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.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be H-Ho..." He stumbled, mind reeling back before continuing, "I'm going to be a medic." Those words were said more seriously, a resolve he didn't know he had come forth.

Massan smirked, "Alright, Naruto Uzumaki, medic of Konoha, I found some books for you." She pulled out a catalog card, writing down some points of reference for him. Once the teen was done, she slid the paper to him, "We've only got two that were returned within the last week."

Naruto reached for the paper, eyes shining with child-like excitement, "Thank you Massan-san!"

She held up her hand, eyes wide, "Uh, no - no honorifics. My name doesn't sound good with them."

"Oh, okay... Massan." He grinned sheepishly up at her, holding the paper close to his chest.

The girl rolled her eyes again, laughing to herself, "Alright, go do your book thing. Oh, and don't blow your brains out, squirt - there's a lot of knowledge in those books!"

"I won't!" Naruto gave her a thumbs-up before running over to the section on the paper. He scoured the large shelves, finding the three books Massan had mentioned. They were a bit smaller than the green book Iruka had given him but they still held precious knowledge that he craved.

Before, he'd never been one for studying - ninjas were just about having cool ninjutsu and being good at hand-to-hand combat, right? Wrong, Naruto came to find out. There was so much more that's a part of the whole process - how was he just learning this?! He's spent the last two and a half years just goofing off in the academy when he could have been trying to learn the ways of the ninja. It's a good thing he's gotten some direction into what path he needed to take to make his dreams into something more tangible in his hands. Naruto paused; he should get something for Iruka to thank him for guiding the boy in the right direction.

The blond gathered the three books, herding them over to a table in the far right corner and setting them down. He sat down in front of them, taking off the bag on his back and dumping it onto the table. Four books spilled out: the precious green book that Iruka had given him, a dictionary, and two notebooks that he'd been writing in. The yellow notebook was for words he didn't understand in the medical ninjutsu books with definitions beside them from the dictionary while the red notebooks were an idea, to-do list, or 'something for later' section. It was a mix-and-match kind of notebook that he kept around in case he thought of something and wanted to look at it later when he had more information.

With the notebooks and the dictionary open and ready to be used, Naruto settled for one of the smaller books he'd gotten off the shelf. It was called 'Common Injuries and Treatments', the cover read. He quickly flipped through the book, getting a good sense of what it was about - broken and fractured bones, open wounds, cuts, internal damage, amputation of the fingers or toes, and other minor injuries. Treatments for those types of injuries seemed easy enough but he's only just started learning about them so who knows? Certainly not him. The eight-year-old boy jotted some notes down before moving onto the second book.

The title made him laugh - 'Medical History for Dummies' - however, he hoped that Massan didn't recommend this because she thought he was dumb. Naruto shook his head; she didn't even know him, how could she think he was dumb if they'd only just met. He set the book aside, for now, promising to get to it eventually and, instead, reached for the third book.

"'The Art of Poisons'?" He read aloud, furrowing his brows together, "Why would people need to use poisons?" While it was interesting, the idea of a medic using poisons, Naruto also figured that it was defeating the purpose of trying to help someone. Well, that was unless... "Oh!" He slapped his forehead in understanding. 'The Art of Poisons' is supposed to help medics understand poisons so that they could help someone in the case that they were poisoned, not use the poison themselves!

That made so much more sense.

Though, that did get Naruto thinking about a medic's role in the world of ninja. Did they simply stay in the backline and wait for someone to get injured? Or were they also on the front-line fighting back? How do they fight back? Are medics just ninjas with medical knowledge? What type of ninja did he want to be? He wrote the questions down in the red notebook for later, circling the last one especially.

He thought on it for a while, flipping aimlessly through the 'Common Injuries and Treatments' book as he did so. Naruto wanted to be a ninja that helped people, someone that people could count on for anything - he also desperately wanted to be acknowledged but that's a given. He wanted to fight, so badly - fight for those whose lives were at stake, for those who were too weak to stand up for themselves, wanted to fight for people who didn't have the power to do it themselves. But, as a medic, could he still do that? Can he still be an active ninja and still heal people?

Naruto shook his head. "I'm getting off-track; I need to focus." He thought to himself, looking back down at the book in front of him, "After all, I've got work to do."

