A/N: And chapter three revamp! CHA!


Chapter 3: Rooster Hair

Mitsuko clamped her hands over her ears, her eyes shut tightly as she tried to drown out the whining of the newly named Naruto. After his declaration, Kakashi had deemed it necessary to thump him on the head once more with his book, earning everyone the pleasure of a seriously annoying whining fest from the completely un-injured blonde.

Because of this, Mitsuko was unaware of Naruto's teammates coming towards them, both clamping hands over their ears the moment they were within 'whining distance.' The pink haired girl immediately knocked him over the head again, effectively shutting him up. Mitsuko looked up at her, raising a brow in question.

The girl shrugged briefly and smiled at her, offering the foreign girl a friendly wave. "Hello there. I'm Haruno Sakura. Eh, this is Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi…And I think you've already been blessed with this dobe's name…"

The blonde whimpered, looking slightly hurt. Mitsuko brushed off the faint concern that briefly flittered through her mind, deciding it was probably nothing more than a small bout of indigestion or something. "Meh…" she replied, uninterested. "I'm Kimiko Mitsuko."

Cute. You're making friends.

Will you just shut up?

So rude… Tsubaki grumbled, contenting herself with watching the four standing in front of Mitsuko.

"So…Why are you here, Mitsuko-san? You don't look like any ninja I've ever seen. And you're too old to be a Genin. So why not enlighten us, eh?" Kakashi inquired somewhat tiredly, sticking his nose back in his book. Mitsuko was slightly distracted by the cover of the orange bound reading material, and failed to find an answer quick enough.

"Eh? Oh, uh, well I actually don't really know. I was sent here by a…friend and she said there was something she wanted me to confirm. I was on my way to the Hokage's office but I…Don't…Really….Know where it is…" She deadpanned, glancing back down the path.

Good cover story. What will you come up with next?

I swear, Tsubaki. One more word and I'll buy a cat.

You wouldn't DARE!

I would.

Fine. Shutting up then.

Kakashi raised an amused brow, though his eyes never left the pages of his book.. "Well, that was evident enough. You did seem a little lost. Why don't we take you there, ne?" He closed the book and stuck in in one of his pockets.

Mitsuko looked a bit taken aback. "Uh, I guess that's fine…"

He nodded happily to himself, and shoved his hands into his pockets, starting off down the path. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Mitsuko took this as their cue to follow him. The raven-haired young woman fell into step beside the Uchiha, casting him surreptitious glances out of the corner of her eye.

"Hum," she buzzed happily, poking him in the shoulder. His eye twitched, but he said nothing. "How is your day going? Mine's been rather confusing."

No answer.

"Fine…Be that way. Jerk…"

Another Twitch.

Mitsuko was suddenly caught up in just how funny he looked when he was annoyed.

"How old are you?" Poke.

Twitch.

"Have you lived here all your life?" Poke.

Twitch.

"Is that pink haired girl your girlfriend?" Poke.

Twitch.

"How come you aren't answering me?" Poke.

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE ANNOYING! Now will you stop poking me and shut the hell up!"

Mitsuko allowed a throaty chuckle to escape her lips, picking up her pace and walking ahead of him. "Jeez. What's got your feathers all ruffled, rooster hair?"

Twitch.

"Here we are…"

"FINALLY!" Everyone turned towards Sasuke, giving him a very odd, questioning look. The young Uchiha merely glared and turned his head away, leaving a very amused Mitsuko to enter the building alone.

She waved cheerily in the direction of her four escorts, offering them a hearty "I'll take it from here, thanks," and carefully made her way over to the, what she interpreted it as, receptionist's desk.

"Yo. Name's Mitsuko. I'm sorta here to see that Hokage dude."

The man behind the desk raised a skeptical eyebrow, passing his gaze over her in one fluid sweep. He seemed rather unimpressed by her introduction. " 'Sorta?' Are you here to see him or not?"

Mitsuko frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I am. Can I see him now, or are we going to play 'twenty questions?' Cuz I got a hell of a question for you and it's somewhere along the lines of 'Do you know what a human heart looks like when it's been punched out of someone's chest?'"

The man offered her a half-hearted glare, not seeming as interested as before, and nodded in compliance. "Fine, whatever. Just go through that door and down the Hall. It's the largest door on the right. There's a red one, a green one and a blue one. His is red. Red. As long as you aren't as colorblind as you are dumb, you'll be fine."

Mitsuko smiled cheekily. "Che. Sweet talk will get you nowhere," she called over her shoulder as she sauntered down the hallway.

Red door, Mitsuko. Red. Red. Red. It's not that hard to find.

Okay, what part of 'shut up' confuses you?

You will need me from here on out, child. I suggest you shut your own mouth and let ME do the talking.

Fine. But no funny stuff...

I solemnly swear…

Where have I heard that before?

Mitsuko eased open the red door, peeking around the corner to make sure it was actually the right room. Seeing a man perched behind a desk, she slid inside, closing the entry way with a light click.

"Hokage-sama?"

The man looked up, his face half-hidden by shadows. "May I help you, young lady?"

