We got to Konoha within a week, thankfully. There were no other major distractions, though since Obito and I spent what felt like nearly every waking moment trying to get used to each other's movements and time our attacks precisely (mostly using Kakashi or Sensei as targets), I could easily have missed something that one of the others saw, assessed, and dealt with. Rikuto's stock of arrows seemed to shrink every time I turned around, though we ate pretty well with all the game he seemed to bring down as collateral. Not that any of us were incapable of hunting, but he seemed bored and our team was a little busy with multiple accounts of attempted murder.

I mean, sure, technically we were only ambushing Kakashi when Sensei was busy and we weren't quite as dangerous together as he was alone, while jumping Sensei only took place at mealtimes. There was no actual killing intent involved.

Honestly, I think Sensei wrote it off as typical team roughhousing.

I kind of wondered what his team—the old Team Jiraiya—had gotten up to in the past, since I didn't know anything about them other than what they had looked like in a team photo. I assumed they were all dead, though. All of Jiraiya's students sans Naruto ended up dead one way or another, even though it was completely unfair.

And one of them had even ended up killing him. One of Minato-sensei's students could end up being the cause of his death as well. Sasuke had attempted to permanently kill Orochimaru for power…

I honestly think the only Sannin not to pass down some kind of bizarre murder-succession ritual is Tsunade, though she only has two students total from what I remember.

Anyway, back to our triumphant return.

Sensei got the gate guards to open the door, while the Chinatsugumi and their wagons finally made it back to civilization. So did we, of course, but Konoha was pretty wild when you were a ninja. Not because it was dangerous to live in, as a rule, but there was always something going on and about half of it involved shinobi arts somehow. I could at least guess that half of the shinobi in town were probably training, recovering from training, or preparing for more training. Stuff was probably exploding or being stabbed in every single training area.

It was nice and sunny, though the angle told us that it was past lunch and also well past time to get some good old-fashioned comfort food in celebration of making it back from a B-ranked mission alive.

Or C-ranked. We hadn't made the rank change official yet, we hadn't gotten paid, and we hadn't checked into the hospital to make sure we hadn't all caught some kind of foreign death plague that only showed up after the infectious phase was over.

Okay, so I was paranoid.

"Obito, Kakashi, head to the Hokage's office. I'll meet you there in a bit." Sensei said, once the last of the merchant wagons had cleared the gates and set off for the market district.

"Sensei?" Obito began, and Kakashi blinked.

That was about when Sensei picked me up by the back of my jacket like I was an unruly kitten. "I'll be taking Kei-kun to the hospital for a quick checkup. As soon as I know for sure that our misadventures didn't cause any trouble, we'll join you." Sensei waved with his other hand. "Try not to kill each other before we get back!"

Fuck.

And then we popped out of reality and then back in between blinks. We'd apparently traveled the entire length of the village and ended up in the hospital foyer due to the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. I guess it was nice to know that Sensei really did have the hospital tagged, for future reference.

"I hope you have a story for Mom about how I almost died." I said, still being lugged around.

"As long as you get a clean bill of health, I think that's your problem." Sensei replied, carrying me over to the receptionist's desk. Somehow, it was Ayako again.

"Oh, hello! How have you been, Kei-chan?" she asked, leaning forward over her paperwork. "And you, Namikaze-san?"

"I'm being a dead fish." I said flatly.

"We just returned from a C-ranked mission and Kei had a mishap with a river." Sensei replied. "I'd like to make sure my student's all right before we head in for a briefing—I've heard that water in the lungs is a serious risk for pneumonia."

"Oh! In that case, I'll get you checked into the mission-priority office right away." She scribbled something on her paperwork and handed a clipboard to Sensei. "Fill this out in the third room on your right."

Sensei nodded and I took the papers. He didn't set me down once.

We were shuttled through the waiting room so quickly that I barely had the time to scribble my name into the Patient Name box. We ended up in one of the smaller examination rooms, since it wasn't as though either of us were totally at our full growth, and because we were both conscious. Most casualties either weren't or wished that they weren't, and there were both stretchers and surgeries waiting for them.

"So, Kei-kun, how long have you been able to sense chakra?" Sensei asked, curious. I didn't really sense any particular feeling from him, but I also knew that there were ways to get around my chakra sense, now. Mostly because I was inexperienced, but that was really all that was needed.

"Pretty much forever." I said, shrugging.

