The Morino man didn't come back until much later. Fortunately, he hadn't left the baby alone: a very gentle lady whose chakra was unmistakably Nara was taking care of her, oblivious to the child's passenger. She had soft hands, the kind that only rich civilians maintained. More than once, Tobirama wondered if the Nara clan's leader was aware of their clanswoman involvement in what could only be a clandestine operation. Maybe even a crime? After all, the Morino had mentioned an executioner.
"Did everything go as you planned?" the woman asked when the Morino man was back.
"They believed it, and I got the mission order. I leave at midnight with the baby…"
"… and return in two years. Let's hope this child is small, Ibiki. She'll have to be if you want the Council to be unaware." Tobirama could almost hear the Nara put her fists on her hips and, no matter how small or tall, stare Morino Ibiki down. It was entertaining to say the least.
"They'll believe what I want them to, Mariko. They'd never dare question my loyalty. I'll meet a sweet Uzumaki woman in the Water Country, and they'll believe she had my child. Yamanaka Inoichi will make sure of it."
Yamanaka. Another clan Tobirama was familiar with – but they hadn't joined Konoha yet in his world. As a vassal clan to the Akimochi, they were bound to do so soon after the battle that had seen Tobirama lose his beloved. Unlike the Nara, they had stalled. Maybe it was better that way. Many Akimichi would have been lost in that battle.
"Really, that we have to go this far to protect a baby… It's barbaric."
"The Council has long ceased to worry about matters as futile as decency, Mariko, you know that. Now, I need to make sure little Mizumi-chan is ready for her very first trip. You're free to report to Shikaku-san, if Inoichi-san hasn't already."
"Will do. May you both be safe."
Morino Ibiki took the baby in his arms again and took her somewhere else. Tobirama was desperately trying to understand this world. So the Nara and Yamanaka were part of the village, but… what? They were going against the Council? Were they traitors, or had the Council fallen so low that such measures were a necessity? If so, how could have things gotten so out of hand? The Council was supposed to be a safeguard, something to ensure that the civilians in Konoha were never totally overshadowed by the shinobi population. Nothing gave them rights to hold a clanswoman prisoner or to threaten a baby.
Tobirama continued to wonder and ponder for hours on end, until it was time for Ibiki to take the baby out of the village. The night was mild but, for Mizumi's small frame, it was freezing. Tobirama used chakra to keep her warm and safe, still wrapping his mind around her own in comfort. She was too young to have any individuality yet, but he wanted her to know she was protected. Doing so reminded him of how holding baby Tsunade in his arms had felt once. She had been so tiny, so vulnerable, her huge honey-coloured eyes trusting and loving.
Morino Ibiki was a very skilled man, Tobirama couldn't deny it. He breezed through his escape from the village, hiding the baby from sight under a steady genjutsu spell. Perhaps he was someone important, someone mere Chūnin didn't dare to stop in his tracks. That would explain how he left Konoha through the main gates, his head held high and voice firm through it all. The paperwork he gave to the two men at the entrance desk didn't raise any suspicion. It probably meant that Ibiki's Yamanaka friend held a very important place in the village's hierarchy.
"We'll keep the fort around here until you come back, Morino-san, don't worry. Don't let the Kirijin clans give you too much trouble, alright?"
"They wouldn't dare," Ibiki answered, and Tobirama heard the smile in the dry humour of his tone. "Just as you wouldn't dare allow things to get out of hand here, now, would you?"
The two men snickered, but Tobirama could tell that this not-so-subtle threat wasn't easily brushed off. For the hundredth time, he wondered about Morino Ibiki's role in the village. Not many people held that kind of power – if the structure here was the same as the one that Tobirama knew oh-so-well. He needed to understand and learn more if he was to protect little Mizumi adequately. He needed all the intel he could get. But first…
He went deep inside himself, and the metaphor of a smirk played on his non-existent lips when he realised that his mind had already gotten to work. Meditating was second nature to him; his mentors had made sure of it, and he had been better at it than Hashirama, who always wanted to run and play. In contrast, Tobirama could stay perfectly still for hours on end, to such an extent that he lost his grip on time.
Shinobi meditated to make sure they didn't forget, to get a stronger mind and in turn stronger chakra. Above him, in the sanctuary he held in the core of Mizumi's mind, was a stunning galaxy, thousands upon thousands of stars spread far and deep into an infinity of dark blue. He didn't need to reach for them to know that each source of light was a memory, an information. They were sorted like they had been in his former body, according to a system he was the only one able to follow and understand.
He could use this. He spent days, while Morino Ibiki travelled with Uzumaki Mizumi asleep in his arms, weaving the cloth of his mind around Mizumi's, to protect it against any kind of invasion. She probably wouldn't know for years what he had done to shield her, but he had no doubt that she would realise it after a while, when she was old enough. Once again, he was reminded of Tsunade and her golden locks and chirpy voice, full of intelligence. She had been so thirsty for knowledge, his little grandniece, and he had been all too happy to provide.
The weather got colder and colder. At least that hadn't changed: the Water Country probably had the most unfortunate climate of the whole Elemental Nations. It would be hard on Mizumi. Tobirama understood that decision from Ibiki, though: it was there that a lot of Uzumaki, who didn't agree with the rapprochement between the Uzumaki Clan and Konoha, had sought refuge after the first war. Yes, Kirigakure had still been the enemy by then, but it had also held a lot of clans. The Uzumaki who didn't want to stand with Konoha could blend in there. They could be safe.
