Left standing in the open by Kaito, Murakami closed his eyes and carefully sensed the area for a few seconds and noticed that Kaito's presence was absent.
'That must've been a clone then.' Murakami concluded and turned off his mental energy and opened his eyes. 'Now…what to do…'
His gaze fell to the two boys he had a clear understanding of from observation and considered his next move carefully.
He could remain the aloof person he projected or he could genuinely engage with them as much as he could. But…
'I really don't have it in me to coddle kids.' he shook his head.
Murakami understands how difficult it was to change a person genuinely set on his path. He also understands that at the end of the day, it's the individual himself who advises themselves.
It was like trying to make a smoke addict see the disadvantages of smoking. No matter how horrifying it may be, the moment they get their hands on some cash, their next thought is to smoke.
The upside in Murakami's case is the fact that they were 12 years old so their minds were still mouldable.
The only problem is the level of maturity kids in this world exhibit.
"How about we find someplace to sit and get to chat amongst ourselves." Murakami said, breaking the silence in the field.
"Uh..yeah, that's a great idea." Hideki, who had been stunned by Kaito's disappearance, collected himself and said. "I was just thinking the same thing." He added.
"What do you think, Sora-kun?" Murakami turned to the last member of their team.
"I've got nothing better to do anyways." He said and looked away coolly.
'An interesting kid.' Murakami thought as he nodded outwardly. "Then I believe I have the perfect place." He said and turned. "Come with me."
The two looked at each other before falling behind Murakami.
Although they had their respective thoughts about this moody teammate of theirs, they couldn't exactly voice them out.
As they were lost in thought, Murakami's calm words cut through their thoughts.
"Hideki-kun, you have quite the strong body for a kid and the skills to match so you have some understanding on what strength is."
Murakami paused at this point. "What do you think strength is?"
Motomiya Hideki was a civilian kid with a Shinobi father and a normal seamstress. Because his father was Chunin, he grew up under a pseudo-systematic upbringing.
Strength was strength…wasn't it?
Was his honest answer to Murakami's question, but just as he was about to voice his thoughts, Sora curious voice beat him to it.
"Strength is the ability to perform a technique, isn't it?"
Nani!?
Hideki paused and looked at his teammate. "What are you talking about, strength is strength. As long as you're the winner in a brawl, you are the one with the most strength, aren't you?"
"You muscle head." Sora sneered in disdain. "Technique is a part of strength, just as power is a part of strength. Technique directs how power is used effectively and that constitutes strength."
"Huh?" Hideki looked like someone who got lost but Sora ignored him and looked at Murakami walking a few paces ahead of them.
"Why ask such a complicated question to such a simpleton?" He asked and without missing a beat, Murakami's reply came.
"Because he's the only one who can relate." He paused and allowed Sora to catch up. "And I do appreciate your answer, so let me ask you this."
Both Sora and Hideki reached Murakami and stopped. "Do you think you have the strength to go up against Kaito-sensei?"
"Huh?"
Hideki and Sora expected different questions like. "Don't you think we should establish who's got the most strength." "Why don't we decide who's stronger?"
Hideki aside, Sora had already been offended by Murakami's opening remark leading to his question. He felt like he was being looked down upon considering he didn't exactly look strong.
"You both heard me." Murakami said. "Do you think you have the strength to go up against Kaito-sensei Sensei tomorrow?"
The three exchanged glances amongst themselves, each with their own thoughts.
"Why would we need to fight Kaito-sensei…and tomorrow?" Sora broke the momentary silence.
Hideki nodded.
"He only told us to be returned to the training ground tomorrow morning on an empty stomach."
"And why would he do that?" Murakami asked as he glanced between the two. "You think he's gonna prepare breakfast for his cute little students?"
The disdain in his voice could be felt and Hideki's expression fell while Sora's lips twitched.
Although he wasn't the one Murakami was talking to, he felt like it was, because like Hideki, he had thought of that too, but scrubbed it.
Murakami shook his head then turned and continued walking, his hands now crossed behind him.
"Are you saying we're going to fight him?" Sora asked as he followed behind him.
Murakami nodded. "Highly probable."
"We won't be sent back to the academy for any reason, so-"
"But Sensei said he'd do that." Hideki's annoyed voice interrupted Murakami.
"He said it'd be the least of our worries." Sora corrected and turned to Murakami. "Ignore the muscle head."
Murakami however shook his head. "We would have time to discuss in much details in a while, in the meantime, how about we discuss amongst ourselves and set some simple boundaries?"
…
…
Some Hours Ago.
The posted list outside the academy gates was crowded with students by mid-morning as Aiko pushed through the throng, her eyes scanning the names quickly.
She found hers under Team 9: Tanaka Aiko, Yoshida Miko, Fujiwara Yui, and Sato Kenji.
(A/N: I don't remember giving Aiko a surname, but if I hadn't, this would be it for now.)
Three girls and one boy, just as she'd hoped.
'Too bad I am not in the same team as Murakami.' she thought but then shook her head.
Although she admired him, she didn't like his rigidity to structure.
