Starring:
Date: February 19, 2015
Summary:
Arika learns more about how healing a chakra network works… sort of.
"Destructive Healer - 'Water' We Learning?"
Tenrai Hospital
Arika's last lesson was over the chakra network. It involved a question and answer session and some diagrams given to her to study. Today Keiji has a set of tubing on the table that is hooked up to a funnel with a twist nozzle and water in the funnel. He also has a piece of cloth and a piece of leather on the table. He waits for a brief moment as his dark eyes scan over towards the clock on the wall. Arika would be here any moment for her second lesson. It would be a bit of theory and minor application of that theory.
Once again, Arika was led into the room by her Jounin Guard(ian), Ping. The man offers a light bow to Keiji before disappearing rather quickly, relying on the Shippodoku to handle Arika should she get out of control at all… Or try to get into trouble. The girl waves to Keiji and takes a seat in a chair that was close to where the setup was, the girl's legs swinging as she peers at the strange items. "What're we doing today?" she wonders.
Keiji nodded to Ping as he made his quick departure. It always seemed rather amusing how the man left so quickly instead of sticking around for a while. He was likely suffering from some kind of syndrome due to having to spend all his time with Arika. As Keiji ponders over the many reasons, he's snapped back to reality by the question. "We are going to go over some medical theory and then a bit of minor application."
Keiji then points to the hoses set up on the table. "Pretend this is the chakra network of a person. I know its a little simple, but for the theory it works." After speaking, Keiji moves his hand to a single tube and presses it down until it is cut off. "As we know this is a blocked or crushed chakra line. What is the best way for it to heal?" Keiji asks.
Arika can be a handful when one is with her almost 24-7. The girl isn't too bothered by it, though. She peeks closer at the hoses, her nine-year-old mind easily able to picture them as chakra channels. "Umm… You should try to poke it back into a normal shape..?" she guesses, not too sure of the answer even though she had read about it not long ago.
"Incorrect." Keiji stated as he released his hand from the tube. Slowly it would start to take its form again. "These tubes are a bit more resilient than chakra veins. However if a chakra vein is damaged, the best way for it to heal is naturally. Light chakra flow will help reopen the vein and strengthen it. Sometimes thats not an option though. So in the case that you must reopen the vein, you will want to force chakra in lightly. Too much will rupture the vein and cause a longer healing peroid or permanent damage."
Arika figured her reply was wrong, and she takes note of what the real answer is. She nods a bit to Keiji in understanding, then saying, "How d'you put chakra in a person, then? If they can't do it themselves, I mean… You use the glowing green hand, right?" Apparently she had been listening to tales and rumors.
Keiji moves his hand to the funnel and twists a lever on it. The water begins to pour through into the tubes until it reaches the end where it is collected in a dish. "So the water represents the chakra. As the chakra moves through the body it is able to alter and speed the recovery of cells. You see this in clans that have a natural regeneration. But as you asked, how do you put the chakra into a person? Well you are forcing your chakra into a persons chakra network. You are using the network like canals to reach the cells that need regeneration. To do this you need to have good chakra veins. Non damaged veins are very strong when dealing with chakra. They can take a surprising amount of punishment from the inside."
Arika hmms and nods a bit. "Is that why… Umm… I can use Hachi-jii's chakra without too much difficulty? Cuz chakra veins can handle it?" comes her next few questions. She watches the water travel into the dish, thoughtful expression on her face.
Keiji nods his head. It was pretty much the same thing except that the demon's chakra was mixing with her own. "In ways it is the exact same. The difference is when I place my chakra on someone I let it sink into their network. I am not attacking it, but more or less allowing it to soak up my chakra like a sponge. You see in the chakra network chakra is released all over. This is why you focus chakra to specific places. Otherwise chakra just leaks out anywhere. Those same doors that let the chakra out can allow chakra in as well."
