DISCLAIMER & A/N: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe. I think I mentioned earlier that there is definitely something wrong or a little off about the multi-shadow clone jutsu.

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

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

"I ran into an ally of a friend turned enemy," Jiraiya told his former student and leader. Minato only waited for him to continue. "The Akatsuki."

"Your former student's group in Ame; Konan-chan's correct?"

Oh, and didn't that make Jiraiya sick? Maybe Konan-chan didn't know of their supposedly true purpose? He nodded. "A summons brought me this." He handed Minato a scroll which he immediately opened. It caught on fire, making him drop and try to put the fire out before it was destroyed.

Unfortunately, the writing itself burned first. "Dammit."

Jiraiya pulled back and slowly pulled out a kunai, twirling it, to settle his nerves. "That was no seal, meaning the writing must have been in my blood." YUck. God, why did he and Tsunade let that bastard experiment on them so often growing up? "The Akatsuki is after the tailed beasts. –I heard something similar in my travels: they were supposedly scouting, looking into who contains each one."

But what did Orochimaru have to gain by funneling information about the Akatsuki to him?

.

Since she was essentially Mito, Mito's clone knew that her original wanted to be at this meeting with the Jonin Commander but that checking on Hinata-chan was simply more important to her, personally. Because of this, the clone decided that she was Mito. She would not tell the Jonin Commander that she was a clone, therefore she was not a clone anymore. She sighed and moved her first pawn on the shogi board, wondering if Naras did anything else in their free time but play shogi.

"The Gato Corporation," Shikaku began gruffly after clicking his tongue and moving his first piece, too. He took a sip of the sake sitting beside him. "In addition to all of the trading we knew about or could imagine, he's also been smuggling a lot of things into the continent that Konoha and Hi no Kuni doesn't have access to."

Mito nodded and moved another pawn before emptying her own cup. It was warm sake, so not her thing but if someone was offering her a drink that wasn't poisoned, she'd drink it! "I was more concerned with the missing children. And adults, of course. –Those who have been trafficked through Gato's network."

"I figured," Shikaku said before making a bolder move. He looked up to see her expression and realized that Mito hadn't reacted at all. Ensui had told him that Mito played shogi with reckless abandon and also cheats like mad. "I cannot bring you into that investigation yet but if you can get me some intel on Gato's contacts or network, I might be able to change that." The kunoichi nodded and sighed - and when he looked down again, one of his pawns was missing. He cleared his throat and got a puzzled look from the absolutely guilty kunoichi. "Ugh. Troublesome."

"It is," Mito said benignly. "What am I looking for, exactly?" She slid the pawn she'd palmed into another space so she could legitimately take it. This is what made shogi fun.

"What a drag," Shikaku mumbled as he realized what she'd done. He threw back his head and groaned, only feeling more ill at ease when he looked down again and saw that his lance was gone. And it had still been protected! "We've determined that Gato was shipping high-tech items from the West to Lightning, Snow, and Ame."

Mito cocked her head. "That makes sense, doesn't it? I haven't been to Ame in well over a decade but technologically, they were advanced at least in terms of building materials. They also had more pollution to deal with because of it - but they're a poor country, are they not?" When it came to Snow, it was even more obvious.

"Hai," Shikaku said before pouring them both more sake.

"Lightning Country can probably afford just about anything, and the Snow's daimyo is also said to be filthy rich," Mito said to herself as much as her boss before making another move. She was going to lose her piece but that's all it was: a piece. This is how she often beat Ensui - not that she beat him as often as she'd like. Ensui always felt like the pieces on a shogi board were comrades he could imagine in battle. Mito got that; she really did. But the pieces on the board were not people, and shogi could also simply be a game: something Ensui just seemed unable to wrap his head around sometimes until he got really upset with her. "Not only is the Lightning Daimyo rich as hell but the country, itself, is rich in natural resources."

"As is Hi no Kuni," Shikaku countered - although he agreed with her.

"Right but although we're blessed with farmland - well, a general topography and climate the likes of which makes every other country on the continent drool plus outstanding ports and such, we don't have the heavy and other metals they do - or at least we don't have them in the abundance that Lightning Country or Iwa does. I wonder how much mining goes on outside of Kumo."

"A lot," Shikaku stressed and handed her a report. Mito whistled when she read it.

"Obviously this much mining means that the materials are not all being used in-house."

"That's our guess."

Mito smirked. "I bet high technology can beat or dramatically enhance one's status, ne, Commander-sama? Boy… I can only imagine what I could do if I had access to what they have in the West. Things could become downright dangerous for us if one of our adversaries or rivals was able to advance so far ahead of us."

Shikaku smiled and didn't even mind when she legitimately took one of his pieces. He needed to think about how she got out of his trap and couldn't help but wonder if she'd cheated, after all. "Call me Shikaku."

"That's… not appropriate." She did not want Asuma potentially grilling her about the Jonin Commander the way he did about Nara Ensui. She knew that Shikaku-sama and Asuma were friends.

"Troublesome. At least call me Shikaku when we're playing shogi."

"I guess I can do that!" Shikaku refilled her glass again and Mito waited for him to look away before swapping another piece out. He just clicked his tongue at her, making her feel that he didn't really mind. If that were the case, she wouldn't do it anymore. "So am I looking for something specific? –Especially right now with this Orochimaru mess going on?"