"Uh…yeah," Mitsuko replied timidly. Now here was a powerful human. Even Tsubaki grudgingly admitted this, and it didn't take a half-brained idiot to know that he could put her through the wall without much effort on his part if he really wanted. Mitsuko, however, was at a loss as to what she was supposed to do now. What would one do in a situation like this? Did they bow? Curtsy? Grovel?

She opted for the less humiliating of the three, and bowed deeply.

"Have a seat, miss. Now, what can I do for you?" The old man offered her a genuine smile, a pipe poking out from between his aging lips as he tilted back in his chair.

I believe it is time I took over, don't you, Mitsuko?

Sure. No funny stuff, remember?

Mitsuko closed her eyes tightly, feeling a familiar tingling sensation envelop her senses as the demoness began to commandeer her body for herself. There was a sharp, prickling at the back of her scalp, like her skin was being tightened at the base of her skull. She could feel her soul being shifted, pushed back into a cell of it's own as it was shut away for later summoning.

The Hokage watched with veiled interest, noting a strange change in the girl's chakra patterns. When Mitsuko's eyes opened, they were no longer blue, but instead had shifted into an almost luminous gold. The Hokage was mildly surprised.

Mildly.

He'd seen stranger things.

Like a dude with an extendable tongue.

Yeah. Way stranger.

"So…You too are possessed by a demon…" he stated boldly, more as a fact than a question.

Tsubaki-Mitsuko nodded, her sharp gaze never leaving his face.

"Quite astute, human, although with senses such as yours, I doubt it was difficult for you to detect my shift in chakra. My name is Tsubaki." She saw a look of recognition flash across the old man's visage at the mention of her mythical name. "And I was the one who instructed Mitsuko to come here. There are a few things I must confirm firsthand."

The Hokage nodded, letting his chin rest in his wrinkled hands, a look of mild wonder adorning his aged features. "Tsubaki, eh? Interesting." He waved his hand slowly. "Go on, then."

"First of all. Kyuubi. Where is he?"

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, regarding the human-demon with a closed, thoughtful look. "He has been sealed away. Inside of a boy named Naruto. I would have thought you'd have heard of it by now, Tsubaki. If you are truly a demon, shouldn't you know the whereabouts and dealings of your kin? It happened nearly twelve years ago, you know. Why now, of all times, do you wish to confirm such a story?"

Tsubaki-Mitsuko offered the man a worn look, crossing her arms over her chest as she reclined in her chair. That was the boy they had met only a few minutes prior. She had been intrigued by his odd mixture of Chakra, but had not commented upon it, for fear of jeopardizing her vessel's position.

"I am a demon, Hokage-sama. Not omnipotent. I thought they were mere rumors. I guess naiveté is my downfall. I had supposed Kyuubi could not be sealed away. He was far more powerful than one might be lead to believe. I can't begin to comprehend the amount of chakra and sacrifice it must have taken to lock him away. But my assumptions were quite incorrect, I'll admit. It's nice to know he is no longer a threat to you...Mortal folk."

She did not miss the look of pain that flashed across the Hokage's face, nor did she miss the warning pulse of Mitsuko's spirit. "Now, second question. I felt a flare of Chakra that indicated the Ichibi was…active. Where is Shukaku?"

The old man glanced at the wall, his expression thoughtful. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to Tsubaki with an answer. "He too has been sealed away, though his spirit, I'm afraid, is far harder to control. The seal was not performed correctly and the Jinchuuriki has become tainted with the remnants of the Sand Priest's hatred." He rubbed his chin in thought, a frayed look in his eyes as he studied the wall intently. "Last I heard of his vessel, he was a sadistic murderer with no emotions and hardly any self-control. I am unsure of how that has changed, but I doubt the change, if any, is significant. He resides in the Hidden Sand. I hear the Kazekage was partly to blame for the incorrect sealing; they don't seem to understand what they're dealing with."

Tsubaki-Mitsuko nodded, tipping her chair back on it's hind legs as she mulled over this surprisingly new information. "No, I doubt they do. This changes things, I suppose. I don't have much time here, and neither does Mitsuko. It will not be long before Kyuubi and Shukaku sense my presence. They will seek me out. Whether they be friend or foe when they find me, however, is hard to say. I did not leave them on the best of terms; they were unhappy with my decision to bond myself so willingly with a human. I imagine that anger will be double-fold now that they've been forced to do the same thing."

The Hokage studied her closely, watching as her eyes flickered to and fro as she shifted through her thoughts in relative silence. Her dark hair splayed over the back of her chair as she folded her hands primly in her lap, and refocused her gaze upon the old man before her.

"In the meantime, Mitsuko shall need lodgings, as well as a secured place within the community for the time being. If anyone asks, she is on a diplomacy mission from the Land Hidden in the Stone, or some such. I doubt there many would question her arrival, but just in case..."

The Hokage nodded, a small smile lighting up his sunken features. "I can arrange that. I am sure Mitsuko would feel right at home here. I won't question your need to stay for such a short time, nor will I ask you to stay permanently if it is not something you feel comfortable with…although it couldn't hurt. We're always in need of new blood in the village." He smiled thinly, his eyes narrowing in the shadows. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Tsubaki-sama. I hope we can speak again soon."

Tsubaki only offered the old man an enigmatic smile, and allowed her soul to fade back into the recesses of her sealed chamber. "Perhaps, Lord Hokage. Perhaps..."