DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe. This is my Mito, though.


Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking


Naruto had heard that his sister was supposed to be a great kunoichi - and she WAS a Jonin - but he'd always had a little trouble believing it.

I mean, his doubts were reasonable! He'd seen her trip, get tangled up in her own hair, talk to herself like a crazy person, get more and more ink on her face, (more often than even his dad did and Naruto didn't see her much) and even curse eggs because "damn all eggs and their accursed shells which mock me so!" Then she'd set the stove on fire.

And then she flooded the kitchen with a water jutsu to put the fire out.

–That's crazy stuff, right there!

He'd had trouble believing she could be a really good ninja until tonight.

She'd teleported in front of him right after he'd trounced Mizuki - that bastard traitor - in a flash of red and yellow, snarling like an animal at Mizuki and eventually threatening to "eat his entrails" after a lot of other medical stuff Naruto didn't understand. Her voice would go between a whisper, a weird chant thing… Or sometimes it became really low and scary as she was playing with Mizuki (and made the Kyuubi in his gut chuckle in that exact same voice, which was WEIRD and VERY off-putting.) Kakashi-nii showed up to force her to back down and those two had gone tumbling through the forest with water jutsus and chains flying every which way. And fire jutsus, too!

And at one point his sister had flicked Kakashi, one of the strongest Jonin in the village, straight through the forest. With one FINGER!

At the same time that was happening, one of his sister's shadow clones was simply smiling gently at him, telling him that everything was fine; that his father - ouch - wasn't super mad at him for stealing the scroll he had been working on while she pushed his and Iruka's heads down every now and then. Kakashi and the real Mito were destroying the surrounding area and occasionally got a little too close to them. –-Not too close, though; Mito seemed to be what Naruto guessed his friends would call "overprotective."

Mito's OTHER shadow clone was healing Iruka-sensei after checking her original's little brother for wounds first.

"Do you think they're going to stop?" Iruka asked, peeking out from between the two (he guessed) Namikaze-hime clones (who happily answered "hopefully not" to his question) as the real kunoichi and Hatake Kakashi seemed to be trying to mainly drown each other. Considering their summons, they're like actual dogs and cats: those two. He gasped when the Hokage showed up and would NOT laugh when the two Jonins stopped battling and each got whacked by the village leader.

"Hey!" / "Mou, sensei! So mean!"

"Right?" Mito chirped, a little breathlessly. That had been fun… But then there was "Mizuki-sensei" - or what was left of him. She let out a chilling laugh that seemed to shake the forest and DEFINITELY sent some wild animals running. Mito pushed a wind jutsu backward, drying herself off and sending her hair out in all directions before it (sort of) settled down. "I shall have him. I have allowed him to live, but he is mine to ultimately destroy."

Minato sighed, disgusted by the whole thing and needing to reign in his troublesome children. "No. Heal him enough to get answers and seal him down, Mito-chan: that's an order. Kakashi-kun, you take him to T&I when she's done." He pinched the bridge of his nose as Mito began chuckling about "winning" because she was sure Anko-chan would dissect the man like she'd wanted to do.

"Good God," Minato said, looking around at what remained of this section of the smoldering yet wet forest. "Who's responsible for this?" Everyone involved pointed at someone else.

"Hey, Tou-san," Mito's clone chirped before apologizing to Iruka-san for getting a little carried away when she pulled him up. She began healing his shoulder and the arm she'd nearly pulled out of it. "Naruto summoned more shadow clones than I ever thought anyone could! –Like, hundreds, right? Or maybe more..." Her smile faded as she glared at her brother. "Highly inadvisable, by the way, young man: HIGHLY inadvisable."

"I don't understand what happened here." Minato closed his eyes when Mizuki woke up - and Mito lightly poked her fingers in his eyes as if she was one of the Three Stooges. "MITO!"

"Heehee - Sorry. Asshole," she muttered at Mizuki. She eventually sealed down his chakra, noting that he had a second seal disturbing it, and Kakashi took off with the traitor. "That guy's a buzzkill. Ah, well. If there's nothing else, I'm gonna meet my friend for some fun and I KNOW Naru-kun has a big party tonight. Have fun, otouto! Ja!"

Mito's clones poofed away, too, and Naruto ducked his head as his father frowned at him. "Uh. Heheh: I KNEW something was off about Mizuki and I thought I could trick him when he approached me, ya know!"

"Hokage-sama," Iruka said, taking a step in front of Naruto, whose actions he felt immediately responsible for. "Mizuki tricked Naruto! He told him that the shadow clone jutsu wasn't allowed to replace the more standard clone jutsu and failed him while I was testing the other half of our students." He bowed at the waist. "Please forgive him! Mizuki told Naruto that he could pass by finding and retrieving that scroll. I was unsuccessful when I went to find him earlier."

"Rise," Minato commanded and shook his head in disappointment at his son. "Are you alright, Iruka?"

"I am! 100%! Mito-hime healed what were only superficial wounds." He shot a quick glare at his very blonde student who gave him an obvious look of disbelief. Yeah, he supposed he had gotten hit pretty hard with that Fuma shuriken but Naruto's sister - or her clone - really had healed him well.