Shikaku handed her a thick file that she'd have to review in depth later. "Until the Chunin Exams are over, I'd like you to look into anything you find suspicious. The files include what I can currently give you of what we know so far. I know you're working on reinforcing the barriers and stadium - and with your students. We need to take down Gato's network and have too few leads. Forgive me for asking you to do more."

"I'm happy to help," she said honestly. She really wanted to find those missing kids most of all. What if they were being experimented on in the West? They were almost certainly being abused in some way, she feared. -They'd been taken, no matter what.

"Gato's network," Mito breathed, shutting her eyes. When she opened them back up, they sparkled with a hint of mischief. "His network: to take down, or do we want to fully take it over?"

Shikaku grinned at her again, liking Minato's daughter very much so far.

.

Around a half hour before -

"Yakushi-san?"

Shit, Kabuto thought. Previously infiltrating a hospital room to murder the unconscious Uchiha Sasuke at the general (so-so) suggestion of The Dark Lord, aka Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto had just taken out an ANBU squad and escaped that germophobe, Hatake, and had thought he was free! –Well as free as anyone was when working for Lord Orochimaru.

For now.

One day, he will work for me if I don't kill him first!

Kabuto blinked rapidly several times and cycled his chakra, ensuring that he was not in a genjutsu. Although he was sure that Mito-hime was really in front of him, he didn't understand why she wasn't attacking him - why Little Miss Mass-Murder Mednin wasn't brutally sucking him dry with her chains: kinky - and instead was only smiling at him rather shyly. "You caught me! What can I do for you Mito-hi-sensei," he said, remembering at the last second that she preferred that title. She must not have caught wind of what I've done yet. For some reason - possibly madness - it made him want to laugh at her.

"Ah, you remembered," Mito smiled about her so-called title, rocking back on the heels of her boots. "I just wanted to say thank you."

Kabuto smiled benignly. You're welcome: I'm happiest when half-ordered to do something foul. That's when I really shine. "For?"

Mito smiled a little sheepishly. "Naruto told me that you saved him and his team with your bravery and quick thinking at the end of the second task."

"Ah-ha; that was nothing! I can assure you that your brother and Sasuke-kun were very impressive." They've already made wonderful playthings for me and my master - and will undoubtedly continue to be fun in the future - depending on how long they live. "In fact," he lied, raising his glasses and putting his other hand gently over his heart, "I think it's more likely that Naruto-kun saved me." He smiled pleasantly as Mito blinked at him with her startling, heterochromatic eyes.

Central Heterochromia: the most commonly known variant as evidenced by her irises
Her hair pattern is particularly odd, however
Healthy but reproducing her genetic material has proven to be incredibly difficult

Indeed, something was missing from their calculations. Could it be that her Uzumaki lineage had simply made her hardier - that perhaps a disease associated with heterochromia was really at work but her lineage was supporting her and covering her other symptoms? He'd have to discuss it with Orochimaru-sama.

Having no idea of his thoughts, Mito thought that he was being modest. I still think you suck for stalking me but I need more information. "I was going to see if I could buy you dinner as repayment - but if Naruto-kun really saved you, too, maybe we should go dutch?"

Gross and no thanks: although the chains sound interesting, I like older men with certain body modifications. "I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check."

"Of course," Mito grinned and half-bowed. She had a sudden feeling: almost as if bowing was the same as sticking her head into a guillotine in this instance, so she popped back up quite quickly. "That's fine. Thank you, again, for helping my brother and his team."

"Don't mention it," Kabuto said seriously. "Ja!"

"Ja!" Mito's clone went for some ramen.

Later, when she dispelled herself, the real Mito slapped herself in the face, feeling like a complete moron.

The good news was that Hyuuga Kaori, the older med-nin whom Mito respected very much, believed that Hinata would make a full recovery. She would need at least a month off to fully heal but Kaori was devoted to her care.

Kaori, it turned out, was from the main branch of the Hyuuga family but absolutely despised their system. She was one of the few "main branchers," as she called them, to wear her headband over her unsealed forehead - as a sign of solidarity with those who had been sealed. Save her daughter, Kaori-sensei lost her immediate family in the previous shinobi wars. She was close to Hinata and her family (including Neji and Hizashi, curiously enough) and believed in changing her clan. Kaori, though, said that she probably wouldn't live to see that happen in her lifetime.

She believed in Hinata; believed in the younger generation of shinobis surpassing them and was quick to voice it.

"The problem in our clan is the Elders," she said and then chuckled with bitter sarcasm. "Of course, I am one of those Elders, however, I am only a woman." Mito made a groan of disapproval, even as she watched her work. "Oh, that Neji-kun," Kaori said under her breath - although she was sure that the Namikaze heard her. "You little brat: wait 'til I get my hands on you!"

Mito sucked in a slow breath. "Please don't hurt Neji." Kaori looked up at her, her dojutsu still activated and Mito held up her hands. "Because… I want a piece of him?" she joked - sort of.

Mito was still very pissed off about what he'd done to her student, though.

