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

Mito began to scrub in while a nurse held up a chart and began to brief her.

"Jonin Uchiha Shisui: 21 years old, type A; has multiple lacerations including one to the face."

Mito's eyes widened slightly as the obvious injury was already on the books and blew out a stream of air. "Was he on the same team as the others?" Mito had finished triage on a Chunin only moments ago. He had been poisoned but before he went under, he expressed his concern about his teammates and the squad leader who had saved him. Mito wondered if Shisui was the one who dropped him off and then left again.

"Hai, sensei."

"Let's do this. Have we got anything back from the lab or imaging yet?"

Uchiha Shisui looked bad, she thought. Mito wondered what the well-known S-ranked Jonin managed to get himself into. From what she read in his chart and could see, Shisui had suffered multiple lacerations, including a NASTY one on his face and Mito immediately began to work on making sure that he could keep his eye.

Shisui was an Uchiha and med nins had certain protocols: a few of which Mito didn't agree with. In order to be a Konohan med nin, she had been forced to take certain oaths that she would have to fulfill, however, especially here at the hospital. As if his Sharingan is more important than his life.

"Do the world a favor and pull it out. Let him die."

"Hush, you," she absently said to her furry tagalong. "Really, Kurama. You're better than that." Mito wasn't sure that Kurama really was but dealing with young teens or preteens so often led her to scold in a way that she hoped was positive or would make them reflect upon their actions or words. Kurama didn't reply back to her. Maybe he is contemplating it. She continued her work after making another clone to read over the reports as they came in.

Normally she didn't do that but tonight the hospital was busy.

Shisui's Sharingan was intact but he would need to see an eye or dojutsu specialist. That was something he could worry about on his own time because now she could worry about saving his body and career. None of his injuries were life-threatening on their own but his chakra level was. Plus he'd lost a lot of blood. "I thought you weren't going out on missions," she mumbled to him as she worked.

She glanced up at the younger kunoichi who was working on his opposite arm and stopped her. "I need to look at those wounds. Keep feeding him your chakra." She directed the Aburame teen's hands over the worst wound the Uchiha had. "Concentrate on his fascia. You're certified, right?"

"Hai, sensei."

"Good. Oh," Mito groaned as she observed the deep parallel gashes. "These aren't normal lacerations. This is a snake bite - or an attempted one." She nodded meaningfully at her clone. "Report it. Go!"

If there was a chance that Orochimaru had been located, orders were to immediately report to the Hokage. "Aburame-chan, I need you to tell the lab that we need level 3 analyses on everyone on that team."

"Orochimaru?" the girl whispered.

"Yep. Go!"

Mito continued carefully working, hoping that the lab reports hadn't missed anything. Many of Shisui's labs weren't in and wouldn't be for hours. What are you doing, Orochimaru?

What happened to you?

Mito sighed. She'd probably asked herself that a thousand times by now. Maybe he just wants chaos.

Mito could imagine that being the case: her former uncle-like figure pulling strings and recording data as his subjects moved at his will. She clicked her tongue, pissed off at him, and continued working.

Hours later, Mito did not like what she was sensing coming from the Uchiha Jonin's hospital room. She rapped her knuckles against the door before opening it and found Mikoto-oba, whom she hadn't seen since the fiasco in the forest, with a bandaged-up Shisui of the Body Flicker. Neither of them looked happy.

Mito smiled at them shyly (she hoped.) "Is there a problem? Or should I remind you that this is a hospital?" Mikoto stared at her with wide eyes before, oddly enough, her face went red.

"I should leave." Mikoto quickly nodded at Shisui and left without saying another word.

"Was it something I said?" Mito asked incredulously.

Shisui sighed and closed his eyes, wanting to change the subject. Mikoto had not been kind but he understood that she had "changed" when her sons went missing. She had just informed him that he was not allowed to die and that she planned to revive him if he did only so she could tear him apart. Wow. "Were you my attendant?"

Mito snorted and picked up his chart. "I was your surgeon." Shisui didn't say anything else but Mito could see how he was biting the inside of his cheek and working his lips. She told him that she wanted to check his eye and cheek but asked that he keep his dojutsu turned off. Shisui broke out into a cheeky grin - although one side of his face was numb and not cooperating.

