Chapter Seventeen — Self-Work, Self-Inflicted

"Everything looks like it's in proper order," Hiruzen said, looking over her file. "How do you feel?"

"Good." Kyoko said, standing with her hands folded behind her back. When he waited, she cleared her throat. "Accomplished. Like I can finally do what I've worked for."

"And what is that?"

"Serve and protect Konoha. And all of its people." It was a struggle not to emphasize the 'all' in that statement. A struggle to look at him at all.

"Admirable." He closed the folder. "I believe Tsunade is waiting for you outside. Good luck for your first day as a genin."

Kyoko bowed. "Thank you, Sandaime-sama."

When she left the room, Tsunade pushed off the wall and uncrossed her arms. "Alright, you ready, tiny?"

"I am."

"Good. Do you know where Training Ground 3 is?"

"I do."

"Good," Tsunade said again. "Meet me there." She disappeared in a shunshin.

It took Kyoko longer to get there than she liked. Her shunshin was not up to the level it used to be, and her chakra pool was still too small, though already larger than it had originally been at this age. With time, she would be able to get her shunshin back up to her standard. Although she doubted she would ever be able to match Shisui's own shunshin skills.

Despite all that, Tsunade gave her an impressed look when she arrived. "Huh. Okay, let's see what you have. Ninjutsu?"

"Academy Three. Some iryo-ninjutsu. Shunshin. I know I'm katon natured, but I've only done some basic practice there. I have done a lot of theory and technique reading, from the Academy library, the Uchiha Archives, and my father's books and scrolls."

"Taijutsu?"

"Academy training. Training at home, using similar resources."

"Genjutsu?"

"Theory study."

"Anything else?"

"I want to work on kenjutsu. And I've studied fuuinjutsu theory."

Tsunade frowned. "Interesting. Broad range. I want to see it myself." She stepped back. "Show me the katon you've been working on."

"Good. Take a break."

Kyoko leaned back, taking a deep breath. Her endurance wasn't up to what it needed to be. She watched as Tsunade sealed away the fish she'd been practicing on. "I'll work on my stamina."

"You're still young. Your body has limits." Tsunade rolled up the scroll and sat down. She gestured at the ground across from her. "Sit. Better than I was doing at five. I hadn't even touched iryo-chakra yet at your age. Didn't even think about it until I was a genin and my dumbass teammates kept getting hurt." She pointed at Kyoko with the scroll. "So the question is why you decided to learn it."

"My father's a shinobi. So is my brother. They both get hurt on missions. Especially Obito. I want to be able to take care of them and other people I care about."

"But you want to fight."

"I want to take care of them however I can. Whether that's healing them or fighting for them."

"Good answer." Tsunade held out her hand. "Let me teach you something important, then. Something that you need to live by if you're going to be a combat and medic-nin. Give it here."

Kyoko frowned. She extended her hand.

Tsunade took her hand and curled it. "A closed fist to hurt," she said. She then pulled Kyoko's hand open again, pressing her own hand flat against it. "An open palm to heal."

"Hi, darling," Kagami said, rising from his spot on the engawa. "I thought you would be back earlier. It's late."

Kyoko blinked at him, stopping in the the street. "Oh. You didn't have to wait for me." She glanced back where she'd come from and could see the sun halfway behind the horizon.

"Of course I was going to wait for you." He reached out to her. "I'll make some tea, and you can tell me about your day."

She nodded and took his hand. "Okay. Is Niichan back?"

"Not just yet." He guided her into the house. "Shisui!" he called. "Kyoko's home!"

There was a clatter from the other room, and Shisui's door slid open. "Kyoko!" he cheered, diving across the room to tackle her. "How was it? Was it fun?"

Kyoko grunted as she hit the floor. She laid there, really too exhausted to do anything other than that. "It was fun," she confirmed. "I'm very tired, though."

He pouted, sitting back on her shins. "Too tired to tell me about it?"

"Never too tired for that." She pushed herself up onto her elbows, glancing past him to where Kagami was already making tea in the kitchen. "Today, she really just wanted to see where my skills are. So that she knows where we're starting."

"Makes sense," Kagami said, glancing back. "Shisui, let her up. Sit on the couch, you two. Tea will be ready soon."

Shisui scrambled up and to the couch. Kyoko waved a hand and then laid back against the floor again. "I'll just stay here for a bit."

"Are you okay?"

The worry in her father's voice made her lift her head to look at him. "Yes. I'm just tired."

The front door slammed open. "Guess who's back! Uh, Kyo-chan, why are you on the floor?"

She dropped her head back down and looked up to find Obito leaning over her with his hands on his hips. His goggles were pulled up to rest on his headband, leaving the space where they'd been sitting as the only clean spot on his dirt-streaked face. "Hi, Niichan," she said, smiling. "How was your mission?"

He squinted at her. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That," he said forcefully, poking at her bangs. His finger hit her hitai-ate, and his eyes widened. "No way." He shuffled around to sit beside her. Obito pushed her bangs back. "No way," he said again. "Kyo-chan, did you graduate?"

She grinned and sat up, body protesting the entire time. "I did. Only perfect score in the history of the Academy."

His eyes widened. "Wow," he breathed. Then he grinned and tackled her, fumbling for her hitai-ate. "I want to wear it!"

She giggled, wriggling out of his hold. "You already have one!"

"So? Yours is definitely way cooler. I'll trade you!"

"Obito," Kagami called. "We're having tea. Kyoko will tell us about her day first, and then you can tell us about your mission."

Obito perked up. He shot to his feet and picked Kyoko up, marching over to the couch. He dropped her there. "Alright, Kyo-chan. Who's your sensei? Are they crazy? I bet they're crazy. If you have a crazy sensei, it's illegal not to tell me."