DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
"What do we have here?" Mito asked with a soft smile. Shizune seemed to be teaching a group of chibis.
"These are my students, Mito-chan," Shizune said proudly. "Tsunade-hime wishes to fulfill her dream of having a competent med-nin on each team. One or more!"
"Very good," Mito agreed, pleased beyond belief.
"Who are you?" a bratty blonde demanded.
Mito had already realized from her eyes and hair that this girl was a Yamanaka. Very scary or she will be, she thought - although her first outward reaction was scowling at the little brat. "My name is Namikaze Mito." Most of the class gasped and began whispering to each other, embarrassing her. Mito figured it was her last name that made them react the way they did. "Tsunade-hime is my mentor."
"Ano… Y- you're a medic?" a little nervous Hyuuga stuttered/squeaked after slightly raising her hand.
Kawaii! But what's that about? Mito wondered as she bobbed her head. She recalled that Hyuugas were "trained to be stick-up-their-butt nobles, 'ttebane. You wouldn't believe it, Mito-chan: they seal some of their family! Assholes -oh sorry! Don't repeat what Kaa-chan says, ne? One of my teammates was a sealed Hyuuga, ya know: it's so wrong..."
Did I do something wrong? Sakura wondered. Ino had been as rude as always so it was understandable why Namikaze Mito had kinda sneered at her. She had also given each student a very appraising look - she looked beautiful but deadly: EEK - but narrowed her incredibly beautiful eyes at her. Now she was sort of smirking at her. Yikes! She raised her hand and saw Namikaze-sama nod her head. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto's… aunt?"
"Uzumaki Naruto?" Mito wondered. Why was her little brother going with only the Uzumaki surname?
How did she not know this very basic information?
Crap. She really didn't know anything about Naruto, did she?
Not even his name!
"Big sister," Mito clarified with a hidden sigh. She leaned against the wall, propping a foot on it as she crossed her arms over her chest, ready to see what was going on. "Don't mind me!" Shizune gave her a dirty look which Mito just shrugged off. "Please proceed with what you are doing."
"Ugh," Shizune groaned - then realized her snarky attitude surprised her students. "Mito-san is a…" She glared at the woman she considered closest to being a younger sister when Mito let out a quiet snort at the respect she was showing her. Now she really was irritated! "...Jonin combat medic that has been out on assignments for the past 12 years."
The baka ended up getting the fox half-sealed within her and then took off, on her own, to the Bloody Damn Mist.
Shizune would only admit to Tsunade that she found being around Mito (especially if they were alone) more than a little uncomfortable now. Considering that there was something wrong with her seal… Considering that Shizune had SEEN the unfathomably enormous, hate-filled fox that night - had seen all of the destruction and deaths it reigned down. She snapped to attention when Mito subtly cleared her throat and smiled at her students. "As I was saying, you all are nearly ready to bring a fish back to life." Some of the girls gasped. "Tsunade-hime will be here soon but perhaps Mito-san can demonstrate?"
Mito gave an affirmative nod and moved over to where the tank of fish awaited. Showing off and using a modified water prison jutsu, she splashed Shizune and bit her bottom lip, grinning at getting her before wincing as she brought a struggling fish onto the table with a SPLAT. She grimaced and waited for the poor thing to stop moving in the puddle she was holding it down on. "I'm sorry, little guy; I promise this will only last a few seconds, and then I'll put you right back." She moved back a bit, mentally struggling with the whole thing: she'd always hated this exercise and found it just WRONG to do to the poor fishies - and waited so that each of the students could confirm that the fish was dead. Then she used her chakra to bring it back to life and returned it to the tank. "Please don't use that one again."
"You didn't explain what you did," Shizune scolded.
"Sorry, sorry. Alrighty, then. Since no one's introducing themselves, I'm outta here." She waved over her shoulder and began to leave when one girl hollered at her.
