Hello again everyone! Welcome back to "Will of Peace", cliché name I know, but I couldn't come up with anything better.

Thanks to NarieIV for leaving a review

"Long time no see, Minato"

The aforementioned man smiled at his sensei, it had been a long time, hadn't it?

"It's good to see you, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato said sincerely

Jiraiya huffed at his students greeting, crossing his arms and turning his nose up petulantly "Don't go getting soppy on me now Minato, you make it sound as if you thought I'd die before we met again!"

"Well, you know how the life of a shinobi can be," Minato said

Jiraiya looked affronted at this, and - as Minato thought he would - struck his Kabuki inspired pose to start his boasting, "The great toad sage is no ordinary shinobi! He is a master of combat, a wooer of women and the most devilishly handsome man in all of Konoha!"

Minato shook his head and smiled as his sensei went on about his great achievements, this is something he had missed (though he'd never admit it). It was also something that helped to make him feel normalcy in his life once again

"Alright alright, so to what do I owe this visit from the "great" toad sage?"

"Does a sensei need a reason to visit his precious student?" Jiraiya asked dejectedly

Minato continued to look at Jiraiya from behind clasped hands, giving him a look the sage knew all too well

"I just came to check on the village, okay? Honestly Minato, I don't know how you coped without me," Jiraiya said shaking his head

"Frankly, It hasn't been easy sensei, I don't know if I'm cut out for this position, are you sure you don't want to take over?" Minato asked, his hands still clasped in front of him

The second Minato said this, all joy immediately disappeared from Jiraiya's eyes and he straightened and stared at Minato

"Don't joke with me like that kid, you're gonna give me a coronary," Jiraiya said while regaining the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, resulting in some laughter from his ex-student

"Why don't you take a seat before you collapse, sensei?" Minato said once his laughter had subsided

Jiraiya merely grumbled something about young people not appreciating the older generations and took a seat, crossing one leg over the other

"So, how's the village?" he asked

"Quite well actually, the damage done by the war has all but been repaired, all but those that were lost…" he said solemnly

"That will leave a wound that needs more than time to heal," Jiraiya said, looking Minato in the eye, he of course knew what Minato had lost during the war, he himself had experienced it, so he could understand the other man's feelings right now

"Indeed," Minato said after a short pause "apart from that, everything else has recovered or is in the process of doing so"

Jiraiya shifted, getting more comfortable now that the topic of conversation wasn't likely to dig up old memories,

"I don't see any wrinkles on that forehead of yours, are you using some kind of jutsu?"

"The job hasn't been that stressful. Of course, there's the odd Genin storming in and shouting about being promoted, but other than that, we've had some relatively peaceful years"

"What about you and the family?"

"I'm doing well, Makiko has just been promoted at the hospital, and Chizuru is in her third year in the academy, it's almost at the time the students find out what their affinities are - she's been secretly praying for a raiton affinity just like Kakashi!"

"Fat chance of that!" Jiraiya barked out with laughter, "But I suppose it's always possible…" He continued with his finger on his chin, letting a comfortable silence fill the room

"Speaking of Kakashi, how is he?" Jiraiya asked, gently easing conversation back into his student's office

"He's… calmed down a bit since the last time you were here, he's stopped going out on high ranked missions at every interval, I think he's finally beginning to accept what happened in his past"

"That's good to hear, that was a dark path he was going down - one I've seen people go down before, and who never came off it."

Jiraiya paused, mulling over his words slightly, "I'll be sure to pay him a visit while I'm here, see how he is for myself"

"Thank you, sensei" Minato spoke with gratitude - after all, Kakashi mattered a great deal to him, he was his only remaining student

"No problem," Jiraiya said as he stood up, his hair picking up behind him "I'm gonna go and take a peek around, see if the village has changed at all since I was last here, catch up with you later Minato"

A sudden whoosh was heard as Jiraiya headed off to what was no doubt his first destination after speaking with the Hokage, Konoha's hot springs

Minato sighed as his sensei left, already imagining the trouble he'd cause while he was in the village, but there were more pressing things to deal with right now, such as the abundance of paperwork on his desk - so, with a sigh and a stretch - he got back to work.

A clear sunrise in Konoha had to be one of the most beautiful sights he had ever laid eyes upon. It was something to do with the way the pre-dawn colours blended with the bright yellow of the sun, and the first rays of sunshine peeked through his bedroom window. What better way to start the morning?

