The next day.
Eiichiro stood at the podium, lecturing about the Will of Fire. Haneul was speechless. He couldn't believe the very first class of the fourth year was about the Will of Fire. If he hadn't checked the schedule, he would have suspected it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's way of getting back at him for ditching the opening ceremony yesterday. But on second thought, the Hokage wouldn't bother targeting a single student.
Haneul tuned out the lecture and took out a Lightning Style ninjutsu scroll. Looking at the text, he was suddenly reminded of Kakashi's Lightning Cutter. It was said that Kakashi had created that jutsu in his youth. Did this count as his youth? In the original story, two ninjutsu were used all the way to the very end: the Rasengan and the Lightning Cutter. Haneul quite wanted to learn them. The Lightning Cutter was out of reach for now, but the Rasengan might be possible.
Time flew by, and soon it was the end of the school day.
"Rin!" Obito Uchiha asked with a wide grin, "I got a cat summon during the break. Do you want to see it?" The Uchiha clan had a good relationship with the ninja cats; their first choice for a summoning animal was often a cat, followed by crows.
"Sorry," Rin Nohara shook her head. "I have to go train today."
"What training?" Obito asked, surprised.
"I'm not sure yet," she explained. "I'm training with Haneul."
"No way!" Obito immediately grew anxious at the mention of his name. "What can he teach you?"
"Haneul is Lady Tsunade's student. He can guide my medical ninjutsu training," Rin said, then paused. "Kakashi will be there too. Do you want to come?"
"No!" Obito refused without thinking, only to regret it a moment later. He didn't want to train with Haneul, but if he wasn't there, he couldn't imagine what might happen to Rin. "I... I'll go with you," he said, his face red with embarrassment.
"Let's go," Kakashi Hatake stood up, ending the conversation. "Haneul is waiting for us."
"Let me go ask," Rin said, walking a few steps ahead. "Haneul, can Obito come with us?"
"Sure," Haneul said, not at all surprised. Where there was Rin, there was Obito.
The group arrived at Tsunade's house. Kurenai wasn't with them; she had to go to Maruboshi Kosuke's place for her Water Style training. In the training yard outside the house, Shisui Uchiha had already arrived. After a round of greetings, they each began their own training. Shisui pulled Kakashi to a nearby clearing to spar with their swords. Asuma Sarutobi formed hand seals, practicing a new Wind Style ninjutsu. Only Obito looked around, unsure of what to do.
"Rin," Haneul said, standing in front of a tree and waving her over.
Obito, seeing this, also sidled up. He had to keep an eye on Haneul.
"To become a medical ninja, you must have extremely fine chakra control," Haneul explained as he demonstrated. "Concentrating chakra to the soles of your feet and walking on a tree is the simplest and most effective training."
"I understand!" Rin said, watching him walk up the tree and nodding firmly.
"You go ahead and practice," he said with a light laugh. "After you've mastered tree climbing, you can move on to the next stage."
"Thank you," she said, starting to climb the tree as he had shown.
"Rin! I'll do it with you! Aaaargh!" Obito took two steps and immediately fell, letting out a pitiful scream.
"..." Rin paused, then continued up. Halfway up, she lost her balance and had to jump down.
"Rin! You're so much better than me!" Obito said, getting up and wincing in pain. Rin finally understood why he always had trouble with his fire jutsu. It was a problem with his chakra control.
Haneul paid them no mind and found an empty space to begin his own training. Today, he was going to learn lightning ninjutsu. As for medical ninjutsu and poison-making, he would go to the hospital tomorrow.
"That kid really has the makings of a Hokage," Tsunade thought, watching the group from a nearby window, her arms crossed. A Hokage couldn't be a lone wolf, but the leader of the pack. In other words, they had to be respected and supported. Haneul was already showing this trait. The ninja he interacted with all spoke highly of him, and his peers were willing to train with him. In another ten years, maybe even less, geniuses like Kakashi and Shisui would make a name for themselves. If they supported Haneul, his chances of becoming Hokage would greatly increase.
