"Fourth Kazekage?"
Minato raised an eyebrow as he followed the Sand Shinobi through the winding sandstone corridors.
So… the Sand Village had already chosen their new Kage?
"Excuse me," Minato asked, polite as ever, "who exactly is this Fourth Kazekage you're referring to?"
The shinobi guiding them smiled. "Ah—Minato-sama, you can just call me Yūra. You may not have heard, but the village leaders just named Lord Rasa as our new Kazekage."
"Come to think of it," he added, "Lord Rasa is about the same age as you."
That caught Minato's attention.
Rasa...?
The name didn't ring a bell at first. But then his mind clicked.
Minato made a mental note. He'd never met this young leader before—but now, he was curious.
Kakashi, following behind, caught the name too.
Rasa, huh…
Wasn't that Temari's father?
He always had a soft spot for the Shikamaru-Temari pairing back when his life was all anime and snack-fueled nights. If little Temari had already been born, maybe he could sneak a peek.
Not creepy at all. Just... nostalgic curiosity. Totally healthy.
Soon, under Captain Yūra's lead, the four Konoha shinobi arrived at the Kazekage's office.
A young man in a black flak jacket stood up from behind the desk. He wore a mesh undershirt beneath and had close-cropped brown hair. Despite his age, his eyes held weight.
"This must be the legendary Yellow Flash of the Leaf—Namikaze Minato," he said, stepping forward and offering his hand.
"I've heard much about you. Please, have a seat."
Minato accepted the handshake with a modest smile. "You must be the new Kazekage—Lord Rasa. I've heard of your strength as well."
The two exchanged brief but respectful pleasantries before sitting down.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin stood silently behind their teacher, keeping the formal air—well, Obito tried, at least.
"I've heard the outline of your proposal," Rasa said without wasting time. "How do you intend to formalize this alliance?"
Minato nodded, reaching into his vest.
"This is the treaty, drafted personally by the Third Hokage. Please review it."
A Sand Anbu took the scroll and handed it to Rasa, who read it silently.
It was straightforward:
Konoha would dispatch reinforcements to help Sand repel the Hidden Cloud invasion.
In return, both villages would enter a fifty-year offensive and defensive alliance.
If either village was attacked, the other was obligated to respond with military support.
Trade barriers would be lifted, personnel exchanged, resources shared.
The kind of alliance that could change the balance of power.
After reading, Rasa looked up. "The terms are reasonable. How many troops are you sending? And how long before they arrive?"
Minato replied calmly, "In addition to myself and my three students, there are five hundred elite shinobi from the Uchiha clan."
"A hundred are Jōnin and Tokubetsu Jōnin. The rest are Chūnin. They're led by the current Uchiha clan head—Uchiha Fugaku."
Rasa's expression twitched slightly, unable to completely hide his surprise.
The Uchiha clan?!
Even for him, that was a major play.
Five hundred might not sound overwhelming—but when it was the Uchiha? Each one was a battlefield on their own.
He'd expected a few token support units from Konoha, maybe some overworked Chūnin and leftover Genin. But this?
This was more than support.
It was insurance.
"...Excellent. Let's finalize the alliance immediately!" Rasa stood, almost too eagerly.
His shoulders, tense since the war began, visibly eased.
Minato smiled and nodded. "I've been given full authorization by the Hokage. As long as you sign here, the agreement is binding. We'll each keep a copy."
Without hesitation, Rasa signed his name and stamped the document with the Kazekage's seal.
Their eyes met. Two young leaders. Two future legends. They clasped hands.
From this moment on—they were allies.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," Minato said, slicing his palm with a kunai and forming a seal.
Poof!
A red ninja toad appeared in a puff of smoke.
"Gama Kōsuke," Minato said. "Please deliver this document to the Third Hokage—urgently."
"You got it, Boss!" the toad chirped, then vanished in a swirl of smoke.
Rasa chuckled. "You must be tired after the journey. Let me personally show you to your quarters."
Minato smiled again. "That's very kind of you."
Truthfully, Minato didn't care much for formality—especially with someone his own age. And he was genuinely curious: what kind of man became Kazekage in a crisis like this?
As they walked, Rasa thought back on the Elders' counsel.
He had asked Elder Chiyo whether to approve Konoha's offer.
Her response?
"You're the Kazekage now. Decide for yourself."
She declined to appear in person, citing "personal grievances" with Konoha.
Everyone knew her son and daughter-in-law had died by the hand of Konoha's White Fang. Her bitterness wasn't exactly a secret.
If not for the urgency of the situation—and the death of Sakumo Hatake—Rasa doubted the Elders would've ever allowed this alliance.
In fact, if Cloud hadn't struck so aggressively, the Elders might've tried to ally with other nations against Konoha just to deflect internal unrest from the Third Kazekage's disappearance.
This alliance was a forced compromise.
Still… things had gone far smoother than Rasa expected. And for the first time in weeks, he could breathe.
Minato's team was soon brought to a private villa—well, a "VIP apartment" by Sand standards.
Don't let the word "apartment" fool you. This was as good as it got in a village carved out of a dust bowl.
Even the Kazekage's home was barely a step above civilian quarters.
"This is it," Rasa said. "Also, I'd be honored if you'd join me at my home for dinner tonight."
"Of course," Minato replied warmly.
"Great. I'll have Yashamaru come fetch you this evening."
With that, Rasa hurried back to the Kazekage's office. His desk was buried under months of war documents, and honestly? Escorting Minato had been a nice excuse to escape the paperwork.
"Ahhh, finally!"
Obito stretched out and collapsed onto the sofa like a sack of kunai.
"No more tents! No more ration pills! No more sand in places sand should never go!"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "We were in a desert, Obito. Sand in your shoes was kind of in the brochure."
Minato smiled as he watched them. He knew the journey had been hard on all of them.
"Oh Bitto," Kakashi sighed dramatically, "before you mold into the furniture, we should probably pick rooms, wash up, and find clean clothes."
"We've got dinner with the Kazekage, remember? Try to look like someone who doesn't live in a potato sack."
"Yes, yes. Shower first, sarcasm later," Obito groaned.
"Rin, you pick your room first," Kakashi said, scanning the apartment layout.
"Eh? But… shouldn't Minato-sensei choose first?" Rin hesitated.
Minato smiled. "Kakashi's right. Ladies first."
"...Okay then, I'll take… that one!" Rin pointed to a room with a plush bear on the bed and more delicate decor.
Even in a rough village like this, they had accommodations for kunoichi—or kids, maybe both.
Kakashi claimed the room next to hers.
Obito looked ready to object, but he was a second too slow. And lazy. Now he was stuck being neighbors with Minato-sensei.
He pouted into the cushion.
Kakashi shut the door behind him, peeled off his clothes, and headed straight into the bathroom.
Cold water? In a desert? Don't mind if I do.
The second the icy stream hit his skin, he let out a small sigh of relief.
Ah… This must be what dying in comfort feels like.
He kept the rinse quick. He knew better than to waste water in the Land of Wind—especially after seeing villagers queue hours just to fill a bucket.
After drying off, he pulled a sealing scroll from his bag and summoned a clean set of sleepwear.
One thing he learned from working himself half to death in his previous life: sleep comfort is sacred.
The scrolls were nothing fancy for someone who'd mastered the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Rin had learned it too, and with Kakashi's help, even made her own basic storage scrolls.
Minato, of course, had mastered all of it years ago—he carried their tents in a single roll of parchment.
Obito?
Well… let's just say Kakashi made a few backup scrolls for him.
He'd never admit it aloud, but the guy would lose a kunai in a sandbox.
To be continued...