Same keys and disclaimers apply, y'all.

These crazy kids can't catch a break! -A ninja's job is hard and comes with its fair share of trauma.

"Hey Kurama," Mto waved. Kurama opened one eye and groaned as he moved most of his tails in front of his face. "Should I come in?"

Kurama figured sticking with the classics was the best way to deal with this. "Only if you want to die, Mitwo."

Mito snorted. "Sorry to bother your beauty sleep" and oh, the look she got for that was as dry as the desert. "But I was wondering what you might've heard over the years about wolf demons."

Kurama sat up slightly and raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly at her. Mito was too easy: she should've never brought this up and she certainly never should've woken him. "You mean all that noise you were making mating with one? " He would not laugh when Mito's hair lashed out and then wrapped itself around her rapidly reddening face and neck. "Finally your hair's acting on humanity's behalf."

"You were WATCHING?!"

Kurama's ears flew back. "WATCH IT! I have sensitive hearing, you… banshee." And here he was going to regale her with falsehoods regarding how he'd enjoyed getting "high" off her endorphins. Now she could just forget it.'

"'Banshee?!' That's it! I'm coming in there." She'd taken three steps when Kurama sucked in a breath and sucked her in and then blew her back into her side of her mindscape - which was still primarily a laundry room. It was nicer and more organized now, but the pile in the ironing basket never seemed to go down. Huffing, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Seriously. You weren't watching, were you?"

"It's not like I'm interested," the great fox drawled. "Although I will give your wolf this: he's far better at mating than the egg-head zealot."

Mito slowly hid her face."Oh, God," she whimpered into her hands. He'd been watching that, too?! The least you could've done was warn me against going for it that time, Fox. Reminding herself that she had nothing to be ashamed of, Kurama was the voyeur, not her, Mito pushed her hair back and stood up straighter. "It's not mating." Whether or not that mattered. From her romance novels (especially the ones with werewolves,) "mating" implied all kinds of troubling extras.

"Rutting. WHATever."

Mito sighed. "Sex," she corrected him. Kurama shrugged, seeming disinterested again. Kurama was certainly right about her last few days and nights being superior to her one other (bad) sexual encounter- not that she wanted to compare those events. However, how could she not? "It probably comes down to experience." At least when it came to Kakashi and Chirku anyway. Plus, Chiriku found the whole thing shameful.

"I don't see why."

Mito wrinkled her nose. Maybe that was true for foxes or maybe Kurama was simply clueless. "Anyway, do you think there are wolf demons? –Or were there?"

"Of course there are," Kurama said, and then clarified, "demons and spirits. Or do you find your species so far above the food chain that your current circumstances…"

"'Current circumstances' meaning you ?"

Kurama huffed. How dare she interrupt him again. "Yes, and the fact that you humans egotistically believe yourselves apex predators yet are all but starved, whether it be for resources, knowledge, FOOD…"

Mito hummed while the fox continued ranting, refusing to rise to his weird bait. Really, why couldn't they just get along all the time? She counted his lazily waving tails, trying to determine if one had gotten accidentally shoved up his ass this morning. More relevantly, however, SOMETHING had to account for Kakashi's interesting fangs. Like any other genetic variation or anomaly, the evolution those attributes presented would have had both negative consequences and potential or implied benefits. It was no wonder they retracted, the more she considered it. Come to think of it, she'd also noticed that Kakashi's nails were thick, although they were trimmed and neat (and not too off the normal curve. Not like his tricky teeth.) "Were you friends?"

"What? –Who?! And why are you still here?" Mitowo had been standing there, stuck in her head for so long that he blew her off.

"The wolf demons and spirits! Were they your friends?" Gosh, why did he have to be so difficult? This is what she got for waking him up, she supposed. She'd tired Kakashi out, however, and it had been a while since she dropped by.

Kurama cocked his head, tilting his face up to the sky. "Some I've known are much like the canines running your human streets or farms: uncouth and flea-bagged."

Mito should've known he would say something like that.

"Others had standards and varying degrees of intelligence. Some thought themselves high and mighty. While others," he hummed, thinking it over, "enjoyed trickery and games."

"So you liked them! –At least those in the last group."

"I don't enjoy or 'like' anyone or anything," Kurama deadpanned. He glared at Mitwo when she scoffed. "I am only saying that common experiences and interests beget some degree of understanding. Regrettably."

"Like you and me,' MIto grinned.

