DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
Mito's face twitched and twitched some more. At first, it was caused by discomfort or embarrassment but now she was beginning to wonder if it wasn't due more to listening to these morons. OR, she might need to test herself for a vitamin or mineral deficiency. "Asuma. Hideki," she began as calmly as possible. "I could've filtered the alcohol through my system in no time, no matter how much I drank." Probably; Tsunade talked about doing it all the time so Mito figured she could, too. "I CHOSE not to. I'm of age: something you bakas seem to have forgotten. I'm gonna drink if I want to."
"You were hanging all over Shiranui," Asuma nearly howled, making his younger sister cover her ears and then hiss at him.
"That's new," Hideki remarked. Maybe the hissing was from being around giant ferocious cats so much? Well, there were certainly worse things than hissing; his younger brother's screeching was one of them. Thank goodness that in general, his brother wasn't a yelling kind of guy. "Sorry I was giving you a hard time, Mi. And as for what you said, Asuma: that's… really not fair. Mito had just tripped over your spare weapons holster which YOU left on the floor, you fucking slob, knocking her and Shirunai down just before you came in. I thought it was funny."
"TRAITOR," Asuma bellowed. He jumped high when a seated Mito took a sloppy but hard swing at him.
"You're giving me a headache!"
"That's a hangover, you baka."
"Oh, shut up, Asuma. Seriously," Mito groused, rubbing her temples. "Did I hurt Shiranui? …Genma? Or is there another Shirunai?"
"Genma," Hideki affirmed, "although there are a lot of Shirunais. He's from what used to be a ninja family but those remaining aside from his mother are spread out all over Fire Country."
"That's interesting," Mito commented. She needed some coffee.
"You're being entirely too laid back about this," Asuma groused to his brother as he shifted his stance. "Imouto must be stopped. This is something we agreed upon years ago."
Mito blinked hard at him in disbelief, then threw her hands up in the air incredulously. Asuma's normally so cool!
"You don't know what happened yesterday, Asuma," Hideki informed his brother. He sounded guilty. "And anyway, yes we did agree to that but that doesn't mean that we take these things out on her." Mito leaned her elbows onto her knees and groaned, hiding her face just thinking about what happened with Naruto again. The pounding in her head reached new heights.
"Whatever I don't know is because you left right after Mito passed out and didn't tell me anything."
"I needed to go throw Shirunai off the Mountain." Mito's horrified little face popped up from the sea of hair she seemed to be hiding behind and Hideki shrugged. "Just as a warning against saying anything, you see."
"Right," Mito drawled, wondering if Shirunai had been able to immediately stop or at least slow his descent, or if he'd be one of her new patients today. Damn ninjas doing stupid and violent things… "So. When am I going to meet Konohamaru-chan?"
Hideki checked the time before putting his mask back on; he needed to check on something. "He'll probably be at your dad's office in around half an hour; you should stop before you go to the hospital. …Kono-chan should be skipping school and trying to assassinate the Hokage again around that time." Mito began shaking with silent laughter. "I'll be right back to pick you up. Fix your weird hair." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Mito clicked her tongue but knew that he was right. She made two shadow clones to get started working on braiding the mess. "What a bummer." She turned back to Asuma who was normally so understanding. "Make me some breakfast?"
Asuma looked at her worriedly even as he had Mito and her clones follow him into his kitchen. God forbid Mito tries to use a real stove. "Mito, I'm really glad you're back; don't get me wrong. But why aren't you at home?"
"Well isn't that the thing," she chuckled mirthlessly. "You wouldn't believe what happened when I finally got to meet my little brother, As. Do you mind if I… maybe rent your extra room for a bit? –Just until I can get my own place or take off on another mission that my father disallows after the fact?"
Asuma wrinkled his nose as he tried to make sense of what she'd just said. "What?"
"Absolutely not: you are not living with Asuma," Minato ordered, trying to ignore the worry in his heart over the way that Mito looked. She said that she was fine but looked even more worn out than Genma looked banged up this morning. "One night was fine but we need to find a solution to the issues with your seal."
