Naruto knew in his heart of hearts that he wouldn't, in a million years, have been able to take Gaara back to Konoha with him. It would have, among many other complications, sparked a war between Suna and Konoha; because what else would the essential kidnapping of a village's jinchuuriki be viewed as, other than a blatant act of war.
He sighed dejectedly and Minato, who had been at his side in silence, clapped his back with a warm hand in an attempt at reassurance. He supposed he should be grateful that Rasa had allowed him and his brother to even fix the seal at all. A small smile finally found its way to his lips because that was actually a fantastic start for the little redhead and his one-tailed occupant. He had also, fuelled by a last-minute act of desperation, offered the stoic leader of the Sand Village for his son to take part in jinchuuriki training when he was old enough that it was deemed necessary. His instructor would, of course, be Konoha's own jinchuuriki (and here Minato had thankfully intervened before he had utterly blown everything by admitting that said bijuu-container was actually himself) and – well, the answer hadn't been an outright no.
So, Naruto could hold some hope that the next time he saw this timeline's Gaara he wouldn't be the bloodthirsty, broken boy that the former blonde had known as a child. Now though, before he could change his mind, flee back to the kage's residence, kidnap his son and start his new life as a missing-nin, Minato was steering him towards the very same bar he had been beelining for before he had seen Gaara in the sandpit. It was, however, not the first bar the hokage had been to in search of their objective.
Right. Granny Tsunade. The mission. Time to get the game face on.
Naruto's 'game face' was actually what he inwardly called 'Broody Uchiha Mode'…which was a (copyrighted) term that was pretty self-explanatory. The clan head had actually grown to make it quite convincing, needing to use it during his regular meetings with the clan's council of elders – because they would probably order his assassination if they knew of his true, effortlessly sunny disposition – and, of course, having Hiashi Hyuuga as a friend gave him plenty ideas on how to better give off the illusion that he was, in actual fact, an insensitive prick.
The duo paused outside the entrance, the mask slipping fully into place, and they were no longer the inseparable Namikaze brothers. To any observer the two men who hesitated outside the bar door looked at each other with gazes containing differing degrees of wariness. The pair of ocean-blue eyes held a sort of tired resignation while the other, significantly darker gaze burned with barely concealed disdain and, perhaps, a hint of jealousy. Having dropped his nondescript henge since Rasa had given him the go-ahead to conduct his business and then leave, the blonde was well-recognised as the infamous Fourth Hokage of Konoha and the dark-haired man, who also bore the insignia of the Leaf, appeared to be of a similar age if not slightly older than the Yellow Flash. It could easily be inferred that the title of kage was swept out from under the second man's nose. Something that could be accounted for in the way he glared at his companion. The pair were clearly uncomfortable and unused to working with each other. Clearly.
As the Konoha nin entered the drab drinking establishment, they shared a look when their gazes fell on a distinctive blonde head of hair that was planted face down on the bar counter. It was about time. Minato, by himself, had already visited almost all of what could pass as 'bars' or something to that effect that the Village Hidden in the Sand had to offer without any luck. At this point he was solemnly contemplating just chucking the sannin over his shoulder and booking it. Or, at least he would be if he wasn't certain she would turn him into some type of hokage paste with her fists alone at the mere attempt. And so, he shook his head to clear it of his self-sacrificial thoughts he approached the ticking time bomb that was Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sannin.
Barely had his hand alighted on her shoulder when the woman leapt from what the two shinobi had falsely assumed to be an alcohol-induced stupor with her eyes surprisingly unclouded, considering where they had found her, and a dangerous glint shining in them. That was pretty much expected. What wasn't expected however, was the way that expression changed once she actually saw the man that had dared to get within her striking range. Her eyes widened and, inexplicably, appeared to grow ever-so-slightly wet as she took in Minato's blonde hair and distinctive blue eyes. Her lip quivered as she opened her mouth to breathe an introduction, "Is it really you? Nar –"
The elder Namikaze brother's own jaw would have dropped if he wasn't gritting his teeth so tightly at the address (because the unexpected hope that came with what baa-chan had implied was so overwhelming and he couldn't –) but he stepped in before the woman before them could incriminate both herself and him in something so, incredibly, hard to explain.
"Minato, we have found Tsunade-hime. We should leave," the glower that darkened his features was growing increasingly difficult to maintain when his heart was swelling at the thought that his baa-chan had somehow followed him into the mess-turned-blessing that he had fallen into those years ago. How long had she been here? What had she been doing? How would he tell her that she was not alone? How -?
Naruto's racing thoughts were interrupted by the disdainful gaze that was being directed at him from the slug sannin that so occupied his current thoughts. He was almost taken aback when he remembered, with an internal snort, Oh right. I'm an Uchiha. He met her gaze unwaveringly though, in true Uchiha fashion, which only encouraged her to inject more venom into her scowl.
She then turned to Minato, all of the relieved awe that had been there when she had first seen him utterly vanished into thin air as it was clear now that he wasn't the blonde she had been hoping to see, and addressed him with an imperious sniff, "Konoha, right? Fine. I have nothing to pack. Let's get a move on, blondie."
Minato, the poor man, looked rather whiplashed at the sudden about turn in the older woman's demeanour and looked to his brother dazedly as she marched her way out of the bar. Naruto watched her go for a moment, her sagging shoulders the only indicator of the hope that had first risen and then been dashed inside her chest at the sight of the Konoha nin, before he gave his little brother an amused smirk and then followed her through the doors.
Only when they were out of Suna's gates and well on their way to Konoha did Minato dare to whisper to his brother a statement that he really should have been warned against when he had initially taken a mission regarding the slug sannin, "Wasn't this supposed to be hard?"
