The Shushuya pub was one of the more popular venues for people within Konohagakure to eat at, including the tourists, which made it more than likely that Ginza wouldn't appear there very often because of his dislike of being around large groups of people. But today was not one of those days. Today, he'd found himself sitting in one of the many wooden booths waiting for his companion, Amaya Uchiha, to join him for what would hopefully be a quiet evening. Not that Shushuya was often very quiet with how rowdy the crowds could get due to the copious amount of sake that could be had there. The woman was a few years younger than he was, but was considerably more powerful than him, showing what years of dedication to the shinobi arts could be, compared to the years that he had spent away from the village at the temple that he'd essentially been raised at after graduating from the academy when he was still very young. He had to admit that he was slightly envious, but he was making progress, and eventually he'd catch up to where his abilities should be at his age.

At this current point he'd been in the village for four years now, though he'd met the medical shinobi Amaya Uchiha not long after that time that he had stumbled up to the gates and collapsed due to his injuries. He had been very lucky to make it there alive, and with Amaya's help he'd survived the injuries that had very nearly taken his life, much like they had taken the lives of the others who had resided at the temple. That time had been horrific, though he supposed that he had almost made a friend in Amaya. Or at the very least, he was sure the woman considered him a friend perhaps, even if he had a hard time thinking of anyone like that just yet. He didn't want to get close to anyone again for fear of losing them, as he had lost everyone he had ever been close to before.

There had been so much blood. Ginza had remembered that, on the walls on the floor. There had been screaming, and everything was so frantic. He'd called out for Izuna and Zeisei, but no one had come, and that probably had meant that the others were dead as well. They hadn't been taken with him by the brutes who had slaughtered their temple. A place of peace turned into a place of absolute horror. He'd been trapped with them for nearly six months before he'd finally been able to escape from their clutch it and make it back to the village that he had spent his childhood. He had thought that he was going to die before reaching the gates. But gratefully he had before collapsing in front of the guards and giving a brief murmur of his name before falling unconscious and been taken to the hospital. Waking there had been a little disconcerting.

Ginza gave a soft sigh, pursing his lips for a moment as he lifted up the cup of sake, that he had poured for himself a moment earlier, to his lips, taking a sip of it. The cool dry and slightly bitter liquid burning its way down his throat with a dry sensation. It was a nice reminder that the life he was living now was calmer than the life he had lived in the past with the horror that had happened. He liked like it was calmer, but he knew that it would not always be so. The life of shinobi was truly violent, and Ginza was familiar with that even if his missions so far as a shinobi had not been completely terrifying or brutal. But in his twenty-four years he had seen quite enough to not be naive like a lot of younger genin straight out of the academy. He sighed and let his fingers take the glass back down to settle onto the table, his golden eyes wandering down to rest on the slightly murky white liquid that remained still in his cup, little ripples moving through the liquid as it adjusted to being settled back down on the table. Ripples  could symbolize what could be done in the world. How a little drop could cause so much turmoil. Blinking, Ginza turned his head to look towards the entrance when he heard the little bell at the door ring. Would it be Amaya?

WC: 764

The life of a medic was always busy. Not only did you have your usual Jounin responsibilities to attend to but you were also expected to put in a specific amount of hours in at the hospital to make everyone happy. Those hours tended to be only hopes and dreams though, as so much more was demanded. Amaya would plan out twenty hours a week to be spent at the hospital and end up working over forty. Still, her work mattered, so she wouldn't complain too much about it.

However, the hospital was particularly why she was running just a tad bit late. A child had come in with his arm broken in entirely the opposite direction: an 'accident' was what it had been called. Amaya, who knew injuries rather well at that point, knew damned well it hadn't been an accident. So, she hadn't been able with a clear conscious preform the surgery needed to rightfully place the arm and then send the kid on his way. No, she had started an investigation and that had taken paperwork. Paperwork: the bane of her existence. The very reason she would likely never try for the Hokage's hat. She'd much rather be healing or stabbing someone than have a pen in her hand.

The little bell hanging over the door dinged and announced her arrival, keeping her from being able to slip in as quiet and as un-noticed as she would have liked. A quick scan of the area with her red colored gaze as she lifted her neon yellow sunglasses off of her face showed her quickly where Ginza sat. She made her way to him, bobbing and weaving around the tables and a waitress or two before reaching him. She sat down with a sigh and stretched out for a moment with a satisfied groan. "Sorry I'm late... A child abuse case came in just as I was leaving. Kid's arm was broken and bent back the opposite way. Bastard father tried telling me he got that falling off his tricylcle.", Amaya explained. It didn't matter that Ginza was ranks below her, they were both medics, and she respected him very much like an equal. Plus, if anyone would understand her frustration with dealing with cases like that it would be him.

