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 went through the whole formal deal with Chiriku in her father's office but once they were finished, she flashed them to her apartment.
"How are you, my friend?" Chiriku asked kindly - as if HE wasn't the one who had lost his friend of so many years, Mito thought.
"Sad," she admitted. She wanted to hug him but was too afraid to when it came down to it. You fucking suck, Mito!
Lately, she seemed to be drowning in that old idea she'd once had as a child that anyone she got close to would only get killed, irrational or not. Even her Genins seemed to notice how she was distancing herself from them which made her feel terribly guilty.
The last mission we ran was good - when I first got back from Wave, she tried to tell herself.
It had been a shitty couple of days.
Mito hadn't had the nerve to face Naruto again after their one discussion following the trip to Wave. She knew that he'd made a bet with Tsunade and had won her mentor's grandfather's necklace "and her respect, 'ttebayo."
Mito had congratulated him but Naruto had almost sneered at her when she admitted that she didn't really have a "nindo."
Other than healing whomever I can - and to kill Obito, of course.
Man! I REALLY do suck!
Chiriku nodded as he respectfully observed where Mito lived now. He was "sad," too. He'd known and trained beside Tou since they were children - back when she and Mei were feigning to be boys. And now three Guardians remain. "This is your living quarters?" He asked, avoiding more bad news for a few moments or longer.
"I guess; I mean, it is for now. Would you like something to drink?"
"Water would be nice," he answered. Mito gestured for him to sit on the couch.
"You're so easy," Mito grinned as she went to the kitchen to grab chilled water for them both. It was nice to have someone in her flat. Anko and Asuma came by every now and then - and Kurenai had been here once. It didn't seem right to also think that Yugao had come to visit since the one time Yuges had come in, she was in full ANBU gear, and thought Mito had been in danger when she screamed and was trying to half-trying to fix and half-trying to split in half her non-working stove.
Chiriku was a man, though. Oh, Mito supposed that her father and Asuma were men, too, but it wasn't the same. Chiriku was her first crush if one could call the ridiculous feelings she used to secretly have for him that. He was so kind, so wise, so powerful yet calm - whether in a storm or anywhere else. She found herself wanting to curl up to all that warmth and shook her hair back, clearing her head of it.
Mito decided to blame her association with her summons for her recent need to curl up in the sun and nap.
"This place is pretty snazzy, huh?" she asked, flashing a smile at her friend as she sat down. "Friend:" ugh. "It's so big and fancy, though… I once brought out a ton of my stuff from the scrolls I keep on me just to fill it up with SOMETHING - but that ended up freaking me out because I couldn't properly observe my surroundings, ya know?"
Chiriku snorted. "If only 'Ruto-chan were here. Perhaps he would help."
Mito nodded and opened her window more, enough to lean out of it. "'RUTO-CHAN!" She grinned; the guards on duty always hated when she did that - but 'Ruto-chan came flying over like he usually did.
"Chi-ku," he chirped excitedly from the windowsill.
"Well get in here, bird!". Mito's favorite bird of all time flew in and sat on Chiriku's waiting finger. He stroked the parrot's black feathers and Mito felt herself go all soft again. "Awww. You two are so cute!"
Chiriku gave her an unimpressed look. "BAKA-Mito," he drawled. He tried to hide his chuckles when 'Ruto-chan began foully cursing Asuma. "Look what you've done to this innocent animal!"
"Oh, please. 'Ruto-chan loves cursing and Asuma secretly loves it, too…" Mito gasped. "CHIRIKU! This was your master's birdcage," Mito said, pointing to the giant, mainly unused thing. "How could I have kept this from you?! I'm so sorry."
"Mito-chan," Chirku nearly groaned, "where am I going to put that overly-enormous eyesore?"
"Chiriku! For shame. –I thought you took Chukaku-sama's quarters." Chukaku had lived in more of a building than a room as far as she knew.
"I did - and my lovebirds are flourishing there."
Mito pulled a face. "Well, la dee dah. Never mind then! Here I just wanted to do you a kindness: giving you back your master's prized birdcage."
Chiriku hummed. "Shishou hated that thing." Mito squawked, making him smirk. She gave up being a "decent hostess" as she put it but did ask to take his empty glass. "If you really want to be kind, what do you say we find Asuma and drink to the fallen."
"Chiriku," Mito sang, happy and blinking away tears. "Of course! I'd love to do that!"
Naruto, in the meantime, had just run into some Suna punks who he thought were his sorta friends from a foreign country, saving his minion, Konohamaru, from what could've been a beating!
As Mito and Chiriku chatted and strolled toward Asuma's chakra signature - just down the street from the Hokage's residence - Asuma sunshinned in front of her, Chiriku instantly moving behind her. Kurenai and Kakashi instantly appeared on either side of her; Kakashi had jumped off a nearby roof to join the party and Kurenai from where she'd been walking with Asuma.
So far they haven't treated me any differently than before Wave.
Other than being a little concerned at first and then maybe giving me space…
SO WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Mito wondered.
"Suna nins," Asuma began stoically. "You are exuding Killing Intent in front of Konoha's princess."
Mito's face contorted to the point that she thought her brain might've popped out, reversing her entire head's contents. Oh, for fuck's sake. "I'm not a princess," she whispered to the ground as her blood began to heat.
"Ha," Temari chortled sassily and lied. "In Suna, we don't need such laws to protect the royal family." Something was up with Gaara - and then there was the whole strange thing with her demanding Kazekage father being weird that didn't make any sense. Temari and Kankuro hadn't even seen their youngest brother or uncle in weeks!