He sat there for a couple more hours, writing down things and continuing with his research. However, as it was getting closer to five in the afternoon, Massan came up to him, informing the eight-year-old that the library would be closing soon so he'd have to check out those books if he wanted to continue looking at them. Naruto packed his bag quickly, the three library books in hand as he followed the teen back up to the front, checking them out with his tattered library card before leaving the library altogether.

He left for home afterward, mind exhausted after everything the boy had put it through that evening, promising to head to be early that night.

The evening bell rang loudly in the middle of Iruka's lecture, signaling that students could leave to enjoy the rest of their Monday afternoon. The man chuckled to himself, watching as students flew out of their seats, rushing out of the classroom with enthusiasm, ready to leave the school building. Through the excitement, he called out, "Naruto!"

The blond lifted his head from his notebook, pausing in his scribblings, "Yes sir?"

"Could you stay for a little bit after everyone's left? I have a few things I would like to discuss with you." He explained, crossing his arms, looking over the sea of children. Some looked behind them to stare at the blond while others laughed to themselves, mocking the boy as if he'd done something wrong.

Naruto nodded, packing his bag up slowly, putting his red and yellow notebook away first before all his school things. As he stood up, the majority of the class had already dispersed, leaving just a single student and their teacher. He walked forward, staring up at Iruka, "What did you want to talk about, sensei?"

"Your grades are getting worse by the minute, Naruto." He started, arms unfolding from their crossed position, "You are showing up to school late nearly every day - later than you normally would - and when you're here, you're exhausted half the time. I'm suspecting that the book I gave you is becoming a problem and I don't want to have to take it from you." Iruka sighed heavily, "Tell me what's going on, Naruto."

The blond-haired academy student bowed his head in shame, "I apologize, Iruka-sensei. It's just..." He sighed, eyes peeling from the floor to look back up at his teacher. "I've always wanted the village to acknowledge me - you know this already - and... I don't know. When you talked about how great the masters of medical ninjutsu were treated here, I just, you know, wanted to learn it as fast as I could so I could finally..." His voice died off at the end, looking away once more.

"I know, kid." Iruka's smile was small, "You'll get there one day, okay?" He placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it slightly, "In the meantime though, I want you to pull those grades up and go to bed at a proper time. While I love seeing your passion for this dream of yours, you need to take care of yourself, okay?"

Naruto grinned, hugging the man before him, "I'll try but I can't promise anything."

"I look forward to what you'll accomplish, Naruto." Iruka pulled away, "Alright, now, get out of here. I'm sure you've got a lot of studying to do, right?"

"Right!"

"See you tomorrow, Naruto - on time?" Iruka raised an eyebrow, grinning.

"On time, sensei - promise." The blond laughed heartily, rushing out of the door with a large grin on his face. His laughs echoed down the hall, Iruka simply shaking his head as he watched the boy go.

The man felt a swell of pride open in his heart. He had no doubt that the eight-year-old boy could do it - become a medic, that is. Naruto's determination was unlike any others, his will of fire always burning brightly. Iruka chuckled to himself before going back to the paperwork he was working on the weekend before.

Last weekend, Naruto had discovered that the reason he was able to get into the library was that Kasumi didn't work weekends, leaving that to Massan who had let him in with no problems. So, he'd decided that, during the week and after school, he would study at home or in the empty training grounds and, on the weekends, he'd be back at the library for some quiet study hours. That's where he found himself now, sitting on his bed.

He thought back to Iruka's words as he pulled out his notebooks and textbooks again. He needed to start taking better care of himself. Naruto wasn't eating and drinking as much as he should nor has he been sleeping enough. All he's wanted to do the last month and a half was study hard and become acknowledged. But, from what he's learned from 'Common Injuries and Treatments' and 'Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu' is what happens to the body if it is not kept up with:

"Any deficiency in the body can lead to numerous things but lack of food, water, and sleep can be especially dangerous.

Losing sleep can impair your body's ability to fight off illnesses, making it easier to get sick. It has also been found that both short sleep duration (less than five hours per night) and long sleep durations (nine or more hours per night) have a negative impact on heart health. In particular, your chances of developing coronary heart disease or having a stroke are greatly increased with less sleep".

