Academy Arc 12

"Goddamn it Shinji, did you really have to carve me up like this?" Sasuke hissed, now shirtless and lying on the grass.

"Stop whining already. It worked, didn't it?" I responded as the soft green glow of medical chakra emanating from my palm washed over the numerous cuts on his skin, some of which slowly closing upon receiving the treatment.

"…yeah it did." Sasuke muttered under his breath and I hid the concern from my expression.

Following the fight and subsequent revelation of his reawakened Sharingan, he cooled off after I explained to him why I had done what I did and why I said what I said. He reluctantly accepted the reasoning behind my actions but was still nursing a grudge. He might have understood that I was only trying to help him, but still resented the words I said to him. More specifically, he hated that it was true.

I tried to argue back that if what I said was true that he wouldn't have found the will to fight back and awaken his Sharingan, but the damage was done. I contemplated if what I did was the right thing to do – forcefully awakening his dojutsu but in exchange potentially sabotaging the relationship we have built up over the years.

Did the ends justify the means? Or would we be able to move on from this like nothing ever happened. Time would tell.

We shared a moment of silence, a little uncomfortable if I was being completely honest, as I finished healing him up. Most of the cuts on him were shallow, only skin deep and effective at drawing blood but not so much life-threatening nor particularly hazardous to his overall health. There was only one that cut deep enough to leave a scar, and that was the gash under his right eye.

"…and that's about it. You're good to go." I said, releasing the medical ninjutsu and letting the green glow of medical chakra fade away.

He sat up and examined his body, satisfied that at least he looked no worse for wear than when we first started. The only indication of him being in a bloody and brutal fight just 30 minutes before was the blood stains left on his clothes and skin.

"Oh, but the cut on below your eye, that's going to leave a scar." I mentioned while wiping off the blood from my hands from coming into contact with his skin with a rag.

"That's fine." He remarked before getting up and putting on the spare shirt he brought. There was another uncomfortable silence that settled between us, as neither knew how to carry on the conversation.

Trying to lighten the mood, I added, "Well, you can probably get the scar removed if you go to the hospital. My medical ninjutsu isn't as good as y'know, actual medic nin. You could get your pretty face back again."

Sasuke shook his head, and looked back at me, "No. I… I'm going to keep it. To remind myself."

"…remind yourself of what?"

"Of my resolve."

"I see."

"Hey Shinji."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For helping me."

"Hmph, well if you're so grateful, I could take that wakizashi as payment for services."

"Fuck off."

---------

The green glow of the medical ninjutsu faded and the whimpering of the little dog on the examination table stopped. I stopped the jutsu and examined the area where I was healing. Finding no blemish except for the patch of bald skin that was once a bleeding wound, I was satisfied.

The dog appeared pleased with the treatment too as it got up and started licking my face excitedly.

"Alright, alright. Good girl." I chuckled while ruffling the excited ninken who was way too into licking me.

Next to me, Hana breathed out with some amazement, "A bona fide genius eh? Who would'a thought?"

I grinned at her victoriously, still remembering her doubts about my ability from when I first started my apprenticeship a year ago.

When she started teaching me, my medical ninjutsu mentor refused to even go into the jutsu side of things without making sure I was up to scratch on the theory. It was admittedly frustrating since I really wanted to just pick up the skills for them and just as quickly bid farewell to a short but sweet apprenticeship. But no, Hana insisted that I needed to have a good foundation before I could even begin thinking about the chakra side of things.

She had me slowly making my way through the theory and then the chakra-less side of medicine such as basic first aid, diagnosis and then more advanced surgical techniques like stitching and grafting. It was too painstakingly slow for my taste, and even worse I could not create a skill for them even with the Gamer System. So I had to learn everything from scratch with pure effort and tenacity.

However, I myself was surprised at how quickly I picked things up. I swear I was never this book smart in my previous life, and my only guess was the INT stat boosting my intelligence somehow.

Additionally, since I needed the practical experience of dealing with injuries and illnesses, I was tasked with helping Hana out at the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic both as part of my training and also a way to compensate Hana for her time. Not that she allowed me access to her patients without her overbearing supervision of course. While Hana had a more relaxed attitude compared to other medic-nins who would not have even considered teaching someone who was still in the academy, but when it came to her practice, she was as no-nonsense as the strictest sensei.

Neither did I mind assisting her at the clinic, since I received a daily quest to help out at the clinic which meant a steady supply of EXP and ryo, which were the rewards for the quests; plus increased REP with the pets, their owners, Inuzuka clan members and Hana herself. Kiba was slightly sulky now that I had less time to hang out with him, but sometimes he would visit me at the clinic to even things out.

It was only just a month ago that Hana began imparting the actual jutsus to me, starting from the basic Shindan (Diagnosis) technique that allowed me to use chakra to probe a patient to determine the underlying causes of their condition or for signs of injury not visible to the naked eye, and then working up to Dokunuki (Poison Removal) techniques and then just two days before I started on the Chiyute jutsu (Healing Hand) – the basic healing jutsu that repaired physical damage.

