DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
As soon as she was able to move and had her chakra safely unlocked, Mito flashed back to her new apartment, relatively barren as it was. She'd forgotten that her couch was in a sealing scroll and still needed to go back to the furniture store. At least she had a bed.
At least the furniture store was still standing...
Hell, at least she had a roof over her head! The Jonin apartment complex she'd moved into had been on the opposite side of the forest from where the Hokages had their smackdown. Most of the village was spared although the Jonin lounge was gone, the ANBU complex and Barrier division had been hit hard but the ANBU and shinobi dorms were still intact.
A large civilian section was toast, though. Uchiha Mikoto was being hailed as a hero for allowing those that used to live in that now Re-animated Senju Hashirama-Reforested section move, permanently, into the Uchiha Compound.
It was as if the entire village was being moved, only shifting, in that direction.
That was probably the other part of Mikoto-oba's plan, all along, Mito thought to herself as she looked around her flat. She soon undressed and stepped into the shower, hoping that the hot water would help with some of the stiffness she was feeling.
Mito fled the hospital before getting an opportunity to look at her chart but from what Shizune said, she'd broken some ribs, her arm, fractured her pelvis, and had a seizure but most of the physical stuff was healed by now. She sent a silent word of thanks to her Uzumaki mother and ancestors as well as Kurama for healing her as fast as they had. Shizune said that before word got out of Mikoto-oba's decision to welcome in those who had been displaced, her mother's best friend was being blamed for controlling the fox and sand demon; as in, she'd supposedly made them appear.
Now it was rumored that she brought both of them to heal.
The fox was never released. That was only Naruto's incredibly impressive, combined transformation.
And Mikoto was only there to help, Mito told herself. She refused to think of how she'd sensed Mikoto near Uchiha Obito's chakra signature so recently.
As the hot water eased the muscles in her back, Mito let out a deep sigh, feeling a new tightness in her chest: she told herself it was from either being still so long or from the previously broken ribs. Only her hip really hurt.
What a drag. She began to wash her greasy hair and froze. Running her hands here and there, grasping the strands that were still there, Mito let out a scream at realizing her hair was much shorter than it had been.
And that's when the walls fell. Mito slowly slunk to the tiled floor of the shower and felt like she couldn't breathe.
You killed those kids!
- They probably have families that are waiting for them - or grieving their loss now like I did when I lost Mom!
You killed EVERYONE just because you were so angry!
You wanted the two Kumo jinchuurikis to try to attack you!
- One of them, at least, is a perfect jinchuuriki you fucking dolt!
Her clone's memories hit her next and what she'd done with Hinata's kidnappers' bodies was NOT okay. Yes, they were hidden at the bottom of a waterfall and shouldn't, technically, be traced to her or Konoha but how realistic was that? She'd practically paraded her half-blood-bathed self in front of an important group of their Kumo comrades in arms!
Did my actions make Hinata or Hinabi any safer?
No, if anything, this could've made things worse! "Fuck," she whimpered to herself as she shivered in water that was quickly turning cold.
.
Mito needed… something.
Her father was pissed that she'd escaped the hospital she normally worked in and had apparently made it widely known that she wasn't allowed to help in construction or other efforts because of her previous injuries. Every upper-level shinobi she knew of was either working construction alongside civilians, trying to repair the forest and various routes in and out of Konoha, or taking missions trying to boost the economy and show that Konoha was still a force to be reckoned with.
It was totally unfair.
Called to the Tower when she was working, henged, (despite the henge,) Mito climbed the stairs once inside rather than using the window. She eyed her students, wondering which one of them had ratted her out. "Yo."
"Sensei!"
The trio seemed to cower.
Mito raised an eyebrow at them, realizing that they'd all been in on finding her. "Brats. Let your sensei do as she pleases."
"My orders," Minato sighed, looking twice at his upset daughter. Her hair was only down to just above her elbows now. He'd told those hospital nurses not to cut it: that Mito could work it out of the tornado-like knots and twist it was in but he guessed they had other plans. Yikes. "I asked you here to promote one of your Genins, Jonin Namikaze!"
"Oh," Mito pretended to gasp, trying to act the way she normally did although she felt absolutely nothing. "Very well."
Minato brought out a new Chunin vest and set of dog tags with a flourish. "Aburame Shino. As Yondaime Hokage, it is my great privilege to promote you to the position of Chunin…"
Mito smiled sadly at her student who was now kneeling on the ground, his fist over his heart as he was sworn in as a Chunin. She was a pathetic sensei. Mito didn't even know what had happened to the kids since she last saw Kiba in those few seconds before she flashed off to murder Hinata's kidnappers. Shit! Mito hadn't even grabbed the plants or little gifts they'd left for her at the hospital. She let out a sigh and then felt even worse when they all looked at her in concern. "I know you'll make us proud, Shino."
