"Wow, it's sure been a while since we've been back, huh?" Naruto smiled warmly as he looked at the Leaf Village in the distance.

"We would have been back sooner if you would have stopped messing around so much." Kurama spoke harshly to Naruto, but his voice had no malice in it. "...And to top it off, you just had to use that idiotic jutsu when talking with Jiraiya."

"Haha! That was the easiest way to get Pervy Sage to listen, ya know. It's always been like that." Naruto started laughing quietly as he thought back to when he trained with Jiraiya. "At first that was the only way I could get him to talk to me long enough to learn anything at all."

"You don't have to tell me that. I was there. I had to suffer through all that as well."

"Sorry, Kura. At least I didn't have to do it forever."

As they bantered back and forth reminiscing about the past, Naruto made his way to the entrance of the Leaf Village. He seemed to walk with a purpose as he walked through the gate. Now that he was back after such a long time, there were things that he felt he needed to do before anything else.

Knowing where he was going, Kurama spoke up, questioning Naruto's priorities. "Shouldn't you go and see Minato first to let him know that you're back?"

"Nope! He can handle himself for a little while longer." Naruto had a smile on his face as he spoke. "This is more important right now."

Before too long, Naruto found himself standing outside of the Leaf's orphanage holding bags of gifts. He hadn't been there since before his mind had been controlled by Madara, and he wanted to make sure everyone was doing okay.

As soon as Naruto opened the front door he was suddenly bombarded with a hoard of children and he soon found himself lying flat on his back.

"Naruto! We missed you so much!"

"What took you so long to come back?!"

"Are you going to stay and play with us?!"

"Look how much taller I am!"

"Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?!"

All the young kids were asking question after question, not allowing Naruto to answer any of them. "Hey guys, come on! Haha! Let me answer, ya know!" It took some time for Naruto to calm all of the kids, but once he did, he sat up and started telling them his story. "Well you see, I had to go on a very top-secret mission and I had to leave right away, so I couldn't come and say goodbye. Also, the mission ended up taking a lot longer to finish than I thought it would, so I'm sorry I haven't been back in so long. You guys have all gotten so much bigger."

"Are you gonna stay and play with us for a while?"

Naruto turned his head to the familiar voice. "Haru! Wow, you're so much bigger than the last time I saw you! And yeah, I'm gonna stay. I also brought all of you some gifts." All of the kids sat impatiently as Naruto opened up the bags that he had brought with him. He pulled out coats and scarves of different sizes, handing them out to all of the kids.

"Wow Naruto! These are so cool!"

"What are these for?"

"Oh man, this is my favorite color!"

"I love it when you come to visit!"

The kids all had bright smiles on their faces as they picked out their warm clothes, and Naruto watched with happiness as he saw every last coat and scarf get chosen. "It's starting to get cold, so hopefully these will keep all of you warm once winter finally gets here."

"THANKS NARUTO!" All the kids cheered at once, tackling Naruto to the ground once more. It wasn't long before they started tickling him nonstop causing him to laugh uncontrollably. From then on all of them spent a lot of time laughing and playing late into the day, all of them glad to finally be playing together again with their favorite ninja.

* * * * * *

Minato was working through old mission files when he heard knocking at his door. "Come in." He made his voice as casual as possible, but he knew from the chakra signature he could sense that it most likely wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting. He didn't speak up again until his guest was fully in the room. "What can I do for you, Lord Danzo?"

"I wanted to let you know that I just heard word that Naruto has returned to the village."

Minato made sure not to let his surprise show on his face as he confronted Danzo. "Are you one-hundred percent certain of the information?" He did want Naruto back, but he also knew he couldn't trust Danzo at all.

"I am certain, Lord Hokage. My sources are well informed. Now I suggest detaining him once more before he catches on to us would be the best course of action for us to take."

"Why do you suggest that, Lord Danzo?" Minato narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Danzo, his mistrust growing even more the longer they spoke.

"Just over a year ago, if you haven't forgotten, Naruto attacked this village injuring several of our shinobi. Then he proceeded to escape from prison and flee the village. We can't afford to allow that to happen again." Danzo's voice was heavy with concern for the village, but as Minato looked in his eye, the cold emptiness he saw betrayed that concern.

"Inoichi already proved that Naruto was being manipulated. I was already going to pardon him before he disappeared, so I don't see why that would change now." Minato's patience was starting to grow very thin as he continued to listen to Danzo's nonsense.

"You are being a fool, Minato. Naruto could still pose a serious-"

"That's enough!" Danzo was cut off by Minato, who was now standing, the authority in his voice sounding out through the room. "You are basing all your accusations on nothing but speculations and theories; whereas I have solid evidence that proves his innocence. I will not blatantly condemn and lock up an innocent person just because you say so."

