What if the Mizukage is narutos mother, and the reason she doesnt like to rely on men is because she lost the two most important ones to her, or so she thinks. That water ninja is about the same age as naruto, so maybe she is reflecting her motherly feelings on him. I can totally see the Konoha village elders telling narutos mom that he died when the 4th bonded him to the kyuubi. That way they had total influence over him and not a foreigner ninja like his mother was. Maybe she left and join the water country or the whirlpool country was taken over or incorporated in the water country durning the last war.