Chapter 23 – Reflection, and the Injured Nohara Rin
Life returned to its usual calm.
Though Taichi longed for another fight against real shinobi, the current peace in Konoha offered him no such chance.
His days fell back into the routine he had set for himself: mornings interning at Konoha Hospital, afternoons honing swordsmanship and ninjutsu, and evenings at home training in Basic Taijutsu and Basic Meditation.
It was a schedule packed from start to finish.
Sometimes on the road, he would run into Guy, or Rin and Obito, and they'd go train together.
They'd chat about the other classmates' situations—Obito once told him most of them were now locked down in intensive family training.
Apparently, Taichi's performance had rattled them; losing to Uchiha or Hyūga was one thing, but now even a civilian-born ninja had surpassed them.
Taichi could only chuckle at that.
The perks of being from a clan—if your grades slipped, there was always someone at home to drill you.
Over the past month, Taichi's progress had been tremendous.
If he were to face that spy again now, he couldn't guarantee victory on his own—but he was certain he could hold the enemy off without getting injured.
His current status panel told the story:
Name: Matsushita Taichi
Profession: Ninja Apprentice Lv8 (123/1200)
Talents: Diligence Makes Up for Lack of Talent, Scholar
Age: 6
Stats: Constitution 14 / Strength 16 / Agility 13 / Spirit 20
Chakra: 4000 (5500)
Attribute Points: 10
Skill Points: 11
Elemental Affinities:
– Fire Nature Transformation Lv2 (156/200)
– Wind Nature Transformation Lv2 (110/200)
– Yang Nature Transformation Lv3 (53/400)
Skills:
Basic Taijutsu Lv9 (1114/1600)
Basic Meditation Lv9 (1023/1600)
Chakra Refinement Lv9 (1075/1600)
Ninja Tool Throwing Lv8 (123/1400)
Clone/Transformation/Substitution Techniques Lv8 (162/1400)
Fire Release: Flame Bullet Lv7 (263/1200)
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Lv8 (243/1400)
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Lv7 (120/1200)
Healing Technique Lv9 (463/1600)
Hatake-ryu Kenjutsu Lv5 (243/800)
Palm Healing Technique Lv5 (258/800)
Foreign Object Extraction Technique Lv3 (142/400)
Evaluation: You've escaped the fate of cannon fodder… but on the battlefield, you're still just a bug.
His class level had gone up by one, and everything else had advanced steadily.
The biggest leap was in medical ninjutsu—at his current skill level, if no one knew his age, they might believe he was a full-fledged chūnin-level medic.
It was one of the reasons he was thriving in the hospital; he wasn't just a polite and likable kid—he was genuinely useful.
That morning, while restocking medical supplies, a nurse called him over.
A child had been brought in with an external injury; all other doctors were tied up, so Taichi would have to handle it.
The sharp tang of disinfectant clung to the corridor.
Following the nurse at a brisk pace, the hem of his white coat fluttered in the draft.
When he pushed open the door, a flash of silver hair caught the sunlight—Kakashi.
And Obito, his trademark goggles speckled with grass.
"…It's you two?"
Taichi's eyes fell on Rin's rolled-up pant leg—three deep claw marks ran from her knee to her ankle, beads of blood seeping from torn flesh.
Obito squatted in the corner, scratching his head, goggles askew around his neck.
"It's all my fault… I just had to chase that squirrel…"
Kakashi pressed a palm to Obito's head, his muffled voice coming through the mask:
"My fault. I didn't notice the movement in the bushes."
Rin forced a pale smile and reached for a roll of gauze.
"It just looks bad, really I—hss…"
Her sharp intake of breath made both boys freeze.
"Don't move."
Taichi snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, the metallic clink of instruments making all three instinctively straighten.
Kneeling to examine the wound, he caught Obito's eyes drifting to the reflection off the intern badge pinned to his chest.
"You work at the hospital?!"
Obito's shout nearly knocked over the alcohol bottle.
Kakashi's gaze, however, was fixed on Taichi's hands as they deftly cut the gauze.
"There's grit in the wound," he noted.
Sunlight filtered through frosted glass, scattering dappled light over the treatment bed.
Taichi lifted a cotton ball with tweezers.
"Rin, this might sting."
The moment the alcohol touched skin, Rin clenched the sheet in her fists.
Obito immediately shoved his arm toward her.
"Bite me if you have to!"
"Idiot. You'll get in the way," Kakashi muttered, holding Obito back, though his eyes never left Taichi's hands.