Shino pushed his glasses up. "As a celebration, I suggest you take me out to eat." Why? Because obviously you are troubled and we care about you. "Now." Neither he nor his sensei appreciated the snickers that followed his pushy words, although at least Mito-sensei smiled for a second, too.
"I guess we can do that," Mito bitterly smiled. "Where to, kiddo? –I mean, Chunin?" Her mind was at least sharp enough to notice the way Kiba looked so uncomfortable. She put her hand on Shino's new vest's shoulder as she led him out. Over her shoulder, she half-hollered at her father and threw up the peace sign. "I'm ready to go back to full-time duty, Hokage-sama!"
Shino wanted to go to celebrate at a restaurant near his compound called Daiozi which was known to make amazing sweets. Anko had introduced Mito to it previously - I also haven't seen Anko, although I heard she's on a mission - and they definitely made amazing dangos and meat dumplings, interestingly enough, too. Their mochi and sweetbreads also looked to die for although Mito wasn't feeling it right now. The lunch crowd had long cleared out and Mito asked her team to order anything they wanted.
Hinata had to be feeling better since she ordered her weight in sweets. Shino chose some too, as well as gyoza, as did Kiba although Mito frowned at him when he only ordered one serving. She hadn't even realized it: "Kiba-kun. How is Akamaru?"
"Ah," Kiba grinned a little more genuinely. "Don't worry about Akamaru, sensei, he's strong! Hana-nee said he'll be back at my side any day now. She's just being extra careful while he finished up his PT." He gave his sensei a sharp, long-lasting glare, trying to intimidate her into being extra careful and work on her own physical therapy, too.
Mito ignored it. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sorry I couldn't heal him before everything went down."
"You saved my life," Hinata said quietly. Her sensei put her hand on the table and one of her complex silencing seals went up around them.
"I told you I'd never let you be taken, my dear." Mito meant that.
"I should've been stronger," Kiba lamented.
"None of that, now," Mito insisted. "And you were strong."
"But you shoulda seen Hinata, sensei," Kiba said, glad to finally get all of this off his chest. "She wasn't supposed to use chakra but I think she got all the way past the 16 palms thing when she was fighting those bastards!"
"It's not nice to talk about the dead, Mito-chan."
Mito shifted in her seat, wondering whose voice that was that she'd just remembered, as Hinata implored Kiba to stop bragging about her.
Mito snorted: Hinata was afraid she was in trouble for using her chakra when she wasn't supposed to. "I'm glad you were with her, Kiba. If you hadn't done what you did, we might not have known Hinata had been taken. And Hinata: while I don't want you using chakra when you're not supposed to, if it's life or death - or kidnapping" which to me almost amounts to the same thing - "I want you to fight in any way you can."
"Hai, sensei."
"No dying, though," she said sharply. "You can always live to fight another day. So what happened before I got there?" Mito gasped, though, when she felt Kakashi's chakra spike. A LOT.
"Sensei?"
"Hang on." Nearby, Kakashi had a Hiraishin marker on him - and so did Asuma, who was right by him. And by him was also… She put her hands up in the seal, wondering if she even needed to anymore. "Kage Bunshin," she mumbled, and off the clone flashed.
.
Kakashi was down and only semi-conscious at best when the clone flashed in. Asuma and Kurenai had their eyes closed, weirdly enough, and Gai was about to hoist a limp Kakashi out of the water. Mito's main focus was on the men in Obito's uniforms, though. "Yo, dipshit. Itachi," she dipped her head in greeting him, too. "Where'd you get that sword, asshole?"
"Mito, you need to get out of here," Asuma hissed, his heart pounding in his chest.
The clone set her hands on her hips. "I asked you a question, Sharkboy."
"Aren't you funny?" Kisame asked facetiously, a wide, knowing grin on his blue face.
"We should leave, Kisame," Itachi quietly ordered, eyeing the woman he hadn't seen, in person, in so many years. Namikaze Mito was in the bingo books but he'd not expected to run into her out here. In fact, he'd wanted to avoid her. She was supposedly an uncannily good sensor. And is supposed to be in the hospital, either wounded or working.
And Itachi remembered that she'd always been unnaturally strong.
