Starring:
Date: January 9, 2013
Summary:
Usagi and Taiki are given their advanced medical chakra tests together.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Medical Studies 5: Success at last"
Konoha Hospital, testing room
It would seem Unotake and Uzumaki Tenken apparently decided to get together and put their students through their final paces, unbeknownst to them. After all, Unotake had them partner up, and it only made sense that they'd work together. So finally, today, each sensei called their student in to meet them at the hospital, presumably for some paperwork. At least, that was what they were told.
Taiki apparently had been working with his ninken on field medicine and rescue work, putting them through the exercises used primarily for Inuzuka who have partners capable of working with them. When he received the message, it gave him just enough time to dash to a private place to change his clothes to a clean outfit, give himself a quick wash-down, and then dash to the hospital. Thus it is about mid-afternoon, 30 minutes since the last call had gone out, and Taiki is finally making an appearance in the Library, as summoned.
Usagi was already there at the time, having been working on a few other things beforehand at her home, so when she received the summon, she got herself changed, made sure she didn't look horrible, and went thataway. She was already seated with Unotake, reading a few things until she looks up at him, surprised. "Hey there, Taiki-san…how are you?" While the surprise is definitely still registering on her face, she's managing to keep it mostly contained in her voice. She glances to Unotake for a few moments, questioning and curious.
Taiki blinks as he enters the room, then smiles as he takes a seat by her. "Hi Usagi-san," he says as he sits down, the surprise evident in his voice. "Sorry it took me so long Unotake-sensei, but I was working on field exercises with my ninken partners and needed time to clean up." After assurances that it was quite alright, Taiki finally speaks the question Usagi is silently asking aloud, "I was summoned here by Uzumaki-sensei for paperwork, or so I thought. May I ask what is going on?"
Unotake grins and looks to a side door, which opens and reveals Tenken. "That's simple Taiki-dono. Unotake and I have compared notes, and according to our individual lesson plans, you two are ready for advanced medical chakra exercises. This works out well for me, since I will be leaving Konoha soon. Thus we decided to treat you two like the team Unotake-san organized, and hold the exercise for both of you together. I hope this meets with your approval?"
Usagi shrugs and nods once. "That's fine by me…means we can try this side by side and see who can do what. After all, we need to know who needs work" She smiles at Taiki. There's no sarcasm, no ribbing, nothing. She's apparently being serious. "when do we begin, and what is our task?"
After Taiki nodded in agreement to Usagi, Unotake takes over and leads them both over to the fish tank, where a couple of focus scrolls are set up. "Your first exercises here were basic wounds, stabs and cuts. This next set will be more intense wounds, including those that cause internal bleeding. Your goal is to fully heal the fish, keeping it alive, then put it back into the tank. There will only be two fish each, but each fish will require prolonged concentration and application. The first will emulate massive battle wounds, while the second will be a surprise, depending on the individual's sensei's training regimen." That said, Unotake takes out a fish, lays it on Usagi's scroll, and cuts into the main body, drawing a four-inch long cut lengthwise, and then stabs it near the stomach with the knife parallel to the counter top. Tenken takes another fish and performs much the same operation, laying it on Taiki's scroll. The sensei's then motion the pair forward to begin.
Usagi nods and places her hands over the fish, her face becoming neutral for the task at hand as she sets to concentrating on the wounds. She starts with the stomach wound first, as that's going to be a bigger trouble…the cut would be easier of the two. And while she's making good progress, her brow furrows as she apparently seems to hit a roadblock. She doesn't mutter curses or anything and try harder, she just furrows her brow, closing her eyes to try and feel the injury. For now, the fish is still alive, and she's maintaining that, but the injuries are not yet healed either.
Taiki on the other hand, nods to his sensei and starts to pool the chakra in his hand as he was taught. Turning it over slowly, he pours the healing chakra into the fish, gently guiding it directly to the stomach wound first, just like Usagi has done. Slowly the wound knits back together, and the fish looks stable. But Taiki doesn't celebrate yet. No, he knows he still has a long road to travel before he finishes, as the guts and organs from the long cut are damaged as well.
