A/N - This chapter is dedicated to my forty-one lovely discord server members (alphabetical order this time)!

Analu, Beaker, Blazeninja_HD, BobRoss14, BreadTurtle :D, Codex, coffee_dog50, Comblebomble, dahyunsinsomnia, De'Janae, dxbrxa, favour_kat, frozen_cradle, Goblin, grizzlyflwr, HQ, Janae Writes, jura_mirahe0791, Kayla, Lafolia Aledegyr, Lucifer, madahashiizutobi, Marshmallow, mooney, Penguins, roxNsticks170, Sadie101, Sanj, Scorpion, Seishin, Shadows Brightside, Silent gamer, Sticks, whut chu need?, Wildfire_Plume, xsthx_r, Z, Zorania, and Sky

Naruto walked down the hallways of the hospital, intent on stopping by Kaiya's office and picking up an ICU patient's chart to review their recent treatment plan. He yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes tiredly before taking a large gulp of the coffee he'd gotten from one of the receptionists. It was payment for finishing her end-of-shift paperwork last week so that she could leave work earlier to pick up her son from school as he'd developed a fever and needed to go home. He took a sip of the hot caramel macchiato, his absolute favorite, and appreciated the nice warmth settling in his stomach.

"Uzumaki-ya!" A cheery voice called from down the hallway. The blond-haired teen lifted his head, watching as a doctor started rushing towards home with his hand waving wildly in the air.

He smiled softly, bowing politely before the head medic finally made his way over, "Dr. Hana! It's good to see you this morning."

Yiruma patted the teen's back with a large smile on his face, "Oh, Uzumaki-ya, stop with the pleasantries already - we've known each other for a few years now, you can call me by my given name!"

Naruto chuckled softly, cuddling his hot coffee in his hands, "Apologies, Dr. Hana - Yiruma - it's become a habit. I mean, you are the head medic so I feel that I have to address you politely." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly after finishing.

"It's quite alright, I mean, anyone would be that way with their senpai." The traveling doctor raised an eyebrow with a large grin on his face, "Eh?"

The blond-haired academy student shook his head, snickering a bit, "You are not my senpai, Dr. Hana."

"Oh hush! A man can dream!"

"You're out of your mind." Naruto shook his head, amused.

"Oh, well." Yiruma shrugged before finally noticing the to-go cup in the boy's hands, "Coffee? Not tea?"

"Hm, yeah. I needed a little more caffeine and Ashido upfront - the nice receptionist with the blond highlights - owed me and got me a coffee before work." He stated, taking a sip, "I stayed up too long last night studying for my academy exams and I forgot that it was Friday night, not Saturday night."

"I sometimes forget you don't work Sundays - I mean, I feel like I see you all day, every day." The pale man mumbled, "How'd you forget it was a Friday night, though? You have school Friday mornings."

Naruto shrugged as they continued down the hallway, some of the nurses and physician assistants bowing or waving at Yiruma, "It should've clicked in my head that it was still Friday but, after I left the hospital after school, I went over to Shikamaru's house to practice our taijutsu a bit before I went home. It kind of just felt like my day off."

Yiruma cackled loudly, "I'm surprised you actually got him to practice with you!"

"It took a lot of convincing and a bribe or two." He smiled, dropping off his finished coffee in one of the trash bins along the wall.

"Ah, well, best of luck for the rest of the day. From what I've heard from Rikitake-senpai, you've been working with her in the ICU the past couple of weeks. That's a lot of work, kid." The black-haired doctor shook his head, "Not a lot of patients there right now as this is the off-season but that does mean that the few that are there must be in critical condition. How're you holding up? This is your first year you've been allowed in ICU under pharmaceutical bases."

They paused just outside Kaiya's office, pressed against the wall. Naruto thought about his senior's question for a second or two. "In the past four weeks I've worked with her in the ICU, I've lost seven patients... It's been a little rough. I really thought a few were gonna push through but, in their last moments, they just coded."

