“Hey Sena,” Shindou greeted as he came back in the evening from a long day’s mission, the back door closing behind him.

He could only hear a faint grunt of acknowledgement coming from the front of her house - the porch to be exact - where Sena had set up her impromptu medical station and offered much cheaper services for people who couldn’t afford it. Sometimes, she would even give them free treatment. Shindou was aware what she was trying to do, since despite Iwa’s advanced medical system, there were still people who either couldn’t afford the advanced medical care they needed, or didn’t dare move forward with their problems to the authorities to receive help. Such people made up the bulk of who Sena was currently treating, as she did everyday, since they found the young girl’s gentleness a very warming encounter.

Shindou put down the bags of herbs he had picked up at the market on their wooden table. Sena would get to them later, since she had been the one to tell him to gather those herbs to refill their emptying supplies in the first place. Instead, he went upstairs to get washed up. It had been a long day of missions to sustain the two of them, since Sena offered nearly free medical services to whoever needed them, with the only serious ‘charges’ coming in the form of donations from the more friendly patients. He took off his enigmatic clothing and replaced it with a simple brown rugged shirt and matching pants, which anyone would mistaken for having been picked out of the dumpster, which labeled him as nearly a beggar.

He walked out onto the porch, where Sena was healing a small boy’s wounds with chakra at the table. The porch was just a small elevated platform with railings that opened up in the middle, leading to the ground level where they had a small untended garden. It was filled with a few people, roughly five or six, who were waiting for their turn. It wasn’t a very sophisticated system, but it would have to make do for the people who weren’t able to afford it. Shindou himself didn’t completely grasp why Sena insisted on helping people like this, especially without his help, but he respected her decision and instead decided to support the two of them in another way - through the various missions in Iwagakure.

Shindou eyed the crowd. There was only one old guy, and while Shindou was very sure that the man was only here to leer at his sister (Shindou definitely didn’t see any injuries or sickness that would make him wait out there, even if it was in the shade), he couldn’t kick the old man out anyway. Sena had a very strong stance against such things, and regardless of if they had ulterior motives, Sena herself would try to help as much as she could. In his opinion, his foster sister was too kind-hearted, and even now would be made use of whether she knew or liked it or not. Sadly, that was just how she was. In some ways, she balanced his relatively cold heart and logical outlook, not that Shindou was highly appreciative of this balance.

Satisfied, Shindou walked back inside to prepare a cup of tea for his sister. He himself didn’t see the difference between teas, except for their medicinal values, but apparently Sena had different tastes depending on her mood, and the pack of chamomile that had been left out on the kitchen table suggested she had been drinking some before. He prepared a cup of chamomile, which he then brought back outside for his doubtlessly overworked sister. He set it down on the table beside her, before leaning against the wall and keeping an eye on the group, meditating in the process.

He waved off the grunt of thanks she gave him as his eyes narrowed at something - virtually nothing - the horizon.

WC: 671