She was really strung out about these exams and her little brothers were not making her life any easier.
And now Temari felt like an asshole. She shouldn't have said what she did, especially after what Kankuro had just pulled with kawaii, orange-loving Naruto!
"I don't think we have those laws either, Prince Asuma," Mito whispered furiously from behind him. "Yo! Welcome to Konoha, kiddies," she (loudly) grinned as she peeked over Asuma's broad shoulder, giving the little redhead a second look. The poor boy looked terribly stressed and Kurama had begun to grumble about dorks and kettles, oddly enough. "I hope you enjoy your stay. Let me know if you need medical attention - or if you'd like my boot up your ass."
The three kids' mouths dropped open as their sensei ran to catch up with them. "Who are you?" the kabuki kid hotly demanded.
Mito was pissed: all of this crap from her fellow Jonins was overkill and these kids were total brats - aside from the redhead, perhaps. –Or maybe he was a brat, too, but she simply had a huge love for redheads and was overlooking it.
"Hmm. I'm just a delicate princess apparently in need of saving by du– Oww!" Chiriku had pinched her! He hadn't done that in years! "Heh. My name's Namikaze Mito." God, Mito hated the reactions that usually got her: this time included. "This is Chiriku-sama of the Fire Temple, and Jonins Yuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, and Hatake Kakashi. – And you are? "
The three kids were half-pushed into bowing deeply to each of the Konoha Jonins by their sensei, a well-known Suna Jonin named Baki, before they were introduced (they were the Kazekage's children) and left. Baki was scolding the kids hotly as they headed toward the inn they were staying at and Mito wondered if Mei would be coming to the finals, too. The last she heard, ninjas from everywhere aside from Shitty Iwa were scheduled to join the exams but they hadn't received a final confirmation from Kiri. Mito had forgotten to ask Zabuza about it after everything that went down in Wave.
A hawk swooped down with a message ordering the four ninjas assigned to Genin teams to appear in her father's second office: it was mainly used for ceremonial purposes. "Let's meet up this evening; would that be alright, Chiriku?" Mito grabbed Asuma to make sure he'd come, too.
"Of course, hime-sama," Chiriku said, knowing that he was calling her something that annoyed his friend to no end.
"That guy," Mito sighed as he walked off. Chiriku's presence made her feel so much better even if he was being a pain!
Mito chatted quietly with Genma, whom she hadn't seen in a while, while she side-eyed her father. He had his big goofy hat on and ceremonial robes: the long, heavy ones she knew he didn't particularly care for. "Is that getup really necessary, ya think?"
"It's tradition," Genma shrugged, rolling his senbon to the other side of his mouth. "Heard you went on a killing spree in Wave."
Mito slumped dramatically, her mood going down more than even her shoulders. This is why she liked Genma, though: he was blunt. Blunt was good. "Yeah. I totally freaked Naruto out."
"Don't worry about it," he said airily, rolling that senbon again as he bobbed his head in acknowledgment of some Jonin behind her. "He's got some interesting ideas and his nindo is good and everything but…"
"So you heard about my lack of nindo, too?" Genma smirked at her and quickly lifted his eyebrows a few times. Mito groaned. "I thought it was better to say I didn't have one than to admit that I live to kill Obito."
Genma nodded at her as her father rapped his knuckles on his desk. "Here's to killing that fucker," he whispered with a vicious little grin.
Mito couldn't help but smirk. Genma used to be her mother's primary guard before Kakashi took over. He gets it. She wasn't sure that Kakashi did; Obito was a topic that was never brought up between them.
"It's that time again: the Chunin Exam is about to begin," Minato announced. No one was surprised - and they better not be. All of those gathered were Jonins, after all. He tried to signal Mito to stay where she was but she was already grinning and heading back toward where she felt Anko come in, he guessed.
"What are you doing here?" Mito whispered and grinned at her best friend before beginning to grind her teeth. She hadn't seen Anko since she got home - so Anko didn't know about Tou yet.
"I can't say," Anko winked.
Mito hummed as she observed her friend. "Thanks for taking care of my kiddies while I was gone." Anko looked like she usually did but her chakra was all over the place. "Come out with me tonight. Chiriku's here and um… I really need to talk to you about something."
"Kay." Anko could tell something ELSE bad/weird was up but pushed Mito forward to join the other newbie Jonin-senseis anyway.
"...Team 10 consisting of Genins Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino," Asuma was saying and Mito's eyes popped open in surprise.
Shit. If Asuma is nominating his team, my kids will freak out if I don't enter them. Kiba and Akamaru will probably bite me again! Her team could definitely kick almost all the other fresh Genins' asses six ways from Sunday.
The Chunin Exams are dangerous, though.
Kurenai said her team was ready, nominating them to join, which wasn't a surprise. Mito helped train those kids a couple of times a week and the Genins of Team 11 were little beasts.
"Mito?" her father asked with a smile.
"I… uhhhh, pass." Mito huffed when she got widely laughed at for that. Kurenai, though, was tossing her head toward her father with a wink and grin, obviously wanting Mito to nominate her minions. –And Kurenai had worked with her team often enough when they switched out - and when they ALL trained together weekly, too.
"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team 7 consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura…"
Mito gave Kakashi a puzzled look. Would those three really make reliable Chunins? The Genins of Team 7 fought and argued constantly, from what she'd seen. Mito was sure that individually they'd someday be plenty strong enough to be Chunins - although I have my doubts about little Sakura for now.
