Starring:
Date: November 15, 2015
Summary:
Kaneko furthers her medicinal training by talking with Haruna, an apparent wandering medic.
"From Sword to Scalpel: The Visiting Medic"
Hospital - Entrance [Iwagakure]
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A huge entrance to the Iwagakure Hospital is accompanied by the sight of Medical Ninja attending to and talking to people visiting them. The entrance of the facility is normally packed with people, be they injured or waiting to visit one of their loved ones in the recovery bay set in the northern side of the facility. A huge desk is set on the side of the entrance to the recovery bay where Medical Ninja and guards inspect visitors to ensure that there are not seeking harm on weakened visitors. The walls of the entrance are lined with comfortable brown chairs used for waiting visitors. The place is kept as quiet and calm as possible, however foreigners from allied countries are also allowed to attend this area in case of a medical emergency.
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It has been quite some time since Haruna had visited her home land. Even longer since she had actually toured Iwagakure. Important business concluded, she found herself at the hospital to offer what services she might. These places are always busy, especially in shinobi villages. Of course, there are medical ninjutsuists here far more talented than herself, but if there is anything the woman is good at, it's tending to small things so the more experienced shinobi can take care of more serious, complex injuries.
Currently, the woman is tending to some minor cuts on a small boy, applying him with a candy while she cleans the cuts and heals them over. 'Checking him in' isn't necessary since the wounds are so minor, so she's out in the entrance to the hospital, simply sitting beside him in a chair.
Kaneko is one patient in the hospital today, actually. The girl had come back from a battle recently, and now she had to check in every other day so that the worst of her injuries, a deep cut on her shoulder, was healing properly. The medic nin didn't feel like wasting some of their energy on the injury because it wasn't life-threatening and Kaneko was a healthy young genin that could easily get back to her daily life. Of course, she wasn't here for just the checkup…
"Are you /sure/ there aren't any medic nin that aren't busy?" she asks someone at the front desk. The man at the front would shake his head a bit. "They're all busy, Kaneko-chan. Especially after the latest attack on that Stone Blade organization." Kaneko grumbles a bit. "Well, I don't need a professional checking over my injuries, at least, I'll get that over with first…" The man would nod and then point over at Haruna. "She's helping out today. You can go see her." "Hai!" The young Murasame would turn to check who the desk worker pointed to, then make her way over to the stranger. "Umm… They said I could come to you for a checkup…?" she asks hesitantly, looking just a bit awkward. Probably because she didn't know this person very well… And the person looked busy.
Haruna looks up to Kaneko as she finishes with the boy. The woman smiles to the girl and gently pats the boy to dismiss him, "Try not to fall like that again. Those rocks out there can be sharp." She invites Kaneko to sit in the chair with a light gesture. One touch could tell her if there is anything ailing Kaneko, but instead she just asks, "I'm Haruna. You say you need a checkup?" Her eyes glance over the girl, studying her outwardly for any physical signs of injury or sickness. "Surely you weren't part of the most recent attack.." She knows very well that the girl might have been. The genin are getting younger and younger these days.
Kaneko sits down in the chair, glad to sit down. It felt like she never sat down ever, largely because she's either helping her father at the forge or she's training. Of course, the times she spends with Hotaru are nice and relaxing, but they always felt far too short. "Nice to meet you, Haruna-san. And ummm… Hai, I do. Umm…" Her hand sort of is drawn to her side, but her sword is not on her hip. After all, she's in a hospital! The girl would nod quickly to the question, then, saying, "I was, hai. I think I was one of the more worst off, though. So there's that, at least… Umm, I mean within my own team." She frowns a bit, trying to think of what else she should tell Haruna. The girl would fall silent, in the end.
Based purely on appearance, her right shoulder was injured. The movements of the whole arm were limited so that she didn't cause herself undue stress (doctors' suggestions). And looking under her shirt would reveal bandages wrapped around it. She had a few other smaller cuts, but they weren't as bad and she could ignore them easily.
"Really? You must be quite strong to be involved in something like that. I heard it was quite the battle." She smiles, as though in memory, perhaps remembering her own days in the front lines. Long gone. She rarely sees action like that herself anymore. Life has so many other priorities for her.