"As I said, I think the curse seal is barbaric! I wouldn't hurt Neji or anyone if I can help it, Mito. I will never, EVER forget my siblings' screams as that wretched seal was put on them, or when it was once used against my youngest child. –Of course, I killed the man who did it."

Mito's red eyebrows shot up under her hitai-ate. Hyuuga Kaori didn't seem the type but they all were, weren't they? "I'd like to help both of them: Hinata and Neji." Although I still want to kick that kid's ass for what he did to my girl.

"So would I," the Hyuuga said sadly as she moved to open another one of Hinata's gates. At least the poor girl is breathing easier now. "I'm surprised that you haven't seen these kinds of injuries before."

Mito clicked her tongue and crossed her arms over her chest. She had to force down her bitterness, feeling embarrassed for what her training lacked. "I was on the road a lot during the war. The Konoha nins I encountered hadn't fought Hyuugas - naturally. After the war ended, I only ran into maybe a handful of shinobis who had sparred with a Hyuuga and while we healed what we could, Shizune said a Hyuuga healer would be necessary or better to immediately unlock some of the tenketsus that had been blocked."

The damage the shinobis she met who suffered from having some tenketsus closed was NOTHING compared to this, however.

"Yes, we Hyuugas are better equipped to heal our own. Without a Hyuuga unlocking the tenketsus, it could take as long as two weeks to heal from lesser damage. This, though…" Kaori shook her head, planning to really lay into Neji (with words, thank you very much.) "I suppose you did treat the Hyuugas you saw while training as best you could."

Mito nodded, grimacing as she remembered it. "And one, Hyuuga Haji, while I was at the Fire Temple. I'm still unsure of what he was doing there with those kinds of injuries. Tsunade showed me how to do it years ago, but forcing tenketsus open is certainly not ideal."

Kaori huffed but nodded her head in agreement. Hinata's eyes began to open.

"Hinata," Mito gasped happily. "Welcome back, sweetie!"

Hinata tried to swallow and winced in pain - and at the taste of blood in her mouth. "Sen-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK!"

"Eep!"

An hour or so later, Mito went to go check Sasuke's seal as she should have earlier and found a downed ANBU team, with Hatake Kakashi standing over them. She glared at him and got ready to fight him, making even MORE clones to wake up or heal the ANBU if it was possible.

She'd used her chains to suck a Chidori out of Hatake during a spar before - and this asshole better get ready to see what she could do in a real fight. "You better start talkin' fast." She saw that the room's window had been busted out but she still needed to make sure!

Kakashi gaped at her from underneath his mask but only held up his arms in innocence, plastering an eye smile on his face that definitely did not reach anywhere under his mask. "Maa, maa. I didn't do it, hime-sama. I was attacked, too! -Yakushi Kabuto is a traitor to Konoha," he added darkly. "He escaped after using a jutsu to control a dead body, along with a shadow clone."

"Oh," Mito gawked rather helplessly; she had been ready to rumble. "For real? Oh, well. –Shit!" She'd just gotten one of her clone's memories; she'd been with Kabuto! "If that guy's dead, go after Kabuto! Last time I was with him, he was at the," she began snapping her fingers, trying to place where he'd been, "close to the North Gate! Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Her new clone would know where to go!

Mito couldn't believe that not only had she allowed Kabuto to get away like that, but she'd even APOLOGIZED to the traitor!

Kabuto would be back.

Minutes earlier -

Samui waited for her fellow Kumo Jonin instructor, believing the eager, cocky man would probably give her grief since her students - whom she had known weren't quite ready for the Chunin Exams - would not be moving on to the finals. But at least my students made it out of the Forest of Death, unlike his.

Really, the fact that Lee's students didn't make it made little sense to her. Lee-sensei's students were older and quite skilled. Technically, they were already Kumo Chunins, not that Konoha ever needed to know that. The only thing that she could imagine delaying them from reaching the Tower was perhaps being taken down by one of the huge animals, insects, or a man-eating plant in Konoha's Forest of Death. One of the members of the Hokage's guard told her that Team Lee had been retrieved, intact at least and that they were recovering.

Supposedly, the Hokage wanted to escort them out of the country but Samui couldn't believe that the man would take them as far as his messenger had mentioned. Arrangements had been made for those things prior to the exams but Samui's team had been asked to enter at the very last second. A-sama, her Raikage, told her to let Lee handle the details - something that had made her silently seethe at the time. Sexism: pure and simple. Regardless, she was looking forward to going home.

Her eyes widened as she saw a woman who had to be Senju Tsunade, herself, berating her fellow Kumo Jonin as the Hokage exited an office. Namikaze Minato seemed to find the whole thing amusing if the twinkle in his remarkably blue eyes was anything to go by - and he also didn't seem to be the least bit surprised by the Senju princess' gruff demeanor.

A-sama said Tsunade-hime was like this but Wow.

"...And I don't know what you're trying to pull but if you think for one goddamn second that you're fooling me into believing that kid can't travel, you're deck's short more than one card, ya little sh-"

"Tsunade-hime, if I may," the Hokage interrupted with what looked like a fake cough, stepping in.

"Yes, you can! I'll be glad to be rid of them," the Senju sneered. "Both Kumo teams are healthy and ready to leave."

