There was little to no conversation between Daremo and Niala on their way to make a copy of the updated medical report. It was needing to be done to keep this situation from happening again in the future. With the amount of injuries Madoka sustain, disguised as accidents, someone should had noticed something was not right with the situation. No matter how accident prone a child was, the number of hospital visits were too high to be considered ‘normal’. There was no excuse for the abuse to continue as long as it did without someone bringing it to the authorities attention. Of course, nothing happen until now, when two outsiders, him and Niala, stepped in and did what so many were too afraid of doing.

”Disgusting.”, Daremo silently mused, looking at the nurses and fellow doctors who were all looking at him and Niala as they made their way down the hallway. The being looks of sympathy, whispers of disbelief, and looks of envious and, in a few cases, anger, all thrown in their direction. It was apparent, the looks of anger came from those who were well aware of the abuse, and probably had some hand in keeping is hush-hush amongst the staff. It would not be surprising for the doctor, people would do anything to help themselves, even turning their back on those in need.

Oh how he wanted to scoff at the looks of sympathy thrown at Niala from some of the staff. Only an hour of working with the Iwagakure no Sato shinobi, Daremo knew the girl did not need anyone sympathy. She was strong and mentally tough as the rocks which comprised his homeland. If anyone needed sympathy, it was young Madoka and Ms. Takahashi, the pair having put up with the abuse for ages. Coming back to the hospital time after time, desperately hoping someone read between the lines, see the unwritten story, and get the proper people involved. Yet, none of that happened, only disappointment, and continue suffering. ”On second thought, they do not need your sympathy either.”, Daremo realized, the people being just as guilty as those who had something to gain from the girl’s abuse. While they did not have a hand in making it worse, they still did nothing to help with the situation. They continued on with their lives, and tried to ignore their own guilt

In his eyes, everyone of these doctors and nurses were guilty in having a hand in the girl’s abused, and should be handed punishment accordingly. Though, that was just wishful thinking on his part, he knew nothing would come from the actions. A pre-scripted apology will come out, and proclaim no one realize the abuse was occurring followed by congratulating himself and Niala for dealing with the man. Everything would be fake, lacking true emotions. The hospital not truly caring for what had occurred, only caring about saving face in the public’s eyes. Before his thoughts to go any further, the pair arrived at achieved room. For the next twenty minutes, Daremo helped Niala with updating the medical file, explaining every injury and it’s cause in detail, along with putting in any other relevant information. There, in big red letter, being a warning about the father being combative with no qualms in attacking anyone.  This way, if the man somehow come back searching for his wife and daughter, the staff will know everything they needed about him. Furthermore, the old medical file would be kept in case they were needed in the future. After the updating Madoka’s medical file, the pair, well more like Niala, wrote up the incident report with Daremo helping her when asked.

Walking out of the room, Daremo watched as some staff member came up to ask them question regarding the accident. Even the nurse, who he talked to prior of meeting Niala, came up to the pair, and expressed her gratitude for what they did. Briefly she spoke, in hush tone, about having tried to get the authorities involved but the higher up told her they would handle it. Months having passed, Madoka coming in for more injuries, with nothing being done about it. The nurse saying how she was persistence in trying to get someone’s attention regarding the situation until eventually the higher-up convinced her to not say anything else. When asked what they had over her, the nurse promptly excused herself, and went about her way.

A few other tried talking to Niala, but Daremo came up with the excuse of them being needed elsewhere, and that, instead of conversating, they should be trying to help the injured within the hospital. With that being said, the doctors and nurses went about their way, leaving the pair alone. No soon after everything returned to normal, Daremo was called to give a crying baby a shot for their low-grade fever. Instead of doing it himself, he had Niala take control of the situation. He simply watched the nurse performed her duty with care and professionalism, even going as far to soothe the crying child before ministering the shoot, the area being numbed with an elementary medical technique so the child would not feel anything.

Nodding in approval, the pair heard loud noises coming from the main entrance. Upon investigating, they came to the sight of a bunch of civilian kids from a local team. One of their members having broken their arm upon making a miraculous, their words, save which won them the game. Once again, Daremo took a backseat to this patient, watching as Niala properly set the bone before using medical chakra to heal it. Usually there is no need to set a broken bone before applying medical chakra to stimulate rapid healing, but, Daremo is a strong component for such actions because it lessen the amount of chakra needed to perform such actions. After a round of high-fives from the boy’s teammates, Daremo and Niala continued their duties.

