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

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

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Kiba jumped when his sensei teleported to his side out of nowhere and clutched at his chest. He thought he had gotten better about that! "Sensei! You have got to stop doing that crap! What if I was takin' a leak or something?!"

Mito's lips twitched up and she ruffled his hair. "Oh, kid. Am I glad to see you! –Seems like you're okay, then?"

When Mito found out that Kiba had been hurt (again) she panicked. After ensuring she could get away for a few minutes, she came to find her cub. "WHY aren't you at the hospital?" He was with a bunch of ninkens! She began running a diagnostic on him. Mito gritted her teeth. Kiba had been stabbed several times; one wound was especially bad although they'd all been treated.

"I had to get Akamaru to Hana; he was hurt more than me."

Oh, Kiba looked so guilty about that! Mito soon moved so that she could kneel down next to Akamaru and pet his little head. "Heya, buddy!"

Akamaru let out a sad whine but slowly nuzzled into her palm. Mito wasn't sure what he said but it was clear that he was in pain. Hana walked into the room before she could do anything about it. "We're at your clinic?"

"Ah. You teleported in, I take it?" Hana asked.

"Yeah. I've got Kiba marked, of course. Sorry to intrude." But this is an animal clinic and Kiba's pretty much a person.

"Is everybody else okay?" Kiba asked.

Mito nodded uncomfortably. "Shizune did an outstanding job with Neji-kun and by the time I took over Choji-kun's case, Tsunade-hime had healed most of the damage." All Mito really needed to do was power up the seals the other techs had put on him since Tsunade had cleared Choji of the drugs in his system. She'd also healed some bruises and a fracture he had but Choji wound up being very lucky.

And Neji-kun… All of her animosity about the whole thing between him and Hinata went down the drain when Mito heard how grievously he was injured (and how well he fought.)

- And Shizune! To perform a theoretical jutsu to save his life based on stem cell research was just incredible.

"I understand Shikamaru broke his finger and um…"

"Naruto?" Kiba asked uneasily. His gut clenched when he saw his sensei's eyes begin to tear up.

"He's gonna be fine," Mito finally got out - confidently, she hoped. "He's gonna have to take it easy for a little while." It was too hard to say anything else.

Whether Naruto was fully admitting it to himself or not, Sasuke, she'd learned, had repeatedly tried to kill her little brother and almost did it!

Kurama was right.

And now Naruto says he'll never give up trying to bring Sasuke back…

"It's the promise of a lifetime, Sakura-chan!"

Mito closed her eyes and tried to tamp down her anger. Sasuke was just a kid but she really wanted to bring him back, too. So I can throttle him.

God, how terrible: what Sasuke had done and how she felt about it. That kid should've been forced into a bed at the mental health unit as soon as he came out of that second genjutsu if not the first.

Mito hadn't thought things were THIS bad with Sasuke, either, though. She also thought that he'd been properly evaluated. He had not.

The Jonin sensei put her hands over Kiba's side, feeding him her chakra so that he would heal faster but couldn't do a lot more for him at the moment. "You were lucky." Had he been stabbed at any other angle with the deepest wound, Kiba could've lost his life or ability to be a ninja. –She knew how important that was to him.

Kiba pursed his lips. He could tell how upset Mito-sensei was. "You want a biscuit, sensei? Get her a biscuit, Hana."

Mito snorted, pushing him down. "You need to stay still. And… actually, I wouldn't mind a dog biscuit." She bent over and patted his head, enjoying the way he sniffed at her hair, and then began giggling when she pushed her index finger into his fanged cheek.

Hana smiled at what was happening, happy that her brother got such a caring sensei, especially considering what a handful her little brother could be. She'd heard Mito was tough as nails with a very salty, nasty attitude but Hana had never seen that side of her. Once, Hana had asked Kiba about it and Kiba had snickered terribly until he told her that he thought his sensei was a "big, secret softy" and bipolar. Then again, since hearing the word "bipolar" (and a little of what it meant,) Kiba thought everyone showed signs of it.

