too if you could sit on this comfortable seat Danzō. They only make them like this in Konoha you know?"

"... I'm sure." The bandaged appearance of Danzō Shimura stared at his fellow elder.

"What brings you here? The Yondaime isn't around for you to complain about Iwa." Hiruzen leant back and faced the village from the large window.

"We both know the kind of man Ōnoki is. To think he's actually going along with this idea of.. peace is ludicrous." Danzō's cane impacted with the floor as he made his way to stare out at the beautiful village view. The concept of peace was foolish to him. It could never exist.

"People change. Is that concept so hard to understand?"

"I very much doubt that he's truly changed."

"Your Hokage seems to think so."

Danzō kept quiet as they observed the appearance of the bustling streets.

"Look at it from his perspective Danzō. The might of our village is great currently. Minato-kun is a force of nature on the battlefield. For a man like that to be offering an alliance in which Ōnoki benefits, well he'd be a fool to deny it."

"...This concept of burying the hatchet that your perverted student goes on about isn't something we can fully support simply because Minato is capable of decimating forces of shinobi. In the end, Konoha needs to benefit from these alliances first and foremost. Not to mention prepare for any deceit."

"And we will benefit. Our roots are simply spreading out to others. He knows what he's doing trust me. If there's any deceit, he won't fall for it." Hiruzen retrieved his pipe and placed it to his lips. "War isn't something we should be in the business of. We've seen enough of conflict for one lifetime and I feel this is a step in the right direction."

"Good luck with the Raikage and Mizukage agreeing to this." If Danzō wasn't a man who cared about his image, he would have snorted loudly at his own sentence.

"Indeed." Hiruzen caught the lone eye of his lifelong rival. "Have some faith though, our Hokage is full of surprises."

"You said it Sarutobi-sensei!" A loud voice yelled out as the door opened quickly. Danzō muttered something inaudible under his breath as they both turned to face the newcomer.

"Ah. Jiraiya, what brings you here?" Hiruzen asked his former student.

"I overheard your little conversation and couldn't help but come in. Also I may have been banned from staying at Minato's place..." The large white haired man admitted sheepishly.

"...Kushina?"

"You got it..."

"I am not surprised."

Danzō shook his head at the conversation and started to move towards the door. His own talk with Hiruzen was finished for the time being. The Sandaime watched him walk in silence.

"Hey Danzō." Jiraiya called the man and he stopped in his tracks without turning.

"My student always puts this village first, but he's doing this for a better future. So the old fence sitter is acting different, believe me, if Minato detected anything malicious then Naruto wouldn't be with him."

"... Fools." Danzō opened the door and decided to impart one last piece of information on them both. "Should things go awry, which they will, I will gladly lower myself to saying something along the lines of 'I told you so'."

The door shut quietly.

"That guy is way too paranoid and I'll never like him."

Hiruzen couldn't fault his students line of thinking.

"Danzō has always been like that. He wishes the best for our village before anything else. Even peace. I do as well, but my faith in Minato-kun is unshakeable." After speaking, the retired Hokage blew out smoke into the air.

Jiraiya scrunched his nose at the smell, waving a hand in the air. Even after all these years, he wasn't a fan of that damn pipe.

"How's Naruto-kun doing? You must know more than I do." Hiruzen questioned his student. He missed the ball of energy that was the perfect mix of his parents.

"Minato told me he's got a little girlfriend." Jiraiya laughed as he thought of Kushina's reaction.

"An Iwa girl? The times really are changing." He remembered a time where relations between the villages always ended in bloodshed.

"Get this though Sarutobi-sensei... she has mouths on her palms."

Hiruzen placed his pipe down on the desk before him and stared blankly at the toad sage.

"She has what?"

"Mouths. Apparently she uses some type of detonating clay that she molds with her palms."

"That is most certainly forbidden among their village. A jutsu of that caliber is certainly not normal nor wide spread among their forces. I've never heard of a shinobi that possessed... mouth hands..." The old man's eyes narrowed as he tried to recall ever hearing of such an odd technique.

"That brat has some really different taste in females. Remember a year ago, he wanted to constantly be around Mikoto Uchiha, not that I can blame him." Jiraiya's smile turned perverted as he thought of the Uchiha woman.