I was told that the Healing Hand technique was the final barrier an apprentice needed to overcome before they could proudly call themselves a medic nin. It was also the precursor to learning the more advanced Shousen (Mystical Hand) technique that could allow for a medic nin to straight up perform surgeries with just their chakra alone.

My flawless performance of the Healing Hands technique thus represented that in the eyes of the medic nin community, I could proudly call myself a medic nin, albeit still uncertified.

Hana saw my victorious grin and her eyebrow twitched. "Don't get cocky kid, you still have a long way to go before you start going around telling people I taught you."

I pouted at her claims, even though I knew that she didn't really mean it. She had bragged to me that it only took her a year to become proficient at the Healing Hands technique, which was an achievement impressive enough to warrant her the position of running the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic at age 15. The fact that it only took me, an academy student, a month, was a feat nearly unprecedented.

Not to say that it was a fair comparison, since when it came to jutsus I automatically created the skill once I understood how it worked and the system would auto-correct my mistakes too. Additionally, my progress in chakra control was also unbelievably fast thanks to the system. I was already half way to fully maxing [Water Walking]'s level with Hana's help and constant practice with medical ninjutsu.

It was like a cycle of exponential growth – using medical ninjutsu improved my chakra control; having better chakra control improved my medical ninjutsu; so on and so forth. Add to that Hana's tips, tricks and advice on how to sharpen my control for medical ninjutsu purposes meant that my chakra control was nearly on the same level as Hana's own.

Seeing my pout, Hana relented, "…fine, you're incredibly amazing and I am in awe of your talent. Happy now?".

She continued grumbling under her breath, from which I picked up something like 'one month' and 'stupid geniuses making me look bad'. I could tell she was upset but at the same time proud of my achievement.

Deciding to give her some credit, I bowed to her and added, "I couldn't have done it without your help Hana-sensei. You're an incredibly amazing teacher and I am in awe of your talent. Thank you."

Hana turned back at me, slightly stunned before breaking out into laughter, "Well that is to be expected of the great me of course."

She approached me and put me into a headlock before ruffling my hair, "Ah my disciple is so cute, you sure have a silver tongue eh? All the girls at the academy must go crazy for you."

As she pulled me closer, I suppressed the urge to blush when I felt the swell of her chest press against my face.

Recently, I discovered that I was going through something horrendous that I never thought I would experience again – the horror of puberty. I didn't know whether it was genetics or the gamer system or whatever, but when puberty hit me, it hit me hard. Along with a growth spurt also came with it the inconveniences that accompanied puberty.

My mind was one of a thirty something adult, but my body belonged to a teenager positively radiating hormones, which naturally led to some… reactions to Hana's habit of showing excessive skinship, that is, the physical intimacy such as acts of hugging and some roughhousing.

Worse yet, the older girl was perfectly aware of the effects she had on my growing body. Or in her words, the first time such a physical reaction occurred, she told me to my face, "You smell like cum." Needless to say, I was completely thrown off by her comment and contemplated ending the apprenticeship right there and then.

Hana had laughed at my reaction and then revealed that she was just teasing, but since then she took real pleasure watching me try and compose myself whenever she 'subtly' unbuttoned her blouse to reveal some cleavage claiming it was 'too hot' or bending over to pick something up for just a few moments too long to be considered appropriate or even blatantly shoving my face in her chest just like right now.

I knew that she wasn't attracted to me in that way after checking her status with [Observe]. The teenage girl simply enjoyed my reactions from her unsubtle attempts at teasing a 'genius', getting some satisfaction from cracking the usually impassive appearance I put on.

I would die before admitting to anyone, but in truth I did enjoy the view and the attention, as unbecoming as it may be. I was still a red-blooded male who enjoyed the affections of the opposite sex even if I was stuck in the body of a literal child at the moment.

"Hana-sensei. Could you please let go of me?" I requested politely.

"Ara, is my genius disciple being shy? Kyaa, so cute!!" She squealed out and pressed her chest against the side of my face even further.

I deadpanned and replied, "No, because Tsume-dono is looking at you like she's thinking if she should call the police."

Shocked, Hana immediately released me, standing at attention and sputtered out, "Wait kaa-san, I can explain!" But upon looking around and finding any trace of the Inuzuka matriarch anywhere, my sensei realised that she had been tricked and spun towards me angrily only to catch me snickering at her antics.

According to the Inuzuka's system of hierarchy, Hana's mother was the undisputed top-dog of the clan. And as her daughter, Hana could be considered as having only one person above her in the family. But that also meant that if there was one person she feared, it was her mother. Which I found out and quite often used to my advantage since the Inuzuka matriarch often treated me like a second son due to my relationship with both Kiba and her daughter. She also pitied my background as an orphan, thinking I lacked the affection only a mother could give.

"Hoh, so you think that's funny huh?" Hana asked threateningly before slowly walking towards me and unbuttoning the first two buttons of her shirt, "When I catch you, you're gonna get- well you're gonna get the time of your life Shinji-kun~"

Tsk tsk, seriously Hana, you can't threaten me with a good time.