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 nearly flew, racing on top of the ice she'd created in the training field adjacent to the Hokage's private one. This was the first time she'd been here and damn, did it feel good. She'd used a modified fireball jutsu to heat the water first and found that it froze a little faster. She'd have to remember that in the future: maybe it would help her create real ice jutsus QUICKLY or make them last longer… Something.

She needed to keep her eyes peeled, though. Unlike the "track" she'd used in Uzushio, this manmade river had several turns in more than one direction and Mito didn't like to slow down. She was also being watched - and the last thing she wanted to do was spill if her father and brother could really see her. Let alone his guards and all…

"When is she going to stop?" Naruto asked from the top of his home. "She's… So fast!" Mito - his big sister - would change directions so fast and her weird long hair was flying in a jumbled streak, always an instant or two behind the direction she turned on ICE! –There wasn't ice there before!

Minato chuckled. "She's always been fast." Like us, my boy. "I know that when she runs around the village, she can sometimes go for hours." He really wasn't sure if that was healthy and he certainly didn't want her to turn into Gai. He shot a warning glare at Raido who had said something like "ice skaters, am I right? Now we know where she got that ass."

His men paled when they realized that they'd been heard.

Mito, he was afraid, had inherited her mother's figure. Really, having a beautiful daughter was truly troublesome. Threats abounded, even in the village: ones that he hadn't fully anticipated before. For a moment, he wondered if it might be a good idea to send all of his male shinobis out of the village for a very extended mission.

"When are we going to do the thing?" Naruto asked before taking another sip from his juice box. His eyes widened as his sister seemed to start going even faster.

He needed to do that!

"Your sister's been using the mind jutsu we taught her on… well, on everyone that allows it. I think she's ready. And this would be a great day for it, ne?"

"Cuz it's her birthday. …Why aren't we doing it now?!"

"Because you have school."

"I don't wanna go to the Academy," Naruto groused. "Isn't this more important?"

"I bet," Minato began, taking a deep breath as he thought about what and who might be necessary to go through the jutsus again (not to mention, potentially protect his children) that he, Mito, and Jiraiya had planned. "...that Mito's training right now so that she can distract herself until it's time AND be more prepared for what we'll do to help you two."

Naruto was concerned about more practical aspects of what his father had told him, however. "If I have to have my shirt off for it, won't Ane have to have her shirt off, too?" He didn't want to see that: not his SISTER! "—Dad? Are you okay?"

Minato cleared his throat and lightly bopped Naruto's head even as he glared at his guard again just in case they were thinking about that. In a tight, low voice, he stared at his daughter as she flew around the ice she'd created in the far distance. "We'll figure it out, Naruto." He stood up straighter, knowing that like Naruto, Mito's seal WOULD have to be showing for the… "exercise" they'd come up with. "Mito's a fairly conservative girl as far as how she dresses, kiddo. Don't worry about that: I'm sure she's already thought those things over."

Naruto pouted and let out a very growly hum. "If you say so."

.

Naruto knelt near the center of a sealing circle with fuuinjutsu ink and symbols going up and down his body. He was able to keep shorts on and since it was warm outside, he thought it would be fine but the cave they were in was cold. "Why do we have to do this in a cave? I'm cold; this sucks!"

He was nervous.

It had taken a while for him to get with the program and grow the hell up and deal with the idea of being a jinchuuriki. He couldn't do anything about it but at least he wasn't alone in being one. Gaara was one and Gaara was alright. There were TEN jinchuurikis, spread around the Elemental Nations: nine tailed beasts, with the Kyuubi being split between him and his big sister.

Whom he'd finally, properly meet today…

He needed to thank her; he'd already gone to the Hokage Memorial and had thanked Sandaime-sama, one of his heroes. Had Sandaime-sama not sealed the Kyuubi instead of his father, his father would've died alongside or even before his mother had: his father had admitted it! Naruto didn't really get the ins and outs of the seals Sandaime-sama used - aside from a couple of the Jonin and his father no one did - but Sandaime-sama had let him have a father. He couldn't imagine life without his dad.