Everyone probably did.

Hana leaned back and answered Mito's questions about Kiba's diet, restrictions, and wanted to participate in overseeing his physical therapy. They agreed that he could get more individualized attention with her at the Inuzuka clinic than at the hospital right now - and that Kiba would have been sneaking out to check on Akamaru who had to stay here, anyway.

Mito set her hands on her hips, feeling awkward about this but had to know. "Kiba, why didn't you throw one of my kunais? I could've helped you!" She wanted to ask Naruto the same thing but her father had beaten her to it.

- Naruto had blacked out halfway through the fight that continued without him being continuously aware of what he (or maybe his part of Kurama) was doing.

Kiba crossed his arms over his bandaged chest. "I JUST had to do that," he said, frowning at the thought of feeling so helpless when he, Hinata, and Ko had been taken down and he'd had to call for her assistance then. "I didn't want to do it again, especially so soon!" Sensei didn't look appeased: she was staring at him with that weird gaze of silent disapproval - one of her eyebrows having arched - that she'd mastered so well. "Really, though? I almost pulled one out and then that Sand guy with the puppet showed up."

Mito nodded. THAT was the one thing Tsunade did that Mito heartily approved of. Tsunade had no one else to send out when Genma and his team had been brought back, injured, so she went to the three Suna kids. The former Kazekage's children had begged to help. She'd bet money they wanted to do something to prove they could remain allies BUT would've earlier bet that they wanted to simply run home when given a chance to leave.

Mito was SO glad that she would have been wrong.

"What's gonna happen to them? Kanky-whatever was a dic- er, jerk but he really helped me 'n' Akamaru out. OH God, Sensei! You shoulda seen it: his puppet attacked, then when I thought it was broken and we were fu- er, screwed and then the puppet reassembled, trapping the enemy inside and it skewered him!"

Mito wrinkled her nose at that. She hated puppets. "Ew." She raised an eyebrow at Hana who let out a bark of laughter.

"It was 'ew,'" Kiba agreed, getting more passionate. His sensei had to hold him down to remind him that he needed to rest his injuries. "The guy - or brothers, I guess - I was fighting had two bodies that he could combine into one, and rove into 'n' outta each other, and maybe me and um…" The more he thought about it, the more Kiba realized just how bizarre, REAL, and completely overwhelmed he'd been. He shivered all over and didn't mind Mito-sensei running her hand through his hair and shushing him. He even leaned into her touch a little. "I gotta get stronger, sensei. That was some scary shit."

Mito kneeled down beside him and gave him a look that promised she meant what she was saying. "We'll get stronger together."

She needed to talk to her father about the whole ambassador thing.
It sucked that she had been going back and forth on it but now her priorities were straight.

Kiba took a big breath after she left and looked at his big sister. She looked worried about him so he tried to cheer her up. "Did ya see that, Hana? –I'm definitely sensei's favorite!"

Hana knew exactly what he was doing. "Ha! You just keep telling yourself that, Kiba!"

Minutes later, Mito found her father with her little brother - in his hospital room. "Yo, guys."

"I was just asking Dad: how was Kiri?" Naruto asked with a forced grin. His face was beginning to hurt, he'd been forcing himself to smile so much when people visited. He sure didn't feel like smiling but didn't want to make anyone else sad. "I shoulda asked ya earlier, 'ttebayo."

"Kiri was Kiri," Mito answered unhelpfully, although she'd enjoyed her time there. Being away, though, was insane. She had so much to learn and improve on here and more importantly, she had four kids that needed her attention and protection. "The more important question is how you feel that you're doing, otouto?" She picked up Naruto's chart and began reviewing the latest notes the nurses had made. She felt she'd already memorized the rest of the thing by now.

There were only a few things that had been updated since she left: Naruto's vitals had been taken 10 minutes ago and looked almost too good to be true. She decided to recheck them.