In the meantime it looks like Unotake and Tenken are tag-teaming this. Both are watching their students carefully, but it is Tenken that speaks up. "Relax Usagi-san. Feel your way around the wound, slowly build up the amount of chakra you're using. Too much of a rush can cause complications. Keep trying."
Unotake, on the other hand, is watching Taiki with interest. "Well it seems you've inherited Uzumaki-san's style of healing Taiki san. Don't rush things though, or you could do more harm than good…"
Usagi nods and takes a deep breath, expelling it slowly. "Hai, sensei" She refocuses herself to the task, backing up and starting again as she feels through the injury again. This time, there's a marked improvement over what she did last time, as the wounds slowly heal, beginning to knit themselves back together from the inside out. She takes a slow breath and nods at them afterwards, raising a brow. "So….do we put the fish in the tank now, or are we still waiting for the second test?"
Taiki continues to heal the fish in front of him, taking it slow. He does run into a small snag partway through the big cut, but he manages to finesse it through just the same. Finally his fish is whole, which allows him to peer over at Usagi's fish. At Usagi's question, he looks to Tenken, an eyebrow raised.
"Go ahead and put them back into the tank. We won't use the same fish for each task," the senior med-nin explains. As the two student med-nin put their fish back into the tank, Tenken brings out two larger fish. Usagi's looks much like a tuna, but half-sized. It appears dark for its breed, and has little white flakes around its mouth. Taiki however gets a salmon, this one fairly large. There splotches of dis-coloration on the body, and its eyes are slightly dry. "You will both diagnose what is wrong with the fish, and once you're done with that, you will apply your medical knowledge for treatment. You may begin at any time."
Usagi takes a slow breath and nods, picking up her fish and putting it back into the tank with the rest of the fish, letting it go. At the bigger fish, she raises a brow at the fish, then nods to the senseis and steps over, her hands moving to try and figure out what's going on with a pulse of chakra to see what's wrong with the body. She again closes her eyes to concentrate, trying to pick up on it.
Taiki starts to diagnose what is wrong with the fish, and after a moment Taiki widens his eyes. "Chakra poisoning, odd considering it is a fish, without a real chakra network," Taiki says after a moment. It would seem the sensei's did tailor the tests to their respective students after all…
Tenken nods to Taiki, then looks back to Usagi. "You may both start healing as you would in this situation. Remember, this is a far more difficult problem, take your time and feel your way through…"
Usagi nods slowly at them. "Poison, though not easily cured….antidotes won't be of much use, it's a fish" She shrugs slightly, then places her hands on the scales, closing her eyes again. She seems to be thinking of a few options, not 'pushing' the fish, just keeping her fingers lightly in contact. They begin to glow a soft green, her face twitching as she concentrates.
Taiki glances over towards Usagi's fish, watching as she begins to work. He smiles toward her but doesn't say anything as he's concentrating on his own fish. Slowly aligning his own chakra with the chakra found in the fish, he starts to concentrate as he leeches out the foreign chakra. A single drop of sweat forms on his forehead as he continues to try to manipulate the chakra inside the fish. Slow and easy…
Unotake looks between the two student med-nin, then back to Tenken. The smile on the Uzumaki's face says it all for him as Unotake starts to whisper. "Very good, both of you. You seem to have a solid grasp of what you need to do, but can you complete it?"
Usagi had the process going along well, but definitely hit a roadblock this time around. She takes another deep breath as she has to backtrack past what she was doing. She'd gone down a wrong track, that was for sure. And in either case, she wasn't giving up…she'd gotten 'some', not enough to save the fish, but some…she knew she could do this, and wasn't going to be stopping until she was finished, or it was dead.
Indeed, this exercise is much harder than the last. Taiki is actually having to work on this one. Slowly he pulls the chakra out, realigning it, then sends it back in the forme of healing. The fish's coloration returns to normal, and its eyes go from glassy and lifeless to moist. He's done it!
Tenken smiles and takes Taiki's fish to put it back into its tank while Onotake continues to work with Usage. "Ease back, don't leave any poison in there. You can do this, Usagi. This is merely a more advanced version of purification. Focus…"
Usagi doesn't say anything to the Uzumaki, instead starting again and going slower this time, trying to focus on the poison and draw it out once more. She blinks, startled at something, and immediately stops what she was doing, taking a moment to reverse some of the damage done. It didn't get her too far, just left her where it was, but nonetheless, the fish was still kicking….for now. She'd bought time. Nothing more.