Samui noticed that something - some kind of telepathic message seemed to be conveyed between them - before the Senju stormed past her. Samui couldn't help but turn around as the older woman walked by. No matter where the Senju princess hailed from, every kunoichi looked up to or wished to rival Senju Tsunade for elevating their profession and for the lives she had been saving and maintaining for decades.

Unless they despised her for poisoning one of their loved ones.
Or had a loved one that had faced her in battle. Tsunade-hime was fierce.

"She is an impressive kunoichi, don't you think?" Minato asked the younger blonde knowingly.

Samui turned back toward him and nodded, finding his attention on her (and incredibly good looks) slightly disarming. "She is. Raikage-sama has spoken of meeting Senju-hime on several occasions." The Hokage nodded with a smile still on his face but the way his eyes widened comically for a second told her that he had also heard of some of their prior interactions.

"I remember when Senju was a drunk back before she got her act together."
"They call her the Legendary Sucker just as often as they do the Angel of Mercy. Mercy or Angel: HA! More like the Princess of Poison with that tongue of hers! –Plus the poisons she cooks up, of course."

Samui thought that A-sama always looked a little lovesick when he spoke of her. B-sama said that she beat him in arm wrestling once: that would've definitely impressed her Raikage. Cool.

The Hokage handed her two scrolls. "Please deliver this one to A-sama for me, Samui-san? The other scroll contains your team's belongings. Thank you for coming to participate in the exams this year," he said as he led the senseis down a wide corridor. "We had so many promising young competitors. I'm sure they'll meet again. I hope that, like this time, when it happens it will be in times of peace."

"I hope so, too." Samui felt it better to leave things at that. The Kumo Genins and the Hokage's guard were waiting for her and Lee in the middle of a sealing circle. She took the last spot in the circle that was open to her as the Hokage was gesturing to it.

"As I promised your Raikage, I'll now transport you to the border of Fire Country." The Hokage kneeled in the middle of the circle and muttered something that Samui couldn't make out, pushed a large amount of chakra into the center, and a second later, their setting had dramatically changed. No longer were they in Konoha or inside, that much was obvious.

Lee muttered something and for a moment Samui wondered if something was wrong with her ears or if she was under a genjutsu. Immediately recycling her chakra, she felt much better when her students began excitedly babbling about how cool the fuuinjutsu, or "teleportation" was. She gave them a stern look to remind them that manners mattered (and not to get too enamored with the Hokage: A-sama would have a fit,) especially on foreign soil. They straightened right up. Lee and his older students all seemed highly put out. The Hokage handed him a scroll.

"Since you had reservations about traveling so soon after the exams ended, I took the liberty of providing you with additional rations and more." Even as he smiled, Minato couldn't help but narrow his eyes, wondering what their game was. Something was very off about those older Genins and their Jonin-sensei, especially. "Safe travels."

"To you as well," Samui said, bowing to the kage before turning to her students. "You heard him, team. Let's go." They took the formation most often used on escort missions and Lee's team moved to flank their backs. Unfortunately, Lee approached her. "I don't have much to tell Raikage-sama," she admitted.

"Tree-huggers were being very careful," Lee said. It doesn't matter. We'll slip back in during the Finals if not before then. "Did you enjoy your time in Konoha, Samui-san?"

Samui only shrugged. She wanted to know what happened to Lee's team during the second task but would wait to ask any of them questions until they were in Lightning Country.

For several minutes, Minato kneeled, pressing his fingers into the ground to ensure that they weren't circling back into Hi no Kuni. He groaned and stood up before running his hands down his sides and rubbing his sore back.

"We could've Hiraishined them here," Genma said - and might have whined - for the umpteenth time. It would've taken only a few trips. He knew this was a show of strength: a demonstration of how unwise it would be to screw with Konoha but this still worried him.

He was always worried; it sucked! Genma's life was almost all work and although his leader had scolded him for that in the past, he was only NOW beginning to realize that maybe engaging in other more personal pursuits could help him - professionally, even. He was stressed out! Heaving out a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose at his stubborn kage. "Using the hiraishin a few times would've saved you a lot of chakra." It took a lot to power the seal he'd just used and Minato had made sure that the two surviving Sound shits were escorted FAR out of Fire Country earlier. He had to be running on empty.

Minato would have to agree with his words but he felt better about doing things this way. "As I said before, I believe A-sama will appreciate that his teams were allowed to travel together. –I'll let you three Hiraishin me back, though." He knelt down and sensed that the Kumo entourage was out of range. "Good." He stood between the members of his guard. "Gentlemen, if you will, let's meet the Ame teams and sensei - and see them out next as soon as their Genins are cleared by Tsunade-hime."

"You can't be planning to power that seal again, Hokage-sama," Raido asked worriedly.

Minato laughed, knowing that there was just no way: at least not today! He popped a soldier pill, hating the way it tasted and plowed through his system so harshly. It was necessary, however, in case he needed to fight. His worrywart guard all looked pensive. "No, I think a nice, leisurely stroll with the Ame contingency could provide us with some interesting information."

Iwashi grimaced, knowing that what Minato called a "stroll" was anything but.

"As soon as you're ready."

Off they flashed. They arrived back in Konoha to learn that Yakushi Kabuto had turned traitor and had taken down the ANBU team guarding Uchiha Sasuke while his mother had left his room, only to get some coffee.

