Blonding

Chapter 21 :. Who's that guy?

"Kid? Kid?! Damn it, not all over the floor!"

A wastebin was shoved under Boruto's face just as he began to wretch and heave, the entire congregation of shinobi in the hospital room turning for a moment to watch in an almost morbid fascination.

Minato blinked, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a hidden smile. "Ah… heh, sorry about that. I had the same reaction the first time I used the Hiraishin myself. Don't worry, the feeling passes quickly."

Boruto just looked up from the bin with a blank expression on his face, his pale skin coated in a sheen of sweat. "I… I hope so."

And he promptly threw up again.

Jiraiya sighed from the corner, grabbing the boy's shoulder and leading him out of the room. "C'mon. I'll take you to get some fresh air."

As the door clicked shut behind them, Minato let out a small sigh, and slinked back in his chair. He sat in abject silence for a few moments, attempting to calm his rattled brain after the rather shaking events of the previous day.

He hadn't even been Hokage for a full month yet.

Was this kind of traumatic event going to happen often?

"No, it doesn't happen often. You need not worry about that."

Minato blinked and turned to look at his predecessor, who was still looking out the window aimlessly, as the noonday sun rose steadily over the village. It was almost like he hadn't moved at all since Minato saw him last.

As if he sensed the blonde's scrutinizing gaze, Hiruzen took a hearty puff from his pipe and moved away from the window, settling into the seat next to Minato's.

"Am I really that easy to read? Seriously?"

Hiruzen smiled and shook his head. "Now, now, Minato. That's not always such a bad thing. It means you are honest. Both with yourself, and with others."

The Fourth sighed and ran a hand through his hair, blond dancing with pale tan. "I suppose. But that doesn't help me in most situations. Especially not now."

Hiruzen only raised an eyebrow, a small trail of smoke rising out of the smirk on his lips. "Is that so? Then tell me, Minato, why is it that you brought this S-ranked shinobi of unknown origins, and unknown intentions into the heart of our village? Why is it that you are allowing him to operate on your wife in this manner?"

Both of their gazes shifted to the one-armed blonde standing above the hospital bed across from them.

Minato blinked, before narrowing his eyes and clenching his hand into a fist across his pants leg. "Because… I trust him. I don't know why, but I do."

The Third only let out an amused murmur. "I see."

The two sat in silence, then, watching as the blonde man stood above Kushina, his one hand pressed gently against the seal on her stomach. His forehead knotted in concentration as a few beads of sweat worked their way down from his brow, dripping off of his face and onto the tattered remains of his clothing.

"Do you know why I chose you as my successor, Minato?" Hiruzen asked after a minute of deafening quiet, gripping his pipe between his teeth.