"WAIT," Tenten yelled. "May - uh may I introduce myself?" –This was something that Gai-sensei had really (and somewhat literally) pounded into her team as being important although she was NOT going to say anything about springtime. Shizune-sensei nodded and she tried to stand taller. Mito-hime was a tall woman. "My name is Tenten. I'm a Genin on Team 9."
"Nice to meet you, Tenten-san. Who leads your team?" Mito asked - she was glad that this kid had a little spunk in her.
"Maito Gai-sensei," Tenten wanted to groan. She was a little surprised but very happy that Mito seemed almost excited by that.
"I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Gai-san again since I've come back. I look forward to it," Mito said genuinely. Although Gai probably only remembered her as "Fox," he had been one of her only friends when she lived in Konoha with her parents for those few weeks. Mito would consider him a friend, anyway. "And, again, I'm very pleased to meet you. Congratulations on making this career choice."
"Ah," Tenten winced. "My chakra control isn't quite good enough, but I want to learn all I can! I'm focusing on being a weapons mistress and am interested in seals."
"SEALS?! That's awesome; maybe I can give you a hand with them sometime! I'd love to see what you're doing."
Tenten gasped: hardly anyone was interested (or unafraid) of real fuuinjutsu which she thought was idiotic. "You know sealing?"
"My mother was an Uzumaki. I am… one step away from being a Seals Mistress." If I can just find those juinjutsu files my father's hidden. She did still have the ones from Uzushio and planned to surprise the hell out of them when either he or Jiraiya tested her. Bwahaha. "For some time, my chakra control was miserable or at least really off. If you keep working on it, you can eventually achieve the control needed to be a competent med-nin. Believe in yourself and never give up!"
Some of the students softly laughed or shook their heads, rolling their eyes - and Mito decided to prank their little asses. She was being serious!
She had no idea that "I never give up! Believe it!" was something her brother said a LOT.
Shizune asked the rest of the students to introduce themselves - something Mito thought she should have done earlier. Then again, it seems that Shizune still doesn't trust me.
That hurt. She probably wants to get the kids away from "the fox."
She smiled through that, though, as she met Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, a boy named Sai, and Aburame Chie. Feeling a chakra signature that she'd missed running toward them, she smiled when Sora-kun raced into the room. The sweet boy ran straight up to her, giving her a big hug. "Mito-nee-chan! You're here!"
"I am kiddo How have you been?"
"Good! I like living in Konoha!"
"You're late, Sora-kun," Shizune scolded.
"Sorry, Shizune-sensei."
.
Asuma could not let Mito do this. Probably.
Maybe. –Mito was making a bento to leave for Naruto-brat, "so that he knows that I want to be there for him soon. -That I care! I mean, I've met all these other people: kids included, ya know. I don't want him to forget me or think I'm purposely avoiding him - which, of course, I am - or that I'm weird."
Mito was weird.
And Mito also couldn't cook. Mito had somehow set a small fire in his kitchen while distracted. She was "cooking water." And she'd also somehow destroyed his rice cooker and overflowed the thing with burnt rice which still smelled terrible.
"Why don't you buy him a present or something while you're buying me a new rice cooker instead? –Like a kunai."
"'Like a kunai,'" Mito snarked. Yes, they were ninjas and that meant the easy present was always a set of or one single really fancy kunai. But 'easy' wasn't what was best! "A kunai is not personal! It doesn't show love and care for someone."`
"Hm. Neither does your 'cooking.' It's more like you're showing him how much you hate him."
"ASUMA! Gosh: I put out that fire!"
"You flooded my apartment." Mito sniffed and hid behind her hair as she worked on a nightmarish-looking onigiri, making him feel bad for reminding her of that. She'd been pretty emotional for the past few days and Asuma hoped that the Toad Sage would show up soon so that they could get busy finding something to work out the fox's seal(s) issue. Konoha might be fairly large but Mito and Naruto were bound to run into each other at some point. The last thing Asuma wanted to see was knuckleheaded Uzumaki Naruto turning into a small version of the fox as he'd seen his sister do twice. Kind of.