Yiruma placed a secure hand on the boy's shoulder, "Death is a terrible thing, but it's unavoidable - one day, we all die. I'm not saying this to invalidate your feelings because losing anyone is a hard burden to bear from a doctor's point of view and I'm sorry you've lost so many in the short time you've been in ICU. I'm saying this because I'm sure you tried your best. You're not a doctor or a nurse or even an official medic yet, so your hands are tied as to what you can do for right now."

"I wish I had my medic license already..." He mumbled, crossing his arm, "I haven't been able to really help anyone. I just feel like I'm there to watch."

The man huffed out a laugh, "Kid, I was training to be a medic for eight years on-and-off after I graduated from the academy - I didn't get my license until I was twenty. You started pretty young - eight, right? Give yourself a little more time. One thing you've got going for you is having the initiative to start building up your foundations at a hospital under trained professionals - I didn't have the sense until I'd already been practicing medical ninjutsu for four years by myself. To top it all off, I found out after I joined the hospital staff that I'd been using medical ninjutsu wrong!"

Naruto laughed at that, "Yeah, I was doing it wrong too. At least mine got corrected a few months after I'd started."

"Okay, you little prodigy, no need to boast." Yiruma chuckled, pushing off the wall, "Alright, I've got to head off. I have some paperwork to do from my recent trip to Suna to help in that big heatwave they had not too long ago."

"Okay, I'll see you around Dr. Hana."

"Yiruma!" He called out.

Naruto shook his head, heading into Kaiya's office. She was sitting at her desk, her own cup of coffee being nursed in her hands. "Good morning." He waved, moving to his desk to shuffle through different files.

She sighed dramatically, "I thought he was never gonna leave!"

"Who? Dr. Hana?" He laughed, his back facing her in his search.

"Yes! He's a good kid, but he is so hyper. There are days where I don't understand a word he's saying because he's speaking so fast!" The older woman complained, "And his handwriting! Geez!"

"Dr. Teruya!" He turned around, a hand on his hip, "Your handwriting is no better" He laughed loudly before resuming his search.

"Oh hush!" Kaiya waved it off, "He's a good medic though, remarkably talented though."

Naruto shook his head, "You complain about your kohai too much."

"He is not my kohai." She rolled her eyes.

The academy student giggled, thinking back to denying Yiruma about the doctor being his senpai. "Hey, have you seen my ICU file - the one from room fourteen?" He questioned, unable to find what he was looking for.

"Chikako-chan picked it up this morning. He went into cardiac arrest last night." Kaiya responded, going through her own paperwork.

"Oh... is he alright?" The blond asked somberly, facing away from her.

"His file's being archived as we speak." She stated.

"I understand." Naruto took a deep breath, "May he rest in peace and I hope his sister finally comes to visit him. He was missing her so much if I remember correctly." He folded his hands over one another, his fingers curled into a small ball while his other palm wrapped around it with his thumbs pressed tightly together. Slowly, the blond-haired academy student lifted his hands until his thumbs were touching his forehead. It was something he learned from the others in the hospital, a final goodbye from those they'd treated until their passing.

"Me too, kid," Kaiya whispered, following the motions she taught him.

He lifted his head after a few quiet moments had passed, "Well, I guess I should head back to the ICU."

"Before you go," She called out, "there's something I wanted to discuss with you if you have a moment."

Blue eyes lifted expectantly, "Like what?"

"Chikako-chan sent me the prototypes for the soldier pill you two created." She reached into her desk for a file, "I'm really impressed with the improvements you've made within the last few weeks and how fast you both were able to make a few batches ready to launch for testing."

He smiled hesitantly, "Does that mean that they work?"

"Do they work?" Kaiya raised an eyebrow, nearly scoffing, "Kid, they're a hit!"

"T-They are?!"

"Yep! Those new and improved ones you two cooked up were approved by the board of medicine almost immediately before being sent off for the ANBU's to use on their missions. Chikako-chan is in the process of patenting the pills you two made - she said you could come up with the name." The older doctor smiled proudly, "Chikako-chan has requested the board to pay you for involvement in creating these pills."

