’Oh bother...’, Kaia thought to herself as she walked through the double doors of the Konoha hospital. It wasn’t that she hated the place, it was more like a strong dislike: then again, she had spent several days battling for her life just a few weeks ago in one of the various rooms within the large structure. In fact, she hadn’t just battled with her life; she had been clinically dead several times over again and if it hadn’t been for the great deal of skill the medical team had she would have remained that way – of that fact she had little doubt. In the end she had been diagnosed with the same disease that Amaya’s own frail and sickly daughter had – that Amaya herself had battled with as a child and even went toe to toe with every so often now as an adult: Kaia had just been lucky to wait until seventeen before it had struck her. It ravished the lungs, and was something that so far no cure had been found for; the best medicine was watching and waiting and check ups every so often to ensure it wasn’t flaring up again.

’Good thoughts, Kaia. Good thoughts!, she mentally told herself as she stepped within the building, allowing the gentle coolness of the place to envelop her as the doors closed behind her: sealing her inside blocking the cold air from escaping. Shaking her head at her own silliness – she knew she was being a bit absurd at this point – she sighed and walked up to the receptionists desk, waiting in line as the elderly woman was handling another individual at that moment: a woman with her son who had apparently stuck something up his nose and then something else in an effort to get the first thing out – kids were strange creatures sometimes. Kaia gave an automatic smile to the woman as she turned and noticed her standing there, something which the woman mimicked before walking away, her sons gaze as he rested on his mothers hip trailing after her due to her typical ninja appearance: headband around her head and holding her bangs back, black v-neck t shirt she normally reserved for training, black capri-style shorts and black open toed shinobi sandals with her weapons pouch around her right leg so she could reach it with her dominate hand with ease. ”Next,” came a tired voice, causing Kaia to shift her attention back onto the receptionist before stepping forward.

”Hello, my name is Sarutobi, Kaia~Mai. I was told to come in today for a check up with Doctor Uchiha, Amaya.”, Kaia explained plainly, trying to make the receptionists job as easy as possible – since that would mean Kaia could get out of the damn hospital faster: really she didn’t hate the place, she really didn’t. ’Just keep telling yourself that, Kaia..., she thought to herself as she waited for the receptionist to respond: the woman had gone to consult a clipboard of papers laying to her right, what Kaia assumed to be the schedules of those working that day.

”I’m sorry, it would seem that Doctor Amaya had an emergency and needed to step out. I can reschedule your appointment for another day, if you’d like? Or you could see another of our staff if this is just for a check up visit?”

Kaia quickly weighed her options: she had little to no intention of wanting to come back to the hospital later on considering how much training she had planned out for the next few weeks. No, it would be better to get this done now, and honestly she was use to the majority of the medical staff as a whole considering how many of them she had met during her stay here. ”I’ll just see another member of staff, please.”, Kaia responded, causing the receptionist to nod.

”Alright dear, go have and seat and I’ll see who is available.”, as the receptionist spoke she gestured with her right hand toward the chairs off to the left; a waiting room of sorts. Nodding Kaia turned and stepped out of the way for whomever was next in line, allowing the receptionist to do her job while Kaia picked a seat off in the corner away from everyone else (not that there were many people sitting around waiting) and sat down. She crossed her legs at the ankles, then shifted until one leg was over the other in a lady like fashion, and then straightened her legs again – fidgeting just for the sake of having something to do. In the end she pulled a kunai from her weapons pouch and took to spinning it on one of the fingers of her right hand so quickly the blade was nothing more than a blur and the sound of it filled the otherwise quiet air. The receptionist meanwhile had gotten up from her desk and disappeared through some double doors marked as Staff Only with a sign explaining that only those escorted by medical personal were allowed beyond.

Word Count: 842

"I wonder what Demi is doing?", Daremo spoke out loud, not getting an answer from the empty room he was occupying for the time being which he expected. Kami forbid if something did answer the spoken question, either they had impressive hearing or not from this world. The latter wouldn't be too surprising when considering every shinobi can trace their ancestry roots back to a child of the stars or, in lame man's term, an alien being. A surprising tidbit of information he learned something during his earlier years. "How did my thoughts went from thinking about Demi to remembering that shinobis have alien blood flowing through their veins?", he was met with silence again with the only noise coming from movement and chatter outside in the hallway.