"I'm fine." Naruto looked away when his sister gave him a dry, incredulous look as she put the big cuff on his arm. "I am," he exclaimed firmly.

Mito pursed her lips and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. She looked at her father whose eyes she'd felt boring into her ever since she moved to pick up Naruto's chart. "Do you have any mental health professionals that aren't Yamanakas on staff here or at the clinic?"

Minato wondered if he could convince Mito to go see them, too - after they talked. "A couple. One's a retired shinobi that now works in the records room here at the hospital and the other is at the Yamanaka facility. Inoichi has someone training selected retired shinobis; I'm not sure if any have graduated." He needed to check on that.

"Why?" Naruto asked as soon as the thing was out of his mouth, his chest feeling tight again. Were they judging him?

"No reason," Mito lied. "Ah, I guess it's more accurate to say that I need a specialist to see a patient - and you know that kind of thing is confidential Naruto."

"I guess so," Naruto said uneasily. "Sorry about that."

"There's nothing to be sorry about!"

An hour later, Mito and her father found the old, semi-retired guy who was still seeing patients for their mental health issues on the side.

Naruto would be getting a visit from him soon. Someone needed to help him deal with what had happened to him!

.

"My office?" Minato asked. Mito shrugged, making him want to strangle someone. As soon as they flashed there and he put up seals, he sat her down. "I saw your arm." Just above his daughter's wrist were teeth marks!

Mito had forgotten to be careful to hide it. Seriously?! Her brain fog was becoming a real problem! She flopped down onto the far end of the couch. "It's fine."

"It is not fine," Minato steamed. "I'm assuming you had Naruto bite you." He closed his eyes when he got a very slight bob of the head for that. "He was that bad off when you found him?" Mito looked away, her chin sitting in her hand. "Dammit, Mito! Naruto's chart didn't say anything about that!"

"Do you want it to?!" Mito asked incredulously. "Should I have told anyone that I used an ability I'm not supposed to have so they could put it in our records - records you know are reproduced! It would definitely come back to bite me." No pun intended.

Minato swallowed the lump that had risen up in his throat. "Of course not." He ran his hand through his hair, nearly yanking on it. "I got everyone's report but… I think Naruto was honest about what happened with Sasuke but I didn't realize how… just how bad his injuries were." They had to be bad - nearly fatal - for Mito to have had him bite her, surely. The fact that she wasn't saying anything but looked so pensive told him enough. "He said that he blacked out in the middle of the fight, too, or thought he did. That happened to him before when he used the fox's chakra. And I need your report before the end of the day."

"I'm not saying what I did: having him bite me. I'm not putting that shit on paper."

Minato could agree with that. "Thank you, Mito. Thank you SO much for saving Naruto."

Mito subtly but rapidly shook her head back and forth, feeling so angry. "Don't be ridiculous," she mumbled.

"How did you know Naruto was in trouble?"

Mito looked into his eyes, daring him to look away or challenge her on what she was about to say. She knew how much her father couldn't stand Kurama. "The fox told me that my brother was dying."

Minato let that sink in for too long, his gut clenching as his heart began to pound harder in his chest. For several seconds, it was almost hard to see. He'd almost lost his son! "I… I've gotta go." He needed to talk to Kushina.

And Mikoto.

He flashed away, leaving Mito sitting there, drowsy, angry, and in a fog. She also had a problem. One of the seals holding Kurama back - or part of him - had not only failed but had just dissolved, something she'd rarely seen. Jiraiya had put that seal on her, eventually connecting it to the original seal her grandfather had put on her… It was or had been complicated and extremely messy but did the trick so many years ago.

She didn't know what to do about it - or if she should even say anything about it! Mito didn't want Kurama locked down even more; most of him hadn't gone anywhere (although she guessed that extra demonic chakra had simply flowed into Naruto's seal or coils.)

Duh! I need to check Naruto's seal!

