I no own, you no sue. Merry Christmas!
With all the training Team Four is doing, the months fly by. They prepare strategies, plans of attack, develop new jutsu and team formations. Team Four and what they will try to accomplish at the Chuunin Exams are too valuable to risk leaving the village. And there are very few C-rank missions kept within the village. At first they complete a D-rank mission every day, but the kind of training they're doing works best with several full days followed by a day off from training to recuperate, instead of working a few hours every day.
So the Hokage provides them with a different opportunity. It's Walter's idea, and he heartily approves. And so, Team Four begins to tutor Academy students who are either doing poorly, or come from civilian families. This tutoring is given three days a week after school. The work is tedious, but often rewarding, and to top it off, they receive a regular salary. A small salary, yes, but marginally more than they'd made with five D-ranks a week. In this way, Walter is able to scrounge enough money to stay afloat.
Meanwhile, Reika-sensei is teaching seminars in Konoha's own tiny ninja college, while her own students are busy. Hidden Leaf College is a supplement for ninja who have finished their apprenticeships and either made Chuunin and above, or have not hit their promotion deadline and found steady careers for themselves. At the College, ninja can take a month or three of classes and earn nin-degrees in such fields as medical techniques, psychology, encryption, strategy, and so on.
Surprisingly, it is Walter who teaches best. His words of praise are short but well-earned, his criticisms regular but instructive. He is more patient than Michiyo, and less arrogant than Hiko. A better listener than both of them, deliberate and methodical. Once the Academy students get past the dour scowl that is their tutor's normal expression, they hang on his words, attentive. He acquaints them with the reference desk librarians of Flicker and Hearth District, recommends books to them: mostly nonfiction, but he even recommends some fictional novels that will give the civilian students a better idea of the ninja world.
The program is surprisingly effective, and seventy-five percent of the students Team Four tutor experience an improvement in their grades and performance. When the Third Hokage calls them in for an evaluation of their progress training-wise, he mentions he is impressed with the progress Walter's program has made as well.
"This work you have done with the Academy students, more than any fight in a stadium, tells me you are ready to be Chuunin and lead a team." He says, and the three teenagers flush from his praise. "Now it's just a matter of taking the Exam and showing off your abilities to the proctors." After a few more suggestions for their training, he lends Hiko a book on sealing from his own library (he's not called 'the Professor' without reason and is pleased to cultivate a future Seal-master). The books are only C-ranked, of course. Then he dismisses them, and sends them on their way.
Team Four's kitten-partners grow older. Nutmeg establishes herself as affectionate and spirited, but also silly. She doesn't think much of Walter's teammates, but she adores the surly redhead. Nutmeg sleeps on his bed, eats from his hand, seeks out his company when they're not training separately or together, and develops a knack for genjutsu and stealth. Walter is ready for the day when she can speak like a human, but that's five months away, and the Chuunin Exam is coming up in two months.
Hiko's cat Prawn is feisty and just as fond of seals as his master is, while Michiyo's kitten Pancake is far more sensible than her partner, and has a way with setting traps.
It's all coming together.
A week before they are due to leave for the Chuunin Exams, is March 21st. Walter's fifteenth birthday. As is their tradition, there is no training on a teammate's birthday. Henna Kujikoto from the Flicker District Library reference desk has not forgotten him, and he gets a couple of bookstore coupons she's saved for him and a small bag of sugar leaf candies.
Reika-sensei and his teammates take him out to a steakhouse for dinner that night, and present him with presents before desert arrives. Reika-sensei's gift is a set of new kunai and shuriken. She also promises to use his money to buy a book or scroll of B-rank jutsu under her clearance level. Hiko gifts him with a meticulous seal worked in leather that will painlessly draw a single drop of blood from any finger wiped over the seal – it has a little clip that will attach itself to a belt – making summoning Nutmeg or any of the other summon-cats much faster, and painless. The seal will erase any worry of an open wound or infection. Michiyo's gift is more elaborate.
"It has to be, see. Cuz I'm your girlfriend." She explains when Walter protests at the quantity of presents she's giving to him, and rolls her eyes. A storage scroll that contains a flameless, chakra-powered cylinder food cooker, a skillet/saucepan to match the cooker, and some seasoning mixes in travel-size jars. The storage scroll itself is pocket-sized. Her gift is perfect for any cooking in the wild, and is given in anticipation of a survival test in the Chuunin Exams. Michiyo also vows to teach him how to create the sweets and cookies – some her own recipe – of which he is particularly enamored – after the Chuunin Exams.
"Thank you." Walter says gruffly, pink, and his teammates and teacher all smile.
"Aw, don't mention it. Happy Birthday, Walter." Michiyo grins from where she's sitting next to him, and reaches for his collar, "Now, ever heard of birthday kisses?" She's leaning in, and, indecent! Public! These kinds of things should be kept private!
The waitress arrives with large, warm slices of death-by-chocolate cake, complete with whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream. Arrives just in time, and Walter gently pushes Michiyo away from him before she can do any damage. She flings herself back into her own chair with a dissatisfied grunt, thwarted.
"I'll get you my pretty; and your little cat too." She mutters, and Walter shrugs expressively.
"Later." He mutters, and digs into his slice of cake, messily.