Chapter 3 - Settling In

Kakashi was taking a detour back to the office. After mindlessly filling out paperwork for the whole morning, he was mentally done. The long route back to the office was to give himself some time to read his favourite book and to figure out how he will apologize to Shikamaru for sneaking out.

Kakashi was about to be done re-reading his book for the 100th time when a loud scream caught his attention. He glanced up from the pages of his novel and noticed he was passing by the hospital. He saw a figure jumping up and down in what looked like a celebration dance...a very awkward celebration dance. His book was forgotten and placed in his pouch. This particular woman's excitement piqued his curiosity so he decided to approach her.

"Good afternoon, Mizuki-san. May I ask what has got you so excited?" Kakashi asked with a smile when he got closer to her.

Mizuki stopped her jumping and turned towards the voice with a face of utter horror. Kakashi laughed under his breath; it seems his appearance had caused the woman a great deal of embarrassment, apparent by her bright red face. It reminded him of the way Hinata looked in her younger years whenever Naruto talked to her.

Mizuki squeaked. "A-ah...H-Hokage-sama. I-" Mizuki felt at a loss for words. It seems every time she saw the Hokage, she would put herself in an awkward situation.

"Well Mizuki-san?"

"Oh um...it's nothing special. I-I just got a job at the hospital, that's all."

"Ah, I see. Well, congratulations. I'm glad everything is working out for you. I must be getting back to the office now, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay when I heard your scream. Have a nice day." Kakashi gave her one last smile before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Mizuki facepalmed and thought, 'He definitely thinks I'm a moron now.'

After that embarrassing public celebration, Mizuki thought it would be safer to finish her celebration at home. A couple days ago, Tsunade had administered the tests to the successful stage 1 applicants, her being one of them. A group of about 20 hopeful medics gathered in one of the empty conference rooms in the hospital. One by one they were called into one of three rooms to be tested by the proctors. It was either Tsunade, Sakura, or Shizune that they got matched too. Mizuki was grateful that she had gotten Tsunade, it relaxed her but it didn't mean she took for granted her relationship with Tsunade. She still took things seriously and didn't think she was more entailed than the other applicants for a position at the hospital.

Apparently each test was different so everyone had to be ready for anything. Curiously, the test she had was very unique to say the least. A staff of the hospital had brought in a lizard and placed it on the metal table centered in the room.

Tsunade thanked the young worker and once they left she walked to the table, gesturing for Mizuki to follow her. Mizuki approached the table and let out a startled cry when Tsunade suddenly shouted and slammed the table. She was about to open her mouth to ask why she would do that but stopped when she saw the reaction from the lizard; It had shot it's tail off. Mizuki had known that some species of lizards can shoot its tail at a target if it feels threatened because of their incredible regenerative powers. It was still a shock to her to see it happen in person and she wasn't expecting Tsunade's actions either.

Mizuki was slightly apprehensive now, because she had no idea what was in store for her. She silently watched Tsunade inject something into the lizard.

"It's a sedative." Tsunade explained seeing the concerned look on her face. "Alright, are you ready for your test?"

"S-sure."

The test began and let's just say Mizuki cried when she got home thinking she had failed. When Tsunade had instructed her to reattach the tail nerve for nerve, she wanted to throw up. It was just her luck that Tsunade had decided to choose a procedure that gave her nightmares. In working on her new technique she had failed countless times, with some small improvements here and there. She was sure she had failed despite Tsunade telling her she did a good job. After that she rushed out of the hospital and ran home. She spent the next few days sulking about how she blew her chances.

It would come as a total surprise to her earlier this morning when a messenger hawk pecked at her window. Mizuki opened the window and grabbed the small scroll that was attached to it's leg. It was a message notifying her that Tsunade wanted to see her in her office. Mizuki dragged her feet all the way to the hospital because she was sure that Tsunade would give her some disappointing news, but on the contrary it was anything but.

Tsunade pulled Mizuki into a hug and congratulated her. Mizuki was so happy but also a little ticked off, if Tsunade wanted to see her new technique she could've just asked instead of putting her through that horrible ordeal!