It was already bad enough that he didn't have a mom around.

He couldn't imagine how the village would be the place it is today without his father, which was almost as important to Naruto. The Sandaime did a good job before him but his father was a great Hokage and was doing everything in his power to keep them in an era of peace, 'ttebayo.

His father… might not have a lot of time for him - their time spent together was often moments of his father pushing him in the right direction instead of just hanging out with him - but at least he had a father. –He'd been thinking about that a lot since that teme's, Sasuke's, father was killed.

Some people… still didn't like him. Maybe it was because he was a jinchuuriki, maybe it was because of the pranks, maybe it was his personality. –A lot of people didn't really like him. But he had his big brothers who did hang out with him and that was because he had his father who made them do it. –At least he made them at first.

One day, he'd show the villagers and EVERYONE that he was more than just a prankster - more than just one of the village's jinchuurikis - that he was more than the Yondaime Hokage's son. He nervously smiled over at his father, Kashi-nii who still somehow looked like crap after his last mission even though most of him was as covered as always, Ero-Sennin, Tsunade-baa-chan, and Cigarette-oji. "When's she gonna be here?!"

Cigarette-oji just raised his eyebrows at him. –He had a very cool beard; Naruto would give him that although he knew almost nothing else about Asuma. Supposedly Mito-nee considered Asuma to be her brother and they were very close.

That wasn't fair.

His father pressed his fingers to the ground as he so often did when he was sensing people. Naruto had been trying to learn how he did it. His dad said that he was a natural sensor but Naruto wondered: people were always sneaking up on him; it was embarrassing! That's why they do it; they do it to freak me out and then laugh at me! –His dad's guard, especially, was the WORST!

"She's on her way," Minato said with what began to be a grin but quickly turned into a more stoic expression. "When Mito gets here, everyone, please follow my lead with the tempo of the hand seals and press chakra…"

"We know what to do. Calm down, Minato," Tsunade scolded.

Jiraiya clapped him in the back, nearly knocking his student down as he and the others moved to kneel on the ground just outside of the seal. "We've been over this enough. This is a good day!"

"It is," Minato agreed. Today his little girl turned 22!

Boy, doesn't that make me feel old?

…And Mito was finally coming home to live with them! He let out a whimper as tears began running down his cheeks and Kakashi groaned. He threw a dirty look at his student as he wiped his face. "When Monkey gets here with Mito, he'll be able to replace you and take over your array."

"Maa, sensei. I'm fine," Kakashi groused with a lazy wave of his hand.

"You should still be in the hospital, you brat," Tsunade chided the world's worst patient, then huffed and cut Minato off before he could begin questioning her about his apprentice's health again. "We don't have time, Minato - and Kakashi-kun's chakra levels have stabilized. …Mito must have been pumping you full of chakra." She and Shizune certainly hadn't been: when hospitalized, the competent silver-haired Jonin turned into a little shit-baby that was a nightmare.

Kakashi just shrugged.

What an ungrateful brat!

A three-pronged kunai landed with a THUNK right in front of Naruto, making him gasp as his father grasped the top of his shoulder and head to steady him. "You didn't tell me she was going to do that!"

"Surprise, surprise," Minato muttered darkly. He didn't know that Mito was going to do that, either. Naruto could've moved and destabilized the seal. He smiled, though, when he saw his daughter peek into the cave-like structure they were in. So far, Naruto hadn't noticed her. "I guess she'll appear in front of you and then we'll begin." It made sense. Mito had been worried that her presence so close to her brother would further open his seal before they even had a chance to try this.

