3

"What do you want, old monkey? Why have you called me here from my home?" Mito's tone was cold.

The last thing she expected was to be told by an Anbu that the Hokage requested her presence. Mito was perplexed, she still went to the Hokage's office. She knew Hiruzen would not dare bother her if it wasn't important. Her mind was still curious about the nine-tails odd behavior earlier. 

Hiruzen felt a stab in his heart hearing the cold tone, but did his best to ignore it. He's grateful that she still refers to him as his old nickname. 

"Mito-sama, the reason I called you here is to inform you that an Uzumaki child arrived in Konoha today. She wanted to apply for citizenship." Hiruzen said with a serious expression.

Mito felt her heart skip a beat, there are survivors of her deceased clan after all? If she wasn't in front of the Third Hokage, she felt that she might burst into tears of happiness. "Are you certain? She could just be using the name."

"I'm certain, she not only has the red hair and chakra reserves to match. But she also had the same chains as you do. She showed them to me before I had her taken to the T&I Force." He explained.

He winced as he felt and saw Mito's chakra explode out of her in rage. "You dare subject a member of my clan to interrogation without my permission?! You didn't even inform me of her presence before making such a decision!" 

"Yes I'm well aware but you must understand Mito-sama. We are at war and I could not take the chance of the child being a spy, especially after seeing how special she is. But do know that I did not have her subjected to the normal procedure. Her mind will only be checked briefly and I could tell that she did not lie to me one time in our entire conversation. I could see it in her eyes that she truly wants to be a Konoha shinobi." Hiruzen replied while slightly sweating under the pressure of Mito's chakra. 

'And to think little Kushina has more chakra than even Mito-sama!' He thought to himself.

Hearing his words Mito calmed down, much to the relief of Hiruzen and his hidden Anbu bodyguards. 

"Tell me, what's the girl's name and explain what you meant by special." Mito said. 

Hiruzen explained everything he learned about Kushina, Mito could not stop her face from forming a shocked expression while hearing the story.

"Mokuton! You mean to tell me that this child named Kushina has the same Mokuton as my Hashirama? And she has both the Sharingan and Byakugan as well?!" Mito was so surprised that she did not know whether to believe Hiruzen or not.

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, she has the same chains as you as well. Which further cements her Uzumaki lineage."

"B-But how could she possibly have Mokuton? Let alone the other two bloodlines." Mito couldn't help but wonder. None of her and Hashirama's children or grandchildren awakened his kekkei genkai. Yet some random Uzumaki child shows up today displaying her ability to use the same ability as her husband? 

"I assume she has a very unique bloodline ability, I have a feeling that child is hiding even more secrets which is to be expected. She's also very intelligent, she practically made it so I had no choice but to accept her request for citizenship." The Third Hokage chuckled.

"This information cannot be leaked." Mito said.

"I agree, but I'm not sure if it'll work out that way. I have a strong feeling that Kushina intends to fully display her abilities in the war. She seemed very eager to become a shinobi. She said her parents were powerful retired jounin of Uzushio, so it's likely they taught her how to protect herself. You should test her abilities Mito-sama, I plan to enroll her into the academy after her one-month probationary period is over." Hiruzen replied. 

"Hmmm well both Tsunade and Nawaki are home and will be in the village for quite some time. She can spar against them." The wife of the First Hokage concluded. 

"So you plan on taking her with you?" Hiruzen asked.

Mito scoffed. "Of course, she'll be treated as one of my grandchildren."

If only she knew that Kushina will end up being much more than just an adoptive granddaughter to her. 

"Very well, now she should be returning soon." Hiruzen nodded.

What went unsaid but was understood between them is Kushina potentially being Mito's successor of becoming the next jinchuuriki of the nine-tails. 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kushina found herself face to face with the legendary Mito Uzumaki. After her short time within the T&I Force, she was led back to the Hokage's office. She was not surprised to see Mito since she had sensed Mito's and Kurama's chakra by Hiruzen on her way back. Kushina had introduced herself to Mito first to show proper respect. Mito introduced herself as well and briefly talked to Kushina for a couple of minutes, before leading the young Uzumaki out of the office to the Senju Clan residence. 

