Blonding

Chapter 51 : The Hidden Sea Village

The screaming started moments after they arrived.

The Hiraishin, to all of Minato's credit, was as silent as a breath of wind. One second Naruto was waving his mother goodbye, the next he was shielding the sharp sunlight from his eyes and trying not to choke on the bitter sea air that hit him like a slap to the face.

But while the Hiraishin may have been inconspicuous, the motley crew that had arrived in the Village Hidden in the Sea was anything but.

"Look!" Minato said, not skipping a beat, his sandaled shoes clamoring across the wooden platform of the boardwalk the instant an opening appeared in the waves of civilians muddling about around them. "Is that mountain volcanic? Is that why this island is so reclusive? It would certainly explain the lack of geographic constructs that may have hinted at something like this in..."

He vanished into the crowd, swept away by an army of dueling voices.

Perhaps it was Minato's strange accent. Perhaps it was Obito, with his dead eye and scarred face. Perhaps it was Jiraiya's bizarre appearance, or Naruto's missing limb, or the fact that they were the only ones with hair for what seemed like miles in every direction.

The market erupted into chaos.

Minato was at their side again the instant the crowd began to move. Children were bundled up by parents, the venders in the stalls ducked underneath goods-packed countertops, and all the while the Leaf Shinobi stood still, just watching and trying not to make any sudden movements.

"I'll handle this," Jiraiya said, puffing out his chest and taking a step forward. "They want an introduction? I'll show them an introduction-"

"No, Sensei," Minato said, forcing an arm in front of the man, narrowing his eyes at the shadows between two buildings on the far side of the market. "We don't want to do anything brash."

Naruto blinked, followed Minato's eyeline, hummed when he realized what was happening. "Yeah," he said. "Wouldn't want to ruin our first impression."

Obito let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort, but was otherwise silent.

"You can come out, you know," Minato called, voice carrying through the warm air, across empty boardwalk. "We mean you no harm."

Naruto watched as the arrowhead pointing around the shadowy corner became an arrow, and then a bow, and then an angry bald man in long, flowing beige robes.

"What are you?" the monk called out, bow taut and eager.

"What are we?" Jiraiya scoffed. "Now that's just rude."

"We come peacefully," Minato called out, voice steady and firm.

Naruto smiled. Any remaining doubts in his father's abilities to lead and project strength through his voice alone were all but wiped away, and he quickly remembered just why it was that Minato was chosen as the Fourth Hokage in the first place.

"Please," Minato said, "we apologize for disrupting your marketplace. But this was the only way we could travel here."

Jiraiya mumbled something that sounded like, "wasn't my fault the toads placed the seal in the middle of the street."