"Hokage-sama," Iruka barked. "I'm happy to see that Mito-hime is at least THINKING about whether or not to nominate her Genin squad…"
"Don't call me that," Mito hissed. She didn't like Iruka. He'd stood her up for a friendly little get-to-know-ya drink: that jerk!
Iruka didn't hear her; he was outraged. "I may be speaking out of turn but most of these kids were my students throughout the entire time they were at the Academy - only recently graduating!"
He continued as the Hokage tilted his head, seeming to be listening carefully although Iruka kept in mind that he was speaking about the Hokage's son and his son's friends. He only wished to protect them, so he needed to be confident and continue speaking up. "These children are very talented but it's too early for them to take the exam! –They need more experience. I really can't… understand the Jonins reasoning!"
Kakashi's aura became dark - Mito liked it when he got that way: his chakra coiled tight but hot and ready to strike.
As far as Kakashi was concerned, Iruka was trying to infringe on his little brother's rights and doubting him, especially. He knew that Naruto and Iruka had become close, especially when he was out on missions over the years. "I became a Chunin over six years before Naruto did."
"He's not like you! Are you trying to crush these kids?" Iruka all but shouted.
"I was seven" (almost 8) "when I was promoted to Chunin, Umino-san. Are you doubting your superiors?" Mito asked quietly. Kakashi literally stepped in front of her, firing her up even more.
"They're always complaining about their boring, mundane missions. Experiencing some pain could be good for them! Crushing them could be… fun," Kakashi smirked.
"Dude," Mito began in a low voice. "You had me until that last thing." Kakashi swirled around on her, getting right into her personal space. Mito flushed big time but only bit at her bottom lip - or at least that's what she hoped she did.
Kakashi smiled, although his chakra proved that he, too, was all wound up. "That was a joke!"
"Baka," Mito whispered in amused exasperation. She knew that Kakashi wouldn't put Naruto in danger. Kinda…
"Kakashi, that's enough," Kurenai scolded.
"It's not! –And stay out of this, Iruka. They are no longer your students," he said sternly, "they are my soldiers."
When did you get so hot? Mito wondered with a breathless little gasp. She looked the guy up and down, amazed that he didn't look like such a skinny reject to her anymore. She always knew Hatake Kakashi was strong but something about him seemed STRONG-strong now. Yes, she'd seen it when he was fighting Zabuza - especially when he did that double kunai twirling thing with his obviously VERY talented fingers - but Mito had been more interested in chewing her gum and sitting in a tree, plotting mass murder (apparently) then. He'd also taken her breath away (before she kicked him) when he was first trying to interrogate her back in Wave but something was different about Kakashi now. She inhaled deeply through her nose and then wished she also had a mask to dampen her obnoxious super-fox powers…
And then Iruka went off again.
Mito did the only thing she could do: she booted Iruka's ass straight out the window. "Hokage-sama," she cheered, ignoring the snorting around her and her father's frustration. "I, Namikaze Mito, would like to nominate Team 8 consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba for the Chunin Exams! They are going to Kick Ass!"
Minato nodded but internally groaned and wondered if poor Iruka had been right - or was alright. "I have some reservations but let us continue…"
"Hokage-sama, may I have a word?" Anko asked. The village leader nodded but Anko waited until everyone left the room - including her best friend who'd been ordered to find and heal that big-mouthed Iruka-guy. "Some of my former students and… my old kohai are here. –I - I really thought they were dead!" God, and didn't that shatter her worldview - or at least some of Anko's thoughts regarding her old sensei - into even more broken pieces?!
Minato nodded solemnly. "They've been cleared to enter the exams, Anko-san, but I'd rather you not approach them," he said with compassion. "This is not about you, you see, but I do have reservations about the foreign teams. Although the Sound Village has dissolved, Grass - or Rice, to be more specific - does continue to wear their headbands."
Anko hesitated but had to ask. "Is that really safe, sir?! Guren-chan's abilities are dangerous and she was very loyal to Orochimaru."
Minato took off his hat and shook back his hair. "We've done all we can to investigate them. I'm sure Ibiki-san can tell you more. The daimyos have 'assured me' that the teams are trustworthy and you told me about them when you came back to Konoha, correct?" The "Sound" Genins and Jonin-senseis in question's files were on his desk. "Look through these as soon as you can. Let me know, directly, if there is anything you can add to their dossiers."
"Of course, Hokage-sama." Anko was a little pissed that Ibiki had been holding out on her - although she had been training Mito's team while her friend was gone and then had a short mission outside of the village. "Thank you."
"Anko-chan," Minato said, regaining her attention before she left - and speaking to her as her best friend's father a little more than her leader. "Especially for your sake, I'm glad they're alive, too." Anko gave him a brilliant but worried smile before leaving.
.
"These are some bullshit rules," Mito said to her fellow Jonins after she'd found and stretched out that jerk-Iruka-san's recovery. –She hadn't kicked him THAT hard - and the trees pretty much caught him.
Gai shrugged (youthfully, she'd bet) but seemed to agree if his thick tears were anything to go by. "From this point forward, we are only allowed to use shadow clones to present our Beloved Genins with permission slips to enter the exam ONCE. After that, we must have no further contact with our Flowering Teams - avoiding them At All Costs, we will - until finally meeting them at the Tower in the FOREST OF DEATH." He leaned dramatically forward, putting Mito on alert as she leaned away from him. "And then we will be separated further," he conspiratorially whispered.