"All I remember is Kushina's jealousy, claiming that Mikoto was using genjutsu on her son."

"Didn't she also accuse Hiashi of teaching his daughter how to use her Byakugan on Naruto?"

"Yes. I have nothing but the upmost respect for Minato. To be able to handle Kushina, his Hokage duties and a child, he's a different breed."

"Haha! Of course, I taught him everything he knows! There's nothing that he can't handle." Jiraiya grinned as he thought of Minato who was his perfect definition of a shinobi.

A shinobi is one who endures after all.

'Endure. Just endure.' Minato's smile was failing as he faced a large portion of Iwa shinobi. He stood next to a floating Ōnoki who had a palm permanently attached to his face.

"I purposefully said no explosives. What do they do? Cause gigantic rocks to come crumbling down onto the village." Ōnoki muttered as he felt a migraine approaching.

The various shinobi were torn between feeling amusement, anger, annoyance or even fear because of the Yellow Flash.

"Tsuchikage-sama, the civilians are panicking from the rock slide..." A random shinobi spoke up. Minato turned to the man and he watched the poor soul flinch at his store.

"Assure them that it was just an accident. A training exercise from the explosives division." Ōnoki tiredly told his shinobi before eyeing the two dirty looking children. Dirt covered their clothing and the boy even had some small rocks stuck in his spiky hair. Deidara and Naruto both appeared equally as guilty but Ōnoki could swear there was a hint of something peculiar in Deidara's uncovered eye at the situation. She was truly obsessed with her 'art'.

"Naruto... Deidara..." Minato approached the two and all the Iwa shinobi were on edge. "Apologize to Ōnoki and the shinobi for causing a disturbance like this. We are trying to all be friendly with each other and making explosives go off in the village are not the way to go about it." Tilting his head with a charming smile, the Hokage chastised the children. Whispers broke out among the shinobi surrounding the area, Minato paid them little attention.

"Sorry rock people..." Naruto sheepishly looked around at the large gathering. Some people seemed to hold back a smile at the way the mini Yellow Flash addressed them.

"I'm sorry too... yeah..." Deidara started to speak with her head down. Naruto watched his friend curiously. "... Sorry that the explosion wasn't even more amazing! Did you see my art?! Naruto! Those rocks stood no chance!" The girl grinned wildly at her friend. Naruto's own smile broke onto his face as he held his hand up, waiting for the girl.

While the two connected their hands in a high five, everyone watched the makeshift necklace bounce around Deidara's neck at her movement.

The symbol of that village, worn around the neck of an Iwa resident. Nobody knew how to take it. Not even Ōnoki.

'That's my boy...' Minato smiled softly at the happy face of his son. Jiraiya may constantly preach to him about seeking out peace, but in the end it seems Naruto will be the one to help unite their villages.

"Don't say it..." Deidara's face burned bright as they disconnected their hands.

"But-"

"There's people around!"

"Can't your... hand mouths just stay closed when we do that?"

"I told you not to say it!"

The chuckling that occurred among the shinobi populace told Minato that he was right.

"I will purposefully make sure Deidara visits your village often to practice using explosives, Namikaze." Ōnoki remarked as he watched the happy Hokage's face drop into horror.

There was a lot more than just mountains and rocks for the girl to destroy in his village.

"... My wife is going to kill me."

"Not my problem."

The Tsuchikage and Hokage would never be best friends.

"Wait Deidara! When you come to my village, we gotta try out the explosives in the forest!"

"I can't wait!"

Minato was not pleased with his sons casual proclamation of deforestation.

A/N - Yeet. As a result of Minato and Kushina being alive, a lot of things are going to be changing obviously. This won't be the standard plot that follows the wave mission, then the exams, then the retrieval arc etc etc. Minato has his own goal because of Jiraiya and Naruto will find his in time, with Deidara of course.

I'm glad so many people enjoyed the first chapter and I really do wish I can update all of my stories more often but there's not enough time in the day lol. When summer comes around I'll be cranking out chapters consistently again. Or try to at least.

And YO, I swear to god, The PM system on this site sucks. I don't even get the notifications in my email or anything. I'm not sure if this only happens to me but I hate it.