Minato froze for a moment, then nodded.
"You live alone?"
"Yeah."
"Then how about Nonō and I move in?"
Minato blinked.
"You're living there anyway, whether it's just you or all three of us."
Amamiya Maki said, "Besides, living together would make training easier. You could spar whenever you wanted."
Minato's eyes lit up.
The words "spar whenever you wanted" hit precisely where he needed them to.
What scared him most right now?
Falling behind.
Amamiya Maki and Nonō secretly improving somewhere he couldn't see, while he stayed right where he was.
If they lived together, he could keep track of their progress, spar, and push himself to keep up whenever he wanted.
Amamiya Maki, meanwhile, was getting tired of the children at the Orphanage pestering him every day.
Besides, the Orphanage wasn't exactly a great place. If he could get out, the sooner the better.
"Sure."
Minato agreed even faster than Amamiya Maki had expected.
And so, from that day on, Minato's home became the trio's gathering place.
They left for school together every morning, trained together after school, and read together at night.
When Minato practiced taijutsu, Amamiya Maki and Nonō read medical books nearby.
When Amamiya Maki sparred with Minato, Nonō practiced chakra control.
When Nonō mixed medicinal herbs, Minato threw kunai beside her.
All three pushed themselves in their own ways without interfering with one another, but they each kept an eye on the others.
None of them dared slack off.
The last day of the month fell on a Saturday.
Senju En called Amamiya Maki and Nonō over.
She held a set of lecture notes with edges worn ragged from use. Her gaze lingered on Nonō's face for a long while before shifting to Amamiya Maki.
"Over these past two months, I've taught you all the fundamentals you need."
En's tone was as flat as ever, but Amamiya Maki noticed that she closed the notes a little more slowly than usual.
"Poison compounding, meridian distribution, the principles of chakra control, wilderness first-aid procedures-I've taught you everything I can."
Nonō looked up at her. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
"Of course, I mean you."
En looked at Nonō, a faint trace of regret surfacing in eyes accustomed to scrutinizing medical records.
"The precision of your chakra perception and your understanding of meridian pathways have already surpassed most of the trainee medical ninja I've taught.
"Anything beyond this would be formal medical ninjutsu. Under the regulations, I can't teach it, and you can't learn it."
The consultation room fell quiet for a moment.
The two pots of pothos on the windowsill still looked half-dead. Afternoon sunlight filtered through their leaves, scattering patches of light across the floor.
Nonō lowered her head, remained silent for a few seconds, then bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Teacher En."
En looked at the little blond girl before her.
She remembered another little girl with braids standing before her long ago, asking how long she would have to practice to refine her chakra control to the micrometer level.
That little girl was now Konoha's strongest medical ninja.
She reached out and ruffled Nonō's hair.
"Don't thank me. You have the talent. I only did what I should."
Then she turned to Amamiya Maki.
"As for you-"
"I know. I'm just background scenery."
[Detected: Host has inflicted mental stress on "Senju En"] [Pressure Points +10] [Obtained: Chakra Nature Transformation (Water) fragment ×1]
En glared at him, but the corner of her usually stern mouth twitched.
"You may not be as gifted as Nonō, but you're not bad either. Stop putting yourself down.
"I've read your notes on poison ratios. They're neater than most of the trainees' work."
"I'm not putting myself down. I'm just stating the facts."
[Pressure Points +5]
En took a deep breath and decided not to waste any more words on this brat.
"All right, that's it for lessons. If you have questions, come find me at Konoha Hospital anytime. When I'm off duty, I'm in the consultation room by the back entrance."
She stood up, tucked the notes under her arm, and stopped again at the door.
She didn't turn around.
"Nonō, I just said you were the second-most gifted student I've ever seen. The first was someone named Tsunade."
"She's not at the hospital right now, but someday she'll need someone like you. Don't disappoint me when that day comes."
With that, she pushed the door open and left, her footsteps fading down the corridor.
Nonō stood where she was, hugging a copy of "An Overview of Human Meridians and the Chakra Circulatory System" thicker than a brick.
Her fingertips brushed back and forth along its spine.
Then she turned to Amamiya Maki, who was still sitting in his chair.
"Let's go."
Amamiya Maki stood up. "Let's head back and spar with Minato."
Nonō gathered up her book and followed him.
The setting sun stretched their shadows from the consultation room doorway all the way to the end of the corridor.
"Maki."
"Hm?"
"I won't let you leave me behind."
Amamiya Maki's steps faltered.
He turned to look at her.
The blond girl hugged her book, her expression far too serious for a six-year-old.
There was no defiance in her eyes, no unease, only an utterly quiet, unassuming determination.
[Detected: Host has inflicted mental stress on "Yakushi Nonō". Pressure Points +12. Obtained: Chakra Control fragment ×2]
He was silent for a moment.
Then he continued walking.
"All right."
Night fell, and the lights came on in Minato's home.
Minato did push-ups in the yard, Nonō organized the day's notes at the low table in the living room, and Amamiya Maki leaned by the window, leafing through a copy of "Fundamentals of Toxicology" he had just borrowed from Senju En.
All three were busy with their own work. No one spoke, but each kept the other two in the corner of their eye.
Just as Minato finished his hundred and tenth push-up, Nonō closed her notebook; just as Nonō closed her notebook, Amamiya Maki turned the final page of the toxicology book.
A new round of competition quietly began in the stillness of the night.
Meanwhile, in an office somewhere in the Hokage Building, an old man with a pipe between his teeth was reading a document.
Photographs of three children were attached to it.
Minato Namikaze, Yakushi Nonō, and Amamiya Maki.
He turned the pages one by one, his gaze lingering on each line of their performance assessments.
Clone Technique proficiency, theory class grades, medical course evaluations, and taijutsu training records.
The final page was an observation report written by Senju En herself.
"Minato Namikaze: Chakra control and application of the Body Flicker Technique far exceed those of his peers. Training intensity has already reached genin standards."
"Yakushi Nonō: Exceptional medical talent, with an almost instinctive intuition for fine chakra control. Recommend close attention."
"Amamiya Maki..."
His finger paused on that line.
"Solid theoretical grounding, above-average practical skills. Unremarkable talent, but exceptional self-discipline. Additional note: This child talks too much."
The old man exhaled a cloud of smoke, an inscrutable glimmer flashing through his cloudy eyes.
He closed the document, returned it to the top of the stack of files awaiting review at the corner of his desk, then tapped his pipe against the edge of the ashtray.
"Interesting."
Before you continue