Hearing the situation, the woman falls quiet, finally reaching forward to lightly touch Kaneko's shoulder. A faint pulse of chakra goes through Kaneko's shoulder and Haruna's eyes close, sensing through the girl's injury to find the trouble. She then opens her eyes and reaches forward to physically examine the injury, her fingers gingerly feeling along the girl's muscle to see where swelling might be and if they're healing properly.
Kaneko grins a bit. "I'm not that strong, really. It's actually probably the worst thing about being a taijutsuist: I'm not at all strong. But I can hit my target. If they aren't … all that good…" She frowns, knowing that her opponents can read her moves at times. That helps them avoid her sword more often than not… The girl shakes her head to keep her thoughts at bay. "But I know that I graduated from the Academy kind of early. My parents were really proud, cuz they thought I'd never get through. I'm not sure why I went through so quick, though… I think Juudai-sama-sensei just wanted to make sure we were official if we were going to go on missions."
Kaneko blinks a bit when Haruna starts poking at her shoulder, glad that the touch is gentle. It was healing well, at least, but it still hurt her when people poked at it. "So…. What're you doing?" She would ask while the woman sends chakra through her body.
Haruna traces a finger over the muscles of Kaneko's shoulder, drawing them out for her. "What I just did assessed the internal damage in your body. Not too extreme, but you definitely don't need to be in action any time soon. I was also ensure that your muscles are healing in proper alignment. With an injury like that… if they don't, or if there is scar tissue, you could end up disfigured or disabled. If surgery needs to be performed, it would need to be done now before you heal entirely, you see?" With that, Haruna rises from her seat. She extends Kaneko's arm out slightly from her body, instructing her to 'just relax.' When Haruna's hand returns to Kaneko's shoulder, it would be the funny kind of warm of a medic's touch.
"There are other ways to be useful if you're worried about your performance on the front lines. Minds like yours shouldn't be wasted needlessly." Haruna smiles down to Kaneko as she heals the girl, wondering if she might have a talent for this kind of work.
COMBAT: Haruna heals Kaneko for 916 with RESTORING CHAKRA PALM.
Kaneko nods slowly as she listens. "I remember… Sort of reading about that. I can't really do anything, but I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to keep things working fine." She shrugs with her working shoulder, then relaxes a bit while Haruna heals her. She can't help but boggle a bit that one could do that so quickly and easily. "I'm not /that/ worried. I just… worry that I won't be able to help the people I love…" She frowns again. She knew that her friends could take care of themselves for the most part while in battle, but… "What're you suggesting, anyway? You sound like you have something in mind."
Haruna settles Kaneko's arm back against her side and gently pats it. "Give it a few more days before you use it too much." She sits down again beside the girl since no new patients seem to be arriving at this very second. "Well, you could be trained to be a medic. It's a way to help those around you without necessarily having to fight." Haruna doesn't push her pacifist agendas much more than that, knowing well that telling shinobi not to fight is like telling a dog not to bark. "And you could help yourself as well. Honestly, every ninja should really be taught the basics of medical ninjutsu if for no other reason than survival." The woman folds her hands in her lap, relaxing a bit. "You start with knowledge. Knowing /how/ the body is put together and why it functions the way it does is what sets apart the really talented medics from the rest and, from what you say of your mind, that likely would come natural to you, no?"
Kaneko makes a bit of a face. She was naturally right-handed, so trying to keep it still was a pain in the butt. But she nods. "I know how to bandage myself," Kaneko puts in, wondering if that was really anything to brag about. "And I could probably keep a broken bone in place. Not heal it or anything, but…" She shrugs. "Knowing how… I read a bit about that, like I said. But most of the medical books are written so that they go over my head. I usually just look at the pictures and hope that they make sense," she admits. "Usually they do."