Mito narrowed her eyes at her father as she tried to make the scar on her upper lip stop twitching. She was definitely going to run some labs on herself today. "Nobody's touching my seal." She was not shutting Kurama away even more; there had to be another way. Seeing as he was about to argue, she continued. "It took me over a DECADE to get the level of chakra control I have now and I will not sacrifice it." - That was a good excuse, right? It was also true. And it made her father look hesitant.
"We have to do something."
Mito nodded. She very much wanted to have a good relationship (a relationship, period) with Naruto and now that he'd accessed Kurama's "mindless" chakra, she was very worried about him. Plus, the thousands of strong chakra signatures in Konoha were driving her nuts. She could, conceivably, forcibly shut down her sensor abilities somewhat - but she couldn't do that and make sure she stayed far enough away from Naruto at the same time to keep him safe. Her brother was apparently quite the stinker from what she'd been hearing - and often out of the classroom with his little group of friends - pulling pranks and generally being naughty.
Oh, she wished she was pulling a prank with him right now. "Can I leave some clones here to do some research on the seals? Oh, and if you have anything about the tailed beasts in your library, that would be great. I won't rest until I take care of this, Tou-san."
"Sure. …Absolutely!" Minato was so glad that she was back and it would be delightful to have her (or her clones) with him. He watched her rub her arms with the occasional muscle twitch as her eyes searched the shadows again, figuring that her nerves were really acting up. "What do you think of the hospital?"
Mito hummed and twisted her lips in the direction she'd cocked her head. She wished that she had a replacement for the mask she'd lost near Kiri. "I think when the slug's away, the vermin will play," she said with an evil little laugh. "Some of those med-nins didn't seem to enjoy it when a kitty came a-calling." (Meaning herself.) Some of the med-nins and staff had really been messing around and slacking off since they knew Tsunade and Shizune were out of the village.
"Play nice, Princess."
"Don't call me thaaat! But anyway," she went on while turning the heat on her face down several degrees from her father being fatherly in front of other people. "What is up with the Uchihas? Nobody's telling me anything."
Minato didn't want to go into it but Mito was a Jonin - and the growing pout on her cute face had always been his weakness. "Seal the room." He smiled when Mito did it rather than his guard. Normally I take care of it myself buuuuut… Was it so wrong that he wanted to show off Mito's fuuinjutsu mastery to Raido, Genma, and Iwashi? If it was - too bad. "The Uchihas were considering a coup. You know that Obito showed up in the Uchiha district and… It seems that he'd been pushing for it. Most of the Uchihas, in fact, wanted to overthrow the government."
"They wanted to overthrow you," Mito surmised. The government in Konoha was headed by her father. She transferred her weight over to her other leg and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe I was waiting for that fucker in Water Country and he was HERE causing trouble. WHAT is his deal?!"
"Language, hime."
"Don't call me that, please."
"Right," Minato breathed before continuing. "What's said here doesn't leave this room."
"Of course," she agreed. She NEVER gossiped about serious or potentially classified subjects although she enjoyed listening to such things.
"The information you and some of the others provided on Itachi's behavior makes us think he may have sided with Obito to not only protect his younger brother - but to also spy on the organization you believe he's part of. –Which Jiraiya-sensei is looking into, by the way." Mito stared at him for several seconds - her eyes in the morning light seeming to shift between different shades of blue and purple as she considered it. He'd always loved her beautiful, unique eyes.
Not quite so much the way she'd stare while she thought about things, though.
She'd always done this now and then; ever since she was in a crib.
Our baby!
Minato teared up and had to blow his nose as his daughter continued staring into space.
She slowly nodded the more she thought about it. Itachi-chan had been such a good little boy. It was hard to imagine him as the powerful shinobi she'd seen with that odd "uniform" on - let alone his actions the day he'd faced off against a perfect jinchuuriki: the Mizukage, no less.
