Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Deidara struggled to open his eyes, feeling as if he were floating in a dark, endless sea. His limbs felt strange, as if they weren't responding to his brain's commands. He tried to reach out, but to no avail — a tingling sensation persisted throughout his body.

Where the hell was he?

Memories from before that moment slowly returned, but all it did was sharpen his confusion.

He had used his C0 in the hopes of killing Sasuke Uchiha – he had reached the pinnacle of his art, which should certainly have killed him.

Well, maybe he was really dead; it would make sense why he couldn't open his eyes or move his limbs, or even feel like he was floating. However, if this was some kind of afterlife, it was really shitty. Would he just be adrift in the darkness forever?

He hopes not. Maybe someday his soul will wear out and disappear. But it's not like he wants to find out — he'd much rather exist in hell than wander through the void until he's reduced to dust.

Deidara opened his mouth, ready to say something, maybe yell some curses at anyone who could hear him to put him somewhere else, but he froze in shock when he heard only babble coming out of his own mouth.

Babbling…? – He thought to himself, before making an even greater effort than before to open his eyes.

The feeling of movement slowly returned to his limbs and he tried to stand, only to find that he could not.

He noticed that his limbs seemed shorter than before, almost impossibly short for a man his age.

Finally, Deidara was able to open his eyes, feeling them tremble briefly.

To his shock, however, the sight that greeted him was a woman with hair as red as a ruby ​​that cascaded down her face and shoulders, as messy as possible. Violet eyes brimmed with happiness, love, and unshed tears. She seemed to be saying something, but it was all lost to Deidara's ears.

He felt himself shudder, trying to pull back with all his might, though he couldn't.

It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him with such affection. He knew he wasn't lovable, never worthy of love — he was unpleasant and arrogant — and yet, this was the second time someone had looked at him like that.

The last person who looked at him with that look died in his arms.

He quickly pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind when he recognized the woman's look turn to one of concern.

“H-He’s not crying, ‘ttebane!” The woman exclaimed, tightening her arms around him with a fearful expression.

A man with a lightly tanned skin, spiky blond hair, tired sapphire blue eyes, and an overall disheveled appearance approached, concern shining in his eyes. He started to say something, but Deidara couldn't hear.

This tired and worn-out man was none other than Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash , the Fourth Hokage . The same one whose name was practically forbidden in Iwa.

What the fuck? – That's all he could think.

He tried to look around and then looked at his own arms, which were chubby and extremely childish looking.

His eyes involuntarily filled with tears as deafening screams escaped his mouth, shame rising through his being, though he was unable to control himself.

He regrets everything he said. He would rather have remained in the void for the rest of eternity.

A month has passed since the day Deidara woke up to a new life – a very unwanted one, by the way.

The only positive aspect of this whole farce was that he could spend hours screaming his frustrations out until he was exhausted. Being able to scream endlessly without fear of the consequences was incredible. Liberating, as if a weight were being lifted from his chest. And perhaps it was; it had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to break down and cry.

Despite this, there were also downsides.

The first thing, well, was that it was completely humiliating to depend on others for everything with the mental age of a nineteen-year-old. He had never imagined he would know what it was like to wear diapers — since he had forgotten the early years of his childhood.

Not only that, but he also had all the time in the world to think about his past life and his current life — after all, he was a baby who couldn't do anything. Being left alone with his thoughts wasn't much fun, but then again, there wasn't much he could do about it.

After a while, the blond realized he wasn't just in the past, but also in another timeline — from what he knew, the Fourth Hokage had died before having children. He'd probably been reincarnated as the Yellow Flash's son, because there's nothing the universe loves more than irony.

An Iwa ninja reincarnated as the son of the man who decimated entire platoons of his homeland. Haha.

It's both comical and tragic at the same time. Tragicomic.

Perhaps it's a good thing Deidara didn't really care about his village. They were ignorant and didn't know how to appreciate true art. And they were experts at making living in society hell, especially since many considered his kekkei genkai disgusting.

Thinking about his art, he was relieved to discover that his extra mouths were still there — and that was good for everyone around him, because if he didn't have them, he'd make a point of hunting down whoever ruled that universe and blowing them up immediately. But sadly, he doesn't think his new parents will let him use his explosive clays any time soon.

It was still strange for him to refer to the couple that way.

Back in his past life, he had a mother who loved him and who he was sure would do anything for him. The blond didn't see her as much as he would have liked, as she had to work tirelessly to support them, as his useless father took all his mission pay somewhere he never bothered to find out, returning only to take out his anger on his wife and son.

It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing, he used to tell himself as a child, and he believed it wholeheartedly. It could be worse.

He knew, however, that this disorderly arrangement was bound to fall apart, and so it did.

Her screams remain trapped in his mind, scratching at the walls of his unconscious and leaving scars that will never heal.

Deidara shook his head, trying to rid himself of the frightening memories that continually haunted him before his young body began to cry, still unable to regulate his feelings.

His effort was in vain, however, when a scream followed by sobs escaped his lips without his permission.

His new parents approached with loving and concerned expressions, despite their exhaustion — and those faces sent him into another spiral.

They were very different from his former parents, in a way he himself hadn't known was possible.

The blond knew, logically, that his first parents' relationship was unhealthy, wrong, and toxic — and that he had been caught in the crossfire. Even with this knowledge, he had never witnessed a truly happy couple, so he continually denied their existence.

However, his current parents made him question this belief.