Being able to sense chakra, while unusual, wasn't precisely rare. It kind of depended on what sort of chakra and under what conditions. Most shinobi could, at close quarters, get a fairly accurate reading on their opponent's level through concrete experience and because chakra could be felt, particularly through blows and through the usage of killing intent. But the range that I had, even if it wasn't much when compared to a Byakugan's much more solid and detailed perception, was abnormal. Sensor-type shinobi, at least in Konoha, tended to be Senju, Yamanaka, or Hyūga -descended. I was a kunoichi descended from two non-clan shinobi, and I hadn't exactly made a spectacle of my usage of my chakra sense. It wasn't the kind of thing that was, say, on the level of having a kekkei genkai or anything like that. It wasn't flashy, but it was useful.

I mostly used my sensing ability as a way to make it so my chakra control was limited solely by my attention span, and to tell where people were without looking. It also made it somewhat easier to copy chakra control techniques off of people, since it wasn't like I was really learning at the same rate or with the same material that my teammates were.

I was starting to see why most new teams were made of genin alone. The differing education and experience levels involved in our team were causes for frustration for everyone.

"Why didn't you mention it before?" Sensei asked.

"It didn't seem like a big deal." I replied. And it hadn't—most shinobi could tell enough from their environment based on other sensory cutes that my own extra perceptive ability was pretty much just compensating. That said, it was probably a little odd to see that awareness in a new genin, even if the chakra sensing was probably actually stunting my other investigative skills a little. "You and Kakashi do pretty much the same thing, though Kakashi uses his nose and I think you use seals somehow."

Sensei's left eyebrow rose. "Obito doesn't have that ability yet, Kei, since he's still new. You are too. And Kakashi and I have been in the field for a while."

No shit, Sherlock, I thought in a burst of petulance. I didn't want to be in the hospital again. Even if the chances of seeing Rin were higher than normal, and I could see Yamaguchi-sensei again (and get criticized), I was also rather tired of always being told to either explain myself or shut up or something in between.

It's at times like this that I wonder how old you are, and if you really did work in retail.

"It's not a criticism, Kei-kun." Sensei said. "It's just that I don't see why you didn't tell anyone."

I frowned. "But…"

I stood out for enough reasons already, didn't I? I was a genius according to other people, my stats were insane, I actually had a weapon specialization, and now I was a known sensor. I'd have happily never have gotten involved in the ninja business at all if I'd been born as, say, the ramen chef Teuchi's first daughter. But I hadn't and now I was neck-deep in the mess and a part of my brain that wasn't the Dreamer or Id was telling me I didn't have enough to make it.

I have some self-doubt problems. Always have. Seems like I always would.

Sensei patted my head. "Kei-kun, it's all right. I was just curious."

No more dreaming of the dead…

I drew my knees up to me chest, even though they'd been dangling off the side of the exam table, and wrapped my arms around them.

"Are you sure you're all right, after what happened on the mission?" Sensei asked, concerned.

"I don't know." I said. "A lot of stuff happened…"

Our team's first out-of-village mission, my first kill, my first near-death experience…

Man, what a shitty month.

"Does anyone even know what happened?" I wondered aloud, because I didn't even really remember if I'd told my story during the early part of the debriefing. I'd been too tired to do or think all that much for a while there.

"I have an idea." Sensei replied. "You engaged an enemy shinobi in combat, and were captured. He was an upper-level chūnin, Kei-kun. It happens sometimes. That's why we're deployed in teams."

No, that wasn't… "There was another one before him." I said, swallowing. "I killed him."

Sensei said nothing for a long moment.

And just as he was about to say something, there was a knock at the door. "Hey, I heard my reckless former student was injured on a mission. Mind opening up?"

Good old Yamaguchi-sensei. But where did he get off calling me a "former" student? As far as I knew, I still wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, and I sure as hell hadn't quit.

"Sure, you can come in." Sensei replied for me, and the door opened, allowing both

"Kei-senpai!" Rin said, since apparently she'd also heard the news and decided to follow along. Or maybe she always followed Yamaguchi-sensei around—I didn't know much about internships, other than the fact that Rin was in one and being an apprentice at the same time. I wasn't sure if she was taking missions at all or if her apprenticeship counted for a lot of them.

"Hey, Rin-chan." I said, uncurling from my defensive ball. "How've you been?"

"Good, but I don't think I can say the same for you." Rin said, grasping my hands in hers. "What happened?"

"Enemy shinobi, mostly." I replied blandly.

"Somehow I doubt you'd attempt to drown yourself for fun." Yamaguchi-sensei said dryly, fishing a stethoscope out of a drawer. He looked at Minato-sensei, "And by the way, where were you when my former student was getting herself killed?"

"Dealing with another seven of them." Sensei said in a somewhat frosty tone.