Okay, so maybe he was ~85% healed, not 100%.

Minato nodded and helped his son off the ground. "Come with me, Naruto. We need to have a little discussion about village secrets and security. Boys," he added to his ANBU who suddenly appeared, "contain and debrief. Let's go, Naruto."

"Yes, sir," Naruto said meekly. They disappeared in a yellow flash, leaving the ANBU and Iruka behind.


Anko looked up from her experiment/prisoner when she heard a commotion happening in the hallway. She opened the cell's door and found her best friend tangling with her supervisor. She could tell because of the hair colors whirling around and what were clearly Ibiki's pained grunts and hollers: otherwise, they were blurs. "Oi, dumbasses! What's up?"

Whatever taijutsu nonsense they were engaged in stopped, mid-positions, and almost comically. Mito smiled at her broadly as she and Ibiki fell down on the floor - they were so tangled up. Mito's chains disappeared and both jumped up, trying to look as if nothing had happened. "I'm here to help with the prisoner." Mito pointed to the bloodied, beat-up guy that was laying on the floor a few meters away with a manic smile. "Ta-dah."

Anko wrinkled up her nose at the badly beaten Chunin on the floor next to that silver-haired Jonin who was always reading one of those perv-books Mito reads and edits. She was sure his famous-boy name was Scarecrow but they didn't run in the same circles. "What'd he do?"

"He was fucking with my baby brother," Mito gritted out.

Kakashi shook his head, really feeling for that sadistic Ibiki-fucker who looked like he was thoroughly thrashed. Without chakra, Mito punched as hard as Gai and used ninjutsus (and chains!) on top of it with him. And she had been holding back; he was positive. Of course, I was, too. "Maa, he stole the Scroll of Sealing." He slapped Mito's leg away when she tried to kick the prisoner again. "Yare, yare, hime-sama…"

"Don't call me that!"

"Did you say Scroll of Sealing?" Ibiki asked. He didn't want to let the Hokage's weirdly strong daughter heal him but damn… What was happening? Right: she'd broken into T&I and attacked everyone. Meh: that was something of a longtime (vengeful) Jonin tradition so he supposed it was fine. She got farther inside than most.

"Hai," Hatake drawled to his question. "Naruto," was all he got out because Mito had punted his ass down the hallway.

Mito pulled him out of the wall before her hands lit up in chakra to ensure he was alright. "Shut up, baka! Don't say anything about Naruto's involvement in this," she whispered. Kakashi glared at her but reluctantly shrugged his shoulders as soon as he could, guessing he could keep his mouth shut for now.

Mizuki couldn't feel his body but the smirk on his face grew. "Lord Orochimaru will still prevail." The last thing he saw - for a few hours, anyway - was the color purple, a ruthless smile, and a huge snake. For a moment, he thought he'd been saved, but it turns out, he didn't have such luck.

But tonight, Anko finally did.

Tonight Anko was determined to put down any continued suspicion of her relationship or loyalty to her bastard of a sensei.


.


Mito and Kurenai frowned at him while Asuma took another drag from his cigarette. "You got a good group. You both do! My Genins pretty much suck and I'm gonna be forced to pass them. Anyways, the most important thing you HAVE to do is fuck with 'em, Mito-chan."

Kurenai clicked her tongue at him. "Asuma, that's so mean!" She looked over at Mito, unable to hide the grin growing on her face. "I'm afraid it's true, though, Mito. –Think of it as, for them, a learning experience or experiment."

Mito's lips pursed as she thought about all of that. EVERYONE she'd asked had said the same thing about fucking with new Genins being mandatory so she supposed she'd have to fuck with hers (at least a little.) "How can an Ino-Shika-Cho group suck? –Don't those clans really have it down by now? …And don't forget they're just little Genins, Asuma."

Kurenai placed her arm on the top of one of the sofas in the Jonin lounge so she was better facing both of them. "Maybe, Asuma-kun, you should give them a harder test."

"They're likely not to pass the one I've given before." He leaned forward to whisper his most pressing issue with them. "The little Yamanaka loudmouth's a total fangirl. Anyway, whatever you do, you need to give them examples of each of the shinobi arts."

Mito looked up from running her fingers through her hair, finding the idea of fangirls gross. Her father had said the same thing about providing examples of the general classifications of shinobi arts, however. "What do you do to test them?"

"I quiz them on clan laws," he joked, laughing when he saw the way Mito gagged. "Nah. –They have to determine, find, and seize my most valued possession." He winked at Kurenai who looked away. She was so cute; Gorgeous! Mito hummed and Asuma just knew that she was going to say something obnoxious.

"I can think of a few things that you really love. One, I'd say Kurenai-chan but if you call her a 'possession,' I'll break your feet… Same with Kono-kun."

"Feet?" Asuma had squeaked, his voice had gone high (and his cheeks heating up. He was glad that only the three of them were hanging out here at the moment. Kurenai and he were in a secret relationship.) "Why my feet?"

