Starring:
Date: October 25, 2014
Summary:
Kenta provides some medical training for Kioko and Tsukino.
"The Bee and the Princess Learn To Heal"
Medical Center Rooftop - Konoha
It's late afternoon in Konoha and a fairly mild summer day with a nice breeze going. It's fairly nicely illuminated outside, so Kenta decides to take advantage of the fact for his next task. He had just finished examining his last patient of his shift, so it's time to work on a different project. After the Silence attacked Konoha, it's clearer than ever that medics are greatly needed by the village. The number of casualties would have greatly increased if it wasn't for the efforts of the hospital and those affiliated with it. There would also have been more shinobi or civilians with permanent disabilities without proper care.
Several people have approached Kenta or the hospital to request medical training now. The increased workload meant that some of them are still waiting in queue for a medic to free up to conduct lessons. Kenta is all too happy to devote some of his time to the matter. He's taken on two new students today; Tsukino, whom he knows very well, and Kioko, whom he met only a few times. He has a big bamboo mat large enough for several people spread out on the ground. A pile of books, scrolls, dark glass jars and small medical kits are piled up on one corner. He sits with those instructional materials at his right side while he waits for both students to show up.
Tsukino approached the mat with Kenta on it curiously. The Uzumaki had thought this was a good way to be of use while not having to really harm anyone, something she was finding harder and harder to do with the Silence in play. But she was working through it. If she'd been able to heal herself before perhaps she could have saved… no, no that was beyond her. She sighed and put on a smile as she approached. Her long hair was loose as usual, hanging down to her thighs and her shorts were covering fishnet shorts rather than full on leggings for the warmer weather. She bowed to Kenta and went to sit on the mat, knees under her properly, hair coilding on the ground behind her. "How are you Kenta-san?"
Finally back in Konoha, at least for now, Kioko sent a request for medical training as well. As much as she moves around, with the Silence and other things going on, knowing how to heal is now a necessity. Thus, the Kamizuru comes up to the area where Tsukino and Kenta are, a bright smile on her face as she spots the woman she was exchanged to Uzushiogakure for participating in this as well. "Are our fates aligned or something, Tsukino-san?" she asks teasingly as she approaches before looking to Kenta and offering a bow. "Kamizuru Kioko, reporting for training… Man, it's good to be home."
Kenta is slightly tired, so he doesn't get up when Tsukino and Kioko approaches. He bows slightly from the waist while keeping his legs and rump firmly on the bamboo mat. "Konichiwa, Tsukino and Kioko." He gives the latter an extra smile and adds, "Welcome back to Konoha. I heard that you were traveling." Kenta gestures for Kioko to sit next to Tsukino. Then, he leans sideways to rummage through the pile of items that he brought with him. Both of the two young women recent a few books, some scrolls and a starter medical kit. It still leaves the jars and a few other items by his side.
"I'm glad that both of you are interested in medical jutsu. We can always use more medics and even someone with a little training is valuable to the rest of us," Kenta says without delay. He gives his new students a faint, yet warm smile of appreciation. "I do want both of you to know that it's a difficult road to get proficient at even one aspect of a medic-nin's trade. There's a great deal that you need to learn, not just jutsu itself, but diagnostic techniques, herbalism, medical preparations, anatomy, chemistry and wide variety of other subjects."
Tsukino looked up as Kioko entered and she hesitated a moment, unsure if the woman would be friendly or not considering the trade. But she was bright and kind and Tsukino answered it with a chuckle and a smile. "Perhaps, Kioko-san. It is good to see you." With the Silence around it was nice to see anyone alive after a journey. But she didn't say that.
Kenta handed her the items and she took a moment to arrange them before her, opening the med kit, blue eyes flicking over the contents before he began to speak againa nd she closed it, setting it down again. She looked every bit the attentive student, solemn but open to whatever Kenta said. She was taking this quite seriously.
She was always around books so the idea of having to read or do homework like a kid was nothing to her. She looked forward to study as much as practice. Truth be told hse was anxious and perhaps a little impatient. She wanted to focus on understanding the use of chakra as that would probably be the most daunting part of all this. Anatomy could be learned from a book. Chakra direction and application not so much.
"Yes. I think I'm going to continue to do so for a while, so this training will help me out a lot," Kioko says with a smile, glad to be accepted for this training by Kenta. The Leaf Village as a whole accepting her made her happy overall. Her life as a nomad before this makes her arrangement perfectly acceptable.
She takes the offered item with a slight grin, looking them over and organizing them in a way she can remember while glancing back and forth between them and Kenta. "I figure there's tons to learn. I'm hoping to combine this with my Honey Manipulation and some of my other jutsu later on to make healing even mid-combat more plausible for me."
Kenta nods his head knowingly at Kioko. "Honey on its own is very useful for healing, so it'll be interesting to see what you can do when you have a strong basis for medical jutsu established. Maybe you can use honey has a medium of medical chakra or enhance the antibacterial properties of honey to great proportions or…" The young medic-nin clears his throat softly. "I'm getting head of myself." He looks a little sheepish at starting the tangent.
