Hanabi and her adopted baby, who she is calling Sprout for lack of a better name, are out shopping for towels. Sprout is sitting quietly in a shopping cart while Hanabi tries to figure out how earth money works.
And how money works.
She's been in the Hidden Leaf for a few months now, and she still hasn't got her head around Yen and Ryo. Hanabi never had to deal with money on the moon! At least the crazy old man who thinks he's Hamura Otsutsuki stuck around long enough to tell her money exists and what it's for. And also help her find a place to live and a job. Hanabi now works as a preschool teacher.
Agh, babies are so loud and she has to take one of them home with her at the end of every day. But at least she has money...however that's supposed to work.
A commotion nearby distracts Hanabi from her goal. A man with long hair and eyes like her own is trying to convince another customer to just go around the other side of the display.
"Why can't you move?" demands the other customer, an angry looking woman with a handful of bored kids standing behind her.
"You wouldn't fit anyway," says the man, dismissively and carries on inspecting the coffee grinders on the display. "Just go around the other side."
Hanabi's eyes widen. Did that guy just call that lady fat?
"What do you mean, I wouldn't fit?" demands the woman, planting her fists on her hips and glaring bloody murder.
"You have too much unnecessary body fat," says the man, without batting an eyelash. "Especially between the ears."
Hanabi is horrified. How could this man be so cruel?
"Did you just call me fat?" demands the woman, screeching at the top of her lungs.
"Well, that too," says the man, nodding ever so slightly.
There is a long pause while the customers and staff in the store hold their collective breaths.
"Mummy, I think he called you stupid too," says one of the kids.
"So I did," says the man, smiling. "It seems you did not pass down you lack of mental capacity to this poor child."
"How dare you!" screams the woman. "You selfish, self absorbed elitist prick!"
Sprout, unhappy about being rudely awakened from his daydream, starts crying. Loudly.
The woman turns and directs her rage at Hanabi. "You shut your stupid inbred kid up!" she yells. Then she turns back to the man. "That your wife and kid? Did you marry your cousin, like the rest of the bloodline purists?"
"You leave her out of this," says the man coldly, all his previous cheerfulness gone. "I do not know her or her child, but if you say one more bad word about my clan or that woman you will be sorry."
The woman shoos herself and her children out of the shop with her tail between her legs.
Hanabi cuddles Sprout, who is now out of the shopping cart and crying into her neck. She is so focused on calming Sprout that she does not notice the man until he is standing right beside her.
"Sorry about that," he apologises. "But that woman was annoying me long before you came into the shop."
Hanabi pats Sprout's back and says, "It's alright."
"I'm Hizashi Hyuuga," the man introduces himself.
"Oh, um...I'm Hanabi Otsutsuki," she replies. "This is Sprout. I kidnapped him off some people who were trying to cut out his eyes."
"Nice," says Hizashi, looking a little gobsmacked.
"Do you know how money works?" asks Hanabi, deciding to seize the opportunity to get some much needed assistance. "I'm from the moon and this confuses me." She makes vague gestures at the display of towels.
Hizashi frowns and says, "Yes, I do know how money works. Do you not have it on the moon?"
"Um…" Hanabi is unsure about this. "I've never had to deal with it before…"
"Well, allow me to explain…"
Sprout is sick. Hanabi does not know what to do. She has never had to deal with a sick person, let alone a sick baby before. She is keeping him in bed like the people at the preschool where she works told her to. They said it is probably just a cold - whatever that is - and Sprout will get better in a few days.
It's been a few days. He's not better. If anything, he seems worse.
Hanabi stays by Sprout's side, trying to get him to eat and drink, but barely anything makes it past his lips. Hanabi herself barely eats out of worry. But when Sprout starts vomiting what little food he eats back up again, Hanabi nearly panics. Fortunately her years as a princess learning iron self control come in useful for once. Her training is the only thing keeping her from total panic, but it does not lessen her gut wrenching anxiety.
Hanabi loses track of time in her efforts to do something - anything - that will help Sprout. Poor Sprout is pale and gaunt. He shakes constantly and barely moves. He has stopped eating and all Hanabi can do is try to pour some water or milk down his throat. If she were not so worried about him dying, Hanabi would leave and get help. If only she had some way of contacting the outside world.