"I don't know," Mito groused, "they were sitting there and looked breakable. TWO: I'd say you value your soul, black as it may be from all the tar and utter crap clinging to it. ...Three —Ohhh, it's your precious, disgusting cigarettes, isn't it? Or your nicotine gum? Which one?!" She tapped her lips before jumping toward him. "Spiderman! Awww, you should love Spiderman more than your cigarettes, shouldn't you? I love Spiderman. Summon Spiderman; c'mon, Asuma! Set him loose on your Genins!"

Asuma pushed the eager kunoichi's face away (he had immediately grabbed it when she got close reflexively - and, of course, she just kept talking) and grumbled about his soul being as pure as snow which sent the women into fits of raucous or in Kurenai's case, soft laughter. So mean!

"So what have you done with your Genins in the past, Kurenai-chan?" Mito asked after making fun of Asuma a little more. Everyone she'd asked so far was doing a version of the bell test aside from Asuma - and he was still ultimately testing teamwork.

It's the Konoha way.

"This is my first group…"

"No way!" Mito figured that she was the only rookie Jonin-sensei who'd most likely end up with a team this year.

"Unlike you two, I haven't been a Jonin for very long, Mito," Kurenai said, pulling at the back of her pretty hair. "I was a Tokubetsu for a very short time but was only promoted to full Jonin this year - after Asuma came back and helped me with my taijutsu which had been… lacking."

"Really?" Mito hadn't meant to embarrass Kurenai. She had great respect for someone who had earned the title of "Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress." She and Kurenai had been meeting up a couple of times a week to work on the very difficult task of trying to enter elements of certain genjutsus into seal matrices - and Mito was trying to figure out something that would help her get better at "building" effective genjutsus again: seal or no seal.

"I didn't actually take the Jonin exam like you probably did." Kurenai nodded, interested in what Mito was saying. "Daimyo-sama promoted me; I hope that doesn't seem terribly unfair. It kinda is though, isn't it?"

Asuma blew out smoke like he figured Mito was doing figuratively. Or maybe not: ever since the fox/exile/kidnapping thing her self-esteem was somewhat… irregular at making an appearance - and she was never as solid and self-assured as she used to be. "You killed hundreds of invading enemy shinobis in a matter of minutes while keeping up a barrier that ensured the safety of the Fire Daimyo and court. –I think that earns you some respect."

"I guess so. I mean, we did it together with our comrades, Asuma." Mito suddenly found her fingers to be very interesting - and her heart to feel very heavy. "I'll see you two." She flashed off and Asuma cursed.


"Hey, Kaa-chan," Mito said as she sat down beside her mother's grave. Today she brought her a bowl of noodles from Ichirakus, a bunch of white chrysanthemums, incense, and a candle - although a candle was already there.

Oh, the ramen! Going to Ichiraku's to pick it up had been CONCERNING. Someone had pre-paid for a LOT of her meals or even to-go bowls. Mito had made Teuchi promise that her ramen wasn't poisoned (he'd been offended, making her feel bad about asking) but he refused to tell her who the scoundrel was who'd arranged this.

Meh, it was probably Tou-san who bought it.

God forbid I ask him about it, though. If it wasn't him… Mito shivered.

Speaking of… "Tou-san's driving me crazy but he's given me a Genin team to teach. That's gotta be a good sign, right? Eh, Mom," she then whispered as she kneeled closer to her mother's headstone, "you know that stalker is here, right?" Mito felt his chakra signature back off a bit and sighed heavily. He had to have been channeling chakra to his ears to hear that, she was fairly sure - and that wasn't cool. "At least Hideki and Asuma leave me alone when I want to talk to you - which is… Often. More often than I'm here, I'm afraid."

She hummed a song that her mother used to sing as she tried to get comfortable and come up with anything to say. "By the way - I'm 22 now and Naru's 12, finally - or that's how he put it. He's gonna be a Genin or at least I think he is." Mito scratched at her upper lip. She figured that there was no need to go into the whole story of her little brother ripping off a scroll from her father and beating up a Chunin instructor. Mito wondered if her mother may have seen that, anyway, if she was really capable of watching or hearing them from the Other Side. "I wish I had been able to protect him. I REALLY wish I would've seen the whole thing coming." She drummed out a soft rhythm on her thighs as she paused, wondering if her mother would understand how she felt about being guarded in a village she didn't feel at home in.

That HAD happened to her foreign-born, jinchuuriki mother, though, didn't it?

"I miss you. …It was freeing to be outside the village again. Konoha's alright," she continued in a soft voice. "It's a LOT but I'm forcing myself to grab life by the horns, ya know."

Sort of.

Mito thought about her mother for several minutes, feeling more and more lost the longer she stayed there. She thought again about what Asuma had said - what she had done the night she feared she'd changed so much - and what she was ready to do to that traitorous Chunin instructor that had messed with Naruto so: right in front of her little brother. Would you even love me anymore, Mom, knowing what a monster I've become? And then a sudden, chilly realization fell over her: one that had been far too late in coming as far as she was concerned.

"I'm not a monster. I'm a kunoichi. And I ASKED for this." A smile tugged at her lips, whether that was insane or not.

