Listen to the Medic-nin

It's seven sharp in the normal right now, and I'm heading to the Hokage's office because of a summon. Oh well, it's a bit too early for my tastes, but it gives me an excuse to apply for a rest day at the hospital and cuddle with Sasuke all day! I've already got my fill of Sora cuddles when I work, so I need more Sasuke cuddles to balance it out. What was it, equivalent exchange or something?

Oh wow, I'm already at his office? Jeez, time really flies by when you think about good times, eh? I knock on the door and it opens by itself. Huh, fancy. "Ah, Akari." Hiruzen gives me a smile. "I apologize for the inconvenience. But in light of the current situation, we have to discuss the future of your career." He gestures to a nearby chair opposite of his. "Please, do take a seat."

"It's not a problem, sir." I look around and sit down on the chair. I sense several ANBU agents but they seem to be the normal batch and not the ones used for assassinations, or ones loyal to Danzo, so that's good. No need to be wary of getting murdered yet. It's a visible improvement! "I thought this topic would be discussed soon, but I didn't think you would do this yourself. You must be busy dealing with everything that happened."

He winces at the reminder. "I'm always busy, this time is just worse than all the previous times." He takes a file on his desk and hands it to me. "This is a list of jobs that are available to you if you wish to stay within the village from now on, since once news gets out, I'd imagine many would want that eye of yours. You weren't in the bingo books before, but you will soon be. I'd imagine many would pay outrageous amounts of money for your eye, and even more for bringing you in alive."

I stare at the file and hand it back to him without reading it. He seems to have predicted this, as he gives me another file immediately.

"I already guessed that you won't give up your current career so easily. This is the file on missions that can be taken after your period of detainment, and a mix of ninja that are available for your team, if you wish to change it." Seeing my stubborn expression, he smiles bitterly. "I suppose you won't ask for new companions? Your comrades are undoubtedly skilled but are only promoted to Chunin recently. Jounin can be assigned to your team if you wish for more experienced teammates."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I do truly think that my teammates work well with me, and I would be safe enough with them." I open the file and everything seems to be normal, save for some new resources available to me. I'm apparently a top rescue priority if ever fallen into enemy hands, and all of the best medics in Konohagakure will rush to my side if I get injured in a mission, how thoughtful of them. "The other changes are pretty sweet, but are the benefits extended to my current teammates as well?"

"Yes, more benefits are given to your squad. Jounin sensei Yui can also be assigned back to your team after this if you and she both consent to this." He tells me.

Hmm. Yui is strong, but she's currently enjoying retirement, laying on the beaches, drinking daiquiris, and generally living a great life. It's quite rare for a ninja to retire without missing a limb or two, and I probably can't live with it if Yui got badly injured just because I want someone I trust to watch my back. And babysit my teammates, heh.

"I'd have to decline. I think the current team I have is enough for me and my team's safety. We currently have a flawless mission record. You promised that our team could be together even if we graduated, you wouldn't do so if you thought that we don't work well together, right?" I ask, and judging from his face, I got it in one.

Hiruzen huffs and pulls out a pipe to start smoking. "If you ever want to have a stable job, you are free to join many divisions. You could work as a full-time medic in the hospital, even."

I smile without much humor. "With all due respect, you know that isn't a path I'm going to take, sir."

He puffs out a large amount of smoke. "I know, Akari. Please do read these files thoroughly, these took a lot of time for my secretaries to plan out. If there's nothing you wish to ask, you're dismissed."

I bow and leave the room. That could have gone worse, to be fair. At least I can still run missions with my mates, so that's a relief!

____________________________________________________________________________

"So, what did you talk about with the Hokage?" Shinya asks. He and I just bump into each other on the streets and decide to hang out for a bit. He's wearing a white doctor's suit, looking very much not like an on-duty ninja.

He officially works as a therapist with his own clinic now, complete with nurses with a bit of knowledge of Medical jutsu and some desk workers. His clan funded him to set up a branch clinic tending to mild trauma for normal civilians, since some people on the Civilian Council, and yes that's a real thing here, was getting fussy about only prioritizing ninja's mental health. It's a surprisingly good decision, and the Yamanaka clan supported it fully.

"Nothing much compared to you, really. Just something about improved medical care for me and other stuff. What about you? Didn't your clan pile you with all the annoying civilians to take care of? I'd support the decision to have more facilities helping with mental issues with all my heart, but I'd hate to be the one in charge of it." I tease him a bit.

He sighs loudly, "Yea, our facilities are top notch, and we have more than enough funds, but there's just not enough people to man the clinic at all times! There are always one or two apprentice spots open, and no one good enough or smart enough in the Yamanaka clan wants to work for civilians." He glances at me, "You wouldn't happen to know someone that fits the bill, do you?"

I immediately think of Sora. He's doing fine in the hospital, but working there probably only made him better at Medical jutsus. Working at Shinya's branch can give him some useful experience on how to work with sobbing, crying, and overall annoying civilians. Sora might even pick up a thing or two from him.

"I've got someone in mind, but that depends on your thoughts on child labor." He looks faintly concerned about what I just said. Hey, whatever works, works. Don't look at me like that, you don't get to judge me, prick. Ninja, remember?

After I explained the proper context of what I just said to Shinji, he actually accepted my idea. Finally, embracing my madness, good man.

So here I am, offering Sora a job, and he refuses. I ask him why, and he admits to me that the main reason was because I don't work there. God, my heart, this boy really is too precious for this world.