She was also worried about Jiraiya now. Mito could only imagine how he had reacted to hearing that Konan was alive. And the other orange-haired one: whatever his deal is.
No matter what he looked like, that guy didn't seem to quite be Nagato or Yahiko.
"How are Mikoto-oba and Sasuke-chan handling all this?" Mito didn't particularly care for Fugaku - or of what she heard about him from her mother so long ago. For whatever reason, her mother had been ambivalent about him at best and wanted to destroy him the rest of the time.
Minato closed his eyes and tried to withhold a grimace. "All Uchihas that knew about the planned coup and did not report to their superiors are being dealt with."
Mito's eyes grew wide. "And they knew? Mikoto-oba knew?! And… But… Sasuke-chan's just a boy!"
"Mikoto did know," Minato said, trying to hide how much that stung. "And Sasuke's a prodigy who in another era would've already been out in the field." He saw his daughter's long, elaborate braids begin to rise; danger, DANGER, his senses screamed at him. "But Sasuke-kun didn't know anything about it."
"So he's okay," Mito said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Minato had winced, though: Sasuke was NOT okay. "He's at the hospital. Third floor. Maybe you can pay him a visit?" For me? Minato found it hard to look at the boy or any Uchiha right now. Mikoto's kid had gone through so much and was so very distraught and ANGRY. When he stopped by to see him, Sasuke wouldn't look at him but the rage rolling off of him was palpable.
"Hospital?" Mito asked with concern lacing her tone. "Alright. …Yosh," she drawled, punching a fist into her other hand with determination several seconds later. She'd talk to the fox before seeing her first Uchiha patient AFTER she suppressed her chains. She'd just found a new seal to do it: it was something that was temporarily used on young Uzumakis in Uzushio when their chains weren't yet under control - like hers when she was younger. She'd seen something about it on the back of a scroll just before being forced to visit T&I but wasn't supposed to access her chakra while there.
They'd put chakra suppression bracelets on her during her little stay but it's not like they fully worked on a jinchuuriki. …Maybe she should report that. Meh, I'll tell Anko. Maybe. The last thing she wanted, however, was to get stuck with those Creepy Yamanakas with chakra-suppression seals that DID work against her. Forget it.
She sighed heavily, not realizing that she was still staring at the wall behind her father as she chewed at her bottom lip. I'll get my clone to put it on me in the bathroom. I should've put it on before but I didn't understand what was in that scroll before then! –Then Tou-san showed up and I was busy at the hospital and… Dumby-Mito: stop being so damn careless. Your precious little brother's here and there's all these Uchihas you need to be careful of since Kurama's so anti-Uchiha.
But what if I need my chains? Like when Hatake was being a brat and I needed to tie him down to his bed? –That dumbass.
"Mito," Minato sang, waving his hand to get her attention and make her stop staring like that. She bounced up on her toes and gave him a wide smile; obviously up to something. And then Konohamaru fell into his lap. Mito only cackled while the kid threatened him as he did at least weekly.
Mito had felt a little chakra signature up there that was SO much like Hideki's; she figured it had to be him since her big brother had warned her that something like this might happen. "Oh I like him," Mito grinned. It was too bad her shift at the hospital was about to start. She looked up with a huge smile toward where she felt Hideki's chakra signature in the office rafters and could FEEL his resigned dismay over his son's actions.
"Namikaze Mito-hime, this little future assassin is Sarutobi Konohamaru-kun."
"Hi there, kiddo! I'm so glad to meet you." She stuck out her hand to the little booger who was wearing a dangerously-long blue scarf and a weird helmet over the top of his head. Why not, I guess: you're only young once. "Your father told me absolutely nothing about you."
Konohamaru happily shook her hand really hard and sensed Ebisu-sensei rapidly making his way toward them. He needed to wrap this up quickly but he was so excited. "Dad sucks!"
Mito snickered while Hideki hissed out his kid's name from above them. He was pissed!
"I heard about you," Konohamaru said to the pretty lady with a half-toothless grin. "You're my missing pain-in-the-ass aunt that Boss didn't know about cuz his dad didn't tell him that you were alive or even real. I didn't know, either!"