Yamaguchi-sensei made the sort of face that made me think that he thought that wasn't a good explanation at all. I guess he did like me. Kinda.

…Well, it wasn't like this was exactly the Kakashi vs. Orochimaru confrontation over Sasuke, since none of us were psychopaths, Minato-sensei was a combat shinobi while Yamaguchi-sensei wasn't exactly the same way, and I wasn't going to go off on a crusade for power to kill a nonexistent older sibling due to a brain-frying tattoo, but I could still feel the tension in the air. Minato-sensei and Yamaguchi-sensei didn't seem to be buddies at all.

Rin seemed cheerfully oblivious, at least.

"So, how's your apprenticeship been?" I asked.

"Oh, it's been interesting! I mean, I'm not out doing C-ranked missions or anything, but I do get a chance to help other teams out with D-ranks and I spend a lot of time learning from everyone in the hospital! Even the civilian doctors are really very good at what they do." Rin said earnestly. "I'm learning a lot every day."

I smiled back. "Well, it's better than what I've been learning."

I was sure I felt a spike of interest from Sensei.

"What?" Rin looked so adorably confused. She really was a nice kid, though she had some pretty major blind spots when it came to Obito.

Obito: Mr. Friendzone.

I was kinda hoping it wouldn't stay true this time around.

"What, have I been skimping on your training?" Sensei asks.

"I still haven't learned water-walking yet." I replied. "It might have helped."

Sensei's eyes narrowed slightly. "You…are trying to guilt me into something."

"Depends. Is it working?"

"Shut up, both of you." Yamaguchi-sensei said. He looked at me. "And you, turn around so I can listen to your breathing."

I found out later that, no, I hadn't swallowed or inhaled harmful amounts of water and that Yamaguchi-sensei thought Minato-sensei was incapable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. Minato-sensei, meanwhile, had the completely accurate impression that Yamaguchi-sensei was an arrogant jackass with a soft spot for maybe three people in the course of ever. He usually wasn't quite so bad, though I suppose that my promotion to Team Disaster had made my status as his student, as well as my mom's and Minato-sensei's, somewhat nebulous.

Then again, I'd been the informal type of student since day one. Sort of like the neighbor kid you taught how not to mow his legs off.

"Do you even want to continue with your lessons?" Yamaguchi-sensei had asked.

"I would, if I could find any time between Mom and Minato-sensei and missions." I'd said. "Heck, even if I can only learn when Rin is and we have totally different lessons, I'd still do it!"

Yamaguchi-sensei had looked at me for a long moment. Then, "No."

A cold ball of lead seemed to form in my stomach.

Wait, what? No! We need to learn, for when Obito and Kakashi need us the most!

"Kei-kun, you have mastered chakra scalpels and the Mystical Palm," he'd explained. "There isn't anything else I can teach you without having you enter a formal apprenticeship like Rin did, where you dedicate nearly every waking moment to medicine, and it's just too early to risk your team's dynamic. You've only been a genin for three months."

"I…" I'd bitten back tears and said in a small voice, "Oh. Okay."

Yamaguchi-sensei had given Minato-sensei a very cold look. "But for your sake, I'd better not see her in here for at least three months with anything more severe than a head cold."

Minato-sensei had put his hand on my head. Again. "We'll be fine."

Yamaguchi-sensei made a dismissive noise and shooed us out.

Rin had followed, though. "Kei-senpai…"

"I'm not sure I'm your senpai anymore, Rin-chan." I said around a lump in my throat. I was hard to talk, then. "Not that I was for long, but…"

"You're still my senpai." Rin had said seriously. "And you should look after Obito and Kakashi-kun, because you're there when I can't be. And I can't be there for you, either, so you have to take care of yourself better than you have been! A medic-nin can't die until the last of her team is beyond saving!"

"…I'm not a medic-nin, Rin-chan." I said.

"You might as well be." Rin insisted. "You never studied the oaths or the precepts but you've still got healing jutsu and that's enough!"

And then she hugged me.

"Thanks, Rin-chan." I said. Then an idea struck me. "Should I hug Obito and Kakashi too? Saying it's from you?"

"Why can't they be from you?" Rin asked.

"Because I punch them and they'd believe you instead of me."

"…Kei-senpai, you should be nicer to your teammates."

"I agree." Sensei had said. "Come on, it's time for that delayed debriefing. The Hokage won't wait forever."

And then we were gone.

A/N: Thanks for the amazing response, everyone! :D

Also, if you're curious as to know why I had to switch up my updating schedule at all...well, I have a job now! Very time consuming.