.

When she woke up with a start later, Genma was softly shaking her and asked her if she'd had lunch.

Mito felt sick at the whole thought of it.

When was the last time I ate? Not eating, even during stressful, insane times was not like her at all - although she did have that dog biscuit. "Sorry, Gen. Can I get a raincheck? I need to check something out."

Several hours later, Mito was still in the hospital's most secured lab, having run series after series after series of checks on herself. She'd also had her clones working on a few hypotheses and the answers she was coming up with weren't good.

The main reason she'd come back to the hospital was to check on Naruto's seal, which was still working, slowly allowing her brother to use Kurama's chakra. It was as if nothing had changed Kurama's seal, which she had at first thought odd. Maybe he had more demonic chakra in his coils now but it didn't seem by much. Maybe that's because evaluating it as a percentage doesn't work because he has so much damn chakra, to begin with. Naruto's chakra was off the charts.

Looking at her pile of papers, she stretched, needing answers and some direction. "Fuck."

Coming up with a dunderheaded plan, Mito flashed off to find Tsunade or Shizune. Fortunately, they were together again.

Mito bit her lip and turned after closing the door. She pushed her chakra into a security array that sealed the room, then "altered" it a bit (or more) with her chakra. "I need your help - or would like to see if you think I'm on the right track."

Tsunade noted that Mito had her file with her. "You are not still going on about feeling strange, are you? For heaven's sake, Mito! It would be odd if you didn't feel off! You were buried for days, didn't stay at the hospital, or simply stayed down nearly as long as you should have. Then you went to Kiri, and then you found Naruto…"

Mito threw her file on her desk. Shut up, dammit! "I've been poisoned. Maybe. –Or messed with, anyway."

"WHAT?!" Tsunade knew there was simply no way that was possible unless it just happened. Mito had recently been in the hospital and thus had a complete (and quite an extended series of) lab panels run. She began looking for alerts in the lab reports. She didn't see anything immediately but knew Mito was good with numbers. "What did those Kiri bastards do to you?"

"Nope," Mito chirped - although that had been her first guess, too. "I don't think so. I think this began after I got back to the village: after I spent that year in Kiri." She turned some pages of her findings over and moved them so that Shizune could better see over Tsunade's shoulder. "Look at these dates and compare the numbers –And these numbers, too," she added, spreading out a few more reports and pointing at what was relevant.

"Non-lethal," Shizune mumbled to herself as she read. "And you weren't trying to build up a tolerance?" Mito grimaced: she was usually trying to do that on and off to all kinds of things but not a tolerance to these particular compounds. She shook her head.

Tsunade felt like she'd be sick. "We assumed the alkali and other metals in your system were from the cave-in. You had some cuts that the Nine-Tails had healed over and…"

"Yeah," Mito figured as much. "Anyway, the levels are still considered within normal limits for shinobis or those in certain professions."

"That needs to be updated," Tsunade mumbled to herself as she stood. "Have you told Minato?"

"Nah. I want to see if I can figure this out. –Take samples of everything I ingest from here on out; that kind of thing. Please don't say anything to him."

"You can't be serious!" Tsunade began running a more aggressive check on her goddaughter who was - once again - being way too laid back about something like this.

"Think it could be a microdose of thallium?" Mito asked.

Tsunade clicked her tongue. "I think you'd be a lot worse off if it were."

"Hmm." Mito wiggled her feet back and forth as she considered what to do, ignored Tsunade's rant while sticking out her tongue, and allowed the woman to shine a penlight in her eyes, etc. Her godmother and mentor was only doing this basic shit because she couldn't believe she missed something, Mito would bet.

She grinned a little; Tsunade's reaction combined with Shizune's expression as she continued comparing one report after another meant she was right. Shizune had been in the hospital when her labs were updated - and it wasn't Tsunade's fault, either: a lab tech or the computer (hello!) should have caught the gradual climb in her numbers over time. If they had access to better technology, a graphical analysis of these things could come up for anyone.