”I really hate druggies, and those who support the action.”, He silently mused, watching as Niala discreetly called security to escort the druggie out of the hospital. The medical scan showing nothing was wrong with said female, and that she was just here to get a ‘fix’ either for herself or to sell it to others who were dependent on the pharmaceutical drugs as she was. There were no doubt in his mind that the woman would return, in an attempt to seek out some gullible doctor or nurse in getting them the drugs they sought after.  As Niala made a note of the druggie’s action in the file, Daremo took a minute too look over their medical record. The woman having come in countless of times, with her being prescribed a narcotic a number of times by the same nurse and doctor. That will have to be looked into at a later time, but, for now, he would remember the folder number for reference.

Following that incident, Daremo watched as Niala dealt with a pair of first-time parents who were freaking out over their baby having mild non-threatening cold and a very low grade fever. While she ministered the necessary shot, Daremo personally talked to the parents, giving them advice as one parent to another. It seemingly doing the trick to ease their worrying as they soon left afterwards with instruction on what to do if the fever got worse.

Break was a quick and quiet affair with him being lost in his own thoughts, wondering about his wife and children. Curious in what they were doing right about now, and how they were they handling his absence? He knew Kaia-mai was strong, but the kids, this would be the first time where their father was not there for them. He wonders how they were handling it, and would they still love him when he returns? The thought of them hating him was not something he would like to think about.

Luckily, he would not have a chance to dwell of those depressing thoughts any longer as they were called to deal with another patient. Just like all the other times, Daremo watched how Niala handle dealing with the patient. This time being a calm man, and his hysterical wife, who got hurt when a broken knife hit his hand when he was trying to carve a design in the door. It was truly amazing how different people handled the same injuries. While the man was just treating it as some nonconsequential, the woman was going on the deep in, saying that her husband was bleeding out, when there were no blood to prove such. No sooner after the man was sent on his way, the druggie from before returned.

Daremo mentally sighed as he noticed the self-inflicted wound. It was oblivious the woman had broken her own wrist in order to get pain killers. Her attempt to cheat the system by self-harming herself was one of the oldest tricks in the book, and while others might fall for it, Daremo would not. But, it seemed, Niala also saw through what the woman was doing, and instead of falling into her trap, the nurse set and then healed the wrist before discharging the woman. Some nasty words were said at Niala by the discharged woman, and Daremo nodded in approval when she did not react to them. “In this profession, you will meet people like that.”, Daremo spoke as they went onto their next case; a child having shoved three tiny toys of their nose, in an attempt to ‘rescue’ the first toy.

While Niala dealt with removing to foreign objects from the child’s nose, Daremo talked to the mother, asking how was this something normal. Apparently, the child did this a lot, but, this being the first time they shoved three toys up their nose. The frazzled mother blaming her husband for buying such small toys, and promise to get rid of thm, buying bigger ones that couldn't be shoved up the nose. Once the child had been taking care of Daremo had plans to continue watching over Niala’s work, but he was called away for a minor surgery that needed his skills. Despite Niala being under him, she was not allowed to come due to the sensitive of the case. With that in mind, Daremo told Niala to busy herself until he comes to find her again.

Having disposed of the surgical gear, Daremo walked out of the operational room, getting a pat on his back for the successful surgery. ”Poor guy will have scarring for the rest of his life.”. Daremo silently mused while walking through the hallways in search for Niala. After asking a few people, he was told the girl was seen walking towards the nurse lounge. Thanking the individual for the information, Daremo made his way towards previous said destination.

Right when he walked into the semi-spacious room, his eyes locked onto Niala, the only person in the area, who was sitting down at a table. Moving towards the teapot, Daremo snagged a muff and paper towel. Using the paper towel to wipe out the muff, and throwing the used towel into the trash. Without thinking about it, Daremo grabbed cinnamon flavored tea bag, popping it into his cup and leaving the string hanging out as he poured hot water into the cup. “What is this about you being a monster?”, He spoke, the question aimed at the only person in the room, as he sat in the chair in front of her, “You are so far from being a monster, hatchling. You are still pure” It was on mere accident on his part for calling Niala a ‘hatchling’; the term being used a lot when he dealt with the komodo dragons. He hope she would not look at him too weirdly, “I on the other hand. . .”, Daremo chuckled, shaking his head before looking back at Niala, his reptilian eyes boring into her own, “Is this have to do about the Madoka’s sperm donor?” The words were slightly cass as he did not refer to the man as Madoka’s father but sperm donor. Nevertheless, he was curious if the reason why she called herself a ‘monster’ dealt with what happened that man.

