Tag-Team Part 3
(MINATO AND KUSHINA)
"Did you two pack everything?" Jiraiya asked as he approached the two hooded figures standing stiffly by the gate. The loose, gold-striped cloaks fit the role of Lightning perfectly. Not even their respective vibrant hair peeked out of the deep hoods.
"Affirmative," Minato responded curtly.
Jiraiya held back a flinch from how much older the boy sounded.
"Comms a go?" Kushina asked briskly
"Comms a go. Link secure?"
"Link secure. Move out?"
"Move out." They zipped through the gates, one behind the other.
By the end of their exchange, Jiraiya could not distinguish between the two of them. Hoping he would not have to spend the entire mission confused by their non-standard code, Jiraiya hurried after them. As they dashed through the treetops, Jiraiya noticed how they always touched when they ran. He was about to make them stop and force them into a safer, looser position when he noticed how they constantly switched positions. He pulled out a kunai to test their reaction to an attack, when he realized he could not see a pattern in their rotation.
As the sun dipped below the horizon behind them, Lightning gave no indication of stopping. Unsure of their plan, Jiraiya followed, shrinking the gap so as not to lose them in the dying light. In front of him, they moved as one person. Jiraiya helped them begin developing their Lightning persona, but he never imagined it to become so flawless and complete. He especially never expected the only ninjas he knew who could not tell a lie with a straight face to be able to pull it off. The entire night they raced through the treetops. When dawn broke, Lightning stopped suddenly, dropping to the ground. They stood still and silent, carefully watching their surroundings. With an unspoken signal, they slid kunai out of their cloaks and cut deeply into their palms. Before their fists closed over the gash, Jiraiya noticed deep scarring across their palms. With their non-bloodied hands, they unbuttoned the front of their cloaks, drawing seals on the other's sternum. The air around them blurred until they appeared to be a single ghostly specter crouched in the shadow of the tree. A minute later, the two vanished completely.
Jiraiya's eyes bugged out before they reappeared again, perfectly clear.
"You said it would work!" one of them protested. Jiraiya could not figure out who it was.
"It should've but I think the two seals cancelled each other out. Instead of two layers making it increasingly difficult for someone to see, one undid the other."
"I bet it looked cool from the outside."
"Until it totally failed."
"I think it's because we mixed the blood in both of them. This must be one of the odd seals where mixing blood doesn't stabilize the seal's base."
Jiraiya's eyes bugged out comically. "Alright you two this isn't funny anymore. Exactly what kind of experiments have you been doing with seals?" Jiraiya dropped in front of them. To his annoyance, neither flinched at his sudden appearance.
"Right, Jiji doesn't have time to listen to the things we want to attempt and we were supposed to talk to you about it."
On a whim, Jiraiya grabbed both of their wrists and attempted to find their pulse. When he was met with nothing, he crossed his arms, trying not to think about how they managed to cut themselves without dispelling the jutsu. "Where are the real you?"
They sat down stubbornly, arms crossed.
Jiraiya sat opposite them. "You are not in a very good position right now. First, you manipulate your way into getting a higher-ranked mission. The original reason you gave for doing so is understandable. You want to prove yourselves to your comrades. Now I find you've given me the slip to do who knows what! At the same time, I find out you've been attempting dangerous experiments with seals without permission! The two of you have betrayed a lot of trust so you better start explaining yourselves before I dispel the both of you and tell the Hokage about your little stunts!"
"We'll finish the mission sensei, that's all that matters to you. Neither you, nor the Hokage have any say in our training. We take precautions when we are experimenting with our seals and our first tests are on ourselves. When Hokage-sama actually does have time to listen to what we've been doing, he barely understands us."
"Making excuses now?"
"Does it really matter? You're just going to yell at us no matter what. There's no way you'll be able to catch up to our real selves. Meet us in the Uzushiogakure ruins in three weeks and we'll sort out the mess." A beat later, the two vanished in a puff of smoke.
The real Kushina tripped as the memories hit her. Minato stopped in his tracks and barely recovered in time to catch Kushina before she fell of the branch on which they stopped.
"We're in big trouble," Minato moaned.
"Come on, we've done worse," Kushina soothed.
"No, we haven't," Minato protested with a sigh. "Let's finish the mission and worry about it later."
"Right," She agreed quickly and reopened the scroll. "I don't think we should have asked for an S-rank. Did you read this scroll?"
"Yea, I read all the S-rank scrolls. Hokage-sama leaves his office practically wide open during his lunch break. Even though the mission says to kill the guy, he's been pinpointed as a leak in the security of the intelligence department so the interrogation department will to figure out how he got the information in the first place."