"I wonder if my team will even show up to the test," Asuma mentioned sourly.
Mito crossed her arms over her chest, wondering if Asuma was really pouting: it was always hard to tell when he had a disgusting cigarette in his mouth. "I can't believe you even nominated them." Kurenai nodded her head, also clearly exasperated, beside him. Both knew that Asuma's team hated fighting/getting dirty/doing anything troublesome.
"I only did it for Shikaku - I mean Shikamaru," Asuma insisted but it seemed obvious that he might truly mean Shikamaru's father.
"Did Commander Nara ask you to nominate his son?" Mito asked, poking him in the chest.
"Owww. And no: that would be too troublesome. Shikamaru can develop a strategy - on the spot - to get the others out of anything thrown at them. They'll be safe enough. …If they decide to show up for it." He rubbed his beard, realizing that it needed to be trimmed. Asuma knew that his morning routine was getting ridiculously long for an elite Jonin with all the hair care products and what he'd realized Kurenai liked in his beard: trimming it up, then straightening the rest, conditioning it, waxing it… Ugh.
Mito was telling his lovely Kurenai that Shino could do the same thing as Shika-kun but Asuma doubted it: Shikamaru was in a class of his own. And even if Shino-kun was just as brilliant as a normal Nara, he was too soft-spoken for the Inuzuka kid to just defer to him the way his kids did to Shikamaru when it came to dangerous situations - not that they'd ever truly been in one. "Ino-chan may force them both to go: that would be like her."
"I'm so glad my team gets along," Kurenai said. Kakashi looked like he needed to get drunk. Mito grinned at his sad self.
"I was surprised you nominated your kiddies, too," she grinned.
"Maa, two of them would kill me if I didn't. –One more literally than the other. They've been waiting for it; Naruto found out it was going to be in Konoha a while ago. And maybe it will shock them enough to work together as they should. That's my hope."
Mito tilted her head and looked up at him; Kakashi was only a centimeter or two taller than she was with her boots on. "I didn't know it would be in Konoha until we got back from Wave." He gave her a look of disbelief so she pouted at him. Realizing she was doing it, she stretched and yawned, noting that the sun was going down. "C'mon, Asuma. Let's go get drunk with a monk!"
.
"Mito-sensei," Hinata greeted Mito's clone with a big smile. Shino said hello quietly, with so much respect, and Kiba (and Akamaru) were bouncing all around her, telling his team that he'd heard about the Chunin Exam.
"We are going to make the BEST Chunins," Kiba grinned. Hinata looked a little alarmed but bobbed her head at least. The clone noticed that Hinata's hair had grown out more; aside from her longer bangs, it was even and down to her shoulders now, curling cutely up a bit.
She was adorable, just like the other two, BUUUU-UUT…
The clone threw up a genjutsu that seemed to work (what a relief!) - making it appear as if the ocean was suddenly underneath and all around them. Hinata immediately dispelled it, wiping her brow, and broke Kiba out of it, next. Shino seemed to be enjoying what she'd cooked up, though: he'd held up his hands to stop Hinata from breaking the genjutsu. He either liked it (his chakra seemed to indicate that he did to Mito) or he wanted to see where his sensei was going with this.
Or she'd totally fucked the thing up again: that was always possible.
"Team 8," Mito's clone began with a dark voice and whipped out the three permission slips. "I have nominated you three for the Chunin Exams." She bent down to their height and quickly went through where and when it would begin, that they were responsible for staying healthy, building chakra, and deciding whether they would participate but that only teams of three were allowed to join. "You are a tracking team and that means what?"
"Search, Investigate, and… Reconnaissance and Rescue," they all said, even hesitating as one.
They were so cute and such a good team.
"That's right," the clone said giddily. "Gather intelligence. Work together and SHARE THAT INTEL between you so that you are prepared! If you three decide to participate in the Chunin Exams, I expect you to KICK. ASS. And you'll be facing other Konoha as well as foreign teams, alright? Am I understood?! "
"Um no, er- HAI!"
"See ya then," the clone said and dispelled herself.
.
Mito got the memories while she sat at the bar with her Guardian 12 comrades. Maybe it wasn't fair for her to feel like she was one of them but at this point, the three of them only had each other left. Plus she'd lived with them for so many years… Mito pinched her brow: the clone's memories weren't important right now: the kids would figure it out. "What was Seito's cause of death?"
Chiriku swirled the last of his sake around in his glass. "The medic said 'heartbreak.'"
Asuma shattered his empty glass and then apologized, getting himself together. "That's not a medical diagnosis!"
"Actually, it sort of is. Broken heart syndrome is a temporary condition, though. It's often brought on by stressful situations or extreme emotions. I mean, it can also be triggered by a serious physical illness - which Seito had, considering that he'd suffered from demonic chakra poisoning. Even things like surgery have been known to bring it on. To get that initial diagnosis, he must have had sudden chest pain, I suppose."
Chiriku nodded at Mito as he drank the rest of his sake. "Seito thought he was having a heart attack."
Mito tossed back another shot of peppered vodka, wondering if the bar's supplier was Gato. –It probably was, or at least the distribution supply chain might have wound up in Gato's filthy little hands; she needed to speak to the bar's owner about that. "After everything I had to do to save him after Sora-kun's 'attack,' Seito was kinda… terrified of the clinic and medical stuff, I think."