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Word Count: 2052

The number of times he had ventured into the nurses, or doctors, lounge could be counted on both of his hands. The man did not bother in entering the places, unless absolutely necessary or when having to find a nurse, or doctor, for whatever reason at the time. There being some rumors that nurses hung out here to escape their duties or to gossip about fellow patients or colleagues, distinguishing such activities as them taking a break from a hard shift. For him, he could not be bother in consciously doing either of the aforementioned things when there were lives at stake. Hence why the only reason he was about to step into the nurse’s lounge was to find Niala, and see how she is holding up before escorting back out to continue their duties.

Stepping into the surprisingly empty room, Daremo zeroed in on the woman who he had been searching for, when she had seemingly jumped from the sudden commotion of the door being opened and closed. Either her situational awareness were shit, or, she were so deep in her own thoughts that she subconsciously tuned out the outside world, only coming to when the sudden noise of the door open jarring her back to reality. He doubt her sudden movement was from her lack of skills, she seem fairly competent in that rather, therefore, he could only assume she was drowning in her own thoughts. He had a fairly good idea what was bothering the woman. The incident this morning with Ms. Takakashi’s, now, ex-husband would rattle anyone who is not used to deal with the particular situation on a daily basis. Even the most successful nurses and doctors have walked away from the occupation after dealing with a combatant person like that guy. Some people simply could not handle it, and he wonder was Niala one of those people?

Instead of making his way towards the table she sat at, Daremo moved towards the teapot against the wall in front of him. His fingers idly running across the cool metal of the chairs which were passed by onto the destination. Grabbing a plain black mug and sitting it on the today, Daremo reached and snatched a paper towel off of it’s roll. It being tossed into the trash once the mug was thoroughly clean. Without thinking too much, Daremo grabbed a cinnamon flavored tea bag, and paused upon realizing it. “Kaia-mai.”, He mutter barely above a whisper as he thought about his wife. The cinnamon tea being one of her favorites, though not to the extent of her Bubblegum tea. Though he had always been fond of cinnamon tea, he really did not start drinking it extensively until he met, and fell in love, Kaia-mai. It being one of many of changes within in life.

Pushing the thoughts of Kaia-mai, and his twins to the back of his mind, unless he want to continuously wonder what they were doing right now, and if they were safe, Daremo focused on preparing the tea. Watching as the steam rose from the mug when hot water was added, after the tea bag had been placed inside with the string hanging from the corner. He took his time in walking towards Niala. Reptilian yellow eyes focusing on her, looking at her with curiosity as he tried to figure her out.

Sitting in the chair a front of her, Daremo ignored how Niala nearly dropped the empty sugar packets into her tea when he inquired about what he heard earlier: she believing herself to be a monster. It was ridiculous, and he made sure to tell her that, dispute her claim of being a monster. The girl before him was anything but a monster. If she was a monster than he is a damn demon of the worse kind. A monster she was not. She was more of a saint than anything else. There were monsters in the world, and as he told her, one was sitting in front of her.

Waiting for her to reply, Daremo stared into his mug, watches as the one clear liquid had become a light brown color. The stem wafting the rich cinnamon aroma throughout the air. Inhaling, the smell bringing him back to times spent with Kaia-mai, the two of them, curled up on the couch watching a movie today with the kids spending time with their great grandparents. The thought bringing a soft smile to his face. Instead of shoving the thoughts to the corner of his mind, he allowed them to flourish as a comfortable silences descended in the lounge, only being broken by the noise from outside of the room.

Catching movement in front of him, Daremo’s lifted his head, watching as Niala rose from the chair to apparently toss the empty packets into the trash and to grab a spoon. As she was coming back to sit down, had already removed the teabag within his mug, letting it drain before putting it on a saucer to the left of him; he would throw it out later. Again, there was a comfortable silence between the two, only being disturbed by the small ‘clinks’ from Niala stirring up her tea. Yellow, reptilian, predatory eyes met blue innocent ones as Daremo patiently waited for Niala to speak what was clearly on her mind.

”Better than you might think.”, Daremo mused, nodding his head in confirmation of knowing her mother, along with where they originated from. Sunagakure no Sato not being that far from where he was reborn as a medical expert known as Daremo. It was quite interesting how similar they were. While he originated from Iwagakure no Sato, not like she knew that, he left it for reasons of his own, and found himself in Kaze no Kuni before the hidden village destruction. If one believed in fate, there was a good chance he could have been a shinobi of Sunagakure no Sato, but alas that was not the case for reasons. . .

