Tag-Team Part 2
Three hours later
(~MINATO AND KUSHINA)
Biwako and Jiraiya stood in front of the mission desk, very confused while the Hokage rubbed his temples. "Do the two of you know anything about common courtesy?"
"Of course I know how to curtsy! I actually passed the kunoichi class," Kushina protested.
"Why would I have to know how to curtsy? That's a girl thing!" Minato eyed the Hokage reproachfully.
Jiraiya had to hide his smile behind his hand while Biwako corrected them patiently.
"Courtesy not curtsy," she enunciated. "It means acting politely."
"It sounded like 'curtsy' to me," they mumbled.
"I don't think I was called here to correct vocabulary, what do you want, Sensei?" Jiraiya asked impatiently
"These two children think they are ready for an S-rank mission."
"We are Jiji! We're Jōnin now and you can't say no especially when we're the only team that can do it!" Kushina responded.
"If there isn't a legitimate reason to not give them the mission, they have to take it. What kind of mission is it?" Jiraiya asked reasonably.
"Why don't the two of you wait outside," Biwako said softly, guiding the two out the door and closing it in their faces. As soon as the door closed, they pressed Kushina's communication seals into each other's ears to amplify their hearing.
"They want an abduction and an assassination mission?" Jiraiya asked in disbelief. "I knew they were combing the S-ranks but—"
"They don't know assassination is part of the mission. I caught them before they could read any more than the first few lines," Hiruzen responded.
"They're qualified for it," Jiraiya shrugged after a second of thought. "If it'll teach them not to try and manipulate mission assignments then it will be worth a little emotional trauma in the end."
"They're still children," Biwako snapped. "Prodigies at that. Most children like them snap before they're eighteen and die before they're twenty. For once we can do right by a pair of happy shinobi child prodigies, whose biggest worry is hazing from a few jealous elders and you think we should throw them into the fire with all the others?"
"They can handle it. What I'm worried about is what happens when they get older and you can't shelter them anymore without sending them rogue in the end. What happens when you lose them in the hundreds of other shinobi walking through that door? They won't be coddled then and will be in for a brutal awakening. They're going to be among the best on the shinobi force and be doing the dirtiest missions out there. What happens when they realize you're the Kage of the village and not just the kind old man sitting in a fancy hat?"
"Jiraiya—" Biwako snapped at his impetuousness but the younger man ignored her.
"If you doubt their ability to complete the mission, send someone with them. I'll go with them if there's no one else. They need to know what they've signed up for as shinobi and sheltering them won't help. If they break, they need to break now so they can be put back together before it's too late. We all know there's a war on the horizon and this village will need ninjas to save it, not coddled children. If you can, you need to break them, and break them hard to be put back together before this war starts. We won't be able to afford losing them afterwards."
The eavesdroppers pressed together. While they might not have understood the full implications of the Jiraiya's words, they understood the tone.
"About the second mission you have on your desk from the Uchiha police. Everyone knows you have it. It's causing a lot of mistrust between those two and their comrades when you're see to be not trusting them with a mission they're ready for and babying them when it comes to mission content. They are the only team capable of it and you can't put it off much longer. Your choice is between the S and the A-rank, but give them one of them."
"They can deal with a little mistrust," Biwako snapped.
"If Kushina hadn't all but given up on her ambition for Hokage, Sensei would most likely be choosing between the two of them as his successor in a decade's time. If you're willing to foster the rift between them and the rest of the force, you'll only be hurting them in the long run and isolating them from everyone. If you really want to do right by them, let them prove themselves."
"You're right, but there's no way I'm sending them on the police's mission."
"We'll discuss that later. For now, bring them in and give them the mission."
The duo quickly took off the seals as the door opened and Jiraiya ushered them in.
"I'll give you the S-rank," the Hokage conceded, obviously hating every word he said. "For political purposes, I have to give you an A-rank as soon as you get back. Be sure not to injure yourselves on the mission."
They bounced on their toes in excitement despite the obvious reluctance and tension in the Hokage's voice.
"Jiraiya will be there to shadow you to assess your capabilities but will not be participating in the mission."
"So basically oomph," Minato clamped a hand over Kushina's mouth.
"Thank you Hokage-sama," Minato bowed, forcing Kushina to bow alongside him. Snatching the mission scroll before anyone could change their mind, Minato made a hand seal and the two vanished in a flash of yellow light.
"With a little maturity and training, that boy could make Hokage in no time. He has a head for politics," Biwako commented after they left. "That technique looked awfully familiar, what is it?"
"Those two gaki managed to recreate the Nidaime's Hiraishin no Jutsu," Jiraiya grumbled petulantly.
"That technique was lost when he died," Biwako deadpanned.
"It was. The only thing the Nidaime left behind was the seal formula. Teams have spent over a decade trying to recreate it. The two of them managed it in less than a month. When they were twelve," Jiraiya started to rant.
"They must've had help then."
"No, they locked themselves in my sealing room with a pillow and a bunch of ramen only to come out three weeks later with the jutsu's seal deciphered, altered to fit their purposes, and Minato covered from head-to-toe in sealing lines ready to try it out. They could've killed themselves yet the boy managed to do it on his second try! My only consolation was that he fell on Kushina and they got a face full of each other but—"
"Jiraiya," the Hokage interrupted before the younger man could start a rant of the unfairness of geniuses.
"What?"
"You have a second mission to prepare for, here is the scroll. Don't put it past that duo to leave without you." The Sandaime pulled a second S-ranked scroll out of his pocket
"They may be young, overeager, naïve, and immature, but they're not stupid or reckless. I have yet to see them bite off more than they can chew," Jiraiya responded, subdued. "If you can find time, you should take a mission with them or at least watch one of their spars, heck test them again yourself. Their teamwork is phenomenal."
"I'll see what I can do," the Hokage responded, but Jiraiya already Shunshined away.