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
Two weeks later, Mito had had zero more dates (0+1 still equaled a big ol' single digit) and hadn't seen "Keiya" although she'd been around Kakashi often enough. He was a Nervous Nelly anytime she was close to him which was either hilarious or pissed her off, depending on the day.
She did receive an anonymous bouquet of beautiful, very poisonous flowers the morning following her one and only date, so that was good. (Was it? Or was he trying to kill her and being lame about it?)
She guessed it was from him but who knows?!
Momo said that any man that had kissed her and run off wasn't really a man but she was fairly old and Mito was positive that kind of thing wasn't true - or was it different for ninjas? –Not that Momo thought her date should've inevitably swooned or caved to Mito's desires and lack of charm but older people could have weird ideas and Mito didn't want to question her great aunt more about it.
And when it comes to ninjas who think they've hidden their identities, things are even more complicated.
Hopefully, her date didn't run off because she was such a bad kisser or worse still: an overbearing, touch-starved (aside from thrashing or healing people,) and obviously sexually pent-up perv.
It wasn't like Mito could ask anyone else; she didn't want to ruin either her or Kakashi's lives, even short term. –At least until she discovered whether or not Kakashi had taken her out and kissed her as a prank or a set-up, she thought a little wickedly.
- And what if it wasn't him?! What if she was wrong?
What a jerk that guy was: using chakra suppression or alteration seals…
But IF I was wrong - IF there's another guy out there with a mole in that spot - then he's not him, meaning I have no reason to lust after Hatake Kakashi.
That was a positive.
Otherwise, being around her fellow Jonin-sensei made her pretty damn flustered. Surely he had noticed, right? How embarrassing.
She made a mental note to kick his ass in a good spar for making her worry about this crap, even if her date wasn't him.
.
Other things had calmed down quite nicely in the village; things at the hospital had even begun leveling off. Now things were almost manageable there.
Naruto, however, was still recovering from the wounds he suffered at Sasuke's hands. Mito visited him every day or sent clones when she was forced to work. Her little brother was about to lose his mind, wanting to go out and train so badly.
.
On a sunny Monday, Mito warmed up with her team for the first time in… too long. She'd seen all of the kids on and off but was so happy that they were all finally cleared, here, and ready to train together.
"Sensei, I have made a decision about the spiders," Shino said, pushing his glasses up as he stretched.
"Have you?" Mito asked, her eyes sparkling.
"So unfair," Kiba complained. "Me and Hinata want a summoning contract, too, sensei."
Mito grinned at them. "Maybe when you become Chunins?"
"Wait, really?!" Kiba had been joking. "I don't think there's ever been an Inuzuka with a summons. I mean, we got our partners already. –I'd have to ask Ma. Hey! Why don't ya give me money instead." Sensei laughed but he was (at least half) serious!
"I believe I was talking when you interrupted me, Kiba," Shino scolded before turning back to Mito-sensei. "Father and I discussed it and I will sign the summoning contract and take the spider's test when I reach 16 or Jonin."
Mito nodded, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't given Shino anything he could use immediately. "They may not have a test but I think that's a very good idea, Shino. It's always better to be prepared."
"So you think you'll make Jonin by the time you're 16, eh, Shino?" Kiba asked his teammate.
"I believe that if I continue to train I can make Jonin by the time I am 15." His father said it would be difficult, however. "'Why,' you ask?"
No one did. His sensei grumbled about that but Shino felt it was a decent thing to ponder.
"It is because I am 13 and already a Chunin."
"Wh- when is the n-ext Chunin Exam, sensei?" Hinata asked before Kiba could possibly go off on Shino. She wanted to become a Chunin, too.
"They're held every six months but the big shows usually happen yearly. By that, I mean they're held in a major village every year. The next big one is out for you two: that one's in Kumo." Mito snorted when the boys both spat on the ground: it definitely wasn't like Shino to do something like that. Then Hinata tried to spit on the ground, too, which made her cheer although the poor little thing had to wipe the saliva off her jacket.
Mito spat as well, just to keep all gross things in the family.
"The next one is in one of the smaller villages?" Shino asked.
Mito hummed. In Kiri, Mei had tried to pressure her father to have it there even though the next one was scheduled to be in Ame. Considering Ame's ties to the Akatsuki, Mito wondered who would attend it: Konoha wouldn't; that was certain. "That's a good question." She clapped her hands. "EVERYBODY WARMED UP?!" She received three eager nods after a beat and the boys now had kunais out; Hinata was holding three shurikens.
