Chapter 101: Naruto : Uchiha : Chapter 101
"Sorry," Tsunade apologized softly, ducking her head a little.
Mito gave her a tight squeeze to re-energize her downtrodden girl, "So that's what this is all about." Tsunade's silent stance gave Mito all the confirmation she needed.
...
There was a moment of silence, "I tried asking him like usual, you know." Tsunade whispered and Mito stayed silent so Tsunade could confide all her worries with her.
"But he just kept dodging my questions one way or another," Tsunade mumbled, letting her head be pulled onto her grandmother's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"He never does that," Tsunade babbled on.
Mito stoked her hair comfortingly, "Give him some time." she felt her neck get wet and tightly wrapped Tsunade up in her arms and tried to hide her from the world's worries.
"He was so cold to me," Tsunade sniffed.
"Shh." Mito tried to hush her up.
"I don't think he trusts me anymore, baa-chan." Tsunade finally cried.
Mito laughed softly, "Don't be silly,"
"He doesn't. I know it. After all, I wasn't there to help him when he needed me."
The thought that Tsunade would blame herself for Naruto's severe condition had come to Mito's mind, but her little one was taking it a step too far. She herself knew what Naruto was doing was only natural, it was just that Tsunade hadn't exactly had the same kind of experiences Mito had gone through all her life.
He was simply uncomfortable letting Tsunade know he had been totaled by a foe. It must have taken a toll on his pride to let her see his condition, much less tell her what events had led him to it. The thought of Tsunade thinking of him as a weak nobody must have him troubled.
"Men usually have a saying that women are fickle. It's not exactly true, Tsunade." Mito's voice took a wizened warmth. "Men are usually far more vulnerable than us. They just hide it better." Tsunade looked at her grandmother with wide, moist eyes and kept her silence. She loved these moments when her grandmother would share stories upon stories of her younger days.
Mito's eyes clouded in fond nostalgia, "Your grandfather, for example, he was a silly little man in this house while I always played the responsible role." Tsunade smiled tearfully seeing her grandma looking so happy. "It was all a facade though," Mito admitted softly.
"A facade?" Tsunade parroted.
"Yes, a lie." Mito nodded. "He liked leaving all his worries the moment he stepped in the door to this house. It was only so we never got to realize all that he had to go through in his daily life.
He honestly thought he had me in oblivion, that fool." Mito's smile countered her words. Seeing Tsunade's eyes mirroring her disbelief, Mito smiled knowing her thoughts.
"You thought he never had rough days?" it wasn't even her fault, to be honest. Hashirama had always been the happy go lucky man all his life, it was only in her arms that he showed his true, venerable self. After all, something troubling the 'God of Shinobi' was a laughable thought in and of itself.
"He did have rough days, Tsunade. Rougher than most, infact. Being Hokage is no easy task. And being his first lady is even tougher still,"
"..." Tsunade had no words to make of Mito's admissions.
"Every now and then, your grandfather would have something he wanted to talk to someone about but couldn't. Be it his ego, shame, pride or whatever you want to call it. There were things he wouldn't ever want to confide to anyone about, not even Tobirama." Mito rambled on.
"But a human can only bubble up so much. And when the time came for him to pop, he did it in the arms of the only person he ever truly trusted in his entire life."
"You." Tsunade whispered in amazement.
Mito smiled, and didn't deny it. Her cheeks took a crimson hue though, "He would go on and on like an idiot after a night together and parrot it all out in front of me. You should have seen him afterwards though, he looked so embarrassed and sheepish after it that it was hysterical." she laughed shamelessly at the her husband's former misfortunes.
"What did you do after that?" Tsunade asked, way too invested in the story right now.
"Nothing," Mito said, cleaning an unshed tear from the corner of her eyes.
Tsunade shot her a dirty look, "...Nothing." she parroted. Had it been her in place of her grandmother, there would be hell to pay for whoever would have made Naruto unhappy - unbeknownst to herself at what she was admitting to herself with her psycholgical comparisons.
"I just listened," Mito flicked her nose to garner Tsunade's attention. "There are times when that is all a man needs. Someone to listen to his heart. But those times are really rare and they only ever share those words with a special someone.