The resulting silence in the room was deafening as both Minato and Danzo stared at each other, neither one willing to budge. Then, finally after what seemed like hours, Danzo spoke, his voice seemingly nothing but a whisper, breaking the silence. "Very well, Lord Hokage. I will heed your instruction for now and not go after him. I'll take my leave now."

Minato was silent as he watched Danzo leave the room and dropped to his chair as soon as he was alone again. That man rarely changes his expression, and he makes sure to never give anything away. It is going to be difficult to come up with solid proof, but I know he can't be trusted." Minato was lost in his own thoughts again when he heard a loud crash near him, startling him back to reality, and then a familiar voice spoke cheerfully by the window behind him.

"Hey, that was a passionate speech, ya know!" Naruto was grinning as he looked at his dad. "But that face was a little scary." Kind of like mom's, but there is no way I am telling him that.

"You could have let me know you'd be back today, Naruto. Then I wouldn't have been surprised or ill prepared earlier." Minato chided Naruto, but you could see the happiness and relief in his eyes that Naruto was back safely. "Though I am glad to see you back. It's been a long time."

"It sure has! I'm glad to finally be back, ya know."

"If you don't mind me asking; what were you up to while you were gone?" Minato couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.

Scratching his neck sheepishly, Naruto replies, "It's kind of a long story, ya know."

"I've got plenty of time. And it's still early. Now please, continue."

Knowing that there was no way to say no, Naruto began telling Minato what had happened with Madara, leaving out the part about his plans not stopping, and he told him how he had gone back to the Hidden Rain Village and helped them rebuild and restructure so that they can start living prosperously again.

Nothing Naruto had said surprised Minato at first. He knew that Naruto was friends with Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, but what really surprised him was when he heard that Naruto had gone to the other four great villages. "Wait. You did what?" There was a mix of anger and worry in Minato's voice as he stopped Naruto.

"Hey, from my time all the villages were allies. The only thing is, we originally teamed up to stop Obito and Madara. But I've been changing that future, so I needed to go and try to make peace." Naruto's voice was calm as he spoke, but you could hear the passion he had for what he did. "I will not let another war or conflict break out between shinobi again. Everyone deserves peace and happiness. That's what I explained to them."

Minato was skeptical, but couldn't stop himself from being curious. "And what did they all say? I doubt they welcomed you with open arms."

"HA! No, they didn't." Naruto started laughing as he recalled what had happened. "The Stone Village tried to kill me on sight, the Mist Village sent the seven swordsmen to kill me, and A from the Cloud Village wanted to lock me up forever. The sand was probably the only one willing to listen first before the killing."

"So how did you get out of all that?"

"You forget that I am a Jinchuriki. I may only be a genin, but I do have the power to stop the enemies I face. Plus the other Jinchuriki in the villages helped me out too."

"They what?!" Minato was really surprised at this new development.

"Well yeah." Naruto spoke matter-of-factly. "I not only have Kurama inside of me, but I possess the chakra of all the other tailed beasts."

"And so you used that chakra to communicate with the other Jinchuriki?"

"Close. I don't communicate with the Jinchuriki themselves, but rather with the tailed beasts sealed inside of them. Then the tailed beasts talk with their vessels." After Naruto finished that brief explanation, he went back to explaining what happened. "Anyways, I think Octopops was the fastest to step in, since we had already met once before. But in each village the Jinchuriki stood up for me and vouched for my peaceful intention of being there."

"Were you able to actually convince them to all become allies?"

"Unfortunately no. It's too soon after the end of the Third Great Ninja War to even consider becoming allies. I knew that was a possibility."

Minato wasn't shocked by the news at all. "Yeah, I figured as much. The hate they have for each other runs too strong."

"Don't sound too disappointed." Naruto spoke up again, showing Minato a small smile. "They didn't agree to become allies right away, but they all agreed to sign the first ever Hidden Village Accord."

Minato couldn't contain his surprise at the news. "They all agreed on it?! What is this accord? It has to be a big deal if all the villages agree to it."

"It's a big step. They basically just agree to not attack, infiltrate or spy on the other villages. And a mediated Five Kage Summit will be held if any discussions need to take place. Joint Chunin exams will also start being offered. It's not perfect, but it's a great start to the peace we want."

Minato was completely speechless as he processed this new information. What Naruto had done was nothing short of a miracle. "That's...that's amazing Naruto. You did that all in under a year. I'm impressed." Suddenly something else completely different popped into his head. "But wait...did you say genin?!"