Summary, Rin Nohara's Injury (Please Bookmark, Follow, Vote with Recommendation Tickets, Vote with Monthly Tickets)

Life returned to normal. Although Taiichi wanted to fight ninja again, Konoha currently had no such opportunities for him. His life returned to the routine he had planned: interning at Konoha Hospital in the morning, training in kenjutsu and ninjutsu in the afternoon, then practicing Basic Taijutsu and Basic Meditation at home at night.

His days were packed with this schedule. Sometimes he ran into Guy, or Rin and Obito, on the road, and they would arrange to train together. They would ask about their other classmates, and from Obito, Taiichi learned that they had all been kept at home by their clans for special training. Apparently, Taiichi had stimulated them. Losing to the Uchiha and Hyuga was one thing, but now they could not even compare to a civilian ninja.

Taiichi could only give a "heh-heh" laugh after hearing that. Clan children really had it good. Even if their grades were poor, their clans would give them extra lessons.

Over the course of a month, Taiichi had improved tremendously. If he encountered that spy again now, he would not dare claim he could defeat him alone, but holding the spy off without getting injured again would be no problem at all. Just look at his current panel.

Name: Taichi Matsushita

Class: Genin Lv8 (123/1200)

Talents: Diligence Makes Up for Mediocrity, Academic Overachiever

Age: 6

Constitution: 14

Strength: 16

Agility: 13

Spirit: 20

Chakra: 4000 (5500)

Attribute Points: 10

Skill Points: 11

Fire Nature Transformation Lv2 (156/200)

Wind Release Nature Transformation Lv2 (110/200)

Yang Release Nature Transformation Lv3 (53/400)

Skills: Basic Taijutsu Lv9 (1114/1600), Basic Meditation Lv9 (1023/1600), Chakra Refinement Technique Lv9 (1075/1600), Ninja Tool Throwing Lv8 (123/1400), Three Body Technique Lv8 (162/1400), Fire Style: Flame Bullet Lv7 (263/1200), Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Lv8 (243/1400), Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Lv7 (120/1200), Healing Technique Lv9 (463/1600), Hatake Style Kenjutsu Lv5 (243/800), Mystical Palm Technique Lv5 (258/800), Delicate Illness Extraction Technique Lv3 (142/400)

Evaluation: You have escaped the fate of cannon fodder, but be warned: on the battlefield, you are still just a little bug.

His class level had risen by one, while everything else had progressed steadily. The greatest improvement had been in Medical Ninjutsu. Ignoring his age, anyone would believe Taiichi was a medical chunin based on his current level of Medical Ninjutsu. That was also why he had been doing increasingly well at Konoha Hospital. Not only was he young and sweet-talking, but he could also provide substantial help at work. Anyone normal would like him.

That very day, while Taiichi was restocking medical supplies in the morning, a nurse stopped him. A child had suffered external injuries and had been brought in by her companions. All the other doctors were busy and could not spare anyone for the moment, so Taiichi had to fill in.

The scent of disinfectant permeated the corridor. As Taiichi hurried toward the treatment room with the nurse, the draft in the hallway lifted the hem of his white coat. The instant he pushed open the door, he saw Kakashi's silver hair sway in the sunlight, while bits of grass still clung to Obito's signature goggles.

"How did it end up being you guys?" Taiichi's gaze fell on Rin's rolled-up pant leg. Three claw marks wound from her knee to her ankle, blood beading from the torn flesh. Obito squatted in the corner, clutching his hair, his goggles hanging crookedly around his neck. "It's all my fault for insisting on chasing that squirrel..."

Kakashi suddenly reached out and pressed down on Obito's head. His voice was muffled beneath his mask. "It was my fault. I didn't notice the movement in the bushes." Rin forced a smile onto her pale face and reached for the gauze on the table. "It only looks scary. Actually... ah..." Her sharp intake of breath made both boys freeze at once.

"Don't move." Taiichi grabbed a pair of rubber gloves from the cart. The clink of metal instruments made all three instinctively straighten up. As he knelt on one knee to inspect the wound, Obito noticed the intern badge on his chest gleaming in the light.

"You actually work at a hospital?" Obito's shout nearly knocked over the bottle of alcohol. Kakashi's eyes swept over Taiichi's fingers as they skillfully cut away the gauze, then he suddenly spoke. "There's gravel in the wound."

Sunlight filtered through the frosted glass, scattering mottled spots of light across the treatment bed. Taiichi picked up a cotton ball with tweezers. "Rin, this might hurt a little." The moment the alcohol touched the wound, Rin clenched the bedsheet tight. Obito immediately held out his arm. "You can bite me if you need to!"