The first time his bubble was burst was when he spent more time with them and discovered that Minato was nothing like his former sperm donor — and not even the monster Iwa painted him as. In fact, he was the complete opposite — he treated his current mother like a true queen — and all the screams he heard in the house were either innocent pranks or his own.

It felt wrong. Unnatural.

( And it made his heart skip a beat to realize that he would have the chance to experience the love of a complete family in this lifetime .)

Deidara is still filled with rage for various reasons and he would continue to waste his screams until he could no longer – or until the ugly feeling of uselessness disappeared from his chest.

But maybe… – He thinks as his new mother brings him to her lap while rocking him.

Maybe he can find a place for himself in this new timeline.

The blond boy slowly opened his eyes, hearing a myriad of screams coming from outside his room. He made a disgruntled noise, wishing more than anything that he could blow up the cause of the disturbance, though he knew he wouldn't be able to do so for a long time.

This body was, what, three months old? He bets he'll start walking in four months, tops! But the relearning process would be humiliating.

He let out a long yawn and it wasn't long before the voices that had been disturbing him became clear.

"Sensei! Let us see him!" One of the voices exclaimed in a tone so shrill it made his eardrums sting. It was a strangely familiar tone.

"I bet your son is so cute, sensei!" came a female voice.

“Tsk. Calm down, you two.” Despite the reprimand, there was a bit of expectation in the third voice.

"You're just as anxious as I am, Bakakashi!" The first voice became angry and, consequently, even louder, which made Deidara let out another indignant snort as he realized that they were probably all children.

He won't complain, anyway. He'd give anything to get out of this baby routine, even if it meant having to put up with a bunch of snotty brats all over him.

…Although… he’s a snotty brat now, isn’t he?

The blond wonders which deity he offended to deserve this fate. He could have reincarnated without memories, but no! He needed to remember everything.

"Shh!" Minato — his father — answers them in a lower tone, oblivious to his inner turmoil. "You're going to wake him up…"

Too late – He thought as he let out a cheerful laugh, in order to inform the guests that he had already woken up.

Fortunately, his plan worked, as just moments later the door opened to reveal three teenagers and an adult. The younger ones had expressions of varying degrees of excitement, while the older one had an expression of defeat.

Deidara looked around at the trio as two of them cooed at him, quickly recognizing Kakashi Hatake, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi. This was clearly a younger, more immature version of the man, one who didn't possess a Sharingan. It kind of made him wonder how he had achieved such power in his timeline. Perhaps he might question that in the future.

After that, he spotted a girl with straight, shoulder-length brown hair and twin purple marks on each cheek. It wasn't someone he recognized. Maybe she'd given up the ninja life — or maybe she'd died.

Finally, he locked eyes with the high-pitched voiced boy and felt himself stiffen.

An Uchiha.

Of course, he was in Konoha. He knew he'd meet one of them at some point, he just hadn't expected it to be so soon, when he wasn't even capable of blowing him up yet! And then there was the fact that he felt like he'd met this boy before, but he couldn't quite pinpoint when or how.

However, the Uchiha's next move sent sirens blaring in his mind.

As the boy looked down at his small hands and saw mouths on each of them, he seemed to freeze for a moment and a flash of recognition briefly flashed through his eyes.

Deidara's eyes widened as he realized this. This was someone from his past life who had also reincarnated!? He knew him!!?? However, he didn't remember anyone who looked even remotely like the boy.

"Sensei, where did those mouths on their hands come from?" The Uchiha asked shakily, pointing to the blond's hands.

Rude – Deidara thought briefly.

"Honestly, we're not sure…" Minato spoke softly, seeing the children's confusion. "Kushina and I suspect it's some kekkei genkai that comes from my side of the family, but I've never met any of my other relatives…" He finished apologetically.

The three of them were silent for a moment, before the Uchiha grinned broadly. "That's kinda cool! Do you think he can eat through those mouths? And need to brush it's teeth? Oh, do you think he could make sculptures with them?" He spoke hurriedly, practically spitting the words out, though he sent him a discreet glance.

If he wasn't sure before, he is now. This person knew him in his past life and has memories of it. Now, Deidara just needs to remember who this is.

"What kind of questions are these, you idiot?" Hatake said in a bored, yet somewhat judgmental, tone.

"Those are very important questions!" The black-haired boy shouted back, before they were both silenced by the girl.

"Shhh! You'll scare him!" She scolded them, before turning to the blond with a soft smile. "Hello, Deidara-chan! I'm Nohara Rin, and these two idiots are Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito." Nohara introduced, pointing to each of the boys respectively.

Deidara sighed internally. He didn't know any Uchiha Obito. Maybe it was someone he attacked at some point? But that wasn't possible; there were only two Uchiha left in his old world.

The blond held out his hands to the Uchiha, who stared at him for a moment before picking him up.

Deidara stared at him, willing his gaze to convey the questions he wanted to ask, but couldn't. Unfortunately for him, however, the black-haired boy didn't notice, merely grinning foolishly, bragging to Hatake that he was, according to him, 'the sensei's son's favorite.'

'Who is this idiot... ' – The blond thought wearily. He felt like he knew him, but he couldn't put a name to the face.

Well… that was a problem for future Deidara.

“M-Mama…”

Kushina froze, immediately dropping the spoon she was using to stir a stew – turning off the stove – and heading towards her son.

“Y-You said it?!” The redhead exclaimed, her eyes shining. “Say it again!”

“Mama!” The baby repeated with a laugh.

