Hidden Leaf South Gate.
The voice arrived before the person did.
"GUY!!!"
A deep green blur sprang from beside the gatepost, moving with a speed that startled the Chunin on duty.
Guy skidded to a halt, then imdiately launched himself forward.
"DAD!!!"
The two green figures collided in the center of the South Gate.
First ca a loud *smack* as their palms collided.
Then, they simultaneously gave each other a thumbs-up.
And then—
Their teeth.
Two rows of brilliant white teeth flashed in the afternoon sun. Kitahara Kaede squinted.
"Guy! You're back! How was the mission?"
"Dad! It went perfectly! I used the improved Leaf Hurricane in actual combat!"
"That's my boy! Tell all about it!"
"Two Chunin! I held off two of them all by myself!"
"Two Chunin?!"
Dai's voice jumped an octave. He grabbed Guy by the shoulders, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Good! As expected of my son!"
"As expected of my father!"
Kitahara Kaede stood five ters away, watching the father and son.
Kurenai Yuhi had also stopped in her tracks.
Neither of them spoke.
It was simply impossible to interrupt a scene like this.
Dai was half a head taller than Guy, with broader shoulders and thicker muscle definition in his arms.
Might Dai—the eternal Genin.
The man currently smiling as radiantly as his son was soone who had mastered the Eight Inner Gates up to the Gate of Death.
To save the "sprouts" of the Hidden Leaf, he had single-handedly crushed the Seven Ninja Swordsn of the Mist Village.
And he had died there.
Dai's gaze shifted past Guy, landing on Kitahara Kaede.
"You're the sparring partner Guy ntioned?"
Kaede nodded.
Dai let go of Guy and walked over, scanning him from head to toe.
His gaze lingered on Kaede's shoulders, swept across his arms and abdon, and finally settled on his ankles.
It was the look of a taijutsu practitioner evaluating another person's skeletal structure and muscle distribution.
Guy often looked at people this way, but his father was far more ticulous.
A thought suddenly occurred to Kaede.
Guy had learned to wear that green spandex from Dai.
And right now, Dai was looking at him with an expression that clearly said, *'This kid has a great build.'*
No way...
"Not bad, not bad at all!"
Dai grinned and patted Kaede on the shoulder.
"Well-proportioned fra, great upper-to-lower body ratio, capable of balancing both power and speed. You're a piece of fine material!"
Kaede didn't respond.
*'Fine material is fine, just stop right there. Don't say another word.'*
Dai withdrew his hand. The smile remained on his face, but his tone turned serious.
"I know how Guy is. He spends all day chasing Kakashi, shouting challenges at him. People find him annoying and avoid him."
Dai scratched the back of his head, a gesture identical to Guy's.
"When he trained, he didn't even have anyone to talk to."
He looked at Kaede.
"The fact that you're willing to spar with him—I thank you on his behalf."
Kaede remained silent for a mont.
"He's helped too."
Dai looked at him for a couple of seconds, didn't press further, and gave a wide grin.
"Right! Co over for dinner next ti! My cooking isn't great, but I make plenty!"
Guy leaned in from behind, throwing an arm around Dai's shoulder.
"Dad! Kaede was amazing on this mission! He figured out there was an ambush just by observing bird nests!"
"Bird nests?"
"Yes! The chicks in the nest were chirping, but the adult birds were gone, which ant soone nearby had scared them off!"
Dai paused.
He turned to look at Kaede, his gaze different than before.
"Interesting." Dai nodded, saying nothing more.
Guy clapped his hands and turned to Kaede.
"Why don't you take Kurenai to the hospital? That wound on her shoulder needs to be treated imdiately."
Kaede nodded.
"Yeah, let's go."
Guy turned back to wave at Kaede.
"Don't forget our sparring session next week!"
Kaede waved back.
Guy took a few steps forward, then turned again.
"Rember to co to my house for dinner!"
Kaede nodded.
As Guy turned for a third ti, his mouth just beginning to open, Dai slapped him on the back of the head.
"Watch where you're walking."
"Oh."
The two green figures walked side by side into the distance, disappearing around a street corner.
Kaede watched them go, then withdrew his gaze.
*'He never had a training partner...'*
He was the sa, though the reasons he and Guy were isolated differed; the result, however, was the sa.
They both trained alone.
Kaede turned around.
Kurenai Yuhi was standing beside him, waiting quietly.
"Let's go."
Kaede began walking toward the village.
Kurenai followed.
As they walked through the afternoon streets, vendors shouted their wares under the warm sun.
When they passed a dango shop, Kaede's pace slowed slightly.
The hospital.
A certain person suddenly flashed through his mind.
*What if I run into Tsunade?*
Kaede thought about it, then suppressed the notion.
Tsunade didn't know him.
The simulator was the simulator; in reality, he had no connection to her.
Even if they stood face-to-face, she would only see him as a strange Chunin.
Moreover, at this point in ti, Tsunade was most likely at a casino.
Even if she were at the hospital, she wouldn't be the one handling a simple wound detox for soone like Kurenai.
He shouldn't run into her.
Kaede quickened his pace.
Kurenai glanced at him.
"What was the Captain thinking just now?"
"Nothing."
They walked in silence for a while.
"Who did the Captain learn dical basics from?"
"Soone very talented."
"Where is she now?"
Kaede paused.
"She's no longer by my side."
...
Hidden Leaf Hospital.
The reception area wasn't particularly busy.
Kaede stood at the registration desk and briefly explained Kurenai's condition.
The dical ninja at the front desk flipped through a ledger.
"Poisoned blade wound to the right shoulder, preliminary treatnt already perford on the front lines... Right. Detoxification and a follow-up exam. It'll be about a thirty-minute wait."
"Fine."
Kaede stepped back to the waiting area and leaned against the wall.
Kurenai followed and sat down beside him.
After a mont of silence, Kurenai's gaze swept across several photographs hanging on the corridor wall, stopping at one in particular.
In the photo, a blonde woman stood before an operating table, surrounded by a circle of dical ninja.
"Lady Tsunade."
Kurenai's tone was filled with respect.
"The founder of the Hidden Leaf's dical system and one of the Sannin. I'd heard of her achievents since I was in the Ninja Academy."
Kaede's gaze fell on the photo.
The Tsunade in the picture looked to be in her early twenties, her blonde twin-tails tied high, her eyes sharp and full of spirit.
Still as beautiful as ever.
Kaede looked away.
"Yeah."
"The toxin analysis system she developed saved the entire Western Front. I heard that even Granny Chiyo of Sunagakure couldn't find a way around it during the Second Great Ninja War."
Kurenai looked at the photo, her eyes shining.
"To be able to study dical ninjutsu under her... that's probably every dical ninja's dream."
She paused.
"Unfortunately, soone of the Sannin's caliber isn't soone you can just et whenever you want."
Kaede didn't respond.
He had not only t her; he had studied under her.
"Captain?"
"Hmm?"
"Aren't you interested?"
"...She's quite impressive."
Kurenai glanced at him.
His reaction was so bland it felt intentional.
Most Hidden Leaf ninja would say a few words when the Sannin were ntioned.
This man seed to be deliberately avoiding the topic.
However, she didn't press him and turned back to the photographs.
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