And Mikoto was furious.

.

Mito found Anko in the training ground behind T&I, wailing on a wooden training dummy and cursing up a quiet storm. "Let me see your hands." She raised her own when Anko moved to attack her.

"Oh, it's you," Anko sighed morosely before putting her fists on her hips and wincing. She quickly pulled them away again. Knowing Mito-chan's mother-hen attitude, she held out her bloody, beat-up hands, allowing them to be healed - if only so she could go back to her training.

"How's it hangin' Anko? …I heard about Orochimaru. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Right now my pussy of a big dick AND balls are hiding up my ass!"

That's a new one, Mito thought. "Sounds uncomfortable and might require surgery - or at least a solid punch to your taint." She could be gross, too, if it was for a friend. "Wanna fight?" she asked, trying to make things a hell of a lot lighter than they were. It's how they normally worked out their problems together.

"I might kill you right now," Anko fumed.

Mito smirked at her. "I'd like to see you try." Anko glared at her.

"Don't blame me when I destroy you, Princess." Mito looked infuriated! Anko moved first, launching attack after attack after attack on her friend.

Half an hour later, the kunoichis lay on the ground, panting, as Buddy lay beside Mito, licking his giant paws.

"I can't believe you sicked your snakes on me!"

"You brought… THAT out," Anko grunted, pointing to the gigantic black panther. "Plus you've got those stupid chains!"

"OI! He's not a 'THAT!' He's Buddy-sama. And what was I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know."

"Would you like me to eat your former sensei, Anko-chan?" Buddy asked between licks. He didn't particularly like snakes or humans but he remembered Anko and could do her and Mito a solid. As long as Anko didn't tell anyone.

Both women yelled "YES!"

They talked for a while, Anko reliving fighting Orochimaru in the forest, Mito relaying what she knew of Sasuke's condition (and the differences she'd noted in their cursed seals) until Anko admitted what she'd attempted to do.

"You were really going to kill yourself," Mito whispered, swallowing down the bile that just kept coming up her throat. Finally, she spat just to try to get rid of the taste. She looked at her friend with furious tears in her eyes.

Anko sighed, getting where Mito was coming from but not feeling anything but regret for not having succeeded in killing that man. "You don't know what he did to all those kids… To Tenzo!"

"Yes, I do," Mito said. She was trying to remain calm; even her hair was trying to remain calm for once. "I've read the reports and um… treated Tenzo-kun before so I've read his medical file."

"That isn't the half of it," Anko sneered before sitting up. "He… MY kids, Mito! My students: the Chunins helping proctor brought me to them and… He'd STOLEN THEIR FACES! That's how he got into the exams! Orochimaru killed them and stole their fucking faces."

Mito was horrified. She could not IMAGINE nor did she want to imagine someone doing that to any of her students, past or present. "Oh my god."

"They were terrible brats," Anko admitted with a heavy heart. "They were always causing chaos but trying SO HARD to improve."

"I'm sorry, Anko," Mito said, not knowing where to go from here. "Please don't give your life up for such a horrible… person? Please? "

Anko barked out a huff of bitter laughter. "I could say the same to you about Obito, ne, Mito-chan?"

Mito swallowed hard and bit back a whimper. That was so true, wasn't it? –She'd gladly give up her life if she could take Obito down with her. "We are so fucked. -As human beings and kunoichis, we're so fucked!"

"Yep," Anko agreed. They sat in silence for the longest time. "Let's kill the two fuckers together."

Mito's lightly scarred upper lip curled up into a feral smile. "I can agree to that." They shook hands and after putting down a silencing seal that she should have used much earlier, got into specifics. "Hey, Anko-chan. How did you not know Orochimaru was…" wearing their skins? Anko had always known exactly where her sensei was - back when the man was still the person Mito remembered. "You know: how did you not sense him?"

"I can't figure it out," Anko admitted as she stared blankly ahead of her. "I want to think that his chakra has changed so much but once I was fighting him, he felt like the sensei bastard I used to know - at least at the end."

"There are seals that can hide chakra."

Anko raised an eyebrow at her friend. She wasn't bad at sealing but she also wasn't an Uzumaki, let alone one whose parents were the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina and the goddaughter of two of the Sannins. Orochimaru wasn't a seal master, either, though. "Are there seals that can change it?" Mito shrugged and nodded. Anko shook her head. It took a while for her to admit what she was thinking. "I think Orochimaru's gonna use Guren or Sasuke-kun - to overtake one of their bodies - or maybe both. Like, he's going to wear them."

Mito felt gooseflesh cover her skin. "He wants to learn all the jutsus…"

"And always said one lifetime wasn't enough to do it in," Anko finished up for her. They'd heard him say it often enough. Mito always assured Orochimaru that "you're always learning!" Anko knew even then, it wasn't enough for him - she just didn't know how far he might go to achieve his goals.

Mito eventually decided to change topics. "Did you hear that a supposed Genin medic tried to kill Uchiha Sasuke?"

Anko nodded. She hadn't been briefed yet but had heard enough: news traveled fast in the Jonin community. She didn't yet know the specifics.