"Pay me?"

She nodded, "Patenting something means you can get paid for someone else using your ideas or mass-producing it... which is what the board wants to do. ANBU agents have already requested more for future missions and the board is very keen on making it happen. Once the paperwork for the patent on your soldier pills is officiated, the board of medicine has decided they want to start mass testing over a six-month period of all kinds of ninja."

"T-That's... That's insane!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing; no way this was happening to him.

"Though, Chikako-chan and I were wondering about something. You made some last modifications to the pills before they were sent in for an official trial run. She said that, for some reason, it changed the formula up significantly and made it react better inside the body. What did you do differently?"

"I added healing chakra to it."

"Huh?"

"Well, when I was still messing around with the idea, I thought of something. The original soldier pills are synthetic, made from easily acquired material that can be found anywhere in the world which means that all ninjas have access to it. While it's good that we have a sustainable pill like that, that also means our enemies have access to it as well." He tried to explain, hands waving around in thought.

"Okay?" She furrowed her eyebrows, "And how does that relate to healing chakra?"

"The original pill can only activate once it's touched stomach acid. It takes twenty to forty minutes for it to start moving through the body and doesn't start to work on a person until nearly an hour after it is ingested. I wanted something that would work immediately. So, I added medical ninjutsu to each soldier pill to see if that would help." Naruto motioned to the file Kaiya had pulled out earlier about the developments of their pill, "Once the healing chakra was added, it allowed the pill to activate by just someone biting into it - swallowing the pill is more effective, but you'll still get something out of it if you were to just bite it. Our research suggests that the pills are likely to last longer than regular soldier pills which can only last against the elements for a few weeks while we believe our's could last for a little over a month."

Kaiya reached for the file again, flipping through it mindlessly, "Well, it's done a damn good job so far."

"Thank you."

"So, what are you going to call them? Chikako-chan wants you to decide the name since you came up with the idea." The dark-skinned woman questioned, putting the file away after a few moments.

"I'm not sure." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, chuckling quietly, "Maybe chakra balls... or possibly Uzumaki soldier pills? I haven't given it much thought."

"Those are all terrible names." Kaiya laughed loudly, "Come on, give it a second! Think of some better names!"

Naruto searched the room, sighing slightly. His mind was drawing blanks, "Yeah, I have no idea."

"Oh Kami..." Kaiya shook her head, amused, "Alrighty, then, you'll have to think on it some other time, I suppose."

"I'll try my best."

"You better head off now. Chikako-chan doesn't like to be kept waiting." The dark-skinned doctor made a 'shoo' motion.

Naruto laughed, "You're the one who kept me here." He gathered up his things before leaving for the ICU, hoping he wouldn't lose anyone today.

Naruto was sitting in class the following week during a lunch break writing in the margins of his workbook he'd gotten from Chikako. She gave it to him in hopes of helping him recognize different types of medicines as well as what they treat. He was almost completely absorbed by types of antispasmodic medicines, of the side-effects of cephalexin or how gabapentin has helped those with nerve pain before feeling eyes on him. He turned his head to look over at Shikamaru, recognizing where the feeling of being watched was coming from.

"What?" The blond asked innocently. Shikamaru had his head resting on top of his arms that were crossed over the table, eyes boring holes into his friend. There was a soft, warm look in those dark eyes that made Naruto shut his book and turn completely towards the Nara heir. "W-What?" He tried again, clearing his throat. He chanced a look into the dark void, the other boy's eyes showing intense emotions.

"You've changed." He mumbled out, words blunt and short.

Naruto took a moment to collect himself, his words wavering with a nervous laugh, "Well, yeah. I mean, I've grown up a lot since we met."

"Hm..." The Nara heir shifted so that he was sitting up a bit, facing more towards the blond. A single-arm propped his head up as he continued to stare, "You're like a completely different person."

"Oh." He paused, scratching his cheek shyly, "Is that... bad?"