Kenta clears his throat and continues with the actual lesson. "Most of the medic-nin in the village are very busy right now, so you'll have to do a lot of studying on your own. The books that I gave you will start you off on the most basic components of our discipline and prepare you to learn much more difficult material. You can compile all the questions that you have and we'll go over them at later lessons. Or ask other medic-nin if you can't find me free." The young man pauses to consider seriously and then nods his head. He echoes Tsukino's sentiments aloud, "Some things are easier to learn from written materials. Others aren't. Manipulating medical chakra's going to be the most difficult to reproduce without help, so we'll start with that first. One of the scrolls that I gave you is tied with a braided red and blue cord. Please spread that one out in front of you."
Tsukino listened to the idea of using honey and it's properties for healing and she tilte her head curiously. She had not known honey was useful like that. She smiled at Kenta's enthusiasm for the idea and chuckled when he caught himself. It was indeed an interesting idea. The princess felt a bit underprepared for this as she had little idea as to what to do but learn the art of healing. She didn't have any grand ideas on how to use seals or scrolls to aid her, but then perhaps that would come in time.
She nodded as Kenta explained that some aspects would be more difficult than others and when he asked them to open the scroll Tsukino did so with practiced ease. Scrolls she knew… perhaps. Well she knew a few things. Once it was unrolled before her she looked up at kenta, awaiting the next instructions.
Kioko silently listens to Kenta for now, though she does grin slightly as he seems to have the same train of thought she does on using her jutsu to heal. She nods once in a while to show she's paying attention, sitting and spreading the scroll out as instructed and starting to glance over it. "I bet you could even make some seals that heal with enough practice, Tsukino-san," she comments off-handedly with a glance back at the scroll as she waits for Kenta to instruct them further.
"There are actually a lot of medical techniques that use seals. They go together very well, so I'm curious to see what an Uzumaki medic nin would be able to come up with," Kenta says with enthusiasm. He unties the bindings on a similar scroll as the one that he asked them to open and he spreads his in front of him. "Seals," he says with satisfaction. Almost every inch of the scroll is covered with them, all the way to the margins of the sturdy paper, but there's a small circle of blank space free in the middle. Most of the seals are medical related or so esoteric that they would be unfamiliar to even Tsukino. Others would be recognizable as characters chained together to regulate the release of energy and to constrain chakra within the boundaries of the scroll.
"Other medic-nin like to start out with different lessons, but I want the two of you to get a feel for medical chakra first. This scroll is often used for beginners that don't have much - or any - experience at medical jutsu yet. The seals on the scroll will mold healing chakra for you when you channel your chakra into it. There's some feedback seals that'll connect you to the process, so that you can feel how it's actually done and let you duplicate it internally when you're more experienced." Kenta looks at each young woman's face and reaches for one of the glass jars. "Is that clear so far?" he asks.
Tsukino glanced over at Kioko and nodded slowly as she stated her own thoughts aloud. "I'm sure it's possible." And then kenta was explaining that it was indeed possible. Apparently it was well established that healing and seals worked together well. She nodded quietly when he said he was curious what an Uzumaki could come up with. She'd have to think on it.
Then he indicated the scrolls before thema nd some of the symbols she did indeed understand and recognise, though others were new to her. She would just have to look those up later. The explaination that the scroll would help them learn medical chakra by creating it from their chakra and feeding it back to them made Tsukino blink then she bent closer to look at the markings more closely. It was certainly interesting. She would have been lost in looking at the markings if Kenta had not asked for questions. She shook her head, so far she followed him well enough.
Kioko listens silently for a bit, grinning a bit wider that her idea for Tsukino is definitely gonna work. She studies over the presented information a bit, taking it all in. While she doesn't plan on getting into Seal studies herself, it is at least healthy to be aware of all the information available so that one is prepared when the time comes. A simple nod is given in response to Kenta's question as she looks over the seal that'll be used for their training. Truly interesting…
Kenta seems satisfied that there are no questions so far. He uncaps the jar and gets a pair of tweezers from the medical kit left at his side. With great delicateness, he draws a long earthworm out of the jar. He drops the worm within the circle in the middle of his scroll. Then, he pulls out two more earthworms to place on each of Tsukino and Kioko's scrolls. It might look like the earthworms are dead at first, but they're only moving very sluggishly and doesn't seem to have the strength to actually do more than wiggle a little.
"Ok, I'm going to explain what we're going to do. The scroll will convert your chakra to healing chakra, but it also concentrates the chakra to the middle of the circle. That's why I put an earthworm in the exact center. I'm also going to do this…" Kenta deftly plucks a steel scalpel from the open medical kit. He makes a very shallow nick on the earth worm's middle, only deep enough to split a bit of skin to expose the even pinker meat underneath. The earthworm writhes momentarily in discomfort, but goes still again after expending the strength. "Do the same as what I do. You're about to handle your first patient."