Seito had desperately tried to save or get through to Sora-kun before Mito showed up that awful day.
Chiriku looked up at her and nodded with an expression that told her she was right - and that he had known of the fear Seito held. He pulled out a scroll from his pack.
"I brought his records in case you wanted to review everything –I think he'd approve of that."
"Thank you, Chiriku." Mito closed her eyes and exchanged the medical records for Tou's body's scroll. Anko walked up at the same time and looked shaken when she saw THAT scroll.
"What happened?"
Much later that evening - or it might have even been the next day for all Mito knew - she was smashed. Chiriku left because he had to leave in the morning, Asuma left - drunk as a skunk - to find Kurenai, and Anko had left to go get laid.
"It's the solution to all problems," Anko lied.
She was sloshed.
"That's what yer big bros doin'. You should try it sometime, Mi."
"Hime- Ah-ha. Sorry. Mito-sensei… Are you alone tonight?"
Mito raised an eyebrow at the handsome Jonin and leaned back against the soft back of the booth she was in. "Just Mito or Mito-chan is what I prefer outside of the hospital - or from my little Genins." She smiled and wiped her lips, very much hoping that she wasn't drooling or slurring. "Would you like to join me tonight, Tenzo-san?" She licked her lips since they were so dry but smirked when her target's eyes almost longingly watched her tongue.
His eyes seemed to go wide and darkened further. Yes!
"Thank you, Mito." Oh, God. This woman's going to eat me alive. Why am I sitting down with her?! Senpai's going to kill me - if she doesn't! Or Hokage-sama will. Oh, Kami!
- Buuuuuut, Tenzo knew, Senpai doesn't know what he wants…
Hokage-sama does, though!
Tenzo's nervous smile and big eyes made Mito melt. It was too bad he sat down across from her instead of beside her. No matter. She decided, then and there, that she was going to make him hers.
.
Naturally, Mito woke up alone the next morning, however. Tenzo was GREAT from all she could remember and all she knew before - but he was definitely not interested in facing her father, ever. Scaredy cat. It's not like I'd make him! "Fuck me."
After doing exceedingly little of her morning routine, she staggered downstairs to make her godmother's hangover cure. "Ha! As if anyone would EVER fuck me!"
Momo already had it there, waiting for her: bless her secretly Namikaze heart.
"That's no way to talk, hime-sama," she scolded. "Or think."
Mito let out an unhappy growl before holding her nose and downing the awful concoction. "I'm not a princess. Don't call me that, please." Momo - giving her grand-niece a falsely disapproving look - also gave Mito a medicine ball to take after that, from the fridge.
Her Horror Balls, Mito noted, were definitely less nasty when they were cold, and before Mito knew it her head cleared.
"Your father is worried that you drink too much."
Mito rolled her eyes. "What? –Was he watching me last night?" She felt him coming before she saw her Hokage father. "One of these days he's not going to like spying on me when I'm gettin' laid!"
Like that'll ever happen.
Sexuality was part of being human - herself excluded, apparently - so she had no problems discussing it.
Sometimes.
–Occasionally, especially when she was feeling so surly.
Minato cleared his throat and came in with paperwork, naturally. He knew his face was pinkened from what his daughter nearly yelled but tried to force the blush down and avoid the whole thing. "Morning, Mito; Momo. How are we feeling this morning?"
"Unsatisfied," Mito said and crossed her arms under her chest. "How 'bout you?"
Her father gave her a hard look. "I'm well, thank you. –You realize it's Friday." He looked down at Mito's jammies and open, neon-green, awful yukata. His daughter half-glared and half-pouted at him before rolling her big eyes. Within minutes, Kakashi, Asuma, and Chiriku arrived - the latter openly chuckling at Mito's mismatched flannel pajamas, robe, and knock-off, extra-hairy Pikachu slippers when she got up to make them hangover cures, too.
Chiriku shook his head. "I don't understand how such a respectable Jonin never fails to wear such unattractive night clothes."
Mito shook her fist at him, quite non-threateningly. "I brushed my teeth for you assholes…"
"Miah-toh," her father drawled - but smiled, ruining his scolding.
"Maa, you look lovely as ever, hime-sama."
Mito grinned. She probably did, didn't she - and wasn't that an insult?! "Shut up, Kakashi!" Naruto came running in.
"ANE! KAKASHI NOMINATED ME FOR THE CHUNIN EXAMS! ISN'T THAT AWESOME?!" Naruto cocked his head in confusion when Asuma-sensei, the bald guy, and his big sis all grabbed their heads and moaned. "Oops. Um, what happened?"
"Naruto. Can you please lower your voice this morning for our guests?"
"Who are you, bald guy?" the Genin then asked. Mito broke into a fit of giggles.
Chiriku gave both of them a deadpan look. "Your sister was the one to first shave my head. You are Naruto-san, are you not? I am familiar with a bird named after you."
Mito grinned even more. This is one reason why she enjoyed being around Chiriku; his humor was so dry. "Naruto-kun, this is my great friend, Chiriku-sama! He's the head monk at the Fire Temple. –I introduced you not that long ago when we were on our way to the Uzumaki Shrine!"
"You look different with clothes on," Naruto said, regarding Chiriku's traveling apparel.
Asuma shook with snorting laughter. He thought he might still be drunk. "Kid! Watch your words! –You just implied Daimyo-sama's head monk is a pedophile."
"ASUMA!"