Plus, he knew the Hokage was going to have a cow when he realized that Mi was staying with him again. Mito told her father that she was staying with Tsunade but she'd told Asuma that she couldn't stand scaring Shizune just by existing.
He planned to have a long talk with Shizune but got called out for another mission. Asuma took the bento with him but thought he might just throw the contents into the garbage. Although he did need to get back at Mito for what she'd done to his kitchen… "You need to reach out and make some new friends."
"Yeah," Mito groused. "I know. So far the only adults I've been around are my hospitalized patients. The staff seems scared of me." Asuma was going to respond but a second bird attracted both of their attention and Asuma took off running when he read the message that was attached to its little leg.
Mito was bumming out that she'd be in for the day with little to do other than train when a third bird soon appeared, knocking on Asuma's window. "I got a mission?" She left a note for Asuma and ran off to the ANBU HQ.
…
"Fox reporting."
The shinobi manning the desk squinted at her, knowing he'd never seen this kunoichi before. She had a very memorable... everything. "Where's your mask, Fox? And what kind of armor is that?"
Mito handed him her dog tags and shrugged at the guy working reception. "Destroyed on my last mission." And my Konoha armor was way too small.
"Very well." He brought up the operative's file in the computer and tried to not in any way react, other than to point her in the right direction. "Maa, you'll need a new picture: the one we've got in your file is… old. Head left to 201. Masks are upstairs; talk to Nara - he'll probably be in room 410."
After having a new picture taken - Mito did not appreciate the way the old woman taking pictures had laughed and cooed at her old one - she approached room 410. The Nara there looked almost exactly like all the other Naras she'd ever run into but was wearing green eyeliner, something that Mito hadn't seen someone using although she knew it was on the market. She reminded herself to stay professional and yet approachable.
She was so nervous! She'd only been in this building twice and was probably seven years old the first time she'd followed Jiraiya in to get her data put into the ANBU system. She'd later reported in when she finally returned to Konoha all those years ago. "Yo!"
That works, right?!
"Yo, yourself. What can I do you for?"
Mito wasn't quite sure of exactly why she was sent to this room. "Chunin guy downstairs sent me your way. Maybe you can give me a replacement mask?"
"And armor? —What the hell are you wearing, anyway?"
"Uzushio armor."
A smirk crawled up Ensui's face; he found that very interesting. "Troublesome. You're a Konoha kunoichi though, ne?" The very beautiful, very-new-to-him kunoichi bobbed her head (looking like he couldn't believe he just asked that: she WAS inside of Konoha's ANBU HQ, after all) and quickly glanced around the office he was hiding out in. "What mask are you looking for, kunoichi-san?"
"Fox… My name is Mito, Nara-san."
"Mito, huh?" he smirked before growing pale as he considered that for another second. He should've realized that this was Hokage-sama's relative from the unique and pulled-back, long hair he'd seen in the Bingo Books; he just hadn't considered something/someone interesting like this showing up when he woke from his nap - deep in the safety and relative comfort outside of ANBU HQ's largest stock room.
Ensui wasn't touching Namikaze Mito with a ten-meter pole! "Very well. Excuse me for a moment." He left quickly and when he returned with her new mask and sealed armor, Mito wondered if she'd done something wrong. After quickly gearing up, however, she met her team at the southeastern well-sealed gate. She sensed Shiranui's chakra but didn't know who the other two people were. Both had brown eyes and tense stances. Shiranui (aka Bear) took charge and led them all further south of Konoha, stopping when the village was quite a ways behind them.
"This is a retrieval mission. Uzuki Yugao's last known position was in Kiri or close to it." Genma was relieved. If he hadn't been looking for "Fox's" eyes to express surprise or challenge, he wouldn't have noticed her gaze sharpen. "She was on an undercover mission gaining intelligence while shadowing a Konoha VIP that returned home without her knowledge."