"Sure. –Am I still handsome?"

Mito's eyebrows shot up. "I guess."

- Totally, she thought. Shisui was hot as sin itself - not that she was interested in a taken man, whether he was pretending to be taken or not. The new scar - she had put more effort into healing it up even more - would only add to his appeal, she supposed. "I'm no Sharingan expert but I've done the best I can with your lens and… I've gotta say, I wonder how well you can see!"

Shisui had begun patting the bandages on his face closer to his eye. "It didn't get hit," he said to himself.

Mito sighed heavily. It was sad: how much the Uchihas valued their eyes, even over their lives. "No, your eye wasn't hit but as I was working on the laceration close to it, I noted periorbital edema. Following protocol, I found chemosis. –That's more commonly known as the swelling of your eye's surface membranes because of an accumulation of fluid. We're still waiting for your labs but I think you've, understandably, had an allergic reaction." Yeah: one of Orochimaru's poisons would do that to you and a whole hell of a lot more, usually. "You need to see a dojutsu expert or possibly just an ophthalmologist."

Shisui bobbed his head at appropriate times during her explanation. He was dopey and the pain medication he was on was outstanding. He was high as a kite. "You sound like a textbook."

Mito hummed. "Yeah, my bedside manner sucks." Shisui snorted.

"You were great with Izumi and those kids. –Those were your Genins?"

"Yes," Mito grinned proudly, feeling her face heat up. Her little ones had done pretty damn well that day that Izumi and so many others were having their babies. She hung up his chart and asked him to get some rest. Turning off his light, she wasn't too surprised that he cleared his throat as she moved to open his door to leave: patients waited until the last second like that a lot.

"You were there from the beginning. –Itachi; Izumi," he said softly. "Sasuke," he groaned. Mito heard him sniff and felt awful for him.

She turned and leaned against the wall, looking past him and toward the window. "I don't know about that, but I was certainly there for the birth of your little boy."

"You know he's not mine," he whispered. Mito could hear that he was trying to settle down. She moved to recheck his meds because this was really unexpected, especially of an Uchiha. Shisui was an elite and normally elites were quiet: keeping their mouths shut. "I love him: don't get me wrong; I really do. It's just difficult, being in this relationship and… Everything."

"No offense, Uchiha-san, but should you be telling me all of this?" She noticed an anomaly in his records and sent a clone off to talk to Tsunade about it. Supposedly, Tsunade had signed off on pentobarbital - as if - as soon as he entered the hospital. Unless he was really fighting her when he came in.

"No," he admitted before chuckling and smiling as he gazed out the window. "Izumi and I had an arranged marriage from when she was two: something like that."

"Oh," Mito said lamely. "I didn't know that arranged marriages were still a thing."

"Oh, sure," Shisui replied. "She fell for Itachi before she even knew about it!" Mito wasn't sure if Shisui was as happy about that as he was trying to sound. Then he surprised her: "I betcha anything that you have an arranged marriage planned out, too, ne? Who are you being forced to repopulate the Uzumaki Clan with?"

Mito wanted to smack him. "Don't be ridiculous." For the first time, she remembered Jiraiya once talking about arranged marriages with his Ame students and felt sick. God: she must have forced it out of her whole conception of reality for her not to have always remembered it!

"She is a CHILD, Jiraiya-sensei!"

"I know you're a ninja but technically, you're a child, too, Nagato!"

"I - I won't do it! No! I - I don't know what you're even thinking!"

"Yeah," Yahiko agreed, thinking the whole thing was a little funny. He planned to raz Nagato about it later. "Plus Mito-chan's Konoha - and Nagato, Konan, and I are going to work to make Ame a shining star."

"A shining star, huh?" Jiraiya parroted fondly. "Well just imagine how much that star will shine with the renewal of the Uzumaki Clan. It could be an incredibly strong building block between Konoha and Ame."

"I am not from that clan!" Nagato yelled, "or any clan!"
He sounded desperate.