Give Naruto some time, he'll come to you when the time for him to pop is finally there, and then he'll tell you everything." Mito said confidently.
Tsunade fidgeted, "…he will?" she murmured, unsure of her words.
"He will." Mito picked her chin up and placed a kiss on her forehead.
Tsunade threw her arms around Mito's neck, "I love you, baa-chan."
"I love you too, munchkin." Mito laughed, rubbing her arm gently.
Her mind drifted elsewhere as a sudden thought struck her mind. "Would you mind doing a mission for me, Tsunade?" she wondered out loud.
"Of course." Tsunade replied instantly, still content in snuggling her face in Mito's neck.
Mito knew these were the best times to get Tsunade to do something for her, as guilty as that made her, it was essential.
Tobirama would throw a fit when he learned what she had made them do, however.
"You'd have to take Naruto with you for it though," Mito stated the condition.
"Uh," Tsunade hesitated, but the petting Mito gave her hair caved her in. "Whatever," she mumbled childishly.
Mito nodded approvingly, "I'll have it approved by your granduncle then," she said.
"Where do we have to go for it?" Tsunade questioned glibly.
"Uzu." Mito replied simply.
Tsunade nearly gave a squeal in delight, "I'll get to see Ashina-jiji then!"
"Yes, that you will." Mito laughed in her hand. The last time she had visited Uzu, Hashirama and her father Ashina had nearly bankrupted their fortunes for Tsunade's gambling endeavors.
Seeing Tsunade smiling, "Gambling is prohibited though," Mito bashed Tsunade's hopes quickly before they got anywhere.
"Aw." Tsunade pouted.
Mito sighed, there was no need for another moment of bankruptcy in her house.
...
Waking up in a hospital was getting annoying pretty fast if someone asked Naruto. But cuffed down to his bed limb for limb…well this was testing his patience far more than he'd like it being tested. It was the handiwork of Mito Baa-chan, no doubt about it.
Anyone other than her wouldn't have been able to restrain him bar Tobirama, and he would at least have been able to dislocate a couple of joints using chakra to break free, but these dang things had suppression seals slapped over them like there was no tomorrow.
Idly, his mind wandered back to the fight and he wondered just how long he had been out for this time. "So…" a foreign yet known voice interrupted, breaking the silence in the room.
Naruto didn't even have to turn his neck to know who it was, "Old man…,"
"You got decimated the last I heard." Tobirama said, amused.
Naruto shot him a dirty look and yanked the chains on his wrists, "Do you mind?" he motioned to the keys hanging on the back of the main of the door.
"Not at all. I find it amusing if anything." Tobirama smirked at his agitated student. Naruto waited, and waited, and waited some more for him to do something about his cuffs but Tobirama didn't. Apparently much more content in letting him suffer for some good old amusement. His old man had a very sadistic sense of humor too, if Naruto were to say.
Naruto twitched, "Very funny." he said dryly.
Ignoring Naruto's glare, "It is from my side," Tobirama remarked instantly.
Naruto shook his head, sighing, "How long have I been out this time?" he asked.
"You've been kept in an induced come for a week," Tobirama replied.
So, counting the first two times it came down to a round total of a month.
"Great," Naruto heaved tiredly, rubbing his forehead. His wounds must have been rather severe if Mito Baa-chan had to go and sign on these drastic measures to keep him down.
"…You nearly died." Tobirama said after a moment of silence.
Feeling guilty and ashamed, "Yeah, I'm sorry." Naruto apologized.
Tobirama uncrossed his arms and got up from the windowsill, walking up to Naruto's bed. He raised his arm as soon as he reached it and Naruto pulled away his face with clenched eyes, fully expecting a slap for his weakness and failure on a crucial mission. When suddenly, out of nowhere, the arm wrapped around his shoulders and forcefully pulled his head into a firm chest.
"I'm glad you came back alive." Tobirama admitted in no more than a whisper, but his words were no less heartfelt than Mito's would have been in that moment.
Naruto eyes widened and watered, and it hurt his heart far more than it would have had it been a slap in place of this, and so, he buried his face in Tobirama's chest with a soft wail of anguish.
...
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