Starring:
Date: August 10, 2015
Summary:
Hikaru missed the latest medical lesson that Kenta gave, so they go over the material together with Tatsuo playing the role of an assistant to Kenta.
"Covering a Missed Lesson"
Konoha Lake
The day is a little chilly, but the air nips in a refreshing kind of way as long as people are bundled up properly. Kenta finds himself sitting at the base of a big tree near the placid waters of Konoha's lake. He has a warm cloak wrapped around him and two bags at his side. One's the big backpack that he usually carries around and the other's a much small cloth shopping bag. The young man's waiting for one of his students to arrive, namely Hikaru. The Saturobi boy wasn't able to make it to the one that he gave Shinobu and Tatsuo a week ago, so Kenta intends to bring the boy up to speed.
Hikaru huffed and puffed as he finally made it back to the lake, his backpack full of supplies strapped on as he ran to meet Kenta at the lake. "Sorry I'm late, sensei," he says with a deep breath before flopping to sit against a tree. "I came as fast as I could. And sorry I missed the last lesson.. I supplose I should thank you for doing it over for me."
Kenta smiles at Hikaru and lifts a hand to wave, but doesn't get up. He's too comfortable sitting. Closer inspection also shows that there are dark circles under the medic's eyes, so he's probably also tired. "Ummm… don't worry. My job as your sensei is to make sure that you learn what you need to. I can't have you lagging behind Shinobu-chan and Tatsuo. Thankfully, not much time passed and I'm sure that you'll be able to catch up quickly." Kenta offers the smaller bag to Hikaru. "Here's new reading material to go with this lesson. Today, you're going to learn the basics of the diagnostic jutsu."
"Hai," Hikaru says as he leans over to take the bag, opening it up and sitting back with it against his tree. Inside were books on anatomy, common ailments, and how to determine abnormalities in chakra signatures. All really interesting stuff, actually. He flipped through the pages a bit, then turned his attention back to Kenta, whom he was sure was about to explain further. "The Diagnostic Jutsu is one of the basic Medical jutsu, right? Like the first one medics usually learn?"
Tatsuo arrives at the lake though it's probably not an expected arrival by the medic nin. The boy has been rather absent to most as of late, with Kenta being one of the very few exceptions at the moment. Wrapped tightly in a cloak to keep himself warm, the boy is passing through to go to a place to read a book when he spots Kenta and Hikaru closer to the lake. His steps slow as he sees them and he wonders just what was going on…but then it really wasn't any of his business.
"One of the first," Kenta agrees. "It's also one of the most useful. What you learn with it will always have some value. Ummm… it's something that even experienced medics constantly use, but also a jutsu that gets incorporated into a lot of more complex jutsu." At this point, Kenta spies Tatsuo nearby. One of his hands instantly pops up in the air and starts waving. "Tatsuo! Over here! I'm about to give Hikaru his lesson on the diagnostic jutsu. Since you already took it, you can help me. It'll be good practice for you."
Hikaru nods, eager to get started. He liked learning useful jutsu, like Seals and Medical stuff. Just like he enjoyed learning tactical skills, as well. Maybe the kid just liked learning. Or he embraced every opportunity to be an exceptional ninja. When Tatsuo arrives, Hikaru looks over at him closely and frowns. Tatsuo-san… didn't really seem like himself, lately. COme to think of it, he's rarely seen him. Where has he been?
Tatsuo chews his lip a moment as he considers the invitation, if that's what it is, before he finally turns to walk towards the others. He gives a wane smile to Hikaru as well as a small nod of greeting. "Hi Hikaru-kun," he offers before looking to Kenta. "Kenta-sama. How can I help?" At least he seems interested in helping and, well, why wouldn't he be? Any practice is good practice right?
"Umm… since you've heard about it, you might know how it works already, Hikaru. It basically involves molding a specific type of medical chakra and sending pulses of it through a patient's body. The chakra ripples through the patient and bounces right back to you like the echoes of bat sonar. The difference is that the echoes are chakra and moving through a person's body changes the characteristics a bit. You can tell what's going on by analyzing those characteristics. That's really the hard part. It takes months or even years to understand the most subtle nuances. But you can learn enough for it to be useful in just a few weeks," Kenta tells Hikaru.
The medic-nin lifts his hands to show Hikaru a few hand seals. "Use these hand seals to help you mold the chakra until you learn how to do it without. Ummm…" He places his hand on Hikaru's knee to pulse some chakra through it. "Feel that? You have to do the same to me. Tatsuo, I want you to explain to Hikaru how you can differentiate between blood, bone and other such things, like I taught you last time."
Hikaru nods a little, the idea of molding /specific/ chakra a little bit daunting. He only had his own chakra… How would he make it different? Still, he tries out the seals, feeling the chakra gathering just under his palm. When he placed it to Kenta's knee, he felt nothing at first as the energy went through the older male, but then a muddled shockwave returned to him, and he wore a thoroughly confused expression. He had no idea what /any/ of that was supposed to mean. All he felt was his chakra returning in waves, just like he had sent it. "Please, explain," he says to Tatsuo a bit hopelessly. He didn't get this at all.
