DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks )

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Gai wrapped his bruised and battered arms youthfully, being careful to cover the most obvious abrasions. Sparring with the Fox ANBU was certainly exciting, but boy did her punches hurt. Thank Youth that he was fast enough to block her. And he knew that she was holding back! Fox had demonstrated for him what she could do when going all out, and although she had to slow down in order to throw one of her Punches of Springtime, she could easily level trees or boulders. He'd even once seen her do something similar with only her finger, although he promised that ability would remain a secret between them.

"Or I'll flick you," she had warned darkly. Gai was fairly sure that she had been smirking under that mask of hers.

Although she was an excellent sparring partner and quickly becoming someone he considered a friend, he knew that he had to continue infusing her with Youth. Like his Eternal Rival, Fox was terribly serious and very secretive. As a member of ANBU - and what was Lord Hokage thinking, placing someone that small or young in the darkest of Konoha's forces?! - secrecy was vital, but there was still something extra-mysterious about the unusual girl, apart from her assignment. Realizing that he'd had such a traitorous thought: doubting his village leader in making appropriate mission assignments, he began to cry.

So unyouthful of me!

The ANBU snuck up behind him again, jumping down from a nearby tree branch.

"Are you alright, Gai-san?" Mito was really worried about this boy's mental health. She was concerned enough to sneak into the records section and found that he'd suffered a serious head wound in early childhood. She really wanted to scan him to see if he was alright.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was a common cause of death and long-term disability in the pediatric age range. Gai was fortunate to even be alive and to be so able-bodied? Very impressive. The mood swings, though? Yes, they made sense, whether one called them "Youth" or not. He certainly had a wonderful personality despite his previous troubles, including participating in years of war, and a fighting spirit that made up for anything he might lack. Mito wondered if she might be developing a crush on the young taijutsu master, but shook her head at the thought.

One, she had not reached puberty. Two, she did not possess any feelings of longing, jealousy, or what an average young person would consider "love" but was, in reality, disguised lust and confusion. Thinking of it more as she observed the young Jonin, she once again had a sinking feeling that when puberty did hit, it would be horrible. No matter what Tsunade-baa-chan said wistfully about "young love," or Shizune-nee's weird crush on a certain masked Jonin that had the disposition of a stump, it just didn't interest her.

"You are favoring your left leg and already protecting your ribs. Stay still and let me work." She pushed the boy down to the ground, hand glowing with the green chakra of iryo-ninjutsu. "Both of your wrists are sprained," she mumbled, continuing her diagnostic on the now silent boy. She glanced up at him, noticing that his tears were still falling, but had a more positive disposition. Being a sensor was helpful as a medic. "For gods' sake, Gai-san," she scolded as her temper nearly got the best of her while she healed the worst of his bruises and... "Two of your ribs are broken! Lay down and be quiet," she growled.

Gai was once again reminded of a furious Sannin who had healed him during the war. "Shut up, you brat, or I'll break your damn jaw, heal it, then break it again!" Yes, indeed, Tsunade-hime was filled with passion and youth. Hers was terrifying. He had heard of a doctor's "bedside manner," but Tsunade-hime was a different creature than most entirely.

He understood, now, that there were two of them.

How Youthful!

He waited while his young Fox friend healed his various breaks, sprains, and abrasions. He'd tried to persuade her not to bother with his bruises, but his forehead had been flicked - not at her full power, thank the deities - and now his head was in a shallow crater, rather than the flat grass he'd been lying in previously. He also believed that a migraine might be coming on.

Where was he again?

After she finished healing her apparently idiotic comrade, Mito used her healing jutsu to aid the boy in what had to be a terrible headache. She didn't feel bad about what she'd done. No, on the contrary, she was now able to run a diagnostic on the boy's brain. THIS was the great Tsunade-hime's way! Mito would follow in her footsteps to the letter! "Is your head better now?" she eventually asked challengingly.

"Yes! Thank you so much, Fox-san!" He tried to sit up but the strange youthful girl climbed on top of him to stop him.

"Move and I'll slap gravity seals on you," Mito said angrily. "Gai-san, do you suffer from intermittent memory loss?" She found a slipped disc in his neck and healed it fully, feeling relieved that it was an easy fix. It could have been much worse.

