"Do you have all of your kunai? Socks? Here, give me the bag, baby girl-" Asuka snatched the plain, shinobi-grade backpack away from her child in one swift motion- "Ah! I knew it! You forgot to get some aloe in case of sunburn, I may have some in the cupboard...Wait! Did I use it? Shit, maybe Oka has some." Mother rushed around, pulling things out of different cabinets at speeds only used in combat.

Father laughed, sweeping her off her feet, kissing her cheeks. "You're overwhelming her, Asuka-koi." Noboru laughed, shaking his head, swinging her around like Kushina had swung Izumi around days ago. Asuka looked just about as amused as Izumi did when it happened to her. "It's not even a patrol. They're going to a post and back to check for disturbances. She doesn't need extra socks or ointments or bandages. She's going to be fine." He soothed.

"Shut up," Asuka demands, offended, shoving herself out of her husband's grip. "This is my only baby going off on her first big girl mission! What if something happens? What is she needs some medicine? Or runs out of shuriken in the middle of a fight?" Her voiced turned to pure worry and fret, and she moved back to her daughter. Izumi frowned when she felt Asuka untie her hair, and retie it into a bun. Again. For the fifth time, to assure herself it was tight enough and wouldn't fall if they got into a fight.

"Maybe you should wear your headband on your forehead. A kunai through the skull would probably hurt..."

Izumi looked to her father desperately, motioning with her hands, and silently pleading for help to get away from the worried mother and her muses. Noboru winked at her with a playful grin, and gently took his wife's shoulders.

"Koi, it's a lot safer for her to have it around her neck. You don't want them to nic an artery, do you?" Noboru tried to assure, but all that happened was pure horror on the mother's face as she began to sway on her feet. She was staring at Izumi in terror, uncertainly filling her eyes.

Asuka broke into a wail, "She's too young, Noboru! We can't send her out there."

"Honey, it's barely even a mission. You took Hiashi-san on one and he's the clan leader's son. This is one of the exact same mission your squad started out with and they all got through it easily."

"I'm a good leader. Any number of things could have gone wrong."

"So is Sakumo, remember? You deliberately manipulated him into the position of leading our daughter. It's going to be fine, but right now, we need to let Izumi meet with her teammates or she'll be tardy."

"But...she's my baby."

"I'll be home soon, Mother." Izumi promised, finally speaking up after an hour or so of fretting worrying. She leaned down to retrieve her fallen travel pack, slinging it over her head, and securing it on her back. "It's all going to be alright," She assures, moving to stand in front of the half-weeping woman, and she tenderly took her mother's hand into her own.

She squeezed.

Asuka squeezed back tighter, like she didn't want to let her go, and Izumi wouldn't have blamed her for it, because she remembers how much she feared when Kakashi would have to go on missions. That was years from now, but she imagined the same exact terror would smack her hard in the face.

"Come give your Papa a good hug." Noboru said, getting to his knees, arms out. Asuka releases her hand, pushes her shoulder gently, and Izumi launches at him, wrapping her arms around him with all her strength. He did the same, and Asuka hovered, unsure. This is different. Her past father wasn't the hug and snuggle type; her first mission, he didn't even see her off or give it to her directly. He had a messenger give her the mission, then left for a meeting almost twenty kilometers away. She was utterly alone and disvalued. And her mother? Dead. But here was Asuka, who barely wanted to let her go.

"That's my girl! Her first out of village mission!" Noboru exclaimed. "If any trouble comes up, give 'em hell just like you did with that old witch Hibana-"

Asuka cut in, "You mean my mother Hibana?"

"Uh..." Noboru swallowed nervously. "There's no right answer to fix this, is there?"

Asuka shook her head, arms crossing, lips puckering in amusement.

"Oh Kami, Izumi, baby girl, love of my life, my favorite child, please let me go on the mission with you? Please?"

"You said it, not me." Izumi replies kindly. "I have to go."

She makes sure to smile confidently as she leaves her house, padding across the wood while her parents are distracted by their own bickering. She slips on her shoes, opening the door as the arguments get louder and more extravagant.

"-and who eats sushi without any soy sauce?"

"Normal people, Asuka, normal people-"

Izumi shuts the door silently behind her as the last of the bickering slowly fades, her body moving almost automatically to the gates of the compound, and she's halfway out as she goes over every detail of the mission they were assigned that morning. It was as simple as simple could be; small children from her era did this almost daily.

There was a small post near the edge of the border of the Land of Fire, just close enough to Konoha for them to send genin squads, but far enough away for it to take a day's journey. The mission was simple, the post was generally for supply lines, meaning it could be targeted for attack. Due to the close proximity to the village, it wouldn't be a wise strategic plan to attack it, but just because other villages were smart enough to not waste the effort, thieves and burglars were not. The whole mission was to due a quick patrol, account for all the supplies, and generally just deal with the cleanliness of the building before returning back to the Hokage for payment. It would take two or three days at the most.

