Joe sat with a blank look on his face as he stared ahead at the simple wooden wall opposite from him. Why was he here? He had been training earlier in the day, doing his usual routine, when one of the medical-nin appeared and requested him to come in for a medical examination. It was an odd occurrence to say the least, but not one that he'd dare to miss. He had simply gave a vague nod, eyes aflutter with inner thought, before returning for his daily routine and training. He wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, he had more important things to be concerned about like training for his next match. The exams waited for nobody, he had to train like he wanted to win, and that's just exactly what he'd been doing. The days leading up to, and now including, the exams, had all seemed to blur together under Joe's mindset. His body was there training, enduring grueling challenges to build himself up for the next fight- and yet, his mind felt so very, very far away. It was as if he were a ghost in his own body, somehow detached to it even in the midst of living.

He could heard the wooden door to the examination room open up, a plain looking medcial-kunoichi sitting down with a clipboard in her hand. She looked at the papers there, flipping through them slowly with an alert gaze. She looked up at Joe once and a while, at which point his brown gaze would drift to meet hers, only to be broken again as she wrote down some notes. The next figure to enter, however, was far more alarming for the mild Genin to see. It was a Jonin, a figure who certainly had better things to do than pay innocent visits to inpatients at the Konohakagure hospital. The way the gruff and weathered looking man sat down though, the way he looked at Joe with a mix of contemplation and pity, it caused a knot to form in the teen's stomach. This wasn't a normal visit, wasn't it? His fears were all but confirmed by the time that the doctor spoke, looking up at the Genin before speaking calmly.

"A young girl comes to your door to raise money for charity. You give her 50 ryo, but then realize you need that money for groceries. What do you do?" the doctor asked, causing Joe's brow to furrow, "I don't understa-" the teen started, only to be cut off swiftly by the doctor, "Just answer the question please" she asked, giving a patient nod to the brown eyed boy who struggled to understand what any of this meant. He thought the question over for a bit, aware of the pair of eyes watching him, judging him. "I ask her for it back" he stated, causing the doctor to dip her head down again. "Good, just two more for now" she instructed, looking back up to Joe.

"It's your first day on the job at a new kitchen. The head chef asks you to prepare a stew of freshly killed cats. How do you respond?" she asked, causing Joe's heart to beat just a bit faster. What kind of sick question was that? How was he supposed to respond to something like that? He was left reeling in inner thought as he tried to come up with some sort of answer. He had a job, he couldn't fail it just like how he couldn't fail now, he had to keep pushing onwards. "I'd try to make the stew as tasty as possible" the teen replied, his eyes feeling dull and tired all of a sudden, his gaze honing in on the wooden wall rather than the two sitting opposite from him.

"What do you think about death?" the kunoichi asked. Instantly, Joe's blood went from chilled to a boiling pitch. "What kind of question is that? This is a sham! I should be training!" the Genin stated, not realizing he had been yelling until the Jonin present stood up and frowned at the outburst. It seemed the test had concluded then, for the medical-nin simply put away her clipboard and looked at the teen with a sympathetic look.

"You're a very sick boy, Mr. Joe... I've heard from others about your self-inflicted training becoming self-punishment. It's my belief that you've developed a layer of depression over the course of these exams. Because I cannot forcefully disqualify you, I'm assigning you a caretaker to check in on you every week and report any anomalies in your behavior" she stated, watching the Jonin leave the room to find someone to fill the spot. Joe was stunned by what he was hearing. How could he be sick? He felt absolutely fine! He had come so far, started with nothing as an orphan and now stood as a rising Genin of the Chunin Exams! It was mind boggling to him, and yet he could say nothing. "Additionally, I want you to take it easy and rest between your fights from now on. You've shown you have a lot of potential kid, you've already proved that to everyone watching this tournament- don't burn yourself out like a candle" the woman said, standing up from the desk and turning to leave.

With that Joe was alone, so very, very much alone.

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