Gai thought about it, and ironically enough, couldn't remember that being a problem. "I don't believe so."

"Very well," Mito said as she jumped up to stand next to the young Jonin. She offered him a hand so that he could better stand, accidentally yanking him so hard that she sent him flying several feet away. She rubbed the back of her head, glad that he simply somersaulted and was now standing properly. Stuff like this always happens when I get mad. "Sorry about that." Placing her hands on her hips she scolded the taijutsu master. "Neglecting your pain could lead to further weakness or injury, Gai-san! Your broken ribs could have punctured your lung! You have to be more careful," she said, shaking her head. She wasn't going to even mention his neck: neck issues always freaked out her patients and sent them screaming for an adult. "I know that shinobi don't care for hospitals, but if that is the issue, perhaps you can track a medic down on his or her way to or from the hospital. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Mito raised her powerful little fist and shook it threateningly.

The young man was crying again. Mito sighed and shook her head, as Gai nodded back at her enthusiastically.

She was just so full of Youth!

Neither ninja realized that they were being spied on by an old man with a crystal ball. Hiruzen's chuckle at the scene that so reminded him of his gambling-prone student. This, unfortunately, alerted Minato who now knew that he wasn't assisting him with his paperwork ahead of the Yondaime's "vacation." He gave up the ruse, putting the papers he was hiding his crystal ball behind down, and settling back into his less comfortable chair. Although he didn't miss the role of Hokage, he did miss that comfy chair.

He was old and bony: perhaps he could ask Minato for it back? The man in question flashed over to him and peeked into the ball, panicking at what he saw.

"What is my daughter doing with a BOY?" At that moment, Minato only saw Gai as a threat! "Kakashi! Bring me Maito Gai!"

"Maa, maa, sensei; it's INU," he said as he scratched at his hair. It had knots in it again: what a pain. "And do I have to?" he nearly whined.

"YES!"

Kakashi's posture only got worse as he trudged off to find the guy, no pun intended, who drove him crazy. Crazier... whatever, he thought miserably.

After healing Gai and sparring a bit, Mito trained alone and then decided to visit Orochimaru-oji again. Although Orochimaru's apprentice was in some ways very childlike, Mito could admit that she enjoyed Anko-chan's company. It was also nice that Anko called her by her name, although the young snake summoner had sworn to Orochimaru - as if he were a God, Mito snickered - that she would never do so in public. Anko had even seen her face! As long as it was just the three of them in the lab, she wore her mask on the top of her head at Orochimaru's encouragement. Since she came back to the village, she had even tried on a kimono that Orochimaru made for her. It was lovely!

If her father found out, would he be angry?

Was she really going against her father and Hokage? No, it wasn't like her father had ever ordered her to keep the mask on 24/7. Had he? No, that was more her mother's suggestion, or maybe Tsunade-baa's. Was it? She'd been wearing it for so long, and honestly, she was often rather uncomfortable without it covering her face. One way or another, she ALWAYS kept her "interesting" hair hidden, unless she was at home. And when off-duty like she was currently, ANBU didn't have to wear their uniforms. Most chose to wear their Chunin or Jonin uniforms when off-duty.

She didn't have one of those, although she had the smallest size Chunin vest that was available. Perhaps she would stop by the store and get one; what a great idea!

Just as she was unsealing the door to Orochimaru's lab, Kakashi sunshinned in and grabbed her arm.

"Hands off, asshole," Mito threatened, ready to attack an enemy, then grabbed her racing heart. "Kak-Inu! What do you want? I almost killed you."

Kakashi thought that was pretty funny; the idea that the squirt thought she could take him was almost as adorable as it was annoying. No, it was definitely more annoying: he'd put the ratio near 85/15, in fact. "Maa, Lord Hokage requests your presence." He grabbed the girl's arm again before she could get away. "What are you doing here, Mito?" he hissed in just over a whisper.

"None of your business and keep your mouth shut about it," Mito threatened and began to turn away. Her father really didn't care for Orochimaru, which was crazy! But she would maintain her relationship with the man she considered her uncle. When Kakashi/Inu grabbed and tugged at her again, she pivoted and flipped away from him, bringing his arm down with her. Grasping his other arm, she jerked him toward her while he was off-balance, flicked his mask, and sent him sailing. "Dumbass. I warned you." She skipped off to see her father.

