I Don't Want to Become a Doctor!

Sakura let out a small cry of surprise, as the tip of her pointer finger spontaneously caught fire. She'd been experimenting with fire chakra to channel electricity— for her new Kekkei Genkai idea— but as she was just now discovering… fire was hot.

"Is something the matter, Sakura?" Tsunade called out from behind a mountainous stack of documents. "Is that fish giving you any trouble?"

"No, my lady!" Sakura called back, frantically shaking her hand in a futile attempt to extinguish the growing flame. "Everything's fine!"

Unfortunately, by begging Tsunade to let her become her disciple— in order to legitimise her usage of the Yin Seal— Sakura had accidentally locked herself into the career path of a medic, which she was now beginning to regret.

It had been a week since her return to the Hidden Leaf Village, yet she hadn't had much time to put any of her new ideas into practice. The time between missions was meant to be for unwinding and training, but for Sakura, it had become a routine of private lessons at the Hokage Residence every single day, courtesy of Tsunade.

"Something smells burnt," said Tsunade, sniffing at the air. "I'm coming over."

"It's just your imagination, my lady!" said Sakura in a panic. "Eeep!"

The blue flame dancing at her fingertip was currently eating its way through the inner layer of unattributed chakra protecting her finger, and judging by the heat, it wouldn't be long until it consumed her flesh down to the bone! Sakura's eyes darted across the room, searching for something with which to extinguish the rogue flame that had taken a life of its own… and her gaze fell upon the fish she was supposed to resuscitate.

To use the Mystic Palm Jutsu, on top of needing excellent chakra control, one required intimate knowledge of the subject to be healed— which made fish the perfect test subject for medic trainees. Fish are plentiful, and their anatomy is relatively simple compared to a human's.

…and perhaps most importantly of all, fish can't scream.

Judging by how much the fish had flopped around when Sakura had first started out and misadjusted the strength of her yang chakra, it certainly looked as though failed attempts were quite painful. Even though fish faces weren't the most expressive, its dead-fish eyes still haunted her dreams…

At any rate, none of that mattered now— Tsunade couldn't know she'd been messing around!

Sakura hastily shoved her pointer finger into the large fish's mouth, ignoring the accusing look its glassy eye was shooting at her. There was a sizzling sound, as the blue flame charred the poor fish's mouth from the inside… and a moment later, deprived of oxygen, the flame finally sputtered out.

"Sorry, Mr Fish," Sakura whispered, prising her finger free. "I'll make it up to you… Mystical Palm Jutsu!"

Under Sakura's ministrations, the fish was soon good as new, though it was probably more resentful than grateful. Death would have probably been a kindness to the wretched thing, seeing as it only existed to be hurt and subsequently healed!

"Not bad," said Tsunade, glancing at the revived fish as she approached. "I think you might be ready to help out at the hospital…"

Sakura blanched— she'd been purposefully holding back to avoid getting railroaded into becoming a nurse, but she'd accidentally healed her test subject to its peak fishy state.

She would have ended up waiting a long time for Tsunade to give up on her, because she had never ceased believing in her. With her potent yang chakra and impeccable chakra control, it was as if Sakura's hands had been made to heal others— but unfortunately for Tsunade, Sakura preferred it when her agile fingers were doing something else— herself, for instance.

'These hands were made for loving!' said Inner Sakura, raising her middle finger at Tsunade. '…and fighting. Take that!'

It had been a while since Sakura had made that particular rude gesture, especially since it held no particular meaning on the shinobi continent. The first— and last— time she had done it had been in her previous life in Japan, at eight years old. She had seen an actor use the gesture in a movie, and the next day, she had decided to try it out on a foreigner visiting Tokyo, while out on a shopping trip with her mum. Needless to say, when they had returned home, her mother had slapped her with a slipper until she cried, while her older sister had watched on, roaring with laughter.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Tsunade could not see Inner Sakura's antics. Might Guy bones or not, a mere sandal slap from the gorilla woman would have caved in Sakura's skull.

"I was actually wondering if I could take a break from this healing stuff," said Sakura hopefully. "I'd like to—"

At that moment, the doors to the Hokage's office burst open, and Naruto marched in with his hands behind his head.

"I'm bored, Granny Tsunade," Naruto loudly declared. "Pervy Sage left me behind to go on one of his research trips and Kakashi-sensei still hasn't come back from his mission!"

Even if Kakashi had returned, he wouldn't have given Naruto any attention as long as Sasuke was there too, so the point was moot.

"Do I have to hold your hand for each and every little thing, Naruto?" said Tsunade impatiently. "Just take on a mission or train on your own, or something."

Tsunade rubbed her brow in frustration. This kid, sometimes…

"But they're all D-rank missions," Naruto whined. "There's nothing worth my time… oh hey, Sakura! Is this where you've been, all this time? I've been looking for you everywhere, ya know!"

"Hey, Naruto," said Sakura pleasantly. "I've been training with Lady Tsunade, so I'll be able to heal you now when you get hurt!"

Naruto's and Sakura's conversation went back and forth a few times, with Tsunade growing increasingly irritated in the background as they kept ignoring her. Her blood pressure kept rising and rising, until at last…

"Fine, then!" Tsunade roared. "Naruto, you want something to do? Sakura, you want to take a break from Medical Ninjutsu?"

Tsunade snatched a sheet of paper from her desk at random and read from it out loud.

"As Hokage, I order you to go on this D-rank mission: Restore the Missing Pet Ferret to its Owner. You're to assemble your Team and depart by noon— now, dismissed!"