Kenta wanted him to whaaa? Tatsuo blinks at Kenta, trying to decide if he heard him right. Well then…"Uh, well the response you get back on the echo tells you all the ins and outs of the body. The chakra will go through the bone and it'll be slower, which will make it denser. Since blood is fluid it'll move a lot faster and not be dense at all. Muscle tends to be somewhere in the middle but there's…other things too. Organs, fats, things like that. It, um, it takes some getting used to."
Kenta nods his head up and down at Tatsuo's attempt to explain. "The reading material that I gave you would help you understand more, but basics are important. Ummm… they give you something familiar and easy to ground yourself in." He pauses a second. "Try doing it again, Hikaru. You'll notice that the echoes of chakra coming to you will form a pattern. The pulses that go through the densest material - bone - feel the slowest like Tatsuo mentioned. If you concentrate, you'll be able to tell that the slowest echoes do 'feel' like they're in the shape of my knee joint." A second short pause. "It'll also help if you make the pulses a bit crisper and cleaner. Your hand seals were -slightly- off. Tatsuo, show them to Hikaru again, please."
Tatsuo does as bade, first folding his legs beneath him so he can sit cross legged. "Hai," he says simply before facing Hikaru and making sure the other boy is watching. Then he makes the hand seals, slowly but exact. Tatsuo is very much a perfectionist when it comes to properly executing his chakra and his hand seals are crisp and near perfect. Once he goes through them once he pauses and does it one more time, just so Hikaru can see them once again.
Hikaru watches carefully this time, nodding and taking a deep breath to concentrate once it's his turn. He takes the time to place his hands carefully, his chakra slowly molding itself once more. When he has completed the last seal, the Sarutobi places his palm against Kenta's leg once more, trying to focus on sending his chakra through more… sharply, as Kenta mentioned. But he still felt it being a bit loose coming out of him. Controlling his chakra more precisely would be something that he would have to practice, for sure.
This time, though, he did feel the chakra coming back at different speeds, or stages. And it did feel a little bit different each time. But the image was still unclear, like a fuzzy television set. Hikaru sighs a bit and shakes his head. No clear success, still.
"You're doing better," Kenta observes after Hikaru performs the exercise. "Those were much closer to the how the chakra should be molded, but still a little off. Ummm… I guess only practice will help with it. Did you feel anything else besides what we spoke of so far when you did that?" The medic-nin watches Hikaru keenly. "Ummm… any instances when the chakra that came back felt… different? Not just at different speeds, but actually different? Like there's little bits of extra something to it? Maybe like foreign chakra had mixed up with yours?" Kenta glances to Tatsuo in an encouraging manner. Let his other student explain what that means.
Tatsuo didn't plan on saying anything until Kenta gave him that glance and only then did he realize he was supposed to say something. "Oh! Um, if things come back a little different, something foreign that isn't like the rest of the information you get, it could be a disease or even something like a poison. Um…if you get something back that isn't foreign but that flows differently than everything around it, it could be an injury. Either internal or external." He looks to Kenta then to see if he screwed up anything.
"Er… Okay," Hikaru says, nodding even though he isn't sure he fully understands. He'll have to practice more, and study the books. "Thank you for showing this to me, Kenta-sensei." He smiles a bit bashfully at the Chuunin. He knew he wasn't anywhere near a great or talented medic-in-training, but he tried his best.
Kenta is a little impressed, even though Tatsuo didn't answer exactly the way he wanted. It showed that the Nara boy is doing a lot of studying. "What Tatsuo says it's true. There's many ways that the body can get injured. Oddities in the chakra echoes would point out where the problem might be, even if you can't tell what it exactly is yet. Ummm… There's also one more thing. That last bit I mentioned about foreign chakra mixed in with your chakra refers to what happens when your chakra pulses passes through the patient's chakra network. It's -extremely- subtle and had to tell, but that tinge of difference helps you identify where the chakra channels are. After a while, you'll also be able to tell what's wrong there."
Kenta's hand moves under his cloak, as if he's reaching for something. "Let me give you an example that'll help make what Tatsuo said clearer." Suddenly, the medic-nin's rolling up the right leg of his pants. He jags a long, thin spike into the inside of his leg about two inches below his knee. It's designed to injury while causing minimal real damage, but blood slightly start seeping out quickly after Kenta removes the spike. He winces slightly. "Ummm… try the diagnostic jutsu again. Note how my leg feels different in one spot now."
Hikaru's eyes widen at Kenta's self-infliction. For the sake of a lesson? This guy was hardcore. Still, he figured that he wouldn't let the injury go to waste, and he tried the jutsu a third time. This time, when he felt the chakra bouncing back from Kenta's leg, he could tell.. a very minute difference. Like, a portion of the chakra came back quicker and sharper than before, seeming to come from the direction of the visible wound. He supposed this sort of abnormality would be what he was looking out for. The Sarutobi nods slowly. "I /think/ I get it," he says hesitantly, before removing his palm.