"..."
"Boss?" Mito finally asked, not realizing that her chakra was cooling the entire room as she looked between the boy and her father. Hideki had come out of hiding and was scolding his son now but her father was paling fast. He's talking about…
"Naruto-nii-san's my master: my boss! He's the greatest!"
"That's… wonderful, Konohamaru-chan; I bet he is! –And dads really do completely suck, don't they?"
"Hey!"
Mito kept her dark stare on her father. "Asshole," she whispered as she looked away from him.
"I heard that!"
"Yeah!" Konohamaru cheered. "Challenging the Hokage: awesome, as expected, from my aunt and Boss' big sister!"
"Right," Mito drawled, her eyes on her very guilty father. With or without his Daddy issues, he'd be reminding her of each of their positions if she'd mouthed off as she had IF Hokage-sama weren't guilty as sin.
I knew it! I knew you didn't tell Naruto about me! An annoying guy with sunglasses ended up being let into the room to scold Hideki's son (and to look at her butt at least a half dozen times.) Mito decided she'd better leave before she ripped him in half. "Look. I'm going to do a little seal work then I'm off to the hospital to see Sasuke-chan, first thing. I'll deal with you later," she warned her father. You getting' your ass pranked, Father-of-mine.
But then she reminded herself that she really, really had to do something important.
She ran over to Shirunai Genma and bowed deeply. "Thanks for helping me last night! I'm sorry I was so much trouble. Ja ne!" She sunshinned off in a water sunshin, splashing her father since he totally deserved it (and dying from embarrassment about the night before.)
Maybe drinking wasn't such a good idea, after all.
If Minato was smiling, that expression certainly fell and turned hard as he stared at the head of his guard and used a quick wind jutsu to dry off. He waited until Ebisu, Monkey, and Kono-chan were gone before sealing the room again. "What. Was that about?"
"Hokage-sama," Genma began, glad he hadn't swallowed his senbon when the man's daughter had turned to him and apologized while blushing and looking so darn cute, "I didn't realize that Monkey was shadowing Hime-sama so I escorted her to Asuma's after finding no one home at the Sarutobi main residence."
"I see," Minato said. He still felt bad that he hadn't met up with his daughter after what happened to Naruto but he'd just been so overwhelmed. It had also taken time to explain what he could to his then miserable son. Minato went back to reading another report from Intelligence, reminding himself that at least Naruto-chan was again in pretty good spirits when he went to school this morning.
He did notice the way Genma seemed to breathe a desperate sigh of relief at him buying that half-assed explanation of his.
Minato knew he'd have to stay on that. Little punk: stay away from my daughter.
.
Within ten minutes of meeting and chatting with (more like at) young Sasuke, Mito was very glad that those new chain suppression seals might be working. Sasuke was lucky that she cared so much for Mikoto-oba or she might have given him a good thrashing. –Just in theory, of course.
Her hair, however, had a momentary blast of sentience and smacked at the kid instead.
"Listen here," you little brat, she wanted to begin warning the young, traumatized Uchiha that her hair was trying to reach again. She tried to ignore the way he was staring at her as if she were a freak and made two more clones so they could reign it in and redo her braids. Mito took a deep cleansing breath, reminding herself that this poor kid had been fucked over by his brother's genjutsu according to his chart. "I'm truly sorry for your loss - but I'd prefer you keep your… opinions on my brother and his preferences to yourself."
Sasuke glared at her again. "Hn."
Damn Uchihas. "If you're ready to do so, you should be able to go back to school tomorrow." Mito would sign his release papers from the hospital, at least, if she knew exactly who this kid's guardian would be while this thing with the Uchihas was worked out.
"Where's my mother? I know you know something," Sasuke accused that usuratonkachi's Jonin sister, desperate for information on the rest of his family. He knew his father was dead but… He sniffed hard and groaned when his eyes burned.