There she goes again, calling herself a monster. He did not make a comment about it right away, allowing her to explain why she believed she was turning into one. Nothing was said as he listen to her speak on being a generally happy person, lacking any dark thoughts. How Genki used to joke that she should get a job at the hospital, and work as a person who uses their puppets for entertainment purposes, not for killing. He did not show any sign of surprise at hearing the Genki did not want his daughter to become a shinobi. Despite the man’s aggressive personality, he figured there was something more to him than that,

”What are you thinking?’, Daremo pondered, noticing the faraway look in Niala’s eyes. It did not take long for his unspoken question to be answered. “You wanted to say something different, didn’t you?”, He mused, the slight hesitation from her when she spoke about Madoka’s sperm donor told him that Niala had a strong dislike, maybe even hatred for the abusive man. The assumption been correct when she admit of wanting to hurt, possibly torture, the man more despite him being incapacitated. It was when she pause to take a sip of her tea did Daremo speak,  “Anyone in your position would have felt the same way about that man.  I know I did. And, if I was not on duty, or it happened when no one was around? Well, the man wouldn’t be amongst the living.”. The casual way he talked about killing the man was if he was talking about the weather or some other mundane tasks. There were no evil nor darkness within his voice, it was as if he was talking to a friend over some boring topic. “I would not worry about that man. There is no way he can hurt anyone again.”, He whispered loud enough for Niala to hear him, and also dropping a sinister hint at what happened to Madoka’s father.  Would Niala figured out that he had set into motion events that would end with the man dying before the end of the day due to medical complications? If she did figure it out, he wonder what she would do with the knowledge. Would she report him? Or, would she keep it to herself for whatever reason?

Taking a sip of the tea, savoring the taste of the brown liquid sliding down his throat, Daremo focus on Niala. ”She really did want to torture him.”, Daremo mused, who would have guess she had it in her? Then again, considering who her parents where, it should not be surprising that she had such thoughts. “It seems the apple did not fall too far from the true.”, Daremo did not elaborate on the statement, instead, turnt to speaking on what she had said, “What you felt? That’s normal. It means you are human, and have semblance of justice. I would have been more concern if you did not feel those things towards that man. Only the most emotionless people can look at such actions without a remote ounce of hatred.  What he did was unspeakable, especially considering the age of the victim. And, he deserved all you mentioned, and more. Though, this is where we are different. You would want to leave him at the mercy of whoever his caretaker might be. Me? I would just drop him off in abandoned shack in an isolated place and let Mother Nature hand out justice. I would not give the man a luxury to taint another person, ever. The man do not deserve any mercy.”  Taking another sip of the tea, Daremo allowed the girl before him to contemplate the words he had spoke. How he would have not bother showing mercy for such a man. How he would have left the man to die in the wilderness, letting nature handle the trash.  How would she react to such words?

It would seem that there were still more to what all was eating at Niala. The girl admitting the incident with the man only played a part in her swirling thoughts. Daremo did not speak, only tentatively listen, while taking sips of the tea, as she spoke about her stalker. Some boy named Hibiki having demanded her to go out on a date with him, going as far as to threaten the career of her twin. ”Oh, that sounds oddly familiar.”, Daremo silently mused, thinking back to the woman he killed who pulled a similar stunt on him when he was an Iwa-nin. Though he did not say anything, he did nod his head in approval of the girl scaring the boy to the point he urinated on himself. Her admission of wanting a close-up view of the terror within the boy’s eyes did not phrase Daremo in the slightest, who only took another sip of the delicious tea.

Only the voice of Niala was heard throughout the lounge, as she spilled more of what have been bothering her. Having not seen the boy in awhile, she apparently gained a stalker. Daremo could only assume it was Hibiki or someone else who had taking an interest in young Niala for whatever reason. The girl having admit secretly wanting to bump into the stalker in a dark alley, to, this being an assumption, teach the individual a lesson. She having grown confident after her father started training her more extensively. She having also talk taking a look into using medical techniques in an offensive manner. There was a frown on her face as she realize how much she had changed in the passed month or so.

