Kindred Spirits

The noisy classroom fell silent. Soseki stepped forward, observed for a moment, then formed hand seals with both hands. His palms, glowing with a faint ghostly light, pressed against Delia's forehead.

Seeing this, everyone held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Before long, the tightly furrowed brows Delia had worn while unconscious relaxed. Then, beneath everyone's expectant gazes, she slowly woke up.

"Wow! Delia's alive!"

"That's great! I knew the Class Leader could do it!"

"Was that the Tranquility Technique? It's only been a few days, and Soseki has already mastered another Medical Ninjutsu!" Asuma's wide eyes were filled with confusion. "Didn't they say Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were the hardest to master?"

Soseki did not lose himself in everyone's cheers. Instead, he turned and walked over to Yui and Kaoru, giving each of them a Tranquility Technique as well. The two little girls, who had been forgotten until now, were deeply moved.

"Asuma, Ibiki, come help me. Help me take them to the hospital." Though he was unsure whether Asuma would still follow his original path, Soseki decided to call him along in order to keep him from disrupting his plans.

"Yeah, yeah, coming." Asuma had no idea about Soseki's dark thoughts. After snapping out of his daze, he rushed over in a few quick strides and said gloomily, "You bastard, you learned more ninjutsu behind my back again. Damn it, if I don't work harder, even the number of ninjutsu I know will be surpassed by you!"

Before Soseki could answer, Ibiki's voice drifted over from the side. "Stop struggling. He'll surpass you sooner or later."

"Damn it, even you look down on me..." Before Asuma could finish venting, something even more depressing happened.

Yui stared at him with wary resistance and took two steps back. "No need. I can walk by myself."

Seeing her retreat from him, Asuma's entire mind went blank.

"Heh, are you here to be a joke..." Ibiki was coldly mocking him when he heard Kaoru, whom he was supporting, murmur softly, "Mm, why wasn't I the one who fainted? I'm so jealous of Delia!"

Ibiki stiffened. He looked at Asuma, and an inexplicable sense of shared misery flashed through both their eyes.

By the time everything at the hospital had been taken care of, it was already afternoon.

When Soseki returned to the classroom, everyone crowded around him again to ask about the situation.

"Don't worry. They're fine now," Soseki said with a smile, reassuring them.

"If Soseki says so, then I'm relieved."

"Haha, today somehow felt like the thrill of being a real ninja."

Everyone laughed and chatted happily. Amid the noisy bustle, however, a somewhat lonely figure lay sleeping at her desk.

Soseki walked toward her. "Kurenai, are you okay?"

Kurenai said nothing. She merely gave a slight shake of her head, still buried in her arms.

"I know. You're blaming yourself, aren't you?"

Kurenai did not answer, shutting herself away in her own little harbor.

Soseki was not surprised. He comforted her gently, "Actually, you didn't do anything wrong. If it had been me, I would have made the same choice you did."

Hearing Soseki say something so different from everyone else, Kurenai timidly raised her head. "But I almost killed Yui! I... I never want to use Genjutsu again."

"There's nothing wrong with using Genjutsu to protect yourself. The mistake was using it on a companion."

"So I really am..." Hearing that, Kurenai lowered her head in despair again.

"No. The one truly at fault is me! As the Class Leader, I failed to notice and resolve the conflict between you in time. I allowed people who should have become companions to turn against one another. So neither you nor Delia and the others did anything wrong. The only one at fault is me!"

"Huh? No, no!" Kurenai shook her head fiercely. "How could you be at fault? Clearly, it was..."

Before Kurenai could finish, Soseki walked straight to the podium. "Everyone, can I say something?"

At Soseki's voice, the entire classroom quieted down.

"Something unpleasant happened in our class today. But please don't blame Delia or Kurenai. I failed in my duty as Class Leader. If I had paid attention to every one of you, this never would have happened. I'm sorry for causing everyone trouble!"

"Huh? That's not true at all!"

"Hmph! Class Leader, you're looking down on us too much!"

"Exactly. We didn't do anything at all. You were the one running around and taking care of everything."

Asuma, Ibiki: "???"

"Then I was being overly sentimental." Soseki smiled brightly, his sincere gaze sweeping over everyone. "We're all ninjas. When we carry out missions in the future, the only people we can rely on are the companions beside us. So I hope each of us can watch one another's backs, that every one of us can become one another's bond! Is that okay? I want to be friends with all of you forever!"

"Of course! We'll always be friends!"

"We definitely can!"

"Soseki, how are Delia and the others..." Yagami Kei suddenly shoved open the door. Then, frightened by the fanatical atmosphere in the classroom, he gave an awkward little shudder and asked, "Or should you all continue?"

After school, Soseki was tidying up his little schoolbag when a small hand suddenly tugged at the corner of his clothes from in front of him.

Soseki looked up and saw Kurenai, who had recovered much of her energy.

"Soseki, thank you!" Kurenai said earnestly, clenching her little fists.

"We're friends." Soseki sighed. "Besides, this misunderstanding was actually because of me..."

Hearing that, Kurenai interrupted him angrily, "Why are you still saying that? I'm not that fragile."

"I wasn't... Forget it, it's nothing." Soseki smiled and shook his head. "Then let's go together."

"Huh?" Kurenai's gaze drifted as she looked toward the ceiling. "Soseki, you go ahead. I still want to stay in the classroom a while longer."

"Hmm?" Soseki looked her up and down suspiciously, resting his chin on one small hand. "Now that I think about it, you haven't stood up once all afternoon."

"Did you hurt your foot?" Soseki's tone became somewhat serious.

"No, no." Kurenai waved her hands repeatedly, but faced with Soseki's insistent gaze, she finally gave in and whispered, "Wh-when they were shoving me around, I accidentally twisted my ankle."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Soseki put on a stern little face. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital now."

"No, absolutely not!" This time, however, Kurenai's attitude was exceptionally resolute.

"Is it because of Delia and the others?" Soseki quickly understood the root of the problem.

Kurenai puffed out her cheeks and said nothing.

"Alright, alright, I understand." Soseki sighed helplessly, crouched down, and began treating her.

"Sorry for troubling you again." Kurenai did not have any strange thoughts about it. She only felt that Soseki's palm against her ankle was somewhat warm, and besides... Soseki looked incredibly handsome when he was treating her so seriously!

Before long, Soseki finished the treatment. "All done. Stand up and walk a few steps."

Kurenai obediently stood up and walked carefully. "Mm, it really feels much better."

"That's good. Let's go, I'll walk you home." As he spoke, Soseki helped pack up Kurenai's schoolbag.

"I can carry it myself."

"Injured patients should listen to the doctor."

"Alright. Oh, right, my dad is home today too. He's a really amazing Genjutsu ninja!" Kurenai took the initiative to make conversation.

"Senior Shinku? I've heard people in the village say that his Genjutsu is the strongest in all of Leaf Village!" Soseki said with "admiration."

"Hehe, right?"