A VERY young Itachi gazed at the prettiest, most unique-looking girl he'd ever seen. He tried to remember everything his father taught him but his mother was here now - and she was encouraging him to show more of his feelings. "Hn."
"HN?" Mito asked, her voice high and crackly. "Hn, yourself, little boy."
"I am not little," Itachi argued. "I am tall for my age."
"Aww, you speak so well, chibi-chan!"
Itachi felt his face get hot. His mother had run off with the girl's mother, Kushina-oba, doing something that would probably aggravate his father. "You are a shinobi. Can you show or teach me a jutsu, please?"
Mito kneeled so that she was down on his level. "But you're a baby."
"I am three." Itachi showed her three fingers just to prove it. "I am almost four."
"Ohhhh. Well if you're almost four then I guess I can show you something! TOU-SAN!"
Itachi gasped as a man suddenly appeared in a burst of yellow.
"Oh! Itachi-chan," pre-Hokage Minato-sama chirped before bending down and giving him a dark look, quite close to his face. Looking back, Itachi was positive that Hokage-sama might have also cast a threatening genjutsu all around them. " What do you think you're doing with my daughter? "
"No! Bad Tou-san!" Mito scolded before she pulled her middle finger back with her thumb and flicked him in the hitai-ate.
"Minato-oji" went FLYING.
Surprising the Uchiha heir, the remaining adults all clapped and cheered for the strangely strong girl.
Mito kept her eyes on the rogue Mist nin. "Where did you get that sword?"
"Considering you took Samehada," Kisame began but the bitch interrupted him.
"I asked you a question. And what's the deal with those cloaks, hm?" The clone flicked a kunai and was between them in an instant. She kicked Kisame as hard as she could, shouting when something that wasn't supposed to popped in her hip. She found herself in Itachi's genjutsu.
"You are a clone," Itachi's voice said dispassionately from within a sea of red.
Mito watched a crow fly by.
"Yes."
What a weird genjutsu.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Itachi-kun?"
Moments later, Helmet Splitter came down on her frozen form and the clone was dispelled.
.
The real Mito, still in the restaurant with her kiddies, cursed under her breath. "Something's come up, guys. We're closest to Shino's compound. I want you to all go there right now." She made two clones and then more when her students began to question her. Her clones flashed the three brats to Shino's house while another went to her father, and her original ended up hovering over Kakashi, between the other Jonin-senseis whom she was close to.
"What the hell happened?" she asked angrily. Kakashi was sweating, his eyes were unfocused, and he was breathing erratically. Mito glared at Gai when he slapped her hand away from his face.
"My rival always wears his mask."
"I will not tolerate fashion choices that impede breathing, Gai!" She was ready to knock Gai's ass away if she had to but finally acquiesced to taking Kakashi elsewhere for the supposed reveal. "The hospital's way over capacity. I guess I can take him back to my place."
"No way," Asuma said for his own reasons. "Take him back to his apartment."
"I don't even know where that is!"
Fortunately, Gai knew. Kakashi lived in a small building that was somewhat near hers. She and her clones flashed them there and followed Gai upstairs, where he got nailed with so many weapons from Kakashi's traps that it, in any other situation, would have made Mito laugh at him.
Asuma was cursing her the whole way in. "They were after you," he hissed once safely (maybe) inside.
"Me?" Mito asked as she ran a diagnostic on the silver-haired Jonin.
"You and Naruto, although only Naruto was mentioned," Kurenai clarified.
Gai was explaining what he'd heard. The name for the jutsu, "Tsukiyomi," came up along with exactly what had happened; Kurenai filled in the blanks as Mito continued to try to help her patient. She raised Kakashi's head but was a little afraid to prod her chakra around the base of his brain.
"Man, this genjutsu is DEEP," Mito muttered under her breath as her hands hovered over his forehead and hair again. "Shit. Itachi's no joke!" She took a deep breath, more and more bothered by what the others said Itachi had said. "I," she began but shook her head. "We need to get him out of this. Kakashi's obviously in a LOT of pain but I'm not up to the task. Let's take him to the hospital."
"NO!"
Assholes. "His heartbeat is erratic! If you don't want to take him to the hospital, then bring Tsunade over; but it's your funeral." Gai left to go find her and Mito put Kakashi's headband on him again since he kept slightly opening his Sharingan.
An obviously beaten-up Gai arrived shortly after, following the Slug Princess through Kakashi's door.