The black-haired academy student sighed, "No, no it's not."

"How different have I become?"

"Well, you're not as loud anymore. Other than when Iruka-sensei has to literally pry you away from your research books, you don't have any random outbursts in class anymore. You're very aware of your surroundings and the people around you. Plus, you are volunteering at the hospital instead of pranking which still surprises my dad, to be honest." Shikamaru shrugged half-heartedly, "Actually, I haven't seen you do a single prank on anyone since you got into medical ninjutsu."

Naruto leaned forward a little bit, absorbing the information carefully, "I just don't see the point in getting unnecessary attention."

Shikamaru smiled softly, the warmth on his face making his friend flush slightly, "There it is."

"Huh?"

"You used to rave about wanting to become the Hokage so that one day the village would recognize you. I remember you getting into so much trouble for all the pranks you pulled. I mean, you nearly drove Iruka-sensei insane during class." The two shared a laugh about that, "However, once you started your journey through medical ninjutsu, it's like everything else disappeared. You wanted attention then, but is it still what you want now? Or has your dream changed?"

Naruto thought it over a bit before nodding, "I guess I just want to be a good medic now... to help anyone I can."

"You're finally doing things for you, not for anyone else." The Nara heir pressed, gesturing towards his friend, "And I think that's really cool."

"Thanks, Shika." He beamed.

The other boy rolled his eyes, "You're so troublesome." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Naruto opening his workbook again and Shikamaru laying his head back down. "Hey." The Nara heir called out.

"Hm?"

"What do you plan on doing once you become a genin?" He asked, "Are you still going to stick with a strictly medic route?"

"I think I will, but I don't want to be just a medic, you know?" Naruto started an excited smile on his face.

"No, I do not know what that means," Shikamaru smirked, getting a side-eye from the blond.

He huffed before gesturing to himself, "It means that I've found a way to get around being just support for my team."

The black-haired teen blinked in surprise, genuinely interested, "Really? How so?"

"I can use my medical ninjutsu knowledge to make myself more combat-orientated!" He grinned at the other boy's shocked face, "I was talking with Dr. Hana during our lunch break and he brought up how we were going to be graduating soon. While I'm excited to finally become a genin, I told him that I was a little nervous that I'd be a burden on my teammates because I've put more time into my medical ninjutsu than any other ninja talents."

Shikamaru nodded, "I remember you mentioning that to me a couple of months ago..."

"Yeah! So, Dr. Hana gave me some scrolls from his three-year trip on how to make my healing chakra denser so that I can cut someone with just my hand! It's actually really cool!" Naruto grinned widely, bursting with excitement, "I've only just gotten the hang of it last week, though. It takes a lot out of me concentration-wise. I have to physically feel how the healing chakra manifests or else the technique is useless."

"Sounds troublesome..." He murmured, yawning loudly, "Glad you're having fun though."

"Me too." Naruto grinned, allowing his friend to nap for the rest of their lunch break while he continued his research into medicines.

"Naruto, if you don't stop tapping your foot, I'm going to swat you." Shikamaru groaned from beside him, "You're shaking the table too much. I can't nap like this."

The blond looked down at his foot underneath the desk, halting its movement, "Oh... sorry, I'm just nervous, I guess."

"Stop worrying, you're going to do fine." The Nara heir expressed, head laying on top of his folded arms on top of the table. His eyes had barely fluttered shut before Iruka walked back into the room.

"Shikamaru Nara." Their teacher called out, waving for the teen to follow him.

He gave a disgruntled groan, standing up from the desk, "So troublesome..."

"Good luck." Naruto gave him a reassuring smile as his friend walked down the steps to take the final test of their graduation exam. The past few months flew by, his days filled with studying for his academy tests and working with Chikako on their booster pellets - a name he'd finally settled on after a few days; Kaiya still wasn't impressed with the name but allowed it. It was somewhere during those times that Naruto lost track of the days, the graduation exams creeping upon him so suddenly - he'd nearly forgotten until the night before when he'd chanced a glance at his calendar.

