Starring:
Date: May 2, 2015
Summary:
Kenta and Kyu take their first mission as Team Lunar. Now, the two must track down and take care of a highly aggressive bear that's been causing trouble around a trading post in the nearby forests.
"A Bear of a Problem"
Land of Fire - Forest
The recent formation of Team Lunar, for all that it's only two members so far, means that Kenta and Kyu must get used to working more closely together outside the hospital. They had already gotten a little familiarity with each other's styles on previous missions, but that still leaves them far from experienced at working as a team. Due to this, Kenta immediate tries to location some new missions that they can handle together to further cement their new relationship - not of just sensei and student, but also team members. The fact that Team Lunar is only two strong reduces much of the options, but there still remains some that they should pose them no problem.
On this bright, sunny day, Kenta and Kyu head into the forests surrounding Konoha to take care of a menace that recently reared its head. More specifically, the two of them will be looking into a bear problem that's plaguing a tiny trading post along the southern stretch of the river. It's a region that's rich in herbs and other useful plant-life, so the trading post is mainly occupied small number of foragers and traders during the warm seasons. A seemingly rabid bear had shown up in the last week and made it too dangerous for even the boldest to risk venturing through the surrounding forests.
Kyuketsuki follows behind his team leader, scanning his surroundings as he walks. He looks relatively calm and unworried about an encounter with a bear and had total trust in his leader. He thinks through the details of the assignment, and then speaks up, "So a rabid bear? I'm assuming thats something we don't wanna just leave alive so just putting it to sleep and moving it isn't a viable option?"
"Umm… it depends," Kenta replies as he carefully makes his way through the trees. He's adjusts the straps of the small pack on his back. As usual, the young man brought additional medical supplies with him in addition to what's in the many pouches at his belt and the extra pockets sewn into his Chuunin vest. He's still carrying a little less than he normally would, because they're still close to Konoha and he doesn't want his movements to be hampered by too much weight. "We have a description of a rabid bear, but we don't for sure that the bear's afflicted by rabies. There could be other things that would cause a bear to become aggressive too, which we won't know for sure without seeing the bear directly." The young man frowns as he tries to part a thicket of shrubbery to look pass it. "We should take to the trees. How's your tree walking skills?"
Kyu listens, giving nods of understanding to Kenta as Kenta explains and continues following him, when asked about his tree walking skills he shrugs, "I can tree walk fairly easily and water walk as well. To the trees then!" With that Kyu will leap up into the leafy coverage of the trees and await his leader to do the same, and then resume following his lead closely. "So if the bear doesn't have rabies we could just put it to sleep and move it elsewhere. Moving the bear would be a lot of work but I could make sure it stays asleep while we move it, so we could call for assistance if neccessary." Kyu hmms lightly and thinks about this.
"Ummm… you've seen the size of bears right? We're definitely going to need help," Kenta points old once he's in the trees with Kyu. The young man points towards the southeast. "Most of the sightings are that way. There's a heavy thicket of briars where the bear might have hidden its den. I kind of wish that I brought a tracker along with us, but we have a good vantage point as long as we stay in the trees, so I hope it won't take us too long to spot it. Come along." Kenta launches himself forward to jump from branch to branch. He keeps sweeping the areas ahead and around him with quick, alert glances to make sure that they don't miss any important signs of their target's passage.
Kyu nods, "I see." He begins going southeast, leaping from branch to branch as well and activating his Sharingan to give himself a better reaction time as time seems to slow down for him, he dart his eyes around on the ground, trying to spot anything as well. He does want to be helpful but his lack of perception skills will make that difficult until they find the bear.
The undergrowth steadily grows denser and more tangled as the two shinobi closes in on the target location. The amount of light is also decreasing due to the greater size of the trees that they're traveling through. As a result, it becomes a little difficult to make out everything below. Shadows flick through shafts of sunlight and the smallest breeze cause the growth to rattle together in ways that suggests furtive movements within the briars. In truth, there -is- plenty of movement within the briars, since birds in droves are attacking the ripe berries protected by the thorns. The sound of chirped arguments always ceases when the shinobi passes by overhead, only to resume as soon as they're a safe distance away.