I need to figure out better weapons for them - and for me.
"Taje Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! When I say 'go,' try to get us! I dare ya!" Kiba snorted but her other kiddos hunched down in even more determination, looking feisty. "Ready? Steady… AAAAAH!" Mito screamed her head off, trying to scare her kiddos but they all followed her straight underground, ready to fight her and her clones.
Tsunade glared at her goddaughter, wondering why she took on another apprentice when the grown one in front of her was being so damn needy and demanding. "What is your deal, Mito?"
"What deal?"
"You've been bugging me and Shizune for techniques nonstop."
"That's because my training is incomplete!"
Tsunade sighed, knowing that was technically true. Before the fox attack, Tsunade had planned to have Mito train at the hospital and continue doing so out in the field with her - or mostly Shizune since back then she had an "issue" with blood. Mito had managed to learn an incredible amount from books and scrolls over that decade-plus she'd been absent, though: enough to completely manage her own practice/field unit. "Your theoretical knowledge and ideas are excellent; you only need more exposure to different cases. As medical professionals, we are always learning."
"That's what I'm saying," Mito nodded, glad that she wasn't denying her expertise or lack of it. "So let's hop to it. Chop, chop!"
Tsunade rested her chin on her hand. "So we should find victims for you to practice on?"
"Sure," Mito replied, grinning cheekily. "I can go drag some 'volunteers' in, ne?"
"No," Tsunade denied her, refusing to play around about this. "If you're serious about working more hours to train, I'll talk to Ensui about having you assist on that side of things."
Mito slowly stilled and had to pinch herself. "You DO have the power to assign me to ANBU cases as my official master on paper, perhaps even now that I'm a Jonin, don't you?" She never thought Tsunade would go for it. She hadn't thought it possible until now. Maybe.
"Don't be so excited. You'll be in the village when you're not on your OTHER assignments. Remember, too, that the ANBU medics' main job is triage and very bloody, Mito."
"But I can take care of them - and transfer cases over here," Mito whispered as she thought about it. Even on loan to ANBU, Mito could also be sent out into the field by them.
On the other hand, she had her kiddos and Naruto. She'd hardly worked with her little brother at all! This was really something she needed to think more about.
Tsunade arched her brow. "It is how we can get around Minato. –DON'T tell him I said that!"
"Hai, Godaime-sama."
"You brat! I'll never sit in that seat! …Alright," Tsunade relented seconds later. "I'll contact Nara Ensui in the meantime and you'll assist me in more unique cases whenever there is time available. Give me a report on what you think you need to focus on. And just be aware: Haruno Sakura will be observing whatever we wind up doing, as her clearance allows."
Mito rolled her eyes, not liking the fangirl who was so dismissive of her brother. She did feel a little sorry for her, being on a team with so much crazy drama.
Tsunade went back to the file she had been looking at before Mito skipped in, making demands. "Make me a seal, something color-coded or what have you, so I can get hold of you when I need to, hm? For non-emergencies?"
"Okay. I need to think more about the whole ANBU thing since I still need to train up Team 8 - BUT I think it would be a good idea for me to observe with my clones if nothing else." Tsunade shrugged at her. "By the way, I think Hyuuga Hinata would've been a better choice."
Tsunade arched a brow as she looked up at her goddaughter. "Hinata's still training here, part-time, but Sakura asked to be my apprentice; Hinata did not. Plus, Hyuuga's more of a fighter than a healer, hm? So far she seems more interested in poisons than anything else."
Mito was silent as she considered that for a minute. "That's me, too, isn't it? I mean, I'm a better fighter than anything, I've realized."
"There's nothing wrong with that, Mito. And don't discount your seal work."
"I don't know about that," Mito said as she considered fighting. "I think there is a lot wrong with it." She wanted to be a mednin, first and foremost but had somehow turned into more of a heavy-hitting frontline fighter. What a drag. Maybe worse, Mito had also realized that she LIKED to fight (and not just spar) and could really get carried away with enemies.
"Uzumaki Bloodlust:" her mother had told her about it.
- Her mother hadn't talked much about the guilt that followed those episodes, though.
- Probably because I was so young and wouldn't have really understood then.
"I appreciate your assistance, Tsunade," Mito said genuinely enough to bow. "I want to learn everything I can so that I can save people - and lessen your workload, ne?"
