A/N: Mito's been hanging around Tsunade a lot.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe.

Thinking

Emphasis

Mito knocked on the front door of her home. Her home! She was finally back in Konoha, and back to stay.

Her mother opened the door, her long mane of red hair swirling around her. Her father was right behind her, smiling, but then grabbed his wife's shoulders and put on his "Hokage face," as he held Kushina in place

"Hokage-sama," Mito said, smiling behind her mask as she knelt in front of them. "Fox reporting: mission success."

Kushina grabbed her daughter into a big bear hug and pulled off her silly, awful, (but unfortunately, necessary) mask. Minato had already closed the door behind her and moved in, putting his arms around his daughter and wife and squeezing them just as tightly.

"You're squishing me," Mito whined seconds later, but her parents didn't listen. "And you're squishing Naruto-chan, too!" That did it: she was always pretty good at manipulating her parents when she put her mind to it, even if she didn't see them very often. She was so glad to be home to be with her parents at the same time, finally! When she was eventually released from their hug of imminent death, she felt like she was radiating from the inside from all the love she'd just been given. Tsunade baa-chan could be surprisingly affectionate, but she was still a stoic woman when she was around other people - people that weren't her family like she and Shizune-nee were. Her parents weren't like that. They were very openly affectionate with those they cared for.

Seeing their smiling faces, she felt all her stress melt away. Then she really looked at her mother and began laughing in astonishment. "You're so huge! It's like you've got a watermelon under there!"

"Brat," Kushina said - still with a bright smile on her face and tears running down her face. "You're unbelievable! I worked myself into a tizzy making your favorite." The redhead smiled even brighter at seeing the way her daughter seemed to grow another two inches in height and bounce at the knowledge that her ramen would be served tonight, while Minato put his arms over their daughter's head and wrapped them around her shoulders. Seeing them look so at peace, so alive, and here in their home with Minato's eyes closed, sent another wave of hormones and tears surging. She couldn't even talk anymore!

When her Mom began to bawl, Mito panicked. Yes, she understood pregnancy and hormones well, but this was her mom, the bad-ass kunoichi! "I didn't mean to make you sad," she began, her words rushing out of her mouth. "I was just joking, ya know. And you should be big - well, actually, I thought you would be bigger. Have you been taking care of yourself and following baa-chan's orders? I know she hasn't been here in the village since she's been out with me, but you have to take care of yourself and do what she says anyway!" Her hand glowed green and began to run over her mother's stomach. "And why were you on your feet cooking like that? I could've picked up Ichiraku's!" Although that would be disappointing: Mom's ramen is better.

Kushina melted at seeing her daughter's concern. "I'm fine, ya know. And look at you... So grown up and smart - using iryo-ninjutsu just as well as your godmother." She ignored the way that Mito rolled her eyes, obviously believing that wasn't true at all. Kushina sniffed after wiping her face, letting out a big snort that made Minato laugh. She swatted him, then thanked him for giving her a tissue. He was wiping his face with another one, and she felt another wave of affection and love hit her and began crying all over again.

"Are you alright? Here," Mito led her mother to the couch. "You need to sit down," she said seriously.

"So do you, hime," Minato said. "You've had a long journey. Take off your gear for dinner. We're just waiting for Kakashi-kun and then we'll eat. In the meantime, tell us everything that's been going on. The last time I received a slug from you two was three weeks ago!"

So I finally get to meet the elusive "Copy Ninja," eh?

"Yeah," Mito finally answered in shame. She pulled off her arm guards and placed them on the table next to the door before unsnapping her chest and back armor. "We got into a little bit of trouble in Kiri. I'm sorry I'm so late."

"What kind of trouble?" Minato asked in a more serious tone. Had his trust in Tsunade-hime to either summon him for aid or get his daughter out of there if true danger lurked finally been misplaced? Oh, she'll pay if that's the case! Where is that old woman anyway? He was getting more and more irritated, and Mito's shifty gaze wasn't doing him any favors. "You were hurt," he said as if he knew.