The blond-haired boy looked over the heads of the other children in his class. There were only a few of them left to take their last test, him included. Once Iruka or Mizuki called the students in, they were to wait in front of the academy for an official speech from the Hokage about their new careers as genins. The rest of the kids who were in the classroom were still waiting to be called - it was kind of nerve-wracking, to be honest.

"Hey, dobe." A voice said from beside him.

"I have a name you know, Sasuke." Naruto looked to his side, smiling slightly.

The dark-haired teen leveled his eyes, "Scoot over." His voice held a bored tone.

He complied, turning so that he could face the Uchiha once the other boy was seated, "I see you still haven't been called for the test as well."

"Well, I'm still stuck in this classroom so, obviously, I haven't been called yet." Sasuke rolled his eyes, disinterest clear as day on his face.

Naruto shook his head in exasperation, "How do you think you'll do?"

"Top of the class." He stated, leaning back against the wood of their benches, "There's no way I'd get lower than that Haruno girl or that Nara guy."

"You mean Sakura and Shikamaru?"

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care for names."

"Is that why you still call me 'dobe'?" Naruto snorted, finding it humorous.

"Whatever."

Naruto sighed, motioning to the other boy, "You made a good point about being top of the class - you've been at the top for forever so it only makes sense. I think I'm probably going to have an average score."

"It's probably because you spent all your time with that medical junk." The dark-haired teen rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

He gave the other boy a look, "Even if that's the case, I've worked my ass off studying and practicing for this exam so, hopefully, the average is where I'll be... I don't want to be deadlast anymore..."

Sasuke gave him an odd look, a long stare of mirth settling in his eyes before he huffed, "Hn."

The blond-haired academy student looked up as Mizuki called another student's name before a thought crossed his mind, still trying to make conversation with the elusive Uchiha, "Who do you think is going to be on your team?"

The teen was quiet for a second, making Naruto think he hadn't heard. He was about to repeat himself before Sasuke finally spoke, "As I'll be the top of the class - this year's rookie - I'll be stuck with the top kunoichi of the class, which will most likely be Haruno, and the dead last... whoever that'll be." He shrugged before looking over, playing into these niceties, "You?"

He puffed out a cheek in thought, "I'm not sure. I kind of want to be on a team with Shikamaru and Choji-"

"The Nara and Akimichi?"

"Yeah, them. Do you really not know any of your classmates' names?" Naruto chuckled, reveling in the embarrassed look on the other boy's face. He waved off the comment before continuing, "I'd really enjoy being on a team with them but it won't happen." Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow. "Shikamaru and I have already had this conversation. The people making the teams are probably wanting to create another Ino-Shika-Cho team which will consist of Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji."

"They'll be the second coming of their parents." The Uchiha teen commented, "Well, if not them, who else do you think you'd be on a team with?"

"I would say Sakura, to be honest, but you're right, she'll be the top kunoichi of the year and that means that she'll be on a team with you instead. I'm no longer the dead last anymore so I won't be on a team with you or her. Based on my grades... I think I'd be with Shino? He's stayed in the average grade group for the past few years, neither advancing nor falling behind." Naruto nodded to himself, "I don't know about my other teammate though."

Sasuke shrugged, "I'm going to hate my team if Haruno is on it."

"Is it because she's one of your fangirls?" He questioned with a laugh.

The black-haired boy nodded, sighing in annoyance, "She only cares about her appeal towards guys - mostly me - then becoming an actual ninja. She deserves to fail."

"That's... kind of harsh. Maybe she'll change once she's a genin?" Naruto asked.

"I doubt it." Sasuke shook his head, "If I'm on her team, she won't change."

"Have some faith in her, she might change with some kind of motivation." The blond-haired boy grinned.

"Unlikely."

"Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka called from the front of the class.

The dark-haired teen stood up, about to walk down the steps before pausing and looking back. "I hope we're on the same team... Naruto." He waved a hand, walking out of the classroom with their teacher.