Minato listened to the Chunins' mission report carefully. On the border, very near the cave in which Kushina would soon give birth again, the Chunin found traces of activity. That shouldn't be the case. He thought his seals would prevent anyone from getting that close, aside from Kushina. Or of course anyone they keyed in to enter the area, such as a midwife and the ANBU he'd decided upon to guard his wife. Perhaps he should re-assess choosing that particular ANBU team? They had the most experience, but what if there was a traitor among them?

It wasn't something he liked to consider. He trusted his soldiers with his life and would give his life for Konoha. ...For them, for the Kings of Konoha, without hesitation. It was why he wanted to see Mito: to have a little more time with her, just in case. It didn't have too much to do with her seeing a boy behind his back, he told himself. Tonight was also the night he was going to show his failsafe seal to Kushina - putting his life in jeopardy just by doing so. He knew that there would be hell to pay for even the idea of using the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style with his beloved Kushi-chan, but he was a careful man.

He'd already written the key to the seal that would contain the Kyuubi over the last few months. Gods forbid that he ever needs it.

I need to reseal the area surrounding the cave.

Raido allowed his daughter into his office just as the team was heading out.

"Asuma! I haven't seen you in forever!"

Minato groaned as he watched his daughter hug her big brother figure. She'd spent a lot of time growing up with the Sarutobis, and he reminded himself that Mito only felt brotherly affection for that brat, Asuma. He swallowed the lump in his throat and coughed to get her attention. She went to give the Sandaime a hug instead before coming to him.

Minato pouted at his desk.

She was just so beautiful! One day, some boy was going to try to take advantage of her! And she'll smash them into mush. Yes, yes: Tsunade-hime and sensei had turned his little girl into a tsunami of a kunoichi. Old Hiruzen and his oldest son had helped as well.

He couldn't be more proud of her.

Once they were alone in the room, just the two of them and old Hiruzen, the grilling began.

"I understand that you were out with a boy earlier, Mito-chan," Minato said sweetly. Too sweetly.

"Really? Who?" Mito asked innocently.

Hiruzen wanted to smack his forehead. Minato, Kushina, and Mito were all oblivious to things like this. He wouldn't be surprised if Mito saw Gai-kun as an almost genderless comrade. He still remembered the time Minato had a fit about his son, Asuma, being too close to the girl years ago.

"I don't understand! I haven't reached puberty and won't for years, and Asuma is physically unattractive."

Poor Asuma. Like most adolescents, he did have a few "awkward" years. He covered his mouth and once again wished that he was wearing The Hat so he could hide his amusement. Not that he wanted the responsibilities of The Hat: no, no, no. That was better left in a young man's hands. He went back to Minato's paperwork as the father-daughter duo argued about Gai. Minato finally gave up. Hiruzen wasn't sure what the Yondaime wanted Mito to say. Minato's interrogation of the Green Jonin of Youth had already given him all of the information he could possibly need. Poor Gai...

"...I was planning to go into town. I'd like to buy a standard uniform." That got Hiruzen's attention. He doubted Minato would allow it.

"Mito-chan," Minato sighed, frowning, as he stood up to stretch. "I need to go do something. Would you like to accompany me? I could use your assistance and we can talk more then?"

"Sure," Mito agreed happily as she put her mask back on.

"I was born here, huh? Gross," she said as she looked around the cave. It was gross, and much less hygienic or "inviting" than a hospital delivery room. "So we'll bring Mom here when the contractions begin, or will she be induced early?" Mito knew that her mother was due on October 15th: she couldn't wait! A baby brother would be so cool!

"Not we, Mito-chan. You'll be staying at the hospital," Minato scolded. If the worst happened, he wanted to know exactly where all of his young shinobi were, and to have them restrained from fighting the Kyuubi.

For Konoha, the next generation needed to survive. And that included his daughter. Especially her...

"What?! No way! I've delivered dozens of babies! You know I wouldn't let anything happen to Naruto-chan! Or Mom! You really trust someone else more than me?" Mito's eyes welled up with tears. "Please! I can at least assist!"

"Mito-chan," Minato said soothingly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Because your mother is my wife - AND she has her own enemies: God forbid I forget to add that! - her being in such a delicate state could be dangerous. An enemy would love to get their hands on her while she's at less than her best. That's why we're out here."