Mito exhaled sharply, guessing that the supposed VIP could be her. To think that I may have left a man behind! "May I ask what Uzuki's skills are? Or if you know, what her alias was in Kiri?"
"I'm sure she was henged, but Uzuki's strongest talents lie in kenjutsu, sensing, and as a med-nin." Genma's lips twitched as he felt the irritation rolling off the Leaf's princess. "She was last reported to be using the alias 'Ami.'"
"Of course, she was," Mito sneered. Geez, "Ami" had plenty of time when she was sniffing around: she could've signaled to let me know she was a Konoha kunoichi instead of just making me uncomfortable! "Extraction method?"
"You're awfully bold about this newbie," the shinobi in the Boar mask challenged.
"You still feel confident about her, Taicho?" the slightly shorter shinobi in the Bird mask questioned.
"Why don't you tell them your specialties, Fox?"
Mito nodded; she sure as hell wasn't going to let these two intimidate her. "I'll share if they will. I joined ANBU over a decade ago. I am a sensor, fuuinjutsu specialist, and frontline combat med-nin…"
Boar was the one who rudely opened his mouth again. "Only Tsunade-hime is considered a frontliner!"
"Yeah, well, Tsunade-hime's got one little trick up her sleeve while I've got another, much bigger one."
Here's a hint: he's got nine tails, dude.
"Are you going to listen to this bullshit…"
"ENOUGH," Genma ordered. "What the hell's wrong with you two?" Here he was, supposed to be evaluating (and guarding) Mito-hime and now Carbon and Copy were pissing off both of them. "Your uh- hair, Fox."
Mito looked at her hair (before grabbing it,) ensuring that it was still black as she balked and got her temper under control. Her braid had been flying around again. Like a damn snake. "Thank you, Taicho."
"Ah, don't mention it," Genma grinned.
"Are you screwing this chi… Oww!"
Mito had reached over and bashed his mask into the other guys: hard enough but not too hard. "If I may make a suggestion since you didn't mention extraction strategies, I can get us there faster." Bear pulled her aside for a quieter discussion.
"What's your idea? And yes, I know who you are."
"I know who you are, too," Mito admitted in a whisper. "Sorry about losing my temper with them. I don't like people assuming or seriously insinuating things like that. It's fine to joke around but…"
"I should be the one apologizing; they're being unprofessional." Some of these ex-ROOT guys would just go off after being the "silent and deadly" types every now and then before they got their shit together (as much as humanly possible considering how much Danzo had screwed with them.) "…Ah, right. And you know who I am because you're a sensor," Genma chuckled.
"That's right. Can I Hiraishin us there? I don't know what your time frame is or if you have something already worked out, but I'm pretty sure I know who this 'Ami' kunoichi is," Mito admitted, shaking her head. "Were you talking about her shadowing me?" As much as she'd hoped that Bear would deny it, he eventually nodded, making her feel sick. "I never would've left without her had I known that one of our own was there."
Genma's chakra seemed ill at ease, so Mito told him what she was thinking. "I don't need a marker to reach someone I've sensed and been around enough unless there are blockers around him or her; their chakra has dramatically changed; that kind of thing. I can also tell ya that some real whack jobs entered the Rebellion forces in the last days before I returned."
"Well that's not good," Genma groaned, running a hand over his bandanna. "You can sense her from here?"
"No. I'll have to take you to …" For a second, Mito wondered if she could force herself to do it. "Uzushio. I'll take you to one other stop and then Uzushio." There was no way she'd leave some sole Konoha ninja in Water Country when she could help it again. Her single purpose and tunnel vision had made her completely fail to retrieve/rescue Itachi but she wouldn't fail again. "From there, I can hit some islands, if we need to, and find her. If she's the person I'm thinking she is, I can grab her. Otherwise, we get in and out as a team and find her together? You're in charge, of course."
