Medical Checkups Are Such a Pain

Shuo slept until nearly noon before stirring. The sun had warmed his face until it felt hot. He rolled over and buried his head in the covers, grumbling inwardly, Nobody had better bother me.

Then came a knock, knock, knock at the door.

"Shuo! Are you awake yet?"

Rin's voice came through the door, a little tentative.

"...I'm up, I'm up."

Shuo answered in a muffled voice and dragged himself upright, his hair a bird's nest and his face full of morning grumpiness. "It's just a checkup. What's the rush?"

The door opened a crack, and Rin poked her head in. "Sorry, Minato-sensei was worried you'd forget... Just get to the Medical Team before two this afternoon. I won't be going with you."

"Got it, got it. Go on, go on."

Shuo waved as though shooing her away. Rin smiled and closed the door.

He sprawled there for another five minutes before slowly getting up to wash and change, then wandered out with his hands in his pockets.

Konoha's streets were bustling. Vendors hawked their goods, and children shouted as they played, making an irritating racket. Shuo frowned and dragged his feet as though he still hadn't woken up.

After a couple of steps, his stomach growled.

Tch. Noodles first.

He turned into Ichiraku Ramen and took a seat in a corner without even raising his head. "Teuchi, a large miso ramen. Extra chopped scallions."

"Coming right up! Just back from a mission, Shuo? Look at you, all worn out."

Teuchi answered with a smile.

Before the noodles arrived, someone's head leaned over, nearly knocking over his teacup.

"Hey! Shuo! You're here too!"

Obito plopped down noisily. "Boss, I'll have a bowl too! Same as his!"

Kakashi followed behind him, holding his forehead helplessly, and found a seat opposite them. "I told you to keep it down. He's still resting."

"Quit making a racket and eat your noodles."

Shuo gave Obito an impatient glance. "What brings you here?"

"We just finished training. I'm starving!"

Obito leaned on the table. "Oh, right, aren't you going to the Medical Team for a checkup? I heard Jonin Naoi's on duty today. She's super strict and really hung up on details. You'd better watch out!"

"Oh."

Shuo's face remained blank. However strict she is, can she be more trouble than dealing with those black spears?

Kakashi looked at him. "How are you planning to demonstrate your ability?"

"How else? It's light. I'll just wave my hand."

Shuo shrugged. "Not worth thinking too hard about."

"Wave your hand..."

Obito scratched his head. "You're way too relaxed about this."

The ramen arrived. Shuo picked up his chopsticks and started putting noodles into his mouth, eating slowly without the slightest hurry.

Obito wolfed down his bowl and urged him to hurry twice, but both times Shuo merely waved lazily. "What's the rush? I just have to be there before two. How is a checkup more important than ramen?"

After dawdling through his meal and sitting a while longer, Shuo finally got up and made his way toward the Medical Team.

The Medical Team building reeked of disinfectant, making him wrinkle his nose. He cursed the Third eight hundred times inwardly. What's with this checkup? Such a pain, and it stinks too.

The medical ninja at the front desk didn't look up. "Name?"

"Namikaze Shuo."

"Third floor, room 306. Jonin Naoi is waiting for you."

The third-floor corridor was unnervingly quiet. Shuo knocked on the door to room 306, and a cold female voice came from inside. "Enter."

The room was fairly large, with a jumble of equipment on one side and an open space on the other.

A female ninja with glasses and a high ponytail stood by the window, looking as stern as though someone owed her money.

"Namikaze Shuo? I'm Kiyomi Naoi. I'll be testing your abilities."

She adjusted her glasses and picked up a clipboard. "Tell me what your ability is."

"Light. I can control light."

Shuo leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, looking utterly lackadaisical.

"Be specific."

Naoi frowned. "Movement, attacks, perception. Tell me about all of them."

"I move a little faster, sense changes in light, and alter its path."

Shuo gave a perfunctory answer. "That's it."

"Demonstrate."

Naoi pointed at a wooden target in the corner. "An attack demonstration."

Shuo sighed and raised his right index finger slightly. A speck of golden light shot out, striking the wooden target with a whoosh-a small, charred hole half an inch deep, its edges still giving off heat.

Naoi walked over and touched it. Surprise flashed in her eyes before she forced herself to look composed. "Can you adjust the temperature? What's the maximum?"

"Never tried. No need."

Shuo shrugged. "Burning through things is such a hassle."

Naoi was momentarily speechless, then pointed at a target at the other end. "A speed demonstration. Go touch it and come back as fast as you can."

Shuo glanced at the distance. It was only twenty meters. He clicked his tongue. "Does it have to be this much trouble?"

The instant he finished speaking, his figure turned into a golden streak of light, too fast for even an afterimage to be seen. He doubled back the moment he touched the target, completing the whole trip in less than half a second. He was leaning against the same wall again, without even changing his pose.

The pen in Naoi's hand fell to the floor with a clatter. Her eyes went wide. "Th-this isn't the Body Flicker Technique!"

"Who said it was?"

Shuo rolled his eyes. "However light moves, that's how I move."

"Again! I'll track you with my sensory perception!"

Naoi picked up her pen and formed hand seals to activate her perception.

But the moment she closed her eyes, she sensed a flash of light skim the edge of her perception. By the time she opened them again, Shuo had already returned and was even yawning. "Your perception is too slow."

Naoi's expression darkened slightly, but she didn't argue-she hadn't tracked Shuo's trajectory at all. That wasn't the speed of chakra. It was the speed of pure light!

"Last test. Alter the path of light."

Shuo looked at the fluorescent light on the ceiling and casually made a grabbing motion. The light suddenly warped and gathered, forming a translucent mirror in midair that reflected Naoi's face.

"Yata Mirror. Just something thrown together."

As Shuo spoke, the light mirror dispersed. "A big one takes too much energy. Can't be bothered."

Naoi stared at him without speaking for a long while. Finally, she lowered her head and rapidly wrote her notes. "Preliminary assessment: a special Light Release bloodline ability. Does not rely on chakra nature transformation; directly controls light phenomena. Sign here."

Shuo took the clipboard. It was densely packed with technical terms. Without so much as glancing over them, he scrawled his name and handed it back.

"The test results will be submitted. Come back for regular follow-ups."

Naoi started going on again. "Your light beam can be compressed further to triple its penetrating power; your movement refraction can be optimized to reduce losses; your Yata Mirror takes too long to construct, which will put you at a disadvantage in actual combat..."

"Got it, got it."

Listening was giving Shuo a headache. He turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Naoi stopped him. "Your ability has great potential. Use it well. Don't waste it."

Shuo paused and waved a hand. "I'll try."

With that, he ran off without looking back, as though fleeing. Finally over. If I have to listen to her drone on any longer, my ears will grow calluses.

Outside the Medical Team, the sunlight was a little dazzling. Shuo raised a hand to shield his eyes, and light flowed down through the gaps between his fingers.

He rubbed his stomach. He was hungry again.

"Tch. After all that fuss over a checkup, I'll treat myself to some red bean dango."

He ambled toward the Shopping District, his figure languid, yet every step unhurried and composed.

After all, however troublesome the checkup was, hadn't he breezed through it anyway?

As for the potential Naoi had mentioned?

That could wait. Right now, eating dango was what mattered most.