Kurama wiped a great hand down his face. "No." That was not what he was implying and she damn well knew it!

"Aww. You know, I worry about you sometimes." Kurama didn't look up but Mito felt he was likely listening. "You're really hard on yourself. I know you've told me more than once that you're the master of hate but from what I've seen - and from everything you've told me about your father, I can't imagine he'd make you that way. Or that he'd want that for you."

Kurama's tails and ears twitched.

Mito twisted her lips. "Well, thanks for talking to me. Let me um… Know if you need anything, I guess."

Long after she left, Mitwo's words stayed with him. Knowing she was passed out after more rutting (or "making out" if that's what they called it; he certainly wasn't going to ask) with the male who was as likely born of a lightning deity as a wolf spirit, he blew out his chops. "What I want is freedom."

But you humans have infested everything.

Kakashi rubbed his hands together, masked and way too eager. "So go on, then," he encouraged her.

Mito was grim. "It's not pretty, Kakashi. That's the thing. You know where this scar comes from…"

"And I don't care," Kakashi admitted carelessly and then let his eyes slide closed, regretting his poor word choice. It was always funny to him, what a "smooth talker" Tenzo and his team thought he was. When it came to real stuff, he could get so tongue-tied. "I do care - and yes. I remember."

"Okay," Mito said shakily, making a much bigger thing of this than it probably was. She stood up, standing a little away from him, and began taking off her yukata, wriggling it first toward her elbows and then, slowly, allowing the sleeves to drop from her arms. Kakashi made a noise between a whine and a growl, and her lips turned up into a smirk as she threw her hair back a little, watching him. "Can you lose the mask again? –I'd like to see how you really react." Dutifully, he pulled it down, influencing her into making an embarrassing simpering sound. She ducked her head. "You were telling the truth: you really are quite handsome, ya know."

Kakashi nodded, both eyes open and mesmerized. "Don't tell anyone."

"You already do," she breathily laughed. "Okay." Undoing the sloppy tie she had on her obi, she let it fall to the ground, swallowing hard. "Sorry to be such a baby about this." She shuddered when the force that was Kakashi was suddenly right behind her, his one-of-a-kind chakra lighting her up. One of the hands he'd gently placed around her waist moved to caress her thigh possessively but strangely tenderly. She let out a moan, her head feeling full and fizzy. Her neck ached, her shoulders, her breasts. Rubbing her legs together to try to do something with the need and sudden swell of wetness there, she rested her head back on his shoulder.

"That's my girl," he murmured darkly against her skin.

"Kashi…" He pushed her hair over her other shoulder.

"Let me see the rest of it." Right now he could only see the top part of her scar. He'd had his fingers against/in it before but hadn't really got to see. Part of him didn't understand what a big deal this was for her - but the fact was, Mito was trusting him here. He groaned as she wiggled out of the hideous pajama pants she was wearing. "Panties."

Looking over her shoulder, Mito did a double take. Her grin was slanted and shy. "I've got this big, deep scar and all you say is 'panties?'"

Proving his genius, Kakashi managed to get the word "Pretty" out about the purple, lacy thing barely covering any of her amazing ass. He ran his free hand over her back, stroking her ass - up and down, up and down, round and round - and round - reaching for her hip with the other and wishing he had more hands. Falling to his knees, he kissed it, rubbing his head all over it.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Mito laughed, shuffling forward. "You're supposed to be grossing out."

"On the bed. Now."

"But… What do you um, think?" Aw crap: she was pouting and kinda whiny. And shivering.

"I've been," he swallowed, "waiting for this." He surprised her (but not himself) when he shoved his face in her ass. Mito squealed and tried to get away - she was plenty strong enough to if that's what she really wanted - but in the end, let him pull down the tiny things. "Scent's so good… Thick…"

Mito was totally flustered again. "You say stuff like that and it…" It freaks me out! Kakashi pushed her forward on the bed and unbuckled his pants.

"So wet for me," he praised idly. "Gonna fuck you so hard and deep." She whimpered and Kakashi grabbed two handfuls of ass, pulling her cheeks apart, and pushed her forward. (Mito squawked.) With her chest on the bed and her ass up like this? He thought he was going to die. "'S'okay?" he finally remembered to ask, glancing up at her.

"Please?" Mito breathed. Kakashi was working her with his fingers and kissing all over her ass or rubbing his head and hair on it - what is that about?! - but for some reason, all of it made her burn for him. Especially when he did the same to her back. "I… want it so bad."