"I asked for all of it…"

Mito sat there, almost relishing in the feeling of the cold wind that suddenly hit her bare arms, and was just glad to be alive. –Maybe not entirely - but she needed to do what she could while she was here, right?

And I've got three more kiddos I have to guide and protect now.

She rallied through four hand seals after biting her thumb. "Gyaku Kuchiyose no jutsu."

"Yo," Kei said as he bounded up to her. Mito grinned: seeing him jumping around and hunting in the jungle was really something. "What's up?"

Mito put out her hand and got a rub for it - a clear sign that she was allowed to pet him. Who were they kidding? He always wanted his spiky-cool ears scratched and rubbed! "Not much. I've got an idea that I'd like to discuss with you and the others. –A mission, of sorts."


.


Mito's eyebrows rose into her hairline as she watched her father's student snarl and throw a quiet hissy fit. Considering how laid back the guy normally seemed, it was noteworthy. Mito channeled chakra to her ears to better hear the conversation. She was sure that she wasn't the only one who did.

"Why didn't I get the Senju kid?" she heard him hiss. Just before he'd been whining about teaching Naruto and his readiness to be a Genin because of the whole scroll thing - which had pissed Mito off.

Minato huffed: Kakashi was doing the same thing he did almost every year but involving his kid this time. And wrong or not, he was not going to punish Naruto further by ending his dreams and a promising future career because of Mizuki's near-constant abuse. –None of which his son had mentioned (much) until after the incident. It was his fault that he hadn't taken his son seriously when he'd complained about Mizuki a couple of times years ago: he should've looked into it. "Kakashi, I've made my decision."

You're the only Jonin-sensei with a Sharingan and outside of Shisui, you're the best Sharingan user in the village.
Now grow up!

"My team is supposed to be composed of front-liners: you promised. This," the silverette said, waving one of his files, "doesn't even make sense!" He began muttering about fangirls, making Mito snort. He turned and glared at her and the other senseis. Mito stuck her tongue out at him.

There were a lot of Jonins and a few Tokubetsus here: Naruto had graduated with a large bunch. Mito leaned toward her best friend. "Who do you have, Anko?"

Anko rolled her eyes and opened the first of her files while passing the other two to her friend. "Three little assholes I get to fail," she whispered. "I know you say this is some kind of honor but it's not like I get to BE a Jonin-sensei. –Or want to, now. I'm happy at T&I!"

Mito wasn't sure how to respond but decided to smile and bob her head. She knew that Anko missed the students she'd had with Orochimaru and was convinced they'd all been killed. Anko felt somewhat responsible for their deaths - for overlooking signs that may have led to those deaths.

For her and their sake, Mito prayed that was not the case. She still thought the whole thing with Orochimaru made little sense… Anyway, the kids her father had assigned Anko today barely passed the Academy (with lots of noted issues - although they were from Mizuki's class) and Mito couldn't help but wonder if they'd even make the Genin corps.


.


Mito ran into the Academy the next day, breathless and LATE! A team had come in, badly wounded, when she was on her way here, originally. She'd been in surgery for two hours working on an Akimichi who had not only been in bad shape but had taken an unknown quantity of his clan's special Food/poison/berserker pills. Tsunade and Shizune had been operating on his teammates.

She took a deep breath and then walked into the classroom, batting away an eraser that was balanced precariously over the door.

"Ane, you ruined my prank!" Naruto complained. Mito sighed and bit back a grin: Naruto was pouting and the pink-haired heartbreaker was begging her forgiveness. Thankfully, Naruto was ignoring Little Miss Sakura's pleas.

"Sorry about that, otouto. Team…"

"And you didn't tell me that you were going to be a sensei! And you've got blood on you!"

"I don't tell you a lot of things, kiddo." Mito waited until all of the kids were quiet and still. She'd stared them all down, trying to look threatening to the six that remained there. "Team 8? You're with me."

The kids followed her to the Academy training ground, silent aside from the ninken puppy who seemed VERY wound up. Mito flopped down, cross-legged on the ground, and gestured for the kids to do the same. The little dumpling with the hime haircut sat in seiza position but the boys followed their new sensei's example, more or less.

"So, you three are being called Team 8. My name's Namikaze Mito and I might be your sensei." Two cute little puzzled heads (+1 puppy head) tilted the same way while another nearly covered one did the same but only VERY slightly. Mito wanted to squeal: they were each so cute! She cleared her throat and glared at them instead. "So, you want to introduce yourselves or what?"

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is Akamaru!"

Mito nodded at the happy kid with the fang-tattooed cheeks. This is Inuzuka Tsume's kid. Although Mito had yet to meet her, Inuzuka Tsume had been friends with her mother. "A pleasure," she said dryly. "Tell me about yourself, Kiba-kun: your likes, dislikes, career aspirations, or whatever - that kind of thing. And don't forget about this handsome boy," she couldn't help but grin a bit. Kiba's kawaii ninken partner was trying to sniff all over her but Kiba kept dragging him back. Mito wished that he wouldn't.

Ha! One day I'll pet you, little Akamaru. For now, using wind and water chakra, she blew a little stream of bubbles at him and into the air. The little ninken began to yip and jump, biting at them. Adorable.

