Inspired by my other drabble "Quick Thinking" and my other collection "Team 7 Moments." What would it have been like for Minato, Kakashi, and Obito when Rin first started her medical training? Here's the result. :)
The usual disclaimers.
Minato held his hand up to pause the spar currently going on between himself and his two punctual students just as Obito jogged up to the group.
"Sorry I'm late, everyone," he said with his normal sheepish grin. "A shopkeeper was having trouble opening his store because the door hinges were stuck, and there was already a line forming and he still needed to prepare..." Obito trailed off, seeing the skeptical, impatient expressions on his teammates' faces.
Minato gave him a flat look, and Kakashi crossed his arms. "So his lack of preparation was a good enough reason for you to be late for your own duties?" Kakashi berated him. If this weren't so common, he probably wouldn't feel the need to say anything, or if their sensei would just crack down on the rules, it might not be a problem at all. Kakashi stared at Obito, waiting for him to try to come up with a valid answer, and Obito just stood there staring back with a blank, "racking-his-brain" expression and a slightly open mouth.
Their sensei sighed and shook his head. "Anyway," he began, "now that we're all here…" He looked around at the three of them, Rin's eyes glittering and the boys both looking at him with mild interest about the day's training plans. He grinned. "Now that we're all here, Rin has some exciting news."
Both boys looked at her, and she suddenly blushed. She was so rarely the center of attention that she must not be used to everyone looking at her at the same time. She smiled shyly, joining her hands behind her back.
"Rin's going to start training as a medic," Minato told them. "Her chakra control makes her an ideal candidate for it, and Tsunade-hime wants every team to have a medic if possible from now on. The Sandaime Hokage is backing her up on this, though he's not making it mandatory if a team doesn't have anyone suited for that type of jutsu." He paused with a proud smile on his face. "We do, though, so I recommended her for the preliminary training last week, and she passed with flying colors."
Obito was beaming at his friend now. "Way to go, Rin! That's awesome!"
Kakashi simply nodded his approval, and Minato went on. "From now on, Rin will only be training with us two days a week. She'll spend the other 3 days working with the medical corps."
"That's great! Hey Rin, how long until you're a full-fledged medic?" Obito asked, still grinning at her apparent promotion.
Rin looked to Minato, who just smiled at her and nodded for her to speak for herself. "They told me it will take a few years for me to complete all the training, but I should be able to use some basic healing jutsus in real missions in just a couple of months," she said with a small, excited smile. "And the first year will be the most intense training, and after that they'll add me to hospital rotations so I can get more experience."
Obito just grinned for a moment, and Kakashi nodded again. "Congratulations," the masked chuunin said finally, and it even sounded like he meant it.
"As long as Rin has medic training every other day, we'll probably be taking fewer overnight missions during the week and more single-day missions. I expect the two of you," Minato pinned Obito with a look, "to use the extra free time to train with your own jutsus and read up on whatever kind of ninjutsu strikes your interest."
Obito gulped and Kakashi rolled his eyes again. "H-hai, sensei," the Uchiha stammered. Kakashi smirked and nodded. He'd been meaning to find time to start studying the language of sealing jutsus, or maybe lightning chakra nature manipulation.
"And Rin," Minato added with a teasing glint in his eyes, "your reduced time training with us means we're going to have to step it up when you are here. We don't want you going soft from sitting and studying all the time."
Rin sighed dramatically and crossed her arms in an overly-offended pout, her way of accepting her sensei's statement while still managing to tease him back.
Minato suddenly clapped his hands together. "Okay, then. For today, we'll start with the standard three laps around the training grounds for Rin and Kakashi. Obito, four for you for being late."
Three heads bobbed a "hai!" and then two of them started jogging toward the starting point they always used. Kakashi paused and looked up at Minato to find the Yellow Flash already looking at him.
"Yes?" Minato asked.
"Sensei, does this mean I can punch Obito a little harder from now on for always being late?"
Minato fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Get going, Kakashi," he chuckled.
I have at least one more almost written, and another little idea turning. If anyone has suggestions to offer/request for non-medic moments, though, I'd love to hear them. Especially Obito moments.