"Gods, you're going to kill me." He spread her legs more and positioned himself, twitching with need when he realized one of her hands was manipulating her tit, the other clenched in the sheet. "You're fucking perfect."

Even with a breathy smirk, Mito's eyes unexpectedly watered up. She pressed her smile into the mattress until she got it together, which was very hard when Kakashi was… "Ohhhhhhhhh."

Kakashi was in a daze as he worked his cock against her, watching her greedy hole all but beg for him. Clenching on nothing. "Here you go, baby. Let me feed it." Licking his lips, he began guiding himself into her. Grabbing her hips once the head of his cock was inside of her hot, wet walls, he sucked in a breath and closed his eyes tightly.

His Sharingan had recorded the scene left behind when she'd been kidnapped. –Where that scar had come from.

Summoning circle disappearing in a pool of blood; customary poof of chakra-laced smoke
Minato's shouts for Mito
An old man standing with his dick in his hand
Mito's chakra laced with Nine-tails

Demonic chakra burning the air The Nine-tails destroying our home
That means Kushina is dead Kushina is dead Kushina is dead

You failed as her guard and now you're fucking her daughter?! The scene shifted back again.

Preliminary glance around the cell indicates 8 human teeth
"Oh God. Is that skin?"

The sound of another Rasengan
"What did you do to my daughter, you son of a bitch?!"

Inoichi and his team entering, saying that Naruto had also been taken

…

"Kakashi?"

"Hey, Mito," Kakashi eye-smiled after blinking fast. He reached for his mask and internally panicked for a second when it wasn't there. "Ah." Her fingers were carding through his hair again, which was nice. A blanket was wrapped around him, too. And when had he put on her pajama pants? Ugly and soft… She always wears such ugly and soft pjs.

"How ya feeling?" she asked quietly, terribly worried.

Kakashi tried to remember and… "Oh, fuck. Mito, I'm..." Fuck! He'd just FROZEN. "I'm sorry." What the fuck was wrong with him? His heart was pounding slowly in his chest and ears; his blood pressure soared high enough to make it ring in his ears, too.

- A lot was fucking wrong with him. He was fucking his Hokage's daughter, his FRIEND'S daughter - he trusts me! - his surrogate parent figures' daughter…

"It's alright," she assured him. Mito put a mug of hot tea in his hands, glad that they weren't shaking anymore. "What can I do for you?"

Kakashi let out a breathy and awkward chuckle. He wasn't sure how long it took him to get anything out. "I froze with my dick out, teasing you. I think I should be asking you that." He was lucky this had happened with someone he trusted. Kami! What if he'd been with someone else? They could've slit his throat, cut his junk off. He let out an almost giggly little "F-fuck."

Mito pursed her lips, waiting to see if he'd say more. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. …Yes. …NO," he decided, soundly shaking his head. He was sweating again. Lovely. Just perfect. "The Sharingan records everything," he mumbled to himself. The least he owed her was an explanation, right? "Provides associations. Links."

Mito slowly nodded, not that she completely understood exactly what had caused him to seize up. Kakashi had suddenly just stopped and she felt guilty that she'd kind of… backed into him and "helped herself" before she realized she was… "I'm sorry!"

Kakashi pulled his head up, looking at her as if she was insane. After the stunt he'd just pulled, she was apologizing? He pulled the blanket up to cover the lower part of his face without thinking about it. "Why?"

"Because… I got off on you! …I didn't realize you were disassociating or whatever. I'm SO sorry." She ruined everything, didn't she? Her eyes teared up and… Don't cry again, Mito: you idiot! What is wrong with you?!

Kakashi felt his face and neck heat up terribly the more he thought about it. His ears were even burning. Then again, Mito looked like she was about to pass out, considering how red her face was. Rapidly blinking and remembering/realizing what she was talking about, he snorted. His Sharingan had also recorded Mito fucking him, hadn't it? For a bit. "That was hot."

"WHat?!"

Kakashi shrugged. "It is what it is." Mito let out a long, low whine. Still humiliated and feeling sick, however, he robotically stood up, got dressed, and climbed out of her window without another word.

Mito sat there, still as stone. Her next sip of tea was quite cold.

.