Kurenai tried to lighten things up as the woman examined her once stuck-up classmate turned openly smut-reading pervert of a friend of sorts. "I bet this is the most people Kakashi-kun's ever had in his apartment." Asuma nodded at her but Mito and Gai's eyes were locked on the man in the bed. A commotion took place outside, the door opened, some things were said, and Asuma realized they hadn't put security seals up. He took care of that and knelt back down next to Mito who was watching what her mentor did carefully.
Kakashi opened his eyes but didn't even seem to notice that they were all there or so close to him.
"You alright, Puppy?" Tsunade asked the shinobi, remembering a time when her friend, Sakumo, used to call a very small Kakashi that. Kakashi only blinked rapidly and quietly groaned as he rubbed his head and seemed to search for his mask. She snorted when the silver-haired man pushed his head into his pillow and reflexively pulled up his sheets, covering his handsome face - so much like his mother's, she thought - before closing his eyes and shifting toward one of two ninjas that most bet he had a crush on, her goddaughter or Gai-kun.
"'Puppy' is a cute thing to call him," Mito grinned. "Because of his dogs, 'ttebane." She looked up at a bemused Tsunade. "Is he going to be alright?"
"Yes, yes." The security seals fell and everyone, sans the out-cold Kakashi, moved to attack but it was only Minato who entered.
"At ease," Minato ordered, taking a deep, shaky breath at seeing that his student had really been brought down. Kakashi was good: Minato despised seeing him in this state. "What happened?"
In order from when Kurenai and Asuma got to the scene, tailing the rogues at Kakashi's urging, everyone began reporting what they'd seen or experienced as well as their best guesses on what had happened to Kakashi.
Mito subtly signaled her father that she needed to speak with him alone. As the person lacking another mission, she guessed, she found herself assigned to taking care of Kakashi until he was back on his feet - or to at least evaluate him until he was ready to safely be up and around.
.
Minato crossed his arms over his chest as he observed his student and daughter. Kakashi was leaning to the edge of his bed toward Mito, which might have been a coincidence, while Mito was in a chair, propping her feet up on the end of Kakashi's bed, making herself as home as she often did. He refused to give it any more thought at the moment but knew it would keep him up later. "So what's up?"
"Although we were cut off in the middle of his request, Itachi wants to meet me. I think he'll be sending a clone."
Minato signaled for his two remaining ANBUs to spread out. "You. Want to meet. Our S-ranked rogue Uchiha. Who admitted he was coming for you and Naruto?"
"That's not what he said, though! Yes, Asuma said Itachi said that he was here for 'the Yondaime's Legacy, Uzumaki Naruto.' But Itachi didn't say anything about me."
"Maybe he simply didn't have time." Mito only shrugged at that before scooting away from Kakashi and giving him a harsh look and then pouting at the ends of her hair. Minato bit the inside of his cheek, also having found it odd that Itachi had given up any information at all. I think he was trying to warn us and stay undercover.
But I could be wrong.
"Itachi-kun didn't hurt me and I can't help but wonder what he was doing." He hurt Kakashi, though, Mito thought, looking at the silver-haired man's half-covered face. Kakashi was still sweating. She got up and put a cool cloth on his forehead. Her mother used to do that with her, and medically there weren't a lot of other options to help him right now. "Did Itachi not get along with Kakashi-kun or something?"
"He did: Kakashi used to be his captain and taught him what it took to be an ANBU captain."
Mito leaned forward but looked back at Kakashi's sleeping, covered face. "Teach me, too, Kakashi!" That's what I would have said once upon a time. Now she was being a little sarcastic.
"Kay," the zonked-out man seemed to agree. Mito winked at her father and gave him two big Gai-worthy thumbs up before chuckling to herself.
"You're not on painkillers are you?" he asked dryly.
"I might be." I absolutely am!
Her father grumbled before summoning a toad and sending it off to Jiraiya with an urgent message about what had happened.
"What's the Akatsuki?" she asked.
"An organization of S-ranked ninjas that seeks the power of the tailed beasts."
Mito didn't find the power thing very surprising, considering that every country wanted more and more of that power. "They're wearing those cloaks, ne? –The red clouds on black are Akatsuki uniforms?" Her father nodded and got a reply back almost immediately or so it seemed. A very small toad had brought a large bunch of papers back. "Why is Naruto with Jiraiya?" And why isn't my boot up Jiraiya's ass?
Mito would NOT be getting over Jiraiya knocking her precious little brother into what seemed like the earth's core anytime soon.