Kenta and Kyu almost misses the clue when they come upon it. The two had just started to travel through a thinner section close to the northeastern edge of the thicket when they notice a heavier shadow among the rest. This shadow isn't caused by heavier growth, but a damaged section that creates a gash in the brush - an uprooted berry bush, torn branches, smashed berries, scuffed earth… It looked to have happened recently. Kenta looks at Kyu meaningfully and makes a hand seal to connect his mind to his student's.
<"That might be the work of the bear. We'll check for prints, but be careful. Stay alert at all times, in case the bear's hiding somewhere nearby"> Kenta sends telepathically. He slips a small tag out of a pocket before he jumps out of the tree to land within the damaged area.
Kyu looks at the damaged area and makes no sounds as he watches for signs of a bear ambush, looking around carefully. And checking for prints as well. He is more focused on not getting surprised though. He can't communicate telepathically to Kenta though so he doesn't bother with saying anything. He does focus up his chakra, just in case though, seeing as he is going to most likely need it soon.
The thicket swallows up both of the shinobi when the land in the damaged patch. The tangled walls don't look too hide from above, but they prove to be over five feet tall, which is enough to top their heads The swath of destruction is large enough - the size of a modest bedroom - that Kenta and Kyu have plenty of space to move. Despite how everything's torn up and flung around, the two of them are going to have to be very careful when they investigate, because the thorny branches litter the ground. It'll be easy to trip into the briar walls or get scratched up by the branches on the ground. There's also an opening caused by brute entry to the north, where the thicket thins out more and leads to the regular parts of the forest. Kenta stabs a kunai in front of the opening with that tag of his wrapped around the handle.
<"I'll check this half and you check the other,"> Kenta informs Kyu through their telepathic link. <"The bear probably forced its way through parts of the thicket from the north and entered through that opening. Then, it tore up this place and retreated the way it came. That makes the most sense to me, but we might still find something here. Keep your eyes open."> There's a pause as Kenta inspects his half of the surroundings. Then, he sends a message with surprise coloring his thoughts. <"This patch of berries are poisonous. Ummm… don't eat any of it. They're pretty mild, but they can cause hallucinations. Very large amounts might induce a heart attack.">
Kyu looks to Kenta, not really understanding how the telepathic link works but trying to send back the simple <"Hai"> that would be what he would say without the link. He will then turn and look at what is in his section, when he comes across a clump of bloodied fur caught in some of the briars, he examines them carefully, but closely, noting that the blood is still damp. He doesn't quite know what the smell of blood means, but it didn't smell… normal exactly. He also notes pus on the ground. <"Kenta. I found a bloody patch and fur and pus is here. And something seems a bit weird about the smell. I've regrettably smelled a good amount of blood and this doesn't seem quite normal."> Kyu then looks to Kenta, <"I'm not used to this telepathic thing. You can hear me right? And if so, should I follow this trail?">
Kenta looks up from what he's doing and frowns in Kyu's direction. <"Umm… I can hear you fine. You said blood and pus? The report didn't talk about anyone fighting the bear. It might have gotten hurt in some other way. That's going to make this more dangerous. An injured bear is -much- more aggressive. And if it's been eating these berries… I'm beginning to think that it's not rabies."> Kenta jogs forward to retrieve the tag from the ragged opening to the damaged patch of thicket. <"We'll follow the trail, but do it from above again. There's enough damage to the ticket that we should be able to follow it with no problem. Your findings definitely show that the bear's still nearby."> Kenta jumps up into the nearest tree and waits for Kyu to join him before he sets off again.