The next day at work, she asked Tsunade about scheduling something to help further smooth that scar. Doing so made her feel weak - but she couldn't shake the feeling that it could be responsible for the way Kakashi had frozen up and left. As many times as she told herself that she was being completely stupid and vain - that his reaction could've been caused by any of too many things - a voice would pop up in her head telling her to do something about that damn scar so that she could move past it.

I thought I was past it.

Tsunade was oddly thrilled to help, and so she had another procedure, not that it did much. Mito told herself that at least Tsunade's efforts were aiding in research to help others who had been disfigured.

.

Sitting in the recovery room, she sent out an internal "Thank you" to Kurama for not giving her shit about it and for allowing her to be somewhat knocked out again. Twilight anesthesia. Tsunade also consistently used a genjutsu that calmed most patients, sometimes walking around using it, having forgotten she was even at it. "I need to learn that." She was fairly sure it was in the air around her even now because she didn't give a shit about anything, it seemed like. Her mentor strode into her room, a grinning Shizune hot on her heels. "Hm?" She still felt a little out of it from whatever stronger thing they'd anesthetized her with, too.

Maybe?

"You got flowers! –Bad ones; you could concoct something powerful with this. The Yamanakas don't even sell this one," Tsunade jabbered as she examined a rare piece of ivy.

"From Hatake," Shizune grinned.

Mito stared at the poisonous bouquet. She'd picked a bunch exactly like this clean of useful materials a few times now, always wondering who they came from. Once, right after she came home for the ten-year anniversary of the Kyuubi attack. Then after her earlier procedures on her back. And there was one other time, wasn't there? "They're from Kakashi?" she asked, bewildered. Had he been the one to send the same "bouquet of death" before? "I don't know if that's creepy or sweet," she whispered more to herself than them.

Tsunade sweatdropped. "You like him. Be happy! –It looks like he's trying to… kill you. Slowly, of course. Ha! -Carefully!" Really, Mito would have to dry most of these, and then mix components with this or that but in the end, she could make quite nasty brews. "Ha. Obviously, he knows and cares about your likes."

"Or he wants to kill you," Shizune teased again.

"I don't want him to send me flowers," Mito muttered, confused. I've just wanted to talk to him - but Kakashi was hiding from her. Oh, she knew where he'd been but whenever she ambled closer to his position, he moved away. "Did he get caught with these or something?" She couldn't imagine him just boldly delivering them.

Tsunade shrugged. Mito was always different so perhaps her reaction shouldn't seem so strange to her. Personally, she was happy that Mito might finally enter a romantic relationship; to give something like that a go. She'd seen her checking out Hatake (and other shinobis) often enough. "He walked right up and shoved them at me, saying they were for you, and then poofed away."

Mito sucked in a slow breath. "Oh, no. –Kami, please don't tell anyone. Seriously, Shizune!"

Days Later -

Mito wondered whether Kakashi might be jealous. Not that he had anything to be jealous of; and not that she knew whether or not he was still interested in her because he'd taken a solo mission after their last encounter. But now he was here, watching her intensely and… Ugh.

Zabuza and Utakata might be varying degrees of hot men but they were strictly in the friend zone. Zabuza and his fun but caustic personality had shoved himself in there the moment Mito realized he'd done something as idiotic as file his teeth (to say nothing of how she felt nearly every time he opened his mouth to harass her.) And Kurama had declared Utakata so off-limits that he would rant for days at the least perverted (or as the fox put it, "incestuous") thought that might go through her mind about him.

"Captain Jack's gonna love you, Foxy!"

Mito plowed a knuckle into his side, making Zabuza nearly spew his drink. "Keep it down!"

"Aw," Zabuza teased when he'd recovered, his drunk, dark eyes twinkling. "Is Mito-chan afwaid hew daddy won't wet her go?"

"That was disturbing," Utakata commented, thankfully much more subdued. He raised an eyebrow at Mito's friend, Anko, who had fallen with a "whoopsie" into his lap for the third time since coming to Konoha this time. Anko was cute - and lesbian or not, if she was offering…

"I am afraid of that, you ass," Mito hissed at Zabuza. "He doesn't know."

"Ah," Zabuza intoned, looking around like the thief he was. "So this is a Jiraiya production."

"Exactly!" Drunk, Mito moved her foot to consolingly brush against an increasingly broody but distractingly hot-looking Kakashi. Asuma, next to him, kicked her back. "Oops. Sorry."