What a drag.

"Okay, I'll tell Tou-san," she lied, crossing her fingers in her pocket.

"Good," Tsunade said, patting her knee. "You appear to be weathering this well for now but we'll need to keep testing. Do you have any idea of what or who has done this? –Caused this?"

"No," Mito half-lied again. "BUT I'll be careful now. Ha! Who knows: I wouldn't doubt that I was doing something to poison myself to get these unexpected results." Shizune rolled her eyes, knowing that had happened before, so Mito felt in the clear. She grinned a little more, needing to ensure that she could find out who was exposing her to something. "One more thing," she added, acting as if she was letting the seal up. She pressed chakra into it, altering the array further, and hoped this would work.

Mito yanked the spread-out file away from a huffy Shizune and walked back to the door. She mouthed the words "Memory Suppression Jusu" and added more chakra. The light that went up around them was blue instead of white, making her wince. She turned around after returning the main seal to what it was used for before: a pretty basic security device that had excellent silencing features.

Tsunade and Shizune looked at her blankly. "What's going on, Mito?"

Mito gave them a sideways grin, trying not to be obvious as she moved the file so they couldn't see who it belonged to. "Not a thing. I wanted to see if anyone will get a beer or something with me tonight. After everything that's happened, I'd like to get a little fucked up."

That was a half-lie.

But thank you, Kurenai. Kurenai's assistance in helping her drop genjutsus and Yamanaka Ripoffs into a sealing array was fan-flipping-tastic!

Now! Who's the dipshit that's very slowly poisoning me?!

Meanwhile, in an underground facility where children were training, a report was being given -

"Yes, sir. The jinchuuriki spent over four hours in lab 1A. She or one of her clones also pulled resources from the Hokage's library, specific to poisons. She was seen holding her own file."

"Troublesome. What kind of poisons?"

"I was not close enough to see."

"I see. Good work. Keep me posted."

"Sir? There's nothing else?" the operative asked in surprise. It was also still odd to hear words like "good work."

"No need," the vice commander shrugged lazily. "Continue observing; let me know if you find out what kind of poisons she's delving into. Daily reports."

For now, he had other people to deal with whatever this was about and Mito just might tell him anyway.

.

Mito found Asuma with a miserable Kakashi when she went to his apartment to give Kurenai the great news about their seal. "I can come back later," she said after seeing a mostly uneaten pizza and beers sitting between the two shinobis. "Man, it stinks like depression, monkeys, and cigs in here, though."

"Guh. Give me a break, Mito."

"Hmm," Mito grinned, rocking back on her heels and eyeing the terrible-looking corn, onion, and bell pepper pizza. –Seriously! What the hell? "Is Kurenai here?" Surely she wouldn't put up with such a horrible disgrace to all food, though.

"Why would Kurenai be here?" Asuma asked like a blushing idiot, throwing a glance at Kakashi as if he didn't know about the two of them.

"I don't know. …Maybe Kakashi's been screwing her in the back?"

Kakashi made a choking sound but by then Mito couldn't see. Asuma had her in a headlock and was dragging her inside. She giggled as he strangled her and blocked the kunai he (maybe) pretended to try to slash her with.

"I am going to tell her you said that," Asuma gritted out, locking her arms behind her and dropping her to the floor with his knee in her back.

"No! Don't tell her! She won't like me anymore!"

Asuma rapped her on the head a few times and then let her get up. "She needs to know you're evil." Mito pouted at him. "What are you doing here, Mito? Have you been drinking?"

"Just a little." Just enough to ensure Shizune and Tsunade didn't remember our conversation. "And as I said, I was looking for Kurenai, BUT on the way over I heard something interesting! I heard you two were in Kumo."

Kakashi groaned, nearly putting his face in the high arm of Asuma's smelly couch but popped back up in distaste when he was reminded that this apartment was currently smoke central. How The Ice Queen intimately put up with it, Kakashi couldn't imagine.