For a few moments he remained quiet, and just gingerly sipped on his tea, eyes never leaving the girl before him. “Well.”, the sound of his mug being placed on the table was heard, “I can say without a doubt, you are not a monster.” He allowed the words to sink in. “All I see is a young girl who having to adapt to the occupation of a killer.” He did not give her a chance to respond, “Yes, you heard me right. You are adapting and evolving to handle the stress that comes with being a professional killer. Do not for one second think Shinobis are anything but glorified killers. For, at the root of it all, the only thing separating us from those who we hunt is we justify our actions in the name of a village, and a Daimyo. Family and friends? Everyone, on some level, fight for those things. You are young. And, from what I can see, you are just now seeing the harsh reality of this world. No longer are you protected from certain truths. You are not facing them yourself, and having to deal with the aftermath. Wanting to cause pain to those who hurt you, your family and friends, or the innocence? That is perfectly normal. We all want to save the those things. They are what keeps us grounded, and not fall to far into the abyss.”

Daremo took a moment to let his word sink in, and allow Niala to comment on anything said so far, before continuing on, “Let me tell you a story.”, A sigh escaping his lips as he thought about what he was about to do. Seeming how she told him much about herself, he guess it was fair to do the same, “I was born and raised in a village in Tsuchi no Kuni. My upbringing was anything but normal. I did not know who my father was, nor my siblings. My mother was a bodyguard for numerous of Geisha houses. These were not your normal Geisha houses, for, the performers did sexual favors. I was raised in that environment, and had my first sexual encounter at the age of seven. Others would follow soon afterwards with varying noblewomen, and some men seeking me out. My mother allowed it to happen. Did I hate her? No, I knew what I was getting into. My sisters, the other geishas, did not hide from me what they did. They taught me everything they knew and then some. Nevertheless, the sexual things in the past is not the point.” He did not know how she would react to that tidbit of information, “I was six when I first killed someone. Bashed the guy skull in after he abused one of my sisters a bit too much. Killing was something I did throughout my life. I having lost count of the number of people I killed either for a village, or to protect someone I cared about, or because they simply pissed me off. Do I enjoy it? No. Do I regret it? Not one bit, for I killed those people because I felt it was the right thing to do. The people left behind, the fathers, mothers, sons and daughters will forever curse my name to the darkest and damndest pits in hell. Saying all of that, I know I am a monster, but I am also a husband to a beautiful wife, and the father of two beautiful children”

Again he allowed a chance for Niala to making a comment about what he had just admitted, “You are no monster Niala. You are far from it. You are still too pure to be considered as a young monster. Furthermore, do not worry about labeling yourself as such. For the moment you start labeling yourself is when you try to become that label. Just continue being who you are. Do not worry about those thoughts for everyone has them. Just be you, and damn everything else. For at the end of the day, as long as you can look yourself in the mirror without disgust than there is nothing to worry about.” Having said what he wanted to say, Daremo waited to see how Niala would respond.

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Word Count: 2,665 | 4,717

Though he was not entirely sure, Daremo had a feeling Niala was surprised about his admission of killing Mr.Takahashi if given the opportunity. It was probably a shock to her system that someone, especially a doctor who were in charge of saving lives, would openly admit to killing another individual if the chance presented himself. The hippocratic oath being one were a doctor should never take up arms when there are injuries to mend. It being something established by a Sannin of the old. While he took the oath during his younger years, nowadays, he hardly cares about it. The oath being something which he found outdated considering the current state of the world. Not killing because there is people needing healing would only make the medic-nin an easier target. There other skills would become dull, less sharp than they would have if they kept up with them.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Daremo gingerly sipped on his tea, watching for any reaction from the teenager before him as he talked about other subjects. A smirk appearing on his face when he noticed the look given to him when he spoke on Mr. Takahashi potential demise. Subtly, he nodded his head, confirming what she might have been think. Yes, he had permanently taking care of the abusive man for good. Did it really matter if she knew? By her own admission, she also wanted to see the man’s demise. So what if he was the one to do it? Not like she could exactly say anything without jeopardizing herself. Would he really tell on her if she let it slipped about what he did? No. But, she does not know that.

It was good to see that she accepted his words of her not being a monster. For truly, the was anything short of that. She were still pure and innocent, others of similar age. Because of the debt he owned to Hanae, he would make sure Niala did not become the monster like so many others. Did this mean sheltering her from the evil of the world? No, he will make her face them to see the truth of the world. She needed to see what lies behind these fancy hospital walls, and the comfort of the village that many take for granted. Yes, he would show her, and make sure she does not break from the stress.

As a code blue was called, Daremo finished drinking his tea, “No rest for the wicked.”, He spoke, moving to put his empty mug in the sink. Once done, he turned to look at Niala, waiting for her as they headed back to work.

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Word Count: 450 | 5,167
Double Ryo Payment Reached, Ryo Owed: 1,000