"Idiot," Asuma muttered, rolling his eyes, more interested in the Hokage's anxiety over Lady Mizukage's heavy flirting a few tables over. Even more fascinating were the red, spinning eyes of a clan head whom he could only hope wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident from just outside the club.

Uchiha Mikoto was making the Kiri nins not at the kages' table nervous. (Those at his table didn't care in the slightest, or so it seemed.) He sighed, glancing toward Kakashi who looked like he wanted to sow discord, too. He needed to ask Mito about that. The fact that she hadn't been bugging him lately (but he'd seen her walking around all pouty and depressed; even her hair had looked sad) meant that she had gotten into something troublesome.

She needed to get her shit together. In the next few months - if everything played out alright - he was finally taking her to the West with him.

He reached for a cigarette when Momochi threw his hands down on the table and yelled "LET'S DANCE, FOXY!" Zabuza dragged Mito out on the dance floor and bullied her into a terrible attempt at dancing. "Man, you suck!"

"You suck, you bast- HA! Do that again!"

At the other table, things were far less interesting, Mei thought. "Let's dance with Zabuza and your lovely daughter, Minato-kun," she purred with a sweet smile.

Minato's eyes were narrowed and darting between Momochi Zabuza's strange jig as he hauled his increasingly amiable daughter around like a sack of rice and Kakashi, who was twitching hard enough to warrant medical attention. Genma was drinking way too heavily, considering that he was supposed to be ensuring he didn't get poisoned tonight and YES, he knew Mikoto was watching him like a hawk from outside. He just didn't know why she was doing it, exactly. Lately, she wouldn't even speak to him so what could he do about it?! How could he make things better? "I'm not sure that's appropriate." Truthfully, he was hardly listening. The music was giving him a headache.

Mei clicked her tongue. People in Konoha didn't appreciate the things they'd always had, she thought. "You know that dancing was illegal in Water Country until the war was won, don't you?"

Minato startled, looking at her a little wide-eyed. "I didn't! –Forgive me for saying so but that seems ridiculous."

Mei huffed and couldn't disagree. "No more so than purging a large percentage of your population. However, the ban on dancing is one that was present even before the clan wars."

Genma finished his drink and realized maybe he'd had enough when he started talking without thinking first. "Asuma told me that Lord Second attempted to ban dancing and drinking in Konoha." Fortunately, his boss snorted, clearly finding that amusing.

"Lord Third told me about that," Minato smiled. He'd told him about the attempted alcohol prohibition anyway. "His sensei, Lord Second, felt drinking was at the root of all evil…"

"That and the Uchihas," Genma commented and OH man, he really shouldn't have had that last bottle of sake! "Sorry." Minato threw him an unimpressed look but the Kiri nins seemed to think it was funny. Or that he was only joking (which he wasn't.)

"Grandfather liked to drink," Tsunade slurred, "and gamble." She leaned into Mei and patted her arm, seeing how she got it. "And dance! –Hell, I'll dance with you Mei."

"Wonderful!"

Shizune snuck into the shadows and pulled out a camera, praying for enough blackmail material to last the rest of her life. Within half an hour, Mito had pulled her onto the dance floor, too.

The room spinning, Mito was about to pass out on her couch when she felt and heard a certain someone crawling in through her open window. She stood up, smoothed her hand down her dress and sighed - and then plopped back down when a sheepish Kakashi stepped into her living room. "You coulda used the door."

"Maa, I was keeping out of sight."

Mito nodded. Yugao had replaced her front porch light with some kind of super bulb that lit up everything in front of their units. Without putting it out, (which would probably require an explosive note considering the countermeasures she put on it,) it would've been hard to sneak in that way. "Okay."

Kakashi fisted his hands. "Take me back."

Mito's vision spun as she reeled. "Like, I had you before?" came out of her stupid mouth. She clapped her hands over it and couldn't decide if she was mad at him or glad he came back. It was a little hard to focus on him or think. "You're not mad at me?"

"No." He watched Mito stand and stretch in the little black dress she'd been bouncing around in all night - although she had on mismatched fuzzy socks now instead of heels. She stumbled over to him and straddled his lap, making him smile. "Maa, is that a yes?"

Drunk Mito sighed, flopping against him. "Okay." She scooted forward and up, roughly pulled down his mask, propped open his jaw, determined to lick him into shape.

Only two mornings later cuz man, these two can't catch a break -

"Maa… I've been thinking."