"What? No! Absolutely not. Well," Mito looked at her mother for help but saw that she only looked irritated, too. "Yagura-sama got all weird and said he was going to... Well," seeing both her parents' fists being clenched to the point their knuckles were white was a little scary. Then her mother's hair started doing that thing... "He says the peace treaty's off and he's declaring war on all those with a Kekkei-Genkai. I was really hoping that Tsunade-baa-chan could tell you more. I was just there for the tail end of their conversation."

Minato's mouth fell open in shock. The young mist leader had always been very respectful and kind - for lack of a better word. A jinchuuriki like Kushina, he was powerful but young - although Minato figured that he looked much younger than he probably was. Yagura was the eventual successor to the Mist's losses from the Second and Third Shinobi Wars. Their battle with Uzushio had taken a lot out of Kiri, including their jinchuurikis, but with Yagura, Minato had hoped they could finally find peace with the rather severe Mist shinobi.

"Does he know about your chains?" Kushina asked and Mito grimaced before nodding her head.

"I swear, he was great before he turned into a giant asshole!"

"Language, young lady," both parents scolded simultaneously.

Mito slumped down in her chair and pouted at both of them, scowling a little at the same time. Tsunade cursed like a Kiri sailor, and her mother wasn't a whole lot better. Shizune only cursed when the two girls were alone and joking around, and her father was a damn prude - her mother said so all the time - so he didn't count. Her stomach let out a roar and the girl with the strangely streaked hair groaned out loud. "Can I at least set the table, Mom? And where is this Kakashi-kun, anyway?"

Minato led her to their kitchen and began handing out dishes. Seeing Mito bend over the pot of boiling goodness, he pulled her head up so that she didn't burn or drown herself in it before the rest of the family had a chance to have some, too. He helped his daughter set the table while Kushina put her feet up - still with a scowl on her face about the news from Kiri - then finally addressed the Kakashi issue. "I would imagine that Kakashi-kun's at the Memorial Stone. His... tardiness is becoming a bit habitual, wouldn't you say, Kushina?"

Her mother nodded her head, a look of concern on her face. After setting the table, Mito began to pace.

This guy was causing her mother to be concerned, and she just didn't need the stress.

He was keeping them from eating ramen, and that was a direct insult to the gods.

"I'm going to go get... wait, he's here. Lightning, right?" Mito asked. She was a sensor like her parents and was picking up a bright, compressed Lightning signature just outside of their house. Minato caught his daughter before she could go out and eat his poor student alive and forced her to remain inside. "Settle down, Mito-chan."

"Sorry," Mito said, sagging into an armchair while crossing her arms in irritation and throwing a leg up over the side of it. Minato looked at her disapprovingly but knew when to pick his battles. He opened the front door to find his student looking as indifferent as ever. The boy was always polite, though, and brought something that was in a paper sack.

"Kakashi-kun! We were getting worried!" Minato said and dragged his student in by his shoulder. "We're having ramen tonight," he said while ignoring Kakashi's grunt of approval, (it HAD to be approval, after all: nothing else made sense,) "but first I want you to meet my daughter, Mito."

"Yo," the girl said from the dark corner of Minato-sensei's living room. Kakashi let his lazy gaze observe the girl and forced himself to smile at her from behind his mask. The first thing he noticed was the way that she was sitting, then immediately realized that she was wearing ANBU-style pants with knee and shin armor. Surely that was just for show, though, otherwise, his obligatory gift was not going to make any sense.

"Maa, nice to meet you, Mito-hime." Kakashi wasn't quite sure why the redhead groaned.

"Just Mito, please: I'm no princess," she said with an open-mouthed yawn while considering the idea more in her head as she stretched. It was one thing when her parents said that or wrote to her, calling her their "little princess," but Tsunade was always the one she thought of as a real princess... Yet Tsunade-hime was about the least princessy-type person she could imagine. Tough and strong, smart and cunning: maybe like her, she was a real princess?! Plus her dad was the Hokage, so... "Never mind. You may refer to me as Mito-hime, and forever serve me, following timidly wherever I lead." Mito threw her head back and laughed before suddenly standing up and getting right in front of the silver-haired teen.