A young Mito - her heart racing in her chest - had heard enough. "What the hell are you guys talking about?"

"Language, Mito-chan!"

Back then, the only thing a very young Mito knew about "repopulating the Uzumaki Clan" was what Kumo probably wanted to do to her Kaa-chan, and that was thanks to Tsunade so she had understandably been ready to rumble. Now it was a whole other thing. Had Jiraiya been trying to sell me off?

Did that mean that it was okay with her father?

Tsunade walked in, having spoken to Mito's clone, and brought an ANBU squad with her. Someone either altered Shisui's records or was trying to get him to talk (she didn't listen;) they were afraid although that seemed over the top. Really, the sedative should've worn off by now but Mito guessed since Shisui was such a huge target it was better to be safe than sorry.

Maybe she should've kept her mouth shut. The poor guy probably just needed someone to talk to.

Mito was questioned and waited around after Tsunade left again - until a Yamanaka came by: Yamanaka Santa and his older brother, Inoichi, were two of the few Yamanakas Mito didn't want to run from or feed to her cats. They were… quite nice and warm despite their terrifying abilities. "I'll leave you to it, Santa-san. …Take care, Shisui."

Mito got out of there and only wished that Tsunade was still available so that she could ask her about what she remembered.

Once out of the hospital, she took a deep breath of the cool, clear night air and began walking back to her apartment.

"Oi, Mito!"

Mito's lips quirked up at Inuzuka Hana's call. "Hey, Hana. What's going on?"

"You off?" Hana asked. "You want to get a drink with us?"

"Sure!"

Later that night -

Naruto entered his room and jumped when he heard a sniffle in the dark. He unintentionally sniffed up the disgusting smell of booze and fully expected it to be one or more (or maybe all) of his big brothers, planning another "hilarious" sneak attack on him. Flipping on the lights in order to "be a dick," as they always called it, (thus foiling their evil plans,) he gasped and yelled when he saw his big sister sitting on the floor next to his bed instead.

"Ane! What are you doing here?"

Mito pouted, getting upset again. "You didn't tell me."

Naruto turned the light back off, hoping she and that ridiculous pout were figments of his imagination. Nope: even in the dark, Naruto could tell that Mito was still there. She didn't even live here anymore and had only ever been all the way inside his room once when she did, to toss water on him when he'd overslept for a Friday training. Mito had peeked in lots of times, told him his room was a mess, and then tsk-ed at him - and then always winked - but that was it. "Tell you what? H-hey! Are you Genma?"

"Eh?" Mito asked, not understanding. "Not when I last checked."

"Okay," Naruto grunted, figuring that he'd leave the room dark because seeing his big sister drunk or tipsy or whatever was just a weird IDEA, even. "I didn't know you drank."

"Hmm? Oh Um…. Drinking." She hid a snicker but not a hiccup. "Hydrating is important, Naruto. –Consuming fluids, especially water, is a human necessity." She did not slur at all. "The average adult is composed of 55-60% water, ya know. When one considers various forms of elimination such as perspiration, urination…"

"Stop right there," Naruto begged, not wanting to hear any more of his sister's weird knowledge. "Why were you drinking AL-CO-HOL?"

"Oh. Because it's…" Fun is what she was going to say but then she reconsidered her audience. "Irrelevant." Naruto scoffed, loudly. "Anyway, the reason I'm here is that you're leaving and didn't tell me."

"I thought I did." Naruto gulped hard when he saw her eyes suddenly lit up and red in the dark. Her pupils were slitted. "Whoa."

Holy moly: he'd never seen anything like that before. The scary, glow-in-the-dark fox eyes left within a second or two of when they'd appeared but holy crap!

"Hmph. You didn't!"

"You went on a training trip for three years." Naruto thought her having a cow (or fox) about it was uncool - although maybe he should've mentioned leaving with Jiraiya earlier. Maybe I knew big sis wouldn't like it. "So did Dad. It's only fair that I get to experience the same thing."

Mito sighed. I was gone way longer than three years, Naruto, and I - before all that stuff happened - I only ever wanted to be home. Tou-san only left for years because Jiraiya was his sensei.

