An elderly woman was seen holding the hand of a little redheaded girl as they walked slowly down the street. The woman had fine silver hair that had very small streaks of crimson woven into it held up in two buns with a flow of the rest down her back. Her face was quite wrinkled, laughter lines deeply carved around her mouth and eyes. Her eyes were a deep shade of sky blue, and lit up her aged face in a way that made her look much younger. She wore a baby blue kimono with a navy obi that held it all together. White slippers adorned her feet, and she shuffled comfortably in them. Two small crests were embroidered on the inside of the sleeves, but no one could see them. The little girl had long, blood red hair that ran down to the backs of her knees and her eyes were a vibrant shade of violet. She wore black kunoichi boots that came all the way up to mid-thigh, and a pair of shorts the same colour as the woman's kimono. She had a pale green short sleeved shirt on with a thick black belt. She only came up to the woman's waist. Her face was contorted into a pout as she complained to her would-be guardian.
"Mito-baa-chan! Where are we going?" Her voice came out in a whiny tone. "You promised we could go get ramen!"
The old woman chuckled before squeezing the hand she held gently. "And I will keep my promise. Just come with me for now, Kushina-chan. There's someone I want you to meet, dear."
Her voice seemed to slightly calm the energy of the hyper young girl, and she stopped jumping on the spot.
"Who is it? Is it someone cool?" Kushina seemed excited, and she grinned in anticipation for the answer to come.
Mito smiled a secret smile, one that crinkled her face and made her eyes sparkle like the ocean she lived near so very long ago.
"I suppose you could say that. This is someone very important to me, who you haven't been able to meet in the three months you've been here. She had been away on missions."
Kushina was sold. "Shinobi missions! Awesome! I'm going to be a cool kunoichi too! I'm going to show that girly flake Minato! I will be the first female Hokage!"
Mito frowned. "You shouldn't talk like that about your classmate. I'm sure he is a very nice boy."
Kushina scoffed. "He's an idiot! He sounds like a girl, acts like one, and looks like one too – with his poofy hair!"
Mito chuckled and Kushina pouted again. "What's so funny baa-chan?"
Mito grinned. "Nothing Kushina-chan. I was just remembering something." The old woman stopped near the end of the road and bent down to the little girl's level – albeit with some difficulty. She wasn't getting any younger, after all.
"Did you know that when I was younger, I met a boy. He was my age, like Minato is yours, and he had long brown hair that came to his waist. He and his brother had come to negotiate with us for an alliance, and they were our guests." Kushina was silent, knowing a good story when she heard one. "He was the head of his clan, and I was the princess of mine. And you know what I did? I laughed at him and said he looked like a girly wimp with his smooth hair and he had better be careful as he might catch it on some branches."
Kushina looked amused, and Mito laughed too. "Yes, it was very funny. His brother thought so too. I knew he was an extremely important person, but I just couldn't stop laughing. Eventually we became friends, but I still thought it was hilarious. He didn't, as you can guess."
Kushina giggled. "What happened to him, baa-chan?"
Mito gave a wistful smile. "I ended up marrying him."
Kushina's smile suddenly vanished. "I'm not going to marry Minato!" She screeched shrilly.
The woman gave a quick chuckle. "I never said you would, Kushina-chan. But keep your mind open."
Kushina opened her mouth and stuck her finger in it, while making gagging sounds. "Boys are icky, baa-chan. They're either girly like Minato, or dirty like Chouza and Fugaku."
Mito ruffled the girl's hair as she stood up, disregarding the pain in her back.
"You won't be thinking that soon enough, dear."
Kushina ignored her, sure in her belief that boys would not get any better, no matter what age she was.
They started off their journey once more, and Kushina once again began chattering about the latest thing her sensei was teaching her in the academy, and how she was the best in the class, how the sensei praised her, how she definitely beat Minato…
"Hey baa-chan?"
"Yes, Kushina-chan?"
"Who was it you ended up marrying? He sounds goofy."
"Ha ha ha! The first Hokage, Kushina-chan."
"WHAT!"
-xXx-
Mito held open the doors and watched the young girl run in with enthusiasm. They were back at the Senju compound, and when she had told Kushina that their guest should be in the living-room, the girl had all but zoomed through into the room.
She chuckled. The girl's reaction when she had told her that her 'goofy' husband was the first Hokage had been priceless. After her shout, for around a minute she had been shocked speechless; and Mito supposed it was justified. Their untouchable founder, the splendid man who had made Konoha was it was today had been called 'girly' by his eventual-wife. Mito supposed she was lucky. She was one of the only ones alive today that knew of the man Hashirama had been behind the Hokage hat. The loving, smiling, sometimes forgetful man who loved his family, village and the people in it. How she missed him. It may seem terrible, but she couldn't say she was unhappy that her death would be soon. She would get to see him again. Him, and Haruki, as well as their daughters. The ones who didn't even make it to adulthood. She would get to see them all again. Even if she was going to hell for damning herself, as long as she got to see them again, it mattered not.
She heard a voice from the room talk to an excited Kushina, and blinked back a few watery drops that threatened to fall from her eyes. At least all her family wasn't gone.
She looked into the room, and gave a welcoming smile.
"Hello Tsunade-chan. How are you, dear?"
The blonde woman wearing the armour that presently occupied her sitting-room looked up and gave an apologetic grin.
"Sarutobi-sensei gave me, Orochimaru and the pervert another mission that we have to leave for in an hour. Sorry I won't have enough time to have dinner with you, baa-san."
Mito shook her head. "It's fine Tsunade-chan. I can't expect you to be able to stay, especially with how skilled a ninja you are. How is the Creation Rebirth seal coming along?"
Tsunade nodded and smiled. "Well. I've just to get the right level of chakra to enter in down, and its complete. I still don't know how you did it."
Mito shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. I was young then."
"You're young now."
Mito chuckled and shook her head. "Don't be putting ideas into an old woman's head. I'll be kicking the bucket soon enough."
"Baa-san!"
"Baa-chan, what does 'kicking the bucket mean'?" Kushina piped up, and Tsunade mouthed silently, 'baa-chan?'
"Nothing, Kushina-chan. Just a saying. Anyway, this is the person I wanted you to meet."
Kushina looked up at the blonde woman who gave the girl a warm smile, and held out her hand. Mito took Kushina's hand as the girl gave Tsunade a small hand-shake.
"Pleased to meet you, Kushina-chan. I'm Tsunade."
Kushina smiled as Mito gestured towards Tsunade with her hand.
"This is my granddaughter, Kushina-chan. She's one of the Densetsu no Sannin."
Kushina looked up at the woman with the typical awe of a fan, and Tsunade hid a blush while rolling her eyes.
"Baa-san."
Mito gave Tsunade a slight scolding look. "I have the right to brag about my famous granddaughter, Tsunade-chan. And I will flaunt those rights."
Tsunade shook her head in mock frustration and gave Mito a small laugh. They both half-listened as Kushina rabbled on about how she would become Hokage and how she admired Tsunade.
The blonde mouthed slowly at her grandmother. 'Who is she anyway, baa-san?'
Mito gave a snort. "My replacement." And she pointed at her stomach.
Hope you like.
Inspired By: This is my granddaughter by Umaken on Deviantart. The link is on my profile.