When a waitress went by she stopped her, inquiring for a glass of water and a bottle of rum: her preferred drink being the latter, but the water needed to keep her from feeling dehydrated after a ten hour shift on her feet without pause.

Wordcount: 430

Ginza smiled as he saw that he was right in assuming that the sound of the bell meant the entrance of Amaya into the restaurant. Silver hair and yellow glasses, Amaya looked well, if not tired from a full day of work... though Ginza couldn't see her eyes to know for certain, he was just going off of the way that she was moving. He himself had been given the day off from his duties at the hospital and had gratefully spent the day maintaining his own interests, with a good book and training in one of the many training fields that the village had to offer. It had really been a relatively peaceful day, and he hoped that it would only continue being quiet and peaceful. He shook his head at the mention of Amaya's apology, though his brow did crease at the mention of the cause.

"No need to apologize, Amaya, it's fine." He assured the woman, though inwardly, Ginza winced in sympathy for the child who had received a broken arm while his outward expression returned to his usual impassive one. The child likely would have more than a physical injury if it truly had been the father who had caused the injury. Children were normally devoted to their parents, at least he had been while his had been alive still. While he might not be able to feel pain in his current state, he certainly could remember the pain that he had felt when he had been young and vulnerable to such injures, not that his parents had abused him at all like the poor child that Amaya had taken care of. They'd simply trained him roughly into becoming a shinobi and he was appreciative of it. This had been many years ago though, before the nerve damage that had rendered him numb and even the memories of pain seemed somewhat muted.

" I hope that the child will be fine. Parents shouldn't harm their children like that. Do you know what will happen to the child?" He asked before pausing and looking up at the waitress that Amaya had stopped, ordering an appetizer for the pair of them to split before deciding on what they would have for their meals. They had done this enough in the past that they each had a general idea of what the other liked. In an odd way, Ginza supposed that they were becoming more than acquaintances, even if it was hard for him to consider someone a friend again because of his own short comings and dedication to the life of a shinobi. Still, he had to admit that he did enjoy his time around Amaya.

WC: 764 + 452 = 1216

Ginza said that there was no need to apologize which caused Amaya to smile lightly. If anyone knew the horrors of working in a hospital setting it was him, so she knew her reasonings would be more than understood. She listened as Ginza ordered an appetizer for them both to share, nodding a silent thanks at the thought. She was, for once, actually starving. She hadn't really bothered taking a break while she had been at work because she had been so busy and had been in what her family liked to call "Amaya Medical Mode". Which, simply meant she cared more about her patients and their families than she did her own health and well being. It made her an excellent doctor, but horrible at taking care of her own self. Still, at least she would have something to eat soon enough - which would hopefully keep her from being yelled at by her family.

When Ginza inquired as to what would happen to the child a thoughtful look appeared on Amaya's face. "Well, before I signed out for the day I made some... arrangements, for the little one. I talked to the child in some depth, and learned that the abuse was coming only from the father. In fact, though she wouldn't allow me to examine her, I found the mother to be a recipricant of it as well. The child wished to remain with the mother, and I saw no reason not to allow that to happen. The father, however, has been arrested and is being held with no chance of release until I say so... I had some funding set up for the mother since she hasn't been allowed a job since the pair got married. They'll be alright after some time... I plan on checking in at least once every few days to make sure the arm is healing up, and to make sure the home situation is taken care of properly." It was a lot of work for the already over-worked medic, but she was willing to do it because she cared.

The waitress returned with her glass of water, glass of rum, and the appetizer that Ginza had ordered for them. Amaya thanked her, requesting a bit more time to look over the menu and decide what actual meal she wanted. While the waitress would wander off to check on the other tables Amaya, ignoring everything for the moment, would simply focus her attention on her glass of water and work on downing it quite quickly. Water before anything else! When the water was finished off she would set the empty glass down and sigh, happily. "Much better."

Reaching up then Amaya would remove her sunglasses, placing them on the table, before shifting comfortably into her chair and looking with her red colored gaze at Ginza. "So, did you do anything interesting today? Slay any dragons? Take down an army?", she was playfully teasing of course - and indicating several books she herself had been reading lately - they shared similar enough hobbies after all.