He didn't stay at the Southern Base, either. "Hmm. What do you plan to learn?"

"Everything!"

Mito blinked at him in the dark, wondering when she had been that excited and hopeful - and innocent - about anything. Even after what Sasuke pulled. "Specifically."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well," that's a good question! "It's good to have goals, right? And to have proper goals, ya gotta make plans: objectives. And we've only ever really worked on…"

"'Chakra control,'" Naruto snarked, repeating her mantra.

"AND working your Rasengan into water, ne? And seals, and first aid," Mito reminded him. "And endurance!" Naruto was already fast, considering his size, but Mito had also chased him AND had her cats chase him dozens of times.

Fun!

"Well, yeah." Naruto had to agree with all that and he guessed that he should give her some credit for it. Mito also taught seals differently than his godfather or dad did and it seemed like he was progressing faster at learning them now. She had also helped him figure out or better deal with his "Uzumakiness," as they liked to call it.

And MITO'S SEALS: oh man, were they crazy! Not only did she stick a whole, giant, iron battering ram on the inside of her elbow, but she could also charge it so that by tapping certain parts of the seal it's in, it would fire in different directions! Supposedly. Wish she would let me see it.

They once made a seal together that would probably explode all of Konoha, reigning down terror and weapons everywhere! He had been terrified when she made him diffuse it by himself.

Mito smiled at him and gave him a big thumbs up.
"No worries: you got this, Naruto! I know you can do it!"

"I'll be back," he assured her a little more softly, the more he thought about her smiles and encouragement.

"I know, Naru. –And maybe I can visit you sometimes, ne?" Mito knew she sounded pathetic. She had just had so little time with her brother. He had been her focus for YEARS and then she got so… busy. He's busy, too. He's growing up so fast.

"Yeah. I mean, you've got the Hiraishin which hopefully I can learn, 'ttebayo."

Mito perked up a bit. Jiraiya couldn't use that jutsu to save his life so if Naruto really wanted to learn it, Naruto was going to have to either figure it out for himself or get help from their dad or her. "I don't see why I can't pop by and visit, right?!"

"Sure," Naruto said truthfully. "Ha. There's no way dad would've let me go if he didn't have me marked."

"That is so true," Mito said with heat. "He is so stupidly overprotective and drives me crazy!" She slapped a hand over her mouth but began giggling when Naruto loudly agreed and guffawed.

Having heard a yell, their father threw open the door and turned on the light. Mito winced and rolled over. "NARUTO do you have a… girl in here?"

Naruto stopped yelling at his father to "get out" when he realized what he said. "DAaaaAAD!"

"He does!" Mito sang, standing up, nearly falling, and doing an absolutely ridiculous arm dance to try to hide it while bouncing. "It's me!"

Naruto groaned: that jig she just did was awful.

"Mito-chan? Oh. Have you been drinking?"

"Yes! I gotta go."

Both blondes watched as Mito stumbled over everything in Naruto's room before falling out of the window.

"I'M OKAY!"

They raced to the window only to find Mito waving at them before skipping off with a limp toward her apartment. Naruto bent over, holding his gut and laughing. "Oh, my God! That was funny!" He didn't think Mito was like that. Now he wished that he'd been spying on her more often.

"Yes. Hilarious," Minato deadpanned. He signaled one of his men to follow her, wishing a female ANBU had been close to their place to send after her instead. What if Mouse took advantage of her? Minato decided to follow up as soon as he put his son to bed. "Better get some sleep. Mito wants to take you on a quick trip tomorrow."

"Really?" Naruto asked, feeling excited. "Just me and her?" She didn't say anything. Maybe it's a surprise!

Minato chewed the inside of his cheek. "I… I guess so. Yes. Listen, I've got something to take care of but I'll be back soon, alright?"

Mito pretended to sleep through her father getting caught in her traps.
Silly man. He never had a chance of getting into her flat unless she invited him in!

She did not feel the least bit guilty at not healing him as she fell asleep.