"This little shit used to stalk me," Mito huffed. "I actually apologized to that Kabuto-fucker since he helped my brother and his team." Anko sat up, gawking at her. Mito nodded. "He helped Team 7, which Sasuke and my brother are on - meaning Kabuto was probably setting them up!"

"KABUTO?!" Anko yelled. "YAKUSHI KABUTO? I TOLD Hokage-sama he couldn't be trusted! He may have gone through T&I but I don't know the specifics although I TOLD HIM…"

"WHAT?! I… WHAT NOW?"

"Mii-iiito," Anko whined, "you don't remember…. Ohhhh, you don't remember Kabuto. Ha! I thought you 'never forget a person or chakra signature,' huh? He's the one who um…" Shit. Anko hated even thinking about that time Mito showed up nearly dead outside of their little "village" on the back of the very panther sunning himself next to her. She definitely didn't want to bring that episode up with Mito. "You met him once but you were out of it."

"Whe— Oh." Mito breathed, guessing that she must have met him after being kidnapped. She unsealed her vibrating massage brush, knowing that she owed the cats her life. Back then they weren't even contracted to her and yet they still saved her. She turned it on and began brushing Buddy. He rolled around as she ran it over his coat. "Shit. –Did I 'know him, know him?'"

"Like sexually? No," Anko nearly yelled.

"Gross! No! I meant, did I talk to him and stuff? 'Cause I didn't remember him at all!"

"You could hardly talk at the time," Anko said under her breath. "Nope. He just injected ya and ran out of the room."

"Oh, is that all?" Mito snarked. "Do you know what he injected me with?"

Anko arched an eyebrow at her again before looking away, frowning. "I do not." She also didn't know what Orochimaru had done with all of those samples he'd taken from her best friend over the years. From the way Mito shivered, Anko bet that she was wondering about that, too. "I thought it was a strong pain reliever. He um… Guren told me later that the syringe had some kind of antibiotic and muscle relaxant in it."

Mito knew that didn't sound right at all.

.

The next day, Mito munched everything she could while half-listening to her father and Naruto going around in circles, arguing. The taste of the wonderful "quiches" and "bear claws" Momo had made was being ruined by her poutiness (and their inability to effectively communicate right now,) she knew.

Both Torune and Shino were preparing for the finals by training with their father, Shibi - who had taken a month off of work (as much as a ninja could) - so the boys supposedly didn't need her. Kiba was working with his mother who had ALSO taken time off, thinking her son would be in the finals and wanted to support him in learning clan techniques. Hinata was in the hospital, recovering but still in serious condition, and Kurenai hadn't asked her to help her students. – Yet. Hopefully.

A little depressed, Mito felt like a sad failure of a sensei. And let's not go into the whole Orochimaru thing. …Nobody needs me.

Whaa: goddammit. She crammed half of another bear claw down her pie hole without even really tasting it before nearly choking on some kind of delicious, sugary nut. And apples?

"Mmmm. So good. May I have some more please?!" She wiggled her eyebrows at her aunt and put on her most winning smile. Momo rolled her eyes, still in disbelief over the way her grandniece ate, even after witnessing the way she inhaled things nearly every day.

Slightly happier, Mito bounced her leg nervously under the table and licked her fingers clean - unaware that her father and brother were staring at her pleased (and slightly sticky) face. Sora and Naruto, Mito knew, were going to be training with Jiraiya - who had asked if she could remain on standby since he, of course, had some other shit going on, considering the whole Orochimaru thing. As if I don't. Mito had so many henged and unhenged clones running around, it was maddening.

She had SO MANY damn clones running around, she finally forced them to give her written reports since she couldn't keep up with them dispelling (and giving her headaches) the way they were.

Naruto shrugged and turned back to his father when his sister didn't answer him; she looked like she was in her own little world. "Anyway, he actually suggested that I train with that closet pervert, Ebisu! He said he called in a favor!"

"I think Ebisu is a straight-out perv, Naruto," Mito said knowingly.

Naruto nodded. "Ah. But anyway, that bastard is gonna train The Bastard…"

Minato narrowed his eyes at his son; he knew better than to talk like this - or to use a Rasengan when it wasn't absolutely necessary! "Don't. Talk. About Your Superiors or Kakashi-kun that way, Naruto!"

"Hai," Naruto all but whined.

"Naruto, I want to talk to you about your oath to avenge Hinata-chan," Mito said, tapping her manicured fingernail on the table.

"I'm gonna kick Neji's ass. Believe it."

"Oh, I do. But you didn't have to drag your fingers through Hinata-chan's blood! That's nasty. You need to consider the pathogens that are in blood – plus all the crap in the dirt, beyond that?! Yuck."

"My word is my bond and a blood oath is the strongest oath you can make, 'ttebayo. –Like the summoning contract!"

"Hmm. As a medical professional, I can say with authority that's… nasty. Super gross, 'ttebane."

Naruto figured that Mito was being both silly and serious. And it's not like he was a blood-loving vampire or something! "You've been bloody before!"

"It's not like I welcome it, otouto! You have no idea how often I test myself for diseases or conditions you don't even want to know about. Now I have to test you!"

"What?! No way!" Naruto steamed even more as his father got up to go to work, still not believing what he explained.