"Oh?" Here it comes, Mito thought - although what "it" was could go either way. She'd earlier made a mess of things by hesitating in a moment of "slight freak out" so who knows what he'd wind up saying. I mean, he had his own little freak out - and then of course he told me he loved me while we were going at it last night. Mito had been more than fine with it in the middle of the night, in the heat of having her world rocked but didn't know what that meant now. Or if it meant anything at all!

"I mean," Kakashi continued, drawing his fingers through his hair, "I guess, sexually, I'm a pretty vanilla guy."

Mito snorted, pushing down what had happened earlier. If Kakashi wasn't going to bring it up, neither was she. "Says the guy who wants to try anal to at least say he has." Drunk Mito told him that she supported him finding a willing porn star and even making a video that any group of drunk frat boys might want to watch because she was not interested. Then he asked how she felt about anilingus.

She wouldn't tell him. Sue her. She wasn't sure!

"Mi-chan," he purposely whined. "Stop making fun. I'm serious here."

"Oh, okay," Mito agreed with a little grin. Kakashi was cute. After her little "I'm not interested in doing that, especially not when you're packing THAT kind of heat, Hatake-san" spiel, she regaled him with anonymous tales of things she'd seen or heard about at the hospital from people who'd, with zero, very little, or flat-out wrong preparation, (seriously: a barbell up there? What are you thinking, you moronic Genin?) gotten way too eager when having anal sex. Not that she had any problem with anal sex otherwise OF COURSE - she just doubted it was her cup of tea. Or cup of ass. Either way, she believed people should research it before they tried out what they thought they saw depicted on videotape or film.

He'd shut those tales down in an interesting way, for sure after a while. –Made her eventually forget all about it until now. And then moaned that he loved me.

It was in the heat of the moment. Stop freaking out about it, you baka.

Kakashi sighed again; he'd been thinking about this a lot and when Mito went cold on him earlier it made him feel the need to address it. "I think we need to talk about this 'blanket permission' stuff." Mito slowly looked back at him with increasingly sparkling, mischievous eyes although there was something more solemn behind it.

"Oh?" she again asked - the little tease. "I did say anything 'within reason.' Is there something UNreasonable you'd like to do or try?"

Kakashi tapped her hip, getting a giggle for it, but then took her hand in his, kissing her knuckles and looking shyly away. "I don't want you to get hurt." He glanced at Mito who was watching him curiously. "Maa, I've seen a lot of shit in my time as a ninja, and… someone could use your saying that as an excuse to hurt you."

Mito blinked at him, moved, and surprised. "I'm pretty tough, you know."

Kakashi jerked his chin in agreement. "You're the strongest woman I've ever met." Looking at only their joined hands, he didn't see the way his words affected her. "If someone were to… slap suppression seals on you or I don't know. Drug you or something…" He couldn't finish his thought. He had witnessed some horrific things over the course of his career - and/or the aftermath of them. He didn't want to think about Mito going through anything close to those things.

"That's awfully non-consentiary behavior, though, don't you think? –It's really not the same. I mean, by that point, I'd say any and all possible earlier agreements and bets are off."

"The whole thing is..."

Mito put her head on his shoulder, her throat a little tight even as Kakashi froze up again. "It means a lot. You caring about stuff like that."

"'Course," he responded evenly. "Maa, I know you spent a long time at that temple and aren't aware of some men's appetites." He pulled his hand up, apologizing when she went tense. "I mean… I know you know some things; intimately." Fuck, he never could say things the way he'd intended to, could he? Don't bring up the fucking scar, idiot, he scolded himself. He'd gone so far as to dab whatever minty ointment (it tasted good but made his mouth numb) last night, much to Mito's displeasure. In his nature or not, he needed to stop being so bossy with her! Especially when she was drunk and agreeable. Mito was bossy enough for both of them.

She sighed and leaned into him again. "You were there for the aftermath of that one time." The Jonin delicately scratched at her scalp, not waiting for him to answer. "It wasn't as bad as it could've been." When she looked over at him, Kakashi's silver brows only pulled together more and she knew she wasn't communicating her thoughts well. "I mean, for a long time after the last kidnapping ordeal, I thought I handled everything that happened as well as I could have."

Kakashi hummed, remembering what his sensei did to the men who had hurt her. He'd never seen Minato so angry.

Mito didn't want to address any of it in detail. "But even if things don't escalate to where they could've, it affects you. Or it affected me anyway."

