Tag-Team Part 4

(INOICHI)

"Those two have never been on an interrogation mission before," Inoichi said as soon as he made a simple privacy jutsu around his teammates. "I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't even had their first kill yet. They're scared of something too."

Chōza munched on a chip thoughtfully. "I saw them sparring with their teammates a few years ago when we were all genin. It was two against five and I think it was their first time ever fighting together. They won against opponents superior in almost every way. Their skills when they're together are on par with the best of the Jōnin right now. If they're forced to it, I'm pretty sure they could handle one of the Sannin and win with a handful of luck. Unless they're in some deep trouble with the Hokage, they have nothing to fear from anyone."

"Kushina-san is the Hokage's daughter in all but blood and Minato-san has the Hatake, Uchiha, Hyuuga, our clans, and all three of the Sannin publicly supporting him. Unless they blatantly defied orders or committed treason, there isn't any trouble a well-said explanation can't get them out of," Shikaku reasoned.

"I'm not worried about why they're scared, I'm worried about the fact that this is clearly their first exposure to an interrogation," Inoichi snapped.

"There is no way the Hokage would send them on an S-rank with their experience unless they were the only team eligible for an S-rank which they shouldn't be. They've only been Jōnin for a few months," Shikaku sighed, attention on the two seal masters working.

"We're talking about them like they're a couple of kids," Chōza noted. "From what I know, they're more articulate than us. Why don't we just ask them what's wrong like we would any other shinobi? Who knows, it might be something as simple as a Jōnin getting carried away while hazing them."

"If the hazing really bothered them, they would be lashing out at us and bossing us around or at least acting like they have something to prove." Inoichi reasoned. "Someone hurt them a lot deeper than that. The problem isn't superficial."

"It's a problem between them and someone they're close to," Shikaku's head snapped up as the pieces began to fall together. "There's no way the Hokage would send them on this mission alone." Shikaku mumbled through a list of names and reasoning before he made his conclusion, "Most likely, Jiraiya-san was shadowing them. He probably fell for the decoy and confronted them about it. Since they're here early, they probably used Minato's flash technique to get away from him."

"Minato and Jiraiya don't get along very well," Chōza said through a handful of granola bars.

"The two of them tensed when you called the prisoner a traitor," Inoichi remembered.

"That doesn't mean anything, they're as loyal as they come," Chōza countered.

"They regularly don't follow orders and never act according to the rules. Maybe they stepped over the line," Inoichi defended.

"They have no reason to be loyal to the village." Shikaku interrupted. "After Kushina-san's status as a Jinchuuriki was leaked among the shinobi force, she got a lot of hate. The village never liked Minato, even if no one knows why. They're practically joined at the hip, so between the two of them, they don't get very many warm welcomes. One of those warm welcomes is the Uchiha, who are very unhappy with the village."

"Are you seriously accusing them of turning traitor?" Chōza demanded.

"No!" Shikaku snapped back before Chōza finished. "I'm saying if someone accused them of being a traitor, I'm almost certain they would believe the accusation."

"Just because I convinced them oranges gave blonds nightmares last year doesn't mean they're that gullible."

"Think about it, neither of them are from Konoha. Both have somewhat of a negative reputation, and both break a lot of rules. It wouldn't take much to convince them they took something too far. Look at this." Shikaku held out a scroll for the other two to read.

All three thoughtfully looked over at the duo working on the seal after finishing the scroll.