Mito glared at her father while she wiped her eyes and nose with her arm. "Delicate" and enemies, my ass, Mito thought, although that scenario was possible... No one wanted to mess with the Yellow Flash, though. No, what her father was worried about was the fox.

If he thought she didn't know, then he wasn't quite the genius everyone believed Minato Namikaze to be. As he continued to look into her teary heterochromic eyes, she thought that he realized that she knew, but he still said nothing about the Kyuubi. Her father only kissed her on the head, then ruffled her hair before beginning to draw a seal on the floor at the entrance to the cave.

"Grandfather passed out the nine bijuu like they were candy, trying to achieve peace. HA! Like that'll ever happen," Tsunade drunkenly said as she settled down in her bedroll one night after training the girls into the ground. Shizune's eyes were wide, but Mito was frowning. She had a strange inkling where one of the bijuu was.

"Damn fox," her mother must have muttered to herself a dozen times.

But that was impossible, right?

"So who did he hand them out to?" Mito asked the question as if this was a normal conversation over tea. Even at her young age, she knew that it wasn't. Seeing the look on Shizune's face, it seemed that her big sister knew it, too. Or maybe she'd heard this before, and wanted Baa-chan to shut up.

"Hmph! He kept the most powerful for us, of course: the fox. Only an Uzumaki can contain him, as my grandmother did and Uzushio has always been allied with Konoha." Mito would've fallen over if she hadn't already been laying down. Aside from her, there was only one Uzumaki alive that she knew of. There was definitely only one full-blooded Uzumaki literally in Konoha.

"The two and eight tails went to Kumo; I still don't understand that," Tsunade said in intoxicated exasperation. "Suna's got the one tail: his name is Shukaku, believe it or not, and they really have had trouble finding a jinchuuriki that can hold him." The Slug Sannin didn't notice both her charges' eyes light up in something between interest and horror, and plowed on. "The three and six are in Kiri, the four and five in Iwa, I think. Hmm, I'm pretty sure the seven tail is here in Taki. 'S-all very hush-hush and secret, mind you."

Mito came back to the present, feeling ill. Could the fox get away or do something to her mother during childbirth? This was something she'd have to read more about.

Oh my God: I did read about that one thing... It had been a long time ago, and she didn't know her mother's status back then. She swallowed down the bile that had literally come up in her throat.

"Okay, Dad," she said, plastering on a fake smile. "What seals did you want me to look at?"

"You can't be serious, Minato! That will kill you," Kushina hissed like a loud cat as she examined the seal her idiot not-genius-right-now husband had put together. "I thought you'd come up with something DECENT! No way: no, no, no! My plan is much better. ...You'd actually summon the Shinigami? Are you crazy?!"

This was 1000% worse than their plans to ensure everything went okay with Mito's birth!

Mito - in the nearby stairway - further channeled chakra into her ears, but the way her mother's chakra was spiking was dangerous considering how far along in her pregnancy she was. She needed to be closer. It was hard to hear when her heart was beating so loud, too.

The conversation she then heard: the reason for all of those seals, her father's shocking plan should her mother lose control over the fox nearly made her sick.

She was so close to being old and powerful enough to protect herself!

- To finally come out as an unhidden kunoichi in her own right!

- To be able to protect her family, her little brother!

Now her father might be leaving them - and her mother would die, too?
He might make her little brother into a jinchuuriki?
She just got here, back to the village she loved: home. To them!

...If they went through with it, then her father would be dead, and it wouldn't be the same if "The Yondaime" weren't protecting little Naruto-chan! Did he not get that?! Would she be able to protect him enough on her own? Tsunade baa-chan had said that people hate jinchuurikis. And when she finally found a book about the bijuu back then with a bunch of fuuinjutsu that were known to seal them, she read that those chosen to hold the beasts could not survive their extraction.

Hate breeds violence. She could not, would not stand the thought of Naruto-chan being the brunt of hatred!

Calm down, Mito, she told herself as she lay in her bed much later, all of this may never come to pass. Still unable to sleep hours later, she stealthily snuck out of the house, (even Kakashi didn't see her, she was pretty sure,) and made her way to the Sarutobi compound. She needed advice from her grandfather figure.