Kakashi didn't know what to think. His sensei had left him alone with a weird girl in order to attend to his wife. The weird daughter of his sensei was glaring at him, and he felt even more uncomfortable when she walked around him in a circle.

"How'd it happen?" When Kakashi didn't answer, Mito sighed in exasperation. "You're favoring your right leg and hiding that hand, but you can't fool me." Her hand began glowing green, and Kakashi wanted to bolt. After quickly healing his hip and hand, she sighed while backing him into the corner as her hand glowed over his abdomen. "Chakra exhaustion, or near it, 'ttebane. You've either been in a fight but my guess is over-training. Which is correct?" When the boy still didn't answer, Mito brought out the big guns. "Tou-san!"

She was smirking at him! And had lightly whiskered cheeks! What a little brat! "Alright, fine! It was training, but I'm not going to the hospital," he whispered fervently.

"Did I say you need to? What are you, a pansy?"

It was only seconds later that Kakashi realized how glad he was that he had his mask on. His mouth had fallen open at the audacity of that... runt!

Mito had already moved into the dining room where she was drooling over ramen. Kakashi rolled his eyes at the obsession of the Namikaze family, seeing that their devotion to ramen had extended to the next generation. Looking at the girl under the light, he realized that she wasn't really a redhead, although he wasn't sure what to call Mito's hair color. She actually had both of her parent's hair colors running all over her head in well-defined streaks. He could tell that if her hair had been short, it would have the same texture as his sensei's, but since it reached between her shoulder blades, it was slightly less unruly. Her big eyes were shaped like Kushina's, but the color nearly matched Minato-sensei's. She looked at him with a tilt of her head, and he realized that the violet of Kushina's eyes was dashed in and around Mito-chan's blue irises. Quite unique.

"Wanna take a picture? It'll last longer," she said dryly.

Minato laughed awkwardly while Kushina bopped her daughter with a spoon. The girl smiled hugely - a fake smile that like everything else but her attitude - was a mix of her parents. She put her face near her bowl and nearly inhaled her ramen. Seeing that Kakashi was finished, too, she smiled genuinely in appreciation of how fast he ate.

"Kakashi," Kushina scolded, "how many times have I told you not to eat so fast?! I even made you roasted eggplant to add to your noodles."

Mito watched Kakashi put a ridiculous amount of the berry in his bowl. Her mother barely had a chance to put the delicious ramen over it before the teenager had made the whole meal disappear again. "Be careful of eating too much eggplant. It's a nightshade and contains alkaloids, including something called solanine. Solanine can be toxic." She yawned and stretched backward in her seat before smelling her armpit, then making a sour face. "Sorry. Anyway, when eaten in great quantities or over a long period of time, eggplants may cause early arthritis or other rheumatological conditions, but studies are inconclusive. It can also, but rarely, cause iron chelation, and unless you started with too much iron in your blood, that can cause obvious problems," Mito said. Although she'd made her parents proud with the knowledge she spouted off, it seemed that she'd offended their guest.

Tsunade baa-chan encouraged what had become this habit of hers, and Mito knew that it was probably annoying to other people, and felt her face heat up.

"Usually, though, the worst that happens is just burning in the throat, nausea, and vomiting... Oh, but of course, there's also heart arrhythmias, which can be a fatal reaction." Mito laughed and scratched her neck awkwardly, a trait that she'd inherited from her father. "Ya know, just watch your intake."

Something about this girl really rubbed Kakashi the wrong way, and having just insulted eggplant? That was a step too far! "Maa, ramen is loaded with salt and fat, and when ingested in mass quantities..." Kakashi stopped his diatribe very early while his eyes widened in fear. His sensei and Kushina were looking at him as if he were insane and must die, and Kushina's hair started to rise. How could he have forgotten the way this couple worshipped the "Ramen Gods?" Fortunately, Mito-chan let out a huge belly laugh.

"Oh gods, that was so good! And so true! I like you Kakashi-kun! You gotta keep it real, man," she wiped an imaginary tear away from her eye and held out her fist. Kakashi looked at her as if she was the odd one and didn't move at all. "Tsk! Bump my fist with yours, asshole."