Genma sighed but knew that would be easiest and he was worried about Yugao. Hayate, Konoha's foremost kenjutsu expert, had been frothing at the mouth when he'd heard his girlfriend was over there without her team. "Let's do it. They're going to know who you are though."
"That's fine. Yugao-san's the one who is important right now. …I'm taking you first, though."
Genma explained the plan and laughed when Mito flipped the others off as she grabbed his shoulder and teleported him to the shore of Fire Country - where he'd once waited for her and then… "Wow."
"Wow is right. Welcome to my mother's homeland of Uzushio, Bear." She reached out her senses to make sure that they were still alone. "Be right back." As soon as she was back in front of her two cursing teammates for this mission, she grabbed their shoulders and kept them moving even after they puked from their first little stop. She waited for their stomachs to finish lurching, appreciating that her captain used an earth jutsu in the sand to cover the mess up. She unsealed some water and crackers. "That's about all I can do for you for now. I need to concentrate." Mito plopped down on the ground closer to the water and stretched out her senses. "Here we go again."
She was going to need to island-hop again in order to find her target. Shoot!
.
Yugao was in a Kiri cell and knew that she was lucky that Mei-sama had taken such an interest in her - so far. Not that she'd been looking forward to seeing her again since she'd been unable to answer a few questions during her last interrogation.
"Ami-chan! Ah, but you're not really Ami, are you?" Mei teased as she shooed a guard so that she could have her chair. "You haven't harmed any of my shinobis. In fact, I believe you helped us. So," she drawled as she smiled at the unknown kunoichi. "What's your purpose in Kiri? Ah-ah-ah. See, I think I know what you're doing here." Mei appreciated that the young woman didn't show any fear, although she did show a healthy amount of respect when caught, which was also wise.
"I don't think the silent treatment is going to work, dear. I'm giving you one last shot at regaining your freedom."
Yugao was currently an undercover Konoha ANBU operative. She could not give information out about herself or the village she lived in although her earlier interrogator had told the Mist's leader - she's probably now the Mizukage - that he believed that she was a "tree hugger." Terumi Mei had seemed to find that funny, which Yugao found to be a little insulting.
They'd also broken her henge so now IF she ever escaped the Mist, she'd probably end up with a Bingo Book entry. That was something she didn't want.
"Were you shadowing our little Fox, kunoichi-san?"
Mei's target said nothing. Then both women jumped when a disturbance took place in her cell. Mei had a mouthful of lava ready to spew but stopped when she saw who had teleported in.
Speak of the devil and she will reveal herself, ne?
"Sorry 'bout that, Mei-sama. I gotta go but since you're here…" Mito ruffled through her leg pockets: honestly, my Uzushio armor is so much roomier and superior to Konoha's - before finding the scrolls she'd pulled after sensing that Mei and "Ami" were together. She shot a smile from behind her mask at both kunoichis who were staring at her, almost in disbelief that she had popped up.
Mei had restrained the guard outside of the cell which was hilarious. Mito could almost hear poor Yugao's heart pounding, though, so this was no time for laughs. "AH! Here it is! A trade, ne?" She carefully slotted the Terumi clan scroll through the cell's bars and then nodded at Mei respectfully, picked Yugao up, and disappeared.
Mito reappeared next to Bear and set Uzuki-san down. "You're the boss but I'd suggest we get the hell outta here! Unless we have other business? OH. Are you Uzuki-san?"
Genma barked out a laugh. "Nice one. You okay, Yugao?"
"Y-yeah. No one hurt me but…" She fell to her knees and barfed, unable to hold it in anymore. "Oh, God. I- I'm so s-sorry."
"You're good," Mito said, pulling out more water and crackers. "First time tag-along Hiraishining really sucks."
"Let's go home," Bear said, clapping Fox on the shoulder. She had done well and the mission was a success. Unfortunately, he really wouldn't have much to report to Minato-sama regarding her teamwork. Mito was definitely a solo artist.
.