Minato allowed his head to drop back and groaned before sighing and trying to get things back on track. "Once again, welcome to our home, Chiriku-sama." He really loved having all of these young people here. Their silliness, and outrageousness, were a terrific bonus.
"Just Chiriku is fine," he reassured the Hokage - again. His face brightened dramatically when Momo-san - whom he'd met at the door - began putting down a series of delicious-looking dishes. Everything looked just as good as it smelled - and now that he wasn't hung over, he could enjoy it!
"Sorry I'm late," the others heard Anko slur from outside of the kitchen.
The purple-haired Jonin stumbled into the Residence, following one of the Hokage's guards who'd caught her when she was trying to crawl into Mito's constantly open window. –It always had to be guarded even though only a few could ever get into it: something Mito found hilarious for some reason. "My lover didn't want to… Oh," Anko blushed. "The gang's all here, huh?" She ducked her head and followed Mito, watching as she made her fantastic hangover cure. She, herself, had yet to get it just right. "You're looking disheveled and uh… Sexy? – Not," she whispered obnoxiously. "Did ya get some last night?" Mito gave her a look that promised death. Anko laughed at her sad, celibate friend. "You suck so hard."
"Ha! I would suck so hard if I ever had the opportunity!"
Mito heard EVERYONE choking behind her and had to perform the Heimlich on poor (red-faced from more than just choking) Naruto.
An almost silent breakfast - one in which Mito couldn't look up - didn't last too much longer after that.
Mito was so embarrassed everyone had heard her. She only got a VERY quick hug goodbye from Chiriku who was being escorted back to the Fire Temple by a group of trusted Chunin. She returned to her aunt Momo after everyone left.
"I think it's way past time for me to get my own apartment."
"Your father won't like it," Momo replied at first in English, "but it's not a bad idea. –As long as you'll come by more often!"
"I sure will," Mito cheered, glad that Momo was on her side. Although she'd like to think that she was getting better, Mito knew she couldn't cook for shit so she'd definitely swing by for meals! Plus, she liked her aunt Momo a lot.
Mito knew that she'd probably have to shop for a new place to live in secret but there was no time like the present! There were still a couple of days until the Chunin Exams began and she'd been taken off the hospital schedule for ten whole days.
"Mito," her aunt said, patting the table to see if she'd sit down with her. Mito seemed to have time today since she was so laid back and still in her jammies. "Can you put up an additional silencing seal? –Minato's been teaching me how to make them but…"
"That's wonderful," Mito smiled, truly pleased.
"Yes, but you know that I don't have very much chakra at all. –I'm also working with the Akimichis, hoping to build my reserves - such as they are." Momo pursed her lips but barrelled forward when Mito pressed her hand to the table and a big seal appeared. She began speaking in English. "Your father's men have brought me into the Gato investigation since I have some 'expertise,' as they call it, on issues with the U.S. and Europe."
"Holy moly." Mito was shocked! "Tell me everything you can!" She glanced at her father who had come in for a muffin. She'd bet a load of ryo that he was lip-reading through the simple silencing seal she'd put down as he chewed the yummy thing and gave her a sweet smile. "Baka," she grinned at him. He rolled his eyes.
Momo smiled at her niece indulgently, too. "You know, Mito: your accent is nearly flawless!"
"Thank you! Uhhhh… Asuma and I used to try to fool his family and the Sannins by speaking English - kinda rapidly. Ha. Even my mom's English wasn't that great, 'ttebane. The Uzumakis grew up learning Spanish as a second language, interestingly enough."
"How is your Spanish?" Momo asked. It wasn't often that Mito talked about her mother. Poor Minato talked about Kushina all the time - when he had time. She smiled sadly at her nephew who had a thoughtful, worried look on his face.
Mito shrugged. "No mala, supongo."
Momo raised her grayish-blonde eyebrows at her. "Your Spanish pronunciation could use some work!"
.
Having gathered and shared intelligence (most of it NOT coming from her own family, which was infuriating to Hinata,) Team 8 snuck into the Academy's third-floor window - into the huge room in which their sensei or Hokage often taught fuuinjutsu lessons. Room 301. The combined KI of the Genins who were already there threw Hinata for a loop, but her teammates grasped her arms and gave her chakra, helping her remain focused on the task at hand.
Which none of them knew anything about!
They had gained intel on the second: (Hinata shivered just thinking about that upcoming) task and the third individual fights that would come later.
The first test, though, they knew nothing about.
Kiba bounded forward with Akamaru in his arms, greeting those they graduated the Academy with, Team 11, dragging her behind him.
"Hey, Kiba!" Sora whispered excitedly. He blushed and bobbed his head at his one-time classmate, Kiba's pretty teammate. "Hinata-hime! It's good to see you!"
Outside the room and waiting in the hallway illegally, were their senseis - one of which was pouting and all pissed off.
"Yare, yare. Your team didn't show up?" Kakashi teased.
"They must have gone in through the window; those clever little brats! –I wanted to wish them good luck!"
Gai was leaning over the banister in front of them. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
Gai then whispered furiously to a giant turtle that he'd summoned before the thing disappeared again. Soon, he jumped downstairs.
It wasn't long enough - wouldn't EVER be long enough - before Mito fell forward in horror but Kakashi caught her and covered her eyes. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Kakashi shuddered but kept his eyes closed. "THAT, hime-sama, was Gai's ultimate move: The Double Sunset Maneuver. The Single Sunset genjutsu he does on his own - but… Maa, the Double Sunset is a product of his and his mini-me's unyouthful prowess."
