"Good morning, Minato-san!" Hinata stuck her head out of the kitchen when she heard Minato walking down the stairs. "I made pancakes for breakfast. I hope you enjoy them."
"Thank you," Minato answered with a smile while he was rubbing dreams away from his eyes.
When he woke up this morning, he didn't recognize where he was exactly for a moment. Not finding Kushina next to him came as a shock until he remembered his time travel. He wished he would've brought her with himself. Kushina would love the Uzumakis.
Sitting down at the table, Minato was pondering on the flow of time once again. Last night, he had a hard time falling asleep because Kushina had occupied his mind. The more he thought about the situation the more concerned he became for her. How grounded was his theory on the freezing time? Was it logical at all? He didn't know anymore, but as Kushina's arguments popped into his mind about the case, he started feeling uneasy.
If time hadn't stopped for Kushina, Minato would be a dead man the second they would meet again.
"Did you sleep well? Was everything alright?" Hinata inquired as she placed a plate full of pancakes in front of him.
Minato's eyes grew larger at the sight of the plate, loaded with the sweet breakfast. "Yes, thank you. I'm not sure I can eat all of this," he pointed at the food served to him.
Hinata laughed and waved dismissively. "It's not that much."
Minato glanced at the pile of pancakes in front of him. They were heaped onto each other in a way that they formed an unstable tower, the top few almost falling. He opted not to count how many pancakes were there exactly. Imagining he would need to eat all of them so he wouldn't hurt the feelings of the woman was enough to make him nauseous.
"I can help with that." Boruto slid the door of the room open and ambled up to Minato, taking two pancakes from the pile in his hands.
"Boruto, don't eat with your hands. And don't steal from your grandfather," Hinata scolded him.
"It's not stealing, he didn't want to eat all of them. And he still has a lot, so he won't starve to death," Boruto shrugged and stuffed the pancakes into his mouth.
Himawari, who had been sitting in the armchair in the living room area, appeared next to her brother and poked him in his shoulder. "That's gross, Big Brother."
"At least take a plate, please," Hinata let out a defeated sigh and handed over a plate and a fork to her son.
Boruto hopped down on the empty chair opposite Minato and leaned forward, taking a few more pancakes from Minato's plate using his fork. Minato watched as the tower of food slowly became smaller until he had only four pancakes left. Boruto's plate on the other hand started looking unsettlingly similar to the previous state of Minato's own. The boy could eat a lot if he planned to destroy all that food.
"Where's Dad?" Boruto asked between two bites.
"He said he needs to take care of a few things in his office today, but from tomorrow he will spend more time with us," Hinata replied with a small smile.
"Just the usual then," Boruto grumbled, "I thought Gramps being here would be important enough for him to stay at home, but I guess it means nothing for him."
"Boruto –" Hinata raised her voice slightly and furrowed her eyebrows, but Boruto cut her off before she could finish admonishing him.
"Who cares. I'm spending the day with Gramps."
"But I also wanted to spend the day with him," Himawari piped in, tears welling up in her eyes upon hearing that Boruto would snatch away the chance to spend time with Minato from her.
Boruto tore his gaze away from the pancakes that he was shoveling into his mouth and looked at his sister. The corners of his lips curled down when he caught sight of the rapidly forming tears in Himawari's blue eyes. "You can spend the afternoon with him. What about that, Hima?"
Himawari tilted her head to the side, pouting. She now reminded Minato of Kushina and he couldn't hide his smile. He wondered if Himawari was anything like his wife personality-wise, too.
"Okay," Himawari gave in, "but you have to promise."
"I promise," Boruto grinned at her and Himawari beamed.
Watching the harmless bantering between siblings redirected Minato's thoughts to his own fate. As much as the affection emanating from both children made his heart melt, it also gave him a clue about a gruesome fate he would need to endure. Last night when Boruto had come to ask him to train him, the young boy didn't look at Minato like someone would at a long-lost family member. The ocean blue eyes of Boruto mirrored the kind of worship that only heroes receive.
The idea that he had become a hero in the eyes of the village made Minato proud.
However, a hero never just becomes a hero. For a hero to ascend, the unimaginable needs to happen.