Tsukino watched Kenta curiously as he placed the worms on their scrolls and winced when he cut the worm just a little. She closed her eyes a moment but then took a breath and followed his example, cutting just a little on the worm's middle. She had a steady hand despite her discomfort which was probably a good sign. Then she looked up and waited for Kenta's next instruction.
Kioko peers at the earthworms, canting her head slightly and listening to the explanation. She nods and grabs a scalpel from the pouch to do the same, quite precise in her motions. After examining it to be sure she did it the same, she looks back up to Kenta to wait for further instruction.
Kenta watches to make sure that Tsukino and Kioko does as he instructed. He nods with satisfaction once they've marked their worms with a scalpel. The young medic-nin holds his hands up to chest level and slowly performs some hand seals. He doesn't need to use hand seals with most of his medical techniques anymore, especially the healing ones, and the scrolls will do most of the work, but it would be useful for the two young women to know them for later. Kenta lowers his hands under the palms are about three inches over his earthworm. A warm glow envelops them as he channels his chakra into the scroll and subsequently into the worm.
"You want to be very careful when you do this," Kenta explains. "Not everyone people know this, but medical chakra can be as dangerous as it's helpful. The amount of chakra used have to fit the situation. Too little chakra and it won't be enough to heal a wound. Too much and it can disrupt the balance inside a body, which potentially causes -more- injury. The amount also changes depend on who you're healing, what type of wound you're healing and whether there are other complications to think of. That's why chakra control is -very- important for a medic-nin. In this case, you need to use very little chakra to heal a worm, although it'll probably take you a long time to do it with only the help of the scroll. You should be able to -feel- when an equilibrium is reached if you pay attention. If keep increasing the chakra output beyond that, you'll probably kill the worm. It might take you a couple of tries to get it right the first time. I have more worms just in case." Kenta indicates the cluster of dark glass jars.
Tsukino watched as Kenta formed the hand seals and mimiced his motions exactly, though there was no chakra in her movements, she was merely memorizing the seals order. Then she saw him using the energy, directing it into the scroll and thus into the worm. She could follow the basic movement with her mind though not as a sensor would. Still she understood the concept. And she had practiced a lot with directing her chakra specificly….
So she took a breath and formed the seals carefully, directing chakra as seh worked them and then held her hands down over the worm, focusing the energy into the scroll. She felt it rerout and shift. The feeling of the medical chakra was different than the usual chakra. It was green and she could feel the power at her hands. Quickly she backed off from the amount of chakra she'd put into the exercise. The worm squirmed a bit more under her hands but the cut was still there. Not enough power….
Kioko listens and watches carefully, taking note of everything about Kenta's actions and words. After memorizing the actions and pondering for a few moments, she makes a few hand seals, then places her hands on the seal, focusing chakra through it in an attempt to heal the worm. She actually seems to do okay at first, but winds up under and overdoing it by a bit toward the last bit…
Kenta draws his hands back to his lap and watches what his new students are doing. The earthworm on his scroll is healed and more energetic now, but just flopping around in confusion instead of crawling in a particular direction. He notes the lack of change in Tsukino's earthworm and nods slightly. "Start putting a little more chakra into it, Tsukino. Increase it slowly instead of by a huge spike and make sure to hold the amount steady…" He winces a little when he catches sight of the way that Kioko's worm starts growing more lively and then begin writhing in agitation instead. "You'll have to hold amount steady too, Kioko. Reduce the output by just a little until you notice the worm's movement calm down."
Tsukino glanced up a moment then looked down and furrowed her brow. Slowly ever so lightly she increased the amount of power she was focusing into the worm and felt the scroll change it into healing energies. It took a moment but she finally found a level that somehow.. felt right. It was slow at first but the small cut she ha d made int he worm disappeared, leaving it to wriggle a bit more lively on the scroll. Tsukino backed off the power carefully and looked up at Kenta, curious if she'd done it properly.
Kioko nods to Kenta, doing well again at first, though she wavers a bit again after a bit. "Geez, this tiny thing is hard to practice with!" she says, chuckling a bit as she continues to concentrate on trying to heal the worm. Still, this has to be good practice, learning to regulate to even the smallest form of the life so having the precision to heal a shinobi or oneself is that much easier.
"Good job!" Kenta exclaims with enthusiasm after he sees the nick across the middle of Tsukino's earthworm close up. He glances over to Kioko and watches the other young woman for a while. "You're actually doing much better than a lot of others that I've seen working at it, Kioko. It'll get easier as you go along." Kenta notices his worm finally start to crawl off the scroll. He picks it up with tweezers to put it back into the opened glass jar.
"The two of you will need to practice this for a while on your own with worms until you can heal them reliably every single time. After that, you can try bigger animals like mice, frogs and sparrows. The scroll's not much good beyond anything that size, but by that point, you won't really need such a crutch anyone. You can start practicing without using the scroll, only hand seals. As you get better, you won't even need the hand seals and I can teach you stronger healing techniques," Kenta explains with a smile on his lips.