Mito sat on a tree, watching as her little brother asked the pink-haired girl: Sakura - ugh - out on a date again.
Was her father aware that her little brother wasn't giving this girl a break? At this point, she also worried about Naruto being a glutton for punishment.
And if that little pink thing hits my brother one more time - even if what he's doing more than occasionally is messed-up - I'm going to wrap her in my chains and…
She dodged a kunai that was sent up into the tree and recognized from whom it came immediately. She dropped to the ground and released her camouflaging jutsu. The sensei's eyes had followed her the entire time, though. "Yo!
"Splaying Killing Intent near the Academy is a crime, kunoichi-san," Iruka growled.
"No kidding? Ah," Mito scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "sorry: one of your chibis was pissing me off. I didn't realize that I'd let my chakra go like that and I certainly don't feel like killing anybody - so you know… It was probably just my chakra rolling out! I'm having some trouble with it right now, ya know?"
Kurama's pissed that I don't trust him and the extra seals all over my torso are throwing me off.
Iruka didn't know and didn't think he'd care to know what she was talking about. This kunoichi was potentially threatening his (precious horrible damn brats) students. "Who are you?"
"Mito. You must be Umino-sensei. And you're a sensor!"
Iruka began to nod hesitantly. He was a sensor, but that didn't mean he wanted many people to know about it. He tried to better assess the kunoichi but aside from her looks, she didn't give much away outside of her enormous chakra signature he'd felt for all of a second. To say that he was alarmed at that moment would have been an understatement.
Mito tossed her hair behind her and blushed (unknowingly) prettily, hoping for the best. Asuma said that she needed to make friends and it would be great to speak with someone that knew her little brother and his friends. Umino-san had been teaching them for years. Despite her nerves, it was time to try to reach out.
She had to do this at some time to make some connections before she was 80, didn't she? "Want to talk about it over a drink sometime?" -That sounded good, right? –A nice invitation to tea or something? Or water?
- Apparently, not: the sensei was gawking at her. "Nevermind. Sorry!"
"No, no! I just - uh, didn't expect for you to say that." Iruka straightened up and tried to get himself together. He hadn't been out with anyone in a while and this woman was very attractive. But she's dangerous. "Are you here to harm one of my students?"
"Never! I… Well, I want to say that I'd never hurt a child..." –What she'd done to Sora-kun still weighed heavily on Mito's heart.
That didn't exactly make Iruka feel any better at all. "Hm. My friends and I usually meet at the closest bar down the road - catercorner from 1st. We could meet there." The kunoichi smiled at him brilliantly, and Iruka cursed himself. He'd flushed all over and… Well, he never met his friends at THAT bar. –It was a bit too quiet, in the middle of things, but he didn't know this deadly-looking no gorgeous creature no… ninja. –And he needed to let the Hokage know that someone was spying on his students.
It was full of clan heirs and the Hokage's own son for heaven's sake!
"I'll see you there, then - after class is over!" Mito almost could've squealed as she ran off. Fake it 'til you make it, Mito!
You faked it 'til you made it! Yosh! Naruto's sensei was following her although she was just walking through shops to see if her clothes were still in any way "fashionable" and not weird - finally took off after watching her for a while. She approved: he didn't know her and was glad that he was making sure she wasn't a threat to his students.
Something about the sensei's chakra was nice and during the few times she'd stalked -er, watched her brother at the Academy when she was off-duty, Umino-sensei seemed funny, smart, and warm. He seemed to really care about the kids and that was nice, too.
A lot of men their age didn't like children.
"Iruka-san," Minato greeted his son's teacher warmly, "to what do I owe the pleasure?" Tell me Naruto isn't out running amok again.
"I've encountered a potential threat, Hokage-sama." The Hokage's warm blue eyes turned sharp.
"Report."
"A Jonin-level kunoichi had concealed herself and may have been watching my students - on the very same day Sasuke-kun came back to class. She identified herself as 'Mito' and…" The Hokage began chuckling - he seemed comfortable enough. "Sir? Do you know her?"
