Chapter 61: Angry Teacher
"Of course he's free." Mr. Shiki said, pointing to the lower right with his pen. "Third floor, end of the corridor, last room on the left. You know the place, move quickly and don't disturb other patients."
"Yes, sir!" she said cheerfully, gave a standard two-finger salute, and then turned and ran towards the stairs.
"Please, see if you can get him to sign those discharge documents before I die of old age, okay?" Shiki called after her.
Haruno Sakura turned around and gave him a thumbs up, then disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
She moved through the maze-like hospital corridors with ease, nimbly avoiding doctors and nurses and waving to familiar faces.
She stopped in front of Ryouta's office, took a deep breath, and knocked gently on the door three times.
"It better be something important." A deep voice came from the room.
Haruno Sakura pushed the door open just a crack, just enough for the grumpy chief surgeon inside to see the remaining cup of coffee in her hand.
An annoyed sigh came from the room, mixed with the sound of shuffling documents, and then a roar that was obviously much more restrained:
"Come in, little brat, I don't understand why you always have to knock on the door."
Haruno Sakura pushed the door open with her hips and slipped into the dimly lit office.
The chief of surgery was slouched in his office chair, a document spread across his lap, which was resting on the armrests.
Ryota was a former jonin (Haruno Sakura privately suspected that he was once a member of the Anbu), with dark skin, short hair that was even darker, and a pair of sharp eyes that switched back and forth between steel blue and gray.
He was only thirty-five, but the bags under his eyes and the wrinkles between his brows made him look like a man in his forties.
"Good morning, Mr. Ryouta!" said Haruno Sakura in a cheerful tone.
The other party just responded vaguely without even raising his head. He just stretched out his hand out of habit and scratched the air with his fingers, as if expecting something.
Haruno Sakura understood and pressed the still warm cup of coffee into his hand, then carefully walked around the piles of documents and went to the window.
"I heard from Mr. Shiki that your paperwork has piled up again?" she said as she searched for the clips that secured the curtains.
She put all her weight on her left foot to avoid accidentally knocking over another pile of papers.
The surgeon drank one-third of the coffee in one breath. His tense nerves finally relaxed for a few seconds. He put the cup on the mahogany table and frowned again.
"I'll take care of it when I have time, not now." He growled. At this time, Haruno Sakura finally found the buckle of the curtain. She pulled open the curtain and the beautiful view of the No. 2 training ground suddenly came into view. "Who told you to move the curtain?"
Haruno Sakura turned around, one hand on her waist and the other in the pocket of her sweatpants.
Even Ryouta had to admit that the look in this twelve-year-old girl's eyes was indeed intimidating, otherwise he would never let her set foot in his office.
“Don’t be so duplicitous, teacher,” she accused boldly. “Didn’t you spend half an hour patiently explaining to Shino that he was deficient in vitamin D because he didn’t get enough sun?”
"That's different." He muttered, his eyes finally landing on the forehead protector tied around her neck. "You finally became a genin. Which unlucky guy became your sensei?" He deliberately ignored the sarcasm in his words, but from the cunning gleam in the eyes of the new genin, she obviously understood.
"Hatake Kakashi."
Ryouta snorted in disdain.
“What a piece of crap.”
Haruno Sakura tilted her head, jumped back from the pile of papers briskly, and stood in front of the table.
"Do you know him, Ryouta-sensei?"
"That guy is the second worst patient I've ever treated," he said angrily.
“Who’s the first one?”
"Moonlight Gale." Iruka answered without hesitation, and Haruno Sakura couldn't help laughing.
Iruka sat up straight in his chair, grunting as he picked up the papers and slammed them down next to his coffee cup.
"I guess now that you're officially a ninja, you'd like to learn some real ninjutsu." He narrowed his eyes at her.
Haruno Sakura smiled confidently, not frightened by his expression at all.
“You’re right!”
Well, the kid sure has guts.
******
"How stupid!" Sasuke roared, his voice full of venom. He clenched his teeth, frowned, and his face was full of frustration.
“It doesn’t look good.”
"That's what I expected. He spent so much time and effort developing his fire jutsu, so it's natural that his chakra system is unbalanced. If we hadn't put the water attribute training last, the situation might have been worse."
"Shall we take a break?" Naruto suggested loudly.
They sat cross-legged by a pool in the valley. A few willow branches swayed gently in the breeze, and the tips of the branches occasionally skimmed the water like idle fingers.
"No!" Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes and caught a flash of disapproval in Naruto's eyes.
This wasn't the first time Sasuke had lost his temper in front of him, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
In fact, Naruto understands Sasuke very well. After all, this may be the only field in which Sasuke has no talent and needs to really work hard to achieve something.
Naruto waited patiently, not getting irritated by Sasuke's anger, and he suddenly realized that his experience dealing with the Nine-Tails's violent temper was surprisingly useful against Sasuke.
Sasuke sighed, his emotions obviously calmed down, and he compromised:
"Okay, whatever you want."
"He has improved a lot." Kyuubi said nonchalantly. Naruto stood up.
"But water escape still gives him more headaches than the other three attributes."
“Water is the natural enemy of fire. That’s normal.”
"But Sakura didn't encounter so many problems when she was practicing earth escape. What's the reason?"
"That pink-haired girl is naturally stubborn, which helps her overcome obstacles." Kyuubi explained. "Water Chakra requires introspection and inner peace. I have a feeling that your Uchiha friend may have a little difficulty with the "peace" aspect."
Naruto paused as a new idea began to form in his mind.
“I think I have an idea.”
“Oh? I’m really looking forward to it!”
Naruto waited until Sasuke was about to stand up before launching his attack. He deliberately waited until the Uchiha let down his guard...
"Water Style: Water Splash!"
Sasuke's reaction was quite quick, as he dodged the oncoming water in time, but he still lost his balance and fell backwards, falling heavily into the pool with a huge splash.
The Nine-Tailed Fox laughed loudly in his mind, and the laughter was so cheerful that even Naruto couldn't help but laugh along. Their laughter intertwined and echoed for a long time.
Sasuke climbed out of the water, his whole body wet. He squinted his eyes, his expression was like a drowned chicken, his eyes were full of anger, and the flame of "revenge" flashed in his dark eyes.
Half an hour later, a soaking wet and exhausted Naruto suggested that Sasuke try meditation again.
"What? Now?" Sasuke looked incredulous.
But this is exactly what Naruto wanted - Sasuke is now exhausted, physically and mentally relaxed, which is a rare state for him: his limbs are relaxed and his eyes are gentle.
"Yeah, you might be surprised." Naruto assured.
Uchiha looked at him doubtfully, but finally sat down cross-legged obediently, closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and entered a meditative state.