"Then why didn't Jiji put a note in here altering the mission?"
"He doesn't know about the leak. The intelligence department is keeping it hushed up for as long as possible. So, we're just delivering the target. The Chuunin Yamanaka Inoichi noticed the leak and told his Chuunin teammate Nara Shikaku about it. They were in the class above us in the Academy. I was playing a game of shogi with Shikaku-san and he mentioned it. Since it lined up with our plans to get an S-rank, I told him the leak was set to be assassinated soon so I offered that the two of us would take the mission since we were Jōnin and bring back the target for them to get what they could. All of that was supposed to be leverage to get the Hokage to give us the mission. Since our intel and connections would be better than his, he would have no other logical choice. Jiraiya-sensei got us the mission without us needing to use the leverage, so when I told Shikaku-san about it, he changed the plan to help all of us. We'll be taking the target to meet the Ino-Shika-Cho trio in Uzushiogakure; they'll get the information. After that, we'll all bring the target back to Konoha to face trial. For us, it will look really good on our record and everyone will know that we do our jobs better than anyone else, especially after that fiasco where a bunch of intelligence from spies got misdirected and misinterpreted. It will also show the Hokage that we can do a lot more than he's giving us and work with other people. If we play it right, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio will get promoted to Jōnin, which helps them for a variety of reasons."
"The mission says to assassinate the target. If we bring him back to Konoha for trial, he won't be dead and we'll have failed the mission."
"That's where technicalities come into play. The client said the target has to be dead, it did not specify how or when. You did the background on him and found out he is somehow technically still a citizen of Konoha, therefore everything he does against the village is considered treason. We have ample evidence for that, so he will be charged with treason and Konoha law says the punishment for it is death. In all, the client is happy, a leak is stopped, the village gets justice, and we're responsible for almost all of it."
Kushina gaped. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this sooner?"
"Because I only found out this morning and we were already in earshot of the Hokage."
"Why not when we left?"
"Because we were rushing to get out and moving before they noticed anything off."
"How are the Ino-Shika-Cho trio getting to Uzushiogakure?"
"They're on leave for the next few weeks, so I brought them right after I talked to Shikaku-san. We'll be getting there a day before we told Sensei to meet us, so hopefully, we'll have everything done and Sensei won't drag us back all tied up."
"Your plan better work."
"It's not my plan, it's Shikaku's and he's a real genius, so it will. One of the toads owes me a big favor so We'll be in and out of Kiri in less than two days." Minato held up the seal for the Hiraishin. "Ino-Shika-Cho are already in Uzu and the toad placed the seal a few minutes ago in Kiri."
"I don't know if I should castrate you for messing with me or kiss you right now for your genius."
"I would very much prefer a kiss," he replied immediately before he realized exactly what he just inadvertently insinuated. A second later, his face, ears, and neck glowing red with embarrassment, he took a step backwards and held out his arms defensively as Kushina smiled deviously at him.
"You're gonna get it for that comment, Namikaze."
Minato took another step back, prepared to flee the second she moved. When her chakra spiked, he used all of his speed to jump backwards off the branch, only to run into Kushina, who substituted with a leaf and slapped a chakra-binding seal on his back. When he turned around to push away from her, she slapped a paralysis seal on his chest. "Please don't kill me!" He squeaked as Kushina slammed him onto his back and sat on his stomach, precariously balancing both of them on the tree branch.
"Why shouldn't I?" She asked, leaning forward until their noses were almost touching. With a devilish grin at Minato's embarrassment and terror, quickly turning into his inability to breathe, she removed the seals, but did not move off him. She leaned even closer, making Minato go cross-eyed trying to see her. Breath tickled Minato's mouth as Kushina leaned even closer. Minato's lungs froze and his heart nearly stopped beating as she continued to draw closer. She kissed his nose softly and Minato's face turned even redder as she pulled away and stood up on the branch, holding her hand out to help him up. "Ready to go?" Kushina smirked, a light blush spreading across her own cheeks. "Jiraiya-sensei just found us—"
Minato scrambled to his feet, stumbling backwards, nearly hitting his head on the tree, eyes wide, stuttering incoherently. A blur of white hair caught Minato's eye and he gratefully focused on the distraction.
"Don't you dare move!" Jiraiya's angry shout jerked Minato out of his run-on blabbering, much to Kushina's amusement.
The blond shot to his feet and vanished in a flash of yellow light. Kushina shouted indignantly as Minato reappeared and grabbed her wrist, vanishing from their perch on the tree.