"I know, brat. I know."
.
A week later, Mito decided that she might also need to assassinate her father. Sans Bloodlust: this was just common sense.
Stop being so dramatic, baka! If she assassinated her father, then Tsunade would turn rogue so she didn't have to become Hokage; Shizune and Jiraiya would definitely follow her again and that would mean that Mito would be forced to manage all those idiots at the hospital, 24/7. Unless I go rogue, too…
"Mito-chan," Minato addressed his daughter, hoping that regaining her attention would stop her nasty Killing Intent that was continuing to fill his office. "It's only for a month."
"You said it was for three years!" Mito cursed the tears that came up in her eyes, trying to hide her sniffles while looking away from her father's highly uncomfortable guard.
"No," Minato said patiently. "That's Naruto."
"You're ordering him… to leave with that pervert?! To go away for so long?" No wonder Naruto had been acting shifty lately. Mito really WAS going to kill her father. She wiped at her eyes, hating that her raspy voice had cracked and gone high. Bastard!
"Calm down," Minato ordered softly, sighing when his daughter flopped onto the nearest couch and rubbed her eyes. He tried not to smile: her expression and mannerisms when she was upset were so like when she was a very little girl and frustrated. "I said that Kakashi-kun will take your team for one month." He rolled his eyes playfully when she snarled at him: that was either a fox or Uzumaki thing because Kushina used to do it, too. "You're in charge of Team 11 for that month. Kurenai is taking Asuma's team; Asuma's out on a mission. Sakura's going to begin training under Tsunade and of course, Sasuke," he sighed bitterly, "is not here."
"Oh," Mito breathed, pulling her lower lip back in a little and forcing her head up. There had to be value in Kakashi taking her team of trackers for a little while since he was an excellent one. He had the whole scent thing down, too: both hiding and tracking it along with some other things he'd told her about that she wasn't particularly great at. All while the skinny jerk is not disguised and not making out with me more, dammit.
He made more sense as Team 8's sensei in the first place but Mito would be damned if she gave her cubs up.
She did also love Kurenai's kids, however. They were her second team. Training with them would be fun and she and Torune had learned over time just how close they could be to each other without sending his Rikachu into fits. "What were you saying about Naruto then?"
Mito and he had the Hiraishin; they could visit Naruto anytime! "He's going to the Southern Base. You'll be able to see him whenever you want, ne? How long he'll be away is an estimate at this point."
Mito remembered being officially stationed at that training facility when she became a Genin. Because of its strategic importance to Konoha, it was attacked more than a few times during the war but never infiltrated. The Sannin(s) were her senseis back then, (Tsunade her master) so Mito rarely ever stayed there. Hell, she was out of the country a LOT.
Did her father ever know? No, he probably didn't. Her mother always seemed to know where she was, however. She used to constantly search for a hidden seal her mother had placed on her body. (Aside from that Hiraishin marker she used to have.)
Would Jiraiya be taking Naruto out of Fire Country and that base, too?
Would Jiraiya even tell her after she'd surprised him by teleporting him and then punting his dumb ass down that gorge in retaliation for him earlier doing the same thing to Naruto? They weren't really on speaking terms since then. "Asshole."
"Who?" Minato asked in amusement, hoping his daughter wasn't calling him that. Again.
You. Jiraiya. Kakashi for not asking me out again. Tenzo for not asking me out, period. The men in this village or continent for being lame. Asuma, Kurenai, and Yugao for not being here. Everybody but Anko and Gai, Mito thought. "Me."
"Ah." Mito stood up to leave and Minato winced: there was one other thing he needed to tell her. Mito had wanted "it" and then didn't want it but in order to get the best return for Konoha, he hoped that his daughter would want it again. Regardless, it was happening; Mei was giving him little choice and she was right: Mito made the most sense for the task. "Oh… And I'm also making you the Kiri ambassador. You start next month."
"Oh, God! No! We've talked about this!"
"It will only take two days a month at most!" Usually. "And it will be a good experience and preparation for you."
Crap. Mito used to think that, too, but wait: "Preparation for what?" she asked darkly. Her father only shrugged but had a devious look on his face. What a pain in the butt that man was. "Does my being named ambassador mean Utakata-kun will be Kiri's representative to Konoha?" She could work with him.
"A jinchuuriki for a jinchuuriki:" that's what Utakata said that AO had said.
Ao: what a dick.
Minato bristled. "Hn. What exactly is your relationship with this… 'Utakata-KUN,' Mito-chan?"