"Oh." Naruto blinked, slightly shocked. He didn't mull over it long because shortly after the Uchiha was called, Mizuki walked in.

He grimaced slightly, "Naruto Uzumaki." The blond followed his teacher out of the classroom and into a different room where Iruka was waiting for him with a smile on his face. Mizuki took a seat beside the brown-haired teacher as Naruto stood in front of them.

"Alright, Naruto," Iruka started, looking down at his clipboard, "Could you please create three effective clones for us?"

"Yes, sir." He bowed politely, hands running through the signs quickly. A puff of smoke filled the room, the two teachers waving their hands slightly to rid of the plume. Beside Naruto were three identical clones all smiling and looking at each other. The original grinned widely, "I guess all those chakra control exercises really helped!"

Although Iruka was beaming in joy, checking off the final box that officially passed, there was a dark aura that fell upon the room. Mizuki's eyes were narrowed, his teeth gritting against one another. If his glare were daggers, Naruto would be dead. However, neither the blond nor the other teacher saw this disgust and hatred. Instead, Mizuki cleared his throat, painfully congratulating Naruto for passing.

"You can go ahead and stand with all the other students." Iruka smiled lovingly, handing over a headband to the teen, "I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Naruto beamed, running out of the room with giddiness about him. He ran until he could see a tall ponytail standing beside Choji, "Shika! Choji! I passed!" The teen pulled both of them into a tight hug, laughing loudly.

Shikamaru flushed, trying to push the other boy away as Choji merely laughed, returning the hug. "We knew you'd pass!" The Akimichi heir chuckled, offering a snack his mom had made for them. Naruto reached for one gratefully.

"Thanks!"

"You were always going to pass," The black-haired boy motioned to him, "I don't know why you were so worried about it."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Well... I guess I've just had this bad feeling all morning about something. I thought that something was going to be because I was going to fail my exam."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, "A bad feeling? You don't get bad feelings..."

Choji nodded slowly, "Yeah, dude, what kind of feeling?"

"Well, for some reason, something just feels... wrong? I don't know how else to describe it, but it's been bothering me all morning, to be honest." The blond-haired academy student shrugged, eyes following the crowd before spotting light blue hair and mean green eyes, "Something like-"

"Good afternoon!" A voice boomed over the crowd, heads turning towards the Third Hokage who stood at a podium, "Congratulations on graduating!"

Naruto tuned out Hiruzen, not really feeling up to hearing anything from the older man. Instead, he elbowed his best friend. "Hey, are we all still going to your house for dinner tonight?"

Shikamaru leaned towards him, voice just below a whisper, "Not tonight, my aunt is coming to visit tonight, but Mom said you and Choji can come by tomorrow for a sleepover since it's the weekend."

"Okay, that works for me." He murmured, tuning back into the speech just as it was ending, "Hopefully we didn't miss anything important."

The Nara heir snickered, "Well, I would have been able to pay attention if you hadn't insisted on talking to me."

Naruto elbowed him, chuckling quietly, listening in on the Hokage dismissing the newly graduated genin. "Well," He stated, "I'm going to go drop by the hospital for a bit. I'll see you tomorrow, Shika, Choji!"

The two clan heirs grinned at him, waving slightly as their parents walked up to the two, having come to pick them up. The blond-haired academy student - or rather genin. "Oh Kami, I'm a genin now!" His mind cooed as he started making his way to the hospital, a proud feeling in his chest. Naruto laughed to himself, unable to contain himself.

It's a shame he didn't notice the figure following him all the way there.

A/N - Aaaaaand, the chapter is finally done! Sorry for being gone so long, the excuse this time is work and not really having the energy to write. But, the chapter is finally finished and we're finally getting to all my favorite parts of the story! Graduation is done, or is it? Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Other than that, come join my discord server where you can get early access to chapters as well as talk to me and the others on the server! We're all very talkative and love seeing new people join! Plus, if you catch me at the right moment, I'll be voice chat if you'd like to talk.