Naruto sat up from his bed and stretched himself out with a yawn, shifting over to plant his feet on the floor, he slid off of his bed and made his way to the shower

While in the shower, Naruto once again began to think about the conversation he had had yesterday

Mindset…

So, if I think of what I'm being taught as vital information, maybe I wouldn't find it so difficult? Yeah, I'll try that today

With his mind made up, Naruto finished his morning procedures and made his way to the academy

Once everyone had quieted down and was in their seats, Iruka began the lesson by talking about common tactics used in shinobi combat

"-uses of bunshin in combat can vary greatly, all are important and worth knowing, so let's focus on a common tactic,"

As Iruka was explaining the day's lesson, Naruto was finally ready to put his newly received advice into action

So, this is important information, and if

I don't learn it, I won't be as good at defending the village, the village could even be in danger! Right!

Luckily for Naruto, his reaction to any threat against the village - even a perceived one - was one of total dedication to stopping the said threat, so his method was actually working rather well for him.

It seemed that he would become heightened somehow If he truly believed the village was under threat, he couldn't quite explain it, but suddenly all of his previous priorities became insignificant in the face of this kind of situation

Unbeknownst to Naruto, a few of his classmates had taken notice of his shift in behaviour, since he wasn't constantly fidgeting, and even his eyes, which usually wandered so freely, were locked in place towards the chalkboard. Some brushed it off as nothing important, while others gave a second to question whether something had happened to Naruto

I've never seen him act like this before, maybe he finally got his act together…

It was the end of the day for the academy students, and they had gathered outside to await their respective guardians to take them home, but some were still confused about a certain student's sudden change in attitude - though said change only lasted as long as the class itself - as soon as it had finished, Naruto was back to his usual self and had bounded away before any of the other students had even left the classroom - it was anyone's guess as to where he had actually gone.

Iruka himself had remained in the classroom to plan some future lessons, but that wasn't what was on the forefront of his mind,

What could have caused Naruto's demeanour to change so drastically in one day?

The odd rustling could be heard as a certain orange-clad ninja bounded through the trees on his way to a well deserved ichiraku ramen

"Hehehe, that was such a brilliant idea, why didn't I think of it before? It feels like the academy is a totally different place! IT'S NOT BORING ANYMORE!"

As was evidenced by the shouting that seemed to emanate from the sky itself, Naruto was loudly congratulating himself on a job well done, he'd proven he could do it! He'd proven that, with the right mindset, he could actually learn something in the academy!

Of course, the first day had not been without hiccups, there had been a few moments where he got distracted but other than that it had been a totally different experience, this, he felt, was the beginning of a new adventure on his path to becoming Hokage.

Okay, that's the second chapter done, and I'm sure nobody will have any questions whatsoever…

"But what's with Minato not being Narutos dad?"

Yes, I know many of you won't like this change, but hear me out:

Kishimoto has stated that Naruto is a loser, an underachiever who was constantly behind everyone else, and (L believe) in order to further promote his image of being a loser, he should have normal parents, nothing particularly noteworthy or astounding, and that was my first impression of the story - a clanless orphan who rose to become Hokage, simple.

However, we later find out that that's not the case at all - Naruto's mother and father are renowned shinobi, his father was Hokage and his mother was the jinchūriki of Kurama and a powerful shinobi in her own right. These revelations, in my opinion, change the fundamental theme of the story, and it becomes a bit of a cliché where the MC has legendary parents and is bound to grow up to be as powerful as they are/were.

Now, maybe this was intended to give the message that even though someone may have parents who are incredibly skilled and powerful shinobi, it does not mean that they themselves will be powerful from the beginning, and that hard work is also required. But that's not what I think, I believe that to portray Naruto (the character) in an even more relatable light, he should have a less amazing heritage.

Though, I will half concede to the idea of powerful and well-renowned parents not necessarily creating the most skilled and intelligent offspring - Hence Naruto's mother will still be Kushina.

I hope this change doesn't put you off too much - it both is and isn't a large change (considering the fact that Minato is dead at the time the story takes place in any way).

The academy in this story runs from ages 6 to 12

So yeah… that's it pretty much

Thank you for reading and please review,

SkimpyJohnny