"I do. She's not a threat, Iruka, I can promise you that," he grinned. Poor Mito; he really needed to up her duties, didn't he? When Mito was off she'd always check on his and her brother's activities. Minato had earlier corresponded with Jiraiya and they thought they'd figured something out that might help with the fox's seals, too. Jiraiya-sensei should be back anytime - then this whole thing wouldn't be a problem. Mito could simply hang out at the house during her off-duty hours and really spend time/get to know them again. "What did you think of her?"
Iruka blinked several times. Judging from the Hokage's easygoing smile, he felt that the kunoichi was safe - and Iruka supposed that was good enough for him. Hokage-sama took the security of Konoha and its children very seriously. "Ah, she uhh… seemed genuine, sir." Now that he thought more about it when not feeling so threatened, he was almost sure that was true. He grinned, unable to help himself. "She asked me out so I suppose I could…"
"No." Behind his desktop, Minato began weaving the hand seals for a very subtle genjutsu.
"Hokage-sama?"
"I will speak to my daughter; you don't have to worry about… Going. OUT. With. Her."
"Your daugh… OH! My apologies, Hokage-sama!"
"It's fine. Dismissed." Oh, the Hokage was going to have a word with his daughter! Asking men out on dates!
Hours later, Mito tried not to feel hurt as she sat alone at the bar Naruto's teacher recommended. It was a little difficult, however, when she saw Umino-sensei and a group of people around their age laughing with each other and obviously off to have a good time together. She shouldn't be drinking again but she felt so lost. It sucked to be jealous of people - shinobis, even - that were going about their lives in peace, having a good time. –All things that made her so anxious and sad…
She'd been thrown out of Konoha and then the capitol. It was kind of bewildering that she'd felt more welcomed in Water Country - Kiri, for God's sake - than she had here.
This - the bar that she was sure Umino-sensei directed her to - was the same one that she'd been in that was across from the Hokage Tower. She sighed as she saw her father waltzing in. "Yo.'
"Yo, yourself. What are you doing here, drinking alone?" He glared into the corners where Hideki SHOULD be but wasn't.
"He'll be right back."
"He's not to leave you," Minato said, sliding into Mito's booth. He tried to smile when he saw her shift her position so that she could see behind him. "No need to be so nervous, you know. I am Hokage."
"And your guards are behind you." That's why you're not being more careful. "Hideki needed to use the washroom. Jun-san agreed to 'guard me.'" Mito gestured toward the bartender who shot a happy finger gun/salute at his village leader.
Minato nodded back but was not impressed - although he knew very well that Hideki would fly out of the bathroom, pants on or off, in less than a heartbeat if he sensed danger. Shinobis were still humans so they couldn't have eyes on their targets, when alone, 24/7. Maybe I need to beef up Mito's protection detail. "You're on a first-name basis with Jun-san?"
"He's great!"
Jun walked up and felt the urge to ruffle her dual-colored hair. Hokage-sama gave off a very overprotective-dad-vibe that he heartily approved of, however, so he kept his hands to himself. "This kid's great, Hokage-sama! Mito here really helped me with my knee!"
"It was nothing," Mito smiled genuinely in just over a whisper. She was just doing what she could: it was her job, after all.
"And she's brave enough to sample and help me name my experiments!"
"Oh please don't say that," Mito groaned. Yes, when she'd been pretty wasted, she'd definitely sampled a lot of shots and had named many of them after procedures, treatments, or bodily functions she'd found funny at the time.
*cough, cough* "Bleh. That's definitely a… Flaming Enema! - Or it will be one: you know what I'm tryin' to say?"
Minato glared at her. "Maybe she drinks too much."
Mito stewed for all of ten seconds before her hair started to rise. "I'm of age. I've had alcohol three times in my life. I…" Her eyes started to tear up and she set down some ryo to cover her tab. "I…" Minato groaned when she disappeared in a flash of yellow and red.