After a while, they were done travelling. Tobirama inwardly sighed with relief: Mizumi couldn't get as sick as a civilian child, but the road was starting to affect her health. He felt the discomfort as if it was his own, the way warmth could never quite reach deep into her bones and the impossibility that getting into a comfortable position had become. Ibiki was doing his best, but Tobirama could tell he had never been made to take care of an infant and lacked important pieces of knowledge about this enterprise.
Months passed in Kirigakure without problem. Slowly, Mizumi started to see and hear without help from Tobirama's chakra. Her sense of self was developing too; he could have sworn it was happening quicker than usual because of his constant influence. He was providing a kind of stimuli that most babies didn't have any access to. And he remembered, too, that Uzumaki Mito, his sister-in-law, had experienced something similar. She had memories from before her mind would have been able to form and hold onto them.
It was dangerous, it was early, but Tobirama had carefully started to damage Mizumi's growth plates. It wasn't much, just enough to ensure that she was indeed a small child and wouldn't raise any suspicion when she returned to Konoha a two years old passing for a very advanced one year old. Still, while he was doing it, Tobirama shook and prayed in the secret of his mind that he wouldn't cause any irremediable damage. He felt blessed when she didn't die and continued to develop at a slow but steady pace.
Ibiki wasn't there only to make sure Mizumi was safe, although he was doing a fine job of it and his affection for the baby was almost painfully obvious. Some people around them sneered when they thought Ibiki couldn't see and mocked the way he behaved around his charge. With all he had, Tobirama prayed Konoha wasn't like that. Caring should never be seen as a weakness but as a source of strength.
Yet Ibiki had things to do beyond taking care of Mizumi. He met with representatives of the many clans in Kirigakure and did so often, not bothering to keep the baby away for those meetings. Thanks to this, Tobirama learned a lot about the country. A new Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, had been named, and he was already causing problems for the clans. For the whole of the Water Country, really. The nickname 'Kiri of the Bloody Mist' was already spreading.
It wasn't enough that the poor were persecuted. It wasn't enough that any hint of dissent was punished in death. No, the moron had to decide to eradicate all the shinobi clans as well. Officially, the raids and attacks were carried on by a mysterious militia, but no clansman or woman was duped: the Fourth Mizukage was the one encouraging and funding the attacks. He believed the clan weren't loyal to him, and thus wanted them eradicated. Some had decided to flee; every single one of them had been declared a nukenin and killed.
Upon hearing about the situation, Tobirama wondered if Ibiki regretted his decision. Mizumi's very existence could mean his death, if she was discovered. He had to stay put, or his façade of a mission couldn't be kept, but it meant risking the life of the very girl he had sworn upon the Flame to protect.
Fortunately, the remaining members of the Uzumaki clan in the area were more than willing to help. Through a glimpse of her reflection in a mirror, Tobirama saw the dark red locks crowning her head. She already looked so much like her clansmen, and she was just a year-old baby. The blue eyes she had been born with had turned forget-me-not, the violet undertone not too uncommon in the clan. In fact, there were more than one woman in Kirigakure who could have been the baby's mother. Of that, Tobirama was glad. It meant that Ibiki's cover had better chances to hold against scrutiny.
It also meant that Mizumi was surrounded by love. The Uzumaki had fallen on tough times in this world too, it seemed. There were mentions of wars Tobirama didn't remember, and a glimpse of a calendar had told him ninety years had passed since Konoha's founding. He had lost his beloved some nineteen years after the Founding. He knew nothing of the years in between.
Panic slammed into him. If he had a body of his own, he would be choking and gasping for breath, his limbs shaking and skin covered in cold sweat. He only realised he was projecting chakra when the woman looking over the baby, Uzumaki Asami, gasped and rushed to her side. He forced himself to stop, to regain control, but that did little to stop the panic overflowing his mind. His world was on fire.
A cool, quiet tendril of a thought reached out to his being. His train of thoughts froze. He knew this chakra. It had been a part of him – or, rather, he had been a part of it – for about a year now. Mizumi was there, quiet, shy, barely more than a whisper lingering at the verge of his thoughts, and so obviously worried for him that he wanted to drop everything and hug her in the way he had developed, with the cloth of his mind around hers.
She couldn't exactly speak, so she showed him images. A clear blue sky, quiet sea. Peace. It shouldn't have worked, and yet Tobirama found himself relaxing. If his panic made his host upset, then he would not panic. If he did all he could to make sure Mizumi was safe and happy, maybe he'd be able to look his beloved in the eyes when he got her back. She always held the sense of right and wrong as paramount. She knew it wasn't always possible to do the right thing but, when it was, she never hesitated. He wanted to be worthy.
Mizumi relaxed as Asami took her in her arms and gently rocked her. The crisis averted, Tobirama went back to his main occupation since he had gotten into this situation: fortifying his host's body, for when she would be grown enough to fight. She would almost certainly become a shinobi. He would encourage her to do so, that was for sure. Civilians and ninjas alike were plagued by constant danger in this world; only the latter stood a fighting chance.
Six months passed. Mizumi started exchanging with Tobirama regularly through images as she learned to speak and walk. She was faster than kids he had known Before, but neither Ibiki nor the Uzumaki seemed surprised. Did it have something to do with her clan? Mito had never mentioned anything like this, but some things were kept secret even from close friends outside the clan.
It was as he was pondering this, on the very morning of Mizumi's eighteenth month into the world, that she was taken, and Tobirama with her.