His ponytail swayed back and forth as he shook his hair in an attempt to get remove those stray thoughts and focus on the initial ones about Demi. It had been a few weeks, two to be exact since he meets the clinically insane asylum escapee in the forest surrounding Konoha. The encounter being memorable, mainly for activities that proceed sometime afterward, with them reciprocating the same activities over for the past two weeks with near ideas being thrown in every so often; honestly, he was surprised none of his neighbors had filed a noise complaint yet - so much screaming. "A gangbang on the ceiling. Who would have thought?", at the thoughts of his promiscuous morning activities with Demi, leaving the poor woman well firetrucked and properly sore for the rest of the day, he chuckled as he remembered her expression when he denied healing her. He will undoubtedly hear it from her when he returns home, and he most definitely aspects some form of retaliation from her; she just would be herself if she didn't try to get him back.

With his chuckling died down, he took a moment to look around the room he was in. Calling it simply a room wouldn't exactly be correct. For, after working in the hospital for a couple of years now, the higher ups finally gave him his own office after promoting him from a nurse to a doctor with the new position bringing back some familiarity to him considering. Not too incredibly spacious, with three to four people being able to fit without much problem. Asides from a few personal touches, the was spartan like. A single oak furnished desk set an angle of the back wall window. Black multi-layer trays sat on the left corner of the desk with each tray being labeled for the papers that were placed inside of them. A small plaque with his name on it was in the center of a front of his desk. Not counting the chair he was sitting in, there were only two other chairs, not nearly as comfortable as his, that were at an angle facing his desk. While nowhere near as grandiose as some of the other doctors he couldn't complain too much. The room had all he needed to properly function throughout the day.

Knocking at the door announced the presence of another who stepped in after giving permission. Purple eyes looked at the elderly lady warmly and watched as she bowed before ambling her way over to his desk, "I'm sorry to interrupt.", Daremo casually waved off her apologize, not seeing a need for it, and urged her to continue speaking, "But, there is a Sarutobi Kaia-Mai out in the waiting room who is here for a check-up."

"I know of her."There were certain people in one's profession that can't be forgotten, and for Daremo, Kaia-Mai was one of those people. He still remembers the amount of time and effort it took him and Uchiha, Amaya to save the girl's life. When others had given up, he and the female Uchiha continued fighting and eventually succeeded in saving the teen. From what he could recall, she was a close friend of Amaya, and mostly seen by the female doctor whenever she came in for a visit or any other reason.  "She asked for Doctor Amaya but with her being out in an emergency. I asked if she likes to reschedule the visit or see if someone else could do her check up. She opted for the latter. "

Nodding in understanding, "Bring her to room #106, along with a copy of her file. I will see her there.", he spoke, slipping his white doctor jacket over the blue scrubs, and exiting the room after the secretary. Walking down the hallway, it wouldn't be long before he came to the room. Entering the room, with the typical equipment neatly spread throughout, Daremo waited for his patient to arrive.

---

802

Never once did Kaia pause in twirling the kunai around her pointer finger; the metal flashing every so often in the bright lighting of the hospital waiting area and the gentle noise giving her something to focus on – ignoring for the time being the fact that several others within the waiting room were watching her. Thankfully, no one seemed to be panicking, then again that likely had something to do with the fact that she was dressed as if she could be on duty: her training attire and what she wore when working were virtually one in the same considering she was a Taijutsu fighter.

Only when she heard the double doors open to the Staff Only area did Kaia shift her gaze from the spinning kunai and onto that area once more. The elderly woman had returned, far more quickly than Kaia had been expecting (or, perhaps more time had passed than Kaia had realized?). There was a gentle smile on the woman’s face as she walked her way over to where Kaia was seated – Kaia making quick work in putting away the kunai back into the weapons pouch it had come from: no point in seeming like she was threatening the old lady after all – that kind of thing wasn’t Kaia’s style. ”The doctor will see you in room 106. Do you need me to show you the way?” If it had been a normal civilian the question probably wouldn’t have even been posed and the woman would have escorted them without considering otherwise, but she wasn’t a normal civilian, and shinobi had always been afforded certain rights because they were expected to act like stand up members of society. Go her?

