For The Living [Shisui U.]

Mission Scroll

Minato let out an exasperated puff of air, Izuna did his work better than him and she wasn't letting that fact pass. She was quite fond of mocking him and reminding him that he, the Hokage, was easily bested by an eight year old. One who just learned the art of assigning missions, at that. She truly was adding insult to injury, wasn't she?

After Minato arrived at the Hokage office with Izuna alongside him, he took a moment to calm down and questioned Izuna on her motives and what she was thinking when she attacked Kushina.

'The baby is yours and Kushina's, right?' Izuna questioned, avoiding Minato's gaze.

"You think Kushina cheated on me?" Minato chocked in disbelief, struggling as he tried to remind himself that Izuna was still a child and didn't know much regarding human reproduction. He didn't get to add anything more before she vehemently shook her head, so he just answered her question. "Yes, Izuna-chan, the baby is mine and Kushina's."

It was quiet for a while.

'So it isn't Obito's and Rin's?'

Minato flinched so harshly while his eyes blanked over, finally catching onto what the girl had been thinking. His perception of Izuna had changed greatly. She wasn't just a girl who lost her family anymore, she was a child who was alone with only memories left. How could he not have noticed before?

"No, Izuna," Minato held Izuna's hand in his gently, squeezing it softly and reassuringly, overcome by grief and pain. "The baby is mine and Kushina's."

So the Namikaze did what he thought was logical at the time. Give them both a distraction. Well, that was a logical action to do, but he didn't exactly go about it sensibly. He taught her how to assign missions to Shinobi based on the ranks up to B-ranked missions. Obviously, he wasn't about to let her even take a look at the A and S ranked missions and what they contained.

Minato kept wondering throughout the day why she wasn't Hokage yet if she kept besting him at this 'game'. And she was supposed to have below average grades in the written exams of the academy, the Namikaze mused.

Izuna handed him the mission scroll she had in her hand with her tongue sticking out, a cheeky grin splattered onto her face. Standing in front of the duo was a Genin team along with their Jonin sensei, waiting to be assigned a mission and sweat-dropping at the sight in front of them.

"Of course, Izuna." Minato recovered, giving her a bright smile and trying not to let his amusement show through. He didn't even know how she was able to do that without knowing the abilities of the Shinobi and the contents of the scrolls, yet she did it better than him. After the team left, Minato continued speaking while standing up from his seat. "I'll make a quick trip to the restroom, I'll be back quickly."

Minato headed for the door, but on second thoughts, turned back around.

"Don't do anything too brash while I'm away." He got an innocent smile in reply. And he fell for it.

Only Obito knew that she never smiled innocently. Never.

Or at least, she never smiled genuinely innocently at anyone that wasn't Rin.

Izuna sat in silence for a while after Minato left her alone, or, rather, as alone as she could be with the four ANBU hiding in the Hokage's office.

A moment later, the door swung open, and in came four Shinobi. All ANBU, Izuna could tell from their masks and attires.

An awkward silence fell above the group.

Izuna bit her lip nervously as she thought of whether or not to ignore Minato's very, very direct order of not touching any scroll that clearly belonged to a rank higher than B. She didn't even have to think a lot about it.