Hanabi is snapped out of zombie-like daze by a pounding noise. She has been doing nothing but look after Sprout for so long that it takes her a while to realize the noise is coming from the door to her apartment.
Someone is knocking on her door.
Whoever it is can help her.
Hanabi runs to the door and fumbles with the key, dropping it several times in her haste. When she finally gets the door open, Hanabi has calmed down a little. She finds her boss on the other side of the door.
"Hello," says Hanabi's boss, looking her up and down critically. "I haven't heard from you in a while. I assume that either Sprout is still sick or you caught the bug?"
"He's still sick," says Hanabi. "I don't know what to do!"
"Take him to a doctor, obviously," says her boss, patiently.
"A what?" asks Hanabi, staring at her boss in confusion. She's been on the earth for a whole year, and this is the first she's heard about what doctors are for.
"You are obviously too tired to function," says Hanabi's boss, pushing her way inside and closing the door. "Go get yourself tidied up and I will take you and Sprout to a doctor. Where is he?"
Hanabi stumbles to the bedroom she shares with her son, where Sprout is lying limply on his futon.
"Holy s###, woman!"says Hanabi's boss, taking a step backwards. "Why didn't you take him to a doctor already?"
Hanabi bursts into tears. "I don't even know what that word means!"
"That's because you are too tired to use your brain-"
"I am a princess from the moon! I don't know what a doctor is! I don't know how to look after a sick baby! You just said 'put him to bed. He'll be alright in a few days'! You never said what to do if he got worse!" Hanabi yells at her boss, subconsciously activating her byakugan.
Hanabi's boss rubs her temples and sighs. "Put a coat on. I'm taking you two to the hospital." While her boss wraps Sprout up in his quilt, Hanabi finds her coat. Once both mother and son are wrapped up, Hanabi's boss leads them out of the apartment, through town and to a large building with big front doors.
Hanabi stares up at the building. She has seen it before, of course, but she never even wondered what it was for. Hamura had told her to keep her head down, and Hizashi had told her after the crash course in how money works to keep the whole 'being from the moon' thing quiet. Hanabi realizes that both men probably assumed she would know about important things like money, doctors and such. Hanabi realizes she is still crying, and wipes her eyes on her sleeve.
Inside the building, which Hanabi assumes must be the hospital, her boss talks to some people in white and gives Sprout to them. Unsure what to do, Hanabi follows the people with Sprout. They ask her to fill out a form.
Hanabi stares at the form. What is Sprouts name? Sprout Otsutsuki. What are his parents' names? Hanabi writes down her name and puts 'I don't know' in the space for father's name. What is his birthday? Hanabi doesn't know how old Sprout is. Probably about two years old. She puts down the day she rescued him as his birthday. Who is his legal guardian? Hanabi writes down her name. What is his legal guardian's relation to him? Hanabi pauses over that one. What is her relation to him? Foster parent? Adoptive mother? Rescuer? Hanabi puts 'Adoptive mother. Also rescuer.' That should do. What is Sprout's sex? Male, duh. What is his medical history? He nearly had his eyes gouged out. That's when she rescued him. Hanabi wonders if that is enough information. It better be. She hands the form back to the guy who gave it to her.
The man reads over the form and sighs. "You aren't his real mother? You look quite alike."
"We're from the same clan," explains Hanabi. "We're probably distant cousins."
"Okay," shrugs the man. "You from a shinobi clan?"
"Um...yes?" Hanabi isn't sure why that is important.
The man nods and says, "Go home and rest. We'll take care of...erm...Sprout."
"But…" Hanabi tries to protest.
"Go. Come back when you're rested and have eaten," says the man. "We'll call you if there's a change in his condition."
"How will you call me?" asks Hanabi, curious.
The doctor looks down at the form. "Put your address here," he says, pointing to the line asking what the patient's address is. "We will send someone to your house."
"Okay," agrees Hanabi and writes down her apartment's address. Then she heads out of the hospital, casting one last glance over her shoulder at Sprout before his vanishes into a room with a big red sign that reads 'Emergency Room' over the doors.