"That's right, Dei!" Kushina laughed, picking up the child and spinning him around before hugging him and placing a kiss on his forehead. "You spoke your first word at just over five months old… what's normal?" she pondered, before quickly dismissing it, squeezing her son in her arms. "Anyway, my boy is a genius, dattebane!"

Deidara grabbed a handful of her hair, tugging lightly — the way he always did when he demanded to be released. She laughed and placed him back in the little chair beside the counter.

Kushina laughed. "I can't wait to rub it in Minato's face that you said ‘Mama’ first!" she stated, feeling particularly competitive.

Her son laughed, as if he agreed with everything she said. She smiled back at him.

She wanted to stay in that moment forever.

Deidara yawned, stretching.

Now he was three years old. – Technically, he was twenty-two.

The first few months of his new life seemed to drag on, as he couldn't do anything but cry, sleep, eat, and be completely dependent on his parents. However, this spurred him to learn everything early on: he began talking at five months and began walking independently at eight. And, well, he wasn't as dumb as a toddler, so he could already read, although writing was still a challenge, unaccustomed to such small, constantly growing limbs.

With all this, he was soon considered a genius.

It didn't bother him at all, because he was a genius — but not in the way they thought. Deidara is a genius in art .

And his parents recognized this too, since, as soon as he was able to form connected sentences, the blond asked for some clay so he could make his sculptures.

However, when they realized what their kekkei genkai was doing, a rule soon emerged in their house: no unsupervised explosions – and none too dangerous either.

Which was… not that bad. He could still do his art, as long as he was accompanied by a guardian. They even encouraged him to add more colors to the explosions!

He didn't want to, but he'd admit: this reincarnation thing was kind of cool. And Konoha beats Iwa 10-0.

"Dei-chan, are you ready?" His mother called softly, making him snap out of his mind.

"Yesssss!!" Deidara shouted, before jumping into her outstretched arms. "Where are we going? Are we going to eat bakudan?!" He questioned, already feeling his mouth water just thinking about his favorite food.

Another positive point: he could eat bakudan at any moment.

The moment was not that, however.

"No, no. We're going to my friend's house!" Kushina smiled. "She has a son who's almost your age, so it's the perfect opportunity to make friends!"

Deidara resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

He knew his mother was worried about him for not interacting with any children “his age” and only talking to teenagers and adults, but there was no way he could explain to her that, in reality, he was a twenty-two-year-old man who had no business talking to some brats.

The blond crossed his arms and turned up his nose. "Let's see if he's worthy!" he said, making his mother laugh.

“Only you, Dei…” she said softly, before heading towards the door, where his father was waiting for them.

They walked through the village for a few moments. People passing by waved at them, and a few tried to stop and make fun of Deidara, but were quickly chased away when he grimaced.

After walking for a while longer, they arrived at their intended location and, as soon as he realized where they were, the blond felt an immense urge to run away.

Because they were in the Uchiha compound.

'They took me straight to the lion's den! ' – Deidara thought angrily, clenching his fist.

He looked at the redhead. "Mama, let's go back!" he demanded. He tried to give his parents puppy-dog eyes. Minato looked ready to oblige.

Kushina, however, didn't give in. "But we just got here, Dei!" she exclaimed, before smiling widely when a woman with blue-black hair appeared in the doorway and called out to them.

"Kushina-chan, Minato-san!" she greeted, before looking directly at the blond boy with a smile. "And you must be the Deidara I've heard so much about. I'm Uchiha Mikoto! It's a surprise it took so long for us to meet."

The redhead laughed. "Yeah! It's always a struggle getting him to some places, and he seems to hate the Uchiha compound." she said, looking down at the skittish boy in her arms.

"Did Obito really traumatize him that much?" Minato joked, lightly ruffling his son's hair.

Deidara sent him a glare for messing up the little braid he wore in his hair, but was met with a laugh and another mess of his hair.

‘I’m going to put clay caterpillars on his pillow at night. ’ – The blond thought indignantly.

"Maybe." The Uchiha laughed, before waving her hand. "Come on in!" She said, starting to enter the compound and head towards her house, followed by the other three.

When they entered the woman's house, Deidara patted his mother on the shoulder twice so she would put him down, which she soon did.

He was tempted to go deeper into the house and blow up some room out of sheer spite – using the clay he had hidden inside the mouths in his hands – but stopped himself when a very familiar face appeared.

Itachi Uchiha's face appeared in the corner of the room, quickly walking to stand in front of him. The other boy looked just as shocked.

"Dei, this is my son, Itachi!" Mikoto introduced, pushing her son forward slightly. "Itachi, this is Deidara. He's two years younger than you. Say hi."

In contrast to the boy's expressionless face, his eyes seemed to shine with a myriad of emotions. Confusion, sadness, recognition, joy…

Wait. Recognition?

Deidara's eyes widened at the same time Itachi bowed slightly.

“Hello, Deidara.” The boy greeted, looking directly into his eyes.

The blond instinctively looked away, as if the warning 'Don't look an Uchiha in the eye' was ingrained in him. He bowed slightly back, staring stubbornly at the ground.

Forget blowing up a room. He'll blow Itachi's face off if he keeps staring at him.

However, when he looked up, he saw the other boy looking at him with a slightly sad look, but Deidara soon looked away again.

To his surprise, however, his wrist was grabbed and he began to be pulled into the house.

"Deidara and I are going to play!" Itachi exclaimed, ignoring the other adults' surprise.