Mito magnified her voice with chakra as she yelled into the cave after seeing that everyone was ready. "Three. Two. One." She flashed in front of her little brother and slapped a genjutsu tag on his forehead as she knelt in front of him. Naruto went still but his glassy, dazed eyes were slowly turning a purplish color and his pupils were already lengthening. Careful of the seal around them, she nodded at her father who began to (probably unnecessarily) chant the necessary hand seals.

"FUUIN!"

Minato watched as his children faced each other. His daughter placed a finger just under the seal she'd placed on Naruto and looked confused - alarming him. It only took a couple of seconds before she smirked and she ran her finger down Naruto's nose, chin, and chest until placing her hand over his seal.

"HOLD," he ordered the other Jonin. Both of the fox's seals had begun pulsing.

Mito love-love-loved this jutsu. She'd used the Yamanaka knock-off jutsu on Anko, Asuma, her father, and a couple of her willing patients. It was interesting to see their different mindscapes. When she'd touched her little brother's forehead after going through the required hand seals, she was surprised because all she saw was a series of pipes and concrete that eventually led to her dazed brother. Quickly she realized that although their mindscapes - if you could call what he had that - might be associated with their brains, the seals affected them, too. She moved her hand down his gates to finally cover his seal and was greeted with a Killing Intent she hadn't been close to in over ten years.

"Your turn, Kurama," Mito said shakily. Kurama had agreed that using his name would get his other part's attention IF the rest of his chakra had any sentience at all.

"You dare use my name?"

Kurama wanted to groan.

He was only going along with this so that Mito-2 would shut the hell up and leave him alone. Then they could get back to hunting!

His other half was going to be what the flesh bags called "a major dick," wasn't he?

"Saiken told her my name…. Our name. Show yourself!" Gradually the orange fog of pure hatred they were initially presented with formed into his wondrous face. "You have more of my chakra than I thought."

"I will not speak with THAT here," his other chakra sneered about Mito.

Mito blinked a few times as she considered that. "I don't know if the jutsu will work if I leave."

"Now that we're in contact we don't need you."

Mito was shoved out of her mindscape and back in front of Naruto. She scrunched up her nose, wanting to punt both Kuramas through a mountain before softly smiling as she looked at her brother's face, up close. It didn't seem right to hug him if he didn't know it. What if he didn't want her to? He was so big now. It's not like he probably needed her anymore. She did smile, though, when she realized that the poor kid was drooling. She leaned down and whispered in his ear, "I won't tell anyone, Naruto-chan."

"Are you back?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's a good idea to let up just yet. The… foxes are talking to each other." Her father looked incredulous (or put out) for a moment but then seemed resigned to believe her and let this happen. Asuma had dramatically rolled his eyes at her for good measure, too.

The invisible barrier they'd charged was up and although Minato and the other Jonin were taking turns in pairs powering it, they still had plenty of chakra to fully power a purple (or God forbid, red) barrier if it became necessary.

Please don't let that be necessary. Minato was ready to jump in and seal Mito again if he had to but wondered if she'd forgive him if he did.

"You think she's the one? How low and stupid you've fallen. How would a FEMALE be Asura's reincarnate?"

Kurama took a deep breath, having almost forgotten what a hateful bore he used to be. The other part of him - approximately two tails worth of him if he had to guess - had only awakened when he first came into close contact with Mito-2. His lesser "half" was pissed, surly, and desperately needed his ass kicked. How dare he insult him! "You're insulting yourself; no: your greater self, Dumbass. …We've only known three of the reincarnates - and only realized who they were at the very end of their lives. Asura is either somewhere within her, YOUR host, or the Hatake brat."

Kurama glared at his larger part: hating him on principle. He was a being of hatred, after all. How dare the other part of him have so much of his chakra? And he was stuck in a male which meant that he was going to be stuck with this Uzumaki brat FOREVER. At least his "other self" had a chance to escape. This Mito-2 had a terrible seal! "The Hatake brat is not a Senju or an Uzumaki! Did you lose your mind when you fell for the charms of a female?"