Kiba bobbed his head with wide eyes and grabbed his partner again. "Sure! Um, I like barbecue: steak especially, and so does Akamaru. And of course, I like Akamaru. –Akamaru, STOP! Sorry about that, sensei. Um, OH! I like my pack and want to be a hunter or at least a tracker, I think. Ma says I've got the greatest nose for anyone my age in the pack's history that she knows of and well," he continued a little more hesitantly, gnawing on his lip and scratching the back of his head, "I'm gonna be the heir, probably, so I gotta learn politics. I should learn it either way."

Mito's eyebrows rose under her hitai-ate as she idly played with some grass. "Sucks for you. So, I'm told that your sister, Hana-san…"

"Yeah, she's the heiress but she don't want it. She's a vet!"

Mito nodded again. "She 'DOESN'T want the role or position,' Kiba," she scolded lightly. If the kid was going to be a clan head Mito felt the need to correct how he spoke - not that she was a great example of perfect diction and such by any stretch of the imagination. "And I've heard of Hana." She looked into the trees and raised an eyebrow at 'Ruto-chan who was watching from above them. "I've got a bird that's being weird that I had been thinking about seeking her advice on."

'Ruto-chan wouldn't come into her quarters anymore but was always hovering around. Mito explained to the parrot that she wouldn't cage him if he didn't want to be caged but 'Ruto-chan called her an asshole. Mito didn't get it. But that cage door would always be open to him!

Kiba wasn't sure what to say but then realized what their sensei might be talking about as he looked back and forth between Naruto's pretty, weird-haired sister and the tree she was looking up at. "Is that a parrot? A black parrot?"

"It is. Anyway, nice to meet you." Mito wanted to hug the Hyuuga girl who had hesitatingly raised her hand. "Yes, Hinata-chan?" Then the Aburame boy raised his hand a bit, too. Mito sighed. "Hinata-chan, first, please, since she raised her hand first."

Hinata pressed her fingers together shyly. "Ano, can you tell us about yourself, sensei?" Her sensei's really pretty eyes popped out. Naruto's sister looked like she hadn't thought of doing that. Hinata felt herself shiver; she hoped that she hadn't spoken out of turn!

Her father would be so angry if she didn't become a Genin and get a good sensei.

"Okay, I suppose that's fair," Mito said as she put her hands back to support herself a little more comfortably. It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. "I'm a Jonin frontline combat medic. I'm also a fuuinjutsu specialist. I love my family and friends and… Hmm; books, I guess. And training, I suppose. I'm pretty active." That was an understatement. She nodded at Shino who had also raised his hand.

"Hinata-sama is the heiress to her clan," the boy said while pushing his glasses up.

Hinata gasped. I'm not necessarily the heiress at all: you KNOW that, Shino-kun!

"I'm aware," Mito said after a beat and then realized what he might be talking about. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you think I'm gonna call a 12 or 13-year-old Lord or Lady, then you are sadly mistaken. I don't mean any disrespect by that, Aburame-kun but I don't care for honorifics and I am not the most formal person, you'll find. …I spent nearly a decade working at the Capital and I had quite enough of the formalities we had and politics there. If any of you don't like it, you can quit."

Shino didn't respond but Hinata raised her hand again. Mito thought she'd die of cuteness overload but poor little Hinata looked nervous as hell. Please don't quit!

"Yes, Hinata? –No need to raise your hand, sweetheart." The Uzumaki Clan Head scolded herself for being nice already. Even her father had told her to be guarded (at best) at this first meeting since, supposedly, the team might not work out. He also said that she should scare them - then laughed and said that her simply showing up would scare them. –Did he not realize what that did to her self-esteem? Ah, who am I kidding: I didn't care one bit.

And these kids not making a Jonin-sensei-led Genin team? As if.

Their parents STILL work together now and then.

"Ano; your waistcloth is a representation of your service in Daimyo-sama's Guardian 12, is it not?"

"It is," Mito smiled proudly about her waistcloth. Guardian 4 now, she thought, feeling pained at the thought.

Mito was still so worried about this girl but was also SO glad to have her on her team. She could help Hinata more directly as her sensei. Kurenai had been upset that another Jonin got her, but Mito had been upset that someone else got Naruto and Sora, so they were even. Plus, Mito couldn't help but wonder if Kurenai could've done more about whatever it was that Hinata was going through since she'd been tutoring her for a couple of years. No offense, Kurenai.

Her future sister-in-law (it's going to happen, dammit) had agreed that as a clan, the Hyuuga's fucking sucked. She'd told Mito some things about what she thought the girl was going through that made her blood boil.

As her student, that shit STOPPED now.

And Mito couldn't wait to meet Hiashi. She was going to rip him a new asshole one day, very soon.

"So tell me about yourself, kid."

Hinata sat up even straighter. She wanted to make a better impression than she feared she had. "I like cinnamon buns and ano…" Hinata thought of Naruto-kun and felt her heart begin to beat faster again. Her breathing staggered as she became embarrassed, fearing that she was turning red again and suddenly Naruto's sister was coming very, very close and…
I'm on her team! What if she talks about my failings at home and that means that she'd say something to Naruto-kun and Hokage-sama and then…

Mito wasn't sure what had happened! Running a scan over the girl, it didn't seem like anything was wrong with her, medically. She had just blushed, began hyperventilating, and passed out! "Does this happen often?!" she asked the boys.