"Idiot, that would interfere with the treatment." Kakashi pressed a hand to Obito's shoulder, but his eyes remained fixed on Taiichi's hands. A cotton ball soaked in iodine traced concentric circles around the wound, the young doctor's wrist as steady as if he were forming hand seals.

"A Wildcat-type Ninja Beast?" Taiichi rotated Rin's lower leg. The three claw marks carried an unnatural bluish-purple tint under the sunlight. Kakashi nodded. "Its claws were poisonous?"

"It's just ordinary inflammation." Taiichi pulled out a pale-green ointment from the bottom layer of the cart. "Sister Nonō taught me how to identify two hundred types of beast venom." The coolness of the ointment against her skin relaxed Rin. Obito leaned in so close that his nose nearly touched Taiichi's hands. "Your technique is even more professional than the Medical Team's!"

The cart's wheels suddenly screeched against the floor. Director Fujita appeared in the doorway with a stack of medical records in her arms. "Taiichi, Bed Three needs..." Her voice abruptly stopped as her gaze swept over the three children in Ninja Academy uniforms. "Come get new sutures once you're done."

The moment the door closed, Obito sprang up. "That was the Trauma Department director, right? My uncle said she once scolded a chunin until he cried!" Kakashi's pupils widened slightly—the recognition of the Medical Unit Leader carried far more weight than exam scores.

"Treatment is starting." A soft green chakra glow lit up Taiichi's hands, and the beads of blood seeping from Rin's wound suddenly floated in the air. Obito stared with his mouth wide open as the torn flesh seemed to be smoothed flat by invisible hands. Kakashi instinctively clenched his fists.

As the chakra light gradually faded, Rin cautiously bent and straightened her knee. "It doesn't hurt at all!" The instant she jumped off the bed, tears finally spilled from Obito's reddened eyes. "That's great..."

"Change the medicine twice a day." Taiichi tore open a packet of individually wrapped dressing. "No strenuous exercise for three days." As he lowered his head to write the instructions, Kakashi suddenly asked, "When did you learn the Mystical Palm Technique?"

"Not long after vacation started, I guess." Taiichi took fruit candies from his white coat pocket and handed them around. "An Anbu uncle got burned by an Explosive Tag, and Director Fujita had me try reconnecting his nerves." Obito's hand trembled as he held the candy wrapper. Rin noticed the lingering burn scar on Taiichi's right index finger.

The lunch break bell rang outside the window, and the scent of rice balls mixed with the smell of disinfectant. As Taiichi put away the instruments, he asked, "Want to try the hospital cafeteria's miso soup?" Obito had barely started to nod when his stomach let out a loud growl.

As the four of them squeezed onto a bench in the staff break room, sunlight shone on Taiichi's intern badge. Kakashi stared at the pickled plum in his lunchbox. "The Medical Team lets students intern?"

"Lady Tsunade recommended me." Taiichi snapped apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. "Hokage-sama personally approved it." Obito choked on his rice ball, and Rin hurriedly handed him some barley tea. Through the mist on the glass, Taiichi told them about following the emergency team out on calls at four in the morning.

"Last week, an old lady had an asthma attack, and I carried an oxygen tank across seven streets." Taiichi pointed at his bruised knees. "It was more tiring than taijutsu training." Rin suddenly reached out and poked his arm. "There's still iodine here that hasn't been wiped clean."

Kakashi silently placed the fried shrimp from his lunchbox into Taiichi's. It was the way he had learned from his father's bento to express gratitude. Obito turned out every pocket, then finally pulled out a treasured ninja card. "This is for you! It's a rare First Hokage card!"

When the afternoon cicadas began chirping through the screened window, Director Fujita's footsteps sounded in the corridor. The three children hurriedly packed away their lunchboxes, and Rin stuffed the last piece of pickled radish into Taiichi's mouth. Obito clung to the doorframe and shouted back, "You have to come to the back mountain for special training next week!"

Sunlight slanted into the empty treatment room. Taiichi bent down and picked up the goggles Obito had dropped. The indicator light on the sterilization cabinet changed from red to green, while the instruments in the metal tray gleamed coldly. He suddenly remembered how clumsy he had been when he first helped Nonō bandage wounds.

The shadows of clouds swept across the hospital's outer wall. Taiichi adjusted his crooked intern badge in the glass window. The wind lifted the hem of his white coat, revealing the Short Sword tucked behind his waist.

Since discovering the shortcomings in his kenjutsu during the previous spy incident, Taiichi had been finding places to draw his blade and practice whenever he had free time, even while at the hospital.