He slumped in his seat and decided not to follow her. "It was easier to parent when they were tiny," he sighed miserably.
And to think: back when Mito was a baby, I couldn't wait for her to grow up.
.
"I don't know if I like it here, Kaa-chan," Mito huffed as she lit some incense. She should've brought ramen to offer her mother - or to her mother's memory - at her graveside. She began digging through her storage seals looking for something appropriate. They didn't exactly do this kind of thing in Uzushio; people went to the Temple(s) instead but she thought her mother might appreciate it: Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina considered herself a kunoichi of Konoha, after all. "Tou-san's being as overprotective and weird as ever, Naruto didn't even know who I AM: something I know you wouldn't have ever approved of. …But you're not here." When the wind blew up and she smelled the spray of the ocean and tropical flowers near that pink beach in Uzushio, she knew it had to be a trick of her mind. "He's uh… Very cute and looks healthy."
God: wasn't that a shitty report on her brother?
"Sometimes I wonder if I was happier when I was all alone in Uzushio."
Mito used to be an extrovert. Her anxiety issues oftentimes made her feel like she wasn't anymore - or that she was trying to claw herself out of the shell she'd surrounded herself in. –That or make the shell thicker at other times.
"Asuma's good and he won't admit it but I think he's finally together with that girl he's always liked so much. Hideki's got a family of his own, believe it or not: a son and a daughter. Shizune… looks at me warily because of you know who… Or you know what, I suppose you'd say: it's not really fair." She let out a long sigh, knowing it made her sound old.
"Tsunade's Tsunade - and Ero-ojii is also pretty much the same, too. Orochi… Well, I know you never liked him but Orochimaru-oji: and YES, that's what I call him - he supposedly lost his mind and killed a bunch of kids - but I can't believe that! He left Konoha, regardless, but Anko-chan's here now. She's just really busy. Anyway…" Who else did Kaa-chan and I have in common? " Kakashi-kun's as friendly and personable as ever," she snarked. "He does seem a little better, maybe." She put down a really fancy and large glass bead that she'd found in Uzushio that had their clan symbol graved into it, deciding to forego news of Aunt Mikoto and her family until she knew more.
She took a deep breath and looked at all of the other headstones surrounding her. "And everyone else is dead."
Not Obito: we have proof now. He's the one who killed you, Kaa-chan. Yeah, Mito wouldn't say that. Her mother had loved that traitor - and made sure Obito knew it, too. Mito didn't think that her mother had believed her the night that he'd attacked. Either that or she didn't care who had done such a terrible thing to her family. Mito knew that her mother had to know that she was going to die after the fox was taken from her. She put her face in her hands and felt like weeping again but no tears came. Just heartache.
"I failed," she finally said - and then the tears did come. She shook her head and began to gather her hair as it felt like a storm was beginning to brew. She'd always known when storms were approaching, ever since she was a small child. Truthfully (and probably oddly,) she loved storms. The stronger the better.
Sometimes I feel like a storm.
Feeling a presence that she had been hoping could help her, she waved when she saw a giant mane of white hair flying up in the wind.
"Visiting Kushina?" Jiraiya asked when he got much closer. He squatted down beside his goddaughter, chuckling a bit as Mito tried to control her long hair before it whipped either of them anymore. "Hello, there, Kushi-brat. We sure miss you. Your girl's grown to be strong and a real beauty!" He could almost see the fiery redhead warning him not to be a pervert and shaking a spoon at him - or a pan - or her fist - or a kunai when she was a child. He could imagine her smile, the little and later grown redhead bouncing on her toes as she excitedly told him about a new technique she'd learned - or of something that would embarrass Minato - or of how proud she was of him and Mito. "So, Kushi. I'm here to make sure your kiddos can finally be in the same room together. –How you like me now?" he laughed.
"It's about time," Mito grinned. "Let's do this!"