'Calls it discipline, tsk.' she clicked her tongue in distaste and turned to leave for the classroom, the names of her teammates on her lips.
Unlike Murakami, she was quite familiar with her classmates so she knew who Miko, Yui and Kenji were.
They were not in the standard three man cell, but four. Aiko had an idea why. They were all in the Medical Jutsu class…all except Kenji, but she couldn't be bothered to care about that.
If there was one thing she learnt from listening to Murakami talk like an old man, it's that you waste mental energy thinking about things you can't control.
As she reached the classroom, she didn't waste time and located the three following which the four of them sat clustered near the front.
Miko had short brown hair and sharp eyes, Yui, quiet and wide-eyed with a braid down her back, and Kenji slouched in his seat, arms crossed, looking bored.
Aiko took the empty chair between Miko and Yui, offering a bright smile.
"Hey! I'm Aiko, and from the looks of it, we'll be a team from today."
Miko nodded. "Yoshida Miko. Nice to meet you."
"Fujiwara Yui," the other girl added softly, fidgeting with her sleeve.
"Kenji," the boy grunted from behind them, not looking up.
Before Aiko could say more, the door slid open. A woman in her mid-20s entered. She was lean, with short black hair tied back and the standard chūnin vest over a medic's white coat.
Her eyes were tired but kind, and a faint scent of herbal salve followed her into the room.
"I'm Inoue Mika," she said, her voice calm but firm. "Team 9, with me."
With that, she turned and left the classroom. The four exchanged glances before scurrying to follow with Kenji grumbling to himself about how ended up being in the medic unit.
Aiko on the other hand, marvelled at the turn of events.
Murakami wasn't wrong. The classes she frequented regularly in addition to the general classes decided the unit you're assigned under as a Genin.
And with the war raging on, Konoha needed more healers fast.
Aiko felt a small thrill; since beginning her training with Murakami months ago, she had seen qualitative improvement with chakra control.
The theoretical knowledge aside, she was confident she would make a real difference.
The hallway was quiet, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the wooden floors as they followed Inoue toward the village's main path.
As they walked, Inoue glanced back at them.
"You've been assigned to me because Konoha needs medics more than ever. The front lines are bleeding out faster than we can train healers. Starting tomorrow, you report to the health center at dawn. Expect long hours: mornings on chakra control exercises, afternoons shadowing in the wards, evenings on medical theory and herbology. No combat missions until I say you're ready. Your job is to stay alive long enough to keep others that way."
Aiko nodded eagerly, the scent of herbs already faint in the air as they neared the health center. "Sensei, I don't understand why I was assigned to your team?"
Hearing the question that didn't sound like a question Inoue glanced at him then shook her head. "If you don't know how would I know?"
Inoue's mouth twitched in exasperation because she was also curious. What was the point in adding this guy in her team? Like she didn't have much on her hands already.
They soon arrived at the health center, a large building with wide doors. It wasn't the massive structure it'll turn out to be in the future, but none of them knew that.
Inoue led them to a small side room filled with scrolls, herbs, and practice dummies.
"For today, observe the ward rotations. Learn the internal and external layout of the hospital and then have some rest for the rest of the afternoon, tomorrow starts early. Dismissed."
She didn't really care if they came tomorrow, in fact, it'd be great if they didn't. That way she wouldn't have to partition more brain power into teaching the four from scratch.
The four genin exchanged glances as Inoue left. Aiko grinned first, breaking the quiet.
"Okay, that was not what I was expecting! But exciting, right? I'm Aiko, in case any of you forgot, let's chat and get to know each other as we check out the place."
With Aiko in the lead, Miko and Yui followed along and Kenji had no other options than to follow along.
Hours later, the group had managed to learn the necessary rooms they were allowed access to within the hospital and the ones they weren't.
The external layout of the hospital was also explored by them while they chattered endlessly.
Aiko cheerfully talked about how she couldn't wait to learn medical ninjutsu which Miko and Yui mirrored but Kenji just looked lost as he followed along.
Miko shared that she came from a civilian family with a history of healers; Yui admitted she was nervous but excited; Kenji grunted that he just wanted to "understand what he was doing here."
As they wandered, the sun was quickly setting, leaving the group debating where to sit and talk more, Aiko suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Oh! I know the perfect spot. A friend of mine, Murakami, invited me over for dinner tonight. Said I could bring my new team if I wanted. He's got this nice place, and the food's always good. You guys in?"
Miko tilted her head. "Murakami? The quiet one from class?"
"That guy?" Kenji muttered more to himself than to Aiko. He thought Murakami was an orphan. How come he had a place of his own? Was he talking about the orphanage?
He glanced at Aiko then shook his head. That seemed unlikely. If it was, Aiko wouldn't have said "his place".
"Sure, why not." Miko nodded after a brief pause. She had no impression of Murakami other than the fact that he was always quiet and expressionless.
Yui brightened. "Sounds fun."
Unlike Miko, she had some impression of Murakami, though it was unclear how.
Kenji had given up trying to understand and just shrugged. "Free food? Yeah."
Aiko beamed. "Great! Let's head over now."