Wait...the doctor? Which doctor? Kaia didn’t bother asking out loud, she didn’t want to come across as being rude. Instead, she focused on answering the woman so she wasn’t sitting there like she had been struck mute, ”No, it’s quite alright. I know the way.”, Kaia responded, standing up once the elderly woman had backed away a bit. The old woman smiled once more at Kaia and then returned to her desk once more where a small line had begun to form in her absence. Kaia glanced at the people waiting in line, wondering just how many of them hated being in the hospital as much as she did. Shaking her head at her dark thoughts, and trying to refrain from giving herself another mental pep talk, Kaia squared her shoulders as if she were going into battle and headed to the double doors marked Staff Only, pushing open the right and stepping through. She paused once she released her hold on the door, the sterile smell that all hospitals seemed to have causing her nose to wrinkle momentarily before she adjusted to it. ”Meh...”, Kaia commented out loud before making her way toward the exam rooms; little signs on the hallway walls pointing out the direction easily enough.

A right, a left, and then another right with a bit of a curve had her in the hall with the exam rooms labeled in the one hundreds, and Kaia simply walked down the hall counting her way up to 106 like she had been instructed. Just as she was about to hit the door labeled 106 a door ahead banged open and a small child ran out of it and down the hall in her direction, the boys mother fast on his heels. His mother snatched him up right in front of the open door to room 106, cradling the boy to her chest as he cried. ”Please don’t make me go back in there, momma! The shots hurt!”

”Be brave, my angel. You need to be healthy so that you’ll grow big and strong; you want to be a shinobi just like that girl there, yeah?”, the woman asked, nodding her head in Kaia’s direction.

”I’ll never be a ninja! I’m too afraid. Ninja’s are never scared!”

Kaia smiled gently, stepping close to the little boy who immediately focused his attention off of his mother and onto her. ”Oh, I don’t know about that… plenty of ninja get scared at one point or another in their lives. See, courage and bravery aren’t about never being afraid, little one, it’s about doing whatever you need to regardless of that fear.”

The boy sniffled, wiping at the tears in his eyes with the sleeve of the long sleeve shirt he was wearing. ”Are you afraid of the doctors, too?”

Kaia nodded to the boy, smiling softly. ”I am… see I got really sick a few weeks ago, but I’m better now. I just have to go for a check up.. but it still scares me. But, no matter how scared I am I know it’s something that has to be done – if I’m not well and strong then I can’t do my job like I’m supposed to.”

The little boy seemed to take her words into consideration for a moment before a confident smile formed on the small boys face. ”If you can be brave, then I’ll be brave too… come on, mommy… I’ll go finish my shots.” The mother, who looked on the verge of tears, mouthed a silent thank you to Kaia before heading off back in the direction of the room they had come from. Kaia meanwhile, knowing there was nothing left to distract her from the inevitable, squared her shoulders with a sigh and turned, walking into room 106. It surprised her slightly to see the doctor already there, and she found herself having to double take to see who it was; freckles causing her blush to immediately stand out. ’Well, this will be interesting..., Kaia found herself thinking as she hopped up on the exam room table, ignoring the crinkle of the ‘sterile’ paper beneath her that was always laid out fresh between patients. ”Hi, doc.”, yup, she was playing it cool despite the fact she was blushing – though how long the act would last was anyone’s guess. Kaia had never really paid much attention to the opposite sex – or the same sex for that matter – but there was something about this doctor in particular that had made her a bit hot under the collar each and every time she was in his vicinity.

Word Count: 1,053 | 1,855

While waiting for his patient to arrive, Daremo busied himself around the examination room. Taking a moment to replace the sterilized paper on the examination table in case no one else had done so. Was it necessary? If one believes the rumor mill of certain doctors and nurses not wanting to replace the paper after seeing a patient out of sheer laziness than, yes, changing the paper was indeed necessary. And, even if the paper was clean, he wasn’t about to take that chance. One of many things he prides himself in is his genuine care for patient’s well-beings; it is one aspect of him that wasn’t a facade. A softer aspect of him not shown to many outside of duty and in the privacy of his home. Crumbling up the paper and tossing it into the trash, and unrolling and placing down a fresher sheet, his attention turned to the containers and other equipment, making sure it was in working other. The last thing he ever wanted is having to use a piece of equipment only for it not to work.

