Blonding

Chapter 20 : Awake

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

The sound of her voice echoed through the white emptiness around her for a moment, before uncannily disappearing like a whisper. The stifling vastness of the blank, white void was driving Kushina insane; if something didn't happen, and quickly, then she was going to have to take drastic measures.

...Not that she knew what drastic measures she should take, if she was honest with herself. But whatever actions she did take would sure as hell be drastic, if she had anything to say about it!

The redhead slouched back over again, lying down on the crystal white floor of what she could only assume was purgatory. "This is useless."

Then, she shot up again, eyes wide. "Oh shit. I have work in the morning."

Back down again. "Oh well. I'm pretty sure Minato can get someone else to deliver that letter."

And up again. "But I'm the best qualified for that mission, damn it!"

And down. "I guess it's better to give someone else the opportunity..."

And up. "But I can do it solo! They're gonna have to hire an entire team, and it's gonna be annoying, and..."

And back down again. "Oh, whatever. It's just a stupid delivery mission. Although I would have liked to have seen the Hidden Sand again, it's pretty there. Yeesh... I haven't been to the Sand in what, four years?"

Kushina froze.

"Wait, was that..."

When she felt a gust of wind strike her face for the second time in what felt like two eternities, she nearly whooped in happiness. "YES! Something other than boring white! Not today, Kami! Not today!"

A blurry outline manifested itself on the horizon, as she strained to make out its shape. It wasn't too large; only about the size of a relatively tall man. It was the color of the man's hair that gave her tremendous hope.

"...Minato?"

The specter chuckled and materialized completely in front of her, rubbing his hand through his blonde hair. "Ehh, no. Sorry. But he's here with me though! I'm here to try and fix whatever it was that happened to you. Are you okay?"

Kushina took a step back and frowned. "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

She could have sworn she heard the man whisper "not yet" underneath his breath, but he was already speaking properly by the time she was about to make her rebuttal. "I'm a friend, I promise. Like I said, I'm here to help." He gave her a smile that could have melted even the iciest heart, and offered her his hand.

Begrudgingly, she accepted it. It wasn't like she had much of a choice.

As he helped her to her feet, she took a moment to observe her "savior". He was an impressively tall man; that much was obvious. His hair was disheveled and looked like it had never come into contact with a comb in its entire life, as well as slightly singed at the edges. His clothes, if you could even call them that, were in tatters, barely hanging off of his slight frame like rags. To her surprise, she noted that he was an amputee - for what reason, she was unsure. From what was left of his right arm, she could guess that it was a wound from long ago. Perhaps a childhood ailment?