"Give me a break. He's my friend!"
.
"I got an apprentice," Anko shouted to the world. "TA-DAH! Presenting the next generation's greatest future kunoichi ever, Higurashi Tenten!" She turned with wide arms toward her blushing new minion, showing her off and waiting to see what her reaction would be. The girl needed to be big, bold, and loud to be her subordinate and the future Anko Junior. "You'll be thanking me in your Hokage induction speech, ne?"
"Hai, shishou," Tenten gushed before blanching. "I don't wanna be Hokage! I wanna stab things!"
"OH, MY GOD! I love you already, Lackey!"
"Wow," Mito mumbled, taking another shot. She was supposed to be whipping Team 11's ninjutsu into shape this month (and generally beating their asses) but the kawaii brats were still on a mission with Kurenai! Now she was stuck with Asuma's terrible trio and they were driving her crazy. "Tell me you're not a fangirl, Tenten-chan." Shikamaru was lazy and Choji was almost too sweet to be a ninja but worse: Ino was a somewhat depressed menace, constantly whining about either the absence of "Sasuke-kun" or Sakura getting an apprenticeship.
Inoichi was probably going to melt Mito's brain for punting his daughter's skinny blonde ass into a lion's mouth earlier today. Mito planned to do it again tomorrow, anyway, if the girl didn't shut up about that stuff, though.
Tenten shook her head enough to make one of her buns loosen up. "No way! I'm not and never have been."
"You don't like a certain boy or girl?" Mito snorted when the girl turned red but figured that she would do the same thing if asked. "That's alright. Just don't get carried away with it or focus on him or her so much that you lose your way. You need to get stronger. We all do."
Tenten sucked in a breathless gasp and eagerly nodded her head. If a ninja wasn't getting stronger then they were going to die; that's just the way it was. "I'll do my best, sensei." She looked around a little more, never having been in a bar before. When Anko-shishou brought her in, she said they'd be spending time in "joints like this" so she should relax while she could, since Tenten had a job, was still on Gai-sensei's team, but was now apprenticing part-time under Mitarashi Anko, too. The bar was definitely better than her new shishou's "Paradise Retreat" which was in the Forest of Death. "Can I have water and a coke, please?"
So far the only thing Tenten had really done today was run from her new master's snakes and senbon attacks but together they were going to go far. She could feel it! Anko-shishou was TOUGH.
"How much have you poisoned her so far?" Mito asked her best friend, growling when Genma tried to take her next shot away. She had one shot glass and one bottle of lime-infused coconut vodka, so no sharing. "She looks a little goofy." She grabbed her definitely non-poisoned bottle of booze and held it close to her chest.
"Rude," Tenten pouted.
"Nah," Anko said, knowing that she hadn't poisoned her new underling too much. "Tenten always looks like that." The snake summoner sank into the bar seat across from her friend, hating that her back was to the rest of the bar. "Oi, Mito. There's a dude in Interrogation that wants to ask you out."
"Really?" Mito asked, still wanting to go on another date with SOMEBODY willing. At least she'd probably get free food again.
"Yep," Anko grinned viciously. "For a Yamanaka, he's not too bad." Mito's hopeful expression changed as she paled - and now she looked horrified. Why her friend and her very terrifying family were so afraid of Yamanakas, Anko didn't know - but it was amusing. "He's easy on the eyes." He looks like a chick!
"No thanks!"
Genma rapped his numb and prickly knuckles against the table. He wasn't into Mito dating a Yamanaka or anyone, frankly. Rumors were rampant that she'd gone out with someone recently so he'd sought her out more although Mito hadn't noticed. Wasn't he supposed to be charming and handsome? Maybe he should ask her if he still was.
That's some stupid thinking, right there, he realized as he tried to focus.
Maybe he and Mito HAD drank enough tonight.
"I wanna talk to you." He pulled the lovely, overly-strong kunoichi into the far corner, watching in appreciation the way she pushed her chakra into a perfect, enhanced silencing seal. "Pretty."
"Ah, thanks," Mito grinned, doing it a second time and realizing that the seal did look almost pretty for a second when it lit up. "What's up?"
"Why are you testing your food and drinks lately?" Genma had been taking the kunoichi out to lunch occasionally - although she usually paid for herself before flashing off again. It was either a shame or good that Mito could be so oblivious; he wasn't sure which since he enjoyed being alive and having all of his limbs. Minato-sama could be difficult when it came to his daughter.