"After Naruto left the hospital, Jiraiya took him toward the coast." He sighed as he observed his sleeping student and his spartan apartment. "Good timing, too," considering Naruto's sensei was out. "Naruto wanted to help in the rebuilding effort but I wanted to get him out of here." He sighed tiredly as he looked at the reports Jiraiya had finally sent him. Sasuke also needed to cool off about Naruto being "so much more powerful than me," and neither of them making Chunin. "You two rest and recuperate. As soon as we have room for Kakashi at the hospital, I'll have Tsunade send you a note."
"Neither of us needs the hospital. At least, I don't think Kakashi needs it now - but I'll monitor him."
"Thank you," he said sincerely. Mito wasn't fully healed, either, and her injuries had been severe. This was killing two birds with one stone. "You have a bedroll or something on you? I don't want you sleeping with him."
Mito choked and knew she was turning every shade of red and probably purple despite how old she was. "Of course not! He's my patient! I mean, I DO have a bedroll - but don't say stuff like that." Her father left and Mito rechecked her charge, who was only sleeping fitfully now.
Getting as comfortable as she could in a stiff wooden chair, she leaned on its back two legs into the corner, before pulling out the gnarliest and most exclusive, hard to get, extra in the Sea of Love series, Sea of Love: Mobey Dick versus Papa Boner.
"Go, Papa."
She spent the next several hours waiting for or occasionally glaring at Asuma or her father who would attempt to peek in through Kakashi's big window even though his curtains were shut. Idiots.
Wondering if he was dreaming, Kakashi tried to focus on a certain snoozing kunoichi who had dared to enter his den without permission. Probably. Good God: what had he done?
He also made out traces of his comrades' scents in his room although those were recent but faint: all aside from Mito's.
Itachi.
Kakashi wondered how long he had been out.
Peering down to look at the title of the book resting over her head, Kakashi's eye widened slightly and he stifled what should have been a laugh before realizing he didn't have his mask on. Damn medics! He tried to get out of bed but found that he was still ridiculously exhausted. Plus there was a sleeping, very curvy woman with an incredibly nice ass, face down on a bedroll on his floor, her wild hair flowing out around her head, almost like a halo.
Had she cut it? –That would be a shame.
Kakashi slid open his nightstand drawer and found himself on the bad end of a kunai, right in his own flat! "Watch it."
"Sorry about that," Mito said with a stretch and suppressed yawn as he put on a mask. She twirled her kunai back into a seal. "How ya feeling?"
"Peachy."
"I bet! Tsunade had to break you out of that genjutsu; unfortunately, I wasn't able to. –I'm sorry for every second you had to be in it any longer than you should have." Mito felt like she sucked.
Kakashi thought that was a nice sentiment but unnecessary. "It's fine. You can go now."
"Rude," Mito replied, not bothered in the least. "I can't! You are my mission."
"You're kidding!" Sensei wouldn't have changed his mind about that, would he have?
"I am not!" She got up and threatened him when he tried to swat her away. Mito needed to examine the shinobi now that he was awake although Kakashi was an awful patient. Far worse, he'd been having nightmares throughout the night and still had to be exhausted. Who knew what Kakashi had been through, both inside the genjutsu and in the dreams that followed it? "Be glad that there's no room at the hospital. …How bad was the genjutsu?"
Really bad, was what Kakashi wanted to say. Many nasty genjutsus had been used in attempts to take him down over the years - usually, he got right out of them thanks to the Sharingan - but this one made him believe he was there for days even though Itachi had said it had lasted only moments. He couldn't imagine how many times or in how many places he felt as though he'd been impaled, slowly and painfully.
And the aftereffects of his jutsu were no joke, either. –But that was probably all on him.
Kakashi was also concerned because now that Mito was up and close to him, he could see that she looked exhausted and as if she may have recently been crying? "How long was I out?"
"It's been around 12 hours since you came out of the genjutsu, I think." After examining him, Mito took time to carefully scrutinize his constantly inflamed optic nerve and the surrounding blood vessels while Kakashi was awake. He really needed to ditch that Sharingan eye! "My clone got to the scene as Gai was picking you up. I followed her as soon as the clone was hit. I had to get my students… Ah, hell." She helped Kakashi with the water he was trying to drink.
The poor guy was really weak. She had checked his cabinets earlier and they were nearly bare so she was going to have to go out and get them something to eat.
"Hm?"
"I ditched the restaurant where my team met without paying the bill. –Or eating, pretty much, come to think of it. And we were there to celebrate Shino's promotion!" She clicked her tongue. Her students had to be rightfully upset with her.
Kakashi zonked out again and Mito covered him back up. Curling up on her bedroll, she was soon haunted by the images and sounds of battle.
An hour later -
"RIN!" Kakashi woke up, panting and shaking all over.
