Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the letter at an unhurried pace. By the time he finished reading, a quiet smile had settled on his face.
"Kushina really is… too good," he murmured, half fond, half helpless.
She'd written that she'd chosen a house near Minato's place. Koharu Utatane had already sent people over to help furnish it and handle the small repairs.
The Anbu assigned to protect her were doing well, too.
They didn't hover. They didn't stare. Sometimes, when she crossed paths with them, they would give a small nod. She'd worried at first that being protected would feel like being watched, but instead it felt considerate. Human. And it made her appreciate how hard that kind of work had to be.
She thanked him again and again, called him "Hokage Grandpa" with the easy affection of someone who didn't realize how sharp those words could be.
She thanked Konoha for being her new home.
She even wrote about the village's response to Kumogakure, how hearing that Konoha had struck back made her feel like someone had stood up for her, like she could finally breathe without looking over her shoulder.
And at the end, she'd rambled about everyday things, the kind of casual chatter you only wrote when you felt safe enough to be childish. She mentioned talking with Mito Uzumaki, how Mito had been surprised by something she'd said.
The writing was young, clumsy in places, even her little verbal habits showing up on paper.
But it was honest. Bright. Pure.
By the time Hiruzen set the letter down, his mind felt lighter.
Emotions spread. They always did.
"This is the right moment," he thought.
He turned to the Anbu and gave calm orders. "Ask Mito-sama if she's willing to receive me. And confirm the current condition of that Wood Style child."
The Anbu acknowledged and vanished.
Not long after, the reply came back. Mito Uzumaki was willing. In fact, she'd been expecting him to come sooner or later.
Hiruzen rose immediately.
In the past, he'd always treated Mito-sama with deep respect, and with equally deep avoidance.
There were too many reasons stacked together.
The burden of managing the village. The wound that was Uzushiogakure.
And then the fact that Mito Uzumaki was both Mito Uzumaki, and the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, layered into one person until the air around her felt… delicate.
As the First Hokage's wife, as an elder who'd already given the village everything, Konoha would never drag her to a battlefield unless the village was staring at extinction. Hiruzen would lose face as Hokage long before he allowed that.
But the Nine-Tails was also a strategic weapon. A real one.
If he visited too often, it would always carry an ugly flavor.
Like you were checking in, but really counting down.
That wasn't paranoia. The village had, in the past, wanted a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who could fight. Someone who could be deployed if needed.
But now things were different.
Instead of gambling everything on whether a future Jinchuriki could control the Nine-Tails, it was far more practical to earn Mito Uzumaki's approval and support.
For Hiruzen's reforms, for his authority, for the village's stability, that support would be priceless.
And Tobirama's notes had made something else clear.
Mito-sama wasn't only a sealing master. She was a walking archive. Someone who had seen the shinobi world from the inside out, who understood techniques people pretended didn't exist.
He couldn't ask her to grind through work like Hiruko or Orochimaru.
But even a single sentence from someone like her, a single nudge in the right direction, could save years.
I need her to see my regret, Hiruzen decided.
He tidied his appearance, then asked Anbu for a handful of thorny branches.
And without hesitation, he bound them across his back.
The Anbu's eyes widened behind his mask.
Hiruzen didn't care.
That shock was part of the plan.
The Uzumaki estate.
Hiruzen pushed open the old, heavy door and paused long enough to take it in.
The entire residence carried the flavor of the Warring States Era. Solid wood, thick beams, the kind of architecture that didn't apologize for being built to last. Uzumaki and Senju crests were worked into the décor along the walls like quiet reminders of blood and history.
Mito Uzumaki sat in the main seat.
When she saw him step in with brambles bound across his back, surprise flickered through her eyes.
What are you playing at, Hiruzen?
He didn't hesitate.
He strode forward and dropped into a deep bow so hard and sudden it felt less like formal etiquette and more like a charge.
"Mito-sama," he said, voice low and clear, "this monkey has failed as Hokage. Please punish me."
Mito rose slowly, studying him.
Mind's Eye of the Kagura unfolded in silence.
Hiruzen's Chakra was fierce and bright, the kind of yang energy that surged forward without hesitation. And beneath it, his emotions were… clean. Earnest. Almost painfully so.
Mind's Eye of the Kagura wasn't meant to read hearts.
But Mito was a Jinchuriki. She could fold the Nine-Tails' sensitivity to malice into her own perception, and it sharpened what she felt from him.
After a moment, she walked to his side with measured steps. Then she let out a long breath and reached down to pull him up.
"Monkey," she said quietly, "these years haven't been easy on you."
Her hand was firm, surprisingly strong for an old woman.
