Everybody needs a hug [and she will make sure they get one]

Minato woke up in the middle of the night huffing as he realized that he had another nightmare. They had gotten less with the help he'd been getting from Azumi but she had clearly told him that they wouldn't completely go away. He was happy that he would be getting more sleep and some peace of mind but it was at times like these he wished for everything to be over.

If he had been just a bit more faster. If he had been just a bit more stronger. If he had been the one to die instead of-

No. He can't focus on these types of thoughts now. He would ruin all the work Azumi and he had put into. He knew just how bad it would get if he let those thoughts continue. And besides, he was currently on a mission. He couldn't let anything distract him, not when even his own entire village is on the line with every mission given to him. A single mistake could cost him his own life and his team's lives.

'And I still have people to go back home to.'

He smiled at the thought of a bright red-haired woman to meet when he got back to Konoha and got up, determination shining in his eyes.

--- --- --- --- ---

Azumi yawned as she filed in her paperwork for the week. Although she usually didn't take many paper evaluations, but sometimes the work would pile on her desk and she would be forced to do so. Although she still mostly dealt with civilian cases, she did get a few ninja now and then. Minato's appearance apparently had been a coincidence as his usual doctor was on leave, but he had liked her style of working and chose to stick with her so a few instances of him visiting her clinic weren't too much of an oddity.

What she didn't know was that Minato only came to her for an psych evaluation because the other doctors didn't seem to care much about his mental health and just focused on getting their work done.

'I don't have an appointment for one and a half hour now, so I guess I'll go take a walk outside.'

She stretched and got up, ready to head out and face the world, and the people, even if she would prefer to go home to sleep and never wake up. But alas, she was much too scared of death to kill herself and there was no assurance that she wouldn't be reborn again so she chose to not take her chances, for now, and just continued living.

She stopped in her steps once she noticed one of her clients, the only Uchiha client she had, who coincidently was not a ninja and from what she had heard from Minato, the Uchiha usually didn't go for anyone to therapy as they never liked to talk about their trauma, was loitering outside the hospital.

She lightly sighed before taking in a deep breath and preparing herself for social interaction.

"Hello there Hitoshi-san, are you perhaps waiting for someone?"-Azumi

Hitoshi, the Uchiha, slightly flinched likely due to being caught unexpectedly and 'hn-ed'. Azumi's eyebrow twitched at the response and she took in another breath to calm herself. She was very hungry and wanted to leave quicker than anyone could say 'The Yellow flash' but she was dealing with a patient and needed to be calm in this situation.

"Then why don't you come and wait in my office? It will better to sit there then to stand in the sun, it is getting hotter these days you know."-Azumi

She kept her voice gentle, knowing that a lot of shinobi had sharp ears and loud sounds tended to annoy them or sometimes even hurt their ears. She didn't know whether Hitoshi was like that but she didn't want to take any chances. She knew first hand just how much, noise could sometimes hurt and overstimulate ones ears and she didn't want to be the one to cause such pain to a patient.

"Yes, that would be... Good."-Hitoshi

He followed her to her room and sat down on the chair.

"So, how have you been doing these days Hitoshi-san?"-Azumi

She knew that she would have to take it a bit easy and slow with Hitoshi so she opted to start with some small talk and get him comfortable. Although she doubted that an Uchiha, known to be hating having to talk, would get comfortable so easily but she still wanted to at least try.

"Well... Things have been a bit calmer recently..."-Hitoshi

She waited for him to continue what he wanted to say and pretended to not notice his fidgeting hands that he had tried to hide under her desk. She slightly glanced at her clock and would've sighed in agony if there wasn't a patient in front of her.

"But, I tend to get anxious easily. Although, it is good to stay alert with how the war is going on and consider every possible negative situation but- Uh..."-Hitoshi

She had a feeling that he left out some information about him when he said 'consider every possible negative situation'.

She still slowly nodded in understanding and once she made sure that her posture kept her vulnerable. It wasn't comfortable for her, but she had long figured out that all Uchiha had shinobi training so it be better for her to seem vulnerable. It was better to give them the thought that they could easily hurt her, whether it be through brute force or genjutsu, to make them calmer and a bit more relaxed. She could understand what Hitoshi was trying to say without him having to say it but she wanted to hear it from him. She wanted him to at least complete a single sentence in front of her. Last time, he had barely spoken a word in the evaluation so this time she was glad to see him try to speak about his worries.

"Around civilians, or family... It gets harder to focus on the positive moments and not expect something bad, even if I'm just taking a stroll in the garden. I think it will fade with time as it is somewhat controllable but it is a bit... Unpleasant."-Hitoshi

Azumi once again nodded and made a mental reminder to add this in the copy of the file on Uchiha Hitoshi she had with her.

"I see, Hitoshi-san you implied that you go through this many times... I believe that what you are going through is not ordinary anxiety which does not interfere with everyday life. It might be that you are suffering from an anxiety disorder."-Azumi

She paused a bit discern his reaction before swallowing and continuing. It seems that he had started to overthink about what she had said already and was a bit stressed out about his anxiety. She knew it was not a loop of thoughts that would be healthier for him.

"Not to worry though, right now, as you said it is controllable for you so I'm sure you'll be fine again quickly. But any treatment will need your own cooperation Hitoshi-san."-Azumi

He agreed on her offer to attend a few therapy sessions to not get it to bother him too much later and she talked with him for the rest of the hour. Although he was a bit hesitant at first, he started to open up gradually and accepted her advice on dealing with it.

"I will see you next time then Hitoshi-san!"-Azumi

He nodded at her before leaving.

She breathed out a huge sigh of relief at the session going by smoothly and finally drank some water to quench her thirst. She had already taken three appointments today and although only one of them was a bit serious, she was still mentally exhausted. Unfortunately, there would be another shinobi coming in for an appointment.

'Come to think of it, I still haven't taken a look at who's coming in today. I should probably read their file quickly.

To her absolute horror Uzumaki Kushina was going to be coming in. She liked the woman from Minato's stories, but from what she had heard about the woman's therapy sessions from some of her colleagues then she had no idea what to expect from her.

"Azumi-san, did you hear about that one kid? He came in therapy for doctor Zee and apparently he-" -Suki

Azumi lightly sighed at her situation. She would love to have friends who were in the same profession as her so that she could talk about her hard times with them and they could do the same but most of the people she'd approached just didn't know how to respect their patients. The patients came to therapists after a lot of thought and some of them would go around and spread their traumas to the world, not caring about their feelings. One of the reason why ninja would never want to reach out to a therapist was that some of them just couldn't be trusted. And one could never know who is to be trusted.

"Suki-san, I would appreciate it if you didn't go around spreading the traumas of a person to the whole world. It is basic decency."-Azumi

She waved towards the now angry woman and went back to her office.

'I'm even more tired now...'

She had wanted to go and get something to drink before Kushina came to relax herself but in the end she had ended up more exhausted.

"Hello, are you Yamanaka Azumi?"-Kushina

She looked up at the red head and nodded.

"That would be me, I assume you're here for your appointment today Uzumaki-san?"-Azumi

Kushina nodded and tried to be enthusiastic about it, although it was clear she was anything but happy at the moment. Her hands were twitchy and kept trying to grab onto the edges of her skirt. Her eyes had looked everywhere but eventually met with Azumi's own eyes.

"How about we start off with an introduction then, Uzumaki-san?"-Azumi

"Just Kushina will do, dattebane'."-Kushina