"It's alright, Kakashi. You're okay," Mito assured him, miserably, her heart beating wildly. She watched him stumble up and begin scrubbing his hand, just like she'd been done earlier. He didn't seem to notice that she was even there. "What a horrible fucking job we ended up with, hm?" she whispered.
She finally had to pull him away from his sink and gently dry off his hands. "Rin-chan wouldn't want this for you, Kakashi."
Kakashi turned on her, wild-eyed and bewildered before catching his breath and realizing who she was. He tried to calm himself. "What are you doing… Oh." She was holding his hand.
But there was a towel between them.
Hopefully, that made it safe.
Mito backed off and bobbed her head at him. "It's okay. You're alright now; you're safe. –Let's get you back in bed, eh?"
Kakashi nodded and licked his lips but didn't move. His mask being there was something of a security blanket at times like these. "I won't be able to sleep."
Kakashi lay in his bunk until the sun rose and then later set without saying a word - not when Mito chased off Asuma OR her father, telling them to "go train or something."
He thought of his teammates and how much of a failure he was despite his supposed fame. On his first mission as a Jonin, Rin had been kidnapped and Obito had been crushed - or so he thought. Obito - of all the people in the world to do such a thing - had recovered and gone rogue, leaving him with one of his eyes to see a future that once again seemed so incredibly bleak.
And his kohai, Itachi: Itachi-kun… Why?
.
Zetsu and Obito had been waiting for this; for proof.
Zetsu followed Itachi's crow back into Fire Country. Sure enough, Namikaze Mito hopped into a cave, meeting the crow. She was henged as a nondescript male shinobi but Zetsu's clones had been following her long enough to know who she really was. A security seal went up and that was enough proof for him.
"Something has to be done about Ita-chi," White Zetsu sang to his other half. Black Zetsu only nodded, agreeing completely.
.
Mito's clone was immediately caught in a genjutsu. She had been prepared for it and had even asked Kurama to chill out and not break it unless she was attacked. Once again she was floating bonelessly in a sea of red. She felt more like a folded piece of paper than she did Mito. "How does a crow manage this?"
"Clone or not, the power of the Sharingan should not be taken lightly, Mito-hime." Itachi's voice echoed around her but only the crow was present.
"You know better than to call me that, Itachi-kun."
"Hn."
Mito thought she heard a smirk in his response. "I suppose you reentered Konoha to see your son?" She felt something heavy pressing down on her and for a moment, her vision cleared and she was back in the cave with the crow.
"Tha- that's impossible."
The clone raised an arched, red eyebrow at him as an equally brilliant shade of red surrounded her once more. "Is it?" She couldn't help but begin to softly smile despite what her baka godbrother of sorts had done and gotten himself into. "Shisui-san is acting as the baby's father but I signed the birth certificate, myself, Itachi. –I guess congratulations are in order."
"Where is he?"
From far south of her position, Itachi tried to get himself together. Mito did say "son," did she not?
He and Izumi had been careful. How could such a thing have happened?!
Was it true?
Sadly, the Mito he once knew wouldn't lie about such a thing.
"Uchiha compound, I suppose," Mito guessed. She went on to explain how his mother had allowed those in the destroyed part of the village - thanks to Orochimaru's summons and the Senju brothers' jutsus - to move into the Uchiha compound. She stopped when she realized that he might be crying. The genjutsu kept wavering and the red skies were now filled with rain. She also thought she heard him although his staggered breathing was quite muffled. Not knowing how much time they had left, she got down to Akatsuki business despite how sad this was. "What is going on, Itachi?"
"The Uchihas attempted a coup. It was encouraged by the rogue, Uchiha Obito, who is masquerading as Uchiha Madara. Some of us… some of us fought back, forever silencing those that wanted to go against Lord Hokage."
"That's known," Mito said firmly. "And although I'm sure my father might thank you for that, he would wonder why no one came to him sooner to inform him, and I KNOW he'd wonder - as I do - why you hurt your brother the way you did!" She should've mentioned Kakashi, too.
A pregnant pause followed his words.
"That's… that's worse than you think. When I left with Obito, I used it as an opportunity to infiltrate the Akatsuki. Only Sasuke was to be allowed to survive what would have been a massacre. When Kisame and I attempted to take Naruto-kun from Jiraiya-sama..."
Mito almost choked. Although they weren't trying to kill the Uchiha, if Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai couldn't handle Itachi effectively, what chance did her brother and Jiraiya have?! "What did you say?"