"I'm gonna be sick! –And don't call me that!" She leaned against him anyway, enjoying Kakashi's electric, buzzing-like warmth and blaming that kind of thing on her cats again.
.
Soon enough, her little brother appeared, making Mito feel much better. From what she heard Gai and Kakashi whispering about, a couple of their kids had gotten into a little brawl downstairs. Fortunately, Naruto didn't seem like he was really hurt and although Sakura was occasionally gagging a bit, she promised that she was okay. Mito offered to heal Sasuke but that brat wasn't having it. Little jerk!
God, he is SO different than Itachi used to be before he went off and did whatever it is Itachi's doing with fucking Obito.
Probably.
Itachi's chakra was so incredibly warm and nice. Sasuke's was... bent.
After Kakashi greeted and teased his team, Naruto grabbed his sister's arm, pulling her away from the guy he called Beardo-sensei, and began whispering loudly. "Why'd ya dye your vest black?"
Mito shrugged and turned around in a circle, lifting up her hair so that he could see that their clan swirl was still vibrantly colored on her back. "Cuz it looks badass."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed brightly after several seconds of trying to decide if he agreed with her. "Um - I'm sorry about the nindo thing, Ane." Mito smiled softly and began to draw her fingers through his hair but stopped quickly as she glared at the other competitors around them. She was so pretty: like their Mom but also not. Lately, he'd felt like his big sister was real sad although she was always trying to smile. This apology was late in coming, which made him feel even worse! "I'll help you find your nindo: believe it!"
"Okay, Naruto: I do believe you! –And thank you. You'd better get in there now, though!" She grabbed his hand first, bending down to whisper in his ear. "Good luck, otouto. And can you tell my team the same thing for me? Plus, one last thing: I love you, 'ttebane"
"They're already in there?!" Naruto asked but didn't wait for an answer. Mito shook her head as her little brother didn't even seem to hear the last thing she'd said. He romped into the room and Mito winced when soon - after some immediate, girly shouting about or at Sasuke - he was yelling at everyone in there. That was hilarious but DANGEROUS.
"Ah, shit," Kakashi grinned - but his shoulders certainly sagged. "Maa, maa. Let's go to our first cell of the week!"
Mito frowned and she leaned toward him. "What are you talking about?"
"No one told you?" Kurenai asked. "We are sequestered until the second stage is over." Mito pursed her lips - and then stomped her foot like a child, nearly bringing the VERY reinforced and sealed floor down.
"Oops."
The room having rumbled enough to terrify almost all of the Genins, Hinata grinned. "Sensei is here!" She backed away from Naruto - hiding behind Shino and his cousin, Torune, so that she wouldn't pass out again.
.
Mito didn't like the room she was dragged off to at all. The couch was even super uncomfortable! "So chakra is dampened here like it was at T&I." She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. "We can only sit here and watch what happens on this shitty black and white monitor?"
Kakashi nodded as he meticulously peeled an orange. "I proctored Konoha's exams once. This is nothing. –Wait until we're moved to 44's Tower."
He got into a discussion with Kurenai and Asuma about Ibiki-san proctoring the first stage of the test but Mito didn't get their "disgust" for lack of a better word. It made sense to her that psychological warfare was part of the test.
"Anko told me that she occasionally lives in the Forest of Death. –She used to go there to avoid her guard when she first got back to Konoha. I hate that place, though."
Kakashi nodded: everyone aside from Anko hated Training Ground 44 but oddly enough, it was Mito who often trained her Genins in 43 so that they could scope out the predators there and try to find her cats or other weird things Mito placed in or between the training grounds - like socks or hardware. "Hmm. I've always wondered what happened when you got to the Chunin Exam Finals with… Rin-chan. I know Gai won that year."
Mito smiled sadly. –Those were bittersweet memories for her, and she blocked her thoughts of the boy she had taken the exams with: the monster, Obito. "I was ordered to opt out of the third task: the individual fights. Tsunade and Jii-san- er- Lord Third, were afraid that it would bring me too much attention."
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A SPAR," Gai bellowed, having listened in. He didn't remember even seeing Mito (or Fox) at his Chunin Exams!
Then again, he didn't remember a lot of people!
He totally forgot about that.
"Gai," Kurenai groaned in exasperation as she took the orange from Kakashi and softly thanked him. "Calm down! You've sparred with Mito-chan before!" She gave the silver-haired Jonin her normal disapproving glare when he whipped out the smut he constantly carried around.
Secretly, Kurenai had started reading Icha-Icha - IN PRIVATE which she had no problem with -
after Mito assured her that the books were pretty good.
The latest one, YAOI, was absolutely dreamy!
Kurenai had begun collecting a lot more yaoi since reading it.
Why she preferred it, she couldn't quite put her finger on yet.
"Hey, Gai," Mito drawled, tapping her lips and unaware of Kurenai's longing stare at Kakashi's book. She and Tenzo had talked about jutsus the previous night - Tenzo really liked talking about jutsus (and little else) - and she'd found a new way to consider combining the Rasengan with water to keep it stable or just let it fly and go crazier.
She'd once combined iryo-ninjutsu with the Rasengan and it had nearly cut her hand off. Chakra scalpels were not something to mess around with like that. "Tell me about that peacock thing you did in our last spar." Her friends groaned but Mito didn't care. She did notice that the other Jonin-senseis (of Konoha's much OLDER Genins) came closer so she put down a silencing seal and smirked at them. If they consistently didn't want to be friendly with her, they could fuck straight off.