For some reason, Kakashi found himself getting angry. "I think it escalated pretty far to put you in a cell with your teeth smashed out and…"

"Yeah," Mito agreed with a huff of caustic laughter, pulling her hair back. "Sorry you had to see that."

"I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"I don't like to talk about it," she admitted.

Kakashi chewed the inside of his cheek and looked at her. Obviously, she was thinking about something far away. Or is she? "You mentioned that something came up at the temple about that - when you went there the last time, hm? -Something that happened around the time of your kidnapping. Or related to it."

Mito glanced at him. "Yeah. I did."

Kakashi nodded, wondering if he should push. That fucking Chiriku, he thought to himself jealously.

"I don't want my father to know and I DON'T want to talk about my father!"

"Maa, I don't either," Kakashi said, not understanding for a good minute. "Ah. You think I might say something to him."

Mito sighed and rested the back of her head on the edge of her padded headboard. "I know there are privileges to being a member of the Hokage's family but I've always found it stifling; even the idea of it. I mean, my father - again, I DON'T want to talk about him - he can be overprotective… Or what he'd call 'protective.' My mom was a lot more laid back. …I know I'm lucky to have them - to have had her." Kakashi lost both his parents at an incredibly young age. Complaining about the parents she had and loved was terribly insensitive.

"I'm not going to tell sensei anything." He smirked as Mito threw her leg over his after a minute. She wound up straddling him. She swung her hair around as she moved; his Sharingan opened to watch it.

"Promise?" she asked in a whisper, only inches away from his lips. Kakashi moved forward and internally swore at it, bobbing his head. "I'm sorry I stopped you before."

"You can stop me whenever you want, Mito." His cheeks pulled up for the blushing grin he got for that.

"Thank you." It had only been for a second, after all these years, but when Kakashi had moved to touch her earlier, Mito was suddenly a broken teenager in a cell, her hands bound behind her back, desperately trying to get that man's hands off her. Trying to think of any and everything to make him stop and get away. Not having experienced that while being intimate before, it had rocked her more than what she would've earlier allowed herself to think it would. Kakashi had been patient, though, waiting her out and not asking questions for a bit - although his kicked-puppy face was a real force, even though it only revealed itself for a few seconds. Mito swallowed down her awkwardness about all this as much as was possible. "Can I maybe kiss you and try again?"

Kakashi's lips pulled up into a smirk although his eyes were soft and had nearly slid closed. "Maa. If you'd like."

"I would."

The next day, following even more Mist business/nonsense -

Kakashi pouted at Mito's cute little pirate outfit. She widely grinned at him and activated a seal that turned her into what had become known around ANBU as "Robo Fox" but recognized that only meant she planned to wear it out. And that she was sneaking out! At least somewhat. "I don't see why you can't wear that for me." JUST me.

"I have!"

The silver-haired Jonin crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Now." Mito giggled. Take this seriously, woman! "So… Is that for Captain Jack?"

"Not necessarily," Mito acknowledged, not remembering purposely mentioning Jack's name to him. Kakashi knew all kinds of people, though, and Zabuza had been a big mouth ever since he got to Konoha. He and Utakata had stayed for more than a week. -Mito kinda wanted to drown them at this point. "I am looking forward to meeting the famed captain, though."

Kakashi followed Mito through her flat as she packed a few more things, frustrated by her leaving on a potentially longish mission (and wishing she didn't go on missions - which was ridiculous because he doubted he would've been so interested if she wasn't the type of woman she was.) "Is this Captain Jack as in the Sea of Love Captain Jack, or Captain Jack from maa, Pirates of the Caribbean?"

"Maybe both?" Mito asked herself, not having considered the latter much lately. "I KNOW he's the inspiration for the Sea of Love series, though. Jiraiya told me." She bounced up and almost rubbed her face against him like a flirty cat. "Are you jealous?"

Yes! "Why would I be?" Kakashi grumbled instead, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

Mito shrugged but smiled. "I get to meet a famous character. Well, the person behind the character, I suppose, ne?"

Kakashi hummed; he hadn't thought of it that way. "Maybe." He swung her into his arms and grabbed her ass; Mito liked being manhandled and having her thighs wrapped around him, or at least she had for the last day or so. He put her down reluctantly, hissing, "Ngh! Something stabbed me."

"My armor probably. Oops; no. That was a senbon. Better drop trou and let me heal you."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the cheeky woman who had dropped to her knees, sighing and trying to decide whether or not to do exactly that. It was just a little scratch - however, if she really wanted his pants off, who was he to deny her? "How long do you have before you have to meet the Kiri entourage?"