The crow backed away from the KI crashing down on it. "Naruto and the Toad Sage escaped, as I planned. I was forced to deal with my foolish little brother."
"'DEAL with' him? Wh - What do you mean? And what is this about only Sasuke being allowed to survive?"
"Sasuke was with Jiraiya-sama earlier today. I need to ensure he's strong."
Mito tried to wrap her head around that. He'd tried to break Sasuke before! "What are you thinking? –What have you done, Itachi?!"
After her little outburst, Mito found herself alone (well, as alone as she ever was) in the cave. Did that crow dispel?! Mother fu… She set her fists on her hips, pissed as hell, and gritted her teeth. She had gotten almost ZERO information and given away plenty!
What was she? A rookie?!
"He is DANGEROUS, Mitwo." The clone dispelled and the real Mito clutched the little table Kakashi had in his flat, nearly dropping her take-out, learning that Itachi and Kisame had tried to take Naruto.
"Oh, my God." She made another clone to leave with Kakashi and flashed to her father's side.
.
After speaking at length with her father, Mito didn't feel much better. Although Jiraiya had sent a toad to report that he and Naruto were just fine, like Itachi said, Sasuke had gone to confront his brother after the whole Itachi/Kakashi fiasco. Sasuke was on his way to the hospital via Gai who had gone to meet them. From what was reported, Sasuke had been put in the same awful genjutsu AGAIN - and Itachi had even broken his brother's arm and wrist.
For fuck's sake!
Mito had so many questions. She turned away from the patient she was about to dismiss, as long as Kakashi eats enough, so he could do so without swallowing his food whole. Why he was so shy about his face, Mito had no idea although more seemed to be going on than Kakashi only trying to retain his signature look or something.
They'd been together for a couple of days now, not talking an awful lot as they played cards or Go - but mostly slept and read.
"That cave, Mitwo. I need you to return to it. Not your clone: you."
"Why?"
"Because," Kurama began uncomfortably, really despising discussing this although if it was out there, he had to retrieve it. "I have left something... Something I thought was long gone: I sensed it when your clone was within its proximity. It all makes sense now," he added more to himself than his vessel.
"What makes sense? And, um, I didn't sense anything odd."
"I can sense myself, idiot."
Mito gave him a flat look before getting ticked off. "There's even more of you out there?! As if you weren't big enough when we met - then you went and had chakra in Sora and of course, a big part of you is in Naruto. What's wrong with you, man? Keep your shit together!"
Mito had surprised herself. Normally she wasn't so snarky with the fox. It wasn't his fault he was ripped in half. "I am sorry," she apologized, rubbing the back of her head. Surprisingly, Kurama chuckled at her although the sound was bitter. "I've got a lot on my mind."
I know that. "We have to get this, Mito. Asap or… Now," he demanded, firming his resolve to say the next word although it made him, theoretically, want to vomit. "Please."
Mito's eyebrows rose for a split second. She worked her bottom lip as she considered it. One, the fox called her by her actual name. Two, he said "please." She pinched herself to ensure she wasn't dreaming. Kakashi knocked on the table and Mito looked up, seeing that he was finished with his meal. "Well, I'll be getting out of your thick, soft hair now," she said, thinking it was funny that he glared at her while looking petulantly put out and perhaps even pouting under his much-loved mask. "That was a compliment! Anyway, I've gotta head to the hospital and see my kids. Take it easy and I'll let Tou-san know that you can get back to being listed as active duty, ready for missions, in one to two days."
Kakashi began to argue that he was ready to go now but Mito flashed away. He sat down and put his head in his hands.
Hours later, his sensei came to him, looking for his daughter.
Her clones had dispelled at approximately the same time - and now she was missing.
.
"So what are we doing here?" Mito asked the fox out loud once she was back inside the cave in which she'd met Itachi's crow. Technically, she was on (forced) leave, so she could do somewhat as she pleased within Fire Country as long as she got back to Konoha and checked in. Sort of.
And they were in Fire Country, she told herself, feeling weird about having only left a general location of where she was going with the gate guards.
Just me and my giant fox.
Back to the business at hand - whatever it was - the use of an ocular genjutsu via summons was something Mito had never heard of before. The fact that Itachi had also turned Kurenai's genjutsu back on her, admitting that he could mirror all genjutsus was both amazing and frightening if true. Because of Hoshigaki Kisame's Helmet Splitter, Asuma had been forced to back off although he had protected his partner while Kurenai held the genjutsu and Asuma tried to get answers.
Otherwise, Mito thought Asuma would've made mincemeat out of Kisame. His mind, wind, and other jutsus of all types were no joke.
