It wasn't that Ginza disliked working at the hospital; He liked it, he really did, but sometimes things could get a little tedious when shifts became back-to-back due to moments of being understaffed. This was his third shift in a row, and he had no doubt that he’d be working a fourth shift before he was finally able to go home. He knew that times like this were necessary, of course, but sometimes he didn’t know how he managed it with his already busy schedule. But brief breaks were a god send, and he found himself wandering towards the small break room for a breather. Maybe splash some water on is face, and brew some coffee.  

Coffee, perhaps, was the only way he managed shifts like this, even if he couldn’t really stand the taste of it at times. He much preferred his tea blends, but they weren’t commonly accessible to the shinobi when shifts converged on each other. It wasn’t like he could stop and pop home to grab his tea then come back. If he did that, he would probably just have the energy to crawl into his bed at home and get some much needed sleep. So, coffee would have to do to keep his energy levels up until he was finally free from the grasp of the hospital.

A great sigh escaped the twenty-four year old man as he finally got the break room, pushing the door open and closing it behind him with a satisfying clack. Currently the break room was devoid of people, and Ginza was thankful for that, glad for a moment of silence as he ran his hand through his disheveled hair before righting it, carefully tying it back into it’s proper style with the gold twine before making a b-line for the coffee machine. Liquid energy to fuel him as much as he couldn’t stand the taste of what the hospital provided. Quickly he went about making a brew, adding water to the carafe before adding coffee grounds to the filter and placing everything properly into the machine. Then, turning it on, all the blond had to do was wait for the coffee to brew itself.

It would take a few minutes, and Ginza found himself glancing towards the couch in one corner of the room. He knew he shouldn’t risk laying down on it and falling asleep, but it was calling his name, and his feet seemed to move on their own towards it, and then he was down on it.  He swore to himself that he’d only close his eyes for a few moments, and open them when the coffee was prepared to refresh himself. But soon, the medical ninja, exhausted from both healing and running around after patients, had fallen asleep, leaving himself at the mercy of whoever it would be who came across him to wake him.

WC: 494

Late. Amaya was definitely late. No one would dare chew her out for it, that much she knew, but that didn't stop her from feeling bad about it. Everyone was constantly busy at the hospital, constantly having to take on more shifts than the average human (shinobi or otherwise) could or should have to handle. So her being late considering her rank and status? It was a bad thing.

Just like Amaya thought though no one said a darned thing to her as she hurried through the front doors - they were closer than the staff door they were supposed to use - in her white hospital scrubs with a burping bib still across her left shoulder: little ducks with pink bows decorating the thing. She had been in the middle of burping her newborn daughter, Emiko, when Ryoka had arrived to watch not only Emiko but her daughter Mitsukai who - in a rare chance - was well enough to be left home without a medic present. Ryoka had been taught what to do in case Mitsukai suddenly got sick, but Amaya didn't think that'd happen considering how good she was doing lately. Plus, the majority of the family dogs were on alert to get her to the hospital immediately if something did happen - and they'd smell it before the rest of them knew something was even going on.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm late...", Amaya muttered to the receptionist as she hurried back through double doors marked STAFF ONLY. She half walked half ran her way down the hall and toward the breakroom where she planned on putting her coat - currently hung over her left arm - and grabbing a bit of coffee as a pick me up before she officially started her shift. As she went she glanced in the rooms as she passed them, taking mental note of who was there, who had left, and the new faces she would probably meet in a short period of time. Amaya couldn't help but wonder as she went if her mind was playing tricks on her: it always seemed like each time she came in to the hospital to do a shift there were more patients there than before even though she knew they left as soon as they were well.

Finally at the appropriate door she pushed it open and stepped inside. She didn't take more than two or three steps, just enough to allow the door to shut behind her, before she noticed a sleeping form on one of the couches: Ginza. Amaya shifted her red gaze over to the coffee pot which she could hear making all manner of beautiful noises, and then once more onto Ginza as she removed her coat from her arm and tossed it in a empty chair. "Wake up, sleepy head...", she called out softy, not wanting to startle him.