Wordcount: 513 | 943

Ginza nodded in agreement with the way that Amaya had taken care of arrangments for the child. If the mother was not at fault too it would be best to keep the pair of mother and child together. It was an unfortunate thing when one was trapped into an abusive relationship that one couldn't see and out of, so the fact that Amaya had given the mother and the young child an out was admirable. The fact that the father had been arrested as well was good, considering he could go after the mother and child in spite of the arrangements made for them if he truly felt the need to. Amaya had taken care of the job well, and he gave his would-be friend a small smile of sorts.

"I'm glad you too care of the situation." He hummed, and he truly was. There were others in the medical field who would have simply been okay with the explanation that the child had broken her arm on an 'innocent' event playing, patched her up and sent her on her way with the abuser. But that was not his way, nor Amaya's. They simply didn't put up with those sorts of things. Not when they were on their rounds at the hospital.

When the waitress returned with their appetizer and Amaya's drinks, he gave the woman a small nod of thanks before reaching out for one of the pot stickers while Amaya focused on her glass of water. That meant that while she had been on the job she probably hadn't been taking care of herself and was dehydrated. He shook his head. "You need to start drinking water while on your shifts." He complained at her, and though he knew that she would hear it, he doubted if it would ever change her work ethic, even if it was damaging for her own sake. She simply cared too much about the work that she did at the hospital. Not that it was a bad thing really.

A soft, private, chuckle escaped Ginza at the question.  It was rare for him to laugh in front of others, but laugh in front of Amaya, Ginza did indeed. He hummed before slipping his hand into the pouch at his side that almost always held at least one book for him to read when he had the chance to. The book that he pulled out was a relatively worn down book, age coloring the pages, but still in excellent condition.

"I found this, and couldn't put it down. It's an interesting read." He murmured, sliding the book across the table to her. It was an old edition of "The tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" by Jiraiya. The very book that Naruto Uzumaki, the Nanadaime Hokage, had been named after. So far it was an interesting read, and he wasn't sure that the history books honestly differed from the book itself all that much. The Uzumaki kage certainly had lived up to his name sake. It was fascinating that this was the book that he had been named after when in it's initial printing had been horrible without many copies sold at all. And really, it was a wonder that he had managed to find a copy in this day and age at all.

WC: 1216 + 562 = 1778

Ginza commented that she needed to start drinking water while on her shifts and she couldn't help but grin a little: busted. He knew her too well after four years of working together. He knew by now she didn't take care of herself properly while on her shift, and she knew that he understood why. Her people came first, she came second, when on the job. Ginza likely wouldn't be the only person to say something to her today either, Kenta or another member of her family probably would too. If they found out that was... and she wasn't about to tell them.

Still, she focused back on Ginza instead on her thoughts, and saw the book he had been reading. A grin spread across her face - the book looked well loved, and quite old given the coloration of the pages: she had many books that looked just like that piled high on her bedside table. "Oh, I've heard of that book. I've never read it personally though. Maybe I'll have to take a day off and spend it reading again... It's been a while since the last time I did that." A long while, and likely longer still considering she was planning on taking an actual squad on instead of a single student.

Ignoring the food for now she picked up her alcoholic drink, the water glass now empty, and took a sip of it thoughtfully. "Reminds me... I wanted to talk to you about the squad meeting that occurred. I... worked around things depending on how I figured you felt about them, but I was hoping to actually get a chance to get your input. Without everyone else being present." Now would be the perfect time to do that in her opinion: and it wasn't too late to make further changes, before another squad meeting occurred. "I figured personally that Utano and Ryoka wouldn't work well together.. I also figured Utano wouldn't work well with us at all considering the little slip up she made, the near joke - if you could call something so disgusting a joke - about Ryoka needing a hand." Amaya paused, shaking her head, before taking a sip of her rum once more.

Wordcount: 371 | 1,314

“You should, it’s relatively enjoyable reading the book that brought about the name sake of the seventh  Hokage.” Ginza hummed contemplatively as he looked at the book before moving to settle it into his bag. While he was interested in the story, they were here to talk about the squad meeting, not to discuss literature after all, so putting the book away made more sense than not. The squad meeting had indeed been different, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it with the results that they had gotten from the other two that the test had been aimed at. The way Ryoka and Utano clashed personalities, it probably wouldn’t be wise to place them on the same team together.

Ginza gave a soft sigh as he listened before having to nod in agreement with Amaya as they talked, every now and then taking bites of his food as they discussed what had happened. And he definitely had to agree with the fact that Utano’s joke had been made in very poor taste. But, by the end of their discussion, it was rather decided that a team made of the three of them would be a rather bad idea and the two friends parted ways for the evening, heading in the respective directions of their homes.

WC: 1778 + 222 = 2000

Trained Taijutsu [C -> B]

- Exit thread -