The next morning, Mito bent over her brother's sleeping face. "Naruto," she loudly whispered. Naruto jerked up fast, surprising her and slamming his head into hers. "Ohhhhhhh." The heterochromatic red and blonde-haired woman deeply regretted not yet having her headband on like she normally did. "Sorry about that, ya hardhead. Get up and get dressed kiddo."

Naruto wasn't much of a morning person but remembered what his dad mentioned the night before. "Where we goin' today?"

"That's a secret but don't you worry, we're gonna have fun!"

"I can't believe you're up. You were wasted last night," Naruto grinned obnoxiously.

"Whaat?" Mito couldn't believe he thought that. She really hadn't been. "No, I wasn't." Yes, she had met with Hana and her friends - and then Anko showed up, too. Oh my gosh, Hana and Anko might be perfect for each other - after an awful day at the hospital but she hadn't been drunk. Obviously, Naruto wasn't going to believe her so she blew his opinion off. She'd just have to prove that she was fine and then talk to him about such things more openly later. "Get showered and changed; brush your teeth: all that crap. Momo's makin' us a big ol' breakfast and bentos! You'll need to pack or wear your swimsuit and stuff."

"Wha- really?! Awesome! Can we stop by Ichirakus…"

"If you're good, maybe we can go there for lunch or dinner!"

"Okay!"

Mito grinned as her brother jumped out of bed and quickly moved past her on his way to the bathroom. She went down to the kitchen and laughed when she saw the bandages her father had on. "You tried to get into my flat. What is wrong with you?"

"Mito-chan. I am your Hokage," he deadpanned. Mito laughed more - awkwardly - and he shook his head, glad that he was at least providing her with a source of entertainment.

"Mmmmhm! The Hokage broke into a woman's home," Mito tsk-ed. " I'm filing a complaint."

"That's not funny."

"Meh, it's a little funny," Mito grinned. She grabbed his empty coffee cup so she could refill it and grab a cup for herself, too. "So… Tou-san! Did you ever try to shove me into an arranged marriage?"

Minato gaped: for a few seconds, he was sure that he might be having a heart attack. "WHAT? You are never getting married - well; maybe when you're in your… thirt- no: forties or so. THAT might be okay, and only with my okaying your intended."

THIS time, Mito smiled, glad to hear it for probably the first time ever. Thinking about being forced to marry that Nagato guy (or anyone) made her feel sick - not that Mito had hated Nagato or anything. She wouldn't have married him, of course - and she'd like to see anyone make her try. "So you really never want me to marry?"

"You got it, kid. Call me selfish." And call me afraid of losing my daughter and village when the fox gets loose as it did with Kushina.

"Selfish."

.

"I can't… I can't believe it," Naruto breathed, trying to keep it together. "This is Uzushio?"

"Yeah." Mito looked away but slung an arm around her brother when she saw tears in his eyes. She set a couple of clones loose to ensure they were alone and kept her/their senses on high alert, just as her father had demanded. "I can give you a tour of sorts if you want."

"Nee-chan," he said, grasping her upper arm shyly. "Are there… ghosts?"

Mito scratched her cheek, wondering about that herself - especially after her last visit here. "Maybe?" Naruto freaked out and she had to grab him. "Hey, hey, hey. If there are any ghosts here, then they're our family, ne?" Naruto shivered all over. Awww.

"What about the ones who are Uzushio's enemies?" he asked in a whisper. He looked around and everything looked okay. Well, Uzushio looked like a ghost town that had lost a war but it was still somehow bright and welcoming. It had big, wide streets and there were all kinds of things made out of shells. Even now, many of the buildings and houses still standing were very bright in color: pinks, blues, and even purples - or white. They were dirty and wild grasses had sprouted up everywhere but Naruto could easily imagine it being a very beautiful place, once upon a time. "I don't get it," he said to himself.

"From everything I remember or have seen, Uzushio destroyed her enemies just before they made landfall." She walked forward, keeping a hand on her very nervous little brother's shoulder. They walked slowly through town, and Mito was glad that they finally had a little time to do something like this together. Naruto's big blue eyes were cataloging everything with interest. She smiled at him when they made their way to a beach and had to remind herself that Naruto had never seen the ocean before today.