Kushina yelped as she and Minato found themselves falling off parallel to a low cliff towards water with a thin layer of ice over the top. While the fall wasn't high enough to be dangerous, it was still a nasty surprise. Minato managed to catch himself on the water with chakra and not break the ice, but as soon as Kushina's feet touched the ice, she misjudged the amount of chakra needed, melted the ice within a five-meter radius, and completely submerged herself as Minato readjusted the chakra he needed to stay on top of the water. Thankfully, he did not let go of her hand and dragged her into a low, perfectly hidden cave, but not before the water completely soaked her hair and clothes.
Minato automatically began helping her strip off the soaked cloak and threw it in the air to trap it in a powerful sphere of wind jutsu, mostly drying it in a few seconds.
"It's not winter!" Kushina complained as Minato tossed back the cloak, picked up the rest of her soaking clothes, threw them in the air and dried them the same way, all without looking at her. While she redressed in the dry clothes, Minato activated a barrier in the cave mouth.
"Channel chakra through your hair and it'll dry faster," Minato suggested, kneeling down behind the barrier to erase all signs of their presence.
"Why couldn't I do that with my clothes?" She asked, holding the cloak tightly around herself and shivering.
"You could have, but you would have burned them off your body. I don't know if it will work on your hair, but you won't burn it off because it's a part of you so it's worth a shot," Minato shrugged before going silent to concentrate.
"It worked," Kushina grumbled, even though she knew Minato could not answer. The ice she accidentally melted hardened back into the same shape it was before she crashed through it. A second later, she heard the odd pop all Minato's seals made whenever he deactivated them. A second pop indicated that Minato deactivated the barrier seal.
"No chakra until we make contact with the target," Minato stood up and pulled the hood over his head. According to intel, the target is formerly shinobi, correct?"
Kushina kicked back into mission mode. "Low Jōnin level. Defected from Amegakure to home twelve years ago, defected from home to Kirigakure one month ago. Bounty is two thousand ryo dead, five thousand ryo alive in Amegakure, not yet in the bingo book. Skills include minor Fūinjutsu, major affinity for lightning, known skill in fire and earth, minor skill in genjutsu, long-range fighter, and medium skill in traps. Both of us have affinities for wind, which will neutralize the target's lightning affinity. We both know some water, so we can neutralize his fire. The problem will be his earth abilities, but since we are both pretty good at wind, it shouldn't be much of a problem. Our skill in Fūinjutsu far outstrips him, and your skill in sensing will notice any traps he can lay. To automatically dispel any genjutsu, we should use the connection seal, which will force him to trap both of us at once or not at all, which only very skilled Genjutsu users like the Uchiha can perform. You can attach seal tags to your kunai to get closer before we engage. Did I miss anything?"
"What about Taijutsu skill?"
"He uses the standard Advanced Konoha style mixed with a simple version of the Amegakure Kenjutsu style. Considering my fighting style makes me faster than almost every Jōnin at home, any you've been faster than them all for ages, it shouldn't be a problem."
"Plan: since you got first hit last mission, it's my turn this time. You make the barrier to keep him contained and stop any accomplices he might have. I'll engage first and get close with Hiraishin. You put the chakra seal on when his back is turned. While you engage, I'll place the paralysis seal over the chakra seal, which will overload both and knock him out."
"Things won't go that simply," Kushina reminded him.
"I know, but we'll adapt from there."
"How do you know where he is?"
Minato tapped his head. "I told the toad who placed the seal to get me as close to the target as he could and right now, he's three kilometers directly east."
"Are you sure? Never mind, you're always sure. Do we have to go through the tunnel?"
"No, but since the toad made it special for us to get safely to his front yard, it would be simpler."
"I don't like caves and I won't be able to see."
Minato pulled her onto his back and began running through the tunnel, ducking to avoid the uneven ceiling and jumping over bumps in the floor.
"I hate it when you run blind," Kushina quietly breathed her complaint as Minato stopped.
"Target is at two o'clock, crouched, five meters away. I no one else is around. You go first, throw my kunai with the tag and make the barrier. On your mark."
"Three," Kushina moved her feet to Minato's shoulders and pressed a hand against the ceiling. "Two, Kushina took the kunai Minato handed her. "One," She finished, making the tunnel ceiling explode up, leaping into the air and throwing the kunai in the direction Minato said their target crouched. The target deflected it automatically, but Minato unexpectedly stopped the katana in a flash of yellow light and used a second kunai to slice at his face. The target blocked it with a kunai, but Minato never bothered to finish the blow, instead, he turned the strike towards the target's hand holding the sword and pushing him back with his superior weight.
"You're not hunter-nin. Who are you?" The target demanded.