"And you were in Kiri," Asuma said, revealing nothing.

"So? If you were in Kumo, we could exchange information." Mito frowned as she observed Kakashi. He'd been staring at her again, guilt pouring off of him in waves until she caught his eye and she wasn't exactly sure what it was about. A lot of things, probably - or maybe that was just her take on it. She sat down next to him anyway since Asuma's other chair sucked. "Kumo took my kid." Neither man said anything for the longest time but they also didn't deny meeting with Kumo.

"Maa," Kakashi began quietly (and repeatedly using finger quotes,) "sensei's response to A's 'delegate' was that if 'A-sama' wants to retaliate, he should first remember what The Yellow Flash did to Iwa."

"Good," Mito said. She hated Kumo.

Asuma stood over her, frowning. "I never asked how you got the Hyuuga girl back."

"I had her marked," Mito said truthfully. "Between us, though? I used a long-range substitution with Hinata-chan. And I slaughtered all those who took her. Then I hid their bodies under a boulder at the bottom of a body of water! –Or not. Maybe that was all a dream."

"Don't be a sick fuck."

Mito internally agreed that she was one (or her clones were) but wouldn't say that to Asuma. "A sicker fuck is one who steals a kid and/or wants to vilely use them."

"I'll agree to that," Kakashi murmured, raising his beer to his masked lips and thinking of Rin and Sasuke. Again.

.

Minato's chest hurt and for once, he was glad that his children weren't at home when he arrived.

How did this happen?! And right after visiting Kushina's grave!

One moment, he was consoling his wife's best friend, assuring her that they'd find Sasuke - and that her sons would not be put in Konoha's Bingo Book despite what Sasuke did to Naruto, his mind whispered guiltily. Then he realized that Mikoto had a wound from the mission she'd returned from - the one I sent her on - and…

He had kissed a woman who wasn't his wife. It had been nearly 13 years but Kushina used to say that Mikoto had a thing for him. That was ridiculous, however.

Wasn't it? Was that why Fugaku allowed the coup talks to continue? No. They were friends!

- What kind of friend kisses a man's wife?
- What kind of friend allows his clan to rise up against their leader?

There was no one he could talk to about this. He was Hokage and the people he was close enough to weren't really ones he would trust in this particular arena. Jiraiya was a total pervert, and Kakashi - as far as he knew - had ZERO experience with women unless that's why he likes to leave the village. No, he was not risking it.

Everything was fine. Mikoto looked like she regretted the kiss ("more like a make-out session" his mind whispered as if he'd know what to call it) as soon as Izumi knocked on the door and Minato - like the ass he was - had all but fled. Considering that, Mikoto had to be really angry with him.

She'd been so upset - and I just made things worse for her!

The more he sat and stewed about it, the more he wondered if he could talk to Shikaku about it.

No, no: he would man up and apologize in the morning. He was an adult; he could do the right thing. He was being ridiculous.

.

The next morning, he did just that.

Mikoto looked up into his eyes beseechingly, her dark eyes sparkling with tears. And then she punched him in the face.

.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Kakashi asked. He'd tracked Mito down to the horrible hospital and waited until she was in her office and alone.

Mito turned toward him and grinned tightly, glad that one of these conversations might just be happening. She wanted to get it all over with.

Since she stopped taking Tsunade's foul brew, she was also feeling much better. All of her food and such was turning out to be non-poisonous, too. She smiled at him mischievously. "You already are talking to me. Better talk fast, though. I've got a date tonight." Her face fell when he looked so pensive. "There's no one around; feel free to speak about anything." She pressed her chakra into the sealing array on the wall.

Kakashi repeatedly fisted his hands in his pockets. "I taught Sasuke the jutsu he used to nearly kill Naruto."