With constant chatter and people walking along the hallways, Daremo didn’t hear when a nurse stepped into the doorway until they knocked on the door frame and spoke, “Doctor Kobayashi.” Turning around to greet said nurse, he didn’t have to guess why they were there. The light beige folder being an obvious giveaway. “Here is the requested patient file.”, the blonde haired nurse spoke with the file being taken from their hand by Daremo who muttered a quick “Thank you.” Walking over to a desk situated in the far right corner. The folder was placed down and opened up as Daremo began reading through its contents.

A shinobi’s medical file isn’t much different than normal civilians. Sure, someone in the profession will not only have a social security number but also a shinobi identification number. Both being a form of identification that’s used for a variety of different things. There’s also a copy of their recent opinion on the upper left-hand corner of the first page. A number of missions they have undertaken, and the number of kills, is also kept with their medical file. Injuries received and treated on the battlefield is also documented in detail. Yes, there were only a few differences between a shinobi medical file and civilian ones.

Having never read Kaia’s file, he found some interesting things as he skimmed through it. Asides from her family being murdered, a common trend nowadays, Daremo raised an eyebrow at who her guardian was: Sarutobi Mitsuo. He has heard of the individual. His famous being something of little note for Daremo who simply didn’t care for those like him. A familiar disgust for Konoha rose within him as he read the list of injuries sustained prior to becoming a shinobi. How could one not take notice of a girl wandering the streets? Were these people that blind to notice her injuries and need for food? Was the populace of Konoha so self-observed that only when it became obvious apparent she needed help that they did something!? For a village who preach comradery, it sure doesn’t seem like it extends to everyone. This being proven with the notes of her being bullied and injured while in the orphanage! Again, he questioned how did that happen!? Calming down, he skimmed over her adoption which really didn’t amount to much considering the former Hokage left seven months later, leaving her to defend herself once again. With her once again being acquainted with starvation. He briefly wondered why Mitsuo wasn’t charged with neglect, and why he was still her guardian with everything considering. If anything, Strafe, a name he remembered from his time in Kiri, was more of a parent than Mitsuo. At least the Kiri-nin cared enough to take her to Konoha and into the care of Uchiha Amaya.

Having skimmed over everything of importance, Daremo closed the folder at the exact time his patient stepped into the room. Purple eyes took note of the light blush dusting her freckled face as she moved to sit on the examination table, and he just mentally chuckled while offering a warm smile. This wasn’t the first time a patient of his had blush upon seeing him. Men and women alike have both blushed in his presence with a few of them even trying to flirt with him during an examination. Nothing could be done about it, and he has accepted it as a part of the job description. He does, on some level, find himself getting some enjoyment out of it. “Hello, Kaia.”, his words rolled off his tongue smoothly and professionally but held a hidden mirth that told anyone(who notice) that he finds the situation amusing. “How have you been today?” he inquired, stepping towards her with a stethoscope hanging from his neck. Only after she responded to his questions would he place the other end of the stethoscope near the area of her heart and listen to the beat. Following that, he would move it near her lungs, “Breath in. And, breath out.”, he would ask of her as he checks to make sure nothing was amiss.

---

885[1687]