"Yes, way. I already told Jiraiya. Now, what happened to make you break your promise?" Honestly, Mito hadn't really been paying attention to their argument. She had had a LOT of coffee this morning and, as usual, breakfast was too damn good.

Naruto groaned and hit the table. Mito was pleased that it didn't break although it certainly did come up off the floor. Thatta boy, Naruto. Uzumakis were often incredibly strong compared to those she called "the normals."

"Okay, so somethin' about my chakra was off, right?" Naruto tried to explain his match with Kiba. "For ages, I've been trying to make the Rasengan without a clone, ya know. So when I tried to push, push, PUSH my chakra when Kiba made that mud wall? …I don't know! I just kinda did the first thing I could think of to push through the block I felt." He clutched his gut and knew it was a terrible explanation. That's probably why his dad didn't get it or believe him - which was totally uncool.

Mito bit her lip and frowned. "Your team got REALLY beat up in the forest, Naru. You should be careful: when you told me about all the henged shadow clones and transformations you had to do right before the prelims? You could've run yourself out of chakra!" She pursed her lips and cracked her neck, looking her brother up and down again as Momo stopped him from taking another bear claw. She grabbed it and winked at him. "Still doesn't make sense: why you made a Rasengan."

"I TOLD YOU," Naruto groaned. "I've been practicing doing it without a clone EVERY DAY! I made a clone to beat up Kiba - and then Dogbreath went and made that mud wall and I - I stumbled! I was gonna climb it, ya know: maybe do a Gale Palm from the top of it like a badass?"

Mito nodded. That would have been a good plan! Kinda flashy, too! "So why didn't you?"

"'CAUSE I STUMBLED, GODDAMMIT! Then my stupid shadow clone started makin' a Rasengan and I grabbed it while I fell down." His sister started snickering which pissed him off even more. "Mito-chaaaaaaaan," he whined.

"So it's more like you fell through Kiba's wall with your Rasengan than you did push through it, huh?"

"YES," Naruto breathed, groaning as he dramatically went limp and smacked his face down on the table. "Kinda. I got a lot of dirt in my mouth," he mumbled to himself, remembering how that whole thing went down.

"And your clone made the Rasengan?" Mito asked for clarification. Naruto nodded. "See?! -This is more proof of how there's something not quite right about the shadow clone jutsu," Mito commented, wagging her index finger. Not that I'll stop using it. "How's your chakra feeling now?" she asked. Naruto made a "so-so" gesture with his hand. "Hmm. I wonder what the deal is." She scratched her cheek and let her senses fly - which sucked since there were so many people very nearby but she could also feel that Naruto's chakra DID seem off. "Lift up your shirt."

"Pervert," Naruto muttered but did as she asked anyway.

"Channel your chakra, otouto."

Naruto did but Mito's hair flew out in all directions, KI spilling everywhere, scaring him to death. Just as he was about to run (if he could only make his legs work,) Momo-san passed out cold, and his sister's fingertips lit up in tiny blue flames - and she rammed them into his gut!

He woke up later and saw her eating the last bear claw, sitting on the floor with Momo-san's head laying on her lap. "You fucking…"

"Watch your mouth!"

Naruto sucked in a huge breath. "That snake girl did that finger-thing, too!" He tried to get up and boy was he sore.

Damned overpowered big sisters and their crazy fingers of doom.

"Naruto," Mito said challengingly. "I think you KNOW who that 'snake girl' is, don't you?" Naruto scratched at the back of his head before temporarily giving up and laying back down on the floor. "I also think you know what I just did to you."

Naruto groaned. "Orochimaru, huh?" His big sister looked deadly serious but bobbed her head and glanced down at Momo-san who was still out cold. "Your KI totally sucks; she's probably going to be out for days!"

"Nah! I fixed her up; she'll be fine. You'll see."

"And I really don't know what that technique was and can't say I want to learn it right now," Naruto added, rubbing his sore tummy. She had to have given him bruises!

Mito knew that she was one of the few people that knew how to block (or unblock) chakra with the crappy five elements seal. Naruto didn't need to learn something like that anytime soon: God only knew what one of his shadow clones might use it for. "I don't know how you did as well as you did, Naruto. You must've had an ENORMOUS reserve of chakra built up to be able to use so many jutsus following Orochimaru's attack." The seal that was on Naruto wasn't great but blocked all of Kurama's chakra and much of his own.

Just how much chakra do you have, kid?!
More importantly…

I can't believe you attacked my little brother and best friend, you fiend! How could you Orochimaru?!

Naruto frowned as he tried to remember exactly what had happened around that time in the forest. "I don't remember much about what he did, Mito. –I… that happens if I use the Kyuubi's chakra, maybe? I kinda blacked out." God. The whole thing with that Snake Sannin had been terrifying. And Naruto really hadn't known who he was until his face basically melted off after Sasuke got his shit together and fireballed him.

Naruto racked his brain, trying to remember what the rogue said to him. Maybe I can ask Sakura-chan.

"Yep," Mito drawled. "I've been there, done that, and can say that - for the most part - my 'research' agrees with your findings, Naru." Momo blinked up at her and Mito apologized profusely. She helped her aunt stand and gave her the drink she'd made for her while she and Naruto had been knocked out on the floor. "This will make you feel better." Once she was sure that Momo would be okay, she went to sit by her brother. "I'm guessing that you channeled Kyuubi-sama's chakra and Orochimaru tried to stop you, sealing it away."