"I… I… I thought it was big before! And there really is black sand!" He reached down to it and found it soft and warm: not overly hot like he was afraid it would be. And the sand particles were TINY.

"On the other side of the island, there's a beach with pink sand. It's SO beautiful. I STILL haven't found a name for it."

Naruto hummed. "What's this beach called?"

"Black Beach." Naruto deadpanned and Mito shrugged her shoulders; she didn't name it. "So if you want, we can go snorkeling or just tour the island…"

"I want to go snorkeling! I've been wanting to get those fish for the temple!"

Mito snorted: Naruto was already stripping his clothes off. "Let's put our clothes on the pier, ne? I'll get out some gear." She had to sort through her seals for a while before finding some that would fit them both. "Now if it's too cold out there, you tell me, and we can put on skin or wetsuits. Wait, Naruto! You walk into the water backward when you're wearing fins - or we can just jump off the end of the pier unless it falls in."

Naruto chatted up a storm about what he hoped to see and find (including a jellyfish which Mito wanted nothing to do with) in the ocean but silenced himself when he saw a big mark on his sister's back. "What's that?"

"Ah. Don't mind that, Naruto: it's just a little scar," she said uncomfortably. Dammit. Mito thought she'd found a two-piece that covered it but it seemed that was out of the question. She pulled her T-shirt on again.

"It's not little. And I thought it might be a birthmark or something. It's a scar?"

Mito turned around with wide eyes. She'd thought that the surgery she'd gotten from Tsunade a few years ago had done very little to hide the deep nuisance that it was - something she'd kind of (secretly) hoped for. "Really? A birthmark? That is awesome news, Naruto!" If it looked more like a birthmark than a scar then maybe she wouldn't get any pity or questions about it from others. Hiding it in the baths was a drag.

"Oh. Okay. You're so weird."

"You're weird," she happily snarked back, ruffling his hair. Mito gave him some tips on keeping his goggles de-fogged and explained how to use the snorkel, hoping that he was paying proper attention. He was awfully excited.

.

Naruto, it wound up, was a natural! He did get choked after a three-legged turtle brushed against him (repeatedly.) He got up and sat down on the water's surface, making Mito chuckle as she joined him. "Mito-chan. I don't think we should take these fish from their families."

Mito softly smiled at him, approving very much. "Well… we do have that big old aquarium at the temple. We could buy some fish from the pet store instead - but that means that they'll have to refill their tanks and I don't know if they get their tropical fish from farms or the ocean." She tapped her lips, feeling more and more uneasy about caging another animal. "Or we could just stick some more coral or fake crap in there."

"Let's ask the fish store. –And um, at least they won't get fish from OUR ocean, right?"

"Our ocean, huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned. He put his snorkel back in his mouth after jiggling water around in his goggles so that they would clear again. Mito followed him around, trying to get him to stop waving his hands and arms around in the water so much, and never knew what he was going to ask her when he popped up and would shoot water out of his snorkel at her every single time.

Man, that kid had a lot of energy. Mito was beginning to feel like an old lady.

"What's Kiri like Mito? Is their water like this?"
"I don't understand: what's surfing?"
"What kinda fish was that?"
"Why does Gai-sensei wear weights when he could just use seals to do the same thing?"
"WAS THAT A SHARK?"
"Why don't you like Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan's great!"
"Mom said to grab that stuff from Uzushio? Why?"
"Do you think Kumo's really that bad? —Sheesh: forget I asked."
"What was your Chunin Exam like?"

Late in the afternoon as they strolled through Uzushio, they even talked about Obito. Her father was probably going to kill her for doing it but Mito felt like Naruto deserved to know. Plus, Naruto had asked about her Chunin Exams. She took them with Rin-chan and Obito, so yeah.

From what Naruto said, her father rarely talked about his former, traitorous student which was understandable, considering that he destroyed what their family could've been. Killed Mom; I ended up shipped off; Naruto and I were turned into jinchuurikis, Jiji and thousands of others dead, too.