"Uchiha-san." Regaining her professionalism, Mito pulled his chin up with her gloved index finger, having flinched when she'd caught a glimpse of red for less than a second in the boy's eyes. Kurama, thankfully, only stirred - almost jumping - but she ignored him but felt the fox watching her work. "That's going to tax you and burn a little at first. Your chakra system will adapt quickly but you should try not to use your Sharingan when…"
"Sharingan?" Sasuke half-squeaked in surprise. "It's… Oh," he said, feeling foolish. "I should've realized…"
"You didn't know, huh? I'm so sorry, Sasuke-chan."
Sasuke glared at her even harder. "Don't pity me. Activating my dojutsu is something to be celebrated."
"Oh for heaven's sake, Sasuke-ch…-kun," she said, correcting herself. She was sure as hell not calling some kid "-sama" no matter if he'd been (temporarily, Mito hoped) made the clan heir or not. Mito was also not touching on the idea of a clan celebrating something caused by trauma with a 10-meter pole at the moment. "Did you know that I knew and held you when you were just a baby?"
Sasuke glared harder. "Hn." He didn't like the caring way she half-stroked, half-patted his hand. Namikaze Mito had just sort of attacked him before this! She had "attack chains" right? He was fairly sure from his mother's stories that they weren't made of hair but…
Okaa-san! Please be okay!
He cleared his throat, ready to leave this stupid hospital and get back to training. And what was the deal with this med-nin? Hair-attacking him one minute then being "caring" or whatever it was the next? Was she bipolar?
I shouldn't have said that about her brother, though. I just wanted her to leave and she wouldn't shut up. Naruto likes Sakura… It's just that he's so ANNOYING and obsessed with challenging me! …And wearing all that stupid orange is going to get him killed before he ever (does NOT have a chance of becoming/) "becomes The Orange Hokage."
"Hn."
"Hn to you, too. Get some rest, kiddo." Mito turned back as she left his room. "If I hear some news that I can give you, I'll let you know, okay?"
Sasuke laid his head back, relaxing only a little when the med-nin left. Feeling exhausted, he quickly fell asleep - back into the nightmares his brother had forced upon him.
.
I… "castrated" Obito: I gave him the world's most horrific orchiectomy! I was… glad I did it. I… What has happened to you, Mito?! It may have been unintentional but there was no reason to gloat over it as she had.
You didn't gloat for long; you were just shocked! Don't beat yourself up about hurting HIM of all people!
"Stop staring at my junk," Kakashi hissed when sensei's daughter became entranced with the shape of his dick. This was a perfect example of why he hated med-nins.
Mito blinked a few times and realized that she'd been "out there" again. "Give me a break: your… privates are fully covered and of no interest to me! Honestly," she groused, internally berating herself for blushing so hard at his words after zoning out while looking stupidly toward the man's wounds as she fed him chakra. How Hatake Kakashi wound up so wounded in the exact place where she'd ripped Obito's leg off was just bizarre considering the way they were already sharing a pair of Sharingan eyes.
She began re-running her chakra over him and felt that his hip was coming along quite well. "Sorry, Hatake-san. I just… your wound reminded me of something. Just so you know, I didn't see anything and we always keep 'junk' covered up! –You don't have anything to worry about that kind of thing when you're with medical professionals."
"Med-nins always want to see my face," Kakashi complained to himself. In a slightly louder voice, he challenged her. "If they want to see my face so badly then I can only imagine how they feel about seeing other things."
Mito thought her patient might be furiously pouting underneath his mask but at least he seemed to have accepted her very genuine explanation. Mito tilted her head and grimaced when she realized that there was still a little poison in his system - and it was gathering around an old wound angling around his back. She grabbed a bowl so that she could begin to pull it out and sample it again because that poison was NOT behaving quite as she'd anticipated. Not to mention that it shouldn't still be there...
She stuck a key into his pain pump to give him a little boost. "This is going to hurt."
"Do what you must."
"Hai." She bit her lips as she tried to be as gentle as possible pulling what she guessed was more venom out of him. "Hey, Hatake-san."