The first few seconds in room one hundred and six weren’t all that bad; the shock of who her doctor was this time around in the absence of Uchiha Amaya had done the job of distracting her from where exactly she was and why. It didn’t last long, not long at all. No sooner were the hellos exchanged – Kaia just briefly noticing what she could only describe as a hint of amusement in Daremo’s voice – than the flashbacks came like a movie that was flickering between scenes. The first was Kaia heading off to training even though she had woken up feeling miserable: her stubborn determination pushing her to head out anyway even though she had such a grueling session to look forward to. Then the feeling of her lungs filling with liquid, her body crumbling to the ground as she choked and gasped for air; feeling as if she were drowning even though there wasn’t an ounce of water in sight. Then the flashback pushed onward to Kaia gasping in several raspy breaths, enough to remain conscious to see the arrival of Amaya – who she was supposed to train with that day. Then the flashback moved even further; Amaya and several other medical nin surrounding her as she continued to gasp and choke. Someone had brought a stretcher and the moment they had rolled her onto her side so they could position it beneath her the sweet momentary relief of being able to briefly breath – not perfectly, but far better than she had been able to on her back – only for that to be snatched away from her. Then on to her struggling, attempting to fight off the medics holding her on her back, and how it was Amaya who had figured out what’s wrong; how she had positioned her face in front of Kaia’s – who couldn’t hear anything due to the buzz in her ears from being oxgen deprived - slowly speaking so that Kaia could read her lips, asking her if she could breath better on her side. Then on to how how Kaia could only nod before Amaya herself pulled Kaia on her side: Kaia gasping and choking but able to barely breath again. Then there was the darkness once more, a period in which Kaia could only assume she had lost consciousness because there was no memory there, before Kaia found herself laying flat on her back with bright lights over head and faces, some familiar and some not, swimming in and out of view above her as she choked and coughed; a beeping noise in the background sounding erratic and a bit annoying – she hadn’t realized it at the time, but it had been her heart monitor. Then the words, the words that caused her own heart to speed up even now, sitting in the office with Daremo: “We’re losing her!”.

Kaia closed her eyes momentarily, forcing the flashback back to the mental hell it had risen up out of: her heart was racing from the fear that was flooding through her, and her grip on the exam table beneath her had become so hard her knuckles were white. It wasn’t seconds before she opened her eyes and answered, in a false-like calm voice “Just dandy...” to Daremo’s question of how she was doing today – her voice calm, the rest of her anything but as her body showed every single sign of stress that she would have been able to keep hidden on a battle field, but in the middle of a place like this? Where she had actually died? Wasn’t happening.

As Daremo stepped closer, intent on listening to her heart and lungs – both of which she had been expecting – she found her mind jumping back to the flashbacks again which seemed determined to eat her mentally alive. The next one that came was of her regaining consciousness – or actually coming back to life, as she had died during that point – to Amaya’s face swimming above hers with Daremo’s on the other side: someone welcoming her back, though it had sounded like she was listening through water as it was distorted sounding. The brief moment of joy wasn’t to last though, as mere minutes later she was tanking again, someone shouting “****, we’re losing her again!” in the background as Kaia slipped back into darkness.

Closing her eyes once again to force herself calm – really, her heart was beating a mile a minute at this point and sweat had broken out on her palms: she was a trained ninja who didn’t falter in the face of danger but whom was having a reaction now – she struggled to lock on to something that would make her feel better as she struggled to just breath in and out like Daremo had told her to. And then it hit her… him. She would focus on him. Dealing with her strange response to him, dealing with getting hot under the collar, was a hell of a lot better than having a complete and total PTSD breakdown. So, once more beating the flashbacks back to hell she did just that: focusing on his voice, his nearness; how the slightest of movements would have caused him to bump up against her – though she didn’t have the courage to do just that. Still, he was touching her in a way; listening to her lungs and heart, his hand so close to her chest. Yup, she was a hell of a lot redder in the face, but at least the thoughts were giving her something to focus on enough that she could release the death grip she had had on the exam table beneath her – the cushion re-expanding slowly though the nail marks she had left behind weren’t going to likely fade anytime soon.

Thankfully, Kaia was still during one of the ‘good’ phases as Amaya called them – the disease all but gone, her lungs completely fluid free and working properly. It was why she had felt good enough to do such a hardcore training session as she had done – but it didn’t stop the fear, it didn’t stop the flashbacks. Because really… it hadn’t been like fighting an enemy she could see, that she could injure. This issue had come from within herself… and she didn’t have the knowledge to fight against such a monster. She had been completely unable to defend herself against the disease; there had been nothing for her to do but lay there and die, die and pray that someone else knew what they were doing.

