Morning came as usual.And as usual, Uchiha Tobika woke up because the overweight orange cat on his chest was crushing his lungs.
He shoved the creature aside, brushed his teeth while flipping through a book titled Ultimate Limits of Beautiful Female Body Types, and prepared to crawl back into bed.
Then:Knock, knock, knock.
Before he could answer, the door squeaked open and a purple-haired girl's head peeked in.
Uzumaki Yugao froze.She hadn't expected Tobika's door to be unlocked, nor had she expected him to be… standing in the middle of the room with a toothbrush in one hand and an adult magazine in the other, shirtless, displaying toned abs that seemed carved by chakra itself.
Her face turned scarlet.
"S-sorry!"
The door slammed shut.
Outside, she leaned against the wall and gasped for air. February's morning chill didn't touch her; she felt like steam was rising off her forehead.
Why was he reading that first thing in the morning?Why am I the one hiding?He should be the embarrassed one!
Gathering courage, she opened the door again—only to find Tobika already fully dressed, magazine tossed aside.
"Don't give me that look," Tobika grumbled, opening the fridge. "Didn't see enough?"
He pulled out cold milk and pork-bone instant ramen.
"Ever heard of night security? Uchiha district is safe. I leave my door unlocked. Next time, knock."
"Y-yes!"
She tried to reclaim dignity as sweat trickled down her temple—"from running," she told herself violently.
Then she pointed at the cold milk and boiling water."Teacher… are you eating hot and cold together?"
"Yeah. Builds willpower."
"…Teacher, I can cook."
Tobika narrowed his eyes. "You want something."
"No! I just thought eating like that hurts your stomach!"
He sighed. "Fine. What do you actually want?"
"I… uh… I'll talk while cooking!"
And somehow the tiny girl grabbed his arm, dragged him to the sofa, threw on an apron, and started preparing breakfast with intense determination.
Half an hour later, Tobika stared down at the plate.
Egg slices.Pan-fried bread.Pan-fried ham.
He had expected some miraculous feast. Instead he got a child's attempt at Western breakfast.
Still, he nodded seriously."Not bad. No burnt taste. Your future boyfriend will be lucky."
Yugao beamed.
Then remembered why she came.
"Teacher, I heard you studied kenjutsu?"
"I did," Tobika replied. "Quit when I realized it wasn't like in One Piece. No flying slashes. Just swing-swing-cut. Ninjutsu is stronger."
"Teacher… I have a request."
"I'm listening."
She drew a breath, bent deeply at the waist, and shouted:
"Please take me as your disciple!"
Tobika nearly choked on his egg.
"…Disciple?"
"Yes!"
His temples throbbed like someone had attached a generator to his skull.
"…Why?"
Yugao stood straight, legs together like she was reporting to the Hokage.
"You are the best sword-user among medical ninja and the best medical ninja among sword-users. Old man Kosuke personally admitted your kenjutsu rivals his. Lady Tsunade said squads survive more with a medic. I want to learn medical ninjutsu… without abandoning swordsmanship. I can't have two masters. So… please teach me both!"
Kosuke?The eternal genin, equal to Might Duy in "honorable suffering"?
Tobika's eyelid twitched.He had copied half that man's sword skills.Now fate demanded repayment.
He exhaled slowly.
"What happened that made you suddenly want to learn medical ninjutsu?"
Yugao looked away, face pink.
She'd injured a clanmate during sparring. Her mother punished her. Lying in bed, she'd realized why Tobika had studied medical ninjutsu in the first place.
Left hand slash.Right hand heal.
Infinite sustain.Zero downtime.Eternal motion machine.
By the time she finished imagining the possibilities, she'd wanted to leap out of her futon to beg him then and there.
Tobika read her expression perfectly.
"Fine. I get it."He set down his chopsticks. His voice turned firm."Medical and combat ninjutsu are different paths. If you're serious, you'll suffer."
"Yes!"
"Tomorrow morning at five. Come make breakfast. And no more egg slices."
"Yes!"
"And let go of my arm."
"Yes!"
Tobika leaned back, dazed.
"…Did I wake up wrong today? How did I get a disciple in under an hour?"