Arika perks up a bit and nods. That was easy enough to picture. "Ooh, I see. Umm… So how'd you know where all the doors are? There was that one picture in the book you gave me… But does that mean I gotta memorize it?" She makes a face at the thought, and Gyuki wakes up enough to listen to the conversation before snorting at the stupidity of his host. She should know all this by now, shouldn't she? This is all old news to him, at least.
Keiji pondered the question a moment before answering. "There are little doors all over each chakra vein. Think of it like a tube with millions of tiny holes. Enough to let out a little chakra but keep the majority of it in. When you focus chakra to a specific area you are simply closing off some doors and opening others. Healings a bit different. You are not really closing doors but using already open ones. Maybe opening them slightly wider with the amount of chakra. For example to heal someone's stomach… you are not going to force your chakra into their feet. You will put the chakra into their chakra network near the stomach." He then waited a moment to see if she was still with him or not.
Arika hmms again at all this information and nods slowly as she makes various connections. "So then… How d'you know if the chakra is okie? Like if it'll heal someone or not?" she asks, frowning lightly. It didn't make sense… "Like… At least you aren't forcing chakra into someone, cuz that would hurt. But you gotta be super careful when you put chakra into someone, don't you? And wouldn't that take a long time?" Neverending stream of questions…
"We have learned through ninjutsu that chakra can be used in a lot of different ways. You can focus chakra to create flames or even water. It is in how you focus your chakra. If you focus too much chakra into someone you can do damage. Not enough and it is irrelevant to the task. Most chakras are not harmful unless focused to be that way. In the next lesson, we will actually work on focusing chakra through your hand and into a patient."
Arika tilts her head a bit. "Huh…." So it really was that simple! She can hear Gyuki laughing at her in the back of her mind, of course, which makes her grumble a few times. 'Hush up…' Her attention turns to Keiji after the laughter dies down. "So then… Is it the next lesson yet?" she proceeds to wonder, bouncing a bit in her seat as she's eager to learn the next steps.
Keiji shakes his head. "For your next lesson you will start your internship at the hospital. You will mainly be stripping down beds and changing linens but there is something there to learn. It is called bedside manner. This means taking care of someone and making them feel at home. People in pain have a lot on their mind and even more to worry about. As someone who heals them, they need to be able to trust you are not their to harvest their organs for black market purposes or cause them unneeded pain."
Arika pouts a bit. That sounds boring! She doesn't voice her complaint, though. It would be a bad idea. Plus, she realizes that it's probably important to make sure patients feel okay around her, and it might be a good thing to learn. Maybe she could help Jiro with some of those skills, too. It might help him out. The girl nods a bit to Keiji, though she does comment, "I dunno why anyone'd think that of me. I don't even know why someone'd do that…"
As Keiji eyed the time, he looked towards the water. "Here is your homework for the lesson. You are to purchase a bag of oranges. You will focus your chakra to your hand, much like the tree walking jutsu. Except the difference is in your hand, you will hold an orange. You want to focus the chakra into the peel but not damage the peel. If you focus too much you will open the peel up. If you focus too little you will not hurt the peel. Understood?" he asks. It was a simple exercise.
"But then how am I supposed to know if I'm doing it right?" Arika asks. "There's no way to tell if I do it right, is there?" The girl glances up at the clock curiously and notices the time. Ping would be back soon… Better make this question quick!
"Trial and error. An orange peel is a little different than skin. You will not be able to get through it easily. Once you do though, you will feel a difference. Then if you are ahead of schedule or feeling lucky, try a potatoe. The skin of a potatoe is really thin so its extremely easy to damage." Keiji replies to the question. The homework was not about working with skin, but about learning chakra control through the hand. This way when they dealt with skin, they could easily control the level of chakra used to move through it.
Arika hmms and nods. "Okie, then." Ping walks into the room just as Arika finishes talking. Impeccable timing. Actually, he was just waiting outside for the past few minutes. "Thank you for the lesson, Keiji-san!" Arika says, waving cheerfully before going to to pester Ping. "Can we go get mochi?"