“I didn't agree…!” The blond began, but was silenced by a look from the black-haired boy.

When they reached the Uchiha's room, Itachi quickly locked the door and motioned for him to sit on the futon.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

“You were…”

“You…”

They spoke at the same time, stopping simultaneously.

"You were also reincarnated." Itachi said as a statement.

"That's right." Deidara confirmed with a frown. "I just don't understand why I was reincarnated here in Konoha and not in Iwa… and have to stay here seeing your ugly face."

The other boy tilted his head. "Would you rather be reincarnated into the same family you had before?" he asked monotonously.

The silence that followed was enlightening.

"Don't make me blow up your house, Uchiha." Deidara threatened after a moment.

However, Itachi just smiled. Smiled .

The blond looked at him with a confused look. "Are you crazy?"

The black-haired boy shook his head, still smiling softly. “No. I just liked the familiarity.”

Silence reigned for a moment, before Deidara leaned forward and placed a hand on the other boy's forehead, who pushed it away without much of a fight.

"You must be sick." Deidara stated, before turning his back to him with his arms crossed. "It's not like I care if you die!" he stated, before stopping. "Wait! If you reincarnated too… you died!" the blond shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha.

"Guilty as charged." Itachi replied blankly. "I don't think the whole compound has heard yet, so you can speak louder." He joked.

Did Itachi Uchiha just say something sarcastic? Is that right?

"Who was the lucky one who managed to kill the invincible Itachi Uchiha?" Deidara scoffed.

"And who was the poor guy who killed artistic master Deidara?" The Uchiha retorted.

The blond was about to explode at the mockery, but stopped and stared at him silently for a moment, before looking a little apprehensive. "You're different. You don't seem to be carrying the weight of the world anymore." he said, in a rare moment of softness.

Itachi looked a little shocked. "I didn't realize you were so... emotionally perceptive," he said slowly. "I should be nervous. I think I am. But I can't help but feel relieved... that I can fix everything. I have the advantage this time." He explained, leaving it vague.

Deidara was silent for a moment before pointing to the other boy's eyes. "Did they come with you?" He asked the question he'd been wanting to ask ever since he'd discovered the black-haired boy had been reincarnated too.

"...Yes." Itachi replied after a few moments, and he didn't miss the way Deidara flinched when he showed his Sharingan. "Mangekyou and all, but it's like it's new. And I don't think I can use it to its full extent." he explained purposefully, continuing when that didn't calm the blond. "I... I won't use it on you, you know? Actually, I think we should be partners."

Deidara didn't look Itachi in the eye. "How can I trust you?"

“I have nothing but my word to give you. But I can assure you: we are not enemies.”

"Even though I may have killed your brother?" It came out of the blond's mouth before he could control himself, and he quickly backed away.

However, Itachi's expression didn't change — in fact, he could see a hint of amusement in his gaze.

"Oh, you didn't kill him. After all, he was the one who killed me." The Uchiha spoke softly. "Just like I planned."

A heavy silence fell over the room before Deidara pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. "So... what are we going to do? Honestly, I have nothing to change. I'm not even in my old life."

Itachi's gaze became analytical. "I don't know how much your presence here in Konoha has changed the timeline. In fact, we might be in a completely different timeline than the old one. That's why we need to investigate," he began, before looking directly at him. "It's still too early. All I can do is pay attention to my father's conversations, in case he's planning a rebellion. You can pay attention to yours, in case he's having problems with Danzou regarding the succession to Hokage."

Deidara looked at him wearily. "You speak as if I understand anything you're saying."

"Oh, that's right." Itachi seemed to remember. "Then I'll tell you everything you need to do." And with that, the boy spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened in his past life.

"Who knew Konoha would have such an ugly side?" Deidara whistled when the black-haired boy finished explaining. "If I can blow up some things — or people — I'm in!" he exclaimed.

Itachi smiled at him. "I knew you'd agree. So, let's make a plan…"

As the other boy continued speaking, Deidara felt his eyes grow heavy and his head began to droop.

The last thought he had before falling asleep was, ‘I feel like I’m going to regret this.’

Chapter Text

A noise rang out – it wasn't loud, more like plastic had fallen to the ground, but it was enough to startle Deidara awake, one clay-covered hand pointing in the direction of the sound and the other reaching for a non-existent kunai.

"Sorry." Itachi apologized softly, picking up the cup he had dropped on the floor.

The blond stared at him for a while, calming his racing heart.

His ninja instincts were still ingrained in him. Although they had somewhat dulled with the quiet life he had been leading, he found it impossible to completely rid himself of them, as they were such an intrinsic part of his being.

"What time is it?" Deidara asked groggily before letting out a yawn.

Itachi sat down beside him. "About five in the morning," he replied softly.

The blond's eyes widened. "Five in the morning!? Where are my parents?" he asked, starting to get up.

However, the Uchiha grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, causing him to fall to the ground in a sitting position with a scream.

"What's up, you shitty Uchiha, hm!" Deidara whispered-shouted, seeing as it was still early.

Itachi stared at him for a moment, before giving a small — almost imperceptible — smile. "Your verbal tic is back." he stated.

"Thanks for letting me know, Captain Obvious." the blond replied with a frown. "And here I thought I was out of the loop, hm." He sighed, before nudging the other boy. "So? I'm here at five in the morning for…?"