Kurama's nose turned up in disgust.
1. Gross.
2. Mito had about as much "charm" as the parasitic symbiont she was.

"He might have Senju blood and may be the right age: there are only two left, otherwise. I've sensed Indra's foul chakra twice in the past months on two different fuckers from THAT clan."

"Do not mention their names!"

"Did I mention their names?!"
Honestly! His other self needed a swift kick to the tails and maybe a series of forced, giant super-antacids.

"Stupid, fucking, red-eyed pieces of shit that should…" Both halves glared at each other when they said the same words.

"To whom do you believe Indra attached himself this time?"

Kurama huffed. At least the other part of him was listening now. The weird orange mist of his chakra had cleared and a smaller version of himself - nine glorious tails and all - was sitting behind a much stronger cage with a very tight seal above a sophisticated lock. He, at least, had something to look at while this sewer the other part of him was in was disgusting. "The only way out of your seal is to get the boy to open the seal."

"You don't think I know that?"

Kurama rolled his eyes: a bad attitude was what he got for being helpful to himself! "I SMELLED Madara from the one who released us from Kushina: Obito." It was only a trace of his nemesis but the scent had been there.

"He must die: how dare Madara control me again! And Kushina? –Ha! I fucking hated her. Good riddance. …I don't know the boy but expect little from him." He hadn't been awake for very long and hadn't had an opportunity to torture or goad the boy.
Now he would.

"It's strange speaking to myself but I agree - although Mito-2 proved that Obito released us; not Madara. Kushina was as cruel as Mito-1, even if the task of housing us was forced upon her." The seal he'd been in before being released from Kushina was painful and restricting, causing him to be awake and tortured within them for decades. "There are other brat descendants of Indra in this village." His other part seemed to understand the danger that posed.

Mito wasn't sure how long it would take the foxes to work things out. Kurama was supposed to be telling his other self to sit tight and behave or the like; that Mito was going to try to free them but NOT at the risk of her brother's life. When Asuma cleared his throat and gave her an encouraging smile after switching off with her godfather, she hoped that he was right.

Asuma had told her that he believed in her: that he thought that if anyone could work things out with the fox (or as he put it, "beat and nag it into submission") it was her.

Naruto slumped, unconscious, and Mito caught him. "I got you, otouto," she said with a small voice, holding him. Her father took him (making her pout a bit) and carried her little brother out of the seal before coming back and readying them to put up a purple barrier in case her chains decided to do their own thing again. Once the barrier was back up, she bit her thumb and wiped blood over four seals she'd put on to make sure her chains stayed put, cursing when one huge chain popped out of her, although it didn't go anywhere.

Mito grabbed the limp (and now embarrassing instead of badass-looking) thing and began cursing her head off until Asuma yelled at her from the other side of the barrier. "Sorry!"

"What the fuck, Kurama?" The damned fox had the nerve to bark out a laugh at her.

"Perhaps I thought you needed a reminder of who's boss. Or perhaps you should not have weakened yourself by restraining your clan's Hiden. Perhaps you should have considered the risks of the seals you used on yourself before placing them! I thought you would have trusted me," he snarked. "…Moron."

"I'M the boss of me," she interrupted hotly - but she did hear the rest of what he said. Considering it more, she should have realized there would be some backlash from withholding her chains the way she did. Her coils had been hurting and her reserves had been limited because of those seals. "You're right. It was foolish of me."

There had been nothing in the Uzumaki scrolls that mentioned the risk of using that seal - much like MANY of the scrolls she found in Uzushio. Unless someone had jotted down some notes off to the side or the back of them, there were no risks supposedly associated with the techniques she'd gone through thus far.

Her clan was known to once be… explosion-happy and "experimental."
"Insane" is what the other nations called us.

It was just as foolish to use the modified reinforcement seals on the clones she'd left at the hospital. Because they were awake/alive for so long, Mito felt their exhaustion when they were dispelled. Not to mention, when she dispelled them, she thought for a second that she'd been killed in an explosion and turned to dust. –Those seals made her awesome shadow clones suck!