"Oh!" A voice called. "Izumi!"

Izumi blinked out of her stupor, shaking her head, realizing she was standing halfway between the main gate and the outer part of town. She was staring at Minato, who stood directly in her face, the same sheepish and awkward smile on his lips as always. She shook her head again, turning back to look behind her, wondering how strange she must have looked walking through the village with her mind somewhere else entirely.

Minato softly laughed at the look on her face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She assured, frowning. "What are you doing here? I thought it was your day off?" Izumi keeps her tone pleasant, eyes barely moving the check the sun's position in the sky for the time (these days clocks were used, and while useful, would never help a lost shinobi if he didn't have one). She had time for a short chat, she supposed. Punctuality was less stressed these days.

"It is," He agrees. "So I wanted to wish you luck on your mission."

"You did?" Izumi felt her face flush slightly, looking away from his eyes. "That's very nice of you. Thank you, Minato." She's smiling- a real smile this time- at him, and bows her head respectfully, hands outstretched and clasped together as if praying to Lady Amaterasu.

He stares in confusion, "Is that like a clan thing?" Minato questions with curious eyes on her, and Izumi realized her mistake (so so many of those lately), and she nodded vigorously.

"A clan thing. For...clans. It's respectful."

It's also more than fifty years outdated and not used, but what could she do now?

"It's a pretty pose-Oh...I meant to give you this!" He says cheerfully, holding out something in his hands. It was a piece of brocaded pink silk with embroidered kanji in it. "I know you like sorta old and superstitious things, so I got this. It's called an omamori."

"I know this one...yaku-yoke. To ward off evil."

"Or in this case, enemy shinobi." Minato smiled. "You can wear it on you backpack for good luck on your first mission outside of the village."

Izumi moved the edge of her pack, grasping the small rope away from Minato. She tied it onto the zipper of the end of her bag, tying it as tightly as possible to keep it on there. She remembered a few of these were hand woven into blankets and sheets and even carved into kunai when she was a young girl. Her mother had anzan stitched into her blanket before she died, if Izumi remembered clearly.

It was a nice gesture and (in someways) a comfort to have on her person.

"Thank you, Minato."

He moved closer to her, squeezed her shoulder. "Juncho helped pick it out. She may have came to wish you off too, but she's dead tired. Jiraiya-sama makes us work very hard."

"Oh? What's he like?"

Minato paled for a moment before his face turned a light pink."He's very powerful, but he has some...issues."

"Issues?"

"Just try to stay away from him." He laughed awkwardly, looking away towards the gate. "Oh, I see Kushina-san." His face got redder, this time not out of embarrassment of his teacher. He was as bright red as the girl's hair. "O-Oh, she's coming towards us!"

"I-zu-mi!" Kushina cried out, bolting towards them in long waves of crimson, stopping in front of the pair with a grin. She slung one arm around Izumi's thin shoulder, pulling her in close like a good buddy, and the Hyuga flinched slightly at the tight grip. There were very few things that made her uncomfortable, but a major one was being suddenly grabbed at. Her face stayed steady, and she patted Kushina's arm awkwardly on her side.

Touching was still something she did not understand. It was a foreign subject to her seeing as she spent about twenty two years without hugs or kisses or this...friendly headlock?

"What're you doing over here with him?" Kushina said. "We're supposed to be waiting for Sakumo-sensei and the baka."

"Please do not call Zan that." Izumi replied. "It just starts another conflict.

"It's not like he's right here to hear me, y'know!"

"I was wishing Izumi good luck." Minato said passively. "The same to you, Kushina-san."

Kushina raised an eyebrow, not letting go of her grip on Izumi's neck and shoulders, and used her free hand to point at him. "You okay there?" She exclaimed. "You're looking really red, y'know."

Minato's eyes widen. "I'm fine." He looked at Izumi, waving. "I have to go. Kushina-san, Izumi, good luck!" With a single handsign, he was gone in a light cloud of dust, and it was the two of them still standing there. Kushina leaned in close to Izumi's face.

"What a weirdo, huh?" She grinned.

Izumi shrugged.

"Hey!" Sakumo's shout interrupted the pair. Kushina released her, as both kunoichi swung around the face the gate. He stood there, waving his arm around to get their attention. An annoyed, disgruntled Zan shot them a stair.

"Let's go!" He shouted.

Kushina scowled, grabbing Izumi's hand, sprinting.

The undead kunoichi simply sighed as she dragged along.

...