"Let's go already!" Boruto slammed his hands onto the table as he jumped up from his seat. Minato flinched at the unexpected loudness and his gaze lingered on the empty plate of Boruto. The boy did indeed eat all that food.
Hinata sent a disapproving look toward her son, but he was too fired up to notice. "You shouldn't leave the house now. The village shouldn't see Minato-san yet," she remarked as she moved to take Boruto's plate.
"Don't worry about that, I have the perfect place to go," Minato said as he placed his fork in the empty plate in front of him and leaned forward to grab Boruto's arm.
"But you –"
Hinata's voice disappeared as the scenery around Minato and Boruto suddenly changed. One moment they were still in the Uzumaki house, the next they got transported to the edge of a small clearing.
As soon as Minato's feet touched the ground, he crouched down to balance out the abrupt change in his previous sitting position. Boruto, on the other hand, had lost his footing even though he had the upper hand in the situation since he had gotten teleported while standing. The young boy fell on his knees and by the gagging sounds that burst out of his throat, Minato guessed his stomach wasn't happy to experience the Hiraishin. Minato politely looked away when Boruto eventually got defeated by his insides and watered the ground with his breakfast.
Boruto pressed his hands against his abdomen and rolled to his back. Panting heavily, his words were almost incomprehensible. "What the heck was that?"
"The Hiraishin. It's a space-time ninjutsu which lets me teleport myself to one of my markings," Minato answered, pointing a finger at the mark he had planted the day before on the tree situated next to them.
Boruto propped himself up on his elbows. "You should've warned me, you know."
"It wouldn't have made a difference, actually," Minato's mouth curled up in a small smile, "but you tolerated it better than I expected."
Boruto pushed himself on his feet carefully. His muscles tensed as he worked on keeping his balance. Pursing his lips tightly, he muffled the clear sounds of his nausea. Unconsciously, he placed his hand on his stomach as if it would help him fight off its churning.
Taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure, Boruto lifted his gaze at Minato. "You're awesome," he exclaimed. The same worship that Minato had seen sparkling in his eyes yesterday was present now, too.
Minato straightened up and placed his hands on his hips. "You can rest a bit before we start. It was your first time to –"
"No, I'm fine. Let's do this," Boruto yelled and threw a kunai toward Minato. He easily sidestepped it and almost chuckled when he spotted Boruto's cheeks turning green.
The boy hunched forward with a queasy moan, but it looked like his stomach contained nothing more that he could let out.
"Take it easy."
"I'm fine," Boruto breathed out, but his wobbly legs betrayed him and he fell on his butt. "Geez, this is so embarrassing."
"Not at all."
Minato walked up to the boy and made himself comfortable on the ground. He placed his hands behind himself, leaning on them as he crossed his legs. Looking up at the sky, he was listening to Boruto's heavy heaves next to him. The young boy's reaction to the technique was normal, Minato himself also had had a hard time when he first used the Hiraishin. He wouldn't admit that to Boruto though. Minato aimed to keep the cool grandpa status he was currently associated with.
"Why are you here?" Boruto's voice cut into the stillness abruptly.
Minato glanced at the blond boy who fixed his eyes on the ground, drawing small circles with his index finger into the dirt. "Well, you asked me to train with you."
"I mean in this time period. Do you want to change the past?"
Minato hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "Should I?"
"Wouldn't it mean that the world I'm living in," Boruto gestured with his hands, "wouldn't exist as it does now anymore?"
Minato's eyes lingered on the concerned expression which was painted over Boruto's face before he tore his gaze away to look up at the blue, cloudless sky once again. "I guess you're right."
"I've read lots of books about you," Boruto continued after a pregnant silence, "because I wanted to know more about you. I always thought you're cooler than my old man. I believed I know you after all that research. But you're here now, you are really here, and you're nothing like I imagined."
Minato tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Did I disappoint you?"
"Well," Boruto paused for long seconds which resulted in Minato's smile dropping, "I wouldn't say that. I guess I just never realized you were a real person."
Minato feigned a smile despite shattering inside. His suspicions were true after all: in the eyes of the village, he was a hero. A hero who had been dead for such long years his remembrance turned him into a legend. Wasn't that exactly what he had been dreaming about ever since his childhood? Hadn't he always wished to be a crucial part of the village? He had, but now a foreboding feeling crept into his mind about his own destiny.