She withdrew the chain she was holding and blinked several times at Naruto who was still out cold. "I'm tired." After letting it return to her core, she became extremely tired. Internally, she sought guidance from Kurama but he was unwilling to share anything that he and… himself/his other self had discussed. "Will it be alright to be around Naru-chan, at least?"

Or do I have to have you resealed again? – That was the unasked question. Her father wasn't going to put up with her being a danger to her brother or the village. The way the fox glared at her, Mito guessed that Kurama understood that. "Help me help you, Kurama."

"By aiding you," he deadpanned.

"Yeah. Please!"

Kurama scoffed and rolled his eyes. Mito-2 was an extremely strange human and unfortunately, made him recall the time before his kind was hunted. Mankind hadn't always been awful; a fact that made their turn against him and his siblings all the more painful. "Know that I will destroy you if you renounce me."

Mito tried to smile at him, nodding her head in acceptance of that. She really gave the fox way too much leeway in being an asshole so much of the time. "I'll remember that. I know that my words mean little to you but I intend to keep my promises."

She signaled for the barrier around her to fall. Considering that there were seals ALL over the floor (Mito figured that her father was not only trying to control her but also ensure that Obito couldn't teleport in here again) she thought that Naruto would be safe. She sank down, allowing Asuma to reach out for her and pick her heavy ass up. "Sorry, As."

"Troublesome girl. Are you ready to go home or what?"

"I think so."

.

After putting Naruto into his bed - Mito had tucked him in for the very first time - Minato excitedly began telling Mito where he'd "set up" her things.

Mito wasn't sure of what stuff she had to set up or anything else he was talking about. Everything she owned was in her seals.

She followed him up to the stairs of the Hokage's official residence for the first time. The cozy home she knew for a few blessed weeks when she was 10 years old had been destroyed by the fox in her gut. With so much of the village destroyed, her father had apparently moved here a year after deciding that he couldn't raise his son properly in the Hokage Tower as he had been up until then.

It wasn't like he moved far: the Hokage's residence was just on the other side of the Tower. So many people here, Mito lamented until she stepped on the staircase that led to the third floor of the residence. "Seals."

Now she couldn't feel much of anything outside of the house.

Her gut clenched when the more she climbed the stairs, the less she could even feel Naruto or her father's guards who were in the house downstairs!

"Ah," Minato said, scratching the back of his head. "I hoped the suppression seals would help you rest." And help with your anxiety.

And also provide a first barrier against the fox.

"Thank you," Mito said, trying not to sound bitter. She DID somewhat appreciate having so many chakra signatures buffered but what if an intruder was making a move on her family? –She wouldn't be able to sense them until it was too late. Sadly, she planned to take a look around because she could feel her father's seals all over everything leading up to the third floor. Was he trying to contain her?

He didn't trust her to hold the fox back as she'd been doing for 12 years. …Okay.

"Ohhhh."

Minato patted her shoulders before giving his daughter a quick kiss on the back of the head as he led her in. "Naruto and I moved everything around and all of this up here, thinking that you'd probably like to have some privacy. It's… kinda like you've got a lounge, a bath, a bedroom with another ensuite," he continued, pointing toward where the largest bedroom on the third floor was. "There's a spare bedroom and study up here of your very own - and of course, you can always use the library either in the Tower or basement."

"Thank you," Mito said softly while he went on, pointing things out. So much space. She peeked into the second bedroom and felt her knees weaken. "Those should be with Asuma and Hideki." Their sister's musical instruments were there.

Minato smiled at her sadly. "They didn't tell you what you were left in their wills?" Mito shook her head but felt that she needed to be quick about returning the drums and guitars to the Sarutobis. When she'd been VERY little, the two sisters had taught her to play although she hadn't been very good at either:

"Every kunoichi has to know how to play at least one instrument, Mito-chan."