Wonder if he'll be enrolled in Sasuke's class, so Sasuke has some serious competition. Maybe Sora might even beat Sasuke in Taijutsu classes, who knows?

I wonder if Sakura falls for Sora or Sasuke this time around? I swear, if she becomes too unbearable towards any one of my precious boys in the future, I definitely will teach her a lesson she's never going to forget about personal space.

Anyways, this is the first day Sasuke returns to the academy! I had to buy all his new textbooks because some asshole decided to spill so much blood on his old ones. So much that not one page isn't colored red. Wonder who did that, cough. Of course, after finalizing the inheritance papers, I'm filthy rich, so at least I can afford to buy him all the best equipment for school, along with some expensive lunch from a fancy bento shop across the street from the hospital every day if I can't be arsed to make something.

It's still an adapting process for Sasuke since everyone keeps giving him pitying looks and treating him like a glass doll. He hardly even interacts with anyone other than me at this point, which is pretty unhealthy. As a normal, not reincarnated child, he needs to socialize and make some friends. That's why I tried quite hard a few days ago in convincing him to give everyone a chance to be friends with him, even if he can't stand their attitude most of the time.

Anyways, it's almost night, and I'm currently waiting outside the gates of the academy, along with several other parents or older siblings. I spot some clan heads among them, and they seem to be bragging about their children to anyone that would listen.

Clan kids normally have no trouble returning to their own houses, or clan compounds if they are clan heirs, so I really don't need to pick Sasuke up from school. But well, I want to give him a chance at normalcy. The other children usually have their parents pick them up, so Sasuke should be given the same right. I'll definitely do the same for Sora when he joins the academy in the future. Who knows, they might get along then I can just pick them up together and save some effort, I guess?

The bell rings, and the kids start pouring right out. Sasuke comes out of the school with the rest of his class but doesn't seem to be walking with anyone in particular. I really shouldn't be surprised, but he could at least try to befriend someone. He's going to be called Billy no mates at this point.

His face lights up when he sees me, and rushes over to me with his tiny, adorable legs, arms outstretched. I accept his hug and start walking home, carrying him in my arms. He squirms a bit at first, but he soon gives up and makes himself comfortable. Feels like carrying a cat, honestly.

"How's your first day back at school?" I ask. I don't expect it to go too well, but I hope he haven't already managed to piss anyone from his class off.

Sasuke scowls. "Some idiot in an orange jumpsuit kept bothering me. He tried to drop a paint bomb on me during recess, and I almost got covered in yellow!"

I blink. Well, color me surprised! First day back at school, and the Sasuke-Naruto rivalry already started. This really is fate, huh? "The teachers didn't trouble you and him because of it, right?"

"They scolded him a bit but didn't want to talk to me much. Can we go home and forget about school stuff now?" He shrugs. "Talking about that makes me angry."

I flick his nose, and he makes a cute 'eep' noise. "Sure, why not?" He rubs his nose and glares at me. Foolish child, doesn't he know that only made him look even more adorable? I wonder what he looks like in a school uniform? Baby Sasuke would probably look even better in a sailor uniform if he was willing to change his hairstyle a bit.

We pass the time with some small talk on our way home, and when we finally arrive, Sasuke just dumps all his stuff on the floor and sits on the sofa. He doesn't want to talk about what happened, but I really want to know, so what to do, what to do…

I'll go ahead and make Sasuke some chocolate milk. It's great that even if coffee beans aren't discovered yet, cocoa beans are. Nothing beats a cup of warm coffee in the morning, but a cup of hot chocolate is a close second. Plus, it's really popular with the kids, so I tend to bribe them with it all the time.

"So, what happened with you and the kid in an orange jumpsuit?" I ask while handing him his drink, and he grabs it immediately.

"The idiot tried to fight me to prove something." He takes a sip. "After I beat him in Taijutsu practice, he tried to ambush me at lunch. He almost knocked over the bento." He makes a face and shudders. "Some girls started screeching and tried to get near me, it was really creepy."

"Oh dear. You could always scare them away, though?" I question him.

He sneers at that. "I tried glaring at them, but they started swarming me even more after that. One even tried to pinch my cheeks!" He then started mumbling about troublesome girls, if only he knew…

"Ah well, I'm sure it'll sort itself out sooner or later. You got any homework today?" Sasuke shakes his head. Wait, no homework? Lucky bastard! Back in my academy days homework takes at least two hours of my precious time per day.

I take the empty cup he hands to me, then head to the kitchen. "I'll clean this up, then we can go out and grab a bite. Do you have any restaurants you want to visit in particular? We can even get dango as dessert if you want."

"How about the one with the fried pork cutlets? I like the fried food there." He gives me the puppy eyes. How could I refuse?

The restaurant isn't that far away, and we got there in about ten minutes. The food there is pretty nice, and Sasuke wolfs it down when the food was delivered to him by a waiter. I still like ramen more, but I think I'm just heavily biased about the wonderful broth.

We finished our food pretty quickly, so we visited a dango shop like I promised and then walked back home. He insisted on training after eating fried food. I did advise him to just take it easy for a while, but he didn't listen. He tried some stances and mobility moves, and even backflipped a few times. Of course, he did it until he collapsed and threw up his dinner, so now I'm cleaning up his mess. God save me from overconfident brats.

At least I stocked up on bentos before, so I didn't have to go out and find a place that sells decent food at night, and not those disgusting energy bars that ninjas eat on missions. Sasuke's not going to bed hungry on my watch!