Kyu nods, and knows he's going to be spending a lot more time with this telepathic link active. He's gonna try and get used to using it to communicate to Kenta. Kyu uses his Sharingan to almost percisely copy Kenta as he leaps into a tree, both seeming to jump at the same time, Kyu then takes point and leads the way down the trail below, he speaks to Kenta through the telepathic link as well, <"Got it. Thank you Kenta-sama, I'm glad I could help. I want to make sure I'm a useful addition to the team, not just 'there'.">
A few minutes later, the two shinobi are out of the thickets and jumping through the trees in the main area of the forest. A trail of broken twigs and upset forest debris still shows them where the bear had traveled. Their persistence is quickly rewarded when they come upon their quarry itself. It's grunting and snuffling reaches their ears before they see the great beast's bulk.
The bear's size clearly male and it's bigger than the average grizzly to a noticeable degree. The beast must be at least a thousand five hundred pounds. While on all fours, it looks to be a good five feet at the shoulders. It's paws are the size of dinner plates, capped with wickedly sharp claws that it's using to dig furiously into the leaf litter. The bear keeps whipping its head from side to side and wuffing through flared nostrils. Saliva drips from its enormous maw, but there's no sign of foam. It suddenly rears up a good eleven feet when it smells them and lets out a bone shaking roar.
<"Umm… Kyu? If you're going to do your sleepy jutsu, I think that you better do it -now-!"> Kenta exclaims to his student through the telepathic link. The bear might not be able to reach them at this moment, but it might also be clever enough to think of a way to get to them.
Kyu hears the sounds and when he spots the bear, he stares at it through red eyes, when he hears Kenta's telepathic message he was already doing rapid hand seals, <"I'm on it. I have a better idea, no way a bear that size will be put down by Sleepy Jutsu alone. I need to REALLY hit it hard with this."> Out of Body Experience! The bear will start to feel detached from itself and it's body, and it's vision begins to fade, before it /should/ stop in it's tracks, unmoving, and the bear, with it's animalistic mind would most likely be very uncomfortable, floating in mid-air and completely numb, without feeling, and looking down at itself. It would likely be very confused and lost.
The bear charges forward at the tree that the two shinobi are perched on, but stumbles and falls back onto all fours when Kyu's jutsu hits. It's huge bulk remains on the ground for second long seconds, where it's broadly muscled back twitches uncontrollably due to the way that the Genjutsu temporarily hijack's its motor control. At this range and in that position, the two medic-nin can see a festering gash on the bear's left side. It looks like another large animal had rippled into the bear's flesh in a fight. Now, the dirtied fur there hangs in clumps on strips of skin. Bloodied pus drips from the wound and tiny white things that might be maggots infest the dead flesh. They only get to see this for a second before the bear begins to thrash around as feeling returns to it. The beast sends out another shattering roar and starts to blindly lash out at everything nearby. One of it's huge paws hits a rotten log and smashes it into a cloud of powder.
<"It's huge. I'm worried that even your genjutsu won't put it down for long. We'll have to work together,"> Kenta tells Kyu. He watches the bear fall down and start to thrash a moment later. <"Split up. Give it two targets and strike it from two different directions."> The older shinobi launches sideways and starts making his way through the trees until he's behind the bear. He pops a black pill into his mouth. Then, he shouts loudly at the bear. "OVER HERE!!"
Kyu sees the thing somehow snap out of a genjutsu, and a C rank genjutsu at that! <"Hai."> He then moves a bit farther back, letting Kenta flank the bear as he goes through the two seals, monkey and ram, three times rapidly. He was going to at least try to see if Sleepy Jutsu could possibly put this bear down.
The bear starts waddling towards Kyu's tree, but turns around when Kenta shouts at it from behind. It gives another challenging roar before it lumbers forward to smash at the tree that Kenta's standing on. BANG! BANG! The entire tree shudders and leaves rain down. The Chuunin only manages to stay on it because the soles of his feet are attached by chakra. Three more blows of those enormous paws causes cracks to spread out from the trunk. This tells Kenta that he should start moving, which he does. The Chuunin launches himself to another tree while he makes hand seals. The bear follows with another roar, but is stopped short when Kyu hits it multiple times with Genjutsu. It's steps falters for a second upon each attempt to put it to sleep. That ultimately doesn't work, but still slows the bear down enough that Kenta manages to envelop the creature in sleeping mist. The hulking beast is twitching on the ground, half conscious when the mist clears. It's probably so tired that it'll be very susceptible to Kyu's Genjutsu now.