SOMETHING had diverted a young Mito's attention to the plight of ANBUs and how much they needed more competent medics, though. It was hard to believe that once upon a time, she'd wanted to be a musician. (She didn't remember that but had been told enough stories about how stubborn she once was about it.) Mito was glad she'd made the career choice that she had, though. "Hmm. I need a mission."

"It's your birthday," Minato cheered firmly, pushing her out of the room that upset her. "Why don't you rest for a bit and then we'll celebrate?!" Mito nodded and was left alone in what was essentially a pretty posh apartment…

Right upstairs from my father - and sealed down tighter than a fermented jar of kimchi.
Weird…

She began unpacking a little and finally crawled into some warm pajamas before falling into an extremely fitful sleep.

At least she slept better than Naruto did! Poor Naruto had to deal with opening his eyes to find a very hateful, rude, and yin-filled giant fox behind a cage door that he was demanding to be let out of.

.

"SURPRISE!"

Mito's chains shot out of her, nearly skewering her brother and father who flashed them away at the last moment. "OH, shit. You two surprised me and… Um." Finally, "Hello, Naruto-chan!"

Her father laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head after releasing his son. "We'll have to remember not to startle your sister like that, huh, kiddo?"

Naruto nodded but Mito noticed that he looked terrible.

"Are you alright?" Naruto nodded again and then bobbed his head in what Mito guessed was a nervous bow. "Can we try again?" she smiled. "I'm Mito - JUST Mito - and it's so wonderful to finally meet you!"

"Yeah," Naruto said, catching her eyes for only a second. "Nice to meet you, too, Ane." He looked up again to see his big sister's big warm smile and backed up a step, feeling oddly nervous. The fox said that he was going to slay her and his dad (and the whole village) but he called bullshit on that! Believe it!

It was also super weird to have a girl living in his house. –A LADY! He tried not to laugh when he saw that she was wearing really big fuzzy pajamas that didn't match and two different socks.

"I was cold," Mito pouted quietly. Well. Wasn't she humiliated now?

"We should go upstairs and eat cake!"

"Cake?" Mito asked as her stomach roared. She realized that it was already dark outside. Naruto was already running through the house, down the stairs, and yelling back at her father about… something. Eventually, she did get some chocolate cake and ice cream and went up to the roof. The stars were out and it was a beautiful night.

"Happy Birthday, Mito-chan!"

"Thank you. …I almost can't believe this is happening!"

.

At 2230, Mito opened one of her windows to allow Anko in. Once inside, she had her friend hide - which was ridiculous; tomorrow she would definitely ensure this didn't happen again - and waited for her father to come barging in.

Unlike when she was a very little girl, he at least had the decency to knock first tonight.

"I felt a seal go off! Is everything okay?" he asked as his blue eyes darted around the third floor's main living area.

"Sure is. I just need some air. Goodnight again!" Mito didn't quite shut the door in his face but she made it quick. Her father had obviously been asleep; his yukata over his pajamas was open and half off his shoulders, his hair was even more of a mess than usual, and he had reading glasses awkwardly balancing on his forehead instead of his hitai-ate. Putting down a BUNCH of silencing seals once she was pretty sure he was downstairs again, Mito shook her head as Anko came out of a closet and began checking out her new living place.

"Look at you! Aren't YOU fancy?! Damn! Let's exchange flats!"

"Yeah," Mito groaned. She was not a fancy kind of gal! This house had BEDS of all the weird things, just like Asuma's flat did. She was used to sleeping on the floor on a futon.

The next thing Mito knew, Anko was refreshing her makeup, chatting her head off, before forcing her into one of her too-short, too-tight little dresses and dragging Mito out the window to go celebrate. "Anko! -Oh, why not! It's my birthday after all, right? Let's do it!" The two kunoichis jumped out of the window and took off to have some fun.