Itachi looked at him with a hint of reprimand in his eyes. "You fell asleep while we were discussing a plan. I asked Kushina-san for you to sleep here with me."

"Nobody told you to be so annoying, hm!" Deidara replied angrily, before falling back onto the futon. "So what? What are we going to do?"

"If everything goes like the old timeline, the Kyuubi's attack will happen in October of next year. That…" The black-haired boy paused, carefully studying the blond's face. "…is when Minato-san and Kushina-san will die."

Deidara was silent for a moment, slowly sitting up.

"What do you mean!? I… I don't want them to die, hm! Not again…" He burst out in a shaky voice, feeling thick tears streaming down his eyes. He tried frantically to wipe them away, using his hands to hide his face — though it wasn't very useful due to their size.

'Stupid body! Acting like a child. Am I really going to cry just because of this!?' He thought in disgust.

He hates himself for getting so attached. Who would have thought a former S-rank missing-nin would be demoted to something as pathetic as a spoiled brat so dependent on his parents?

The blond had already endured losing his parents once, why couldn't he endure it a second time? It would only give him more freedom.

(Despite how much he tried to convince himself, salty tears still streamed down his face, regardless of what he thought.)

"Deidara," Itachi's voice called, and that was all the warning before the other boy approached the blonde and pulled him to his chest. "It'll be okay," he said, though his voice also sounded a little shaky. "We'll stop this. We won't lose our family again."

Deidara buried his face in Itachi's shoulder. "I'll hold you to that." he whispered, his hands lightly gripping the fabric of the Uchiha's shirt.

They stood like that for a moment, before the blond roughly pushed the brunette away. "Now let me go, you damn Uchiha, hm!"

The black-haired boy stared at him for a moment. "I think it's time to plan." he said blankly, before sending Deidara a firm look. "Don't fall asleep."

“Fine, fine,, how insistent, hm.” The younger boy complained, before nodding. “Go on, speak up.”

"As I said before, the Uchiha clan's ideas of rebellion against Konoha arose shortly after the Kyuubi attack. If Minato-san remains Hokage, I think tensions might ease, since he and my father are friends." He paused. "But with Danzou out there, there's no telling what he'll do. But we have problems that come before that. We need to stop Tobi, or rather, Uchiha Madara, from breaking Kushina's seal and freeing the fox." Itachi said.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Deidara exclaimed, feeling like his brain cells were melting. "Tobi? Akatsuki's Tobi? That childish idiot!? He's Madara, huh!?!" He said, speaking louder and louder — but not loud enough to pass through the walls and wake the other residents of the house.

Itachi looked away, staring into space. "Well… I have my doubts about that. But that's how he introduced himself back then. It was…" He swallowed. "He was the one who helped me… destroy the clan." he finally said.

Deidara was silent, digesting this information. A pang of betrayal rose within him against his will.

"That idiot... kept acting like a child. On purpose. He's been deceiving me this whole time, hm." He said, his voice brimming with anger. "I always thought there was something wrong with him, but I never imagined it was this." He sighed deeply. "How did this guy stay alive for so long?"

Itachi shrugged. "That's a question I don't even know the answer to."

Silence reigned once more, before the blond spoke hesitantly — something unlike him. “You know… there’s not much we can do with our three and five-year-old bodies, right? We’re more harmless than a rabbit in this state.”

“I still have the Sharingan and the Mangekyou… I can…” The Uchiha began, but was quickly silenced by a slap on the back of the head.

"Not only will you hurt yourself badly by doing this, but you'll also give away that there's something different about you, hm!" Deidara scolded, before giving a victorious smile. "I hit you! Hehe."

"How do you know it'll fail? Did you even try?" Itachi asked, exasperated, ignoring the other boy's proud smile.

The blond blushed slightly. "When this body was a year old, I tried to mold clay and infuse it with chakra. The normal amount I'd use for a small sculpture. It exploded in my hand. My dad nearly fainted, and my mom was super mad." He explained quickly. "My chakra control is back to what it was before, when I was a kid in our past life. But since then, I've been putting only small amounts of chakra into the clay, and I'm fine-tuning my control, hm!" he exclaimed, before wilting. "But it's not enough to compete with that damn eye of yours."

Itachi stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"What's wrong, you bastard!?" Deidara demanded after the other boy stared at him for a long time without saying anything.

"Infusing chakra into objects, or in your case, clay, requires very good control. I think you could invest in medical jutsu," the other boy said absently.

“And leave aside my beautiful art!? Never, hm!” The blond denied, crossing his arms.

“I'm not talking about setting your art aside, but rather adding to it. Not all your art has to be deadly. What if you accidentally hit one of your parents?”

A thoughtful silence hung in the air, before Deidara clicked his tongue.

"I'll think about it, hm." He finally spoke, before becoming a little more serious. "So... what are we going to do?"

Itachi stared into space once more. "Wait. First, let's see if everything plays out like it did in the original timeline."

Deidara was about to answer, but stopped when he felt a presence approaching the room. Itachi seemed to have sensed it too, as he quickly changed the subject.

"We should go have breakfast." the black-haired boy said, standing up.

The blond followed him. "It's barely six in the morning, hm!" Despite his words, his tone was excited. "We could eat dango later, hm!"

Itachi's eyes shone almost impossibly as he stared at him, which caused Deidara to be shocked.

“I think so too.” That's what the boy replied.

'Looks like someone's a dango fan. ' Deidara thought with a smile, already thinking about how he would use this to his advantage in the future.