Kyu sees Kenta's mist and watches, until it clears and sees the bear, unmoving. <"I kinda feel bad for him. Do you think medical ninjutsu could help with that wound? And is there any way we could make it better?"> Despite feeling bad for it, he does the two seals three more times, attempting to make sure this bear stays down. He'd rather not get torn to shreds by the bear because he didn't make completely sure it wasn't moving, he'd also not get near it until he was sure he wasn't going to attack.
The bear is defenseless against Kyu's genjutsu this time. The sleeping gas had already dulled much of its senses, including the psychotropic rage that caused it to go on a rampage in the first place. When the genjutsu hits, the bear quickly succumbs and falls into a deep slumber. It lies there twitching a little on its right side before it stills completely.
Kenta jumps out of his tree and cautiously approaches the unconscious beast. He places a hand on the creature's hunches to send a few medical pulses through its body. "Your genjutsu did it. The bear's completely knocked out. Now, we have to keep it asleep…" Kenta tells his student aloud. His brows furrows. "I'm not sure how much good it'd do. This bear's running a pretty bad infection and those berries are messing up the chemical balance within its body. We can try to help it."
The older medic-nin removes his pack to pull out some medical tools. He explains to Kyu how he wants them to handle the upcoming surgery. "You don't have much knowledge of poisons yet, so I'm going to handle that part. I can purge its body of the toxins and take care of the deeper infections. I want you to trim off the dead skin and flesh. You also need to remove the maggots from its side. After that, focus on using your healing jutsu to close as much of the wound as possible."
Kyuketsuki nods and takes a scalpel, some water, a bit of any kind of liquid soap, a bandage, and forceps from the tools Kenta lays out. "Okay. I'm on it." He then goes to the pus covered section and starts with removing the maggots, he takes the water and holds it up over his head, focusing some elemental chakra into his mouth and exhaling a steady stream of fire to warm it up to a usable temperature and then puts a bit of the soap in it and resealing the lid as he shakes it a bit, to get the water with the soap, he then pours the water carefully onto the wound and tries to wash away the maggots. Once thats washed away a number of the maggots he will inspect for any maggots deeper within, which there is bound to be, and then begins cutting the dead flesh away.
What Kyu's doing would be disturbing to many people, but Kenta's used to such things by now as a medic-nin of many years' experience. In fact, maggots are often used for removing necrotic flesh from patients in controlled situations. He simply looks over to make sure that Kyu's doing things properly before he commences his own work. He pulls a syringe full of a sedative that he brought with him and injects it into the unconscious beast. Then, he does it four more times to account for the fact that each dose of sedative was measured out for humans only. "Umm… that should keep him asleep for a while. If he starts moving, hit him with more genjutsu," Kenta says.
The older medic-nin removes more medical equipment from his pack, including a case with vials of colored liquids. He rapidly prepares a mixture, which he explains is a base for a generic antidote for the specific type of toxin in the bear's body. Kenta administers the antidote using the same syringe that he delivered the sedatives with. Then, the young man place both hands on the bear's hunches, closes his eyes, and starts sending chakra into the beast.
Kyu nods to Kenta, "Hai. I'll be watchful." Whenever Kyu finishes cutting away the dead flesh he will place his hands on the wound and focus healing chakra into the wound and pulse it in such a way that would drive the maggots out while regulating bloodflow and closing parts of the wound slightly and slowly. He wouldn't do this for very long and then snatch up the forceps, quickly starting to pick out the maggots and pull them out of the wound rapidly as possible without damaging the bear, using the Sharingan to help him with his accuracy.
Most of Kenta's attention is focused inside the bear's body by now. He channels his chakra through every part of the huge mass, using his jutsu to spread the antidote to every location needed. At the same time, he manipulates the toxin itself to force what can't be easily neutralized down specific pathways, until it seeps out of the bear's skin as a chemical sweat. "Just a little more…" Kenta murmurs. "How are you holding over there? I'll be able to help in a few more minutes."