"More often than I'd like," Kiba admitted sourly.

"Kiba," Shino scolded gruffly. He blew out a huff of air as Hinata quickly woke up again and attempted to assist her. Hinata had confidence and anxiety problems - and possibly other things. These issues were always worse on Mondays, so he suspected that at its core were family problems. Hinata had a lot to live up to; they all did, however. "You were saying that you liked cinnamon buns. You also mentioned in class that you enjoy pressing flowers. …I believe you were going to mention your plans for your clan."

Hinata was so embarrassed! She'd fallen over again and was leaning against a tree. Quickly - almost too quickly - she sat up in a seiza position. "Yes! Thank you, Shino-kun! …I'd - I wish to bring the main and branch sections of my clan together, Mito-sensei!"

Mito blinked at her several times. She wasn't lying. "Excellent. And truly admirable. I will help you achieve that goal, Hinata." All three kids gasped (one very quietly) and Mito wondered what that was all about. "Shino?"

"My name is Aburame Shino. I wish to serve the village to the best of my ability. I like my allies and my clan's allies. And my family." He took a deep breath and rubbed the side of his glasses. "May I ask a question about your chakra?" His new sensei's lightly scarred upper lip curled up either into a smirk or snarl-like expression; he couldn't tell which. He paused as he thought about how to describe it in a neutral manner. "Why? Because my kikaichu..."

"Find my chakra weird and wonky, right?" Mito interrupted, finding him funny - and very much like everything she'd heard or read about the Aburames thus far. "It's cool, Shino: don't worry about it. I checked before and my chakra won't hurt you or your allies. Usually."

I checked with Kurama who said that he found the Aburames and their allies "weird" but had no issue with them - other than the fact that they were humans.

Since all humans were bugs in his book, he has no reason to target them more than he would anyone else.

Isn't that lovely?

"Anyway, tomorrow we're going to have a little test to see if you three can become Genins!" Only Hinata looked either surprised or worried about that. "Bring all your ninja tools and make sure you get a good night's sleep and all of that stuff. My test will not be easy. See you at training ground 43 at 0800. Dismissed." She sunshinned into the trees - away from 'Ruto-chan a bit in case he started talking to her - and used the camouflaging jutsu so she could see how the kids handled her orders.

"Training ground 43? Is she fucking serious?" Kiba asked. Shino huffed.

Above them, Mito grinned: she was serious.

"I don't, ano… I don't know where that is," Hinata said nervously.

"Relax, Hinata," Shino said as he offered her a hand to help her up. Hinata consented to his assistance absently before smoothing down her jacket and pants. "Why? Because a Jonin-sensei's test is a right of passage amongst Genin squads."

"Ma wouldn't tell me about hers but I know that's true," Kiba added thoughtfully. He noticed that the parrot was still staring at them and wondered if he was a summons. He'd never heard of a parrot summons. "But training ground 43 is… Well, it's supposed to be attached to Training Ground 44!"

Hinata gasped. "The Forest of Death!"

Kiba hummed. "Maybe she wants to kill us," he joked. –He hoped he was joking. Akamaru didn't seem worried so he guessed that he probably shouldn't, either. Although he is just a pup. "I'm gonna ask Ma about it when I get home. We should probably all do that and meet up later."

Shino nodded. He was somewhat surprised that the brash boy made a decent point.

Above them, Mito smiled. They were going to ace this thing.

Maybe she'd have to make her test harder.


.

Inuzuka Tsume smirked at her son. "Namikaze Mito, huh? –I can only tell you that if she's anything like her Ma, she's gonna kick your ass, kid." She laughed although she also felt a pain in her heart at hearing her son's new Jonin-sensei's name.

"Ah, c'mon, Ma! I need more intel than that! It's already bad enough that I gotta protect Hinata-chan and…"

"Don't you patronize her, Pup. I'd bet a million ryo that little Hinata's got more in the tank than what she's been showin' at the Academy. –Tsk. You've never been shy, Kiba - but your sister was and people used to underestimate her, too."

"Hana was SHY?" Kiba asked; it was hard to imagine his big sister acting like Hinata, though. He liked Hinata enough - or he probably would if she just pulled her head out. "Hana's quiet but she's not shy." He crossed his arms over his chest and sulked.

Tsume blew a stream of air, remembering Kushina. –To think, Kushina-chan gave me all that advice when I was pregnant with Hana but NEVER told me she already had a pup of her own. And I didn't even question it! Ever since she found out about Mito (Tsume had been on one of the teams to track Mito and her assailants down, having gone back to the temple to search for clues and then finally laid eyes on her - that had been awful - right after she'd been rescued.) she'd wondered if she and Kushina were as close as she thought they once were. Mito was such a huge secret to keep from her!

Nope, she told herself, Kushina was just protectin' what's hers. Tsume respected that. She respected the hell out of Kushina. "Invite your sensei over for dinner. Meh: make it your whole team. –Ask her what night would be good."