Genma was also pretty wasted. Mito had gone out to drink away her anger at her father (not to mention at Team 10,) lest she kills him, and Genma followed her since she was pretty, fun to be around, and smelled nice.
More importantly at this second, however, was that even at Ichirakus, Mito tested her food. He should've asked about it when Teuchi caught her doing it. The ramen bar owner had a cow, scolding Mito in a way that brought his establishment and the surrounding area to a standstill.
"Someone is poisoning me; it's a pain."
Genma circulated his chakra, channeling more to his ears. "Say that again? Someone's poisoning you? Like in the village?!"
"I think so but I'm slowly building a tolerance to it, I think."
"Does… does your father know?" he whispered in a hiss.
"Oh God; please don't tell him. I'm THIS close to narrowing down who's doing it." That was a lie.
"He should know!" Mito looked disgusted with the idea (or him) so Genma appealed to her better instincts. "What if others are being poisoned, Mito?"
Mito huffed before biting part of her lower lip and thinking about that again. "I've had my clones going through Konoha's lab and ANBU records with a computer we confiscated from the back of a bakery. A bakery," she raged. "Can you believe a damn bakery had a better computer with FAR better accounting programs and spreadsheets than the hospital or Tower?"
"It's a problem. Hey," he sang, sounding like a big gossip and grinning drunkenly. Had Mito just made a clone because he thought there might be two of her now? Or were his eyes crossing? "Did ya hear that Konoha found a cargo container full of smartphones outside of Wave?"
"For REAL?" Not that we have wifi. Still, they could use them for a lot of things despite that. She shot back some more vodka, straight from the bottle this time.
They talked more and even as Mito drowned her sorrows, she realized that Asuma was probably dealing with that Gato investigation right now. That's probably where the cell phones came from.
Something wasn't right about the whole Gato/missing persons investigation; Mito could feel it in her bones. Anko dragged her new apprentice over to chat about her training while handing Mito a different drink and Genma walked back to their table, sliding in beside Kakashi and Gai who had just shown up.
"I'm gonna… go for it," Genma slurred. His eyes only widened slightly when a muscular face with enormous eyebrows was suddenly within kissing distance. "Ew. No."
"Go for what, my youthful friend?"
Genma pointed at the three out-of-focus Mitos he'd been talking to. They seemed to be multiplying.
"Anko? No," Gai gasped in outrage. "SURELY YOU ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT APPROACHING MY STUDENT, YOU ABHORRENT SLOB?"
"What?" Genma drawled, his voice going high. He didn't realize Tenten was over there: he couldn't see into the shadows where she was standing. "That's mean!" He and Gai were once teammates and Genma didn't think he had ever been a slob!
"MY STUDENT," Gai shouted before realizing just how drunk Genma was. "SHE IS RIGHT THERE! WITH ANKO AND…" Gai began sniffling and Kakashi quietly cursed when the man in green began bawling. "THE HORRIBLE ANKO-CHAN HAS TAKEN MY SWEET FLO-..." His words about the accursed Anko taking his precious student (part-time) were cut off by a senbon that had just lodged its way into his neck as a way of thanks from said horrible kunoichi. He slumped over, all his weight falling against Kakashi.
"You were saying, Genma?" Kakashi asked as he accepted the ice-cold draft beers the waitress brought him and Gai. He guessed that Gai still kept his wallet in his weapons pouch...
"I'm gonna go for it with Mito-hime."
"Ah," Kakashi said, accidentally flipping his beer straight onto the senbon enthusiast's head. Additionally, Gai's beer somehow fell into Genma's lap.
"WHAT THE FUCK, KAKASHI?" Genma was soaked!
Kakashi paid him no further attention and dug around in Gai's back weapons pouch, looking for his wallet. Since the man in green couldn't move, drinks were on Gai tonight! And Genma: ha. "We're gonna need another round," he told the shocked waitress.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Mito asked, having run over when she heard the commotion. Anko was next to her laughing her ass off while Tenten had her mouth covered with both hands. The teen's eyes were huge and her face was red. Mito's expression gradually changed to something similar as she quickly averted her eyes from what looked like Kakashi groping Gai's ass under the table. "Oh. –Sorry to interfere. I'd always wondered if you two were together." Until recently, that is: when I got the wrong idea about something, I guess.
"Eh?" Kakashi asked.