Mito smirked at him. "Long enough. Then we can do Saturday brunch!"

The Hokage's formal dining room was full and noisy. Momo was in her element, explaining exactly how she'd made various breakfast dishes from around the world to the interested bunch of nins. (Biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, and breakfast tacos were far bigger hits than she'd anticipated with Zabuza, Utakata, and Mei.) Momo even proposed having a cultural exchange program. Mito smiled when her great-aunt realized she might have overstepped and apologized. It was wonderful to see her blooming in Konoha. She was an incredible chef and had once been an up-and-coming culinary talent back in the States.

"I think it's an idea worth pursuing, Momo," her father grinned as he turned to Mei. "Perhaps you can consider someone on your end to plan a visit or class - or send a brief about it." He gave Mito a significant look and she nodded back at him.

Technically, Momo was a civilian. They needed to protect her. Her great-aunt was in enough danger just from being a family member, although very few knew about that. Hell, having the access she did to the Hokage meant they needed to be extra careful more than anything.

When she'd met Momo, Mito thought she was only the housekeeper/cook/babysitter for her little brother - and that's mostly what she'd been up to until then. Mito would like to think that her return to Konoha lightened Momo's load somewhat but it was probably more that Naruto had grown so much; was soon out of the Academy and on missions, and that freed up Momo's time. Now Momo was dating a woman Mito worked with, Hyuuga Kaori, and working with the Akimichis when she wasn't feeding her father. Mito enjoyed spending time with her and Momo loved her friends. She'd given up trying to teach her how to cook-cook but had promised to turn her into the "Sultan of Sushi, Salad, and Soup" one day.

Mei agreed to Momo's idea, getting up to look at some spices the older woman mentioned in the kitchen. Minato approached his daughter, nodding at Kakashi to follow the ladies into the kitchen to keep an eye on things. "Peace through the Culinary Arts?"

"Hey," Mito grinned, "I think that sounds great!"

Minato's expression turned more serious as he adjusted how he stood. Leaning toward her, he whispered, "You have my kunai? You need to take my kunai."

"Yes, Tou-san," she reluctantly obeyed with a grin. "I have it." If only to make you happy.

"Don't hesitate to call me if something goes wrong. –I don't care if you're caught by some foreign military or whatever it might be. …You're more important."

Mito looked down, hiding behind her hair. Although untrue, that was very nice of him to say. "I don't plan to be caught by anyone." Ever.

"Good," he said seriously. "How are you going to keep from running out of chakra?"

Mito realized he was talking about the part of her mission that required her to be alone in the middle of the fucking ocean to check the barrier. She snorted a couple of times, a bit of hysteria filling her that she viciously pushed away. "I figured if you were going to ask about that, you would've already done so," she half-teased - considering that she'd be leaving any minute now - "but uh… I have a houseboat in the seal on my ankle that I thought might do the trick. You know… for a dire emergency."

Minato stared at her. '"A houseboat.' In your 'ankle.'"

"In a seal on my ankle. And yeah. It's nice! I found it in an underground garage bay thing in Uzushio a year or so ago. I don't know if it runs but it definitely floats. And that will give me shelter and time to regain my chakra, 'ttebane." Plus she had her phone, although whether or not it would work out there was unknown.

Minato let out a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can be there in a flash, Mito."

"I know! –Thanks." She set her hands on her hips, smiling at Mei when she came back into the room with her aunt. Utakata and Zabuza both stood up, bowing and thanking Momo for breakfast. They could be civilized when they wanted to. "So. Are you three ready to go?" The rest of the Mist contingency was probably already at the gate.

"I just need to steal Minato away for a quick second," Mei replied, winking.

Minato nodded and the room began to clear. Mito was the last one out and winked back - but at both of them. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, you two crazy kids!"

"Oh my gosh, Mito," Minato breathed, pulling his hand down his face. "Behave yourself!"

"Nnnope!" She giggled and crossed her fingers at Mei - who actually blushed. That was an incredibly rare thing. Too cute. Throwing back her shoulders as she walked toward the foyer, she shared a significant look with Kakashi and gave him a bit of a watery smile. Things had been amazing with him lately but within the next few hours, she would be on a pirate ship with The Captain Jack, himself. She was nervous about the whole thing but on the other hand, she couldn't wait!