Kyu continues picking out maggots until he can't see anymore, and whenever that happened he would return to focusing medical chakra into the bear's wound, watching for any maggots deep inside the wound that may pop out. "I'm doing alright and I think I have this under control. It'll just take me awhile to heal the wound completely since this is only a light healing jutsu, not really designed for wounds this size and this bad."
Kenta settles back on his heels to watch Kyu work. He nods his head in a satisfied manner when he sees the wounds slowly close due to his student's diligent use of medical jutsu. "You're definitely improving very quickly, Kyu. You'll probably surpass me soon, he says in an encouraging voice." The young man touches the bear and sends a few pulses of chakra through it to check on it's vital signs. "It's still going to be out for a few hours. We'll be done taking care of its injures by then, but there's no way to move the bear on our own. Ummm… we're going to need to send for some help. I don't want to leave you here alone and the way back to the trading post isn't very straight forward. I have an idea, but it's going to leave me unable to do anything for a while. Can you watch over me during that time and shake me to get my attention if there's trouble?"
Kyu looks to Kenta and nods. "You don't need to worry about leaving me alone. I'll be fine." When Kenta continues and mentions his 'idea', Kyu tilts his head a bit, "Yeah, sure. I can. But uhm… What're you planning exactly?" all the while, he keeps focusing medical chakra into the wound, making sure the wound is still healing while he speaks.
Kenta removes some paper from his pack and proceeds to scrawl a quick message on it, along with a crude map showing their location in relation to the trading post. He points up at the nearby trees, where some of the birds are beginning to return after all the craziness had subsided. "I'm going to take over one of the birds and fly it to the outpost with a message. That's a bit too complicated to trust a bird to do on its own, so I'm going to have to shift my mind fully into one. Ummm… if you really think that you'll be able to handle this here, that's what I'm going to do. It'll probably be at least fifteen minutes or so before I'm 'back'. Birds fly fast, but there's quite a distance to travel." Kenta presses his hands together and starts to gather more chakra.
Kyu looks more confident in response to being left alone. "I got it. I'll make sure nothing happens to you Kenta-sama, you can count on me." Kyu then watches Kenta with his red eyes. He smiles at him to show his confidence then turns back to the wound on the bear, which was mostly scabbed over and looks relatively 'safe' now. He could finish up with that later, but for now he carefully presses the bandage onto it carefully. He noticed the seal on it and went out on a limb, hoping he was correct, which he was, he focuses some chakra into it and the bandage adheres to the bear's fur, clinging to the wound and protecting it.
Meanwhile, Kenta is making the unique hand seals that the Yamanaka forms for their most powerful hidenjutsu. He focuses an on a large magpie through a bracket created by the fingers of both hands. A second later, the medic-nin topples sideways. The magpie, with Kenta's mind in it, flutters downward in an ungainly flapping of wings to pick up the message. It's liftoff is -much- smoother, as Kenta manages to access the bird's muscle memory. The magpie quickly disappears into the distance.
Kyu watches the bird snatch the message and sees Kenta flop down. He goes over to Kenta and adjusts his body to not be in an uncomfortable position, and goes back to the bear, pulsing it with reflective diagnostic chakra himself, to check the bear out, and then looking around, to make sure there was no sudden bandit ambushes! That would be very unlikely, but he checks anyways!
There's nothing else that Kyu could do except keep working on the bear. Thankfully, Kenta "wakes up" again around the time that he would to inform his student that message has been delivered. The two of them work together on the bear for about another hour. During that time the senior medic-nin shows Kyu some techniques for using medical chakra to scrub the insides of the body clean of infection and how to fortify the body enough to have a chance if the infection can't be killed off that easily. The treatment's almost complete when many of the trading post's permanent and temporary residents arrive on the scene with the equipment needed to move the sedated bear easily. This includes bindings that'll keep the bear completely immobile even after it wakes up. At this point, the job that Kenta and Kyu were hired for is considered complete, so the two members of Team Lunar makes their way back to Konoha after giving their well wishes.