Wordcount: 480

The brief amount of rest that the medical shinobi managed before Amaya walked into the room was quite pleasant, and he found himself in quite the pleasant dream; even considering the rough day that he’d had. He’d run around trying to corral some of the younger patients in the hospital who refused to stay in their rooms, helped set some broken bones, and he’d seen more than his fair share of blood and vomit in his opinion. But those experiences didn’t bleed into his dreams.  In his dream he was back at the temple, sunshine and greenery surrounding him for once, compared to the horrific dreams that he normally had about the temple where everyone he had known had died. The pleasantness of it was nice, and he found himself in one of the meditation rooms, breathing deeply, in and out, soft voices of the others, familiar, soothing him. It was incredibly pleasant.

But, even with Amaya waking him with a few gentle words, Ginza did startle awake from his sleep, calming moments in his dream completely forgotten. His heart was racing in his chest as he abruptly sat up, having thought that he had fallen asleep for quite a lot longer than he had. “Huh, wha- how long did I-“ He stumbled over his words groggily before pausing, realizing that the coffee pot was still making it’s blessed gurgling noises he sagged back down taking a deep breath and scrubbing a hand over his face, trying to fight how exhausted he felt. He was safe. He hadn’t over slept through his break. He took a few deep breaths to get his heartbeat under control before pushing himself up again, giving Amaya a sheepish smile. “Thanks for waking me up.” He hummed with an almost laugh as he stood to move towards the coffee machine, finding himself relieved that the woman had come across him. If he had slept into his shift more than his break allowed, he would have never forgiven himself.

At the coffee machine he smiled as it sputtered to a stop, leaving a full pot of coffee in its wake. Liquid energy. God he needed it, and he gave a great yawn as he pulled out his mug, dumped some sugar and milk in it and then poured the coffee before blessedly holding it to his lips as he looked at his friend. “How’re the kids?”

WC: 407 + 494 = 901

Even with how soft spoken Amaya had been in her attempt to wake Ginza up he woke up startled all the same - though he did seem to calm back down easily enough. He thanked Amaya for waking him to which she nodded with a gentle smile: she wouldn't have held it against him no matter how long he had been asleep considering she knew the shift he was currently working, and how many that had come before that. She found herself silently hoping for a reprieve for home: that someone else would come in so that in the end he could end up going home earlier than what was likely to happen so he could get some well needed sleep.

Amaya was distracted from her thoughts though as she watched Ginza head over to the coffee pot and ask her how the kids were. It was at that moment that Amaya realized she still had one of Emiko's burping bibs hanging from her shoulder. She picked it up, laughing a bit at herself, and then stuffed it into one of the pockets of the jacket she slung over an empty chair: she'd probably forget about it later but for now at least it wasn't hanging off of her shoulder. With the burping bib handled she too wandered over to the pot and pulled out a clean mug from the cabinets above - this one green with the Konoha village symbol in black on the front. "They're good. Emiko actually allowed me to sleep through the night for once. Mitsukai is home without a nurse now - she seems to be doing really well. I hope it lasts." Oh god did she hope it lasted. Mitsukai had been in and out of the hospital from the day she was born: there was barely a month between episodes of her sickness so the fact that she was well enough to be home for an extended period of time was leaps and bounds better than what she had ever been before. It was Amaya hope, even if she was scared to do so.

"So how've you been?" Between being on maternity leave via an order from the Hokage himself Amaya helping to fill in for Kenta while he was away in Iwa on business, as well as her other duties she hadn't been able to spend as much time at the hospital as she usually did so she was quite curious how Ginza - one of her favorite people to work with - had been which showed clearly in her voice: she really did care. While she likely would have asked anyone she worked with the same question to be polite in this case she really and truly cared.

As Amaya waited for a response she filled her cup with a large amount of sugar, some creamer, and then coffee which was all stirred up quite well until it was a very light tan color: just the way she liked it. The cup was then brought to her lips which she sipped at quite a bit, ignoring the fact that it was still quite hot.