Kiba hummed although it sounded like a long growl. "She's kinda scary. Or weird or somethin'."

"HA! Just do it, pup. –And no, I'm not tellin' ya anything else about your test!"


That night, Mito met the other potential senseis at a bar; she had learned it was something that they did every year: before and after their assignments AND tests. Asuma and Kurenai were making lovey-dovey eyes at each other in a booth.

Anko flagged her down to point out her latest conquest.

"How's it hanging, Anko?" Mito asked rather seriously.

"Meh. I don't think it's hangin' at all tonight." Anko openly pointed to the civilian girl she'd told Mito about.

"Ooh - you're right. She is pretty. Are you going to see her again?"

"Nah, she's weird. …Hot, though."

"That's too bad," Mito said as she looked around at the other Jonins there. No one aside from Asuma and Kurenai looked particularly happy and everyone was drinking a LOT. "Did your Genins pass?" Anko had earlier mentioned that she planned to test her little group immediately, with no warning.

"NO," Anko groaned before tossing back her entire drink. "Those brats were horrible! They… The whole thing was SO BAD, I already submitted my VERY detailed report to Hokage-sama. I'm not sure they should even go back to the Academy."

Mito hummed. "Do you think that traitorous instructor fucked with them? Like, teaching them wrong and stuff?"

Anko shrugged and pulled her over to the bar where both women sat down on the high bar stools before flagging down the bartender and ordering a slew of cocktails and shots which they both began drinking - and continued to for a couple of hours or more. They were having a great time, talking and laughing, while the barkeeps were having difficulty keeping up with the group of increasingly rowdy Jonins before going back to that topic.

"Ah -regarding the kids… I don't know how we got off of that subject but I've no idea about that bastard." Anko was not going to tell Mito about the whole Orochimaru/Mizuki thing because she knew that Mito would argue about him. Mito hadn't seen what she did, though.

"-Mizu-ki," Anko then whispered loudly in a hiss toward her ear about the latest traitor - as if Mito didn't know his name. "I can only tell ya that the kids I was assigned were shitheads and bullies."

"Aww. That's not very nice."

Anko started giggling. "I used to be a bully!"

Mito laughed, too, the lower sound coming from her chest. "I remember that! –But you weren't really a bully. You just acted like a bully. And just at first!"

"It's cuz I've got a heart of gold!" Anko yelled and then cursed, jumping when Scarecrow suddenly appeared and took one of their drinks in each of his hands. "OI!" He threw back one and then the other, right through his mask before ordering himself a drink.

Considering they had a tray of them that Mito was trying to trick the bartender into charging Asuma for it, that wasn't that big of a deal to her. She reached over with a napkin and dabbed off the masked nin's chin and then flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry. You had a little uhh something," Mito said, feeling her face heat up and gesturing to where the drink had been dribbling down his masked chin. Feeling the alcohol, she began giggling, remembering that one time at the hospital when she had helped this guy put on his modified hitai-ate… Of how she'd carefully adjusted it over his Sharingan because she'd had perverted thoughts of that hot, sexy, one-eyed pirate in the book she'd let him borrow in front of an almost naked man. –Or maybe she hadn't; maybe she was thinking of that only now!

There were a bunch of naked men with me that day, she thought, chortling to herself.

She flushed and huffed at her ridiculousness. They were all unconscious; Mito, you fucking perv! You're a professional; you're better than that. She shook her head, growling at herself and then giggling at him since Kakashi's head was tilted at her again, like a dog. "You're skinny."

Kakashi groaned. "Thanks." He took the fresh drink she'd just picked up and drank that, too. Mito only half-pouted/half-scowled at him. "Maa, I've recently burned a lot of mass by…"

"By using WAY too much chakra," Mito said, getting fired up about it and poking him. "And I can see you now!" He was still skinny! –That was mostly true: she could mostly see.

"Maa, for your information, hime-sama, I am LEAN and fabulous."

"Don't call me that!"

"Yes," Anko cheered at the same time, raising yet another drink. "Fabulous is codeword for gay. Congratulations and welcome to the club of those who've come out. Except you're a man and men suck." Mito tucked in her head and snickered. "So no password for you."

"It is not," Kakashi had exclaimed, glad that he was wearing a mask. He wasn't gay! -Not that there was anything wrong with being gay. "'Fabulous' is simply the best word to describe…" To describe me.

"That's what I'm sayin'," Anko failed to agree.

Mito hummed. "Good pirates have muscles, ya know." She showed them both a few bodybuilding poses, making the appropriate flexing and grunting sounds as she did so, just in case they didn't know what muscles or bodybuilders were. "Yarrr," she added in pirate-ese.

"Oi, Musclewoman," Anko said, regaining her full attention as she grabbed her shoulder. "Speaking of gay," she pointed to Kakashi whom she almost swore growled at her, "you weren't there in the morning before we went to meet our teams, were ya?" Mito shrugged and Scarecrow looked like he may very well have gone partially catatonic. Scarecrow had some sleepy-ass eyes. "Hokage-sama used his perve ball- I mean, his creepy crystal ball and we saw your little brother kiss the Uchiha heir. Right on the mouth! In front of his whole class! –I'm pretty sure tongue was involved. And definitely lots of teeth," she added helpfully.