In the margins of his green book, Naruto wrote down that 'coronary heart disease (CAD)' was the most common form of heart disease and impairs the blood flow in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. Besides that, he wrote down that a stroke is what happens when blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted caused by oxygen deprivation to brain tissue.

"Lacking a normal level of body water - through dehydration, sickness, exercise, heat stress, etc. - can make people feel rotten. As you 'lose' body water without replacing it, your blood becomes more concentrated and, at a point, this triggers your kidneys to retain water. The thicker and more concentrated your blood becomes, the harder it is for your cardiovascular system to compensate by increasing heart rate to maintain blood pressure.

When your dehydrated body is 'pushed' - such as when exercising or faced with heat stress - the risk of exhaustion or collapse increases. This can cause you to faint, for instance, when you stand up too quickly. Less water also hampers the body's attempts at regulating temperature, which can cause hyperthermia".

Because the information on water intake was found in the library book, Naruto had to write down the definition of 'hyperthermia' - which is a body temperature that is greatly above normal - in his yellow notebook full of other definitions as well.

"When you skip meals, your blood sugar decreases, which causes an interruption in your ability to think straight. The brain uses glucose" - Naruto remembers writing down the definition of glucose somewhere. He peels open the yellow notebook again, flipping through the pages until he finds it; glucose is a simple sugar which is an important energy source in living organisms and is a component of many carbohydrates. "The brain uses glucose to run efficiently and if there is not enough glucose for the brain to use, your body does not function at a hundred percent.

Low blood sugar causes people to feel irritable, confused, and fatigued. The body begins to increase the production of cortisol - the body's main stress hormone, Naruto finds in the notebook - leaving us stressed and hungry/angry. Skipping meals can also cause your metabolism to slow down, which can cause weight gain or make it harder to lose weight. When you skip a meal or go a long time without eating, your body goes into survival mode."

The books go on to tell the reader how to fix a sleep schedule, how to avoid skipping meals, and the correct amount of water intake someone should have. Naruto read the instructions slowly, promising himself to do better. For now, though, he had some studying to do.

Naruto yawned, leaning against his headboard. Papers, notebooks, and textbooks crowded around his knees. He rubbed his eyes and started packing away his things, getting ready for bed. As he worked, the eight-year-old absorbed the information he'd just learned. He spent most of the night going through 'Medical History for Dummies' - like he promised he would - and just needed a second to reel back through it all.

There is so much you could learn about a subject from just looking back at the many fascinating historical events that have occurred. Granted, Naruto absolutely loathed the history lessons his teacher would give about the villages and the likes of, however, medical history just made him even more intrigued about becoming a master in the subject.

In the 'Medical History for Dummies' book, it went over the history of medicine and famous doctors for the boy to study. Tsunade Senju was in there, of course, as she was one of the more infamous ones. After going through most of that in the textbook, Naruto went ahead and pulled out all his notes about Tsunade Senju to compare to what he'd just learned. While Tsunade herself was a ninja, there had been many medics who weren't one themselves yet still eventually gained the respect of ninja and civilians alike. It put into perspective for Naruto that he didn't have to be a ninja to achieve this goal of becoming a master of medical ninjutsu.

But he still wanted to.

He'd read that some of the best masters were either on the battlefield or in hospitals. The boy used to think that the doctors at the hospital were just people who gave out bandages and medicines and sometimes cut up people with a sharp scalpel. 'The Slug Sannin: Tales of the Greatest Medic' and 'Medical History for Dummies' both mention how hospitals operated and what a doctor's and medic's duties were. Now that Naruto's been enlightened about what exactly goes on at a hospital, he feels much more grateful for having awesome doctors in Konohagakure.

There's so much to learn and he's doing it all on his own... mostly.

He let out another yawn, rubbing his eyes once more. "Okay, that's enough for today." He told himself, setting his bag on the floor before tucking himself underneath the covers, wrapping the blankets around himself like a burrito. Naruto let out a sigh of content, curling up in bed and falling asleep within minutes. Even while in a deep slumber, his mind was still on the thought of becoming a medic and having everyone respect him.

He was ready for this. He needed this.