"Let's spar, Gramps," Boruto jumped on his feet enthusiastically as if they hadn't talked about altering the future only a few minutes ago. Judging by his energy, it seemed like he had overcome his sickness. Being dragged away by the Hiraishin was a nauseating experience, but Boruto managed to recover rather fast. Minato noted that in his head.
"Hey, Boruto, could you stop calling me Gramps?" Minato furrowed his eyebrows as he stood up, putting his right hand on his hip. Even though he knew well enough that he biologically was the grandfather of Boruto, he wasn't prepared to be referred to as such. He wasn't even twenty-four yet for goodness sake.
"But you're my Gramps." Boruto's smile spread high on his face, almost reaching up to his ear. Minato snorted under his breath as he realized the younger boy was teasing him.
"You can just call me Minato, alright?"
Boruto patted his index finger on his lips as though he was contemplating the opportunity and ran his cerulean gaze through Minato with a smirk. "Grandpa Minato?"
"Just Minato, please." He forced a smile on his face but felt the veins throbbing in his temple. Minato wouldn't be surprised if a vein popped under his skin. Boruto had some Kushina in him for sure.
"Well, if that's what you want, Minato," Boruto stressed his name, wearing a smug smile on his face. "You look too young to be my grumpy geezer anyway."
"That's because I'm only twenty-three," Minato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Prepare your old bones then because I'm not holding back."
Boruto formed a handsign and in a puff of smoke two shadow clones appeared next to him. All three of them dashed forward with a roar. Minato did nothing else but moved backward until he could feel the trunk of a tree behind his back. As the three Borutos raised their hands to hit him, he teleported at the opposite of the clearing, using one of his planted Hiraishin markings.
Minato couldn't suppress a little laugh as he watched Boruto and his clones clashing against the tree. The shadow clones disappeared the second they came in contact with the unexpected enemy. A painful yelp burst out of Boruto when he punched the tree trunk with full force. Minato could only hope he didn't break his fingers in the process. The blow that the poor tree had received looked quite powerful.
Boruto spun around and made two shadow clones once again. Leaning against the tree with folded arms, Minato tilted his head in curiosity as Boruto snatched a kunai from his pouch.
"Here I come," he yelled as he jumped up in the air and into the hands of his shadow clones. The clones pushed his body forward with Gale Palm, increasing his speed greatly. "Boruto Stream!"
Minato hummed with a small snicker lingering on his lips upon witnessing Boruto's self-invented technique. Boruto was flying in his direction with an awe-inspiring speed, but before the young boy could reach him, Minato teleported to the Hiraishin mark he had used when he had brought Boruto here.
The moment he reached his marking, the two shadow clones that had previously helped Boruto jumped on him. A hint of surprise glimmered in Minato's blue eyes, but he casually sidestepped the incoming attack from both sides, making the clones bump into each other. They dispersed with a puff and Boruto himself emerged from behind the smoke. Minato stopped the fast-approaching fist with his palm, but Boruto twisted his body to kick him in his torso. Unfortunately for the young blond, Minato grabbed his ankle and shoved him into the hard ground.
Boruto squawked when his body got pushed into the earth beneath him. Minato placed his left knee on Boruto's chest, pinning him down effectively. He only lifted his weight to ease the pressure when Boruto gained back his senses and took a deep breath to fill his lungs with air again.
"You're so cool," Boruto breathed out as he swung himself into a sitting position. "Say, could you teach me that teleporting thingy?"
"Teleporting thingy?" Minato muttered, raising an eyebrow at the name. Didn't Boruto say he had read books about him? One would imagine he did at least memorize the name of his signature technique.
"Yeah, yeah," Boruto bobbed his head up and down eagerly, "it's amazing. It's almost like using those cheat files Katasuke gives me for my games, you know. You're about to die, but boom, you're winning."
"Cheat files?" Minato blinked, completely dumbfounded. What the hell was Boruto talking about?
"Come on, show me."
"You want to learn the Hiraishin?"