"Do whaaaat?!" Mito asked in surprise. "Aww. I thought maybe he'd like one of my Genins. –But I guess that's nice, though."

"Maa, it's not nice," Kakashi exclaimed. "It is hilarious, though. –Or it would be if I didn't have to… Never mind."

"Hey," Mito drawled before taking another shot and feeling suddenly nauseous. It took her a few seconds to speak as the horizon seemed to split and shift in front of her. "Did Tou-shan get mad that Nauto was kissin' someone?"

Kakashi stared at her for a few seconds, wondering if she was serious and/or wasted, taking a moment to really appreciate the white seals that covered so much of her creamy skin. He wondered what was in her palms, especially: seals were applied there as well. And he didn't know WHAT the deal was with her arm that had (tattoo-ed?) claw-like light-purple to whitish slashes on it. "Sensei seemed to find the whole thing amusing."

"Then I should kiss somebody," Mito cheered before becoming sad. "Naruto-chan's had more action than me!" She put her head on the bar while Anko patted her shoulder. More than a few heads were raised at her sad wail. She perked right back up, though. "Another round!"

"Hey, I kissed you that one time - just like otouto-chan kissed his little boyfriend," Anko laughed. "You sucked!"

Mito gasped, realizing how much attention they might be getting at the same time. Meh, she didn't care. "I was like a preteen or somethin' and you surprised me. But you're right. – Well probably, I mean: and I was…" She wanted to say that she was a great kisser but knew that was hardly the case. "Yeah, you're right." She probably did suck.

Mito was pretty sure that she had only stood there (getting kissed) and thought about how she didn't know the proper etiquette to utilize in such a situation. She hadn't wanted Anko to not be her friend so had just kinda looked around the room while it was happening. That was fucked up, not that she blamed Anko. Anko had warned her of what she wanted to try and Mito had only shrugged at the time - not really believing her.

It had also been interesting. At least she realized that she wasn't into girls.

Anko shrugged. "Sucks to suck. That's all there is to it." Her best friend pouted like a brat: Mito was definitely getting pretty wasted.

Mito glared at her (and also tried to focus on Anko's face and ponytail.) "Shows what you know. Considering that your sloppy snogging wasn't even memorable!" They both turned around sharply when the Monkey ANBU tapped her on the shoulder.

Anko glared at the ANBU but reminded herself that this guy was not only under orders but also Mito's oldest brother figure. "What do you want, Monkey Man?"

"She needs to get back," Hideki said from underneath his mask. "Let's go, you."

Mito stared at him, feeling anger and resentment about being treated like a child as her eyes began to burn. –That's stupid, she huffed to herself. And Mito knew better than to give Hideki shit in front of people but maybe she could lose him on the way home. Hideki not only wanted to order her around on behalf of her father but also wanted to get back to his family, she was sure, however. She would never stop him from doing that. "Right. I'll see you two."

Anko shook her head and watched as Monkey Man steadied her friend as they left the bar. Shiranui Genma approached her and Mito had laughed at whatever he said - but then the ANBU pulled her from him and sunshinned her out. "Man. Somebody's old man's got a family rebellion brewing and it's NOT going to be pretty!"

She grumbled the rest to herself before getting up to bug Ibiki who had just shown up here for some reason. "Mi-chan's independent, strong as fuck, and 22 years old, for God's sake." She turned toward the scarecrow who was also watching Mito leave. "Being forced to go home early on a school night? Ha."

–She couldn't believe it!


.


Later and unable to stand it, Minato grabbed his ninja tools and jumped up on his roof to see what in the world his daughter was up to. It was 0330 and she was blowing enough hot AND freezing cold chakra in the private training ground that he was sure that she'd woken all kinds of Konoha citizens - and not just sensors like him.

Pulling out his scope, he tried to follow her on the water as she flew through it, ice coming off of the water in shards - which she hadn't frozen earlier. Or maybe she'd simply burned it all away? He blew out his cheeks and flinched when he caught sight of her face.

Now Naruto waking up in the middle of the night with a Kyuubi-induced nightmare made more sense.

He'd THOUGHT things were getting better. But when he momentarily saw her face, the three little (normally almost invisible white) whisker marks on the top of her cheeks were dark and her eyes were mostly red even in the dark. Her white teeth didn't quite look normal either, and she'd been gritting and baring them.

Fingering a chakra suppression seal in his pocket, he looked through the scope one more time, regretting what he was about to be forced to do.

…Only to see her pop up like a figure skater unbound by the tethers of gravity, spinning who knows how many times in the air and landing while moving backward on the water, her arms spread wide. When she turned, she had a big, beautiful smile on her face.

Minato breathed out a sigh of relief and realized that he'd begun sweating only moments earlier. Letting go of the seal, he decided to talk to Hideki or Asuma in the morning. He had a strong feeling that Jiraiya had been right: he was totally screwing things up with his daughter.

He also needed to find out what had pissed her off so much.