"I'll get him, Naruto," she said, running her hand through his sand-filled locks and picking out some debris. "Don't worry. If it's the last thing I do; I'll get him."

"That's not really what I was thinking, ya know."

Mito raised an eyebrow at him but Naru seemed lost in thought. "So. When you're with Jiraiya, are you going to start growing your hair out?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose, wondering where they were going. "Do I have to? –I mean, it seems like a hassle."

Mito knew that long hair was a hassle. "You don't HAVE to. I mean it's an Uzushio tradition - but you don't HAVE to. …How 'bout a mullet?"

Naruto gave her a dry look. "You cannot be serious."

"I am serious! I mean… It's a way to keep your hair out of your face without a hair tie, I guess; that's why the Uzumakis came up with it."

Naruto sighed and gave her a look of utter disbelief. "The Uzumakis invented the mullet."

"Yes! And the man bun! –Be proud of your heritage, brat! HERE we are," Mito grinned, side-skipping back and forth in front of a large building. "This is what I wanted your opinion on."

"It's a building, 'ttebayo."

Mito pouted at him. "You don't seem excited about this."

Naruto shrugged; being out in the ocean all day had tired him out and Uzushio had to be haunted. "This was like, a store?"

"Yeah, I think it was supposed to be - but it was probably newly built when Uzushio fell. Come inside and I'll show you around."

"Oh hell no!" Naruto tried to run. He screamed like a girl when Mito tossed him on her shoulders.

"Don't be a baby! And don't hurt our future museum!"

"..."

"Do what now?!"

"I…" Mito began but fisted her hands and groaned, shaking as she did. She let her brother down as soon as she felt that he wasn't going to run. Most of Uzushio seemed safe enough for ninjas but Naruto could still hurt himself on a rusty nail or who knows what. "I can't afford to buy a building but I do make enough money to afford rent payments on a plot of land. I was thinking maybe we could seal the building and transport it to Konoha."

Naruto quickly realized that she was serious and did follow her inside the building, staying on the lookout for ghosts. He was ready to get out of there because Uzushio was creeping him out no matter how much he tried to deny it. Yes, it was his mother's homeland but Naruto was positive that it hadn't been this QUIET when Uzumaki Kushina lived here as a girl. Aside from the ocean's waves in the near distance, the whole place was silent. Like death. He hadn't even seen a bird since he'd been here which was weird considering the ocean and everything.

The water was great, but Uzushio? Not so much anymore. Naruto didn't get how Mito could stand it.

"I don't think moving buildings works that way, Mito." The building was nice, though: inside and out. It had high ceilings and Naruto could see where she was coming from. It could make a nice museum, he supposed.

Mito REALLY wanted to build an Uzushio museum in Konoha. "I was thinking that down here we could have a visitor's center with a sign-in book, and maybe a way to trace ancestry back. –I know there are more of us out there, no matter how diluted our blood is. Other people can use it to trace their ancestry, too, and that will just help add to the database, dattebane! -Oh, and we'll need an aquarium, of course."

Naruto hummed, wondering how this building was so darn intact and clean. It has to be seals. Or the undead are doing it. "Didn't Uzushio already have museums or something?" Konoha had all kinds of places dedicated to the warring clans' and founders' eras.

"I found one but it was destroyed," Mito replied with a sad sigh. "I got everything out I could and took loads of pictures. The museum district was adjacent to that pink beach. Now… What else should I show you?" she asked herself.

"Let's go back and get our fish. We're running out of time." Mito looked sad but Naruto didn't think he'd feel better until his feet were planted in Konoha again.

As soon as he was, though, one of Mito's cats attacked them. Both siblings spilled onto the ground in a heap, Mito giggling and she held the cheetah up over her - right in the middle of the main drag.

"Shin! You surprised me!" Oh no. He'd definitely been stealing ice cream from someone or somewhere: Mito could smell it on his sticky coat.

"You wouldn't believe what happened," Shin exclaimed, then tried to jaw at the hands that were holding him up. Stupid Mito and her stupid super-strength! "It's about Asuma," he said, wiggling the whiskers over his eyes.