"Please don't call me that," Kakashi murmured as he ignored the sting in his side. My father was Hatake-sama - and that's too close to it; especially for you to say. "'Kakashi' is fine."
"Thanks. Umm… thanks for taking care of Naruto-chan for all these years. Really."
"I didn't." Sort of. "...Do it willingly."
Mito snorted. Man, what a sourpuss! Mito was worried about Mr. Personality since she hadn't seen that he'd received any visitors although she HAD seen him grinning at the other ANBUs that were more talkative in the ICU ward.
He, in particular, seemed to have a real knack for scaring away the nurses and other med-nins. He would've been in trouble because of that had she not been here to put up with his attitude considering the remaining poison in his system. It's like the poison grew! "Well, thanks for anything you did. And for looking out for my father, too."
Go away. "Are you finished?"
"If I was finished, I probably wouldn't be here. …By the way, did you like the book?" She received a very brief nod from a man said to be an absolutely vicious shinobi who began blushing underneath the hospital mask he'd made a nurse cry over. "I'm glad. I've got the rest of the series. Want me to leave them here when I go?"
Kakashi gave her another nod and hoped that she'd go away soon. "Maa, I wasn't aware of the book - or that it was one of a series." Mito gasped as if he'd just stabbed her in a vital organ.
"It's from an author that lives in Water Country. I got the first one YEARS ago," she remembered, thinking about a training trip/casino-tour she had once gone on as a girl with Tsunade. "If we had more trade with the Mist, I bet those books would fly off the shelves here, too. We'd have better fish and sushi," she continued dreamily, not noticing the way the Copy Nin rolled his eyes (eye) at her. "I'd definitely use some of my savings for a surfboard even if we are totally land logged here."
What's a surfboard? Kakashi wondered. "You sound like a foreigner."
Mito cheekily grinned at him. "I wonder why." Was it mean that she pulled the rest of the poison out a little less gently? Ah, whatever: I've got other work to do and need to analyze this foul stuff. She wolf-whistled for a nurse to take the poison to the lab.
Kakashi really wanted that new Icha-Icha novel instead of the book series that she began unsealing, although the one book she'd lent him was pretty darn good. He'd earlier observed the kunoichi reading the book he desperately desired several times today and wondered how good Icha-Icha: YAOI really was, considering that her face kept disappearing behind it. That or another really boring-looking book was in her face most of the day.
How to get the good one, though…. "Hmm." Women liked compliments, right? He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile from underneath his inadequate surgical mask as she reapplied a fresh dressing to his worst wound and then tucked him in. I am not a child!
Kakashi gave her the best compliment that he could think of despite how irritated she was making him. "You don't smell like a cat."
"Thanks? –Wait. Are you insulting my summons?!"
After the end of her long shift -
I can't believe I'm back in Konoha and I've spent more time with each of these people than I have with Naruto-chan.
And that asshole better not have been insulting my summons! Just look at how cute and cuddly they are. Senju Memorial's pediatric wing was currently a little overrun with cubs.
One of the hospital administrators had tried to stop her but her babies were clean! Naturally, she told him to fuck off and find proof that her summons' babies brought foreign germs into the environment. Summons weren't like normal animals and, when coming directly from their realm, were more than clean. She grinned when she saw Uchiha Sasuke peeking into the doorway where most of the rest of the kids were. "It's okay. You're welcome to join us. Shun!"
Shun was a little more mischievous and the biggest of all the cubs here, if he could even still be called that. The young cheetah followed her gesture and galloped toward the Uchiha, still purring from having had an excellent head scratch.
"This is why they chose you."
"I'm sorry. Who?" Mito asked as she sat down in a rocking chair. She planned to go supervise what was going on with the babies after this. She really didn't have anywhere to go. Asuma was overseeing some kind of big investigation and…
"The cats. Never mind."
Mito sighed and wondered what he was thinking. "Kurama, I appreciate you putting up with the Uchiha kid and Naruto. And everything else. For not attacking them or whatever. Really."