They had spent the next half hour finalizing everything with the appropriate paperwork. Tsunade explained to her that her duties would mainly be restricted to the village but, like any other kunoichi, be prepared for missions if there is a shortage of available medics. Mizuki was relieved with Tsunade's decision, she was far from weak but going out on missions was not her thing. She would much rather tend to patients at the hospital and develop/perfect new techniques and medicine.

That embarrassing encounter a month ago couldn't dampen her mood then and certainly didn't now. After she ran home she had written to her grandparents to tell them about the great news and to thank them again for supporting and believing in her.

Presently, Mizuki had just walked out of a surgery room wearing some dirty scrubs. The last month was very difficult; on top of working tirelessly with Tsunade to perfect her new technique, there had been a major emergency. Several jonins and chunins were rushed back to the hospital after an unexpected ambush on their way back from an important mission. Mizuki and her colleagues worked long shifts to look after the patients in critical condition.

She had just gotten done with assisting some surgeons with an emergency heart surgery. She was just about to head home after a night shift but a code blue alarm echoed through the hospital. She was in the vicinity of the patient and quickly rushed to join the other doctors and nurses. 6 hours later it was now 11 in the morning and she was finally done. But she was so exhausted she was ready to collapse in the staff lounge; making her way home was going to be a difficult task.

Mizuki was dragging her feet back to the surgeons prep room so she could change her clothes and clean her hands. In her exhaustive state, she didn't see the figure she was about to walk into until it was too late.

She heard a gasp and the clatter of a metal tray hitting the ground.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry Hinata-chan, I wasn't watching where I was going." Mizuki bent down to help her new friend pick up the tray of disinfected surgical tools she made her drop. "L-let me disinfect these for you, it's the least I can do."

Hinata smiled gently at the new girl who she had the pleasure of befriending. "It's okay Mizu-chan, you look tired I'll have no problem doing it myself. Are you okay, by the way?"

Mizuki sighed and gave Hinata a tired smile. "I'm okay, I just need some sleep. It's been a long night."

Hinata agreed, the emergency had taken a lot of people by surprise. "Well, get some sleep Mizu-chan, you deserve it."

"Hai, I'll see you see time, Hinata-chan." Mizuki walked away but stopped short when she heard her name being called again.

"I forgot to mention but Lady Tsunade wanted to see you for a bit before you left."

Mizuki sighed. She quickly, or as quick as she could in her current state, went to change into her normal clothes before heading to Tsunade's office.

"Sensei?" She peeked through the crack in Tsunade's door.

"Mizu, please come in. I have something I want to talk to you about before you leave. I promise it won't take long, I know how tired you are."

Mizuki smiled gratefully at Tsunade and took a seat.

"I am sure you're aware that Hinata is getting married this weekend?"

Mizuki nodded. Hinata had actually invited her to the wedding after they became friends but she politely declined. Mizuki had met Naruto and some of their close friends but she wasn't close to them. She felt like she was intruding on a special celebration that should only be shared between their close friends and family.

"The hospital will be slightly short staffed that day, we just recently sent several of our medics on long-term field missions. I want to put a halt to our research that day just so all focus can be on the hospital in case something happens. If anything does happen, immediately come notify either Shizune, Sakura or myself. Okay?"

"Okay, Tsuna. We'll make sure to keep everything running smoothly!" Tsunade smiled at Mizuki. The girl had only been working for a little under a month but she blended seamlessly into the team. The progress they made on the new technique was also very good, not quite perfect but still a lot better than what it was before.

"Glad to hear. Now go home and get a good rest."

"Will do, I'll see you tomorrow."

Mizuki walked out of the hospital and took a deep breath. The warm sunlight washed over her person, instantly relaxing all her tense muscles. Life was looking good and she couldn't wait to see what else it would bring.

Sorry about the wait, I've been planning out a rough draft to see if the ideas I have can fit together.

Also to the person who was worried about their review not sending through, I can view them through my email notifications but they take a while to update on here. Thank you to everyone's continued support for this story! ^_^