Tatsuo fidgets some when Kenta starts cutting along his leg, not liking that at all. It just…wasn't cool. I mean, as far as the lesson went it wasn't exactly a bad idea, and with something as minor as that even Tatsuo might be able to take care of it. Kenta certainly could. But it still would hurt! He watches Hikaru and Kenta, saying nothing for now.
Kenta nods and a small smile appears on his tired features. "Good. I know you won't be able to tell more than that right now, Hikaru, but that's a great first step. Umm… I don't suggest stabbing yourself to practice identifying injuries though. Just read the material and practice using the jutsu on healthy people. At least one hour a day. Umm… after you get familiar with how a healthy body should feel like, I want you to practice on people that have minor injuries. The training grounds is a good place to do that."
Kenta rolls his right pants leg up a little further to avoid getting the fabric stained with blood. He looks between his two students. "Now, I want you two to work together to treat this stab wound. I know for sure that it's simple enough for you to handle. Consider this a quick quiz."
This part would be easy! Even Hikaru knew basic first aid. He reaches in his bag for a roll of gauze wrap and looks to Tatsuo with a slightly raised brow. "We should just dress it, right? Or do you have any better ideas."
"Umm…" Tatsuo says, hesitant and uncertain. He makes some hand seals before one of his hands starts to glow a soft green color and he chews his lower lip uncertainly. He could just heal it, although it might take longer than a more experienced medic to do so. But…that wouldn't really help Hikaru learn anything, would it?
Kenta quickly holds up a hand. "Stop right there, Tatsuo!" he blurts out while the younger shinobi is still hesitating. "I want you to dissipate that chakra and do the hand seals again much more slowly. Those are pretty close to perfect. I see that Grandmother's been giving you extra training. Ummm… anyway, do they more slowly for Hikaru to see and explain what the chakra you're molding will do. It'll be useful for him to learn."
Hikaru nods and puts the gauze away. Obviously, a field bandage wasn't what Kenta had in mind. Then he looks to Tatsuo again, to see what exactly he was doing. It was probably some regenerative jutsu that would accelerate the healing process.
Tatsuo starts a little bit when Kenta speaks so suddenly at the chakra fades even as he says the words, Tatsuo wondering at first if he did something wrong. When Kenta mentions the rest he ducks his head a bit, he cheeks turning just a little red at the words. "Mmm, hai," he answers, taking a deep breath as he faces Hikaru again and goes through the hand seals again, slower. Rat, Ram, Dog. He pauses, then does it again to make sure Hikaru sees it before the green chakra appears again. "You focus the chakra into your hand. It's one of the first healing techniques people learn…I was told," he glances sideways at Kenta a moment before looking back to Hikaru. "It speeds up the bodies natural regeneration by taking the users energy. It's really only good for smaller wounds."
"You might be able to do it with your current level of chakra control, Hikaru. It's not too different from the jutsu that you practiced on the beetles. Umm… mostly more focused and stronger. Why don't you go ahead and try now. You might not be able to heal the wound completely, but I bet you can at least slow the bleeding and get it to start closing," Kenta suggests to Hikaru. "Tatsuo can finish sealing up the wound if you don't manage to heal it completely." The medic-nin stretches his injured leg out a little more.
Sighing a little, Hikaru nods slowly. He would try… Making the three hand seals, Hikaru manages to form the green-tinged chakra and presses it up against the small wound. He could feel Kenta's body reacting, and in a matter of moments, Hikaru removed his hand, blinking in surprise when he saw that the hole was completely closed. "Wha-… I did it?" he says, completely bemused. He really didn't think he would.
Tatsuo watches as Hikaru performs the hand seals and holds the chakra, then offers a faint smile when he sees the wound close and he nods a bit. "Good job Hikaru-kun," Tatsuo offers quietly before looking to Kenta to see what the real medic nin had to say about it.
Kenta twists the leg from side to side. The wound definitely closed, but there's still a little bruising that makes the leg aches. He glances at Tatsuo to see if his other student would want to try working on that, even though it's barely noticeable. The medic-nin also offers Hikaru a proud look. "You managed to make it work very well on the first try. Umm… keep at it. Eventually, you'd be able to handle bigger injuries with that. Not too big, since those require more complicated jutsu, but the practice that you put into this one will help a lot with those too."
Hikaru nods, finally sitting back with a weary look. That had taken a lot of concentration and energy out of him. It was a good thing these lessons didn't come extremely often, or he would be too tired to do his otehr training properly. "Thanks again, Kenta-sensei," he says, wrapping his arms around his knees for a bit of warmth.
Again Tatsuo doesn't really plan on doing anything but he can read Kenta's looks well enough. He makes the hand seals quickly and effeciently, the chakra glowing on palm as he extends his hand to remove the bruising and pain in the area, the diagnostic jutsu pulsing through at the end to make sure he got it all. Once he's satisfied the glow fades and he pulls his hand back. The young Nara turns his head and looks to Hikaru, giving him a small yet encouraging and proud smile. "You did good Hikaru-kun…better than I did the first time I tried."