Taiki turns and looks at Usagi, slightly disappointed for her that she was having a hard time with this. This was not easy though, that much he knew. For just a moment he is tempted to intervene and help, but he knows that she must do this herself. Still, if she can't get it this time, he has already moved himself into a position to help. They are partners after all, and this means they help each other when necessary. Tenken and Unotake both step back, giving their students plenty of room.
Usagi looks at the fish again, taking a moment to pause and check one last thing before she makes her last attempt at it. She doubts she'll be able to pull that trick off again of a spur of the moment save, barely noticing Taiki coming up until he was there with her. So she continues to work, trying to focus and not get lost in her failures. By trick, by luck, or by sheer stubbornness, she does manage to get the remainder of the poison out of the fish, and then quickly back into the tank, taking a few deep breaths and closing her eyes. "too close…far, far too close. I doubt I'd be able to pull that spur shot again"
Taiki smiles and then comes around to give Usagi a one-armed hug. "But you did it, Usagi. It was close, but you managed to pull it off, without assistance. I'm very proud of you." After another moment he lets go, completely oblivious to the fact he dropped the honorific with her for the first time. "You know what this means don't you?" he adds with a wide, enthusiastic grin.
Unotake smils and joins in the conversation at this point. "Indeed, it is time for the both of you to take on more responsibilities within the hospital. Taiki is already doing so, at the request of Uzumaki'san, but now he can be cleared for doing things on his own, or with your assistance. I would like to keep you two together as partners, seeing as how you are on the same team, and Inuzuka-san's situation is… unique. But now you can both spearhead medical missions, both separately and together. Congratulations."
Tenken smiles and bows his head toward Taiki. "I have pushed you, I have drilled you, I have done everything I could to make you break. The written test I gave you was the hardest one for your level that Konoha had, with a few things added in from me. I see a lot of me in you Taiki-dono, and I know I leave your patients in the best of care. It was an honor to teach you medical ninjutsu, and now I have one final charge to lay on you. Become the medical seal master we both know you are meant to be. I will look forward to seeing what you come up with in the future. Fly, and soar."
Usagi smiles softly at the two of them, giving Taiki the return hug with both arms. As Unotake and Tenken both speak, she grins softly, giving Taiki another hug. "I'll begin immediately, then. So does this mean I'm more a nurse than an orderly now?" She raises a brow, still grinning. She's only 'half' joking. Half. She looks at the fish tank, then pauses. "Pisces….no extra fish for the ramen house" And grins wickedly at her 'partner'
"Well, you're both more than orderlies at the very least," Unotake confirms with a grin. He then looks over to Tenken and quietly asks, "Does your speech mean what I think it means?" he says, slightly more solemn in asking that question. Tenken simply nods, but doesn't say anything at the moment as he lets the two students celebrate a hard-won victory.
"No…" Taiki says with a grin. "No fish for the Ramen house this time. They'll have to go get their own… aw shucks," Taiki says with a grin. "So now that you proved you can pull patients through narrow scrapes, what's next on your list?" he asks Usagi, a smirk forming across his face as he looks at his 'partner.' So far he hasn't noticed the quiet conversation between the two sensei's.
Usagi smirks at him. "I'm going to the ramen house to celebrate! You want to come" She's still grinning ear to ear. She 'does' notice the solemn changes in the two senior med nins, but for now, doesn't say anything about it. She looks back to Taiki, and the grin comes again. "You ready for this?"
Taiki looks over to the senior med-nins and sees them involved in a conversation. He himself knows that Tenken's time here is short, but he knows that he will have a chance to say goodbye before the Uzumaki departs. And right now, he's in too high of a spirit to spend time with sad good-byes. "Sure, I'll come along. Sounds like a celebratory dinner for me! Who knows, maybe I'll go all the way and order fish ramen!" He then nods and bows, motioning to the door as he does, a very slight serious tone in is voice as he says, "I'm nervous, but I'm as ready as I can be. Shall we depart? I'm actually kind of hungry!"