Haruna nods as Kaneko explains how she learns. Visual then. Visual learners can be tricky with medical ninjutsu. It can be hard to take something that is an internal art and make it pop into your head. "Just a moment…" Haruna rises to her feet and walks to the desk, moving behind to retrieve something from her medical bag. She returns and sits down beside Kaneko, thumbing through the medium sized book. It seems to be mostly drawing and diagrams of the human body. Settling on a page, she hands the book to Kaneko. "This is your shoulder. You see the patterns of the muscles here?" Haruna points to the drawing, tracing the sinewy fibers like she did Kaneko's arm. "Focus on the chakra of your body and think of where you hurt simultaneously. Tell your mind to 'paint' upon the picture where you need to heal." Haruna doesn't show her the exact spot, but will let Kaneko figure that out for herself.
Kaneko waits where she is, feet swinging from the chair she sits in. Thankfully she's short enough to do that without bumping anything. As she waits, she would look around the hospital. It was a well-run place and almost always orderly. The only chaos really happened when there were too many patients and not enough staff, but those only happened after major battles. She tended to count her blessings that she hasn't had to deal with those yet. The girl glances back to Haruna and sees the woman coming over with a bag. Huh… What was that book? Kaneko leans over just a bit to try and peek at its contents, but there was little to no need once Haruna gave the book to her.
As the medic spoke, Kaneko looked down at this book and studied it intently. There were some notes in the margins about different things, but she gave them little attention to absorb the picture. "Hmmmmm… So… that's my shoulder… And those are the muscles…" She taps the book a few times. "What do you mean, though… To 'paint' where I need to heal?" Kaneko's grey eyes flicker up to Haruna's face, expression puzzled.
Haruna taps the picture lightly. "Memorize the look of this and then in your mind's eye, 'paint' on the picture. Tell your mind to show you where the pain is. Have it light up the part that's still sore." She sits back, allowing Kaneko to keep the book. "Diagnosing yourself is the first step to diagnosing others." Haruna pauses.. "Just have someone double check so you don't suddenly think that you're falling apart. That's important early on." She tries not to laugh, remembering when she first started training and how she immediately thought she was dying because she didn't have a mental filter to know what was important and what wasn't. "Try it. I'll tell you if you're right or not."
Kaneko looks back down to the picture, studying it a bit longer before she closes her eyes. The girl tries to picture the same diagram in her mind, then she tries to have herself tell her where the pain is. It seemed a bit silly, actually, because she knew where the pain was. It was her shoulder… If she moved it, she could /really/ feel it. The girl tries to mentally probe that area, but she has little idea how to do such. Light up the part that is sore? She tries to think of the diagram, mentally pointing to the spot that was injured… But she isn't quite doing it how Haruna probably wants. "I think I know what it looks like," Kaneko says aloud, cracking open her eyes a tiny bit. "But I'm not sure if … I'm doing it right…"
Haruna smiles, watching Kaneko. It isn't an easy thing to grasp the first time. "Do you have a decent grasp of chakra control? If you feel you might know, try focusing a little chakra into the area to aid you. It can help." How and why is.. perhaps a more complex subject than she should get into for now. "Like I said, knowledge first. Then use your chakra. You can use chakra to find injuries all day long, but if you don't know what the injuries affect, it won't help at all and you can actually do more harm to a person by healing them. Keep the book. Study the pictures and find the shapes within your own body." She gently pats Kaneko's back. "I'll be here all day if you want to practice. Let me know if you need further help." With that, Haruna rises to attend to someone who just came in with a bleeding arm. Likely a training accident.
Kaneko nods lightly. "Hai… I can control my chakra, I think… Otou-san said it was good enough that he taught me tree walking early, at least… He said that he wants to teach me how to walk on water soon." The girl says that second part with a hint of pride. "Hmm… focusing chakra…" She nods slowly and closes her eyes, trying to poke the area with chakra. She doesn't get much back, if anything, though. "Hmm… I think I need more practice…" she mutters, mostly to herself. The girl stands up when Haruna does, offering a small bow. "Thank you for the lesson!" she says gratefully. She watches Haruna go to help the person with the bleeding arm, then she turns and makes her way towards the entrance to practice in solitude. The book gets tucked under her left arm while she walks, and she seems to be thinking hard about what she just learned. SO much so that she bumps into the doors without trying to open them first! Oops… With that incident out of the way, she would rush out quickly, eager to start on this new type of training.