There are liars everywhere in the world, but the biggest ones are often the people you respect the most, such as the old shinobi sitting in their chairs, injured leg propped up, spouting out nonsense about the heat of battle. And sure, that story is most likely true, but the part they don't tell you about is the most important one, such as that the days, weeks, seconds, minutes before the action starts, it is almost assured you will spend that time in unwarranted dread of attack or boredom.

Izumi's sure of one thing only: usually it's always only boredom. The morale of shinobi, the lack of vigilance, the mistakes happen when your mind wanders, so Izumi's calm, keeps her Byakugan on as the walk.

One. Two. Three...Nine Birds to the East, three kilometers.

It's the most productive thing to do with her chakra, but she could not stand to walk another mile in silence, simply staring at the road ahead. Dirt and dust have gotten into her shoes, each step grittier and less pleasant than the last. Walking wasn't productive. Necassary, yes. But not stimulating.

"Izumi," Sakumo says, falling from his frontal position to meet her in the back, standing beside her as Zan and Kushina trek on to their sides. "See anything?"

"Should I?" She retorts. "It's a simple mission."

Sakumo frowns, "I've seen simple missions turn nasty." He glanced at his two other students and then back to Izumi. "I just want to be sure. Besides, shinobi might not be after a supply line when they could come after what we have on this squad."

Izumi's lips fell into a hard, straight line.

"You mean my eyes and Kushina's...passenger."

"Kushina might actually be safer." He says lowly, just enough so the undead woman can hear and not the others. "Not many know about it or have the perception to sense it. Your eyes however are on display. Easy targets because you look so small. Maybe you should wear your headband on your forehead?"

Izumi hesitates, flashback to a night under the moon with a messenger, a spar with cousins, the screaming of marked members all due to a curse mark they had no say in; the utter shame of having to wear a headband to cover it, no matter the pride of your village. She feels sick and ashamed at the same time. Her hand trembles just a bit, enough for her to have to wrestle back a bout of anxiety.

"I'd rather not."

Sakumo frowns, but doesn't argue against her. It would be an added percaution, but not a necassary one. He's seen the bodies of ANBU on her living room floor, the way she can tears through soft tissue and overwhelm her enemies with chakra. Izumi may not be what she was a whole life ago, but she was anything but helpless.

"Keep your eyes out for those two, alright?"

"Of course."

And that was true. Izumi's first and foremost concern was for the welfare of her team, it weighed heavily upon her as the sensor of the squad. Her eyes had the depth to see farther than either Zan or Kushina. She had to be the first to know, alert, and fight. Besides that, she didn't want anything to happen to the red-haired kunoichi. She was close (maybe best) friend to Izumi, a good companion, and to be honesty, Izumi really really enjoyed having sleepovers at Kushina's house. She refused to lose her to battle or kidnappers. She meant to much to Izumi for that to happen. Now, Zan, he was expendable to a point. It wasn't that she would let him die in particular, but if it came down to Kushina or Zan, Izumi had her choice made. It was more loyalty to a comrade that fueled her feelings towards him. He was brash, foolish, and had quite the mouth, but didn't mean she wanted him dead.

"What're you two whispering about?" Kushina asked. Sakumo straightened up, a small smile slipping to his lips.

"Which one of you we're eating first if we run out of supplies."

Zan saw his opportunity and he took without a second thought of the consequences. As it turns out, he didn't handle silence well either. He bottled up all of nasty comments. "Tomato face first; she's got enough chub on her cheeks to feed us for days."

Kushina looked angry (face going red, fist clenching, hair gravitating), but Izumi cut her off before she could attack, speaking before Kushina had the chance.

"I was thinking you since it's only fair to all involved to let the ugliest go first." Izumi retorted. "When we are rescued, there is no need to drag back your ugly mug."

Kushina's fist pumped in the air. "Ha! My girl, Izumi, has always got my back, baka!" She exclaimed, making Sakumo snort. The man rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air.

"Now I can't even trust you three not to eat each other. Why couldn't I have gotten a decent squad?"

Izumi smirked, tipping her head into something more intimidating, her veins bulging more with added chakra. "You know, it's only fair to go by whose had the longest life." Which technically would be Izumi herself seeing as she should be in her nineties at the moment, but she digresses. "So if disaster strikes, we'd have to eat you, sensei."

"Sacrificed by my own goddaughter! You're just like Asuka; you both have frozen hearts."He grumbled. "You two wouldn't sacrifice me, would you?" He pleaded to Kushina and Zan. The red-haired girl smirked, crossing her arms, looking away quietly.

Zan shrugged his shoulders, remaining similarly as quiet. They slowly formed back into the diamond shape they had began the journey in while Sakumo watched them with wide eyes.

"Guys? What does silence mean? What are you plotting?"

No response.

"Guys!" He whined.

...