Additionally, Kurenai put down a genjutsu that sent them all away. Mito grinned at her approvingly: those Jonins looked all sweaty and nervous now.
"GLADLY!" Gai yelled before going into an overly long and detailed explanation of the need for - and the evolution of - the Morning Peacock technique.
.
One hour later -
"Greetings, Jonins," Minato cheered. He'd been watching and was so happy that his son and so many other wonderful kids had made it through the first paper test. He wasn't exactly thrilled that Mito's best friend had crashed a very large window when she made her dramatic entrance as proctor but that was alright: Anko would pay for it. "Let's head to the Tower, shall we?"
The only warning Mito had was her father reaching to the floor and activating a huge seal. She grabbed Kurenai and put chakra into her feet. The room turned upside down and righted again - sending some of the other Jonin-senseis to fall. Her father must have linked the Academy classroom to Training Ground 44's Tower - if that's where they were.
There was SERIOUSLY no need to attempt to dump them on their heads, though.
Maybe he'll be doing the same thing to Jonins from other villages? –That would be a power play and warning the other villages not to underestimate the Hokage, definitely.
Kakashi was smirking at everyone from behind his mask: the bastard had been expecting it, it seemed. One other Jonin Mito didn't know very well seemed familiar with this, too - but he wasn't excited about it; that's for sure.
"You are free to roam and choose rooms here at the Tower, but only on this: the top floor. You are not authorized and will not be able to venture further into the building until this task is over. There's space to use as a dojo on the other side of the building and food will be served throughout the day in the room to the left, just down the hallway."
"Would you care to join me in the dojo for a youthful meeting of Drunken Fists, Oh Lovely Harbinger?"
"Sure. Why not, Gai? I've never used that style, though: I mean, I've DRANK before."
Even with reinforcement seals in place, Mito and Gai nearly brought the Tower down and both had to have chakra suppression seals placed on them. All Jonins were required to intervene and all ended up being hit at least a few times.
"There are no windows," Mito said to herself, not liking this at all. She hated chakra seals and dampeners like this. Her father winked at her but did look a little concerned - probably because he knew how nervous she could get about these things. I'm sure he got a report about my mental state and fears from when I was held at T&I. She tried to give him a reassuring smile.
With another chakra push into the wall behind him, monitors appeared, causing Mito to suck in a breath and smile a little more genuinely.
She fucking hated this feeling, though. Turning away, she licked her lips and tried to calm herself. Be glad you can't feel all those chakra signatures, Mito! God, you are such a baka! Asuma bumped her hip and tightly grinned at her, his eyes sad. She grabbed his unlit cigarette, tossed it to Gai who looked horrified, and then stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Fuck off," she said in English, having enjoyed speaking with Momo so much lately in the "Universal" language that was not universal.
"YOU fuck off, ya…hmmm." Asuma grinned at her, remembering when he and his adoring and then-adorable baby sister used to enjoy spouting out curses in a variety of foreign languages. Mito knew some Spanish and English, (he remembered VERY little Spanish,) but other than the common tongue, any other languages were strictly limited to curse words. "Pendejo."
Mito screwed up her face at Asuma, trying not to grin. Once again, she missed the expression that had fallen over her father's face for all of a second or two. She did feel his chakra fluctuate but by then he was speaking and grinning like a maniac for some odd reason.
"As you know, the Genins have five days to get to the Tower. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to transport the Genins to the gates!" Off Minato flashed.
"He's so weird," Mito chuckled softly to herself. What a showoff my father is.
Sure enough, on the many monitors lining the walls, all the shocked Genins were cursing him when they were suddenly teleported into waiting gates. Some of them were vomiting: almost all of those kids were foreign.
Nice one, Tou-san. Konoha gets an advantage from the start, eh?
Konoha kids are at least a little used to a seal & teleportation-obsessed Hokage.
"I love to flash around, too," Mito grinned to herself before pulling out a book. She sent a silent prayer to any god listening that her brother, her team of cubs, and the others would be alright.
She and Kurenai roomed together - although Kurenai tried to sneak out in the middle of the night (every night.)
When all of the monitors blanked three days later, she feared no god had listened to her pleas. She looked at her father who had joined them for lunch that day and even he looked worried. "Are Hokages supposed to stay out of the exams, too?"
"I have to," Minato said with a frown before patting Mito's head. She pulled back, frowning and looking for answers in his eyes. He softly yanked a strand of her long hair a couple of times, giving her a wink. "I'll look into it if it lasts much longer."
.
It wound up that Minato did have to look into what caused not just the monitors but from what the technicians reported, the cameras to have gone out in the Forest of Death.
- At least by that time, Mito and Kurenai's teams had arrived safely in the Tower.
.
Later, Minato and Anko stood outside of the forest over a group of Grass Genins who'd had their faces removed. Anko looked up at him with eyes brimming with determination, rage, and grief. "I'm on it, Hokage-sama. You stay here; I don't want to see any of the Genins disqualified."
There was no way that Anko was letting anyone else catch that bastard: not after he'd killed three of her former students - when she'd only recently had hope again with the knowledge of them having been okay. Orochimaru had stolen their faces.
Minato nodded and summoned ANBU into the forest, too. "Be safe, Anko-chan." He knelt down, pressing his fingers into the ground, reaching for Naruto's chakra to ensure that he was okay. Unfortunately, his range wasn't broad enough to know.