It was all Naruto could do to hold in his snicker while the pigtailed woman stomping away ahead of them whirled around with a warning glint in her eye and an accusatory finger threatening severe pain aimed directly at the Hokage's chest.
"Watch it, brat. What I want to do is my business, and mine alone. Remember that for the future," Minato nodded, wide-eyed at being caught gossiping like a school boy, and Naruto could see the tips of his ears beginning to turn bright red in shame. The sight was too funny not to snicker at but, 'Uchiha Mode' dropped now, it was actually a hearty guffaw that escaped the Namikaze-Uchiha's mouth. Minato scowled and punched him in the shoulder, his cheeks flushing red too at the blatant sibling-mockery of his latest embarrassment, but Tsunade actually looked taken aback. There was only a moment of hesitation before her eyes narrowed and she turned her ire on to the raven, "You got something to say too, Uchiha?"
Wiping a tear of mirth from his dark-eyes, Naruto merely gave her a warm grin and mimed zipping his lips happily. Blinking, Tsunade turned away from the pair and continued along the path. The brothers didn't miss the miniscule release of tension from her figure though, and shared a cheeky grin as they heard her mutter, "You're a strange one, aren't you?"
Minato couldn't resist the vengeful jab at his aniki as he rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it."
Upon return to their home village, Naruto was all too happy to leave Tsunade and Minato to do the appropriate paperwork that accompanied her return to Konoha. He excused himself from their company with as much grace as he could manage while grinning like an idiot at the thought of his long-awaited return to his family. The Yondaime could only smile back at him softly, perfectly understanding his eagerness to get home, and waved him off with a fond hand while the Slug Princess looked on in contemplation.
And so, it was a travel-weary Uchiha clan head that kicked off his shoes in the doorway of the main house on the evening of his return and yelled out an expectant, "I'm home!"
He waited for the usual pattering of excited feet to come careering down the entrance hall at his announcement, but paused when he was greeted instead only with utter silence. Considering the infamous history of the Uchiha clan in his own youth, the man couldn't be blamed for the cold fear that had begun to coil in the pit of his stomach. He marched through the house, flinging every door open and growing more panicky with every empty room that he found; only to freeze as he heard the distinctive 'thunk' of kunai hitting a target that was accompanied by a childish voice declaring something too muffled for him to hear.
Immediately, a relief washed over him that left Naruto feeling boneless as he staggered to the training area that was demarcated for his family's exclusive use. Tugging a hand down his pale features, he scolded himself for his immediate reaction but all thoughts of his previous, fleeting panic flew out of his mind when he saw his beautiful, little family all standing around a single training target.
They were facing away from him, Itachi curled around his mother's legs while a gentle hand smoothed the hair on the top of his head as they both watched Sasuke throw a single kunai at his target, run to go fetch it from where it either hit the board or flew passed it, and then repeat the exercise over again. It was a domestic scene that made Naruto's heart grow wonderfully warm at its sight.
Although, as he got closer, he could see that several assumptions he had made at first did not seem to be correct. Firstly, Itachi was not merely wrapped around Mikoto's long skirt. He seemed, in actual fact, to be clutching it in terror while his mother was stroking his long hair in comfort with an odd expression on her face; one that looked to be a mixture of concern and poorly concealed amusement. Sasuke's target, meanwhile, had a crude stick figure drawing on it that was clearly labelled 'Itachi-nii'.
Clearing his throat to get the three figures' attention, Naruto was sure his own face was clearly showing how disturbed he was at the sight and, as Mikoto looked towards him and positively lit up as she registered that her husband was home (and Naruto was determined to ingrain that beautiful expression on her face in his memory forever), he raised a questioning brow at even as he gathered her into his arms and held her there.
Before she had the opportunity to even begin to explain the situation however, Itachi crashed into his legs so hard that he actually staggered backwards a few steps. The manic expression on his son's face however, was enough to give him pause.
"Tou-san! Thank goodness you're back! Sasuke's gone insane!" the boy gestured wildly and appeared rather unhinged himself (not that Naruto was going to tell him that) as the youngest boy finally noticed his father's presence as well and came screaming over so that he could throw himself into the man's hug too.
"Daddy! You're alive!" He snuggled into Naruto's chest and pressed his head against the strong hands that came up to return the embrace. At his arrival, Itachi had let out a squeak and ducked around to his father's other side and was watching his brother with very wary eyes.
Naruto sputtered though, "I'm what?! Of course I'm alive, my boy! Why would you think otherwise?"
The littlest Uchiha pulled back and looked at his father solemnly, "Itachi-nii killed you."
Naruto felt his eyes widen as he recalled the incident Sasuke must have been referring to, thanks to that particular bunshin's disorganised memories, and looked to his eldest who could only curl tighter against the back of his work vest.
The boy continued though, "But it's okay! I 'venged you and now you're back so I forgive Itachi-nii. I missed you, daddy!"
With that he squeezed his father's legs hard one last time before scampering into the house, all thoughts of vengeance and kunai forgotten (because his daddy was back and was so cool that he could beat death!) and leaving his greatly perplexed older brother behind.
Itachi gulped and tightened his hold on his father, enjoying the security and warmth that he had so missed, and summed up his thoughts in one sentence, "I didn't know Sasuke could be so scary."
After a moment of incredulous silence, both parental units burst into hearty laughter that brought Sasuke careering out into the garden again and leaping right into the sphere of contentedness that surrounded the small family. After a moment of tension in which Itachi made sure he was truly forgiven for his heinous actions against his father's shadow clone, he too relaxed and then scooped his brother into his small yet capable arms. The Namikaze-Uchiha were all together again and, as long as they had each other, Itachi was sure that they could take on the world.