The fox's ears twitched a lot in response. He didn't look happy at all and his eyebrows were severely furrowed as he stared out at the beach or forest beyond it that was within her mindscape. –Then again, the fox rarely ever looked happy. That was something Mito thought infinitely understandable and just awful. "Did you um… Were you able to examine my little brother's chakra?"
Mito couldn't believe she was giving any credence to this crazy idea of them being brothers, too! Quarter-alien half-brothers. Outside of Kurama's words, Mito could not imagine what evidence could lend support to his theory. Hell, she wasn't even sure what kind of hypothesis she'd use to see if there WAS any evidence for what he had been saying.
Unless… Oh! She did have an idea of how to test his theory!
"It's out of your control."
"What? Sorry: I zoned out for a sec. Wait. That's it?! 'It's out of my control?' That's all you're going to say about Naruto-chan?" Kurama looked at her and after a long moment shrugged. Mito thought that he looked incredibly sad and resigned to something…
Probably resigned to being stuck inside a seal for the remainder of all time.
"That's the way it is." Nothing will change. "We will just have to wait and see. You were right, Human. Obito must have a connection to Madara. He still needs to die. Concentrate on those things; hunt him. Destroy him!"
"He's definitely very hurt if he lived through having a limb and testicle ripped off."
And I'll get you out of there one day, Big Guy. Kurama had already been ripped into two pieces; she had to find a way to release him one day. –The part that resided inside of her, anyway.
.
Kakashi knew what his sensei was trying to do and could admit that he was a mite grateful that he might not have to take on a Genin team - he was wholly opposed to doing so. Maybe making Mito-hime a Jonin sensei would mean that he could stay in ANBU? There were a LOT of kids graduating (at least temporarily) this year, though. "She's never been on a team. How would she teach teamwork?"
"Mito knows Konoha's tradition of teamwork and respects it," Minato said. He'd figured this was the response he'd get but he could always count on Kakashi to be frank with him. He'd had some other ideas but with so many kids expected to pass their Academy graduation tests, he'd realized that making his daughter a Jonin-sensei was the best way to keep her close and busy.
Between working at the hospital, maybe running a mission here and there, plus teaching a group of Naruto's classmates, Mito would certainly have her hands (and schedule) full.
The silver-haired Jonin crossed his arms over his chest, careful to avoid the wound on his waist that was almost healed. "Despite being a longtime Konoha kunoichi, she's new to the village so you could receive some backlash from parents or other Jonins." Minato nodded at him.
Kakashi really wanted this to happen but he had reservations. But Mito becoming a sensei could set me free: taking the team that would have otherwise been forced on me! "Doesn't she want to hunt Obito? –Why not let us concentrate on that?" He hadn't meant to say "us" but the sentiment - his NEED to find Obito - was still valid.
Minato ran his hand through his hair and sank into the chair next to Kakashi's bed. "If he's still alive, the Hunter nins will find him."
"Sensei…"
"I've already told you 'no,' Kakashi. When it comes to Obito, you're emotionally compromised and could make a vital mistake!"
Kakashi felt his blood boil. He pointed to where he knew Mito was fussing over Tenzo on the other side of his shitty privacy curtain. "And she's not?!"
"She is. That's why she isn't going anywhere, either." Especially not after what shape she left Obito in the last time she saw him.
Kakashi reigned in his temper, deciding it best for the moment to go back to their discussion sans-Obito. "A Genin team will eventually leave the village. –If that's what you're thinking."
"Yes," Minato agreed, "they do leave for short times on safe missions."
A man who wanted to build a bridge on a more and more poverty-stricken nearby island sneezed all over his blueprints.
"Mito was a sensei at the capital: Asuma said that she was well suited for it - and enjoyed it," Minato added.
Kakashi tried to imagine that and just couldn't see it. Then again, Minato-sensei had been wanting him to take a team for years and he'd probably get any students he was forced to take on killed the moment their little feet left the village gate. What was the man thinking? –He just didn't get it. "You want her to watch over Naruto?"