Wordcount: 522 | 1,002

The tall man huddled against the counter with his mug clutched in both hands just below his lips as he watched and listened to Amaya. It was almost as if the exhausted twenty-four year old was attempting to make himself smaller than he actually was. Not that it made much of a difference considering his six feet five inches height compared to Amaya’s much shorter five feet five inches height. If he were honest though, he really had missed having the shorter woman around while she had been on maternity leave because it had severely limited what interactions they had had when most of it had been work related because of the staffing issues.

Still, she was back now, and it was almost as if no time had passed between them. They were still perfectly good friends. Ginza gave a small chuckle to his friend as she pulled off the burping bib. He almost hadn’t noticed that she was still wearing it, but now that she’d moved it and he’d noticed it was almost comical. Not to mention her description finally being allowed to sleep by her new-born baby.  He didn’t envy her for that. The blond medic wasn’t entirely fond of young screaming children, but he did have a soft spot in his heart for the members of Amaya’s family, and thus the kage’s, etc. Their pack was something that he had become incredibly fond of during his time back in Konoha, and then with Kenta back as the Hokage. It was nice to be a honorary member of the pack when his own family was long gone, and he had no idea if he would ever form a family of his own at this point.  

“That’s good. I did notice that Mitsukai hasn’t been making trips here lately. I hope her health continues to hold up. It’s good not to see her here.” Ginza offered his friend one of his rare genuine, yet tired, smiles. Mitsukai stepped into everyone’s hearts, and it was horrible to see the girl so sick sometimes. It worried him, but he knew that it had to worry Amaya all the more. Still, he would remain hopeful that the girl would remain healthy. She had such dreams, and he hoped that she would be able to accomplish them in spite of her health.

“I’ve been the same really. Keeping busy, working.” Ginza hummed in reply to the question about himself after a moment of nursing his coffee at his lips, as always not particularly forthcoming about himself.  Though, in this case he was being entirely honest. Work, both as a shinobi of Konohagakure, and as a medic of the hospital had taken over his life lately, and he hadn’t had time for much else. It was a routine that wasn’t very interesting or exciting, but he didn’t particularly mind it. He was dedicated to his work as it was at the moment. So long as it helped him expand his horizons. If that made his life boring at the current moment in time, so be it. Sometimes boring was a good thing, and he had no doubt that it would wind up picking up pace at some point in the future.

Giving a small hum turned to set his coffee mug down on the counter for a moment running a hand over his face as he gave another yawn before stretching as tall as he could and asking his own question. “What about you aside from the kids? I’ve missed seeing you around.”

WC: 901 + 608 = 1509

Yuna lived in the outskirts of Konoha. She had mildly exiled herself to the outside of town after her family was taken away from her. For the most part she tended her garden where she grew all sorts of fine tea leaves. In fact that is all she had been doing for the last few weeks. She realized she hadn't seen a patient at her small modest home in the outskirts of Konoha in quite some time. Typically she would have a steady flow of visitors who needed minor healing that would otherwise be not worthy of a doctors time.

She decided that with her free time that she would go to the hospital and see if she could lend a helping hand. Although she was terrified of to much interaction with strangers, she longed for the presence of another person and the joys of carrying on useless banter. She packed her tea set, some of her favorite blends, a batch of rice and set off into Konoha. On her way she stopped to give the poor souls begging on the corner a sip of tea and some rice. They thanked her profusely and wished her many blessings. She smiled to herself at their delight wishing she could bring herself to befriend them.

She thought fondly back to her days growing up with her childhood friends. Playing interchangeably with the boys and girls as she had the gift of changing genders at will. Her father had told her that a secret magic had been carried down through his bloodline to her and her sister. He told her how blessed she was to be able to see the world through the eyes of everyone. She suddenly realized that she had reached the hospital already. She thought to herself that she really must have been day dreaming as the walk to the hospital was at least a 30 minute walk.

Now that she realized she finally had reached the hospital she was mortified to she how busy they were. She gasped and steadied herself. ""Cmon you can do this Yuna", she said to herself. Onward she charged into the fray. She stopped at the receptionist and asked where to go. The receptionist said "go to the break room and deposit your things, in the meantime I will find you a position to fill".

Yuna headed for the break room, but stopped at the door when she noticed two staff members having a conversation. She didn't want to interrupt, so she settled on peaking around the door frame until they were done.

WC: 437