"The matter of Uzushiogakure hurts," she continued, gaze steady, "but I can't put all of it on you, Hokage or not."
Hiruzen rose quickly on his own. He wasn't about to let her truly bend down and strain herself for him.
"Mito-sama…"
"Come inside," she said, a flash of impatience cutting through the softness. "And take those brambles off. How old are you? You're Hokage now."
With practiced hands, she unbound the branches from his back and gestured him toward the room.
Hiruzen sat in the guest seat, obedient.
He couldn't stop the quiet wave of emotion that hit him.
In his memory, Mito had always looked middle-aged, stern and sharp and unmovable.
Now, up close, she wore the face of an old woman.
Time had taken its due.
Mito noticed the shift in his expression and shook her head once.
"When you get old," she said, voice turning distant, "being alone is… lonely."
She stared somewhere past him, somewhere only she could see.
"If I release the seal, I can go meet Hashirama sooner. And the village won't have to worry about me anymore."
She said it too plainly.
Maybe it was because he'd come with sincerity today. Maybe it was because the Nine-Tails was an unavoidable subject no matter how carefully they danced around it.
But she didn't soften the truth.
The Reserve Seal wasn't some trick to preserve youth by burning Chakra.
It was the opposite. It built a new Chakra circulation, one that nourished the body and kept cells alive.
To disperse it on purpose, in a sense, was slow suicide.
"Mito-sama."
Hiruzen drew in a breath, then looked her in the eye. His voice and gaze held nothing back.
"I came today to tell you something. Compared to the Nine-Tails, you are Konoha's priceless treasure."
Mito's lips curved, like she was about to dismiss it as flattery.
He didn't let her.
He pressed his palms together, a polite gesture asking her to let him finish, and his words came out sharp and firm, each one landing clean.
"This isn't empty courtesy. It's the truth, and it's what the village believes."
"You gave your entire life to Konoha. If we can't let you live out your remaining years in peace, if we demand you burn down the last of your bones and blood for the village, if we allow you to end your life early just so we can feel 'safe'…"
His voice didn't rise, but it carried weight.
"Then I, as Hokage, the Will of Fire, and Konoha itself will be shamed by it."
Mito stared at him.
She hadn't expected this.
This monkey, who had always been tangled up in this issue, always hesitating, always avoiding her gaze when the subject got too close, was showing this kind of spine.
Was he truly willing to put the Nine-Tails second?
For an old woman?
"Uzushiogakure has been sitting on my heart," Hiruzen said, his expression heavy. "No matter what, the Uzumaki Clan are Konoha's eternal allies. After what happened, I bear responsibility as Hokage."
He leaned forward slightly, not begging, but swearing.
"I promise you, I will search for Uzumaki survivors with everything I have. Anyone willing to come to Konoha, the village will become their warm new home."
"And I believe that within a few generations, a new Uzumaki Clan will take root here."
Mito's expression finally shifted.
In her perception, his resolve was like stone.
And she could tell, it wasn't a performance.
This was what he truly meant.
Hiruzen had always believed in correcting mistakes, in repairing what could be repaired.
And making amends to the Uzumaki Clan wasn't just washing an old stain.
It would strengthen the Will of Fire. It would earn Mito Uzumaki's firm support.
And if the Uzumaki Clan rebuilt within Konoha, for a Hokage who saw the village as one body, it would be nothing but good.
One action, three gains.
He was unwavering because he'd already counted the cost and accepted it.
"Hiruzen," Mito said at last, voice softening, "I've seen your heart."
"The past is the past. From now on, do it properly. I'll support you."
She held his gaze for another beat, then gave a faint, self-mocking smile.
"But even if I keep living and keep 'troubling' you all, being alone when you're old is the hardest part."
"I can't demand you visit me all the time," she added, a touch of pride slipping in. "I'm old, but my arrogance hasn't died."
Hiruzen went quiet.
Inside, he smiled.
He'd expected this.
Old age wasn't only about needing company.
It was about needing to feel needed.
And someone like Mito Uzumaki, a shinobi from the Warring States Era, would feel that need even more sharply.
"Mito-sama," he said, rising smoothly, "this monkey does have one thing to ask of you."
"Ask me?" Mito let out a light laugh and shook her head. Even with age on her face, there was still a fierce grace in her every movement. "Don't try to comfort me, monkey."
"Now, what can I do besides keep this fox sealed?"
Hiruzen formed hand seals.
Sensing the Hokage's signal, Anbu moved quietly into the estate. He stepped forward and placed a swaddled infant into Hiruzen's arms, then retreated without a sound.
Mito's eyes lit up instantly.
From that child…
She could feel Hashirama's presence.
.....
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