"A pity he's too young," she sighed. As he had said, even if he were to become Hokage, it would likely be the Fifth. As for the Fourth... Tsunade fell into thought. If she wanted to compete, it was certainly possible. "Why have I been thinking about becoming Hokage so much lately?" she realized, rubbing her forehead. "It's all that kid's fault!"
After the deaths of Hashirama and Nawaki, she had lost interest in the title. But because Haneul kept bringing it up, her mindset had subtly changed.
As night fell, the group finished their training, leaving only Haneul behind to cook for Tsunade.
"Have they gone home?" she asked, sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea.
"Mhm," Haneul nodded. He walked over and glanced at the tea, finding it strange, as it was the first time he had seen her drink it.
"Want some?" she asked, holding the cup out to him.
"Thanks," he said, bending down to take a sip.
"Before I knew it, you've grown so tall," she suddenly remarked.
"What's with you today?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Why so sentimental?"
"It's nothing," she said, putting down the cup. She was conflicted about whether or not to compete for the Hokage position.
"Mhm," he said, looking at her delicate face. "If you've got nothing to do, go gamble a bit. Losing some money will clear your head."
"Can't you say something nice for a change?" she retorted, annoyed. "If I lose money tomorrow, you just wait! I'll make you pay!"
"Hey!" he complained. "You're bullying an honest person!"
"You? Honest?" she laughed, wiggling her bare feet. "There's not an honest bone in your body."
"That's slander!" he said, displeased.
"I am your teacher!" she said, narrowing her eyes.
"Even a teacher can't just say whatever she wants," he said seriously.
"You little brat!" she couldn't help but kick out at him. Haneul leaned back, narrowly avoiding her toes, which were just inches from his face. He turned and fled. "I'm going to make dinner!"
Tsunade watched him disappear and shook her head. That kid is really clever. She closed her eyes, deciding not to think about the Hokage issue anymore.
The next day.
Haneul arrived at the classroom to find Rin Nohara sitting in his seat.
"Haneul," she quickly stood up. "I have some questions I'd like to ask you."
"Go ahead," he said, sitting down beside her. A faint, pleasant scent wafted from her.
"It's about the tree-climbing technique," she said, troubled. "I got halfway up yesterday, but then I couldn't go any further."
"How are you gathering your chakra?" he asked. Tree climbing didn't require a lot of chakra, but it demanded precise control. If there was a problem, it was likely that her chakra wasn't being distributed correctly.
"Let me show you," she said, then rolled up her pant leg and took off her shoe, revealing her fair, bare foot. She took a deep breath and concentrated her chakra at the sole of her foot.
Haneul's gaze sharpened. Although he didn't have the Byakugan, he could vaguely sense the trajectory of her chakra flow.
"H-how is it?" she asked, her face turning red as he stared.
"I see the problem," he said calmly, reaching out and tapping the top of her foot. Rin's body trembled, and she endured the strange sensation as he explained.
"Do you understand now?" he asked after he finished.
"Mhm," she said, quickly putting her shoe back on. "Thank you." Her face was as red as an apple.
"It's nothing," he said, subconsciously patting her head.
Rin was taken aback, her lips parting slightly, but she didn't move away.
"Ah, sorry. Force of habit," he said, realizing his mistake and quickly retracting his hand. He was used to patting Kurenai's head.
"It's okay," Rin said in a small voice, looking down. "I... I don't mind."
"Try climbing the tree again after school today," he said with a nod. "If you run into any more problems, come find me."
"Mhm," Rin got up. "I... I'll go back to my seat now!"
The dismissal bell rang. The group went to Tsunade's house as usual, but this time without Haneul, who had gone to the hospital. Rin stood before the same tree from yesterday and took a deep breath. Following his instructions, she concentrated her chakra and began to climb, step by step. This time, she successfully reached the top. A smile broke out on her face.
"Rin! You're amazing!" Obito praised, having watched her. He, in contrast, was far behind, unable to even get a third of the way up.
"It was Haneul who taught me," she said cheerfully.
"...?" Obito felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
-------
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