"MITO-CHAN!" / "Watch your language, young lady," was yelled simultaneously. Mito glared at her parents and then quickly finished her ramen. She gathered up the dirty dishes and came back with a deck of cards.

"Who wants to make this interesting?" she asked while shuffling her deck like a card shark. Seeing the girl absolutely owning her parents, one at a time, Kakashi decided to simply sit back and watch. There was no way he was giving this little hellion the coloring book and crayons he'd bought her on his way over. At the end of the evening, however, she taught them all a few new card tricks and explained how she learned all of that while with Tsunade-hime, which made more sense to the Copy Nin.

By the end of the night, things had turned out to be fairly pleasant. Kakashi could say that his attitude had changed about the chibi-Namikaze, and for once he was actually glad that he'd come over. Saying that she was tired, Mito went upstairs to bed while Kakashi made his way out. It wasn't until he saw her ANBU mask that he felt the cold horror of what he'd done come over him again.

"To think you'd made Chunin, loser. I guess they're letting anyone have the rank nowadays," Kakashi said to his older male teammate.

"Shut up, Bakakashi!"

Rin smiled at both of them before scolding both boys for fighting. "Now that we're all the same rank, I hope we'll go out on more missions together."

Kakashi knew that he was about to be promoted to Jonin, but didn't say anything. His teammates were a pain, but they'd grown and were becoming tolerable. He just hoped that Obito-baka wouldn't freak out and start challenging him again... he already had to deal with/avoid Gai. "Who'd you two team up with for the exams anyway?"

"Oh, I wish you'd met her, Kakashi-kun: she was the sweetest girl! And she wants to follow in Tsunade-hime's footsteps, just like me!"

"You had two girls on your team?" Kakashi asked Obito. Two girls to one boy on a team was nearly unheard of.

"What's that supposed to mean, you insufferable prick?!" Obito asked hotly. "What are you sexist in addition to all your other damn flaws?!"

"I was just curious, loser! Shut up," Kakashi retorted.

"You're a loser! You shut up," Obito growled, one-upping his arrogant teammate in his own mind.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP! And yes, Kakashi-kun, we did have a female teammate. I'd never seen her before, but she was talented."

"Mhm, mhm," Obito said, nodding his head in agreement, "and strong, too, even though she was a total chibi."

"What's her name? Did she get promoted?" Kakashi asked. He was pretty sure that he knew all the Genin of Konoha - particularly the younger ones.

"Fox."

"Fox? Whaddya mean her name's Fox? That's idiotic!"

"HEY! That's what we were told, Kakashi-kun," Rin said sharply as she pointed her scissors at him. "She was masked the whole time but she was kawaii! We're going to be training together again starting next week!"

"If you find out what she really looks like, you'll tell me, right, Rin-chan? ...Such a brat, saying her face was too glorious for mere mortals to behold," Obito said, shaking his head fondly at the thoughts of the chibi.

Kakashi couldn't help but snort and wonder who this girl was that his teammates had spent nearly a month with. She did sound like a brat...

Mito gazed out her window, wondering what had happened to Kakashi. He'd seemed alright before she came upstairs, but his chakra had just fluctuated violently. She thought about crawling out her window to go check on him, but right at that moment, her father came up the stairs, bringing a storybook that looked like something he wanted to read to her. She shook her head and sighed at her father and Hokage. Normally she read medical texts until she couldn't stay awake any longer, but it looked like tonight she'd have to listen to some kind of fairytale or at best, an incredibly sterilized shinobi battle.

Hopefully, after Naruto-chan is born, he'll tell those stories to my baby brother, and let me get on with reading more interesting tomes.

She wanted to squeal in excitement: she was about to have a little brother to spoil and protect! She'd finally be at home with her parents, working on being the best medic-nin in the world… Mito's excited hopes and dreams continued even as her father read her a boring story about a princess and the knights that saved her.

Unfortunately, even the purest desires of the heart don't always come true.