"Thank you for the tea Mito-sama, it's very delicious." Kushina smiled, taking a sip of the tea.

"Haha it's nothing, and please just call me Mito. We may have just met today but from now on we are family. You are now my adoptive granddaughter." Mito gave her a grandmotherly type of smile.

'At least she didn't say call her grandma, I don't think it's appropriate to call one of my future lovers grandma.' Kushina mused in her head. 

"Alright if you say so Mito." Kushina replied with a wink.

They both shared a laugh for a moment. "So then Kushina, do you mind telling me about how your life was growing up?"

"Sure, my life was both peaceful and boring. Peaceful due to growing up in a small village with little to no conflict. My parents were the first and only shinobi in the village I was born in, to blend in they never talked about their true past with any of the other villagers except the village leader. Apparently he was the only one who knew about shinobi due to encountering one back when he was young. It was boring because nothing really ever happened to get me excited. The kids were too childish and flat out annoying, not to mention I had to hide my abilities in order to not draw unnecessary attention. Once I learned of my parents' past, I knew I was meant to be a shinobi." Kushina explained. While not the full truth, she did not lie at all.

"I see, I myself have never traveled outside of the elemental nations. Many shinobi typically don't." Mito said.

"Yeah, my parents told me it was very hard for them to leave Uzushio." Kushina added.

"Did they get the chance to give you any training?" The Senju/Uzumaki Matriarch asked.

Kushina nodded. "Yes, though for only about a year. When they passed away, I continued on with my training. I spent a lot of time training my skills."

"How good are you at fuinjutsu?" Mito wondered curiously.

"Pretty good, I may not yet be a sealing master by Uzumaki standards. However, I have no doubt I'll reach that level within a couple more years at most." Kushina stated casually.

Mito blinked. "Truly? It usually takes even the most talented of fuinjutsu users in our clan nearly a decade to become a true master of seals. At what age did you begin learning about sealing?"

"Hmmm about 3, my parents noticed how easily I was able to break down and put together some of their seals on my own." Kushina shrugged.

"With no proper instructions prior?" Mito raised an eyebrow.

"Nope, just me being a badass as always." Kushina smirked.

Mito laughed at her comment. "Well I hope you don't mind showing me how good you are. I'm interested in seeing if you can back up your words. You see, neither of my other two beloved grandchildren have much interest in fuinjutsu. Despite knowing how useful and important it is. Tsunade has more aptitude for fuinjutsu than little Nawaki, but she's more interested in being a medical ninjutsu. So I'm hoping I can pass on my fuinjutsu knowledge down to you."

"I would be honored to learn sealing under you Mito, I also don't mind showing you a few seals of mine." The young jinchuuriki replied.

For the next few hours, the two Uzumaki women talked about fuinjutsu. Sharing their own philosophy on the subject to one another, Mito found herself being completely stunned when watched Kushina create seals from her chakra. Sure, Kushina said she was very skilled in fuinjutsu but Mito did not expect for her to be so advanced already.

Understand that one must have deep understanding and knowledge of the sealing arts, in order to reach the young redhead's current skill level. It simply should not be possible for one as young as Kushina to already be able to create seals using only her chakra. No paper, no ink, just chakra. A high level of skill that could already classify Kushina as a sealing master by Konoha's standards. 

This made the older Uzumaki very excited, her newest student is truly a genius. 

While the two were deep into their conversation, inside of Mito's seal Kurama was close to freaking out. It is very aware of what's going on outside of the seal.

"That human child has the same red hair as Mito…do they plan to make her my next container? And her chakra…wait! Is this the chakra I sensed earlier?! No it has to be…her presence is reminding me more of a time I do not wish to think about." Kurama said to itself. 

The fox decided for now it was best to not think about it, whatever happens just happens. Unfortunately it has no control over its own fate for the time being.

As Mito and Kushina continued to talk, this time about Mito's days when she was younger, they suddenly heard someone entering through the front entrance.

"Grandma! I'm home!" A woman's voice loudly declared.