The Great Medic (discontinued?)

2: Diving Deeper

Naruto stood at the steps of the library for the third time that week, a gleam in his eyes; today, he would make it past the front doors and get his greedy fingers on some more books! It had been nearly a month since he'd started his journey into medical ninjutsu. He'd only managed to get through a portion of the large green book Iruka had given him, however, Naruto was able to finish the book on Tsunade Senju and the rest of the medical ninjutsu textbooks he'd gotten from the library. They'd since been returned after only two weeks of keeping them but that's beside the point. He'd spent hours upon hours studying anything he could at all but now?

Now he was just stuck.

With those books done, he'd tried getting into the library once more. He was hoping that maybe he'd find a few textbooks that he'd missed when Naruto had come last month, thinking that someone could have returned a book during that time. However, of course, the damn people of Konohagakure just won't let him have his peace. The older woman who ran the counter at the library during the week wouldn't even let him get past the front doors. Since Naruto had managed to get in the last time, the woman - Kasumi, if he remembered right - was keen on keeping a watchful eye out for him, making sure the boy couldn't get any books from their establishment.

However, today - a Saturday - he was going to get in and get what he wanted.

The eight-year-old boy wasted no time running up the steps of the library. He only paused at the door handle, his small palm peeling the large door open slowly and peeking inside, looking for the librarian in question. Naruto blinked in surprise, not seeing Kasumi - an older, meaner woman - but, instead, a teenager? He took a shaky step inside, not sure of what to do.

All adults Naruto encountered were expected to be cruel, mean to him, denying him some of the more common necessities for some undone evil he'd caused onto them. Their children and kids his age talked about him behind his back but some - very, very few - were kind to him like Shikamaru and Choji, sometimes - he was still on the fence about whether the Akimichi heir actually liked him or tolerated because Naruto was close with his best friend. However, this teenager - the one leaning against the counter with a bored look on her face - was almost an adult but still young enough that the boy was scared of what she'd say to him.

Turns out, he didn't have to wait too long to find out.

"Hey, squirt." She barked out quickly, fanning herself with a pamphlet, "You just gonna stand there with the door open? It's the middle of spring - it's hot, kid. Shut the door and get inside."

"O-Okay." Naruto stuttered out quickly, moving inside the building before just standing there awkwardly.

The teenager looked at him with a thin-lined frown, "You good, squirt? You look like you're gonna puke."

"I... I just need a few books." He shuffled closer to the counter, watching her every move like she was going to kick him out if he moved too fast.

"Okay?" She motioned for him to continue, "What kind of books?"

"Medical ninjutsu ones," Naruto stated, peering over the counter now, eyes wide in their watching.

The girl paused before smiling, chuckling slowly. "Really? You look a little too young, squirt." She shook her head, looking mildly amused, "Whatever, I don't get paid to judge. Give me a second..." Her words fell off as she started searching through a guide book; it probably had a catalog of what kind of books they had available.

The academy student watched her work, eyes trailing down to look at her name tag. He furrowed his eyebrows, "How do you say your name?"

She glanced down at it, "Oh, yeah. It's Massan - you're supposed to say it as ''moss-san'. I was named after my mom's favorite drama." The teen seemed to roll her eyes at that, still smiling though. "What about you squirt? You got a name or am I just supposed to call you 'squirt' forever?" She grinned down at him, leaning over the counter.