A knock on the door was heard, breaking him out of his thoughts. The Uchiha responded with a small 'come in' and the door was opened by Mikoto.

"I see you're already wide awake." the woman said softly. "I'll make breakfast. You can come wait in the living room, or you can wait here if you'd like." she suggested with a gentle smile.

Itachi smiled back at his mother. "We'll go in a bit."

Mikoto nodded, leaving the room and closing the door again.

The boys looked at each other, a silent pact being made.

Minato didn't expect his son to cling to the Uchiha heir right after they met.

It wasn't a bad development, but it was completely unusual. Especially considering the way Deidara seemed to hate Uchihas — if his behavior toward Obito was any indication. Or how he seemed to hate anyone close to his age.

His son always seemed to pay attention to Team 7's Uchiha, as if trying to figure something out, but quickly frowned when the boy came over to play. And Obito acted as if he were normal — and there was always a hint of something in his eyes at those moments, which he could never quite identify as anything other than a good feeling.

And yet, here Deidara was, playing — or, as he put it, fighting — with Itachi, who seemed increasingly amused with each exploding clay figure the little blond threw at him. Even without the Sharingan, the Uchiha possessed incredible reflexes. His son was no slouch, though he was a bit more sloppy, given that he was barely four years old.

Minato couldn't help but think the two of them were too advanced for their age. Almost unnaturally so. He didn't complain, however, as he didn't want to doubt the boys' intelligence.

He remembered Deidara asking about medical jutsu and he briefly wondered where the boy had heard of it, since the blond man and Kushina were doing their best to keep him away from the ninja life for now.

(He knew it was inevitable that Deidara would experience this life very soon, but he wanted to delay it as long as possible, especially when the Third War was still fresh, just finished.)

Minato told his son that he might learn more about it in the future, and thankfully, the boy didn't insist. He simply nodded and returned to his sculptures.

Deidara seemed to have an obsession with clay sculptures coupled with explosions, a fact that he and Kushina discovered very early on, when the little boy – who was one year old at the time – almost blew his hands away.

What frightened the couple most was the fact that their son wasn't screaming like a child, just making a grimace. As if it were just a minor annoyance. At the hospital, they explained that this was part of his kekkei genkai, and because of it, he seemed to have some resistance to high temperatures and explosions in general — but not completely.

But that didn't stop him and Kushina from being absolutely horrified.

They wanted to forbid him from making any more explosions, but they couldn't fight his puppy dog ​​look, so they made a deal: until he grew up, only small explosions and always accompanied by someone.

After that little scare, Minato and Kushina began to pay closer attention and saw that, despite the volatility, their sculptures were indeed beautiful. And they became even better when the boy began adding color to the small explosions — which were more like smoke signals at this point.

Minato was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a small hand tugging at his pants. He looked down and saw Deidara staring at him with his big blue eyes.

"Can we have bakudan?" The boy glanced at the Uchiha briefly, before turning back to the blond man. "And dango?"

The Fourth Hokage didn't have the heart to say no, so they were soon heading towards a small family restaurant that sold both foods – a place they had been frequenting a lot since the friendship between Deidara and Itachi sparked.

Minato just watched fondly as his son jumped onto the Uchiha's back, who, despite the grimace, made no move to get him off of him.

He hoped it could continue like this for a long time.

"You and Itachi get along really well, don't you, Dei!" Obito teased the blond, taking a handful of his cheeks between his fingers. "Why can't you get along with me too!?"

The fingers were quickly bitten, causing the Uchiha to pull away with a small cry of pain.

"Get your hands off me, hm!" Deidara shouted angrily, though his expression was smug.

"Honestly… you don't know anything about personal space… you idiot," Kakashi scolded without taking his eyes off his book, although he seemed much softer than usual.

"At least I'm not the one reading that kind of book in front of the kids, Bakakashi!" Obito shouted back, disgusted.

Deidara sighed as the two boys dissolved into their usual arguments.

Still, he'd be foolish not to notice how much their relationship had… not exactly improved, but softened. They acted much more like teammates now than they had before.

This happened right after Obito and Kakashi nearly died on a mission.

Apparently, someone was trying everything to steal one of the black-haired boy's Sharingans, and apparently, they almost succeeded. Kakashi had interfered, and Obito had to save him from certain death, and they both had to flee. Although they returned mostly intact, the Uchiha had seemed worried and paranoid ever since.

The black-haired boy didn't know who had tried to steal his eye, as the person was completely covered by a cloak. However, something told Deidara that he probably did.

But no one insisted, and that was it.

Furthermore, everyone decided to focus on the fact that Kakashi finally started to value teamwork more than rules – probably because the silver-haired boy had died and the Uchiha had apparently come back to save him.

And since then, Team 7 has been taking off. Rin hadn't been left behind: she was studying at the hospital to become a good doctor, avidly reading anatomy books and practicing on injured people — with the approval of her teacher and the hospital.

She was already a great doctor, and Deidara had the right to speak, considering all the times he had blown himself up somewhere or when he had blown up Obito by accident .

He was pulled from his thoughts when the only girl on the team walked up to the two arguing boys and lectured them, causing them both to stop and apologize.

They stopped for a few seconds.

“But I didn't do anything…” Kakashi said, looking away.

Obito glared at him. "I was arguing with a wall then!?" He asked, approaching the other boy.

The silver-haired boy gave a falsely friendly smile. “It would be preferable if you did.”

And… they started arguing again.