Mito's voice was low and soft. "I've wondered why you did that." I've kinda wanted to pound you into subatomic particles for it. Mito was very good at compartmentalizing, however. She was also trying to deal with her increasingly violent tendencies. Kakashi sat down and seemed to find it hard to speak for the longest time. Mito just waited.

He finally looked at her fiercely. "I don't want children."

Okayyyy, Mito thought, finding that fine but a somewhat odd thing to say. Kakashi just kept staring at her, almost as if he was willing her to deny his feelings so he could attack her or something. On the other hand, she had a vivid imagination. "You must have been thrilled to have been assigned a Genin team."

"I didn't want them at all. Maa, I train ANBU squads, not green pups. It's not the same."

"I would think not."

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest, getting his thoughts together again. "I knew Jiraiya-sama would be taking Naruto on as an official apprentice." Jiraiya was always looking for the Child of Prophecy, just in case his sensei wasn't the one. "I thought…" He could not say it - not after everything that happened.

"You wanted to take Sasuke on as yours?" Mito asked, beginning to understand.

Kakashi let out a filthily bitter choke of laughter. "Sasuke-kun is talented. With individual attention, as I received from sensei, he could become great. –Or so I thought. Shisui, Izumi, and Mikoto are Sasuke's only family members with Sharingans that are here and on active duty but Shisui had - and has - another assignment."

"Izumi-san," Mito said knowingly. She didn't mention the baby, guessing that if Kakashi knew what Shisui-san's assignment was, then he knew about the baby, too. "Mikoto was in a similar situation and from what I understand, all three were still being watched, at least before the invasion." Since then it was all hands on deck. Konoha's casualty numbers were low but they had SO many that had been injured.

"Right," Kakashi huffed, wishing that he was better at normal human interactions when he wasn't disguised. It was a ridiculous fault of his: a character flaw or something he believed that was simply and totally WEIRD about him that he hadn't cared to work on much until recently. Other people seemed to have such little difficulty in social interactions; he'd always found them difficult. "I should have been there for Itachi. He was my youngest kohai."

Mito nodded; Yugao had said that she was teamed with Kakashi, Itachi, and Tenzo at one time. They must have been quite the force. Now Yugao was on Tenzo's team.

Why can't my date tonight be with Tenzo?!

"So you wanted to step in for Itachi to train Sasuke."

Kakashi only grumbled. "Original jutsus are passed down, parent to child, or from master to apprentice."

"You jumped the wire on that, eh?" Mito mocked a little since Sasuke hadn't been his apprentice. He had a team! "Hmm. You said you knew Naru was being apprenticed to Jiraiya but what about Sakura?"

"The Chidori's my only original jutsu. To use it, the Sharingan is required. Otherwise, one gets tunnel vision." He ran his index finger back and forth across his masked upper lip and ventured to look up at Mito's lovely face. "Anyway… Maa, I thought you might want to take on Sakura-chan."

"Oh, screw that! She's your Genin! I don't like that girl!" -Unfair, maybe; but true!

Kakashi chuckled. He knew that. It had taken him a long time to be able to stand and then put up with the girl that used to hit his little brother, too. Sakura had grown on him. Like a fungus, he told himself. "Maa. I'd better let you get ready for your date!"

Mito tilted her head and looked at the time. It wasn't that late.

Kakashi stood up and stretched, now able to handle doing what he'd set out to do tonight. "Girls take a long time to do that, right, hime-sama?" Realizing what he might have implied, he panicked and jumped out the window.

Mito slapped herself in the face. "That guy… What a goober." She wondered what in the hell she was thinking, going through with this. "Hime-sama indeed." An urgent knock grabbed her attention. "Enter!" Her aunt was there, looking frantic. "Momo! Is everything alright?"

"Why are you here when you should be getting ready for tonight?!"

Mito pulled a face. "I don't get it." Her aunt began explaining how long it was going to take to get "date ready" and Mito groaned. This was all part of the dating thing she thought she was looking forward to, though, wasn't it?

Yikes.