Minato smiled. "No. You know I normally try to avoid having family members on the same Genin teams."
Kakashi, Minato had decided, was going to continue watching over Naruto when his boy began his shinobi career! "Having Naruto and Mito on the same team would cause the council to come unglued, even on the shinobi side. I had some other kids in mind for my daughter. There are still a few months before graduation. With the Uchiha unrest, I've had to rework some of the ideas I had about who to team with whom, but I'm sure we can make things work."
Kakashi didn't like the way his sensei was smirking at him. Goddammit. He frowned as he heard Mito laugh heartily (fakely) from where she was chatting with an awakened and improving Tenzo. Thank goodness his kohai was really going to be okay. Team Ro had been fractured by Itachi's more-than-suspicious actions (murdering members of his own clan: Jesus!) and Yugao was the only one left on his excellent team. Tenzo had been promoted…. "When will Yugao-san be back?"
Minato pulled a face. "We need to retrieve her."
"Explain," Kakashi growled and then caught himself. "Please."
THIS was why Minato thought Kakashi would be a good Jonin-sensei. One, he was probably the strongest shinobi in the village aside from himself and the Sannin. And maybe - supposedly - Mito: and wasn't that an interesting idea? Kakashi could and would protect the kids, including his own child. Secondly, Kakashi was fiercely protective of his teammates. Thus another one of his demanding growls. "The plan had been for Uzuki-san to bring Mito back to Konoha. Mito -hmm - didn't know that and simply flashed back once she'd…" achieved part of her somewhat self-appointed mission of ripping Obito to pieces, I suppose.
"Make Hime-sama retrieve her then," Kakashi groused. "Send her out on a team to get Uzuki-san out, asap. Please." He knew that Yugao had been anxious about her Mist mission; she hadn't solo-ed much before it and had never done so in an openly hostile or war-torn country. "You can see if Hime-sama really does have what it takes to be a member of a team."
Minato hummed. His first instinct was to deny his student's "request" but it wasn't a bad idea. "She could get more exposure within the troops, too." And we still haven't figured out what to do so that Naruto and Mito can be in the same room together.
"KNOCK. KNOCK," came a female voice from the other side of Kakashi's curtain. Mito had knocked on it. "I'm bored," she said when she was allowed to peek her face inside.
"Bored, huh?" Minato asked as he got up to leave. "Feel like having a spar with your dear old Dad, Mito-chan?"
"REALLY?! Oh, yeah: let's DITCH this joint!"
Kakashi looked across the room and wanted to laugh. He could be wrong, but Tenzo looked like he was shooting Mito what Kakashi could only imagine being hearts from his eyes. Good luck with that.
Once he knew they were safe, he gave his kohai a little warning. "Maa, Tenzo-kun. Hokage-sama's very protective over the princess." He's absolutely overbearing. His sensei had even threatened him to not "court" Mito. As if I would "court" her or anyone else. His kohai scowled at him.
"She doesn't like to be called 'princess.'" Kakashi-senpai was the first one who warned him about that once when Genma-senpai had referred to her that way. They had been looking at one of the Bingo Books she was in at the time. Namikaze Mito had a very high bounty (partially due to her relation to Hokage-sama) but Tenzo thought it even more disturbing that Iwa and Kumo only wanted her brought in alive.
He didn't want to think of what they might want to do to her. She was really nice.
"That's true," Kakashi agreed with a sigh, picking up the second book in the Sea of Love saga, Sea of Love: Drowning Deep. It would be adequate to entertain him for now - until he could better move and lift the real literary prize off of her.
The following morning, he'd spewed a burst of foul Killing Intent all over the ward, nearly exhausting his built-up chakra when he saw his formerly cute little kohai reading the book that had been teasing him in his dreams. "I didn't think you liked Icha-Icha, Tenzo," he growled.
Tenzo blinked up at him, trying not to shiver at the look and attitude he was getting. "This one's actually really good!"