"Shut up, hm!" Deidara shouted, crossing his arms, making everyone look at him.

Obito stared at him for a moment. "Just like Kushina-nee…" He whispered.

The woman, who was not far away in the kitchen, heard him and approached. She didn't seem angry, however. "Of course he's just like me! He's my son, dattebane!" the redhead exclaimed proudly, taking the blond in her arms. "He even got a verbal tic from me..." she said, shaking her head slightly.

The Uchiha smiled. "I'm going to start influencing him to be a mini-me!" he exclaimed.

Kakashi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Never."

And they, once again, dissolved into arguments once again .

'They’ll end up dating. ' Deidara thought with a hint of amusement.

Sometimes they were annoying and the blond wanted to do nothing but blow their faces off, but…

If this was what having a family was like, he couldn't say he hated it.

Deidara didn't know what to do.

For a year, he tried to prepare for the Kyuubi's attack.

During this time, one of the most shocking things he discovered was that Naruto, the Jinchuuriki of Konoha, is the son of Minato and Kushina and, consequently, his younger brother.

He had only discovered it by chance, as his parents, late in his mother's  second pregnancy, had decided to name the baby Naruto, after the book written by Jiraiya, their godfather. He hadn't even known the Sannin had any books that weren't obscene!

Deidara only knew one Naruto. And now that he thinks about it, the boy was a miniature copy of Minato, and his personality was entirely Kushina's. It should have been obvious to him long ago.

The blond boy pestered Itachi after learning this, since the Uchiha hadn't told him. The other boy, however, just snorted and said, "I knew you'd react like this."

What a bastard, really.

The two boys kept in close contact, always updating each other on every situation they could.

Itachi informed about how tension was starting to appear between the Uchiha Clan, but said that it was not something to worry about depending on how the Kyuubi's attack went.

In return, Deidara talked about how Minato had been having "discussions" - which were more like subtle jabs from both sides - with Danzou, who still didn't support him being the Hokage, despite it already being decided.

When the Uchiha asked him how he managed to learn this without being caught, the blond proudly proclaimed that he had invented a way to make his sculptures function as a sort of microphone, thanks to chakra vibrations, which could be translated into the vibration of the vocal cords. The sound was a bit off, sure, but it was almost completely understandable. Deidara also informed him of his plans to create "chakra cameras" someday, though he wasn't yet sure how to do that.

Itachi just looked at him with a hint of shock, before applauding him, which made the boy smug.

However, knowing all of this didn't help him at that moment: the Kyuubi's attack.

Normally, Deidara would stay away from the delivery room in case something went wrong, but he made the biggest fuss of the century until they let him stay there – although they only allowed it if he stayed close to Minato.

The blond man was covering Deidara's ears, though it did little to muffle his mother's screams of pain — and the anguish seemed to roll off his father in waves.

The boy was hoping internally that nothing would happen. That soon Naruto would be born and they would get out of there without the fox being released and the village being half-destroyed.

That was not the will of the universe, however.

It all happened very quickly: one moment he was in his father's arms, the next he was being held tightly by a creature, after which it placed an explosive tag on Naruto's blanket and threw him away, forcing Minato to move away.

It was an inhuman creature, half white, half black, with something resembling a plant around it. A very familiar creature.

It was Zetsu .

‘Why?’ He wondered as (the man? the plant?) teleported him and Kushina away.

Deidara tried punching, kicking, biting, exploding — but nothing worked. All his attempts did was make Zetsu stare at him with interest.

"What are you doing here, Deidara?" White Zetsu asked in a deceptively soft voice, as he sent a clone toward Kushina.

“It's none of your business, hm!” The blond retorted, trying to free himself from the creature's grip.

Black Zetsu made an irritated noise. "How did the timeline get so messed up?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Well, never mind. Let's get the Akatsuki back together," White Zetsu replied, before smirking at Deidara. "This time sooner."

The blond felt as if the blood in his veins would freeze. "I'm not going to be part of your shitty organization, hm!" he shouted. He couldn't help but be thankful that his mother was half-conscious at the time and didn't seem to be listening, but he scolded himself for having such a thought two seconds later.

"What a foul mouth," White Zetsu scolded lightly, before a wide grin spread across half his face — which was quite a macabre sight. "Then we'll have to get rid of you."

And with that, a mass of pure chakra erupted from Kushina's stomach, taking the form of a massive fox. As soon as it did, Kushina fell, though she was now more awake.

“Mama!” Deidara shouted, still trying to free himself.

It didn't take much effort, though, for Zetsu soon dragged him away and threw him into his mother's arms, who held him as tightly as she could.

"I-It's going to be okay, Dei…" She whispered, hugging him to her chest. The blond held her tightly, afraid she would disappear if he let go.

White Zetsu whistled. "So you're still alive. Uzumaki vitality is truly remarkable." he said.

"It's a shame that doesn't matter much now," Black Zetsu added, reaching out to the fox and sending a stream of chakra through it. "Kyuubi. Wouldn't it be an honor for you to kill the former jinchūriki and her offspring?" he asked in an amused voice.

The fox's eyes glowed with a yellowish light, before returning to a deep, hateful red.

There was no more time to think about anything, as soon the fox's claw came towards him at high speed and Deidara closed his eyes, squeezing the redhead, who squeezed him back.

However, nothing happened.

The familiar sensation of the Hiraishin being used permeated his being, and he closed his eyes. A second later, he opened them and found himself face to face with a room in the safe house, and beside him was Naruto, wrapped in blankets and crying profusely.

