Reconsidering Bachelorhood

New Beginnings

It was a warm spring day, Izumo and Kotetsu lazed on their chairs behind the counter of the check-in station by the gates. Today was a particularly slow day, not too many people left or came through. Had Tsunade saw them slacking, she would surely give them a good yelling and smack them over the head not too gently. They were somewhat lucky that Kakashi was now the Hokage, he was more chill about their slacking but he still scolded them.

"Oi, Kotetsu, get up. Someone's coming." Izumo announced, kicking the back of his friend's chair to wake him up.

Kotetsu groaned and begrudgingly sat up straight. They watched a small blonde woman walk through the gates carrying a large brown bag on her back. The woman wore a short kimono dress that ended above her knee. The skirt portion was a deep red and the top was white with an intricate rose and vines design.

At first glance Kotetsu would describe the woman as attractive but he learned to not let the attraction go any further after a particularly nasty incident with a dancer who came to the village for a festival. They watched her walk up to the counter giving them a polite smile.

"Hello." She greeted in a soft voice.

"Hey there." Izumo replied.

"Hi." Said Kotetsu. "What business do you have here today?"

The woman suddenly looked a little nervous which made the two guards a little wary of her presence.

"Um...I was wondering if you could direct me to the Hokage? I-I'm from Kiri but I recently left the village with permission from Mizukage. I'm a medic, I was hoping to move to Konoha because I heard there was a job opening at the hospital." She explained. She really hoped that the two guards did not think she was lying.

Several years ago before the war erupted, she had been part of a medic training program created by Senju Tsunade. A few select medics from Kiri and Suna journeyed to Konoha for special medical training taught by none other than Lady Tsunade, the leading medic in the entire world. She was so excited to have been chosen by her Mizukage for such a brilliant opportunity.

During the 4 month long training program, she had impressed Lady Tsunade with her skills and her ability to pick up new techniques quickly. Before she returned to Kiri, Lady Tsunade had told her to keep in touch. Lady Tsunade saw potential in her and wanted to help her unlock it. Since then, she would send letters to Lady Tsunade asking for tips and advice for new techniques she had trouble grasping. Sometimes when Lady Tsunade visited Kiri for business, she would stop by the hospital to check in on her. It warmed her heart to know that such a prominent kunoichi had taken to being her "sensei."

Recently, Lady Tsunade wrote to her saying that Konoha hospital was looking to hire several medics to either work at the hospital or join teams on missions and suggested that she come to Konoha to apply. She had been torn when she heard the news. On one hand she really wanted to work under Lady Tsunade but on the other, she was really going to miss Kiri. She was born there and had grown up there making many memories with her friends and family. Tragically, a lot of them had passed during the war. The only living family members she had left were her grandparents.

She had spent a lot of time talking to them and asking them what she should do. Being the wise grandparents they were, they told her to follow her heart, making sure to reassure her that if she decided to go to Konoha they would not be mad at her. They knew how much their granddaughter wanted to work with the Sannin. In the end, she decided to move to Konoha. One of the deciding points was that although Kiri had tons of happy memories, it also had a lot of sad ones too from her loved ones passing. So here she was, carrying a bag of her clothes and small belongings and a small wad of cash. Before she left on the boat, she promised her grandparents she would write to them regularly and visit whenever she could.