Naruto nodded, thinking that was a good guess.

His eyes then narrowed on her and Naru looked so much like their father for a second, it was startling.

"What kind of seal is on Teme?"

Mito's lips curled up into a smirk. "I might be convinced to tell you IF you tell me why you act like a goofball in front of your friends."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "My friends are my friends and they like funny stuff. …But not everybody likes me, ya know." At least his big sister didn't try to fool him by saying they did all like him - or more importantly: that Sasuke was only "marked" or "bruised." What a bunch of bullshit. I'm not a kid.

"So?" Mito asked. A lot of people definitely didn't like her. She could be a little (or very) obnoxious so it was understandable. Naruto was young, though, and she'd probably wanted everyone to like her at some point when she was, too.

"People gotta look underneath the underneath - and especially at a time like this? Like, for the Chunin Exams?" Naruto continued, coyly. "It benefits me to be overlooked or underestimated. And… Since I found out about the fox, it makes sense: why some people don't like me."

Mito hummed. "I'm not sure that acting foolish is in your best interest, Naruto. Not in the long run, whether it's with people who are dumbasses about sealing or not."

Naruto sighed. "My real friends and the people who matter - not that some people don't matter because everyone DOES; you know what I mean. Anyway, those most important to me know that I'm not a dumbass."

Before she could reply, Sora and Jiraiya walked into the kitchen, both looking surprised at finding the siblings on the floor while Momo-san appeared to be suffering from a terrible hangover. "Morning, kids!" Mito nodded and smiled up at the man, giving Jiraiya a look with a raised brow and tilt of the head that said she needed to talk to him privately.

She needed both Jiraiya and her father to be aware that Orochimaru had messed with Naruto's seal.

"Hey Naruto-kun, Sensei," Sora greeted them nicely. "Jiraiya-ojii said we'll be staying together when we're not camping out!"

"Cool!"

.

Mito's clone let Yugao drag her to her landlord's office. The Jonin complex she and Hayate lived in was nice and relatively quiet. There were green areas all around and in the middle of it. It looked like an adults-only kind of neighborhood. Good.

Mito might like kids and everything but that didn't mean that she wanted to live with them as neighbors. Plus, sometimes her beloved Genins really got on her nerves.

Like right now when they're having other people train them!
- They're being trained in clan techniques by their parents, Mito!

Shut up and stop arguing with yourself!

"The flat next to ours has been vacant for a while because it has three bedrooms," Yugao explained as she twirled around.

"That's kinda big," Mito lamented, wrinkling her nose. She didn't like so much space - although if she was really going to get her own place, it would be nice to take a lot of stuff out that she was storing in seals on her body.

I guess one bedroom could be for me, another for my weapons and crap, and a third for Naruto to crash in when Tou-san pisses him off. Or Hideki might like a place to crash every now and again.
OH! Or my friends who hate the hospital can come by… I can make one room into a little clinic!
- Silly, wounded shinobis.

"That's why I thought you might like it," Yugao said, confusing Mito a bit. "The rooms are small since our previous neighbor did some work inside; he made some alterations to turn it from a large one-bedroom into a three. He knocked his ex-girlfriend up, you see, but she didn't tell him for the longest time. They eventually began sharing custody - so he wanted to have more privacy when the babies were there, I guess. Anyway, there's also a storage area and VERY small office in each flat. You can also rent something akin to a storage shed monthly, too. Everything's very well-secured."

Mito grimaced about all of the rooms and immediately noticed when entering the office that the landlord had an awfully nice computer. Yet another person who has had contact with someone within the Gato Corporation, she realized. Or it came from "a friend of a friend" as so many other people claimed. The clone had only been made this morning so she knew that Mito (& her army of clones) had already noticed DOZENS of people, mostly civvy business owners, who had better tech than she or even her father did.

Right out in the open.

All getting looked into by The Clone Patrol. She snickered to herself, thinking that was a cool name for her henged doppelgangers.

Her original would later smack herself at the idea.

She bowed to the man who gaped at her, realizing that she probably should've henged if she wanted to keep her house hunting quiet. "Ohayo, Landlord-san. My name is Namikaze Mito and I'm interested in leasing an apartment."

The man jumped when a sliver of Yugao's KI hit him. "You will tell no one that she has been here!"

Mito grinned at her friend. She liked Yugao more and more every time they met! "I would, in fact, appreciate your discretion, Landlord-san: from this point forward?"

The landlord shakily nodded, internally cursing ninjas and especially terrifying yet very pretty kunoichis. "O-of course, Jonin uh… Namikaze."

"Thank you." Not calling me 'Mito-hime:' I like this already!

Mito signed the papers for her new place right after seeing it.

"Hayate and I can help you move in if we're off duty!" Yugao grinned. "This is going to be great. Aww, he was supposed to be back by now. I told him about bringing you over this morning. I wonder where he's at."

Mito reached out her senses to locate Hayate for her friend and NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR: yes! - wondering if he was in her range, and gasped. "SHIT!" Kabuto! She disappeared in a flash of teleportation.