”You want to know what the worst part was about being sick?”, not really a question despite being one, more just her thinking out loud, feeling like she needed to get something off of her chest that she had never told anyone else before – not even Amaya. ”Not being able to do a damn thing against it. I mean… I can go up against an enemy and harm them or kill them – I don’t like it, I hate the idea of taking someone’s life. But I can do it if it’s necessary. But when I got sick? There was nothing I could do. Nothing to fight, no way to defend myself. All I could do was die… and hope someone else could save me. Being so helpless… it was the worst part.” There was something else she didn’t bother to mention, something that any doctor who had taken care of her for any length of time would have known: she had also been alone.

Word Count: 1,257 | 3,112

"How have you been today?"

No sooner after the words were uttered from his lips did Daremo noticed an immediate shift in Kaia's personality. Gone was the once confident young woman who only moments ago walked into the room without a shred of nervous. She had a spring in her step and confidence was wafting off of her as she jumped on the table and greeted him. But now? He couldn't find any of that within her. Seemingly only existing for a fraction of a second before giving away to what is sitting before him.

Immediately upon noticing the shift, Daremo's mind began to work in overdrive, taking into account everything about her. Her eyes, once focused and clear, now was unfocused and lightly clouded. No reaction was given when Daremo moved his hand a front of her face; she just stared out into nothingness. Into an empty void that only her eyes could see. That wasn't the only thing he noticed about her. Perspiration had begun forming on her brow. She had started to shake, and her knuckles were turning white from how hard they were gripping the table. Her breathing had become shallow as well.

It didn't take him long to figure out what was occurring. She was suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder episode. The symptoms she was exhibiting was common with those who suffered from the disorder with a few varieties depending on the person. He briefly wondered what had caused it? She was perfectly fine when she entered the room. What could have. . .he briefly remember a note in her medical file from Amaya that spoke of Kaia's uneasiness when visiting the hospital. Could that have been the trigger? No matter, he had to do something to snap her out of it.

Daremo, for a split second, threw professional out of the window and brought the young woman into a hug. Left hand rubbing her back in mini-circles in a comforting gesture, "You are not there anymore. Everything will be fine.", his words were spoken softly as he reassured her. Understanding being in the hospital may have triggered the episode, there was only one incident that she could be reliving, and that was the moment of her death. It is the only plausible expectation for the sudden attack.

When she spoke, he knew she was lying. Her body told the truth which she didn't want to admit. And that is why, Daremo didn't stop hugging for a few more seconds, doing his best to comfort the young lady. Something he have done before with his sisters when his life was not this peaceful. Having hugged her long enough, he stepped away, though not too far because he still had to do a check-up on her.

When he brought the end of the stethoscope against her heart. Listening to it rapid beating, either due to the blush now adorning her face or from her previous episode, he wasn't for certain. He was just glad the shaking had stopped, and she had become responsive once more. Moving the end of the stethoscope to the center of her chest, being mindful of her bountiful assets, Daremo listen to her lungs, making sure he didn't hear any of concern in them. Once done, he let the stethoscope hang from his neck, Moving over to the desk, grabbing a blank piece of paper, Daremo began writing on it as he listens to Kaia speak.

He understood where she was coming from. The feeling of being powerless to prevent something. Having to rely on another to come in and, hopefully, solve the problem at hand. It was a feeling he used to back in his younger years. Although, his situation didn't equate to what Kaia was talking about, yet, it still implied. "Ever thought about learning medical ninjutsu?", he proposed, walking near her with the clipboard in hand and pen scribbling away.  "I use to feel similar. Whenever I got sick or badly injured. I hated having to rely on someone else to help me. It was the feeling of helpless which took me on the path of learning medical ninjutsu. This way, whenever I get sick or injured, I can potentially heal myself. " Speaking from slightly altered personally experience. He became a medic-nin to heal his sisters who were constantly being abused by the clients. Of course, he wouldn't tell Kaia that, hardly anyone knew the true reason why he followed this path.

"So, learning medical ninjutsu might be something you want to look into. If do want to learn it. I can teach you if Amaya is busy." he offered, Putting the clipboard down, a soothing sensation enveloped the room as medical chakra shimmered around his hands, "You check up is almost done. Just going to run a quick diagnostic scan to make sure nothing is out of place.", he spoke, doing just that. "Oh.", he moved his right hand just above the bruise on her face and watched as it faded into nothingness, "And heal that wound."