The cotton ball, soaked in iodine, traced steady concentric circles around the wound—his wrist as steady as if forming hand seals.
"Wildcat-type ninja beast?" Taichi turned her leg slightly; the claw marks had an unnatural bluish tinge under the light.
Kakashi nodded. "Poisoned claws?"
"Just ordinary inflammation."
Taichi reached for a pale green ointment from the cart.
"Big Sister Nonō taught me how to identify over two hundred kinds of beast venom."
The cooling touch of the ointment made Rin relax.
Obito leaned in so close his nose was almost against Taichi's hand.
"Your technique's better than the med-nin team's!"
The cart's wheels gave a sudden, ear-piercing squeak as Chief Fujita stepped into the doorway, medical chart in hand.
"Taichi, Bed Three needs—" She stopped mid-sentence, eyes sweeping over the three children in their ninja academy uniforms. "Once you're done here, come pick up a fresh set of sutures."
The moment the door clicked shut, Obito leapt to his feet.
"That was the chief of the trauma ward, wasn't it? My uncle says she once made a chunin cry during training!"
Kakashi's pupils tightened—recognition from the head of the medical corps carried more weight than any exam score.
"Let's begin the treatment."
Green chakra bloomed in Taichi's hands, casting a soft glow over Rin's wounded leg. The tiny beads of blood welling from the claw marks floated upward as if weightless.
Obito's jaw hung open while the ragged flesh seemed to smooth itself under invisible fingers.
Kakashi's fists clenched unconsciously.
When the chakra's glow finally faded, Rin bent her knee cautiously.
"It doesn't hurt at all!" she said, hopping down from the bed. Obito's eyes turned red as he fought back tears—unsuccessfully.
"That's… great…"
"You'll need to change the dressing twice a day," Taichi said, tearing open a sterile packet of gauze. "And no strenuous activity for the next three days."
As he bent over to jot down her chart notes, Kakashi suddenly asked, "When did you learn the Mystical Palm Technique?"
"Not long after the school break," Taichi replied, fishing fruit candies from his coat pocket and passing them around. "An ANBU operative got burned by an explosive tag—Chief Fujita had me attempt to reconnect his nerves."
Obito's hands trembled as he unwrapped the candy. Rin, meanwhile, noticed the faint burn scars on Taichi's right index finger.
Outside, the lunch bell rang, and the scent of rice balls drifted into the air, mingling with the smell of antiseptic.
"Want to try the hospital cafeteria's miso soup?" Taichi asked as he tidied up the instruments. Obito opened his mouth to answer, but his stomach answered first with a loud growl.
The four of them crowded onto the staff lounge's long bench, sunlight catching the silver badge pinned to Taichi's chest.
"Medical corps lets students intern?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the umeboshi in his bento.
"It was Lady Tsunade's recommendation," Taichi said, snapping apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. "The Hokage personally approved it."
Obito nearly choked on his rice ball, and Rin quickly passed him a cup of barley tea. In the fogged glass of her cup, Taichi's voice continued, recounting the night he followed the emergency team on a 4 a.m. call.
"Last week, an old woman had an asthma attack—I carried the oxygen tank for seven blocks," he said, pointing to a bruise on his knee. "Honestly, it was tougher than taijutsu drills."
"There's still iodine on your arm," Rin pointed out, poking his sleeve.
Without a word, Kakashi moved the fried shrimp from his own lunch into Taichi's box—a silent gesture of gratitude he'd learned from his father. Obito rummaged through his pockets and finally produced his most prized possession: a rare First Hokage trading card.
As the afternoon cicadas droned beyond the screen window, Chief Fujita's footsteps sounded in the hall. The three children scrambled to pack up their lunch boxes, and Rin popped the last slice of pickled radish into Taichi's mouth.
"Don't forget—training in the back mountain next week! You're coming!" Obito shouted from the doorway.
Sunlight slanted into the now-empty treatment room. Taichi bent to pick up Obito's dropped goggles, the indicator light on the sterilizer shifting from red to green. The surgical tools gleamed coldly inside, and for a moment he remembered his clumsy first attempt at bandaging under Nonō's guidance.
A shadow of clouds swept over the hospital's outer wall. Taichi adjusted the slightly crooked intern badge on his coat, the wind lifting its hem to reveal the short blade strapped to his back.
Ever since the spy incident had exposed his shortcomings in swordsmanship, Taichi had made it a point to practice drawing his blade whenever he found a spare moment—even here in the hospital.
---