"I am Lightning," Minato activated a seal to produce a flash of yellow light which masked his movements long enough for him to drop to the ground and kick the target's legs out from under him. The target smoothly bent backwards to suddenly compensate for the sudden lack of balance and flipped back onto his feet, swinging his katana at Minato in the process. Minato fell on the blade, trapping it on the ground and wrenching it out of the target's hand.
"A kid like you isn't Lightning. I used to live in Konoha, I would know. Now who are you really?"
Setting off a second seal at the same time as Kushina, who jumped up behind the man, Minato disappeared into the ground with the man's katana, dug underneath and passed it off to Kushina as she slapped the chakra seal on the man's back a split second before placing the blade at his throat. "Fast as lightning," she intoned, her voice identical to Minato's. A second flash and Minato stood up from the ground to stand beside the target and continuing to hold the katana at the target's neck.
"Strong as lightning," Minato continued, his voice beginning to reverberate in the air. After a third flash, Kushina appeared on his opposite side as Minato disappeared in his own flash.
"And untraceable," Kushina finished, as Minato placed the second seal and the target collapsed. "That was too easy," She said worriedly, as soon as she was sure the target was unconscious.
"All of the traps are on the perimeters and on the house. We just got lucky," Minato explained, looking around.
"I guess the only way out now is the Hiraishin," Kushina noted as she looked at the glowing seals on the gate beginning to spread across the yard. Minato grabbed her arm and their target's neck before appearing between two half-destroyed buildings.
"Minato-kun!" Someone yelped a few feet away. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow!"
"Yes, we're ahead of schedule, Inoichi-san. Do you have somewhere set up yet for an interrogation?"
Minato tossed back his hood and took off the cloak, stuffing it into a seal hidden on his hem of his jacket.
Kushina mimicked him.
"I always expect you two to be taller," Inoichi grumbled as he looked down at the two, barely a year younger than him, yet a head shorter.
Kushina balled her fists at the comment.
"We got the place set up over here," Inoichi slung the man over his shoulder and led them around the corner to a mostly-intact meeting room.
Shikaku and Chōza sat playing a game of shogi. "You're early," Shikaku stated, sounding annoyed. "Now, I'm not going to get to finish my game. I guess that Lightning moniker is more than just a light show."
"How did you know we were Lightning?" Kushina demanded, impressed, but annoyed.
"Probably noticed how we were always gone during Lightning's missions, read one of our files with skill sets on it, made a guess, and you confirmed it," Minato explained.
"And you both always have soot on your faces from flash bangs. Have you ever thought of using lightning jutsus? It'll add a little more credibility to the persona."
"No, that's what everyone will expect. We're a hit-and-run team, not front-line fighters just yet," Minato said and wordlessly pointed to their unbound captive.
Inoichi and Chōza quickly dragged him to a chair to the center of the room while Shikaku cleaned up the shogi game. "If the two of you set up a sound barrier and stand guard, we'll be good to go ahead with the interrogation on the traitor."
Minato tensed, nodded, and then knelt to begin drawing a seal on the ground with a jar of ink and quill he seemed to produce out of nowhere. Kushina pulled out her own pen to speed the process.
"It will activate as soon as we are out of the room and if something goes wrong, one of us will make it flash to alert you in case we can't handle it," Kushina explained, voice dull. "It's one-way so once you leave you won't be able to re-enter."
"Are you two okay? You don't look very good," Inoichi asked while Shikaku returned to the prisoner.
"Here's the scroll of the information we have to find out for the S-rank," Minato pressed it into Inoichi's hand.
"Are you two okay?" Inoichi asked again, grabbing their arms before they could leave. "We're going to be in here for awhile and can't afford to have you compromised in any way."
"We're just not looking forwards to listening to you guys torture a guy. It's one of the side effects of the seal. We hear everything that happens inside."
"Is there another seal you can use?"
"We could put up a total isolation seal, but there will be no contact at all between us. It's just an unnecessary risk," Minato shrugged.
"Can you make a new seal without the side effect?"
"Probably," Kushina responded.
"How long will it take you two?"
"It's just a few alterations, so it will take less than a week at most," Kushina bit her lip, already thinking through ways to alter the seal.
"The mission is scheduled to last exactly a month, correct?" Inoichi responded thoughtfully.
Minato nodded.
"It should take Shika and I about a week to break him, we should figure for one week of extra time, in case someone messed with the guy's head. That leaves two weeks before we need to be back in Konoha. Figuring in a buffer for the travel time, you have three days to make a new. Scrap this seal and we'll put up a standard containment shield around the prisoner." Inoichi moved his hands to their shoulders and led them to a rickety table set up behind the prisoner. "Now get to work. My team will keep guard."
Minato took a few handfuls of sand from the floor and spread it on the table. Kushina automatically started sketching out the seal, discussing their options for the alterations.