Gai was trying to blink. Damn that Anko! Not only was he paralyzed but she must have put a drying agent in her poison! It was even worse than the last time she did it. And now Kakashi was taking his wallet again!
Hungover and sad, Mito didn't bother with dressing up for the monthly or bi-monthly council meetings (and tea) she was forced to attend whenever she was in the village. As old people were prone to do, Homura and Koharu had quietly scolded her for that and it wasn't until her father began later detailing what the Sand and Orochimaru's attack had cost Konoha, in total, that Mito realized she had taken a hard butterscotch candy from the old folks like she always did - and always had, ever since she was a toddler, probably.
As tasty as this is, I need to test this candy rather than keep rolling it around in my big mouth. She glanced over toward the two elders and caught Koharu's eye. The old lady winked at her, grinning, and Mito smiled back at her tightly.
She really hoped that they weren't the ones poisoning her.
Homura and Koharu were her grandfather's - Asuma and Hideki's father's - teammates and lifelong friends.
Although old bitties with super old-fashioned ideas, they had always been kind to her, even when she came back after taking possession of part of the Kyuubi.
They may have voted her out of Konoha once upon a time but aside from missing out on Naruto's childhood - that's a pretty big thing to miss out on, dumbass - Mito did have some things and people she was grateful for at the Fire Temple. –People she probably wouldn't have met, experiences she would not have had, had she not been sent there.
Mito pretended to choke on the candy, firing it into a tissue so she could later test it.
A couple of hours later, Mito was in the lab again and had already determined that the candies had some nasty shit in them. The compound shouldn't really be hurting her, though…
Did Koharu and Homura know it; were they poisoning her on purpose? Was she being singularly targeted, or were they? How many people were impacted? How many had sucked on these particular candies?
Were hard candies simply slightly poisonous or super bad for you in general?
Finding a potential cause of her recent sensory issues like this almost seemed too easy. Why someone would use something that was so not only slow-acting (building over the course of time, no less) but unreliable, considering how long it took for the hard candy to dissolve or be spit out also didn't make sense.
It looked like Mito had more investigating to do. She bit her thumb and moved through the necessary hand seals before slapping the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
Shin showed up to deliver a message for her again. He rubbed up against her leg and Mito gently scratched him behind his ears, giggling when he rolled over on his back, purring wildly. Shin was apparently very glad to see her. "Hey Shin! I need you to find my brother, Asuma. I've got a request, depending on where he's at..."
.
An hour later, residents of Tokyo began screaming and running when a cheetah showed up out of nowhere, right in the middle of Shibuya.
Asuma winced but moved to act as if he was just one of the terrified citizens, struggling to get away from possibly being torn to shreds by a wild animal.
.
A couple of hours later -
Asuma glared at the cheetah now happily drinking water in his sister's flat as he watched its earlier antics on the news.
"...most worrisome is that this cheetah had not been reported as missing from any facilities it could have been licensed to. We have reached out to every zoo, nature preserve, circus, and…"
Asuma rubbed his forehead, knowing the worst was yet to come as the reporter went on about how the poor lost, abused, or terrifying cheetah - the description depended mostly on which channel was broadcasting it - had most likely been previously held by the Yakuza. He cursed when the next video came up, clearly showing a naked Monkey King Enma grabbing the cheetah around the middle and hightailing it out of there before they both disappeared into an alleyway.
The whole city was panicked and on alert.
"Goddamn you, Shin."
He groaned again, listening to the reporter worrying about both endangered species. Asuma shook his head as the reporter and the anchor debated which animal would win in a fight and what their tactics would be. "Oh, if they only knew."
Shin looked up at his summoner's brother, water dripping from his chin. "How was I supposed to know you weren't in-continent?"
Asuma clicked his tongue. "My sister's gonna kill you - or me."
Shin thought that wasn't fair. "She sent me here!"
"My other sister."
Shin tilted his head as he observed the shinobi, questioning his own understanding of what he thought he knew. His mother taught him not to be rude but wasn't sure how to ask the question he had, so just went for it. "I thought you only had a big brother aside from Mito. That your other siblings were uhhhhh..."
"Dead?" Asuma asked before slamming his spatula and pan down on the table angrily. "Yeah, I thought so too until I got here."
Shin thought that was awful. "Does Hokage-sama know?"
Asuma stared down at the table, sighing heavily. "Yes."
"Oh shit," the cheetah surmised: "Mito really is gonna kill her father!"