Mito got up and dusted herself off. "Come with us." She walked Shin and Naruto to the aquarium outfitters which Mito had to wrestle and hold the cheetah out of, trying to hush Naruto who had a sea of questions for her summons. "Naruto, go pick out some fish and I'll be right back, okay? Saltwater fish!" Naruto stuck out his tongue at her but trotted off to the back of the store where they kept their saltwater specimens. She heard him yelling questions about where the store got their fish but was a little more interested in what Shin had been up to.

Mito put down a modified silencing seal. "What did Asuma say?"

"Asuma says," he drawled slowly, making sure he said everything correctly, "those missing kids are still in the Elemental Nations, he thinks. He's also finding a mate but will say more when he's done."

Mito gaped at him. "What?! He's got an almost fiance; that ass. I'm going to GET him! Wait, wait, wait: why do you think he's finding a wife? What exactly did he say?"

"It is a wife. Or, he called her a wifie. He needs to figure her out. –It's all on a line."

Mito stared at him stupidly for several seconds as her mind went through what that could mean. Sometimes her cats weren't quite up to speed with slang or terms they hadn't encountered before. "Wifi maybe? He needs to figure wifi out? It's 'online?'"

"Yes! That's what I said."

Mito snorted and set her hands on her hips. "That's not a wife or mate but okay. Gosh, you freaked me out, Shin." Shin went on to really freak her out as he told her about his well-publicized adventure in Tokyo.

Oh God, Asuma's going to kill me.

.

It was dark outside by the time Naruto and Mito let the fish out of the bags in the aquarium at the Uzumaki Temple. Naruto's tastes in fish were damn expensive, Mito thought. He had his heart set on an exquisite Emperor Angelfish, a cute little triggerfish, a starfish, a pufferfish that Naru had nearly lost his mind over, a few big plants and corals that would specifically hide a clownfish couple, and a couple of beautiful tangs that supposedly weren't too aggressive. Those two she was worried about. They were all juveniles but Mito just hoped the tangs wouldn't munch on the others.

She had wanted a couple of cute basslets instead of the tangs but Mito had a really hard time saying no to Naruto.

They also got a couple of koi fish to replace the two her cats had munched. Mito smiled at her brother who was watching the fish get acquainted with their new home. There were so many interconnected seals connected to so many outside sources - but then again, Mito was hoping to run a months-long, self-sufficient biosystem with them.

"It's kinda sad that no one else will see the little guys," Naruto lamented.

Mito arched a red eyebrow at him. Hadn't she said something similar at the shop as Naruto begged her to keep adding fish to their extremely expensive order? "Tsunade will want to see them and Karin-chan's out there somewhere. Hopefully, she'll call on me soon. Kaa-chan always said there were more of us out there." Mito's eyes eventually grew wider and she grasped Naru's shoulder excitedly and shook him. "Sora! Let's try to drag Sora in!"

Naruto blinked at her several times. "Is Sora-kun an Uzumaki? I thought he was part 'You Know What.'"

'You Know What' meaning that Sora was a Senju.

"Yeah, but the Senjus and Uzumakis intermarried like crazy."

"Won't he get incinerated if he doesn't have Uzumaki blood and he tries to get in?" Mito started snickering and he bopped her on the arm. "You lied to me! I can't believe it! Wait: if we can bring in other people, then can we bring Dad in? He's always wanted to see it."

Mito wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms over her chest. She was pretty sure their father had been here after he and their mother got married. "He's gonna want to touch everything. I don't like people touching stuff!" Naruto rolled his eyes and started poking her.

"You said I'm as much Uzumaki as you are and this is my temple, too." Mito grumbled about his words like an old lady although she looked like she might be hiding a grin in the end. "And I want to share it!" Mito groaned and made a sad, keening sound; it looked like she was deflating. "Let's come back tomorrow and bring everybody so they can see the fish!"

"Before you leave with Jiraiya?"

"Before I leave!"

"I don't know who 'everyone' is, Naruto, but no one better touch these masks!"

"Yatta! Now let's go get some Ichirakus."

"Tsk. You're paying."

"WHAT?!"