And how did Kisame get hold of Helmet Splitter? The last time she saw that damn sword, Magnetsu's little brother, Suigetsu, was training with it. Kisame had better not have hurt either of those Hozuki brothers! Mito really cared for them.
Just thinking/worrying about them made her feel a flutter of hope, though. Her father had said that Mei was supposed to be coming to Konoha soon.
"11 degrees Northeast," Kurama directed instead of answering his jinchuuriki. He sighed and unintentionally blew her hair back with his steaming, hot breath. "You'll see what we're searching for when we get there."
"I should've told someone I was doing this," Mito groaned to herself. The fox heard her, of course.
"You can teleport," he said dryly. "You'll be fine as long as we remain alert."
"Right," Mito agreed. No one was out here so it was actually rather pleasant to just let her senses go. It was like being herself and relaxing for a few blessed minutes. She stayed on guard, of course: that was a vital part of her being as well.
Kurama continued to direct her through various passages within the side of a mountain. She began moving uphill and stopped, concerned about this whole endeavor. "You realize how much of my trust I'm putting in you right now, don't you?"
"Yes."
That's it?! That doesn't make me feel better, Mito thought. She came to what she could only call a storage room within the mountain. Much of it was covered in debris or various types of growth but Kurama seemed to know exactly what he was looking for here.
"The large scroll leaning against the East wall!" He grimaced, thinking of what Mito would have to do - no, what HE would be forced to do for her to be able to retrieve it. It was better Mito than anyone else now, however.
As soon as Mito reached for it, her hand was cut badly. "Son of a bitch!"
"Kurama, what is this?" She gasped and crouched, ready for an attack when old seals went up around her.
"You're fine. Open it. And tell NO ONE, Mito: promise me!"
"Okay," she agreed without really thinking about it because she had serious misgivings about all this. "I don't know, Kurama. Something feels off!" Mito concentrated on only sensing but couldn't feel anything near them. "I want to get out of here."
"Stop being so fucking nervous. This," Kurama said, his attention directed to the scroll, "is mine. How HE got it, I'll never know. Let's just get in and get out."
Mito noticed that she was still bleeding; normally she healed much faster than this. That couldn't be good. "You want me to open it?" Mito really WANTED to open it to see what secrets it revealed. She turned to him in her mindscape, however, narrowing her eyes at the fox who only looked pissed off but resigned. "Are you trying to escape from my seals?"
"Always," he grinned fangily. "However, I will state that - on my father's name and honor - you will not be hurt by opening and signing the scroll. You MUST mark a name out. It is beyond unfortunate that you must sign in order to do so, however, this is but one failsafe Asura put in place."
Mito blew out her cheeks, cursing her inquisitive nature. "Kurama," she gasped seconds later. "This is a summoning scroll. This is YOUR summoning scroll!"
"Just do it! And take Madara's name off of it! We're taking it with us!"
"But what about my cats?" Mito saw Obito's name listed last on the scroll and let out a low growl.
"Irrelevant."
"Asshole." She looked at said asshole one last time before signing her name with her bloody hand and fingers. Mito felt an odd surge of power but it made her more proud than afraid. "Thank you, Kurama." In a long line, she crossed out Madara's name with her blood, followed by Obito's, too.
She felt like cackling with glee: take that fuckers!
"YES!" Thank Father and Inari-sama! "We must hide it."
"You bet your furry ass I'll hide this thing."
Mito was still kneeling on the floor as she rerolled the scroll, putting a coded, chakra, and blood seal on it before storing it in another seal on her side - and that's when the ground erupted, pinning her down in Mokuton. "Obito!"
She reached out her senses and didn't feel anyone, though. Who's attacking me? If they thought this amount of Mokuton could hold her down, her foe was sadly mistaken. She channeled her chakra into her limbs and got ready to roll.
"I wonder how you found this place?" White Zetsu questioned in a dreamy voice. He and his counterpart, Black Zetsu, were very excited that they shocked the kunoichi sensor so thoroughly. That could prove helpful in the future.
Mito stared at the black and white man/plant thing. She could only feel hostility from him - but she hadn't detected his chakra at all. She burst out of the Mokuton, a Rasengan blazing in her hand as a clone appeared behind her, ready to substitute to get her out of there.
The "person" disappeared into the rocky floor and Mito sucked in a breath when her hand became stuck in the earth that the Rasengan hit. Her clone had also been dispelled by spikes of wood. Concentrating her chakra to get her out of there, she shrieked when it felt like the entire mountain came down on top of her.