Deidara looked at his mother, who looked extremely tired, and then looked back at Naruto, before walking over and sitting next to him, bringing him onto his lap.

‘He’s so small… ’ The older boy thought briefly, shaking him in hopes of shutting him up.

"Can you give him to me, Dei…" His mother called, approaching. Deidara quickly passed the baby to her.

Perhaps only a few minutes had passed, fifteen at most, before a burst of chakra appeared outside the house and the blond quickly identified it as the Kyuubi's chakra, along with his father's chakra.

Kushina grimaced before placing Naruto on the bed and standing up. "Stay there, Dei. Take care of Naruto." she urged before running outside.

Deidara bit his lip, feeling tears welling up in his eyes, but he pushed them back into the depths of his being – which was a tough task for his four-year-old body – and stood up.

However, before he could leave the room, two very familiar people appeared at the door.

"Itachi! Obito?" The blond asked, approaching them. "What are you guys doing here, hm!?" He questioned, deliberately mispronouncing a few words as he usually does around anyone other than Itachi, so they don't think he's older — or, worse, more of a genius than they already believe.

"You didn't think I'd let you deal with this alone, did you?" The younger Uchiha spoke softly, before looking at Obito.

"You don't have to pretend you're four, Deidara. I already know," the older boy said, smiling sadly.

"It was just to confirm, hm." Deidara stated, before pulling them both out. "We'll clear everything up later, we don't have time!"

With that, the three ran outside, towards the fight that was taking place right in front of them.

When they got close enough, they noticed that the fox seemed out of control, becoming even more furious when Kushina used chakra chains to tie it to the ground.

As he got closer, he heard his parents arguing.

"Minato! Let's seal the fox inside me! You need to live!" The redhead shouted. "I don't want you to die because of me!"

Minato disagreed with her, however. "I will use the Reaper of Death Seal to seal the fox's Yin chakra into myself and the Yang chakra into Naruto. You are the one who must live to care for them."

His parents started a small argument, but Deidara's attention was drawn to Obito's frown.

"If Minato-sensei uses that seal, he'll die." the Uchiha whispered.

The blond boy ran towards his parents as soon as the older boy said those words.

"Papa! Seal the fox completely inside Naruto!" Deidara shouted, clinging to Minato's leg, who stared at him in shock.

“I don't want you guys to die, hm!” The little blond screamed, starting to sob against his will.

'I already knew that no matter my mental age, my body would act like a child. But... why does it hurt so much? ' he thought. 'I should never have gotten attached .' he thought again with a dark look. 'Maybe going back to being a missing-nin isn't such a bad idea. Fewer things, or rather, people, to lose.'

"If you leave, I want to go with you!" He finished with a shaky voice.

Minato and Kushina looked at each other with pained looks.

The redhead placed a hand on Deidara's cheek, wiping away the tears. "Never say such things, Deidara. You’re very precious to us, 'ttebane." she replied with teary eyes.

"I… can try." the blond man finally spoke. "But we need to find a way to weaken the fox…"

The redhead lowered herself a little, already sitting on the floor. "I don't know if I can hold on much longer." she whispered.

As if on cue, the fox turned its gaze toward them, filled with hatred. Suddenly, a large, sharp claw came toward them.

The blonde's eyes widened and his heart raced.

' There's nothing I can do. ' he thought. 'I'm useless in this situation. But… ' He rushed forward, reaching out to try to make use of the little clay he had left hidden away. ' I have to do something! I'm not going down without a fight!'

But just seconds later, he felt a burst of chakra erupt from him, and he closed his eyes. He was ready to die, but he was shocked when he looked around and saw reddish-gold chakra chains embedded in the ground, creating a barrier and blocking the Kyuubi, who growled, trying to break through.

'This… isn't an explosion .' Deidara thought in disbelief. ' This isn't clay. I didn't even use a hand seal .' As he thought this, he slowly turned to look at his mother, who was staring at him in shock.

Kushina smiled. "Adamantine Chakra Chains."

Taking the opportunity, Minato used the Hiraishin to bring Naruto, using some hand seals to summon an altar, carefully depositing the baby there.

However, the barrier was beginning to break – both Deidara's and Kushina's, both breathing heavily.

Unable to hold on any longer, the blond boy fell forward, only being prevented from colliding with the ground thanks to his mother, with his chains retracting into his back.

Deidara thought it would be the end when his barrier broke, but he was shocked once more when a voice came from behind.

"Stop!" He ordered, and the Kyuubi was promptly paralyzed.

The blonde had kind of forgotten that Obito and Itachi were there.

The older Uchiha had his Sharingan activated, controlling the fox, which gave Minato enough time to make some hand seals and seal the fox completely in Naruto, who began to cry.

Still in his mother's arms, Deidara felt his body grow warm. His vision blurred, and his ears felt like cotton wool. He wondered if he would die again.

He wouldn't know how it is, even though he'd already died once. The other time, it happened in the blink of an eye; he didn't even feel it. In this moment, he's hyperaware of every sensation in his body: his racing heart hammering in his ears, obscuring the voices around him; his heavy, labored breathing, his throbbing skull. Everything.

As he closed his eyes, a very familiar face entered his vision, a face he would recognize anywhere. Itachi. A pair of red eyes stared at him, his expression filled with worry.

As he drifted into unconsciousness, a single thought crossed his mind.

‘Finally, these satanic eyes were useful to me .’