"Well, of course. I could use it against my dad, you know. Ever since you died, nobody could figure it out. How cool would I be if I learned it, right? Oh god, Shikadai and Inojin will be so jealous," Boruto babbled on.
Minato rubbed the nape of his neck, trying to give meaning to everything that Boruto had said, but he failed spectacularly. He understood that Boruto wanted to learn the Hiraishin, but the motives behind his aspiration were blurry, to say the least.
"Man, if I learn it, I can also be named the Yellow Flash, right? I'm blond too," Boruto tapped at his hair, "but I don't want to copy you, you know, that's very uncool. What should I call myself?"
Boruto hurriedly stood up and glanced at himself as if he was trying to find a distinguishable trait. "My clothes are mainly black, but the Black Flash sounds pretty lame. I like pink though, maybe I should ask Mom to buy me a pink jacket or something. How does the Pink Flash sound? Isn't it too girly?"
An uncomfortable smile appeared on Minato's face as Boruto's agog eyes focused on him. "Honestly, you don't usually name yourself."
Boruto blinked. "But what if you get a moniker you don't like?"
"You live with it I guess." Minato's cheeks started aching from the forced smile he had etched onto his face to hide his insecurity.
"That sucks," Boruto sighed. "Anyways, I have to learn it first. I'm ready, come on."
"It's not a technique that you can learn in a span of a few days. I can help you with the basics, but you will need to grasp the rest of it alone."
"Why?" Boruto tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows rose high on his forehead.
"I can only stay a few days. I have to go back to my own time."
A shadow ran through Boruto's expression. Maybe it was a stretch, but judging from his saddened face, Minato would say Boruto didn't want him to go back.
"We don't have any time to waste then. Come on, why are you just standing there? Show me, show me!" Boruto's eyes lit up once again as he clapped his hands, urging Minato to begin his training right now.
Minato suppressed a grimace. He wasn't a fan of the idea of anyone ordering him around and as much as Minato started taking a liking to Boruto, the boy was acting too cocky now. "We should go back now. Your mother must be worried."
"Hell no! You promised to train me! And we must start the training right now because –"
Words got stuck in Boruto's mouth as Minato gripped his arm and teleported them back to the middle of the Uzumaki house.
The first sound that reached Minato's ear was the shattering of a plate and he turned his attention toward the noise. Hinata stood in the kitchen, her hand was placed above her heart and she stared at them with an open mouth. Minato rubbed the back of his neck, smiling apologetically at the woman. He forgot that Hinata wasn't as used to him appearing out of thin air as Kushina was.
Minato took a step in Hinata's direction with the aim to help her gather the pieces of the broken plate from the floor when Boruto almost pushed him over, running toward the bathroom with his hand covering his mouth. Hinata sent a questioning glare toward Minato but he just shrugged, wearing the same apologetic smile as earlier, and made his way into the kitchen. Squatting down, he started picking up the pieces of the plate from the wooden floor.
"Please, don't do this anymore, Minato-san. You scared me," Hinata said, crouching down next to Minato to help with collecting the remains of the plate.
"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention," he answered softly and throw the pieces piled in his hand in the trashcan. "My apologies because of the plate."
"Don't worry about it." She straightened up and took a broom in her hands. "But... how did you do it? I didn't expect you to return like that. Don't you need a marking to teleport to?" she asked with curiosity hiding in her voice.
Minato strolled up to the dinner table and pointed under it. Hinata blinked a few times, shifting her eyes back and forth between Minato and the furniture, but eventually followed him and peeped under the table.
Minato had planted one of his Hiraishin markings there last night during dinner.
"Don't worry, it won't stay there forever. I will remove it when I go back."
Hinata chuckled silently but otherwise didn't answer. She moved back to the kitchen to resume washing the dishes.
"Himawari waits for you upstairs in her room. She said she has something important to show you."
Author's Note: I hope these family-centric chapters aren't too boring. The story will also have some action, but we first need to get there!
Just a quick notice: from now on, I'm not sure if I can keep up with the weekly updates as my finals will start next week and they will end in July. I will try to keep the update schedule, but I just wanted to let you know about the situation. So, don't worry if updates come a bit more rarely, I'm not abandoning the story, I'm just having hard exams.