Stepping back, he reached moved on to a cabinet and opened it. "Everything looks okay. Just remember to not do too strenuous activities.", he spoke, finally grabbing what he was searching for. "Since you been a good girl.", his voice full of jest as he turned around with a jar full of lollipops, "Do you want a lollipop before you leave?" , and extending it towards her.

---

921[2608]

… He was hugging her and rubbing her back, and dear gods it fell wonderful. Kaia couldn’t remember the last time someone had just genuinely hugged her. It was such a shift in what she considered norm that it snapped her out of the mental break down she had been having almost instantly. She didn’t pull away, in fact she actually wanted to reciprocate the action – only, she wasn’t entirely sure how Daremo would feel about her hugging him. So, she kept her hands to herself and simply enjoyed it while it lasted – and it was over far too quickly. Thankfully, the simple gesture of kindness had focused her enough back onto Daremo and off of her thoughts that the random post traumatic stress break down was all but a distant memory in a very quick amount of time. She found herself able to focus, able to breath, as Daremo went about her check up.

She bit her lip lightly as he checked and listened to her breathing and her heart beat; refusing to allow another blush to tint her freckled cheeks at the fact that his hands were so close to her ample breasts – there was no point in her making this more awkward than it had to be, right? Yeah, she was just going to keep trying to tell herself that.

As he questioned, in response to what she had said, about her having ever thought of learning medical ninjutsu she gave a gentle tilt of her head to the right as she contemplated it. The thought had crossed her mind more than once, though it had always quickly been snuffed out by the idea of ever having to practice medicine in a hospital setting: though, that had more to do with her own trauma and issues, and the fact that she felt like she would never get over her own aversion to the hospital than anything else. She listened as he went on to explain why he had got involved in practicing medical ninjutsu and it made her think to her own recent diagnosis. It was definitely something worth considering: the idea of having to constantly go for check-ups, or even worse the idea of getting sick and having to stay at the hospital again just to be taken care of was not something she liked. She wanted to be able to take care of and defend herself, but the only way she was going to be able to do something like that against something like the disease that would randomly ravish her lungs from here on out meant learning medical ninjutsu to combat with whatever happened to be wrong with her at the time.

The idea that Daremo was willing to teach her, if Amaya was too busy, caused the idea to become even that much more appealing – she rather was beginning to enjoy spending time with the good doctor, though they had never done anything outside of the hospital setting before. So the idea of getting a chance to maybe spend some time together in a capacity that didn’t involve him having to look out for her well being? Well, it was definitely a tempting offer. ”I’ll definitely think about it… it’s an idea I’ve been playing with for a while now, honestly. Even before I got sick...” Honest enough words: her father Strafe was a medic, and she had watched him and offered the most basic of help a time or two when he had been busy, and the idea of offering aid in such a way had definitely been something that interested her.

She fell silent as he finished his check up, lost in her thoughts once more though these were about medical ninjutsu and if she wanted to learn it more than anything dark or scary. She was glad to hear that everything sounded good, something which brought a smile to her face, and she nodded in response to his instructions of not doing anything overly strenuous.

A grin and a laugh would escape her as she watched him reach into a cabinet and pull out a lollipop. She hopped down off of the exam table and took the lollipop with another laugh. ”I’ll never turn down free candy.” She grinned a bit more, figuring that all in all the check up hadn’t been so bad. ”I’ll let you know what I decide to do when it comes to learning medical ninjutsu...” She would wait to see if Daremo had anything else to add before heading out of the exam room and down the hall, tearing open the lollipop as she went and popping the delicious candy into her mouth – making the straightest beeline for the closest exit out of hell the building.


Word Count: 793 | 3,905

(10% reduction to all training due to Sarutobi perk)
Learning Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame: 3,905 – 1,350 = 2,555
Learning Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu: 2,555 – 900 = 1,655
Learning Fire Style: Fire Clone Technique: 1,655 – 900 = 755
Remaining: 755