The night had turned into morning hours ago, and Kaito could feel the village of Kirigakure waking up around him, janitorial staff slugging their way into work, overnight nurses finishing off the last sips of their coffee as their migraines pushed them over closer to clocking out. The halls of the hospital of the Hidden Mist was always a clam place, but compared to the eerie silence at night, the shuffling of doctors and staff, as well as people coming to visit their loved ones sounded deafening to Kaito's sensitive ears.

It'd been a night like many others, despite the fact that Kaito was no longer stationed at the hospital, he was still a medical-nin and frequently assigned shifts to help out. For the most part, this either meant trauma care, or more mundane stocking of medical supplies and cleaning up biowaste. Tonight had been trauma, a storm had come in yesterday evening and a few of the fishing boats didn't make it home in time. Luckily, the jonin responsible for rescuing the civilians had done their job well, recovering all the wounded and stable alike. Only, that's where the medical-nin came in.

What would have been a slow night taking inventory of supply closets on the first through third floors, turned into a midnight dash through the emergency room, blood up to his elbows, and shouting surgeons telling him to get out the way while nurses demanded he heal their patients with chakra. The back and forth of the medical staff was typical, and one of the major reasons Kaito had requested the transfer to field medic so he could go on missions. His fellow shinobi, even though untrained in medical ninjutsu, often understand and appreciate the value of his skills far more than the machines in the hospital. Still, it had been a good night, however long it had seemed, and as Kaito clocked out and left, he was offered thanks from the nurses before he walked out into the morning mist.

Kaito hadn't had the chance to fix himself anything food wise before reporting in for his shift last night, and the food offered at the hospital was more likely to make him ill than nourish him, but luckily Kaito knew of a good place to eat that was open this time of day. It was a quick trip to the little restaurant, but the mission assignment center was along the way and Kaito had to turn in his punch card to show he had completed his shift at the hospital. His tired eyes sunk into his head despite the smile on his face when the lady at the desk offered him a mission briefing in return for his own paperwork. Anther mission, so soon, Kaito could only hope to get some sleep between now and then, only opening the assignment to check when he was expected to report for duty. "Tomorrow, I can do tomorrow." Kaito mumbled to himself, glad he had the night off.

As he turned, Kaito noticed a familiar figure, someone he'd worked with before and called out to the shinobi. "Hey Eishi, wanna grab some breakfast?" Kaito asked, moving towards Eishi so he could have a less shouting match type of conversation from across the room. They had worked together once before, capturing a thief inside the village, but Kaito was curious to see if Eishi was turning in a mission or being assigned one, as well as curious to know the details. Perhaps they could go over their missions while they ate and offer each other advice on how to tackle them.

Eishi was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his occiput – a technique that was prescribed to him by the local medical personnel. He had no trouble sleeping – nor did he ever have to worry about being an insomniac – but in the days after the accident the boy had discovered a troublesome new addition to his health problems – he could no longer dream. What used to be a vivid encounter with his imagination now seemed to be another small coma, only shorter and less icy this time, for his eyes were growing heavy, but his mind was closed tight. "Much like your head", he believed to have heard his father's voice once again, a suspicion that the therapist quickly dismissed. "Your father is behind bars, Eishi, and you shouldn't be so worried. Life in the hospital ward could be rather dull and tedious. Trust me, love, I know. Why don't you try to relax and get used to the environment? Have you met new people lately? Made any new friends?"

The kid was not too sure about that, and in all honesty – didn't want to consider it. He was feeling like a prisoner here, unfit to be a vibrant part of society, and who could he blame for all his troubles? Definitely not himself.

So he was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, rewinding his life over and over again. It was a loud and lousy night – there was a great storm, he heard, and a lot of people suffered in the sea; every unit in the facility was forced to act and help in the endeavor of preserving life, and the Yuki could hear the commotion of hasty footsteps clomping left and right in the corridor. Occasionally he could make out the crunch of wheels, probably belonging to the metal carts that the medics used to transport broken bodies with, before an obtrusive echo hollowed directions, followed by the clash of two-winged doors.

Little did the genin know that Kaito was working few rooms nearby.


"Let me be honest with you, Eishi", coughed so-called Doc Cough first thing before sunrise. "We did everything we could about your condition, but this is as far as we can go for you. Due to the nature of your *cough* peculiar circumstances, you were temporally included in our veteran's program which afforded us to spare no resources in *cough* aiding your well-being. However, according to the new hospital directive that came in the beginning of the *cough* month, we are to *cough* move *cough, cough* – excuse me.

The doctor seemed worse than ever – he had deep black circles under his eyes and his hands were shaking from exhaustion. Judging by the looks of his uniform, he didn't even have time to change after the long and probably unscheduled night shift. Yet there was no need for him to finish – Eishi was already realizing where the conversation was headed; the boy was about to be set free, for the state couldn't provide for his blissful inertness any longer. There was work to be done, and someone had to do it, even if that someone wasn't fully recovered. Or rather – even if that someone couldn't fully recover.

"Alright, doc", the Yuki almost smiled. "Just let me say goodbye to everybody who took care of me. I'll be gone in no time."


But where was he to go? Going back home was a no-no for various reasons even if the kid was curious about what had happened to his mother; she never called, never wrote, never said a single sorry. Then again, what could have she done to prevent Ikazushi's furious assault on their only son? Perhaps Eishi did owe her a visit, but knowing her, he decided to find and rent a place first; he wouldn't have the heart to turn her "please, stay with me" offer into an unconditional refusal. Now that he had his money back (and his favorite bo staff was clutched in hand) he finally felt self-dependent again, even more so than before. The world was ripe with possibilities and the boy was ready to take on any challenge on his path, starting with the furious rumble in his stomach. Yes, for every great adventure must start with a proper breakfast.


"What do you mean closed?", he moaned. The nearest restaurant hadn't opened yet, and the genin – having been sick of the blatant medical hog-wash at the ward – had refused to accept his afternoon portion the day before. "You must make an exception! Please! I am dying over here! Look, I can pay you extra!"
"Sorry, kid, food ain't cooked. What am I to you, a culinaromancer? You should come back later like anybody else in the village. Now beat it!"
"Alright, alright", Eishi shouted, jumping away just in time before the window door hit him. In a typical comic-relief manner a sophisticated click followed, escorted by the radical guillotine fall of a thick shutter; it was a complex locking mechanism that served its purpose of keeping cheeky fellows at bay. "Sheesh, what a guy."


And so of all the places in Kirigakure Eishi ended in the one he least expected to visit – the Mission Assignment Center (let's call it MAC for short). It was there he met with Kaito after learning the big news that were oath to change his life, face still motionless in surprise.

"Kaito, hey, I... it's so nice to meet you. I... err.. don't have a mission, it's... something else, I..."

The frosty shinobi reached out and gave his recent partner a single piece of parchment, stamped with the Mizukage's seal; the white-haired shinobi was found suitable for the rank of chuunin and was approved to be one as soon as he leaved treatment, which was today.

"... I guess I'm getting promoted for something."